St Johns Postgame Thread

[freshler40]

My $.02

I always worry when Christyn comes out and hits a 3 - it "seems" like she then fancies herself a 3 point shooter and bombs away. NOT today. Took four 3's, made 3, and scored 21 points in other ways. Nice all around game for her and good energy. Not thrilled with her 5 TO's, but a step in the right direction. Hopefully keeps up this kind of performance consistently... And she played some great D on Correa.

Nice to see Liv do what Liv does. Both she and CW were 8-11. Personally, I have no qualms about Liv taking a 3 point shot - we were up 15+ at the time, and it was not a wasted shot even if she missed.

Weird game for Evina - 0 points but 7 assists, 8 boards, 2 steals and a block. Not sure how many minutes she played, but if her body is giving her issues, would rather see her play less minutes in a meaningless game like this.

Not a great game for Nika, but she can't be great every game. Picked up those 2 fouls early on so maybe that threw her off.

NPOY (I mean Paige) almost had a double double with 20 points and 9 assists. Only took 10 shots. UCONN as a team only took 51 shots. Very efficient 65% shooting today. I guess Paige was feeding others today, but would still rather see her take 15+ shots every game.

The offense sure slows down when Paige is out. It's a testament to her greatness.

Loved seeing Liya score double figures.

Was Mir in the doghouse? Literally played 1 minute, came in after Saylor - YIKES.

And Saylor did more today than just jack up 3's. Getting her experience and learning a ton I'm sure... Some nice moves on offense.

Q4 was a grind - we only scored 11, but they only scored 3. YIKES. We beat SJU by 32 last game and were up 31 at the half in this game. Quite the improvement. Really clamped down on Correa which was nice to see. Went from 33 points last game to 2!!!!!

A happy Geno is very nice to see! Wish he sported the headband tho!!!

Nika plays body on body defense, slides through picks and is very active. The offensive struggles with this type of defense. She has adopted a crushing defensive style that can be hard to play against. Glad she is on our side and will develop into an offensive threat soon. When Paige, Griffin and Nika play up front with an occasional double team from one of our bigs, the offensive stalls against the sidelines and we get easy desperate passes to pick off. WOW and scary to opposing coaches to watch scouting films!

 

[freshler40]

I notice you didn't mention Nika. At halftime, Geno told Culmo and Bestwick the team lately had not been moving quickly up the court before the defense could set up. They were doing in it this game. But not always. I counted four times when UConn had numeric advantage and the defense was not set and Nika pulled back to set up the half court offense. She missed seeing Aubrey and Chistyn streaking uncovered, among others. I guess maybe you get spoiled by Paige seeing everything.

This pull back by our offense seemed to be by design. The coach was trying to run offensive sets with a high double post. We did give up some offense but he is looking down the road against stronger teams with larger players. At the five minute mark of the 4th qtr, Salyor did two down low post ups, one worked. Amazing to have Geno install this offensive with a 6'2" guard who has played on a total of 15 minutes of UConn basketball. What joy they are and quick studies we have.

 

[mbr33ct]

Love that CW had a great game, but hard to fathom that Paige not player of the game. If needed, she scores more, but wasn’t necessary.

Spread the player of the game around the team, how many more does Paige need?

 

[oldude]

I think Geno would say that while being “extremely effective”, as Evina was tonight, is a good thing, that if every player on the team tonight was similarly “effective” the team would have been soundly beaten, crushed, by St. Johns 32-0.

All season long, Evina has been this team’s “Swiss army knife” providing whatever the team needed in any particular game. Against TN, her scoring was critical. Last night, in a game when 3 starters shot a combined 24/31, Evina provided assists, rebounds and defense. She is the ultimate role player and I for one am happy to have her.

 

[oldude]

This pull back by our offense seemed to be by design. The coach was trying to run offensive sets with a high double post. We did give up some offense but he is looking down the road against stronger teams with larger players. At the five minute mark of the 4th qtr, Salyor did two down low post ups, one worked. Amazing to have Geno install this offensive with a 6'2" guard who has played on a total of 15 minutes of UConn basketball. What joy they are and quick studies we have.

Excellent point. It seemed obvious to me, particularly in the second half, that UConn eschewed the fast break on several occasions to run their half court offense.

 

[eebmg]

Excellent point. It seemed obvious to me, particularly in the second half, that UConn eschewed the fast break on several occasions to run their half court offense.

If I had a player who reads the screens and defense as beautifully as Paige does, I would sit back and enjoy watching that as a coach too.

 

[Geew1992]

Piath seemed pretty comfortable in the few minutes she played. A couple blocks and the post move.

 

[oldude]

Piath seemed pretty comfortable in the few minutes she played. A couple blocks and the post move.

Before the season I had hoped that Piath might just be able to provide some quality minutes off the bench by the end of the season. I don’t know that she’s there yet, but Piath is clearly paying attention in class (practice) during professor Elliott’s lectures.

 

[Bama fan]

The injury, not lack of confidence, probably affected Anna’s shooting. Nika, like Anna in her first games, deferred to her older teammates. Edwards is only comfortable shooting when she’s under the basket. Another reliable three point shooter who can also pass is a must and right now she’s on bench. Nika’s tight defensive coverage leads to steals but I noticed it also let opponents get around her. Anna might be slower but she knew when and how to stay in front of her opponent. Still, I love Nika—she’s going to be a good one.
The team I want to see in March is Paige, CW, ONO, Anna, and, playing limited minutes, Evina (to keep her healthy) with Edwards and AG and Nika spelling those five with major minutes, never mind the position. Whatever the alignment there needs to be three reliable three point and mid range jump shooters on the floor at times. That means keeping three of these four—Paige, CW, Anna and Ono (mainly from the elbow)—on the floor at all times. Given the number of NCs I’ve coached, you can see I’m right.

Hard to argue with success such as yours!

 

[eebmg]

Piath seemed pretty comfortable in the few minutes she played. A couple blocks and the post move.

But did she help or hurt her position after Geno could not steal the ball from her in practice.

 

[Boreifs]

This pull back by our offense seemed to be by design. The coach was trying to run offensive sets with a high double post. We did give up some offense but he is looking down the road against stronger teams with larger players. At the five minute mark of the 4th qtr, Salyor did two down low post ups, one worked. Amazing to have Geno install this offensive with a 6'2" guard who has played on a total of 15 minutes of UConn basketball. What joy they are and quick studies we have.

It seemed pretty obvious that Geno was playing by the mercy rule in the second half; also giving his team a chance to work on their half court offense.

 

[jaundicedeye]

Piath seemed pretty comfortable in the few minutes she played. A couple blocks and the post move.

Agree. At 6'5" surprisingly smooth and fast down the court in transition. Not a given with all bigs.

 

[Bald Husky]

Great game for CW and ONO. My issue is the same that I've had for a long time. Why doesn't Nika shoot when she is in the lane. She does alot of things great, and I agree that she makes the team better when she is in the lineup. She passes up easy shots, kicks the ball out, but worst of all, she just stops and luckily gets the ball out in desperation sometimes. I can recall Geno getting on Moriah and Crystal whenever they drove and stopped. Except for the occasional lay up, I don't think she has taken a 2 PT shot all year. We need her to be active, and although we were great last night, two starters with 0 points is not good. Scouting reports will reveal that, unless Geno is planning a Rocky when he suddenly switches from fighting right to fighting left.

 

[hart2hart]

I just Loved this game. To me everyone “Shined”
in different ways. This game was so much fun to watch! See what a couple days off does......Hooray for these gals. See ya at 3PM Saturday!

 

[clbabson]

Agree. At 6'5" surprisingly smooth and fast down the court in transition. Not a given with all bigs.

I agree. She's obviously very athletic. I can't remember who said it, but in the vein of Kiah Stokes - she may become a solid defensive/rebounding presence that'll give you a handful of points too. If her offense develops, maybe more than that, but that seems to be the area that needs the most work.

 

[Argonaut]

If anyone is interested, Tartamella's post game is available on the recap on St. John's website.

No. 1/1 Connecticut Downs St. John’s, 77-32 - St. John's University Athletics

The No. 1/1 Connecticut Huskies defeated St. John's, 77-32, on Wednesday evening at Carnesecca Arena.

redstormsports.com

On the right side of the page...

 

[dragon]

 

[hart2hart]

Geno is Happy!
I’m Happy too!

 

[jazz]

My 2 cents - guards:

Defense was really good. Switching and communicating, etc. SJ played awful both offensively and defensively. They looked like a poorly coached and unmotivated team to me. Not interested in defense at all.

PB – We need a PB appreciation thread. She continues to dominate every game. She is so much better defensively now too. She could always use her length to disrupt passing lanes but she is moving her feet much better too. Great game.

NM – another good floor game but at some point that might not be enough. Needs to give us 5- points a game. Great passer. I don’t agree with Meg’s comments. NM did a good job on defense. She got beat a few times as all freshman do. The problem with NM is that she plays face-up D all day long. She gives no room between her and the player she is guarding. She plays so close she could tell us what toothpaste the player uses. Notice how PB gives a little room so she doesn’t get beat. Any player and that means any player, who plays so close-up like NM does will get beat a few times a game. Poor kid gets called for the ticky tacky fouls and then gets hit on way to the basket and they let it go.

CW – came alive with her shot after two horrible misses in the beginning. So explosive. Great finisher and got wacked one time with no foul. She needs to continue to take and hit 3s so it opens up the penetration for her. Teams know she is having problems shooting and they also know she can explode by them if they play too close. She just needs to hit her 3s to make them play her honest. This will open up the rest of her game. Some games she may have 10 open 3s, some maybe half that. She needs to take them…all of them. I just can’t believe she can’t hit them at 35-40% rate when she is wide open (even though past history says she can’t). She should not take any 3s if she has to rush them, only when she is in rhythm and wide open.

Saylor – starting to feel a bit more comfortable with some spunk to her game.

 

[jazz]

My 2 cents on posts and wings:

EW – good floor game and only one ‘what the heck’ moment. Still needs to score though.

Liv – how can you ever miss 3 FTs in a row? Anyway, she played confident as she usually does when she has the size advantage. Just needs to get tougher and handle better competition. Very good game.

AE – starting to play a consistent 20-25 min a game now. First off the bench. Getting better and better. That steal and lay-in was incredible for a player her size. Has really quick feet and starting to put it together…and just in time.

AG – has some good moments. Still not scoring as much as I thought she might.

PG – this kid has some skills. She did some things in this game like score, block shots, intimidate other shots and set some good picks. She showed out in her few minutes. I wonder if GA gives her a bit more in the future – I thinks she could at least rebound, play defense, set picks and intimidate shots. She seems to know the offense as well. A few more minutes could be in store for her.

 

[MSGRET]

My 2 cents on posts and wings:

EW – good floor game and only one ‘what the heck’ moment. Still needs to score though.

Liv – how can you ever miss 3 FTs in a row? Anyway, she played confident as she usually does when she has the size advantage. Just needs to get tougher and handle better competition. Very good game.

EW – starting to play a consistent 20-25 min a game now. First off the bench. Getting better and better. That steal and lay-in was incredible for a player her size. Has really quick feet and starting to put it together…and just in time.

AG – has some good moments. Still not scoring as much as I thought she might.

PG – this kid has some skills. She did some things in this game like score, block shots, intimidate other shots and set some good picks. She showed out in her few minutes. I wonder if GA gives her a bit more in the future – I thinks she could at least rebound, play defense, set picks and intimidate shots. She seems to know the offense as well. A few more minutes could be in store for her.

I believe you meant to say AE and not EW.

 

[Fore!]

I'm glad she took my advice. "She should shoot 2-4 3PTers per game, selected pull up jumpers, and the balance transition and dribble drive layups. With Paige, Evina, and Nika's passing skills she should get plenty of layups off of cuts, backdoors, and pick and rolls."

Add ONO to the list of good passers,.

 

[FridaFriend]

Geno gave credit to Jamelle for a great job scouting St. Johns.

I think that a lot of St. John's playing poorly on offense was due to great defense by UCONN. I believe Geno said as much. They couldn't run their stuff because UCONN was continually touching the ball and disrupting any offensive flow. The UCONN defense was a beauty to behold.

 

[RedStickHusky]

NM – another good floor game but at some point that might not be enough. Needs to give us 5- points a game. Great passer. I don’t agree with Meg’s comments. NM did a good job on defense. She got beat a few times as all freshman do. The problem with NM is that she plays face-up D all day long. She gives no room between her and the player she is guarding. She plays so close she could tell us what toothpaste the player uses. Notice how PB gives a little room so she doesn’t get beat. Any player and that means any player, who plays so close-up like NM does will get beat a few times a game. Poor kid gets called for the ticky tacky fouls and then gets hit on way to the basket and they let it go.

Her off ball defense is phenomenal. On-ball, I agree she's trying to body up 25 feet out, not giving herself any space to cut off angles. Still on my second watch I was looking for all these blow-bys and didn't really see them except when she got burned reaching in. Bodying up on the perimeter though, does seem to get her a lot of her fouls. She's solid on defense IMO. On offense, she seems to be in love with the highlight reel pass... get too deep on a 2-1, get the ball up on the rim - don't throw a pass away. Also, make your decisions in transition quicker; can't get to the rim without a plan. Don't know why she can't seem to draw a foul. I would never teach flopping but maybe you can't act like you don't feel it when you get fouled.
I think Geno's decided that Nika at the point is good for Paiges game, so she's going to get minutes - minutes that would probably go to Aubrey otherwise...

 

[MooseJaw]

I’m hoping the errant passes and reluctance to drive the lane are things that Nika will address over the summer as she enters her second season.

I’m counting on all of our freshmen knowing the system and raising their level of play next year. Because of the head start Saylor got this year, I expect her to contribute as much as the players who will be sophomores next season.

Speaking of Saylor, I enjoyed seeing her under the bucket playing good defense and scoring down low. She flashed us more of her skill set, much more than just a mad bomber from the 3. I look forward to her maturing into a good player. Heck she's just a baby playing with the big kids.