St Johns Postgame Thread

[jazz]

I believe you meant to say AE and not EW.

duly noted and corrected MSGRET!

 

[jazz]

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...

Good points Red. I meant to write this up this morning and instead had to wait until after work and forgot a few things in the process. She does seem to love the look away pass. Not only that, but sometimes she passes the ball in traffic to somebody who has no chance to do anything with it. Once to PB and I think the other was to AE. Great passes mean nothing if the player receiving them is in a bad position or blocked in my the baseline and/or the defense.

She is tenacious and a bit too much for her own good.

 

[JoePgh]

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.

I know it's unfair to evaluate Saylor when she should still be in high school and when she hasn't had a summer to play and drill against college-level players, BUT ...

Someone here said that she is noted in high school for effective perimeter defense. That was definitely not in evidence in her minutes against St. John's. Red Stormers blew by her easily enough to make Nika look like Tiffany Hayes by comparison. She doesn't seem accustomed to moving her feet on defense to keep fast players in front of her, and that cost her two fouls (and maybe she should have had a third) in five minutes in the game.

To some extent, that technique can be learned, and I'm sure she will do that before the start of her actual freshman year. But I don't think she will ever be as skilled as Aubrey or Mir at defending fast guards.

 

[dragon]

Geno might see Saylor as a better all around player than Mir and get her off the bench ahead of her.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Geno might see Saylor as a better all around player than Mir and get her off the bench ahead of her.

Saylor has more potential to bring something we're missing. Mir's a little redundant to Aubrey.

 

[dragon]

Next year i can see Nika playing 5 minutes a game and Caroline Ducharme coming in for Paige and CW.

 

[dragon]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

 

[Ozimoto]

Well aren't you a bundle of joy...

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

Are you basing that off her 14 minutes of court time with little practice as a 17-year-old?

 

[huskeynut]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

Fortunately for UConn, Nika and Saylor, you are not the coach.

 

[hart2hart]

dragon, I think you need a new RX in your glasses.
Seriously.......

 

[Childhood]

Nika needs to shoot more. Dont lose confidence. Defense is good but offense may hurt the team.

 

[Dokey]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

She’s a high school girl adjusting to being suddenly on the floor with the best players in the country. Right now she isn’t totally comfortable trying to pick up offensive and defensive strategies after only a few days practicing and playing with team. Everyone else has been doing that for months. A few minutes here and there will help ease that stiffness.

 

[Papa33]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

I was watching Saylor closely when she was on defense, particularly her man-ball positioning. That is, picking her defensive position so that she could see both where the ball was and where her "man" was, and it was quite apparent that she tried to position herself to prevent cuts to the basket or open cuts toward the ball. That shows some defensive savvy. I did not see enough to know how quick she is. I'm waiting for more visual data. I think you should hold off your judgment until you see more also.

 

[Cuango]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

“That’s way harsh, Tai.”
She was praised as a potentially great role player by at least one recruiting service. I predict you will eat those words before the end of next season!

 

[kteach]

Saylor has just joined the team, and we just finished a stretch of 5 games back to back with no true practices in between those games. Would love to know the actual number of full practices she has been a part of since joining the team. I would bet the number is low. Because of this, I'm not real concerned about the fact she might have looked a little lost. She'll pick it up the more she practices with the team.

 

[Martin]

You don’t need to score to be effective, and Evina was extremely effective tonight with 8 rbs, 7 ast, 2 steals & a block. I am absolutely positive that Geno would have the same assessment of Evina’s game tonight.

Not saying its by design but these are Anna stats. Passing, rebounding, steals, low shooting attempts, while others focus on scoring as they may get the better looks.

 

[Crossover]

Saylor looks like a slow stiff end of the bench player that Geno brought in for her personality like he did Kyra Irwin. I can't see her ever getting in a game in the first half.

Congratulations! You are my fastest "Ignore" ever.

 

[MSGRET]

Congratulations! You are my fastest "Ignore" ever.

I could have sworn that you had one a while back that was less than 8 hours.

 

[freshler40]

I was watching Saylor closely when she was on defense, particularly her man-ball positioning. That is, picking her defensive position so that she could see both where the ball was and where her "man" was, and it was quite apparent that she tried to position herself to prevent cuts to the basket or open cuts toward the ball. That shows some defensive savvy. I did not see enough to know how quick she is. I'm waiting for more visual data. I think you should hold off your judgment until you see more also.

The coaches tend to put defensive ability first on this team so that is the key for playing minutes and Saylor seems to know that. Piath also showed some bright minutes with two blocks, one sliding over to cover Saylor who got beat. Hope they both get a serious look. It isn't easy for taller players when many offenses are geared to running the court but both look to be able to fit into this approach. When they were recruited, they made the hurdle!

 

[ScottCT]

Just ignore @dragon. It's the same person who was saying that Caitlin Clark was way better than Paige and that Paige has no chance to win any awards over Clark in the next four years. This person is not a uconn fan and just constantly says negative things about the program.

 

[HopJim]

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...

Would add that the current UConn defense, where typically ONO plays up at the foul line and doubles the guard with the ball, has been very disruptive since Geno installed it. Nika in particular has benefited since she is not a strong one on one defender but anticipates well on double teams. In the games where UConn was forced to go to a more standard half court defense with less switches, typically Aubrey and/or Edwards come in with ONO, Paige, Evina, and Williams.

 

[Littlemin]

Not saying its by design but these are Anna stats. Passing, rebounding, steals, low shooting attempts, while others focus on scoring as they may get the better looks.

So, maybe, Westbrook realized how important it is to have that type of glue player to maximize team performance and consciously filled that void; emphasis on maybe. Anyway, many fans count points and decide if a player had a good game or not. Case in point, Williams vs. St. John’s; BY FAR the most impressive part of that game was her defense on Correa; she was committed to stopping her from the jump and completely took her out of the game. Hopefully that commitment becomes her MO, if so that bodes very well going into the tournament; offense can come and go, defense should be forever.

 

[BBallF]

So, maybe, Westbrook realized how important it is to have that type of glue player to maximize team performance and consciously filled that void; emphasis on maybe. Anyway, many fans count points and decide if a player had a good game or not. Case in point, Williams vs. St. John’s; BY FAR the most impressive part of that game was her defense on Correa; she was committed to stopping her from the jump and completely took her out of the game. Hopefully that commitment becomes her MO, if so that bodes very well going into the tournament; offense can come and go, defense should be forever.

It may also be a lack of confidence in her shot at the same time. We also don't know how her knee is feeling but there is clearly a change in what she is doing and looking to do offensively since the beginning of the year. She makes a large impact just with her floor game but my point is that she should not give up open shots unless there is a better one that she can make a pass for such as an open 3 for Paige versus one for her or a lay up for ONO versus a 6 foot jumper for her. We will need 5 cylinders going on offense in the Big Dance. I think she is still not 100% and may not be this year. I would just like to see more shots by her and Nika too as we go forward now so other teams cannot concentrate on only 3 of us on defense. We have to remember that this is E's first full season in two years and it is a very draining one at that. There have been many instances where players need 2 seasons not 1 to get back to close to where they were before their surgery, in this case surgeries.

 

[Littlemin]

It may also be a lack of confidence in her shot at the same time. We also don't know how her knee is feeling but there is clearly a change in what she is doing and looking to do offensively since the beginning of the year. She makes a large impact just with her floor game but my point is that she should not give up open shots unless there is a better one that she can make a pass for such as an open 3 for Paige versus one for her or a lay up for ONO versus a 6 foot jumper for her. We will need 5 cylinders going on offense in the Big Dance. I think she is still not 100% and may not be this year. I would just like to see more shots by her and Nika too as we go forward now so other teams cannot concentrate on only 3 of us on defense. We have to remember that this is E's first full season in two years and it is a very draining one at that. There have been many instances where players need 2 seasons not 1 to get back to close to where they were before their surgery, in this case surgeries.

Well, you are kind of proving my point; you seem to want to brush off the major impact she had on the game because she didn’t score. As for the tournament, if teams decide to scheme to stop particular players, it is not like they are going to change their minds because Westbrook or Muhl take a couple more shots in games that very likely will not be close. Right now, scheming will obviously focus on Bueckers, teams already don‘t cover Ono unless she posts up and pretty much give Williams all the three‘s she wants. IMO, Uconn will win or lose based on their defense, not their offense.