St Johns Postgame Thread

[hoophuskee]

a lot of great things to say about this game. I'm gonna just spit out an opinion piece on the team down the road.

UCONN is a very very good team. Can they be beat, certainly, as Michigan showed when nothing is falling and the other team has a player or two playing out of their minds. My concern on January 8, is that even though i believe Blanca is the third best player on this team in terms of talent, I am starting to see in real time that going forward, Shade is the one member of the team that will be the major X factor. Come tournament time (especially latter stages) coaches will schematically try to take out Azzi and Sarah. The top teams have the players in my mind to make life difficult for these two. And if the rock isn't falling, I've been harping on who is the 3rd amigo in this equation. i believe it will be Blanca, but the more I see her she is an explosive player, but her shooting (although very good at this point) gives me concern. The way she flicks it, I'm amazed at how many times it goes in. Im also worried that with the law of averages her 3 point percentage goes back down to earth.

So the question for everyone is, when teams like Texas, UCLA, SC, who have the athletes take away the 1st and 2nd options, and then don't allow Blanca to drive and penetrate. Who will be that shooter that loosens up the offense. My only answer is Shade (maybe Allie), but Shade can be that person who makes 3 threes in a row and she's a very good defender and hustle guy. At this moment, I cannot trust, Blanca, KK, K9 or Allie to step into the big lights and calm the storm when SS and Azzi are struggling for a quarter or more. I'd love to be proven wrong on Blanca, but I am starting to feel this team's X factor will be Shade come Elite 8 and beyond.

Why assume a defined 3rd scorer is needed? SoCar 2 years ago didn't have defined 3rd scorer looking at their E8 and FF games.
And to what degree can arguably the best player in wcbb and a 2nd teammate to be likely #1 or #2 pick be "taken away?"
And if Tess Johnson and Jasmine Carson can go off a bit, then why can't someone like Allie?

 

[Bills Fan]

There really was zero to complain about for the game (I know shocking from me!). Geno did mention at halftime the lackluster start to Q2 and SJU went on an 8 point scoring spurt midway thru Q4, but overall a solid trouncing.

• Sarah finally had a game where she scored in the mid-20's. That's been missing lately. She makes the impossible look easy
• So glad Azzi got to the FT line. 100% from FT's on the season. Still, she needs more than 8 shots (although with 6 FT's, it was more like 11). Her defense is really elite.
• Blanca continues to shine. She's got AA in her future and we are lucky to have her.
• Even tho Williams only had 4 points on 5 shots, I thought her movement around the basket looked much better
• Kayleigh with an insane drive and popped a bunch of points in Q4
• KK is just insane. Possibly one of the most fun players to watch.
• Ash is so solid
• Was nice to see Caroline get extended minutes.

Overall the team played really good basketball for much longer stretches (especially on offense). The defense continues to be elite. I am curious to see how that will translate to our games vs. ND and Tenn. I think it's pretty clear no team in the BE will have any offensive answers. Would not be surprised to see no team get to 55.

I think maybe 2-6 in the BE is pretty even. The bottom 4 are pretty awful. Would love to see the teams who end up 2 and 3 really make a push and possibly get NCAA bids.

I keep pushing the "get Sarah and Azzi more shots" narrative. I firmly believe Sarah should be POY and Azzi should be 1st team AA. My worry is that on a great team, with so many other really good players, that the scoring will be so spread out that when it comes time to vote, the voters will look at their more "modest" numbers and not use their eye test in actually watching how spectacular they are in every game.

Thanks Eric. I've been writing about this problem for SS and for a few weeks now.

 

[Husky fanatic]

I'd listen to her everytime.

She is a refreshing alternative to the standard analyst

 

[jazz]

She cannot, as she appeared in 1-2 games already.

That's too bad. She probably needs an extra year to be ready.

 

[GetReal2day]

I don't see a teams 3rd best defender shutting down Blanca or her choking under pressure. She has super high confidence, great experience against high quality opponents, skills and speed to burn. I would love to see her starting in Ash's spot and get more PT with Azzi and Sarah.

 

[YKCornelius]

a lot of great things to say about this game. I'm gonna just spit out an opinion piece on the team down the road.

UCONN is a very very good team. Can they be beat, certainly, as Michigan showed when nothing is falling and the other team has a player or two playing out of their minds. My concern on January 8, is that even though i believe Blanca is the third best player on this team in terms of talent, I am starting to see in real time that going forward, Shade is the one member of the team that will be the major X factor. Come tournament time (especially latter stages) coaches will schematically try to take out Azzi and Sarah. The top teams have the players in my mind to make life difficult for these two. And if the rock isn't falling, I've been harping on who is the 3rd amigo in this equation. i believe it will be Blanca, but the more I see her she is an explosive player, but her shooting (although very good at this point) gives me concern. The way she flicks it, I'm amazed at how many times it goes in. Im also worried that with the law of averages her 3 point percentage goes back down to earth.

So the question for everyone is, when teams like Texas, UCLA, SC, who have the athletes take away the 1st and 2nd options, and then don't allow Blanca to drive and penetrate. Who will be that shooter that loosens up the offense. My only answer is Shade (maybe Allie), but Shade can be that person who makes 3 threes in a row and she's a very good defender and hustle guy. At this moment, I cannot trust, Blanca, KK, K9 or Allie to step into the big lights and calm the storm when SS and Azzi are struggling for a quarter or more. I'd love to be proven wrong on Blanca, but I am starting to feel this team's X factor will be Shade come Elite 8 and beyond.

I appreciate and applaud your optimism that halfway through the regular season Ashlynn will somehow make the necessary adjustments to address her eyebrow-raising 40.7 FG% - by far the worst of anyone in the current nine player rotation - and bring it up to par with the rest of her exciting-to-watch game.

But to present that hope alongside unsubstantiated worries and concerns regarding other players ability to sustain their documented delivery of high level, timely contributions is, well, perplexing at best.

You don't need to cast shade in order to enjoy Shade going forward.

 

[Vancat]

Renee is a fun listen.

Can we get her to do the men, too?😉

 

[VA Huskie]

Great defense. Possibly the best press since John Wooden's.

This was the ninth straight game, all blowouts, in which Gandy got no minutes. Yet, she's not on the injured list. This is very unusual. Something's off.

Maybe redshirting?

 

[AzzisBraids]

Another strong Big East Win. Sarah Strong is looking like the Big East Player of the Year. KK, Blanca, Ashlynn and Serah did their parts with strong contributions from the bench.

St Johns had one gameplan: make Azzi Fudd a non-factor. They played her tighter, closer and probably smelled the cottage cheese from lunch on her breath. She still found a way to score and continue to impress me from the free throw line. I think if UConn needs a bucket they can get Sarah down low or Azzi at the free throw line and it's two points - no matter the circumstance. Which is a luxury.

Im curious though on Azzi Fudd touches because at times it feesl like there's four players on offense and Azzi's job was to keep the defense away. That works against St John but I hope they have some plans to keep her involved in the offense. She's so unselfish that when she passed this game, she rarely got it back so she just started taking it where she saw it. I think the next development in point guard play is to keep getting Azzi going. Renee pointed it out on the telecast and her insight into how she would keep running plays for her made my head nod. But that's a future problem, all is well now.

 

[ABCDFE]

Why assume a defined 3rd scorer is needed? SoCar 2 years ago didn't have defined 3rd scorer looking at their E8 and FF games.
And to what degree can arguably the best player in wcbb and a 2nd teammate to be likely #1 or #2 pick be "taken away?"
And if Tess Johnson and Jasmine Carson can go off a bit, then why can't someone like Allie?

Didn't I say it in my post. If both of our stars are contained or having sub par games, you wouldn't be worried? I guess I'm just nervous nelly for nothing then. Simple math, Azzi and Sarah each are held to 14 points each (not highly probable, but not impossible), and nothing is working inside because some teams do have the talent and depth in the interior. Where will all the other points come from and how will they get the points? Yes I understand UCONN has a great defensive team, but figuring out how the team gets a ton of points outside of the big 2 on a down day is a concern. Now we may have the answer by the time this team reaches March, but i did say my concern as of January 8th

 

[ABCDFE]

I appreciate and applaud your optimism that halfway through the regular season Ashlynn will somehow make the necessary adjustments to address her eyebrow-raising 40.7 FG% - by far the worst of anyone in the current nine player rotation - and bring it up to par with the rest of her exciting-to-watch game.

But to present that hope alongside unsubstantiated worries and concerns regarding other players ability to sustain their documented delivery of high level, timely contributions is, well, perplexing at best.

You don't need to cast shade in order to enjoy Shade going forward.

Who's casting shade? I'm purely stating an opinion and a worry of mine and who i think could be an X factor in March as of January 8th. Not sure why you're raising Shade's 3 pt % in your response. I'm purely saying that she's one of the players who could be that 3rd shooter in March. My concern lies more with Blanca's high 3pt % coming back down to earth as it was in the 50%+ and that most likely isn't sustainable. At this point the team is playing amazing, resembling our top teams of yore, so I'm nitpicking and threw out an opinion piece possibly to temper my own optimism and maybe some others on the board. Remember other teams have scholarship players too and good coaches, and fluky things can happen (Louisville/Baylor circa 2013). Your sarcasm is unsubstantiated and at best perplexing, but not not surprising.

 

[YKCornelius]

Who's casting shade? I'm purely stating an opinion and a worry of mine and who i think could be an X factor in March as of January 8th. Not sure why you're raising Shade's 3 pt % in your response. I'm purely saying that she's one of the players who could be that 3rd shooter in March. My concern lies more with Blanca's high 3pt % coming back down to earth as it was in the 50%+ and that most likely isn't sustainable. At this point the team is playing amazing, resembling our top teams of yore, so I'm nitpicking and threw out an opinion piece possibly to temper my own optimism and maybe some others on the board. Remember other teams have scholarship players too and good coaches, and fluky things can happen (Louisville/Baylor circa 2013). Your sarcasm is unsubstantiated and at best perplexing, but not not surprising.

Negative. You were NOT "purely stating an opinion....on who you think could be an X factor in March". If you were then there would be no issue - certainly not from me as I agree with you that Ashlynn could very well be an X-factor come March.

Instead, you stated that you "cannot trust, Blanca, KK, K9 or Allie to step into the big lights and calm the storm when SS and Azzi are struggling for a quarter or more" despite the fact that each of their shooting percentages are A LOT higher than Ashlynn's. That's shade, pure and simple. And misplaced shade as the FG percentages attest.

Heck, I bet if you were to ask Ashlynn, she would say that SHE trusts all four of those teammates to "step into the big lights and calm the storm".

Tell you what: after reading your double-down explanation, plus an additional comment of throwing "out an opinion piece possibly to temper my own optimism", it is clear that you are in a head space that I cannot fathom. So I will back out of this discussion and wish you the best with your heretofore unsubstantiated worries and concerns.

Peace and Go UConn!