St Johns Postgame Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

St Johns Postgame Thread

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If Jana would quit bringing the ball down and keep it up high after a rebound, she wouldn't have as many turnovers.
just sayin'
Agree, but perhaps that is why Geno said recently that she is stubborn. Her handle is actually pretty good and showed in her foreign competition, but her read and react decisions on when she can put it on the floor, where a double is coming from, and quick decisions to kick it out to a shooter, are all very much a work in progress in the early stages.

Part of that is because being a traditional low post C is relatively new to her. I think there has been progress on reducing silly fouls, and some (not a lot) on passing out of the post, but the decision making when she does try to score and missed bunnies remains the biggest issue.

Having said that, the rebounding, and ability to score inside, even if inconsistently, is so needed on this team, that I think she needs significant minutes, despite being mistake prone, and going thru a difficult learning curve. Ideally Jana would have had a year or two to develop under a top flight C and get better in practice before being handed a major role, but this year we have no choice.

I think having Gandy on the team next year, will be good for her and Jana to go head to head against each other, speeding up the progress of two relatively raw bigs.
 
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What would you have thought if Fudd had gotten hurt in a game where the team was up by 35 points in the fourth quarter?
That plus there's a thing called sportsmanship. Geno has to live in a HC community. A good beating is OK, but rubbing the other team's nose in it is unsightly, unless of course it's Tennessee or ND.
 
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Wow. Look at Paige’s offensive efficiency in the chart posted by Nan. You would think Azzi with her 34 points would have been the team leader. Nope it was Paige and it wasn’t even close. Maybe all the analysts are wrong and Paige knows exactly what she’s doing.
 
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Good game.
Jana should try to stop putting the ball on the floor before she goes up to shoot. That’s where all her turnovers originate.
Let’s hope the shooting carries over to Sunday.
 

BRS24

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Geno should let Fudd to play the full 4Q ....
Paige got hurt right before she was due to be subbed out. It may have happened to Azzi too. And years ago, Geno left a player in and she got hurt, maybe vs Syracuse - guard, cannot remember name, wasn't Czel or Farris, but I can see her in my head and she might have written a book. I'm betting that Geno is not ever going to take that chance again.
 
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I watched Jana play in quite a few FIBA games for her national team, including one she injured her achilles (a non contact freak injury). She was clearly the best player on the team. She was mostly a high post player who would bring the ball up court frequently and shoot from 3 pt. land. Her free throw shooting was in the 90% range and a very good rebounder. Rarely was she coached to play the low post. So, in other words, she’s a freshman learning a new position. For all the Jana nay sayers, be patient. She is progressing every game and will be a pleasant surprise in years to come. Oh, and I forgot to mention, she always played with that fiery intensity in her eyes.
 
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No, no, no. With UConn's history of injuries, it makes no sense to play one of your stars in a meaningless fourth quarter. Geno caught flack when he had Paige still in a game where the outcome was decided, and she got hurt. The start of her many UConn injuries. I am surprised you think that way.
You don't sit a player because they might get injured. Right now UConn needs to get in game shape to play better teams. Playing 20-24 minutes in a game simply won't do that and you saw last night what happens when they rely on the bench for scoring.
 
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Anyone concerned about Sarah’s performance tonight please relax. I can guarantee she is not going to go 1-4 for against SC.
Not at all. Her stat line for half a game was really solid and she only shot 4 times. Not going to score 20 on 4 shots. When she is needed she will step up. She is one of the few that has another gear when needed on this team, at least so far in the season.
 
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That plus there's a thing called sportsmanship. Geno has to live in a HC community. A good beating is OK, but rubbing the other team's nose in it is unsightly, unless of course it's Tennessee or ND.
Geno has to prepare his team, not worry about what other teams think of his approach. Azzi isn't playing at her expected level and she was having a good game so he left her in to boost her confidence. To me that is way more important that someone getting their feeling hurt and scoring 10 in the last quarter isn't rubbing it in and Azzi scored zero in the 4th.
 
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UConn has three players that they can count on right now, Paige, Azzi and Sarah. To beat SC or make a deep run in the tournament they need Jana to be a factor on defense and the boards and one other longer player to step up. To me they need to figure out what they need on the floor to beat the top teams, not win the Big East. I think they can count on the three to score the majority of the points with offensive help coming off the bench but they are going to need to stop people inside and that is glaring.

SC will be a test that UConn could win but I don't give them much of a chance with the lineup they currently like to play. Sometimes a player can be a good player and still not add to your team's ability to win. A good example of the is Dallas trading for AD. They gave up a better player but they didn't need another scoring guard to be better, they needed size. I think UConn is struggling with that exact thing right now.
 

donalddoowop

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You don't sit a player because they might get injured. Right now UConn needs to get in game shape to play better teams. Playing 20-24 minutes in a game simply won't do that and you saw last night what happens when they rely on the bench for scoring.
You also don't play a star player when the game is well in hand and she is not needed. That is a good time to play your bench. There have been games this season where the UConn bench has outscored the other team's starters, in the BE.
 
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I watched Jana play in quite a few FIBA games for her national team, including one she injured her achilles (a non contact freak injury). She was clearly the best player on the team. She was mostly a high post player who would bring the ball up court frequently and shoot from 3 pt. land. Her free throw shooting was in the 90% range and a very good rebounder. Rarely was she coached to play the low post. So, in other words, she’s a freshman learning a new position. For all the Jana nay sayers, be patient. She is progressing every game and will be a pleasant surprise in years to come. Oh, and I forgot to mention, she always played with that fiery intensity in her eyes.
You assume that Jana didn't play the low post in FIBA games because of poor coaching. The more likely reason, I think, is that she did not have teammates who could feed the low post effectively.
 
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Paige got hurt right before she was due to be subbed out. It may have happened to Azzi too. And years ago, Geno left a player in and she got hurt, maybe vs Syracuse - guard, cannot remember name, wasn't Czel or Farris, but I can see her in my head and she might have written a book. I'm betting that Geno is not ever going to take that chance again.
Mel Thomas?
 

donalddoowop

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You assume that Jana didn't play the low post in FIBA games because of poor coaching. The more likely reason, I think, is that she did not have teammates who could feed the low post effectively.
Like her present team.
 
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UConn has three players that they can count on right now, Paige, Azzi and Sarah. To beat SC or make a deep run in the tournament they need Jana to be a factor on defense and the boards and one other longer player to step up. To me they need to figure out what they need on the floor to beat the top teams, not win the Big East. I think they can count on the three to score the majority of the points with offensive help coming off the bench but they are going to need to stop people inside and that is glaring.

SC will be a test that UConn could win but I don't give them much of a chance with the lineup they currently like to play. Sometimes a player can be a good player and still not add to your team's ability to win. A good example of the is Dallas trading for AD. They gave up a better player but they didn't need another scoring guard to be better, they needed size. I think UConn is struggling with that exact thing right now.
I think we have two players we can count on. And we are hoping this is the start of Azzi becoming player number 3 that we can count on.
 
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I think we have two players we can count on. And we are hoping this is the start of Azzi becoming player number 3 that we can count on.
But I hope you see the difficulty. If two of the three (Paige and Azzi for example) combine for 50 points, it’s not so easy for the third one to score in double figures. It’s not just an arithmetic problem. It’s an opportunity limit. But on the plus side, all three of them know how to contribute without scoring a ton. The chance I see for this team is that one or two of the big three will ‘go off’ on a given day and the other one or two will support her and build the rest of the infrastructure for a win
 
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I was somewhat encouraged by the game
Azzi and Griff shined, Paige was solid but still reticent to shoot at times

Jana is improving...but ready for prime time; probably not
Sarah may have hit the wall...perhaps a good time...for the soon to come inevitable bounce back.

Is it enough; better but probably not quite enough for SC, USC, ND et al.
Glad to see her shoot so well but let’s look at the quality of the team she played against. Can’t compare with Tennessee. During the Tennessee game she at times looked like a deer caught in the headlights. If she plays as well against South Carolin, I’ll be a believer. Let’s see which Azzi shows up on Sunday.
 
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Like her present team.
That's what I'm seeing. She'll be ahead of the pack, wide open, and whoever is bringing the ball up the court either keeps dribbling or looks to a wing. By the time anyone gets around to looking inside, she's mobbed. The potential for Jana would be greatly elevated if the guards caught sight of her as she's nearing her position under the basket, not already camped out. Then she can take advantage of the mobility she's already demonstrated. I think there's an easy 10 points a game being missed from her due to slow reads. Once again, Nika saw that stuff from a mile away and got the ball moving quickly. Those might not be extra points, as the possession still might result in a score, but a quick inside score like that is always demoralizing for the other team.
 
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Best description I have for this game is "efficient." The team played well on both offense and defense although production was not even across the players. Hopefully Azzi and Paige can be this productive against the Gamecocks on Sunday. And they will need a couple of others to produce to help them. Fingers crossed. Past experience for this season in not particularly encouraging, but let's hope this is the game where everything comes together and carries through to the end of the season.
 
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Some thoughts on the St Johns game:
  • It's good to see UConn come out with a lot of energy, as they did tonight, pressuring the ball all over the court and attacking the basket on offense.
  • There are clearly times when UConn’s best offense is to just have Azzi spot up anywhere beyond the arc and get her the damned ball. :cool:
  • This past week Geno mentioned that UConn needs to get tougher, and then Nika shows up at the game tonight. Coincidence? I think not!!!
  • I loved Ash’s spin-cycle move in the 2nd qtr. I don’t recall seeing that particular move from Ash before, but it sure was a thing of beauty.
  • While Paige had 5 blocks tonight, I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see a single double-bicep flex in celebration….:(
  • Jana keeps improving…and she plays with an ATTITUDE. I like that she is starting to track down rebounds rather than hoping the ball bounces her way. She’s not there yet. But it’s coming.
  • I really liked Aubrey’s minutes tonight. She had 10 pts, attacked the basket, and was incredibly active with 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals and played great defense.
  • BIG GAME coming up on Sunday in Columbia, SC. Can UConn hang with SC’s talent and depth? We shall see……
Pretty unusual game when the brilliant Sarah registered two points.
 

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