Tactical Error on Dawn's Part

[BigBird]

I agree but UCONN shot well under their average from the field and from 3. But Staley didn't adjust defensively in the second half. I thought playing man to man while you guys are shooting just as bad as us from the arc wasn't smart. A zone would have prevented a lot of driving lanes for Collier and Williams, and should have made their guards shoot and miss just like UCONN made our guards shoot and miss.

You make a good point. Funny, that for two teams capable from the arc, neither could do very much from there.

 

[Florida Fan]

Counting on Dawn's slow learning curve. You are correct that Cuevas-Moore was the only one capable of creating perimeter shots.

 

[CMC'72]

How do you beat a Connecticut team that has not lost since 2014?

Thanks... Great Article!

 

[Jim R]

Gabby was hitting her outside shots much more reliably, earlier in the season. But I have no complaints. It is only ...if Gabby and Napheesa become dangerous outside shooters, no one will have a chance against us. remember, Moriah didn't become a deadly three point shooter until Junior year.

Mentioned this last year, and as Geno has alluded...Gabby's potential is through the roof. Her athleticism reminds me of a young Michael Jordan, before he developed his outside shot. With a little better handle, and a better shot, she'll be, literally, unguardable!

 

[Jim R]

I think Staley understands what UConn does and why it works very well.

"I think movement: ball movement, player movement, a lot of activity," Staley said. "They do a really good job of reading defenses. So they're not really looking at what their teammates are doing, they're looking at what the defense is doing. And that's a really hard concept for young people to see because they only see their teammates, they don't see the opposing jerseys. And once you advance to that where you're just seeing defense, the ball will tell you where to go. I think UConn does a really good job at teaching that."
​

When Geno was coaching the Olympic team for the first time, he tried to employ that read and react mentality with the team. Diana took him aside and told him that he can't do that, that the team wasn't UConn. Instead she told him to draw up a play and give it a name and the pros on the team would execute it.

Last night Geno said that UConn was struggling with deciding how to attack SC. Either Shea or Marissa said, it's not working, pick something and tell them to go with it. In the end Geno took two plays and ran them and the team grew more and more comfortable and took over the game.

The take away for me is that Geno teaches the game at a very high, very cerebral level. But he has the experience (and the staff) to change things up when needed. Excellent preparation, plus great game coaching is a tough to overcome. That probably matters more than 'Geno gets all the all-Americans."

Yep - her stint as his Assistant on the Olympic team's staff was a gift.

 

[Siestakeyfan]

Dawn'.s error was taking Lou out of the offense for us and not knowing/ anticipating the skill of the other 4 players - Gabby, Pheesa, Kia and Saniya. Gabby ran circles around SC's bigs. They couldn't defender her. When our ball movement improved, Pheesa became unguardable by SC.

SC did not defend our guard play very well. Crystal Dangerfield, especially, caused havoc with her passing. Saniya was rock when Kia went down with the ankle.

With UConn you have to defend all 5 straight up.

No, UCan’t: No. 1 Huskies get past Gamecocks

 

[nyfanofwbb]

I have to WATCH this game again. I'm going to sit on the end of my coffee table up close and watch the players without the ball. You get so caught up in the game you miss a lot of stuff. I didn't see the actual blow to KLS gut but I saw her right after and it looked like it hurt.

 

[ctfjr]

Wilson and Coates need to be on floor as much as possible. Wilson needs to play as close to forty minutes as possible. Also both need to be in better condition.

If they didn't slow the game down these two would have been crawling up & down the court. As it was, Coates was toast in the 4th qtr

 

[watanabe]

I have to WATCH this game again. I'm going to sit on the end of my coffee table up close and watch the players without the ball. You get so caught up in the game you miss a lot of stuff. I didn't see the actual blow to KLS gut but I saw her right after and it looked like it hurt.

Pay attention to Wilson toward the end when SC was finally facing extinction. NO CLASS.
Very happy she is NOT a Husky

 

[oldude]

Pay attention to Wilson toward the end when SC was finally facing extinction. NO CLASS.
Very happy she is NOT a Husky

I don't know. I think we're being a little hard on Ms. Wilson. She played hard and losing hurts. In the words of Vince Lombardi, "You show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."

 

[watanabe]

I don't know. I think we're being a little hard on Ms. Wilson. She played hard and losing hurts. In the words of Vince Lombardi, "You show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."

Nope, don't think so. Watch the elbows, shoving yelling, swearing, etc...
I was amazed at her childish behavior, it's flagrant. I paid especial attention to her individually when I re-watched the game. Watch. let me know what you think.

 

[oldude]

Nope, don't think so. Watch the elbows, shoving yelling, swearing, etc..
I was amazed at her childish behavior, it's flagrant. I paid especial attention to her individually when I re-watched the game. Watch. let me know what you think.

Yes, I saw exactly what you saw. I guess I'm just willing to give Wilson a little slack.

 

[OneTrickPony]

Uconn was packing the post on defense with their guards having open shot opportunities if they so chose. Dawn only gave Cuevas 19 minutes who shoots 41.5% on 3's in favor Harris who is a better point guard with 34 minutes yet shoots 27.9% from three. Once UConn showed that defense, I think Dawn should have switched her point guard strategy.

And, this team simply amazes me.

That occurred to me, as well. Cuevas has clearly dug a pretty deep hole for herself with Coach Staley....

 

[donalddoowop]

If they didn't slow the game down these two would have been crawling up & down the court. As it was, Coates was toast in the 4th qtr

What you say about Coates is true. One would think that after playing Uconn twice, she would be in better condition. She knows Uconn players are in tip top shape.

 

[watanabe]

Yes, I saw exactly what you saw. I guess I'm just willing to give Wilson a little slack.

I (for some reason?) look at this team like an extended family after watching them since early 1980s.
As a result, the violence directed at the Husky players kinda rattled me. I'm hoping for some payback if we play them in the NC games.

Saw some of Wilson's elbows and shoves (for no discernable reason) hit quite a few of the players in my family. NO CLASS.

Ok, I get it that I'm over protective and those "girls" could probably take me out without breathing heavy (i'm an olderdude too), but it is what it is.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I (for some reason?) look at this team like an extended family after watching them since early 1980s.
As a result, the violence directed at the Husky players kinda rattled me. I'm hoping for some payback if we play them in the NC games.

Saw some of Wilson's elbows and shoves (for no discernable reason) hit quite a few of the players in my family. NO CLASS.

Ok, I get it that I'm over protective and those "girls" could probably take me out without breathing heavy (i'm an olderdude too), but it is what it is.

yeah get over it... geesh, UConn won the game after all that stuff Wilson did

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Dawn'.s error was taking Lou out of the offense for us and not knowing/ anticipating the skill of the other 4 players - Gabby, Pheesa, Kia and Saniya. Gabby ran circles around SC's bigs. They couldn't defender her. When our ball movement improved, Pheesa became unguardable by SC.

SC did not defend our guard play very well. Crystal Dangerfield, especially, caused havoc with her passing. Saniya was rock when Kia went down with the ankle.

With UConn you have to defend all 5 straight up.

Dawn's first strategy is always, "cut off the head" and take the best player out of the game. That works against 95% of the teams out there and it has served her well. There's no substitute for experience and Geno has been coaching for a long time and knows every trick in the book. Dawn is in her mid-40's and is going to improve as a coach.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Dawn's first strategy is always, "cut off the head" and take the best player out of the game. That works against 95% of the teams out there and it has served her well. There's no substitute for experience and Geno has been coaching for a long time and knows every trick in the book. Dawn is in her mid-40's and is going to improve as a coach.

Geno wins cause he's 65? * Gary Blair should have 1500 wins by now

 

[nyfanofwbb]

Pay attention to Wilson toward the end when SC was finally facing extinction. NO CLASS.
Very happy she is NOT a Husky[/QUOTE
I agree her body language showed defeat once they shut her down. Being a post player you have your fair share of pushing which comes when you're boxing out. With SC the elbows were flying as well as pushing in the back. Fortunately our players are disciplined not to engage in that behavior. I did notice that AW and AC went to bench quite a few times for a rest. I think KLS had a wedgie most of the game with a SC player practically in her shorts. That kind of attitude brings the team down and that's not good for them heading into playoffs and any good oach is going to attack that weakness.

 

[DefenseBB]

Geno wins cause he's 65? * Gary Blair should have 1500 wins by now

Umm, no. If Gary could actually recruit better he might have 1000 wins but he doesn't get the elite horses that the other programs do. Experience does count in many cases and in Dawn's situation I thought her team executed their game plan expertly, unfortunately it still wasn't enough and won't be the next time. If SC played that well in all their games they would only have 1 loss. And that's the issue with virtually all the other teams, they can't bring the intensity every night.

 

[UConnNick]

Staley specifically said in the article above that they wanted to use the shot clock as much as possible, making UConn defend for long periods and---not said by her---limit UConn's possessions. Thought this worked as well as possible for them as they made numerous shots as the 30-second clock expired or got fouled. Think in a game with more rhythm and less deliberate holding onto the ball UConn wins by 25+.

We would have won the game going away by 20+ if we just made all the easy layups we blew, particularly early in the first half. We must have missed somewhere between 5-10 bunnies. There's your 20-point victory margin.

 

[phil sampieri]

I (for some reason?) look at this team like an extended family after watching them since early 1980s.
As a result, the violence directed at the Husky players kinda rattled me. I'm hoping for some payback if we play them in the NC games.

Saw some of Wilson's elbows and shoves (for no discernable reason) hit quite a few of the players in my family. NO CLASS.

Ok, I get it that I'm over protective and those "girls" could probably take me out without breathing heavy (i'm an olderdude too), but it is what it is.

After watching the replay and watching both Coates and Wilson rather than the ball, I did notice Wilson getting frustrated toward the end and throwing elbows etc.
but at least she played hard. I have seen Coates walk up the court , off the court for timeouts and complain when she is taken out of the game. She is not conditioned to play minutes and Dawn has sat her down with no results to correct her negativity. again, evidence speed beats tall another stellar game plan by Geno.

 

[watanabe]

Totally proud we did not get involved with that behavior.
TOTAL role models.
Dang, how could this season get any better? .....I guess if Gabbie goes up for a rebound and somehow lands on top of Wilson, I might get a small smile on my face.

 

[nyfanofwbb]

Totally proud we did not get involved with that behavior.
TOTAL role models.
Dang, how could this season get any better? ....I guess if Gabbie goes up for a rebound and somehow lands on top of Wilson, I might get a small smile on my face.

Honestly I was afraid that was going to happen to Gabby in this game, so glad it didn't.

 

[CocoHusky]

Dawn only gave Cuevas 19 minutes who shoots 41.5% on 3's in favor Harris who is a better point guard with 34 minutes yet shoots 27.9% from three. Once UConn showed that defense, I think Dawn should have switched her point guard strategy.
And, this team simply amazes me.

Cuevas can be good & she can be bad, but once UConn started to control the game, it really was time for Dawn to put her in and let her fire away from the arc.

Cuevas is irresponsible with the ball. Dawn had the right lineup and tactics.

Dawn has a potential blind spot called loyalty. Cuevas was fine in this game and does not have to be the primary ball handler for SC. The player killing SC is Davis who is shooting 34% for the season and leading SC in shot attempts by a wide margin. That's correct folks Davis has 40 more shot attempts on the season than POY candidate Wilson.
Start Gray at the 3 & sit Davis, Cuevas at 2 and Harris at the 1, Wilson at 4 and Coates at 5. You will get better spacing because Cuevas is 40% 3pt shooter, better effort on defense because Davis is defensively indifferent, and better passing because your 5 best passers will be on the floor together. When Davis' mom complains ( and she will) tell her Kaela can turn pro after the season.