St John's Postgame Thread

[ABCDFE]

I haven’t watched the game. But 71 points against St John’s is worrisome. I know Geno is letting the bench play more but again this competition we have to be better offensively, no?

 

[WiseWillie]

Maybe it's just me but it seems every game there is a different squad on the floor at different times. Of course there's always a need to rest players and to protect them if in foul trouble, but the in and out so far doesn't seem that. It seems to be more experimenting with lineups.

It might be the same or almost same starting five but then from there it becomes a game of flip flop with subs coming in and out. Cohesiveness? In tonights game the in and out of players shows itself with the pitiful low scoring 2nd quarter. What is that supposed to teach a team? That playing around with the lineup can cause disruption and lack of cohesion? Its the middle of January. It might be time to settle and stay with it unless there's a good reason not to, not just to continue experimenting.

 

[packwrap]

We keep hearing, “the end of January.” Aubrey does warm up with the team and she is practicing. As far as the Seton Hall game, I’m just hoping…..

It is her favorite opponent.

 

[maple]

I’ll preface this with I’m glad it’s a win.

After doing better on 3PT shooting % in the last few games, we revert back to shooting poorly from the arc. I really hate that this keeps happening. I guess it doesn’t matter as much as long as we keep rebounding well and/or making baskets consistently inside the arc, but it’s still worrisome. It has definitely affected us in big games already and will continue to do.

Felt like we coasted for a lot of the game. Still seems like Geno is mixing and matching lineups and far be for me to question a HOF coach, but I kind of would prefer a more solid rotation at this point. I don’t know. I think sometimes it really messes up our offensive flow, however. We keep having these scoring droughts and cannot play a solid four quarters.

I was mostly impressed with the improvement in Jana’s play tonight, but I have to agree with Meg’s in game comment that she needed to stop looking for the refs for whistles (when they clearly were not going to call some of the physicality).

Sarah had a quiet night but Azzi, Shade, and Paige all scored in double digits. Also shoutout to Morgan for 7 points. I think she’s going to be vital for us moving forward so she hopefully will continue to be a solid bench player. Interesting that the bucket to assist ratio was 2:1.

I saw on Twitter that someone mentioned they felt like this year the team seems more “blah” in games at times because the past few years they were always crippled due to injury and so every game felt that much more critical. I think I’m inclined to agree.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

There wasn't the big score for Azzi tonite, but her decisiveness and speed were really impressive. And the youngsters continue to impress. I'm starting to feel Morgan will spend much of her career as an ace. I'm starting to expect her shot to drop.

 

[JellyBean]

Overall, I thought that this was a well-balanced game. Coach G did a decent job of managing the Big 3 (Sarah/Azzi/Paige). We got a great lead so that the main starters could rest and we got to see more of the role players, who I believe are going to play a huge part in the NCAA tournament. Jana and Ice were posting up well. They got hacked a lot and they got some calls and some no calls but I like how they were posting up.

KK/Ash/Paige/Azzi/Chen- That is one heck of a guard connection! I love how they move with and without the ball and when they are looking for their shots. That is going to be huge as the season progresses.

Morgan/Allie/Q: Morgan continues to show a lot of toughness out there. Allie and Q are going to be special and continue to play a huge part in the success of this team.

 

[Tonyc]

Everybody needs playtime. We have so many top players and they didnt come here to sit. They need to be developed and thats why our cohesiveness and chemistry arent always there. We have a young team that needs to be developed and that takes time. We were up 30 at one point. Yeah the 2nd qtr with 11 pts wasnt great. The inexperience showed its head. We will come around and it it taking time because we have so many highly recruited players. In big games our Big 3 will take most of the shots. Right now we have to live with this team developing and when they do we will be great again.

 

[topogigio]

A grind it out easy road win, against an 0-4 Big East team. A lot of playing time for all, with the exception of Q (somethin' ain't right there). Geno is working on stuff, and the players are working out the kinks. Azzi is looking like her best version. Tennessee and South Carolina will be the true litmus test.

 

[packwrap]

It might be the same or almost same starting five but then from there it becomes a game of flip flop with subs coming in and out. Cohesiveness? In tonights game the in and out of players shows itself with the pitiful low scoring 2nd quarter. What is that supposed to teach a team? That playing around with the lineup can cause disruption and lack of cohesion? Its the middle of January. It might be time to settle and stay with it unless there's a good reason not to, not just to continue experimenting.

There is a method to the madness. In a perfect world for Geno, all the players know all the roles and positions, so he can throw any combination of players on the floor together.

In the recent injury plaqued years, we didn't see this much, but on last years team Nika and (coach)Paige at some point played 1-5. Aubrey has done it too.

With the 3 freshman, he has the best group of hi basketball iq, positionless players since KLS, Kia, Phees and Gabs!

He's making an investment in letting the kids play in different spots. For surè will pay off next year, if we are lucky already this year in March.

How we line up and play v TN and SC will definitely be interesting.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

With a weapon like Sarah Strong, it would be nice if UConn would, you know, get her involved.

 

[HuskieDawg]

Some thoughts on the St John’s game:

• Very nice start tonight by the Huskies. 7/8 Huskies who saw PT in the 1st qtr scored as UConn shot a sizzling 71%, while forcing the Red Storm into 7 turnovers. The 2nd qtr got a little ugly as UConn’s multiple player rotations seemed a bit out of sync
• Azzi is known as a great offensive player and shooter, which she demonstrated again tonight. But Azzi is also one of the best on-ball and off-ball defenders on this team. Her defensive footwork is flawless, and she gets her hands on the ball a lot.
• Jana continues to progress slowly but surely in both big and small ways. She's moving better to the ball on rebounds, defending the paint, setting screens, posting up stronger and closing out on shooters all the way to the arc.
• Great to see Paige back on the court. She did look a little rusty in the 1st half. But she got in going in the 2nd half from midrange, where she is absolutely deadly. I guess we will all have to wait for the next game to watch Paige hit 2,000 points...,
• Jana, Sarah, Paige, Azzi & KK, the lineup UConn used for a very brief time in the 3rd qtr is the BIG GAME lineup for the Huskies, imo.
• Morgan has really solidified herself as a regular rotation player. She does everything well.
• Seton Hall is up next on Sunday. Could we see Aubrey on the court?

I said the same thing to my wife about those 5. Then you have some combo of Shade, Chen, Ice and Chelli coming in off the bench. Aubrey when ready. You can see the rotations and spots for players taking shape.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’m unconcerned about our offense. It may have been a little off, but SJU is a tough defensive team, with quick feet and quick hands. And Paige was a bit rusty. It also looked like Geno may have told Sarah to hang back a little to see what the others would do. Plus it’s clear that Geno wants to get more time in the half court offense and this was a good game for it.

One huge bright spot was Jana, who had 8 pts on 4-5 shooting and 6 rebounds in 17 minutes. This is exactly what we want to see from her. Yes, the bigs on SJU were smaller, but Gedeon is a tough customer and got away with a lot of holds against Jana, and it didn’t even slow her down.

Another bright spot is that all the various lineups played good D. The O was variable but the D was steady and solid. If you look at the score by quarters, SJU scored 10-11-10-14. At any point, if Geno had turned Paige Azzi and Sarah loose we could have had >90pts. But what would have been the point?

We will get to the final four on the strength of our defense, just like last year. It looks like the defense is coming along nicely.

 

[ThisJustIn]

With a weapon like Sarah Strong, it would be nice if UConn would, you know, get her involved.

In 24 minutes she took 5 shots, dished 5 assists, snagged 5 rebounds, and got a steal.

She was, you know, involved.

 

[ERWUC65]

I'm sure glad there are more games before TN & SC. Maybe too long on the road, but this was not a good effort. Collectively, everyone needs to put this one behind them. Individually, for the big 3 (31 points ?), Paige can be excused from a week off, Azzi is still not 100% back and Sarah was unusually passive. In the PG position, Kaitlyn was OK, but KK was surprisingly undisciplined. The bigs, Jana and Ice continued with their unremarkable games, leaving Ash and Morgan as the players of the match. Is there such a thing as a January slump?

 

[my2cents]

With two minutes left in the game, Bestwick asked Culmo what she liked about the game. Her answer, "Nothing" "The effort wasn't there". We were up by 26 points. Such is the quality of the teams were are playing that non 50 point wins are a disappointment.
Our three elite players just played a little more than half the game and some bemoan the low scoring.
By years end I predict, KK will be starting and our three off the bench will be Shade, Celli and Chen.

 

[Zonepress]

I’m unconcerned about our offense. It may have been a little off, but SJU is a tough defensive team, with quick feet and quick hands. And Paige was a bit rusty. It also looked like Geno may have told Sarah to hang back a little to see what the others would do. Plus it’s clear that Geno wants to get more time in the half court offense and this was a good game for it.

One huge bright spot was Jana, who had 8 pts on 4-5 shooting and 6 rebounds in 17 minutes. This is exactly what we want to see from her. Yes, the bigs on SJU were smaller, but Gedeon is a tough customer and got away with a lot of holds against Jana, and it didn’t even slow her down.

Another bright spot is that all the various lineups played good D. The O was variable but the D was steady and solid. If you look at the score by quarters, SJU scored 10-11-10-14. At any point, if Geno had turned Paige Azzi and Sarah loose we could have had >90pts. But what would have been the point?

We will get to the final four on the strength of our defense, just like last year. It looks like the defense is coming along nicely.

Diagree with your last comments
To get to a final four / championship
It will be with better offense
The two loses. Imho we’re caused by lack of offense -/30 first Half points
in both games the defense in both games was reasonably good.
Good defense will not limit the top teams
You need to score 75-80 to win

 

[UConn990411]

Progress isn’t linear, but this team is clearly getting better.

At the same time, it’s baffling that they haven’t moved KK into the starting lineup already. Her speed provides such a spark defensively, and she’s one of the only ones on the team who consistently pushes the pace, which helps them get into their offense quicker. And between Azzi, Paige, and Sarah as starters and Shade off the bench, it won’t be hard to surround her with shooters at all times.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

In 24 minutes she took 5 shots, dished 5 assists, snagged 5 rebounds, and got a steal.

She was, you know, involved.

Appreciate the sarcasm, but she wasn't involved. 5 shots is not involved. Rebounds have nothing to do with offensive involvement either.

 

[maple]

With two minutes left in the game, Bestwick asked Culmo what she liked about the game. Her answer, "Nothing" "The effort wasn't there". We were up by 26 points. Such is the quality of the teams were are playing that non 50 point wins are a disappointment.
Our three elite players just played a little more than half the game and some bemoan the low scoring.
By years end I predict, KK will be starting and our three off the bench will be Shade, Celli and Chen.

I don’t always agree with Meg’s commentary but IMO she was spot on with a lot of things tonight.

 

[ERWUC65]

Progress isn’t linear, but this team is clearly getting better.

At the same time, it’s baffling that they haven’t moved KK into the starting lineup already. Her speed provides such a spark defensively, and she’s one of the only ones on the team who consistently pushes the pace, which helps them get into their offense quicker. And between Azzi, Paige, and Sarah as starters and Shade off the bench, it won’t be hard to surround her with shooters at all times.

I am absolutely baffled from some of the comments in this thread. It seems we all were not watching the same game.

 

[packwrap]

Appreciate the sarcasm, but she wasn't involved. 5 shots is not involved. Rebounds have nothing to do with offensive involvement either.

Well she could have taken 12 shots, but she passed instead 7 times yielding 5 assists.

These Big East games are just not going to be pretty with stars playing only 20-25 min, and on bench in Q4.

You have to almost look at individual posessions to find positives.

KK becoming a star right before our eyes. So much more maturity on defense and as a point guard. Her drives to the basket all now result in something positive?

KK is earning that lead role, but Chen will still play, a lot. She looks more decisive and comfortable too.

Morgan in giant shadow of Sarah, but she is also special. True point guard handle, with fundamentals, height and strength to be competent at 4 and 5.

Jana might get me slowly to risk reviving the 'great pyramid' moniker. Yes, it's Big East, but she improves every game. Coach's daughter, hard worker, great teammate. There is real joy in watching her come along. To help in March, she only needs to be a competent NCAA post, not a star.
Counterpoint: I did get a chuckle out of the Bigs discussion where it was pointed out that "in Egypt they teach you how to miss layups with both hands".

On to Seton Hall.