Tennessee Postgame Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Tennessee Postgame Thread

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Maybe we are not as good as we hoped we were...there were missed shots that normally go in, our 3 point game almost vanished, and some of the mistakes that unranked teams would have a tendency to do. We can't load all of this on Paige's shoulders, it is a team game. If tonight is any kind of preview for the SC game, I might not watch it.
 
We missed more easy layups than TN made tough layups. End of story. Our horrible 3 pt shooting did not help either. Seemed like the game was too big for Ash, and sadly, Azzi. Paige was just so-so. KK and Aubrey were really good. Back to the drawing board.
 
Stagnant said:
In the last two years, almost every time UConn loses... Paige has a bad scoring game. Inefficient, shoots the ball poorly, has less than 20 points. That is a pattern. The Iowa game is the only game that I think is different.

Anyways, this is a bad loss. We had to have this game. It is bad for our psyche, it is bad for our tournament resume, and it is just a bad loss for anyone trying to predict our future. I think we look like a 3 seed now. And I think we will need a favorable draw to get past the sweet 16.
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Accurate about Paige except, she also had a bad game vs. Iowa, just 7 of 17 for 17 points when the game was begging to be taken over by Paige.
 
mainerhuski said:
KK & Aubrey played well. I’d love to see Aubrey start, not KK, though, because she is playing so excellently in the #6 role.
Missed layups & weak outside shooting… ya gotta score! Paige not playing like a top draft pick & Azzi looking like a deer in the headlights for looong stretches.
I still have faith that Geno, Chris, et al. are playing the long game & prepping for the tournament! ❤️
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I'm going to say that Azzi is still coming back, needed a tough game, but will be there come tournament time. I wish someone could give me an explanation about what to do with Ash. 20 points out of that position and we win.
 
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Gurleyman said:
Paige was 1-7 or so from 15 feet and in tonight.
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Not sure where you’re getting your stats from. Paige was 2/6 from the arc and 3/10 inside the arc.
 
While I appreciate and agree with the above encouraging posts, the game revealed several weaknesses that we all have previously identified. In addition, there were numerous mental mistakes, such as unnecessary fouls and bad passes, to go along with physical mistakes (often the case when you are tired).

The time out to go into a zone with about 1:20 eliminated a clear path layup for Paige and the inbounds play from the time out resulted in a turnover. The zone at that point was not effective and only meant that it was harder to box out and they got an offensive rebound after that and 2 points against it. The foul by Sarah was an error but then not adjusting and fouling immediately after two times to put them on the line meant we lost 10-12 seconds when only 30 were left in the game and that if they scored again which they did the game was effectively over since only 12 seconds were left and we needed 2 scores.

Honestly, I thought we had progressed past a game like this. We had all said that against their press if you make your lay ups you win. We missed far too many and that comes from fatigue for some but also for others just from being rattled which I was surprised that we were. This team has lost 7 times, they played the same way all 7 times, but against them we rushed shots, took ill advised shots, forced shots, allowed far too much penetration into the lane, and played their game. Their press clearly had an effect even on our shooting open shots.

The season is not over by a long shot but we have to make some serious adjustments in how we play now and the emphasis has to be on defense. The players are surely at a low point but tomorrow is another day and they have to regroup, work hard, be fearless and then just let it ride. If you play tight you usually lose.

Sometimes a loss is a good thing. This may be one of those times.
 
WLT1717 said:
I think several of the players / including the bigger guns / inexplicably play tentative in the prime time non conference matchups. That’s part of why they don’t get foul calls. Getting to the line also slows the tempo against teams like TN, SC and ND/Hidalgo. I’ve not been able to understand the psychology of that, but I’ve watched it long enough to be frustrated by it.
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Other teams just feel more aggressive and I think a lot of that has to do with these better teams just have more length and athletes than we do across the roster. Aubrey, to me, is arguably our most athletic player. We have one player that looks like her and that’s QS who is still raw. Tennessee has an entire roster of players that have Aubrey’s athleticism.
 
Time to reevaluate. Our best win is UNC. That’s just a fact. We can’t shoot the 3 against good competition. And the lineups Geno likes to roll with against the big east don’t cut it.

Kk was on a final four team as a starter. She’s proven tonight and against usc she’s dynamic and effective. She needs to be in the lineup consistently. We need to develop that chemistry. Aubrey showed she can be pivotal. Start to actually get her game time in the big east games. Shade is consistently ineffective in big games. Reevaluate her role. Just my honest take.

And something needs to be done about the passivity.

Paige was a great passer tonight but she needs to find her offensive mojo. Our season somewhat rests heavily on that. I’m her biggest supporter but I was somewhat disappointed tonight.

This team doesn’t look ready to stun South Carolina. And with our resume, I’m predicting a tough road to a final four. No signature win yet, and losses to our top 3 opponents. Just disappointing this evening.
 
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Lack of height means we need to be more aggressive on offense and we just aren’t that aggressive. Too laid back. But Azzi and Aubrey will blend in more and we’ll get better I expect. Lots of mistakes today too, a lot happened tonight that’s probably not gonna happen much if at all again this season for us tonight. We’re still there.
 
Rowdy831 said:
I think there will be an opening in the ACC soon. Hopefully UConn will get a chance to get in a conference that both the men and women deserve to be in.
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They didn't lose tonight because of the conference. They lost because the press and the crowd unnerved us and rushed us and made us make mental and physical mistakes.
 
Just saw major tornado and storm warnings in Knoxville tonight until 9:45. Low pressure might have affected the Huskies!
 
huskeynut said:
And what is your solution? Its the conference we are in.
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It's not the conference. If we had a strong post presence for defense and rebounding the result is different. This team lost 7 times. When you are being pressed and you have a strong inside game you get the ball underneath for layups and fouls. We can't do that.
 
Rb335 said:
Time to reevaluate. Our best win is UNC. That’s just a fact. We can’t shoot the 3 against good competition. And the lineups Geno likes to roll with against the big east don’t cut it.

Kk was on a final four team as a starter. She’s proven tonight and against usc she’s dynamic and effective. She needs to be in the lineup consistently. We need to develop that chemistry. Aubrey showed she can be pivotal. Start to actually get her game time in the big east games. Shade is consistently ineffective in big games. Reevaluate her role. Just my honest take.

And something needs to be done about the passivity.

Paige was a great passer tonight but she needs to find her offensive mojo. Our season somewhat rests heavily on that. I’m her biggest supporter but I was somewhat disappointed tonight.

This team doesn’t look ready to stun South Carolina. And with our resume, I’m predicting a tough road to a final four. No signature win yet, and losses to our top 3 opponents. Just disappointing this evening.
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this is a good post offering actual solutions. and i agree with really all of it. KK has been one of the best players and it seems like she should be on the court finishing games. And I agree on Aubrey. She can compete athletically, just like KK. Need them both on the floor against good teams.
 
BBallF said:
They didn't lose tonight because of the conference. They lost because the press and the crowd unnerved us and rushed us and made us make mental and physical mistakes.
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True, but I think the point is IF we played in a better conference it would make us a better team, hopefuly. Minimally it would highlight our weaknesses better so we could address them. Iron sharpens iron.
 
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Surly1 said:
It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but Paige thinking she can turn it on and off isn't working. When will it sink in? She is supposed to be the leader, the one everyone follows. However, in UConn's 3 losses, she has shot 25-58 and only 4-18 from 3-pt. People may disagree with me, but if she approached every game from the outset establishing herself as the go-to player we assume her to be, it would be easier for her to assert herself when needed.

I hope this game is a wakeup call.
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Been saying that for months. Has to start out that way and not stop.
 
Stagnant said:
i didn't totally remember. i just thought she played caitlin to a draw.

on paige. more and more, i feel like she stayed a year too long.
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Paige only had 4 points in the 4th quarter while CC had 8 to put Iowa in the championship game
 
I thought Sarah played a good game. After her is was hard to find a player who I thought played with urgency and the effort a game like this requires. Geno got outcoached by a 20 year old and he needs to take some of the blame in this game. Why wasn't Jana in the game? They were getting beat on the boards badly and giving up a lot of layups down the stretch.

I thought KC played as good as she is capable of playing tonight. Her ball handling was good, her defense was good positionally but her size was easy for Tennessee to exploit and they did several times. It is hard to get stops when you have a couple players who can't defend the drive. KK played a pretty solid game too. She played pesky defense all night, handled the ball without a bunch of TOs and even hit her shots. She stepped up and kept them in the game when she was on the floor.

Ash and Azzi can NOT disappear in these big games. Azzi played really good defense but as a leader Paige needs to get Azzi a couple easy looks early to get her mind in the right space for the game. Ash just seems to hurry too much when UConn is in a close game and tonight she didn't have a very good game.

They have a little over a month to figure it out. They have the players who should be able to get it done, I guess we will see what they are made of in a couple weeks.
 
oldude said:
It’s a shortcoming for this year’s squad. Last year, while Aaliyah was only 6’3”, she was a fierce defender and rebounder in the paint. Before that Dorka then Liv. This year, Sarah is our best rebounder at 6’1”. As I said in my OP, I think UConn has to consider putting Aubrey in the starting lineup for added defense and rebounding.
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I agree she should start. I think it was a matter of her conditioning and comfortability. She gets offensive and defensive rebounds, is better at put backs and layups than either of our other post players and is a strong defender. It's only a matter off time.
 
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We still had 3 number 1 high school players in the country in our starting lineup Just disappointed that Azzi and Paige are not thriving together and we keep losing to any ranked teams.
Injuries have really slowed them down. Sad. - not top 3 draft choices
 
yhun89 said:
Haven’t 2 major conferences (B12 and ACC) rejected us or something like that?
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True, but the move to a P4 conference is driven 90% by football. UConn still eager to join a P4 and Coach Mora has football looking better. Seriously and finally, next round of conference moves should open a door for football and a UConn move.

Meanwhile BigEast hoops great for men, but not so good for women. Importantly, it's not Geno's call in what league be plays!

Big East women's bb is showing improvement. Creighton is now a top 30 team and they have 3 top 100 recruits next year. Only Xavier is now truly awful. To Geno's credit, he really supports BE and BE coaches.
 
The final score wasn’t bad considered how bad we played and how awful we shot. Hard to win a game when your 2 of the big 3 play like that. Was hoping Geno would sub Azzi and Paige out when they decided they couldn’t play D with their foul trouble in the 3rd quarter. Some players seemed to disappear, maybe the lights were too bright. Would have loved to see some changes to the second half starting lineup; especially when the first half started slow with the same lineup. Would love to see KK start over Chen, she brings so much more to the team, and we have no true big, sorry to hear Ice couldn’t go.

i hope Paige is okay, she did not seem like herself tonight. When she passed up the three when Aubrey passed it to her with about 6 mins left and shot a weird mid range that missed terribly, it was telling. In the past old Geno might have sat the player to send a message, was yelling at the tv to put in Zeibel as she’s not afraid to shoot.

We really have no marquee wins this year, our best win over a middle of the road North Carolina team.

No where to go but up….hopefully….
 
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