Start KK over Kaitlyn in the first and third periods. Nothing against Kaitlyn but KK's taken her game to a different level, especially on the defensive end. Continue to increase Audrey's minutes to improve the team's rebounding and defensive presence. Defense and rebounding are key to beating SC.
Tennessee Postgame Thread
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If time after time Tennessee kept driving to the hoop, why wasn’t the defense changed to stop that? Put in a zone with someone clogging up the middle maybe, or something else expressly designed to stop the guard driving inside. Not a good game by Geno.
WiseWillie
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The only way to improve the competitive environment if stuck with the BE is to schedule more - or as many as possible - non-conference games against highly ranked teams, not teams who are trying to build but are no different than and sometimes much less competitive than what is faced in the BE.
Tonyc
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The reason Tenn was able to drive on us was Paige and Azzi were in foul trouble. That allowed Tenn to take the ball right at them and they had to back off for fear of committing another foul. Foul trouble makes you defenseless.
Geno pulled them out of the game because of foul trouble and hoping a rest would get them going.
so What Happened??????
We were rushing and shooting to fast. It comes down to tempo. That comes from lack of poise. We needed to slow down thus a lot of missed shots and to many missed bunnies. We needed to play at our tempo which I will explain later in this post.
We have a lot of jump shooters. We need players like Paige Aubrey and KK who can put the ball on the floor and dribble drive. We lack that kind of player. Tenn and SC have many players who can put the ball on the floor and they have jump shooters too. The jump shooters primarily stay on the outside looking for their shot from their spot.
We play in the Big East and we dont have a big like many of us want. We are developing Jana and Ice who are coming along. Thats where we are.
My Solution
To avoid rushing and playing to fast comes down to who ever is handling the ball needs to settle the team down and be the coach on the floor. By doing this it will instill poise.
We beat a lot of teams badly because they are not athletic and dont have the players who can put the ball on the floor and dribble drive. To be able to put the ball on the floor and dribble drive means your an athletic player and you dont live by the jump shot. Griff and KK can do that. Paige can do both, put the ball on the floor and shoot from the outside.
I will say this. It wasnt the refs fault. In past Tenn games imo the refs played a big part. Not last nite.
We will bounce back from this game. We will because what we need to do is now very apparent. The solution is we need to play at our speed/tempo which means the point guard must settle the team down and keep them from rushing and playing to fast. When you slow yourself down your mind will control your game. When you play at your own pace your mind has time to react, when you play fast your mind reacts to emotions and your play at a pace your not familiar with thus speeding up and rushing your shot. Playing to fast makes you do things you dont normally do. Playing to fast makes you take bad shots, puts you under pressure and your self doubt settles in.
We have the talent and we have the players. the solution is we need to play under control at our own pace. Thats where patience and poise come in and it all starts with a coach on the floor controlling the pace the team needs to play at. Those of you who called me last nite know I was disappointed, frustrated and angry. I hate to loose. What happened last nite can be fixed and thats a good thing. We have a couple of games to work on it before @SC. If we make that improvement we can beat anybody.
Geno pulled them out of the game because of foul trouble and hoping a rest would get them going.
so What Happened??????
We were rushing and shooting to fast. It comes down to tempo. That comes from lack of poise. We needed to slow down thus a lot of missed shots and to many missed bunnies. We needed to play at our tempo which I will explain later in this post.
We have a lot of jump shooters. We need players like Paige Aubrey and KK who can put the ball on the floor and dribble drive. We lack that kind of player. Tenn and SC have many players who can put the ball on the floor and they have jump shooters too. The jump shooters primarily stay on the outside looking for their shot from their spot.
We play in the Big East and we dont have a big like many of us want. We are developing Jana and Ice who are coming along. Thats where we are.
My Solution
To avoid rushing and playing to fast comes down to who ever is handling the ball needs to settle the team down and be the coach on the floor. By doing this it will instill poise.
We beat a lot of teams badly because they are not athletic and dont have the players who can put the ball on the floor and dribble drive. To be able to put the ball on the floor and dribble drive means your an athletic player and you dont live by the jump shot. Griff and KK can do that. Paige can do both, put the ball on the floor and shoot from the outside.
I will say this. It wasnt the refs fault. In past Tenn games imo the refs played a big part. Not last nite.
We will bounce back from this game. We will because what we need to do is now very apparent. The solution is we need to play at our speed/tempo which means the point guard must settle the team down and keep them from rushing and playing to fast. When you slow yourself down your mind will control your game. When you play at your own pace your mind has time to react, when you play fast your mind reacts to emotions and your play at a pace your not familiar with thus speeding up and rushing your shot. Playing to fast makes you do things you dont normally do. Playing to fast makes you take bad shots, puts you under pressure and your self doubt settles in.
We have the talent and we have the players. the solution is we need to play under control at our own pace. Thats where patience and poise come in and it all starts with a coach on the floor controlling the pace the team needs to play at. Those of you who called me last nite know I was disappointed, frustrated and angry. I hate to loose. What happened last nite can be fixed and thats a good thing. We have a couple of games to work on it before @SC. If we make that improvement we can beat anybody.
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Isn't this what the program is currently doing? And is it no different than when they were in the AAC? They're doing the best they can to ensure the real face tough competition. This season hasn't yielded the best results, but it's not like UConn is ducking anyone.
Jana had 4 rebounds in 11 minutes, made a nifty move to score a bucket and is always on the floor getting loose balls. Sure some of those loose balls are because she didn't hang onto it in the first place but still. If she got the same amount of rope as other players that are in the game maybe she would be more developed at this point. To be honest I have given up on UConn coaches developing post players and have resorted to watching them try to win with a small lineup and I don't think that works against good teams.
Now did playing Jana 11 minutes cause UConn the game? No, I don't think it did but it is an issue that could be important against other teams. To me it comes down to one thing, your stars need to play like stars in the big games and last night two of the three really played poor offensive games.
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A press is designed to do two things, turn the ball over and change the pace of the game. On one hand you really can't expect (if you are Tennessee) a team as guard heavy as UConn to have trouble getting the ball up the court but they did speed up several possessions that UConn took poor shots that were rushed. So I think the press actually worked perfectly.
The second thought for me is playing under pressure takes it out of you physically. UConn plays in a league where they really only play half the game on a normal night and tonight down the stretch Tennessee was way more rested and ready to make the plays necessary to win the game. I know UConn doesn't want to beat teams in conference by 100 but they need to kick up the game conditioning to prepare for the tournament.
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Geno loves the quick hook, even if it undermines a player's confidence. You would have thought what happened with Ice Brady in the post season last year would have been illuminating. Apparently not. Personally, I don't think having players constantly looking over their shoulders is beneficial for their development.
WiseWillie
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All good points, TonyC. So, what you are saying is that this team lacks a clear take charge leader on the floor like the role Nika played so well. As good as she is, that just is not who Kaitlin is. KK is very good but more a disrupter and not a floor general. That leaves Paige. Is she ready? Will coach allow it because it puts too much pressure on her? Takes her away from her other strengths? Whatever the solution might be, something needs to change if this team is going to go vey far this year.
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Don't compare the two Paige is a better player now than JuJu the bomber. Her shooting was 7-24 vs Minnesota, 8-22 in the loss to Iowa, and 4-11 vs Wisconsin. She is not a shooter anyone should be compared to IMO.
The tournament is about winning 6 games and they certainly have the quality of players to do that. The three top recruits need to play like the best players in their class though.
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Nor should he
Add Azzi and Ash (arguably the best shooters) and it is clear why UConn did not get the W. To me the shooting will be there or it won't but they absolutely must have Jana on the floor to at least make the other team shoot over someone when they beat the guard off the dribble.
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Exactly, as long as Geno is coaching, which I hope is for many years to come.
You can tell by the way our opponents celebrate if and when they get a victory. Last night the players celebrated their win like they won the NC!!!! Probably in their minds they did...
I agree with this. They really were right there and it wasn't like several players didn't make plays in the 4th. Paige hit a pretty clutch 3, Sarah made some baskets, Azzi made a nice drive, KC made two big time free throws. They just didn't get the stop they needed. Not to be that guy but I think Ice would've helped on those final possessions in terms of rebounding and size. I always say this but Im somewhat surprised how key a healthy Caroline Ducharme would help this team as well.
That break that Paige had where she missed the 10 footer for the lead was huge. Those are the baskets you MUST make and if that goes in all the pressure is on the home team. Opportunities missed.
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Game conditioning is a real factor. The quality of the league only matters when it effects your conditioning and when your key players play 21 minutes a night they will be wore out in a tough game where they must play 38 minutes to win.
donalddoowop
Who put the Bop in the Bop Shoo Bop?
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I read an article last night that stated some UConn fans are disappointed with Geno's decision making this season. They are questioning his substitution pattern. I wonder what good it does to start Jana and play her for five minutes and then take her out no matter what she does? Sometimes she does not come back in until the second half. I have mentioned this before that if Koval the ND post player had come to UConn she would not be playing as much as she is at ND. Coach Ivey plays Koval and lets her play through her mistakes. She is no better than Jana, imo. In BE games I believe Jana should play more if UConn wants to get solid in the post. Just saying.
They also made some very difficult shots down the stretch to maintain their lead. I thought overall the defense for UConn was pretty good and the offense was less than they should accept or expect.
Geno has never really been a coach of bigs. If you think about the post players or bigs they have had they have always been able to shoot and dribble. The development in the post is not great at UConn and quite frankly I don't think it is that important to Geno because his offense is not an offense designed to be run with a post.
The truth is if they shot even close to normal they win the game. The sky is falling today but don't surprised if this team rises and makes another deep run in the tournment.
oldude
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What I was trying to point out to my boneyard brethren is simply that great players have off nights. Paige and JuJu are both AA’s and likely #1 draft choices. They will both have great careers. They will both have off nights shooting the basketball as Paige did last night and as JuJu has in each of her last 3 games.
I can go all the way back to DT’s 1st national semifinal game, as a freshman, when she had an abysmal shooting night in UConn’s loss. CC had some awful shooting nights during her run to the all time scoring record. These players are not robots, and we should not expect them to be. Their performance is subject to any number of variables. I’m sure that even Hannah Hidalgo has had an off-shooting night or 2.
That was my point.
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I understand the calls to have Jana play more minutes, but to me she did seem to struggle with the pace somewhat last night. I also don’t think she was any more effective defensively than smaller players, and I remain perplexed by her rebounding. If she boxed out, wouldn’t she be so much more effective?
I wondered why Morgan didn’t get back in. After a couple of so-so games, she played well in her limited minutes, and she even took some shots! She’s obviously not as athletic as Aubrey, but she brings that tall, long-limbed, fearless presence on defense.
Echoing the shout-outs for KK. As I said to my husband last night: no other UConn player rises to the occasion under the brightest lights more than KK Arnold.
I wondered why Morgan didn’t get back in. After a couple of so-so games, she played well in her limited minutes, and she even took some shots! She’s obviously not as athletic as Aubrey, but she brings that tall, long-limbed, fearless presence on defense.
Echoing the shout-outs for KK. As I said to my husband last night: no other UConn player rises to the occasion under the brightest lights more than KK Arnold.
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So true!
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Wow, After watching for just the first Qtr I knew this was going to be a tough game for us to win. What we have learned this season is athleticism will kill us: Notre Dame, USC, and now Tennessee and Possibly South Carolina. It wasn't necessarily the pace (hence the turnover ratio) but that will take away some of what we want to do. IE.. jump shooting. Running up and down the court at such a pace will take away your legs and our jump shooting from Azzi, Paige, Shade, Morgan and Chen was non-existent.
Our most athletic players thrived. Sarah, Audrey and KK because they don't rely on jump shooting to score.
Geno should have subbed Kaitlyn sooner or started KK. Kaitlyn isn't consistent enough, is still hesitant to shoot, and still defers.
The rebounding difference gives the team additional possessions and we missed Ice at least for portions of the game. El Afy is still raw and a work in progress this year. simple layups are a challenge for her and she is falling away to the right missing it and is often out of position for rebounding. I am interested to see Gandy Lou-Mamel next year. She is athletic, runs the floor extremely well, rebounds and is quick on her feet.
It didn't look like there were any screens set for Paige or Azzi to get going from deep. I saw double screens and triple set for Caitlyn Clark at times.
You can only teach defensive principles like stance, position, moving feet, and boxing out but if you don't have the athleticism, the heart to get better, the will to dominate your opponent you are going to be stuck with this matadore defense.
Our most athletic players thrived. Sarah, Audrey and KK because they don't rely on jump shooting to score.
Geno should have subbed Kaitlyn sooner or started KK. Kaitlyn isn't consistent enough, is still hesitant to shoot, and still defers.
The rebounding difference gives the team additional possessions and we missed Ice at least for portions of the game. El Afy is still raw and a work in progress this year. simple layups are a challenge for her and she is falling away to the right missing it and is often out of position for rebounding. I am interested to see Gandy Lou-Mamel next year. She is athletic, runs the floor extremely well, rebounds and is quick on her feet.
It didn't look like there were any screens set for Paige or Azzi to get going from deep. I saw double screens and triple set for Caitlyn Clark at times.
You can only teach defensive principles like stance, position, moving feet, and boxing out but if you don't have the athleticism, the heart to get better, the will to dominate your opponent you are going to be stuck with this matadore defense.
6Nattys4Us
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Not going to hang my head on a 4 pt loss in a hostile environment.
To say we were out rebounded is a function of missing 60% of the shots - no team will get 100% of their offensive misses
We just played a sub-par game yet scored 76 there - if we played even a skosh better we win - but hey, let's pay them back in the Dance this year.
To say we were out rebounded is a function of missing 60% of the shots - no team will get 100% of their offensive misses
We just played a sub-par game yet scored 76 there - if we played even a skosh better we win - but hey, let's pay them back in the Dance this year.
Bald Husky
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Ok, here we go. Geno says Paige wants to have the ball in her hands all the time. Well, isn't that what we all want. Right now, Paige is getting too much noise about her game, from social media, fans, outsiders, and Geno. Must Geno remind Paige all the time about not winning a NC? I think Paige has to return to the PG position. She will set up Azzi, Sarah, and anyone else, and she will have the ball in her hands all the time which is not a bad thing since she is great about creating her own shot. Starting with the next game, Paige has a decision to make. Is she the player she knows she is, and if she is, how about going out and showing everyone. Its obvious that we cannot beat the really good teams. They have impact players that are aggressive and do not turn to anyone else on a regular basis. Apparently, Paige is not that player any more, or at least she hasn't shown it lately. Did everyone notice that she either has a great first half, or a great second half, but not both in the same game? She can't stay aggressive the entire game, and that is hurting us. This may be stupid, but I think the team, no coaches, should have an intervention with Paige, letting her know that they want her to play to win like there was no tomorrow. They must feel the pressure when Paige isn't scoring, so the entire mind set for Paige has to change. She has to block out everybody else, including Geno when he starts to get on her. She only has a few good games left to the season and it is up to her how she wants to end her career.
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