Syracuse Postgame Thread

[jazz]

Why not?

unless she has vastly changed her defence, it will be dungee all over again with 3s and blow byes. I think CW is playing better defense now than she was then, but I dont think a CW-Clark matchup favors us in the least bit

 

[Bama fan]

Yeah the non-basketball questions are annoying. It's why I've said cut down on how much press access there is in general. They've essentially run out of things to talk about. I'm waiting for one of the questions to be "Paige, with the popularity of the color blue, what does it say about you that you've chosen red as your favorite color?"

What is your favorite color? Red vs blue? That would soooo controversial! She might get tossed off the bridge like in the holy grail. Could be the ratings coup of the year.

 

[Calbysdad]

unless she has vastly changed her defence, it will be dungee all over again with 3s and blow byes. I think CW is playing better defense now than she was then, but I dont think a CW-Clark matchup favors us in the least bit

I understand where you're coming from but disagree. CW has the size and quickness to bother Clark. Nika is too small. AG can step in as well to spell CW but I think that's our best matchup.

 

[cohenzone]

2nd half, great ball movement.

 

[Vowelguy]

unless she has vastly changed her defence, it will be dungee all over again with 3s and blow byes. I think CW is playing better defense now than she was then, but I dont think a CW-Clark matchup favors us in the least bit

there are only 4 other starters. who would you like it to be then?

CW's defense has improved in the latter half of the season. In the BET didnt she shut down the opponent's top scorer?

In any event it will be a team effort.

 

[Vowelguy]

What is your favorite color? Red vs blue? That would soooo controversial! S

That's just silly.
Clearly Paige's favorite color is national flag blue. And Caitlin's is gold.

 

[browns]

GA = Geno, CD = Chris Dailey, J = Jamelle, PB= Paige, NM = Nika, EW = Evina, Liv = Liv, CW = Christyn, AE = Aaliyah, AG = ‘The great Aubrey Griffin’, Mir = Mir, PG= Piath, AM = Anna, the Polish Rifle, PS or Poff = Saylor, AC = Autumn.

My 2 cents overall on the bigs:

Despite being outsized with Cardosa, it seemed like we held our own on the boards and dominated with our scoring in the paint. We finished really well.

Liv – Thought she had a great game and IMHO, finally showed that she could hold her own against a quality big. She was terrific and played tough! She rose to the occasion and was not intimidated by Cardosa. Really tough on the boards and on the box outs which is as important as getting the board.

There was a short sequence where she hit the short jumper, got her hands on a pass a few seconds later to cause a TO and then raced down the court to get a nice assist to AE. Foul should have been 3 secs on Carodosa- I counted 5 secs. Loved the strong take with the high kiss off the glass with the left hand. As I mentioned earlier in the year, she is at her best when AE is in the game. Thought she had a double-double but not sure. She was big time in this game and if we can get this from her, along with what he got from AE, we are cutting down the nets!

AE – just a beast! Hit the little 8 footer, then later raced down on the break twice for layins or got fouled. Got an old fashion 3 pts on Cardosa. Took it at Cardosa a couple of times – she is not afraid and is growing game by game. Must have had 10 points from the line. Unstoppable and had a great game. Had a great steal and coast to coast layin after the spin move. Wow!!! She is 6'3 and doing that in the open court!

I will say it again as I did a week or so ago, AE is key to us winning it all. I am pretty confident that we can count on her for 15 pts and 7-10 rebounds. That is a tall order for a freshman big and something we haven’t gotten out of any freshman big in decades other than Stewie. I think GA has to get her 30 minutes per game going forward. Can’t have her on the bench. That means less minutes for NM which I hate, but if CW can hit jumpers, then we can afford to have PB at the point more often.

AG – does what she always does – changes the game and does it immediately and in a variety of ways. Showed off her defense and superior dribbling skills with the coast to coast steal. She has done this 3-4 times this year. Came in at 5:48 in the 1st half and we stretched a close game of 7 pts to a commanding lead at 15 pts at the half. She had 4 pts, 2 steals and a rebound in this short period of time while harassing the hell out of the opposition.

Enters the game in the 2nd half, scores within 20 secs, gets called for a moving screen but then immediately draws the charge, gets a steal, scores and dishes to AE for another score. Stretches a 27 pt lead to 35. Also shows her versatility by setting solid screens and guarding the smaller quicker guards on Cuse while CW gets to guard the slower player. Interesting match-up showing what you can do with AG’s multifaceted skillset. Hit all her shots -finished well. Played less than I would have liked as CD and GA are trying to get AM back in the grove, and extended minutes, as is the norm, for CW.

Superior dribbling skills? one of the funniest things I've read all year..its a play any junior high kid could do

 

[oldhusky]

I like having AG on her. But if she goes for 40 AND gets the 7-8 assists, it is going to be a shoot out....

I think mixing it up and keep her guessing is a pretty good strategy, but then I like the possibility of using Aubrey as well. I think Iowa is more dependent on one player than almost any team we could face. They also get efficient inside scoring from their big body but not that tall C, often depending on a timely Clark pass. So shut down Clark, not just the scoring but the passing as well and you take out their outside and inside game.

That makes using a-lot of Aubrey on her potentially very valuable. If you hold down their top two, the rest of their team can't beat us. Liv may be a good enough defender/shot blocker to neutralize their inside scoring without much help. Basically Clark is a great player, but we have a variety of good tools to try to slow her down. CW has done well as a perimeter stopper recently. We switch often and with Nika, Evina and Paige, none of those would be a liability. Then we have a versatile defensive star on the bench in Aubrey.

I'm not sure what the best game-plan is for Clark. Whatever approach we start with, we can easily switch to another if it isn't working.

 

[Heytherego]

Liv is not a natural banger... She likes a little space. If AE reminds you of Wes Unseld, think of Liv as a Ralph Sampson. We've got room for both.

Exactly! People complain about Liv as if she is a bang around post. That is not Livs style of play and will never be!!! Liv is a finesse player. I thought last night defensively may have been one of her best games. A lot of our rebounds came from just her boxing out for someone else to grab the rebound. What she did last night is exactly what we need going forward.

 

[j66kicker]

SU (Q + Tiana Mangakahia) Postgame Presser

Great press conference!

Good for Q - no excuses. And he gets a pass for the glasses this time - he needed them when talking about Tiana.

Tiana - don’t know what to say. She was amazing. She will be successful in life

 

[browns]

I think mixing it up and keep her guessing is a pretty good strategy, but then I like the possibility of using Aubrey as well. I think Iowa is more dependent on one player than almost any team we could face. They also get efficient inside scoring from their big body but not that tall C, often depending on a timely Clark pass. So shut down Clark, not just the scoring but the passing as well and you take out their outside and inside game.

That makes using a-lot of Aubrey on her potentially very valuable. If you hold down their top two, the rest of their team can't beat us. Liv may be a good enough defender/shot blocker to neutralize their inside scoring without much help. Basically Clark is a great player, but we have a variety of good tools to try to slow her down. CW has done well as a perimeter stopper recently. We switch often and with Nika, Evina and Paige, none of those would be a liability. Then we have a versatile defensive star on the bench in Aubrey.

I'm not sure what the best game-plan is for Clark. Whatever approach we start with, we can easily switch to another if it isn't wor

 

[oldude]

Exactly! People complain about Liv as if she is a bang around post. That is not Livs style of play and will never be!!! Liv is a finesse player. I thought last night defensively may have been one of her best games. A lot of our rebounds came from just her boxing out for someone else to grab the rebound. What she did last night is exactly what we need going forward.

I’m going to mildly disagree with the idea that Liv is just a finesse player, although she certainly can be that player at times. If last night taught us anything about Liv, it’s that she can bang in the post when she has to.

Cardoso had 2” and 30-40 lbs on Liv, and Liv fought her tooth and nail in the paint for position and boxed out relentlessly for position on the boards.

 

[jaydee602]

UCONN struggled on 3 pointers because Syracuse's game plan was to guard the 3 point line and then collapse into the lane. But the defenders weren't quick enough to cover the pass from the corner to the basket for easy layups. And that was their failed strategy.

 

[rt bb fan]

UCONN struggled on 3 pointers because Syracuse's game plan was to guard the 3 point line and then collapse into the lane. But the defenders weren't quick enough to cover the pass from the corner to the basket for easy layups. And that was their failed strategy.

Surprised Cuse game plan was to guard 3 pt line. We are not a great 3 pt shooting team. Cuse coach unfortunately did not adapt when his defensive game plan was not working.

 

[browns]

Looking forward to seeing what Geno comes up with regarding Clarke..No one can contain her one on one never mind stop her.Chastity Patterson is a very good defender with great speed and quickness and Clarke torched her.I was surprised Clarke was that quick..You can't double her cuz she is one of the best passes in the nation..I guess you let her get 30 or so and shut down everyone else.

 

[my2cents]

Here's My 2 cents: ( Obviously,lol)

Easily Livs best game. Why? Because she more than held her own down low. Her fronting defense kept the ball getting to Cordoso, basically eliminating her from the offense. Also, boxed out and rebounded well. No "bully' ball from future opponents.
Evina really handled the point well, her smoothness with the ball and pace made it possible to chop the "Cuse zone apart.
I know Paige stops looking to score when the game is out of reach. However, she needs to realize that to win this tournament, her 3 point scoring will be essential. Passing up wide open threes is keeping her from seeing the ball go in which could affect her confidence.
Looking forward, our team speed , combined with our size will make this team extremely hard to beat. By anybody.

 

[BostonBay]

Never seen UConn switch so much as this year. Multiple people will guard Clark, including Paige & AE.

 

[browns]

I understand where you're coming from but disagree. CW has the size and quickness to bother Clark. Nika is too small. AG can step in as well to spell CW but I think that's our best matchup.

No CW does not have the quickness that Clarke has..there is no one on Uconn that has the quickness that Patterson has and she couldn't stay with Clarke

 

[Teacherdeb]

Why so many questions about Caitlyn? The last one for Aaliyah , are you friends with Caitlyn. Really Stick to the game of bb questions

Duh- Aaliyah plays for Canada. Why would she be friends with Caitlyn? Clueless

 

[Vowelguy]

Passing up wide open threes is keeping her from seeing the ball go in which could affect her confidence.

lol. i dont think paige lacks confidence in anything

 

[my2cents]

lol. i dont think paige lacks confidence in anything

In her overall ability, I agree. However shooting is a different animal...players during a game think about being "Hot" or "Cold" based on seeing the ball go in. Seeing the ball go in gives the shooter confidence.

 

[Waquoit]

they need a new shot clock guy, another time , the shot clock ( which sounds like the game clock) went off when CW and PB were running up the floor.

Actually it was correct for the shot clock not to reset before the CW three, Cuse never established possession there.

 

[oldude]

Actually it was correct for the shot clock not to reset before the CW three, Cuse never established possession there.

Not sure about that. While the Cuse player was on the floor she had two hands on the ball and tried to pass it to a teammate. That would be possession in my book.

 

[my2cents]

Actually it was correct for the shot clock not to reset before the CW three, Cuse never established possession there.

We we need someone , an expert, to review ,as the Syracuse player clearly had two hands on the ball, was falling out of bounds and passed to CW.

 

[Bills Fan]

Excellent offensive halftime adjustment by Big C and Big J.

What an outstanding job CD did in the post-game presser. She gives real (not coach-speak) answers and demonstrates just how knowledgeable she is, while letting a little humor sneak thru every once in a while. I feel certain when she leaves UCONN it will be to retire, but she would make such an improvement as a color commentator, interjecting actual game information as opposed to the chatter we are having to put up with in most national media (ESPN/Fox) games.
What an improvement last night's in-studio trio was compared to the previous night's. All three last night were interested in actual game analysis rather than trying to be entertaining. R. Lobo does as outstanding job and represents what a UCONN grad should be like as a tv talking head.