St Johns Postgame Thread

[Littlemin]

Calling his team out in the presser isn’t new behavior from Geno, it’s actually something he did about 15-20 years ago. He knows his players and knows how they respond to challenges. He’s actually spoken about not being able to challenge teams in the recent past, that young people had changed and they didn’t react well to criticism. As a result, we got the kinder, gentler Geno - and no championships.

This year’s team is different and has looked so much like “classic” UConn teams of old. Through the first 24-25 games of the season, the Huskies showed incredible mental toughness and resilience, the last few games, not so much. I’m actually encouraged that Geno is calling them out because he already knows how his team will respond. I take it as a sign that he’s sure they’ll rise up again. When you get the - “They tried, it wasn’t enough. We’ll be back when everyone is healthy, blah blah blah” it’s time to call it a season but, I’m not ready to do so yet.

We just disagree then; as I said, I just don’t buy the “psychology“ angle. They have stopped scoring, plain and simple, and “calling them out” on effort is not going to make them shoot better. They got good shots tonight and missed too many of them, it is easy to equate poor shooting with poor play or lack of effort but I just don’t see that at all from the team.

 

[Cornell Lt]

Not sure why anyone would be surprised by the result of tonight's game, Geno kind of for shadowed what the next three games would be like.

 

[jdote33]

Tough loss. But it is a two team sport. Credit to St John's. They had started out the season so well, and we trounced them on their homecourt early on. This is a big comeback win for them.

I'm a super big Caroline fan, and happy to see her get minutes but I do think her coming back kinda got Aubrey out of rhythm. For Caroline to shoot 11 shots in 22 minutes and Aubrey to shoot 4 in 27 is a bit concerning. Caroline can be a bit over aggressive. It was tough to see her get blocked and miss at the rim. She also grabbed her head at one point when she missed a bunny. I'd rather the team "force" feed Lou or Dorka, instead of forcing it to a player coming off a pretty serious injury.

Azzi early on in the season, half-jokingly commented that last year she felt embarrassed that they were the worst UConn team ever... Obviously it was a bit of a hyperbole, and the team has competed really well but if Azzi doesn't come back...

 

[Littlemin]

Where have you been? What he's been dealing with this year the team has done remarkably well. 2 of the best #1 picks hurt on the bench. Very little supporting cast. In and out injuries. And we still gave SC all they could handle. If you know Coach you know he always has a purpose to his comments when it comes to motivating the team. He knows what buttons to push and has done it many times.

Who was talking about the season? I am referring to his post game comments on THIS game. Or was the comment on them going from warriors to bums in a single game too much for you to understand?

 

[CTinLA]

Maybe I should have been expecting this after some of the recent games, but I really wasn’t. Missing that many shots from less than 3 feet was inexplicable. I know that Aaliyah had a slump in both her freshman and sophomore seasons, but this season the drop off in her play between the first 20 games and the past nine is dramatic. As much as I want her to break out of this slump, I’m sure she wants out of it a lot more. Instead of long slumps, the other players seem to vary significantly from one game to the next. Too many struggled tonight for us to pull it out. I know that fatigue has set in for everyone, but fatigue doesn’t explain everything. The defensive effort was solid at times, but SJ got too many open looks and too many second chances. Credit to them for taking advantage of the opportunities.

Aside from the nice start to the second half, there wasn’t much to like about this game. I hope everyone can put this behind them, take advantage of 3 days rest, and move on to the next one.

 

[amishboy]

We need stronger starts to games, missing so many layups and lack of early offensive rebounding hurts. Our play is casual, lacks focus or takes for granted our being superior. Hard to watch. We are an easy read by having our point guard being the only one dribbling over half-court going into a glacier style offensive, nothing creative. We seemed to play better late in the second qtr when others brought the ball up. Some of our potential fast breaks never finish as we revert to a half-court offense. Were much better than this as we play down to other teams.

Maybe it doesn’t make sense to push the pace, when your starters are playing too many minutes and you only have a couple players to give them some rest?

 

[AJay11]

Wow. Geno really laid into the team in the post game press conference. Good for him. There is no way we should have lost to a very mediocre SJ team at home. Unacceptable. Hopefully, this will spark the team to another FF run.

I hope this is the spark! The Marquette loss I credited to exhaustion, but this game...for the first time all year I did not think they played like a unit who wanted to win until...it was too late. I watched the Standford game last night, and Stanford was definitely struggling, but they gritted it out at the end (granted they did have one spark off the bench). I was hoping we would peform the same way or at least have the refs ignore a foul in our favor as they did in the SC-Ole Miss game. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I haven't rewatched the game yet, but AE was playing hard in the 4th and Lou looked to be the only who was animated and avoided the foul plague. She also seems to have figured out how to handle some of the pressure directed toward her which I thought would spark our offense, but...we missed sooo many lay-ups. I truly want to know why Lou wasn't getting the ball every play in the last few seconds. She was getting shirt yanked (aka fouled) again, but every other player's shot (I'm sorry for my lack of faith), I prayed for it to find the basket. People will be mad at Geno, but honestly I was beyond baffled at this loss. Yes, the team is tired, but the Uconn squad is a better team, but I don't know if the confidence and spirit was there beyond a couple of players.

 

[Blueballer]

Who was talking about the season? I am referring to his post game comments on THIS game. Or was the comment on them going from warriors to bums in a single game too much for you to understand?

We just strongly disagree on his motivations, is that too hard for you to understand?

BTW, I didn't hear his exact comments. Did he actually use the words "Bums"? Because I doubt it.

 

[Urshurak]

Thank goodness Morgan found Lou or we could be going to the NIT

With the injuries and fatigue, I bet UConn would decline the invite.

 

[maple]

Don’t forget Stewie’s freshman year. That was kind of a magical fix.

It was! I’ll give you that. But I feel like a lot of that was on Stewie just getting her head right. And it’s not easy for a player to sort themselves out and do what she did.

 

[amishboy]

Where have you been? What he's been dealing with this year the team has done remarkably well. 2 of the best #1 picks hurt on the bench. Very little supporting cast. In and out injuries. And we still gave SC all they could handle. If you know Coach you know he always has a purpose to his comments when it comes to motivating the team. He knows what buttons to push and has done it many times.

The injuries have been devastating, but maybe Geno bears some responsibility for “very little supporting cast,” especially at this point in the season. I would’ve hoped, in dealing with season-long injuries, there would be an alternative to what seems to simply be, “play the starters until they drop.”

 

[hookshot]

This team is exhausted. The play is lethargic missing several lay ups and playing soft undisciplined defense. They showed against SC and Villanova what they can do, now it is up to the coach to make sure he rests them enough to finish the season strong. It is telling when his team is playing like they did tonight and he still didn't put his bench in so his starters could watch a little ball and get their focus.

Geno is funny to me. Most of the time he is a genius and at others he completely ignores what he sees on the floor. This team is capable of beating any team in the country but they will only do it if they get meaningful contributions from players that aren't playing right now. The hourglass is getting low so it will be interesting to see where they go from here.

How can you dream of meaningful contributions from the bench, when Ayanna had no one at all between her and the basket tonight and still inexplicably passed the ball away. Geno gave the bench their opportunities tonight, and Amari did have a couple positives on defense, but nothing that would convince anyone to leave them in. . Maybe they could have been given a little more opportunity earlier in the year, but don't expect to see them going forward in games that are being decided by a few points. Unless you are bringing some points with you when you enter the game from the bench, you are not going to be the answer

 

[maple]

@boontonbomber He wasn’t speaking about just this team specifically but every team. I’ve heard him make these exact comments before in seasons that were much less perilous. What he said is true. He used the example of bad FT shooting % — if you are shooting only 50% consistently by now you probably aren’t going to start making 90% in every March game.

 

[kenja]

Charlie Creme just moved LSU to the last #1 seed. The #2 seeds are Maryland, Utah, UCONN, & Iowa.
He would have moved Iowa to #1 with a win, but Maryland trounced them tonight.

That whole exercise was silly when ESPN started it before conference play even started and it's just as silly with conference tournaments + 2-3 regular season games to play. After South Carolina, Indiana and Stanford you could justify or deride about 10 other teams for the last #1 seed. LSU included.

 

[maple]

We just disagree then; as I said, I just don’t buy the “psychology“ angle. They have stopped scoring, plain and simple, and “calling them out” on effort is not going to make them shoot better. They got good shots tonight and missed too many of them, it is easy to equate poor shooting with poor play or lack of effort but I just don’t see that at all from the team.

Effort is mental as much as physical. There were many mental lapses tonight.

 

[boontonbomber]

Maybe we're just getting that more competitive Big East that everyone's been hoping for. A lot of these teams really do look well coached, and much improved. I hope that continues; the BE tourney could be very interesting.

 

[msf22b]

This team has had their spirits broken, and I don't know there is a fix this season. Praying that Azzi coming back (maybe) could help (possibly). Frustrating for everyone I'm sure.

Remember Eric,
I warned against expecting piecemeal replacements changing the direction of the season. It still concerns me...If Paige and Azzi could return...ok...Not going to happen

And yesterday (day before?) in the AP top 25 thread, I again warned against excessive exuberance.

Like most, I did not anticipate this loss, but Cat is right, for now, the pressure of essentially playing 5 - then 6...and leaving the kids on the bench, regardless of the obvious deterioration of the starters ability to continue to function at the level that they and we are accustomed, has now become a near crisis.

Where some were starting threads this week that UConn should be in the top 5,
A more realistic treading might inquire as to what (if anything) the staff and players can do to make a a decent showing in the upcoming tourneys.

I have not heard it expressed here...but is it possible that resentment is building within the entire body of the team as to why Geno hasn't given the young uns more playing time so that they (by this time) might have been actually useful in a competitive game situ..and offer some relief to the starters.

I thought playing just 6 when Caroline came back was a terrible mistake...and that approach essentially continued through tonight.

You can ruin a horse by over using him...this team is facing physical, mental and the weight of expectations and is drained.

Geno often speaks of that special, UConn pressure that the young woman sign up for.

They didn't sign up for this.

 

[amishboy]

Calling his team out in the presser isn’t new behavior from Geno, it’s something he did about 15-20 years ago. He knows his players and knows how they respond to challenges. He’s actually spoken about not being able to challenge teams in the recent past, that young people had changed and they didn’t react well to criticism. As a result, we got the kinder, gentler Geno - and no championships.

This year’s team is different and has looked so much like “classic” UConn teams of old. Through the first 24-25 games of the season, the Huskies showed incredible mental toughness and resilience, the last few games, not so much. I’m actually encouraged that Geno is calling them out because he already knows how his team will respond. I take it as a sign that he’s sure they’ll rise up again. When you get the - “They tried, it wasn’t enough. We’ll be back when everyone is healthy, blah blah blah” it’s time to call it a season but, I’m not ready to do so yet.

I hope you’re right, because I gotta say that it reminds me a little of “the beatings will continue until morale improves.” I think this team resembles “classic” UConn teams when it’s led by 2 or 3 AAs (e.g., PB and ), complimented by other talented players. Instead, they’ve persevered mightily without PB and , but it’s finally caught up to them.

 

[jaydee602]

That whole exercise was silly when ESPN started it before conference play even started and it's just as silly with conference tournaments + 2-3 regular season games to play. After South Carolina, Indiana and Stanford you could justify or deride about 10 other teams for the last #1 seed. LSU included.

Good call! Maryland fans are trashing Charlie for placing LSU instead of the Terps as the #1 seed.
Charlie tried to justify his decision by claiming that Maryland only had 3 top ten victories. That's an illogical, weak argument considering LSU has only played & hasn't beaten one Top 20 team, and Maryland fans let him know it!!

 

[hookshot]

Charlie Creme just moved LSU to the last #1 seed. The #2 seeds are Maryland, Utah, UCONN, & Iowa.
He would have moved Iowa to #1 with a win, but Maryland trounced them tonight.

Makes sense. Uconn should aspire to be the top second seed in order to match up with the fourth " 1 seed (LSU) because they can beat LSU

 

[Ardenque]

Geno seems to really be calling out his team in his presser, instead of the toughest team that he called them earlier in the season, with not much mention of being tired, physically or mentally. He said today's game is more physical than Creighton and Villanova game and the players just did not respond. I did not think today's game is anywhere near as physical as the other two. That presser certainly has a very different feel but he did give a lot of credit to St John's. Can't wait to hear what Nika has to say next if they will carry it.

He threw his team under the proverbial bus.
Nothing can be fixed, so no more practices for the rest of the year?

 

[maple]

UConn recruits the kids that usually can handle the pressure. We got lucky on a grad transfer or we could have been a 500 team this year. We may have ( I hope not ) missed on some recruits - Ayanna - Amari and Ines.
They could not really perform when it was next player up. Top 25 players can be hit or miss in the UConn program.

To be fair to Ines, she came into the pre-season basically at the last second. I feel expectations were lower for her than Amari and Ayanna. Especially Amari, as she’s a sophomore — she’s the most disappointing one of the three for me because of that.

I never expected any of them to be THE star but it’s just disappointing that you can’t even expect a sophomore to give some meaningful minutes off the bench.

 

[uconnfan68]

CD figured out a rotation when she filled in and they scored more than 70. — it is time to make adjustments. If Geno is still the goat he will ask for input and make some changes. Need Tina Charles to work with Dorka down low

CD picked softer opponents.

 

[Longtime fan]

At some point, fans (and perhaps the team) need to realize that the issues with this team can not be explained with either "more rest" or "Azzi getting back". There are fundmental problems with this team that Geno/the coaches will need to figure out or they'll be out before the Sweet 16, let alone the Final 4.

The Big East has figured out Geno's offense. Geno needs to figure out what to do because the game plan against UCONN is now set in stone.

No team that even hopes to win a national championship is so bad with turnovers. Bringing back Fudd will fix it.

There are no easy games left. None. This team needs to figure out an answer or things will be over very early.

Don't we pay Xavier? That has to qualify as an easy game. But we can't miss 9 out of 10 lay-ups against them and win.