The biggest disappointment of the game

[Huskies Rule]

Eh, that doesn't really bother me. It's expected. Just as there is Tony, there will be anti-tony's. They are just frustrated, and rightfully so. It was a frustrating game.

For me the worst part was, will be, the confidence shift. I imagine UCONN players will have lost a lot of confidence, realizing they can be beat. Going in knowing you will somehow overcome and win is a great thing to have. That's gone now. And worse is the confidence other teams will gain. They now know UCONN can be beat. The name on our shirt just lost some of it's power. Gonna make for a lot tougher season.

That's a tremendous observation, Meyers.
Reminds me of Tiger Woods, who for years wielded a similar aura of invincibility. Opponents would pee in their pants and fold when they saw his name on the leaderboard. They were literally afraid of him and even though many were extraordinary golfers tee to green and they had somewhat comparable skill sets, they could not match his mental steeliness and self-confidence. They were beaten before matches ever began. However, when his play diminished (missing cuts and scoring in the 70's), mostly the result of injuries and his fall from grace, rookies and never-before-heard-from players started winning PGA tournaments left and right that Tiger had previously dominated. The Lilliputians watched Monday's game and for the first time start to actually believe they, too, might beat King Conn.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Gee Buzz...did I touch a sore spot? The fans were definitely expressing their disappointment in UConn's performance in the same manner I would expect a bunch of spoiled children who expected to be handed an easy win and instead got a challenge and didn't know how to handle it. Possibly they were embarrassed by their pre game hubris and decided that attack was the best defense.

My sensibilities? Not anyone's concern. I am just amazed how quickly folks turn on a dime when things start going south. It's like playing cards online with anonymous people or in real life if you wish who after losing a hand or two just abruptly leave the game. They don't know how to lose.

There is no objectivity, just this sucks or that one lost the game for "us" and then dissing everything about the team. And I found that disappointing, to say the least.

And it has nothing to do with what Geno will tell them. I mentioned in more than one post that there will be a lot of watching of the tape on this one, and that implies that there will be a lot of teaching moments. Geno knows this team. He will get it done.

No, I'm good! Thanks for the clarification. I know in the past some posters are overtly sensitive to any criticism of the girls performances while others have probably gone off a cliff and I just didn't know what posts might have bothered you. I agree that there needs to be some balance because these aren't seasoned professionals though they are earning scholarships based on their skills and potential contributions to the program overall. I felt like some of the poise and decisions that we've come to expect from Geno's squad were absent in key moments of this game. It's quite unusual and disappointing that they played a key role in this loss. As you said, it'll actually probably be a key learning tool for Geno and the staff to use to make them better. I felt that there was enough experience on this team were some of those errors would not have happened but they did and they are correctable (I hope).

 

[Buzzyboy]

I was disappointed by the uncharacteristic lack of weak side help on Cardinal drives to the hoop. I was very pleased by Saniya's, Kia's and Morgan's performances

I'll say that Saniya's offensive performance was really good and it's nice to see her confidence growth. However, on the defensive side, Doris Burke spoke frequently and it showed, how Saniya's defensive lapses contributed mightily to many Stanford scores of easy baskets. When Kia Nurse fouled out, Stanford soared. By the way, the officiating was really bad, with so many cheap or non existent fouls being called and it played heavily in Stanford's favor. Losing Morgan and Kia really crippled UConn because they both were performing at a very high level for the Huskies unlike some of the other ladies. I do think Stanford played very well and was very opportunistic but that isn't the type of play that we've come to expect from a typical Huskie team. There were mental errors galore, particularly later in the game, that were so totally un-Husky like.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Stanford did play an outstanding game in their new system. Congratulations to Tara and the Cardinal. The biggest disappointment to me was UConn's failure to match them, in intensity, intelligence, and execution, on both sides of the ball. I'm realistic and recognize that offense comes and goes, some days the ball just won't go down the hoop. So be it. Consistency comes from defense, or at least usually does with the Huskies.

Tonight, instead of the tightly knit team D effort we're used to, UConn looked too much like the ragged defenses of all those other teams that the Huskies routinely exploit. This also was not a matter of one or two players, the failures of help side, to close out and to deny the rim were on all sides. This team simply does not know how to play high quality team D. How many times did Stanford guards slash at UConn in ways that would traditionally have been choked off in a sea of hands 15 feet out, end up instead with clear paths straight to the hoop? Orrange and Thompson may be good guards, but the reality is that they are not an order of magnitude more talented than the UConn backcourt, contrary to what we saw tonight.

I foresee serious work on D in practices the next couple of weeks. I'm sure Geno doesn't need anyone to tell him that fundamental defensive flaws can lead in short order to a lost season, and will be taking major steps to address it.

You are so right! What was really disappointing was the defense because that's always been the catalyst for the offense. It failed mightily and it's amazing that one of the few people to step up on the defense was Kia Nurse whose presence was missed mightily when she fouled out on another very suspect ticky ticky type foul. The absurdity of some of those calls, which in a lot of cases did nothing to impede the offensive player, was through the roof. I know they were called somewhat consistently but it really came back and bit UConn because two of the Huskies who were having the most impact in the game were lost, Kia and Morgan. Morgan scored the first baskets of overtime and was really effecting the game and poof, she's gone. Kia's loss opened the door to many easy, easy baskets at the expense of Saniya. To have anyone score that many points, even with an overtime session against a typical UConn team is crazy. Hopefully, some corrections will have an immediate effect.

 

[boontonbomber]

I was extremely disappointed right from the first camera shot of Geno. With all the talk about KML's condition, I thought Geno really looked like he's packed on quite a few pounds. That, and his face was bright red during a lot of the game. It's a long season, and hopefully he'll coach himself into shape. While he works in that direction , he might try to calm down a bit on the sidelines.

 

[pvdoggy]

That, and his face was bright red during a lot of the game. It's a long season, and hopefully he'll coach himself into shape.

Probably residual from his trip to Napa over the weekend before the game

 

[NorCalHuskie]

Only ONE game is important and that one is in March. The rest of the journey is making sure we get there.

You mean the AAC Championship game?

The National Championship game is in April.

 

[rocky rococo]

The defensive breakdowns seemed more systematic than individual to me, the same problems recurring time after time, regardless of who was involved. Although there were certainly occasions when Saniya fell short and seemed lost, she was far from the only one, and the same weaknesses of interior defense cropped up even when she wasn't on the floor. TVDV had obviously discovered weaknesses in MoJett's D at the point of attack, and had her guards ready to exploit them. Kiah was slow in rotating in to protect the rim, and Kaleena was just plain slow. Even Kia, who played well for a frosh, failed to steer cutters toward help defense, and often ended up one-on-one with Thompson in the lane, not a good place for anyone (except Thompson.) The only UConn player whose defense was solid to my eyes was TBS, and Stanford succeeded in luring her well out onto the wing to help open up the lane.

 

[Superhuskies]

Disappointed we got no ....center..........