South Dakota State Postgame Thread

[Vowelguy]

I suspect that Ice may see more playing time than Jana, given her more advanced defense as of now. Either way, UConn will run Beers ragged. In the dictionary, her picture is next to the word "lumbering". I expect to see lots of 5 on 4 in transition . And when Beers is on offense, unless she has mastered the art of feeding herself (which would be a first for a post player), she will have problems when UConn's guards cut off her food supply. After the game I look forward to hearing from the posters who insisted that it was critical for UConn to land Beers from the portal, that its failure to do so is evidence of Geno's incompetence and/or decline, and that the team's existing post players are far inferior to her.

I thought OU was a high scoring uptempo team? How does Beers fit in with that?

 

[Huskee11]

I was at the game and it was a special night at Gampel. Full house, and it was an early-arriving crowd given the 8:00 start time and the fact that they opened Gampel at 6:30. I was happy to be there with my cousin who had never seen the women play at Gampel.

Lots of people like me soaking it in, knowing it was the last time Paige would play at Gampel. Words that come to mind - festive, colorful, electric, loud, joyous. It was a night to remember.

The students are back from break so their presence was far more noticeable than it was on Saturday. Saw Karaban and McNeeley there also.

I don’t recall ever seeing Paige play better. Tonight was her night, we were all living in her world from 8 to 10. Most players move around the court in a linear fashion, but with Paige it is mostly circular and slithery, but linear when the situation calls for it. I don’t think you can teach someone to play the way she plays.

The defense was very intense. Really everyone playing like that, but KK deserves special mention. SDS did a better job with it than Arkansas State but still ended up with 25 turnovers. Their intensity on defense and ability to get back on defense was good in the first half but withered in the second half. They were worn down.

But give SDS credit. They are a good team, with the misfortune of drawing UConn in the second round. Well coached, play hard, run their offense well, good shooters, easy to see why they were so successful this season. They also had a very good following that traveled with them. They were largely behind their bench tonight, although on Saturday they were in sections across the way. I hope their team and fans will have positive memories of their time in Connecticut.

Would have liked to see Aubrey in the first half and Caroline at some point. Caroline was a full participant in warmups and looked fine. And falling behind early and looking out of sync for the first five minutes or so until Paige righted the ship was not what I was hoping for. But other than that, what a night.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Caroline was the only player not to get a single minute in this game. That concerns me! Is she in Geno's doghouse for some reason or was she hurt in practice?

 

[packwrap]

I thought OU was a high scoring uptempo team? How does Beers fit in with that?

In a simple way, last year they were high scoring up tempo with zero inside game.

Presto transfer portal, now they are high scoring up tempo with an all American post.

Beers is good at passing from the inside out to the 3 point shooters, or if she is not doubled, doing her own thing down low.

On d, she lags off her player to be a rim protector.

It's a good sweet 16 matchup for UConn. We need to contain Beers and make sure their shooters don't shoot 60% against us.

They play up tempo, so Huskies will be running. Will be a fun game.

 

[Stagnant]

KK Arnold coming in and upping the defensive tempo changed the games direction.
Paige seeing nobody else's shots going in, saying ok, I will take over.
Fudd is so smooth.
Strong being Strong.
Two questions though. Why no Griffen in the first half and why do we throw the ball into Jana, nothing good happens from that?

At the end of the game, we tried to force it to Jana on like 5 possessions in a row. And I don’t understand it. It’s either a turnover or a wild shot every time we telegraph that we are going to Jana. Not sure what the rationale was.

 

[Stagnant]

Caroline was the only player not to get a single minute in this game. That concerns me! Is she in Geno's doghouse for some reason or was she hurt in practice?

I swear I saw her icing her head in the 4th quarter.

On OU, I think they go as Peyton Verhulst goes. She plays as sort of a point forward for them sometimes. I would really try to focus on shutting her down. Strong is the perfect defender against Peyton too tbh.

 

[veryolddog]

Well done!

 

[Zarathustra]

SDSU is a really good 3-point shooting team, maybe even better than Uconn. As tight a defense as Uconn plays, they still made 40% of their 3-point shots. Very impressive.

Note that the combined UCONN defense of Jana, ICE, and Sarah ( and others )
limited Brooklyn Meyer #31 to 2 for 6 shooting and FOUR POINTS! Great "D"!

 

[REB1094]

Sluggish start but then KK brought the energy and Paige decided to win the game herself. I love when Paige is aggressive. Was keeping up with the entire SD State team in first half scoring alone

Now the fun begins. We’re riding a lot of confidence and that will be the key. Paige, lead the way!

 

[Zarathustra]

The South Dakota Coach just said UConn is the best 2 seed in the history of women's basketball. I know what he wanted to say.

H.C. Aaron Johnston also reflected on a question about UCONN quality of play:
"They play HARD. They don't take breaks." ( at about the one hour and minute mark ).
"They wear you down". Coach Johnston also made a great comment about how
his local community/fans/young girls look up to his Jackrabbit players in the same
way that the UNCONN community/fans/young girls look up to the Huskies and Paige.
He wanted to (justly) praise HIS PLAYERS for what they do for Women's College
Basketball in upper Mid-West. WELL SPOKEN, COACH!

 

[Zarathustra]

Game #1 vs Arkansas State: Paige/Azzi/ Sarah 20/27/20 points = 67
Game #2 vs South Dakota State: Paige/Azzi/Sarah 34/17/15 = 66 points
Game #3 vs Oklahoma A THREE-PEAT!!

 

[ucbart]

I want KK, all summer, to do nothing, but work on her offense. For as great and electric as she is defensively, she is equally maddening on offense. She misses wayyyyyy too many layups and even her makes are an adventure. I've never seen a player shoot a layup that touches every part of the rim before it goes in.

 

[Bigboote]

Rebecca Lobo made a great point regarding South Dakota State. They received a poor seeding and the worst bracket for them. UCONN is used to their style because several Big East teams play that way.
She felt that the Jackrabbits might have fared better vs. the other #2 seeds, Duke, TCU, & NC State.

The Jacks’ first-round game featured two top-25 teams. I know the committee uses different criteria, but geez, couldn’t they make sure they don’t have two top-25 teams playing in the round of 64?

 

[Bigboote]

Azzi didn’t talk to crowd afterward and say how wonderful it’s been & all like Paige did in her farewell/appreciation speech- hmmm!

Geno also didn’t give her a curtain call — he took her out at a TV timeout. Aubrey, Paige, and Kaitlyn all were pulled at times when they could get maximum cheers.

 

[BobbyJ]

I suspect that Ice may see more playing time than Jana, given her more advanced defense as of now. Either way, UConn will run Beers ragged. In the dictionary, her picture is next to the word "lumbering". I expect to see lots of 5 on 4 in transition . And when Beers is on offense, unless she has mastered the art of feeding herself (which would be a first for a post player), she will have problems when UConn's guards cut off her food supply. After the game I look forward to hearing from the posters who insisted that it was critical for UConn to land Beers from the portal, that its failure to do so is evidence of Geno's incompetence and/or decline, and that the team's existing post players are far inferior to her.

I'm not suspecting it because I have no idea what Auriemma's thoughts are but I hope so. Brady's defense and boxing out could be one of the keys to the game along with avoiding foul trouble. And good point on pressuring the OK passers.

 

[freshler40]

The tournament had zero upsets.
The four sweet sixteen brackets are: #1 vs. #4 or #5 and #2 vs. #3.
No cinderellas this season!

Same with the men's backet. Seems like the end result of our current open transfer policy and player "freedom of movement". This is the real world now.

 

[reelfan]

Was that Carla Berube congratulating Paige after game ?

 

[Charliebball]

I suspect that Ice may see more playing time than Jana, given her more advanced defense as of now. Either way, UConn will run Beers ragged. In the dictionary, her picture is next to the word "lumbering". I expect to see lots of 5 on 4 in transition . And when Beers is on offense, unless she has mastered the art of feeding herself (which would be a first for a post player), she will have problems when UConn's guards cut off her food supply. After the game I look forward to hearing from the posters who insisted that it was critical for UConn to land Beers from the portal, that its failure to do so is evidence of Geno's incompetence and/or decline, and that the team's existing post players are far inferior to her.

I never viewed Beer's decision to go to Oklahoma as evidence of anything other than personal preference........if she had chosen to come to Storrs, I think the odds are pretty good that UConn would have been undefeated this season.....

 

[DEpup]

Thanks, minutes weren't posted when I first looked at the box score. She only played 18 minutes and had 2 fouls. I guess the coach decided that she wasn't needed much in the second half...

Oddly. The fouls were early and the coach was very conservative and sat her after each one so she only played a few minutes in the first half.

 

[oldude]

Was that Carla Berube congratulating Paige after game ?

Carla has attended UConn games through the years, whenever her Princeton team was not playing, so it’s highly possible. She is also very proud and supportive of Kaitlyn and what she has accomplished during her 5th season at UConn. I suspect that Geno found her a ticket behind UConn’s bench.

 

[Bald Husky]

Caroline was the only player not to get a single minute in this game. That concerns me! Is she in Geno's doghouse for some reason or was she hurt in practice?

I am concerned also. I can't see Caroline in Genos doghouse, at least not enough to not play her. Hopefully, she was just under the weather, I just pray it isn't her head. Surprised nobody asked Geno about it at the post-game presser.

 

[oldude]

I am concerned also. I can't see Caroline in Genos doghouse, at least not enough to not play her. Hopefully, she was just under the weather, I just pray it isn't her head. Surprised nobody asked Geno about it at the post-game presser.

Unfortunately, that’s my take as well. As a senior, Geno would have undoubtedly found some minutes for Caroline, unless there was a health issue.

 

[Bald Husky]

Geno also didn’t give her a curtain call — he took her out at a TV timeout. Aubrey, Paige, and Kaitlyn all were pulled at times when they could get maximum cheers.

Geno put Paige back in so she could do just that. He tried to do it a minute earlier, but there was an official time out.

 

[Geew1992]

In the presser Geno said Paige accomplished the feat of 50% from the field, 40% of threes and 90% frees for the season and that had never been done before in college or the pro leagues. The mike was the usual dreadful quality but I think he said she is the most efficient player too.

While leading the country is assist to turnover ratio

 

[DEFCONN1]

Caroline was the only player not to get a single minute in this game. That concerns me! Is she in Geno's doghouse for some reason or was she hurt in practice?

I’d be willing to bet my social security check that Caroline is not in Geno’s dog house.