Tennessee Postgame Thread

[Fore!]

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.

I don’t disagree; however, her recovery timeline may not permit it yet.

 

[Fore!]

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.

Rough road to the final four for sure; it’ll be a rough road to the sweet 16 with these performances against better competition

 

[Fore!]

How many "wake up calls" are needed? If basketball's winningest coach hasn't been able to do it over all the years that Paige has been a Husky maybe it's time for all of us stubborn, bone-headed Boneyarders (that includes yours truly) to realize that it just ain't gonna happen. Paige takes the alpha dog role when she can take advantage of poor defense of mediocre teams but in big games against highly ranked competition she lays back for whatever reason. Waiting for the game to come to her? In big games that should not apply. It is in those times that the best player needs to set the example and take the lead. At this time of the season, a clear leader in the biggest games is needed.

Is it time to make Paige the primary ball handler , as she was as a freshman?

 

[Jumpy Radar]

Well guys and gals, It was really frustrating watching the game. I have been trying to understand what the problem is with the inconsistency with this team. Many of you have made some really valid points, and I have to agree with a lot of the constructive criticism that has been made. We have been hearing the same thing in losses now for 5 years. Not aggressive enough. Not enough movement. Out rebounded. Etc. Etc. So, you can't help but wonder what is going on. But then I realized that this group especially the core upperclassmen have not really faced adversity together as a team for most of their careers here. Now I'm not one to make excuses for anyone. In fact, I hate excuses. But something really feels off and it is very evident when we are faced with stiffer and better competition.

Tonight, we got out hustled and out muscled. Tennessee seemed to want it more. We had that deer in the headlights look on many possessions. Honestly, we seemed very anxious for the majority of the game.

I'm just wondering could this disfunction be the result of the past few years with a splintered lineup. AE left for the W. Paige and Fudd have not had much time together in their careers here. Add Chen. AG is just getting back. Patterson is out. Ducharme is out. When you mix in the Sophs and Freshy's what you have is a team that doesn't have what I like to call combat experience together. KK and Sarah are stars in the making. Ash is coming around but very inconsistent, and with Ice, I just don't know. Jana is still underdeveloped. The jury is still out on everyone else.

I don't know what the cure is for our ills, but this team has to find a way to band together. Paige has to return to her freshman beast form. Azzi has to rediscover her confidence, or we may see a very quick exit from this year's tourney.

 

[jcoton56]

I hate to say this, but these Huskies are Not Ready for Primetime

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Was at the game and here is my moderately unbiased opinion.

UConn missted too many easy shots to win. No one on the team really tried to take the game over when needed. The lack of rim protection was a major factor. UT made a couple of 3s then began to settle for them. My thought was drive to the basket, they did, and the tide turned. An earlier poster said UConn gave it away but UT took it and responded to every challenge to hold on.

It was a great crowd and a lot of fun. I saw many more UConn fans than expected but everyone in my section behaved themselves on both sides. Big win for the LVs. UConn has some work to do before the tournament.

 

[cancontent]

You can be as tired as you want to be. That won’t change anything either. The BE will be the end of this program. They’ll get about 4-5 competitive games a year, and they lose all of them. And none in league play.

It would be no different had they stayed in the AAC either. There's nothing the team can do about it. The WBB program doesn't control which conference they play in. Like HuskyNan said, this is a tiring topic because there's nothing that can be done about for now.

 

[nickp91]

Kim Caldwell’s path is truly remarkable

• Assistant at Ohio Valley (D2)
• Assistant at Sacramento St
• HC at Glenville St (took team to D2 championship)
• HC at Marshall ( first March Madness since ‘97)
• 2nd Tennessee coach ever to beat UConn (Patt Summit)

 

[Zanzman]

I tried to pull the team along ..those of you who remember my posts from previous seasons understand...

My go to beverage during UCONN WBB games has been Mike's Hard Lemonade Mango flavor. When the team struggles I drink another Mike's and it tends to help ..I can't explain the Mojo...bit normally it works! Some games are 1 Mike's kind of games, others it's 1 per quarter... Tonight was a 6 Mike's game... It worked for stretches, but couldn't put the team over the top .. now I am buzzed... fortunately I don't have to drive home.

Looking for a great bounce back and great end of the season!!

Go Huskies

I disagree, despite shooting FAR below their average & a bit of home-bias from the refs, UConn would likely have won the game without the weird timeout as Paige was driving to the hoop and/or Sarah’s uncharacteristic
late foul that rest the shot clock.

The refs were no factor in this game UConn lack of defense and couldn’t put the ball in the hoop

 

[maple]

Well guys and gals, It was really frustrating watching the game. I have been trying to understand what the problem is with the inconsistency with this team. Many of you have made some really valid points, and I have to agree with a lot of the constructive criticism that has been made. We have been hearing the same thing in losses now for 5 years. Not aggressive enough. Not enough movement. Out rebounded. Etc. Etc. So, you can't help but wonder what is going on. But then I realized that this group especially the core upperclassmen have not really faced adversity together as a team for most of their careers here. Now I'm not one to make excuses for anyone. In fact, I hate excuses. But something really feels off and it is very evident when we are faced with stiffer and better competition.

Tonight, we got out hustled and out muscled. Tennessee seemed to want it more. We had that deer in the headlights look on many possessions. Honestly, we seemed very anxious for the majority of the game.

I'm just wondering could this disfunction be the result of the past few years with a splintered lineup. AE left for the W. Paige and Fudd have not had much time together in their careers here. Add Chen. AG is just getting back. Patterson is out. Ducharme is out. When you mix in the Sophs and Freshy's what you have is a team that doesn't have what I like to call combat experience together. KK and Sarah are stars in the making. Ash is coming around but very inconsistent, and with Ice, I just don't know. Jana is still underdeveloped. The jury is still out on everyone else.

I don't know what the cure is for our ills, but this team has to find a way to band together. Paige has to return to her freshman beast form. Azzi has to rediscover her confidence, or we may see a very quick exit from this year's tourney.

Agreed with everything but especially in bold.

Also, it feels sometimes like we lack star players who hate to lose. I’m sure no one on UConn likes to lose, but it doesn’t feel — to me — like it affects our star players them as personally as it did someone like DT, Maya, and Stewart. I’m not in their heads, so I maybe I’m wrong. I just don’t see the killer instinct in big games.

 

[HuskyNan]

When someone states playing in the Big East hurts us, it's not a complaint, but a legitimate observation, The teams we play the most games against are just not that competitive and tend to be very slow and non-athletic. When we play an athletic team , it's a big challenge for us.
Saying a player had an off night is not trashing a player.
Paige is a phenomenal player, but does not get to the rim going right that often and really can't finish with her left. Too many times she does mid-range pull ups, which are much harder shots.
On to the next game...

No one is disagreeing that the Big East could be hurting the Huskies. But there must have been 50 such observations over the season and, again, what can be done about it? It’s like complaining about the weather. After a while, it just becomes whining.

 

[freshler40]

i am kind of hoping this loss will trigger something with uconn fans. hopefully we can be more realistic about our goals this year now.

Why settle? We have great pieces; they need to step up and can. The coaches need to find and keep the right pieces on the floor at key times. Dig deep, settle down and play our game, establish ourselves early. Some serious self-examination is needed at all levels.

 

[freshler40]

With regards to the 17 offensive boards...that was only 4 more than the 13 "O" Boards that UConn pulled down. And, Tennessee only had 2 more 2nd chance points than we did: Tenn: 12 UConn: 10

This doesn't meet the eye test as it's important as to when the above happens at critical times during the game.

 

[Soxx]

I want to talk about Shade. There is a pattern of these kind of performances when we step up and play better competition. I really don't want to hear that she had a "bounce-back" game if she plays or shoots well against Providence. That simply won't be true. When the announcers/commentators say things like that they are disrespecting the audience.

Agreed—not great. But I put that focus much more intensely on Fudd and Bueckers.

 

[Jim R]

This team is allergic to making wide open shots in big games. Because we are a jump shooting team with limited athleticism that can't rebound, we lose. Plain and simple.

I hate to say this, but Paige, and her unwillingness to be an aggressive scorer in the first half of games, is also the reason for this. We were up 39-32 with the ball and threw it away. Geno had some head scratching lineups in there at the end of the half.

Are you telling me that being just a jump shooting team won’t win us the WCBB championship, that we do need to develop an inside game, to include rebounders? Love the coaching staff, but, the last few years the development of the team’s inside game has suffered…and, against bigger and better teams, it shows. But, hoping for the best since we’ll always have great effort.

 

[Soxx]

We need a post player - I know we are not at practice but Ice did not play ???
We cannot go far in the tourney with no post players - we can still win the big east. I would bet on ICE vs Jana this year

I wonder why he keeps starting Jana. Does she ever win the opening tip? Given her size, that’s just kind of odd.

 

[WiseWillie]

It is baffling & frustrating that Geno's timeouts seldom result in a successful play. The players just don't execute what is drawn up on the board. It has become a game- changing pattern for the past several seasons.

I tried to pull the team along ..those of you who remember my posts from previous seasons understand...

My go to beverage during UCONN WBB games has been Mike's Hard Lemonade Mango flavor. When the team struggles I drink another Mike's and it tends to help ..I can't explain the Mojo...bit normally it works! Some games are 1 Mike's kind of games, others it's 1 per quarter... Tonight was a 6 Mike's game... It worked for stretches, but couldn't put the team over the top .. now I am buzzed... fortunately I don't have to drive home.

Looking for a great bounce back and great end of the season!!

Go Huskies

Love your take PAHuskyFan. Take it easy though. Super Bowl coming up if you happen to be a Eagles fan but don't overdo it on Mike's. You need to be in good shape to pull them along when they meet the Gamecocks.

 

[CTBballfan243]

UConn and Tenn are two evenly matched teams talent wise. If they played again tomorrow UConn would have decent chance of winning. UConn will continue to battle and do the best they can. The season is not over.

 

[Vancat]

Too many bunnies missed.

 

[CTrefugee]

When she recovers, I say go with Ice. At the very least, she will not be a negative.

 

[WiseWillie]

UConn hasn't had much time healthy with Paige in and out, Azzi in and out, Aubrey back, multiple new pieces like Jana, Chen and Sarah. Whether it's in March or next season or 2028, there's always something to learn and grow from.

Spoken like a true, diehard Husky who is living in the past and who like us all reveled in the fantastic run of 11 NC's. But that ended in 2016. It's a different landscape now. It is time to move on and realize a run like that will never happen again. This is a good team with some talented players and deserves our support and commitment but it is time to realize that a NC is not going to happen this year and to keep hoping for another is maybe not the best way to support this team with the unending refrain of there's always next year or the year after ... or the year after that.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I've said this before, in big games the team lacks a killer instinct.
I'm not going to criticize any one player or point out the obvious.
We need another Taurasi style recruit. Someone that holds their teammates accountable like Jen Rizzotti did. You know the type of player - some selfishness and a LOT of attitude all in one.

EDIT: I think they really missed Ice last night. She's a better rim protector.

 

[jaydee602]

I hate to say this, but these Huskies are Not Ready for Primetime

The score was tied with 2 minutes left in the game. It was a two point game with 20 seconds left.
Give Tennessee credit. Our Huskies didn't have their best game, but they lost in the last 10 seconds.
Not sure primetime was the reason!

 

[Vancat]

I've said this before, in big games the team lacks a killer instinct.
I'm not going to criticize any one player or point out the obvious.
We need another Taurasi style recruit. Someone that holds their teammates accountable like Jen Rizzotti did. You know the type of player - some selfishness and some bad all in one.

Anyone who mentions The Rizz gets a thumbs up from me. And agree, we need a killer. I'm kind of disappointed in some of our players- won't mention any names.