St Johns Postgame Thread

[browns]

You called it. Was looking for a stress free break (Finally )
They need our support more than ever
We have to be careful
l love Meg but There were times when she was annoying me and she was just doing her job

I used to like meg a lot but she was annoying the last few games

 

[SARG 2011]

Iowa getting curb stomped as we speak but do I think their season is over? No I do not. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, one game at a time. The BE championship is still there for the taking.

 

[hayman522]

Patterson and DeBerry played 2 minutes a piece all game?!? That shows how much Geno thinks of them as contributors. Disappointed in their lack of progress, especially with AP.

Totally agree what have you got to lose when all your other players are exhausted Geno is very stubborn. Deberry came in for 2 productive minutes never came in again.

 

[Topdawg]

St John’s came to win and they did! Was a tough loss for UConn.
1. They won the rebound battle.
2. They had one more field goal, one more three pointer, and two more free throws. Overall, our performance a little below the level they played. Sadly, that was way below what we typically play.
3. We allowed them to take 18 threes, many of them uncontested. They scored 9. Normally they would have scored 6. Our defense looked lost for significant periods when we allowed them to come back or streak ahead.
4. Team did look very tired. They seem to have the mental energy only for every other game.

Lou had a strong outing. Aaliyah had a double double but was well below her scoring output. Dorka had strong stretches interspersed with slow segments. Aubrey and Caroline had sub par days. Nika scored more than she does and her early fouls hampered her assist performance. Amari had a good showing with two blocks.

Onward to the next game. With several days of rest, I hope the team will come back with energy to close out and win the season.


We may drop a few spots in the rankings and become a 2 seed on the Indiana/Stanford side of the bracket. This may be a blessing in disguise. St John’s may get included in the big dance.

 

[BRS24]

Iowa getting curb stomped as we speak but do I think their season is over? No I do not. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, one game at a time. The BE championship is still there for the taking.

And Villanova ekes out a W vs DePaul 67-64

 

[SLY63]

We probably drop to 8 or 9 in the polls. And I am not sure how this team wins 3 games in 3 days in the BE tourney against G'Town/Prov, Marquette/St John's and Nova/Creighton.

 

[tchalla1]

How much was tonight's outcome on the Players getting outplayed or Geno getting out-coached?

I'm not sure being out-coached was the primary factor in the loss: UConn missed far too many bunnies, were out-hustled and out-rebounded and once more, too many senseless turnovers... Coaching was not the issue.

 

[Centerstream]

Anyone else think that the Technical foul on Aaliyah was like a punch in the gut that we couldn't come back from, emotionally and mentally?

 

[jaydee602]

Yeah it's difficult to pin much blame on CD, given the injury she's been dealing with (and subsequent blows to the face/head since coming back).

No blame aimed at Caroline. She has a big heart & is to be admired.
But if she is still suffering effects of another blow to the head, why was she playing at crunch time. Especially after seeing her miss badly most of the game.

 

[SJF]

Fear. Patterson had a layup and froze, then passed.

Fear of getting jerked out for making a mistake. Hard to play always looking over your shoulder.

 

[Centerstream]

I'm not sure being out-coached was the primary factor in the loss: UConn missed far too many bunnies, were out-hustled and out-rebounded and once more, too many senseless turnovers... Coaching was not the issue.

And I believe going into the 4th quarter we had single digit TOs. But could be mistaken.

 

[maple]

Iowa getting curb stomped as we speak but do I think their season is over? No I do not. Heading into the final stretch of the regular season, one game at a time. The BE championship is still there for the taking.

At least Iowa is losing to the 7th ranked team in the nation. We got outplayed on every level by a team that probably wouldn't even win the WNIT.

 

[Ron and Vida]

How did Amari, with an open shot from 4 feet away, miss the rim?

By not playing enough minutes to put the Freshman heebie jeebies in your rear window

 

[tchalla1]

Geno missed about 20 layups?

Exactly. How do you strategize and/or draw up schemes for all the missed layups?

 

[Centerstream]

No blame aimed at Caroline. She has a big heart & is to be admired.
But if she is still suffering effects of another blow to the head, why was she playing at crunch time. Especially after seeing her miss badly most of the game.

Geno trusts her come crunch time.

 

[wingsfan055]

Another sub-40% shooting night. If someone could do the math on FG% the last 8 games or so vs. first 20 games, I think it will be eye opening.

 

[oldude]

And I believe going into the 4th quarter we had single digit TOs. But could be mistaken.

UConn had 12 for the game, 4 less than their average, but everyone of them hurt…

 

[wingsfan055]

We were out-rebounded by 5 at home against SJ?!? That might be the most stunning stat.

 

[SJF]

Not having a PG that can breakdown a defender and get to the bucket is the biggest problem on offense.

 

[Centerstream]

UConn had 12 for the game, 4 less than their average, but everyone of them hurt…

Thanks, I haven't seen the box score yet (meaning I have not looked at it )

 

[maple]

Fear of getting jerked out for making a mistake. Hard to play always looking over your shoulder.

Honestly it's not like they're jostling to be the 6th man off the bench. Maybe take the opportunity to play with a bit of confidence like you feel you belong to be out there. What does it matter if they make a mistake at this point, they weren't going to play a lot anyway.

 

[Centerstream]

Not having a PG that can breakdown a defender and get to the bucket is the biggest problem on offense.

How many points did our PG score tonight? Asking for a friend.

 

[SEbluebood]

How did Amari, with an open shot from 4 feet away, miss the rim?

The same way Caroline missed the rim and Dorka clanked a layup off the backboard without hitting the rim. It happens to everyone!

 

[bantamlaker]

Many posts mentioning mental fatigue, pressure, lack of joy, etc. I assume there is a good sports psychologist affiliated with the team. Geno needs to make use of him or her now.

 

[Blue Huskie]

By not playing enough minutes to put the Freshman heebie jeebies in your rear window

Amazing how you can blame a kid shooting an airball from 4 feet square on Geno. Congrats.

 

[pvdoggy]

Did Geno just call out the team for coming out of the game like they are entitled to the BE championship? Oh boy.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Many posts mentioning mental fatigue, pressure, lack of joy, etc. I assume there is a good sports psychologist affiliated with the team. Geno needs to make use of him or her now.

Actually Geno IS a pretty good psychologist in his own right. But there are only so many things you can do with this team. We have the two of the top players in the country out of action.

 

[freshler40]

I know this team is tired both mentally and physically- but I would have liked to see this team try and change the pace of the game. Maybe some full court pressure with Aubrey up top. I get the tired but already mentioned UConn traditionally played only 7 or 8 players. Seeing the same pace all game was frustrating.

We are playing to the other team's music. This only changed with our 5 minute spurt at the start of the second half. Our game starts have been too slow due to missed layups off of great set-ups. This is what hurts. Too many badly missed layups early in the games. We don't set the pace and are often playing on the wrong side of the clock like today. St John had a good game plan and pace and were able to perform. We played disinterested for much of the game.

 

[Yukon]

Fear of getting jerked out for making a mistake. Hard to play always looking over your shoulder.

Agree! Let her play! Look what happens when Chris Dailey is in charge...players that normally fear getting yanked after one bad play get to stay in and play on

 

[dtbtbtb]

Few Thoughts:
*Congrats to St. John. They deserved to win!
*UConn at this point is not a top 10 team...typically at this point of the season, UConn will be playing better and better...not this season.
*Tired (and probably injured) team but should have not lose to St. John at home...
*Dorka: have no idea where she was mentally but she was not in this game. So many mistakes...
*AE: somewhere developed bad hands and in ability to dribble...sad when just thinking of how good she was in the first few months of the season.
*Lou: probably the best UConn player today but even she seemed tired with short arming shots.
*AE: didn't provide much today.
*Nika: those 3 fouls in the first half were not good as UConn got huge issues without her running the show. Lou and/or CD are not PG's
*CD: a totally forgettable game. was blocked about 3 times and continued to shoot and shoot and shoot without being able to hit anything. Maybe the problem was that she hit her first shot so after that was just thinking that even as she misses she'll make the net one...
*Amari and AP: not much to say about them in those few minutes they played.
*Geno: looks distressed with a lot of negative body language and i'm sure this impacts the players in a bad way.
*The only hope for this team to get anywhere in the NCAA is a return of Azzi as it will reduce the pressure on all of them and will provide them with confidence knowing that they have such an amazing weapon playing.
*Unfortunate if Azzi can't play, this team could very well lose in the semi-final of final of the Big East tournament and lose in the second round of the NCAA as i don't see how no break between first and second game in the Big East or 1 day in between games in the NCAA first and second round, will work for this tired team...if a Marquette or a St. John can beat UConn, an 8 or 9 seed can do same. to a tied UConn team.