St Johns Postgame Thread

[huskeynut]

A fun game to watch. Fast paced.

Short handed and still played very well. Offense is starting to flow. The passing of Paige, Evina and Nika is a thing of beauty. The three had 20 of the 30 assists for the night.

Front line improving. Aaliyah is the real deal. Excellent game.

The freshmen are coming of age.

Some are worried about the defense. And statistic don't always tell the whole story. Yes, St. John's shot 50%. However, they only took 44 shots. That type of shot total is not going to win you many games. St. John's also has 27 turnovers. Not going to win many games with that stat.

So onto Marquette with Williams and Griffin questionable and Anna is still out. I like our chances a lot.

 

[Bigboote]

I’m loving the three point guard lineup. Evina 7 assists, Paige 7, Nika 6. Get the three of them plus Anna on the floor with Liv or Aaliyah and it will be magic.

 

[psconn]

Stat of the game: UConn 15-17 from the FT line - 88.2%

St. Johns with the porous FT defense.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

So cool that we had 4 frosh and a high school kid out there for awhile and not really in garbage time yet.

Technically speaking Saylor is a UConn freshman. I get your point. Unprecedented circumstances. Her size is going to give us all sorts of options. When she settles in she'll drop a lot of 3s, 2s and and 1s.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Those who said that Nika would have a career at the end of the bench and couldn't shoot a three are requested to report to Room C in the Gampel sub-basement for reindoctrination.

 

[oldude]

Those who said that Nika would have a career at the end of the bench and couldn't shoot a three are requested to report to Room C in the Gampel sub-basement for reindoctrination.

Those folks have gone radio silent......

 

[Bama fan]

who did Geno just say sprained her ankle the other day but played

Nika. Geno clearly loves that kid.

 

[oldude]

Nika. Geno clearly loves that kid.

I think Geno loves the entire freshman class, which hasn’t always been the case. Just think back to 3 seasons ago.

 

[Bama fan]

Those who said that Nika would have a career at the end of the bench and couldn't shoot a three are requested to report to Room C in the Gampel sub-basement for reindoctrination.

Oh ye of little faith...

 

[HuskyNan]

My $.02

• Freshmen, freshmen, freshmen!!
• Paige, Paige, Paige. This is the type of game she needs to play every night. Not necessarily the scoring numbers, but the number of shots. Kudos to her.
• Liya - way to go!
• Olivia - good grief.
• Nika - she has improved in leaps and bounds this season
• Evina - lots of other good things in spite of 1-9 shooting. YIKES!
• Mir may or may not be the most athletic player on the team, but IMHO no one is more explosive
• Autumn - attagirl!
• Saylor - 0-America thus far, but hey, getting reps and practice with the team and bonding as well

Having said all that, this game was problematic. Arkansas scored 90 on us. SJU shot 50% for the game. That is flat out unacceptable and problematic. Sure we outscored them by a lot, but this SJU team was only able to put up 65 against Nova, 60 against UMASS, 62 vs. Marquette, 53 vs. Providence.

So yeah, we all can be thrilled for Paige and Liya, but we've already seen that our defense has cost us a game. It very well could cause us a shot at a NC, never mind making it to the NC game.

The freshmen played 129 of the 200 minutes and so far their offense is ahead of their defense. Well, except for Mir. I think she has taken more charges than she has shots.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Wasn't Geno just quoted as saying Paige needed to know there were times she was going to be needed to score 30+.

Welp, this was one of those times!

 

[Calbysdad]

I think Geno loves the entire freshman class, which hasn’t always been the case. Just think back to 3 seasons ago.

Yeah, agreed but he really seems to love Nika...reminds me of the way he loved Caroline Doty

 

[RockyMTblue2]

This was fast.

 

[Woof 101]

A few thoughts on the game.
Olivia made my day, first two touches right to the hoop, good outside shooting. Overall good game fouls be damned, heading in the right direction.
Fun to watch AE run the floor, she is as quick as most guards.

Nikka gaining confidence each game, along with team seeming to gel after so many lost games.
PB obviously getting Geno's message to shoot!
Announcer man on one of PB's shots so perfectly subtle, " Bueckers ........ money!" No rambling prattle.
On another two passes and to the hoop it was simply "tic .... tac .... toe!"

Sad to see CW out as I was hoping for a follow up game like the last, but glad to see AE get the start as this is the type of line up I vision for SC game. I think Aliyah's game is a key to how far this team goes this season. I know of the phenom PB is as a guard but AE is not your average freshman big either.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Freshmen scored 75 points tonight. Paige is now 28 of 48 (58%) 3 point shooting on the year. She makes it look effortless.

Watch out Sue Bird. Paige is coming for your three point shooting percentage crown, 46%. Soooo supposedly Azzi is a better 3PT shooter than Paige. Azzi will shoot - what? - 65% - 70%?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Watch out Sue Bird. Paige is coming for your three point shooting percentage crown, 46%. Soooo supposedly Azzi is a better 3PT shooter than Paige. Azzi will shoot - what? - 65% - 70%?

Actually they are a whisker apart.

 

[Papa33]

Perhaps the best ball and player movement offensively this season. Lots of quick screens and cuts; very few moments when the ball was static. And all of this occurred when Christyn was not able to play. Ergo . . . ?
My observation is that she too often holds the ball outside the 3-point line, takes a couple aimless dribbles, then holds the ball, taking pressure off the defense, and not making it easier for her teammates to find lanes to cut. This is not definitive cause-and-effect, but I'll be interested in seeing if we can get this same kind of motion in the offense when she returns.

 

[Boreifs]

Perhaps the best ball and player movement offensively this season. Lots of quick screens and cuts; very few moments when the ball was static. And all of this occurred when Christyn was not able to play. Ergo . . . ?
My observation is that she too often holds the ball outside the 3-point line, takes a couple aimless dribbles, then holds the ball, taking pressure off the defense, and not making it easier for her teammates to find lanes to cut. This is not definitive cause-and-effect, but I'll be interested in seeing if we can get this same kind of motion in the offense when she returns.

Excellent post

 

[BBallF]

Concerned about Evina. 2-13 from the arc in the last 2 games and 5-21 overall. I thought she looked off from the beginning of the game and she may be just worn down somewhat considering she hasn't had a full season for 2 years or perhaps playing more of a 3 position tonight had an impact. Either way she just seemed to be hesitating a little on her shots which always creates problems. However, she helped as she always does in her floor game with 7 assists and 3 steals tonight. She is a tremendous "glue" player. We shall see Friday night but I am optimistic about her shot.

 

[eebmg]

I thought Nika

I think he contrasted that toughness to a bit of (subliminal) disappointment with CW not playing today.

 

[Ozimoto]

I wouldn't read into that too much.

 

[Monte]

UCONN did look good tonight.....but, you have to remember St. John's record is 2-8 in the Little East.

 

[Boreifs]

UCONN did look good tonight.....but, you have to remember St. John's record is 2-8 in the Little East.

Little East?! Better not say that on the men’s side.

 

[eebmg]

UCONN did look good tonight.....but, you have to remember St. John's record is 2-8 in the Little East.

St. Johns is really weird. They have good offensive players but they turn the ball over so much.

 

[cohenzone]

My $.02

• Freshmen, freshmen, freshmen!!
• Paige, Paige, Paige. This is the type of game she needs to play every night. Not necessarily the scoring numbers, but the number of shots. Kudos to her.
• Liya - way to go!
• Olivia - good grief.
• Nika - she has improved in leaps and bounds this season
• Evina - lots of other good things in spite of 1-9 shooting. YIKES!
• Mir may or may not be the most athletic player on the team, but IMHO no one is more explosive
• Autumn - attagirl!
• Saylor - 0-America thus far, but hey, getting reps and practice with the team and bonding as well

Having said all that, this game was problematic. Arkansas scored 90 on us. SJU shot 50% for the game. That is flat out unacceptable and problematic. Sure we outscored them by a lot, but this SJU team was only able to put up 65 against Nova, 60 against UMASS, 62 vs. Marquette, 53 vs. Providence.

So yeah, we all can be thrilled for Paige and Liya, but we've already seen that our defense has cost us a game. It very well could cause us a shot at a NC, never mind making it to the NC game.

Yeah, but we were missing 3 of our top 6 or 7.