The Day After, or The Winter of Our Discontent

[Blueconn]

Notes on Creighton away game…2900 gentle souls waiting to see UConn and secretly whispering that maybe this would be the game. I wore swag and it was noticed. Older couple (season holders for women) were my neighbors two rows from courtside. All went well : 90 seconds in and we’d scored 9 points and Edwards, Juhasz, and Muhl were punishing those Blue Jays. For second year I briefly chatted with Meghan and this time Allen. She says wait til March.
I keep thinking of Paine writing at the nadir of the Rev…and he never gave up.

Abiding impression ? Nika Muhl is incredibly strong but will need backcourt help…soon. If Azzi gets well it means Dorka and Aubrey can complete the puzzle. Just in time to shock South Carolina.

 

[Blueconn]

Or Shakespeare ?

 

[Bone Dog]

I think you're right: Nika can hold it together for only so long. She needs Azzi.

 

[PacoSwede]

Notes on Creighton away game…..... If Azzi gets well it means Dorka and Aubrey can complete the puzzle. Just in time to shock South Carolina.

nice post, but why would it be a shock? i'm thinking it wouldn't shock coach dawn -- and it definitely wouldn't shock me.

folks are way overestimating the supposed awesome of the roosters. clearly, they are beatable.

which doesn't mean we will do it, but why all this defeatism in the BY? some here seem to be weirdly intimidated ... like teams still tend to feel when facing uconn!

i expect a fun game.

 

[oldude]

A healthy UConn team, absent Paige and Ice, is more than equal to just about any team in WBB. As for SC, I am not sure. We’ll have a much better picture on Feb 5.

 

[Bama fan]

Notes on Creighton away game…2900 gentle souls waiting to see UConn and secretly whispering that maybe this would be the game. I wore swag and it was noticed. Older couple (season holders for women) were my neighbors two rows from courtside. All went well : 90 seconds in and we’d scored 9 points and Edwards, Juhasz, and Muhl were punishing those Blue Jays. For second year I briefly chatted with Meghan and this time Allen. She says wait til March.
I keep thinking of Paine writing at the nadir of the Rev…and he never gave up.

Abiding impression ? Nika Muhl is incredibly strong but will need backcourt help…soon. If Azzi gets well it means Dorka and Aubrey can complete the puzzle. Just in time to shock South Carolina.

Old Bill , in that very passage, goes on to say "Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths." I am not certain, but perhaps Nika is our glorious sun of York, er Storrs, or Zagreb?

 

[Bald Husky]

SC will obviously be the real test. But for that to happen, the stars must come together and make UConn whole again. Azzi, plus these really annoying smaller injuries have to heal, and for the first time in two years, we might have a chance to beat this awesome team. I know that we can do it if we are healthy, and even if we don't pull it off Feb 6, just to be in the game will make us believers that we can take them down in April. At that date I don't think Azzi will be completely ready to do all that she can do, but by March, with no other setbacks, she will. Still, when we get to March, nothing this year is guaranteed, so this upcoming SC game is just a barometer to help us in our minds, but everyone wants a crack at SC, so by having the game-by-game mentality, we should get to that point. Every game can make us better, so every game is a tune up for the main event. Let's stay focused starting with Marquette on Saturday. Happy New Year to our girls, and to the best fans in the world. Go Huskies.

 

[Bone Dog]

Nika as Shakespearean hero. I like it!

 

[JoePgh]

Old Bill , in that very passage, goes on to say "Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths." I am not certain, but perhaps Nika is our glorious sun of York, er Storrs, or Zagreb?

The full context from Shakespeare's Richard III bears quotation, now that you have introduced it:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.

That does seem to fit the current "winter" situation of the team, and the hoped-for glorious summer (well, spring).

I thought that Shakespeare must have actually said "son of York" (referring to Edward VI) rather than "sun", and that Boneyarders had altered the Bard's word to fit the UConn women's basketball team. But I was wrong -- Shakespeare actually said "sun", possibly making a pun of his own. However, the "sun of Zagreb" does have a certain resonance ...

 

[fomalhaut]

A healthy UConn team, absent Paige and Ice, is more than equal to just about any team in WBB. As for SC, I am not sure. We’ll have a much better picture on Feb 5.

I think the whole country may get to see how good Edwards and Juhasz are when Connecticut plays South Carolina.

 

[BBallF]

Notes on Creighton away game…2900 gentle souls waiting to see UConn and secretly whispering that maybe this would be the game. I wore swag and it was noticed. Older couple (season holders for women) were my neighbors two rows from courtside. All went well : 90 seconds in and we’d scored 9 points and Edwards, Juhasz, and Muhl were punishing those Blue Jays. For second year I briefly chatted with Meghan and this time Allen. She says wait til March.
I keep thinking of Paine writing at the nadir of the Rev…and he never gave up.

Abiding impression ? Nika Muhl is incredibly strong but will need backcourt help…soon. If Azzi gets well it means Dorka and Aubrey can complete the puzzle. Just in time to shock South Carolina.

I like this post on several levels. Very erudite but Creighton ain't the Colonial army and we ain't the British. There will be no good news in March for them barring new injuries to us. We don't have a mediocre British General, we have Geno. With Azzi back in form by then, Aubrey back, Caroline in "mid season last year" form, Lou, Nika, and Aaliyah and Dorka looking like one of the best tandems underneath in the country ( maybe the best right now), the Blue Jays need to remember that the Battle of Brooklyn was a key turning point in the Revolutionary War and the famous Brooklyn cheer is "Wait until next year". Even then we will have Paige, Ice, our returning players and some dynamite freshmen for Omaha to deal with.

 

[BBallF]

Or Shakespeare ?

Shakespeare. "Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious by this UCONN team". You can look it up.

 

[Longtime fan]

nice post, but why would it be a shock? i'm thinking it wouldn't shock coach dawn -- and it definitely wouldn't shock me.

folks are way overestimating the supposed awesome of the roosters. clearly, they are beatable.

which doesn't mean we will do it, but why all this defeatism in the BY? some here seem to be weirdly intimidated ... like teams still tend to feel when facing uconn!

i expect a fun game.

I am in the " it would shock Dawn camp." She knows that South Caroline is by far the superior team. No one can defeat Boston. Although I suspect that Edwards is now better than Dawn or Boston understand. But the players surrounding Boston are also incredible athletes and BB players. And they are deep. Here is a "blind test" for everyone; Would you take the last three players on the South Carolina bench in exchange for the last three players on our bench? Right now? No googling? No research?

 

[Bama fan]

Shakespeare. "Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious by this UCONN team". You can look it up.

I did. He didn't. Nice try. Go Huskies!

 

[Bama fan]

The full context from Shakespeare's Richard III bears quotation, now that you have introduced it:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.

That does seem to fit the current "winter" situation of the team, and the hoped-for glorious summer (well, spring).

I thought that Shakespeare must have actually said "son of York" (referring to Edward VI) rather than "sun", and that Boneyarders had altered the Bard's word to fit the UConn women's basketball team. But I was wrong -- Shakespeare actually said "sun", possibly making a pun of his own. However, the "sun of Zagreb" does have a certain resonance ...

That Billy was a clever fellow. What with the "sun' and the "summer" he was quite the punster. And I feel certain he was referring to Edward IV, and not Edward VI who was the literal "son" of Happy Henry VIII and as such was the first English king raised as a Protestant.

 

[EricLA]

Yeah people made a bit about the Creighton coaches comments - the announcers said something like "Flannery said NOW is the time to get UCONN, and he thinks he has the team to do it". Didn't hear anything about how they "expected" to win.

But they did have all upperclassmen starting, and I think all 5, or 4 out of 5, returning starters from last season. They made the sweet 16 and should feel confident.

Also, I watched the game on replay. For sure our 3-point defense was a focus, but they had a good number of wide open shots. If they had made even just 5 more, for 15 points (would have put them below their season average but at 28%), our 25 point victory is suddenly only a win by 10 points.

I guess my point is, they should feel confident. they shot an abysmal 10% from 3, and it's not necessarily because of our defense. Just a bad shooting night. Having said that, had they made a bunch more 3's and the lead was 10 going into Q4, maybe we play differently or maybe we do different things. When the lead is that big for that long, game time adjustments are different.

 

[Blueconn]

nice post, but why would it be a shock? i'm thinking it wouldn't shock coach dawn -- and it definitely wouldn't shock me.

folks are way overestimating the supposed awesome of the roosters. clearly, they are beatable.

which doesn't mean we will do it, but why all this defeatism in the BY? some here seem to be weirdly intimidated ... like teams still tend to feel when facing uconn!

i expect a fun game.

Yikes…no one has ever leveled the charge of defeatism against this Husky. Methinks it be the good natured young perspective. Me ? Starting my 7th decade as a Husky and my diploma hangs in plain sight always. And I love history. Defeatism ? Not since I learned to spell Bialosuknia. I’m certain we can beat South Carolina (and by a serious margin) if Azzi plays and our other players stay healthy. Yes,UConn.

p.s- had to correct the spelling of the Poughkeepsie Popper. Loudmouth Husky has karma.

 

[oldude]

Yikes…no one has ever leveled the charge of defeatism against this Husky. Methinks it be the good natured young perspective. Me ? Starting my 7th decade as a Husky and my diploma hangs in plain sight always. And I love history. Defeatism ? Not since I learned to spell Bialosuknia. I’m certain we can beat South Carolina (and by a serious margin) if Azzi plays and our other players stay healthy. Yes,UConn.

p.s- had to correct the spelling of the Poughkeepsie Popper. Loudmouth Husky has karma.

Wes Bialosuknia is a great name out of the past as well as the answer to a trivia question. “Who led the ABA in 3-pt shooting percentage during the league’s very first year in existence?”

 

[Blueconn]

Wes Bialosuknia is a great name out of the past as well as the answer to a trivia question. “Who led the ABA in 3-pt shooting percentage during the league’s very first year in existence?”

Better yet …highest single season scoring average in UConn history. Without the three pointer. A record still standing from nearly 60 years ago.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

lots of high falutin jibberjabber here on attribution.
all wrong.


it's 'winter of our discount tent.' red green says so, and i believe him.
that bard guy couldn't fix a dang thing, drive a standard, or seal the bead with fire on a tractor tire in order to inflate it.

 

[Bone Dog]

I am in the " it would shock Dawn camp." She knows that South Caroline is by far the superior team. No one can defeat Boston. Although I suspect that Edwards is now better than Dawn or Boston understand. But the players surrounding Boston are also incredible athletes and BB players. And they are deep. Here is a "blind test" for everyone; Would you take the last three players on the South Carolina bench in exchange for the last three players on our bench? Right now? No googling? No research?

I go back and forth on this. It will shock the BY if UConn upsets SCar in February. But it might not shock Dawn. Coaches tend to know every vulnerability of their own team. You’re right about bench depth — there’s no contest there. And yet such a win would be much more about starting fives than benches.

I often think back to the game two years ago. UConn won that day because Paige torched SCar in the second half and especially in OT even though they were weaker everywhere else, and especially in bench depth. Aubrey and Nika were the bench that day, and neither of them were playing like they are now. Aubrey and AE matched up well against Saxton and Amihere, and Liv “held her own” against Boston. But the entire game came down to Paige Evina and Christyn against Henny Cooke and Beal. And Paige simply ran away with the game despite Beal’s best efforts

If UConn won this time around it would be a huge upset. It would also require some meaningful minutes from Ayanna and even Amari. But the core of the effort would have to come from UConn’s much more balanced starting 5+2 this year vs SCar’s really powerful starting 5+2.

In the frontcourt, are AE Dorka Aubrey up to playing on a level with Boston Cardoso Saxton and Amihere? I doubt it, but like last time I think they could “hold their own” if they avoid foul problems.

In the backcourt, however, I think it wouldn’t take an awesome game from Nika Azzi Lou and Caroline to run away with the game. Amihere could certainly be used to defend on the perimeter, but only at a cost to the frontcourt defense. If even two of UConn’s guards have big games, we’d have the upset I’m sure Dawn worries about.

It’s odd to talk this way about the prospects for this game. Over the summer, the BY was full of people convinced UConn couldn’t defeat SCar even with Paige and Ice. I suppose the loss in the NC game was still too fresh to think clearly. But now that we’ve seen how Nika Azzi and Lou can play at their best, and now that Aubrey and Aaliyah have revealed new dimensions to their games, and Dorka looks really good now she’s healthy — even without Paige we’re starting to look formidable again.

But it would be an upset win to be sure.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I am in the " it would shock Dawn camp." She knows that South Caroline is by far the superior team. No one can defeat Boston. Although I suspect that Edwards is now better than Dawn or Boston understand. But the players surrounding Boston are also incredible athletes and BB players. And they are deep. Here is a "blind test" for everyone; Would you take the last three players on the South Carolina bench in exchange for the last three players on our bench? Right now? No googling? No research?

Who cares about the last three players on the bench? The most ideal rotation for a basketball team is 8 players. It allows you to maximize the best five players on the floor while also giving you time to give them rest and options for different matchups and looks. Deep rotations are wildly overrated and I’ve only ever seen them be a detriment over the course of the season.

 

[Jackcatscal]

The full context from Shakespeare's Richard III bears quotation, now that you have introduced it:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.

That does seem to fit the current "winter" situation of the team, and the hoped-for glorious summer (well, spring).

I thought that Shakespeare must have actually said "son of York" (referring to Edward VI) rather than "sun", and that Boneyarders had altered the Bard's word to fit the UConn women's basketball team. But I was wrong -- Shakespeare actually said "sun", possibly making a pun of his own. However, the "sun of Zagreb" does have a certain resonance ...

Shakespeare actually does say "son of York." See Folger Shakespeare Library's online text at https://shakespeare.folger.edu/downloads/pdf/richard-iii_PDF_FolgerShakespeare.pdf. And, yes, it's a terrific Shakespearean pun.

If you've not seen it, the film version of Richard III with Ian McKellan in the title role is fabulous. See Richard III (1995) - IMDb. Richard winds up giving the opening speech as a soliloquy while he stands at a urinal.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

lots of high falutin jibberjabber here on attribution.
all wrong.


it's 'winter of our discount tent.' red green says so, and i believe him.
that bard guy couldn't fix a dang thing, drive a standard, or seal the bead with fire on a tractor tire in order to inflate it.

'seal the bead with fire.'
i've just been informed, for like the umpteenth time by a person who shall remain nameless but is unnaturally fixated on all things horsey, that 'people often have no idea what ur yakking aboot.'
fair enuf. and now, for the rest of the story. this is really good becuz this move requires luck, or a whole lot of failure before getting lucky.

of course in reality, almost no one does this so clean, nice, and organized. it's usually a panic move out in a lousy place. and i have no idea aboot this guys fancy fire starter. usually it's just a match, or a lit piece of paper. sometimes u can use a lighter if u run a line of starting fluid out a few feet from the tire cuz iffn u direct light it on the tire, the chances of injury greatly increase. don't do that.

 

[Pilot B52]

With all the conversations about injuries and just bad luck affecting our depth and player availability, I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I am Hopeful that we will have a full and healthy compliment of our current talented returning players in the future. Next year we will enjoy the prospect of having five (yes, five!) really promising players with 4 years eligibility each vying for playing time. You have to add a healthy Ice Brady to the 4 incoming freshman, Ashlyn Shade, KK Arnold, Qadence Samuels and Jana El Alfy. Looking at this five, it is close to a perfect team in itself. A point guard, two bigs and two guards or wings. I just hope we do not lose any of them to transfer due to not having enough room and PT for them all. It will be exciting to see. Meanwhile I have hope for the returning wounded and our chances this year. I think we have a legitimate shot at the NC. Our girls are fantastic!