St Johns Postgame Thread

[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.

 

[BobbyJ]

Congratulations! You are my fastest "Ignore" ever.

He has also inflated my already voluminous list.

 

[BBallF]

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.

You misunderstood. I said she makes a large impact just with her floor game. That plus her leadership is why she is on the court. We are very lucky to have her. She actually is very talented offensively. I am saying something different. If you don't shoot regularly, when it comes to a game or game where you have to shoot, it becomes an issue. That is why I raised the confidence question. She seems to have deferred more than usual in the last several games. We are going to play teams in the tourney that are going to be able to score on us and we have to score also to win. You will not be able to shut down an NC State or a Louisville or a Stanford with your defense like you can a St. John's or Xavier. Notice I left Georgetown out because of the first half of our last game with them where our offense then was very stalled and our defense was not like it was against the Johnnies. In order to offset the other team's scoring, we have to have 5 players involved in the offense. That means if Paige is doubled or tripled and there is a kick, we can hit the shot and that the other players are a threat to keep their defense honest. Of course they are still going to do what you say when defending our 3 main scorers but the issue is will Nika and Evina be effective when they are the open ones to shoot. I think they can't wait until then but have to consistently shoot now during these other games. If you think it is not a potential problem to have Nika and Evina not shooting and scoring then I just disagree.

 

[MSGRET]

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 wasn't just CW who guarded Correa, Paige also was very good in stopping her. Correa may have gone scoreless if it hadn't been for the sloppy pass that Evina had when she tried to get the ball to Liv. Correa got her only 2 points on the breakaway steal.

 

[Littlemin]

It wasn't just CW who guarded Correa, Paige also was very good in stopping her. Correa may have gone scoreless if it hadn't been for the sloppy pass that Evina had when she tried to get the ball to Liv. Correa got her only 2 points on the breakaway steal.

You know, I am going to give up; Williams covered Correa, Auriemma commented it was her assignment in his post game. Yes, Uconn sometimes switched and Muhl, Westbrook and Bueckers also covered her at times, as I am sure so did Ono or Griffin and Edwards. But yes, let’s make sure a thread doesn’t go by without Bueckers being given credit for something.