Tennessee Postgame thread

[msf22b]

Sorry to be so late to the Party
My wife prepared a Sichuan, seafood hot-pot (still celebrating her New Year's)
and it was served right after the game

- I've noticed some less than complimentary notices for the seniors, Christyn and Olivia
In the past, when they started as poorly as they did this afternoon, they would have moped their way
through the game...not today:
Both were important cogs in the 2nd hall...Olivia with her D and Christyn finally made some shots and played reasonably solid D (as did them all). That was a positive development.

- Remember, this was overrated Tennessee, who doesn't run much of an offense...Geno out-coached his counterpart into the ground...Their one on one was neutralized and their offensive rebounding was negligible...what's left? zilch.- So it was a huge win...but there are better teams out there.

-As I noted earlier, when you have legitimate shooters (making shots), the whole game changes. Azzi in the 2nd half was pretty insane, but that's what we recruited; no real surprise...The surprise was Aaliyah's mid-range, even a three!. Aliyah's reprise of her best (maybe better) was the icing on the cake. And everyone else contributed as well

-The passing had some bite and was meaningful; they actually ran plays, getting Azzi open; and her variation pass to a cutting Olivia was a thing of beauty They must have been really scared this week, "his masters voice" was finally listened to.

- Fun game to watch...who wants them in the NCAA's as a 2, 3,or 4...hither or yon...does it matter?

 

[HuskyNan]

Shows you how much Creme knows.

Makes me wonder why people get so worked up over guesses on seeding by a talking head 2 months before the tourney

 

[eebmg]

So I assume we will never play in any other uniforms but the retro ones.

 

[CocoHusky]

Not to downplay her loss but I thought Green was a backup for Key, and even the Vols fans are questioning how can a loss of Green could have had that much impact on Ten.

Yes & thanks I was corrected that Green was not a starter.
I don't do the Volnation thing they are too skitzo for me. TN does have Justine Pissott coming in next year. She a Jersey Girl so I'm going to have trouble rooting against her next year. Maybe she'll come to her senses.

 

[Jackalope]

Paige's " Why would they leave her" So funny

The announcer's said they should mike Paige up for the Marquette game so that you can hear her comments.

 

[HopJim]

I hope she is enjoying her role as 1st off the bench. Because Evina provides such a spark & calming influence. Another quiet 14 points, most at opportune times.

The past 3-4 games, just as UConn was going down the drain, Geno put Evina in and she immediately made a critical 3. Clutch!

 

[sun]

Azzi played 38 minutes with no TO's & 4 assists.
AE played 37 minutes with 7 RB's & 14 points.

There were a lot of heroes in the game, but those two really put in some effort.
The team passed the ball really effectively showing how well Geno prepared them.
I'm really glad that Azzi & AE had performances to be proud of, they've been under a lot of pressure & scrutiny.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Amari is the ultimate hype man on that sideline!

 

[LwrcasefaN]

The past 3-4 games, just as UConn was going down the drain, Geno put Evina in and she immediately made a critical 3. Clutch!

Evina is a BOSS.

 

[HopJim]

Nice win, but Tennessee is playing lousy. And to be expected because they really didn’t bring in any players this year. I know their fans had crazy high expectations, but they didn’t really seem realistic because they didn’t add anything to the team through recruiting.

As long as Key keeps playing with low energy, Vols will continue to slip. I have seen her playing a dominate role in the past - good player but not sure what is causing her current speed bump.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Horston is a terrific player, but she palms an awful lot.

Yes! Sort of like another Jordan.

 

[jaydee602]

Makes me wonder why people get so worked up over guesses on seeding by a talking head 2 months before the tourney

Creme has a tough job. He has to revise his brackets in midstream to match the Committee rankings. Charlie had UCONN in Bridgeport until the selection committee sent them out West in the first reveal. Actually, I like Creme's last brackets before the reveal.

 

[STLCardinal]

UConn's rebounding in the 1st half was big I think. Tennessee relies on that a lot. And I thought Edwards, Nelson-Ododa and Juhasz getting points from their outside shots was also important. Nika's two threes and steal for a layup were big in the 3rd quarter run. The guards especially Azzi and Christyn playing with fouls but being able to stay in the game was important too.

Tennessee, like a few other teams, seems to rely on their athletic ability alone on defense. That works if you play teams that play a one on one style of basketball. Harder to beat teams who pass and cut. Especially when there are times their players completely turned their back to Azzi.

UConn played really well. And seem to have gotten adjusted to missing someone every game.

 

[dtbtbtb]

All 7 of Azzi's three's

The last 3 was reminiscent of what KML used to do for UConn on the break. Loved it!

 

[Valleyfan]

echoing what all the others have said today, impressive team win. Kudos all around - players and coaches. Nicely done. The only “problem” will be a happy one - what to do rotation wise when we’re at full strength.

 

[CocoHusky]

Creme has a tough job. He has to revise his brackets in midstream to match the Committee rankings. Charlie had UCONN in Bridgeport until the selection committee sent them out West in the first reveal. Actually, I like Creme's last brackets before the reveal.

Nah... Creme job is rather easy and to @HuskyNan point I don't understand why people get so worked up about his rating.
What makes his job a great job (unlike my job and probably yours) is there is nobody holding him accountable for being accurate. i also appreciate his job because nobody else is even talking about the women's tournament.

 

[Monte]

No doubt, this was the most important victory of the season. It was a great game to watch.
We must keep in mind. that Tennessee was missing a starter, and they have been going downhill the past few games.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Even though the stat line may indicate that a few players had sub par games I think everyone was great today. The TEAM won today as everyone stepped up and only thought about how THEY could help the team win today.

Let me start by saying I thought Nika was terrific today. Very efficient and hard working. Good defense and very judicious and effective offense. Knocking down those 2 threes was back breaking and it opened up everyone else as they had to guard Nika. She was a big part of that third quarter run and was a very effective contributor to the team effort.

ONO's defense really neutralized a lot of what Tennessee was trying to do. AE was very solid and we ended up rebounding at the same rate as Tennessee, the nationwide leader in rebounding. I LOVe what Dorka brings even when she isn't shooting well. she SELLS those plays and ended up helping to create shots even when she didn't touch the ball. She defends and she REBOUNDS!

CW gave it everything she had but Tennessee is the type of opponent which is going to shut down a lot of her offense if the turnovers are low.

No concussion for Caroline but she still can't play? It would seem that she looked like she had a concussion to me. She may not be back for a few more games.

A lot of us have been clamoring for "more Azzi" and "put the ball in Azzi's hands" and I think this just confirms it. She is very efficient with the ball with few turnovers, 4 assists today and lots of efficient shooting. Player of the Game for sure. More Azzi please. Solid effort and defense from E today with not bad offense. Everyone contributed.

 

[BobbyJ]

Makes me wonder why people get so worked up over guesses on seeding by a talking head 2 months before the tourney

I've never understood the constant concern about seedings. The only teams that worry about seedings and where they play are the ones that don't know if they're good enough to win it.

 

[tchalla1]

Yes & thanks I was corrected that Green was not a starter.
I don't do the Volnation thing they are too skitzo for me. TN does have Justine Pissott coming in next year. She a Jersey Girl so I'm going to have trouble rooting against her next year. Maybe she'll come to her senses.

Well, Coco, maybe we can get her twin sister, Gia--I hear she's almost as good...

 

[LwrcasefaN]

There were many favorite plays in this game, but my favorite...was Muhl probing on a break, turning and pitching to Azzi behind the 3pt line. Muhl is backpedaling with her hands raised and celebrating before Azzi even shoots! Then Amari gets the sideline party started...even the reserved Caroline can't help, but join in.

 

[BobbyJ]

The announcer's said they should mike Paige up for the Marquette game so that you can hear her comments.

Might need to have the bleeper ready if they do.

 

[PJCLaw]

Tenn had 15 TOs to UConn's 14!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Not bad being even in rebounding 38 - 38 vs. the best rebounding team in the nation.

[11 UCONN team & 9 UT team rebounds on free throws]