The good news from a way too close game

[oldude]

I was really happy to see Camara get meaningful minutes and be able to contribute when the team needed her body. That has to be a motivator for the future. It was also good to see CW and MW be able to get it together in the 4th to win. Hopefully they learned the value of one on one defense....

I found it interesting that in a very physical game Geno put Touly into the game in the second half rather than Liv or Kyla.

 

[BobbyJ]

Don, I didn't bad mouth the bench. Since it was ME and no one else that made that statement, it's OK for you to address your response to ME, and not generalize it to "people".

Trust me, we're looking at the difference in minutes played by the reserves differently. You're looking at the surface (minutes played). I'm looking deeper as to why there was such a difference in the minutes played, and the trust one coach had in his reserves versus the trust the other coach had in his.

I simply stated a statistical fact. How much play they get or don’t get is up to them according to Geno, not me. There is a huge difference between being critical of individual or team play, and merely recognizing game stats. The stats are what they are. Instead of criticizing my comment of a game statistic, maybe you should be trying to figure out and rationalize why Geno has less faith and trust in his bench that is suppose to have better quality players on it than St. Johns' does.

And why St. Johns' coach is not reluctant to use his bench against the #2 team in the country, even when they are behind. Why doesn't Geno trust his bench (against an unranked mid-major) as much as Tartamella trusts his? After all, Tartamella does not have any top ranked 100 players on his bench. So, what's the problem?

When you figure that out, your criticism of my comment may not be as harsh.

IMO, it's very simple. No matter what he says he never wants to lose a game. He will not sacrifice a game for learning. That's his business. Period.

 

[Carnac]

IMO, it's very simple. No matter what he says he never wants to lose a game. He will not sacrifice a game for learning. That's his business. Period.

I agree. We all know Geno hates to lose.......... period!! Which is the underlying reason he only used his bench for 11 minutes. To me, the fact that he has so little faith and trust in his reserves against an unranked mid-major is a negative.

It’s not a positive, or a good thing. Has anything changed from last year? Are the reserves to be held accountable or not? Who’s responsibility is it for them to improve each year? Have they done so? You tell me.

We know he only goes 2-3 deep. He can’t play his starters 37+ minutes a game for too long. Especially towards the end of the season.

 

[bbballfan23]

I think there has been a failure so far on the parts of Samuelson and Collier to get her more involved.

I'm not sure if you've watched the last 2 games but I have. There's been a lack of being under control by CW that has led to her not being in the flow of the offense, thus not getting many clean looks. It will take CW to adjust to being a role player and know when to choose her spots. She got to do anything she wanted for quite a few seasons I'm sure in HS, so this is new for her. Don't blame the only players that have done this before. She won't average 15 for this team. Nor do we need her to. We need her to be a great defender and take some pressure off our AAs (as she did when Pheesa kicked it to her in the corner in the 4th). Give her time.

 

[Huskygamble19]

On January 4, 2015, UCONN had a tough time with St Johns at Madison Square Garden, winning 70-54. Morgan Tuck led a second half surge that settled the game and she scored 23 points total. Stewart had 18; Jefferson had 16; KML had 6; Nurse had 5 points. Gabby Williams, Saniya Chong, and Kiah Stokes were on the bench. The bench had one field goal, Kiah Stokes, and 2 points total.

I think that St. Johns was the last unranked team that UCONN lost to?

The most interesting part of this post is the fact that every one of these players is in the WNBA now.

 

[j66kicker]

On January 4, 2015, UCONN had a tough time with St Johns at Madison Square Garden, winning 70-54. Morgan Tuck led a second half surge that settled the game and she scored 23 points total. Stewart had 18; Jefferson had 16; KML had 6; Nurse had 5 points. Gabby Williams, Saniya Chong, and Kiah Stokes were on the bench. The bench had one field goal, Kiah Stokes, and 2 points total.

I think that St. Johns was the last unranked team that UCONN lost to?

The most interesting part of this post is the fact that every one of these players is in the WNBA now.

Don't believe Saniya is.

 

[NewCorn]

Napheesa was a wonderful steadying presence in this game. With elegant fast wheels, and like a Jaguar, on the move.

Without the Princess of Sierra Leone, UConn loses to St. John.

 

[Huskygamble19]

Don't believe Saniya is.

She was with Dallas, but released during the season.

 

[uconnfan68]

I found it interesting that in a very physical game Geno put Touly into the game in the second half rather than Liv or Kyla.

Hope she can earn more time. She’s the only one that will be able to help against certain bigs they’ll play.

 

[bbballfan23]

I thought Camara played well when in. She is strong as an Ox. I'm already looking towards the ND matchup. She seems like a good match for Shepard and Collier on Turner. Hopefully we see more of her tonight, a little sooner than the 3rd.

 

[hugefan]

Did u watch the game see her shots

Yes and read what people said they were talking about FREE throws, you just tried to equate FREE throws with something that was not equatable

 

[Zanzman]

Yes and read what people said they were talking about FREE throws, you just tried to equate FREE throws with something that was not equatable

When you are off balance or have multiple people defending you as you say then pass to the open person and she had open looks early ( which people here consider a free throw for Lou) she needs to make them

 

[hugefan]

When you are off balance or have multiple people defending you as you say then pass to the open person and she had open looks early ( which people here consider a free throw for Lou) she needs to make them

So again a different standard LMAO.

 

[eebmg]

So who is going to start a new thread

" Better news from a not so close game"

 

[Zanzman]

Guess neither have anything to say now Collier made her free throws and kls had better shot srlection

 

[HuskyNan]

OMG!!! I never thought such an innocent comment would draw such negative responses. I stand firmly behind my comment. Shenandoah, I have no problem with you commenting or rebutting any of my comments. BUT.......When you do, you can't put YOUR words in my mouth to bolster your argument. "Do you really think that the bench players go to practice and just play slap and tickle?" Did I say this? No I didn't. Did I suggest that UConn players go to practice and play slap tickle? No. "One doesn't get to become a Div 1 athlete by being lazy" Did I say this? No I didn't. Where did I mention, state or suggest that any UConn player is lazy? Nowhere in my comment did I mention Napheesa Collier.

It's amazing to me how you can come up with these conclusions/opinions from one bland and naked fact. You're going way out of your way to rebut my comment and make your point by saying things I did not say or imply.

As far as players earning time on the floor, this is a fact of life in Geno's program. It's been that way for the last 34 years. Anyone that is a UConn fan, or has been following the program for any length of time knows this. Geno has stated this out of his mouth in numerous media interviews over the years. That is not MY "notion" as you call it. That is Geno's rule. I do not determine who gets playing time off the bench, Geno does. So if you think it's getting old, and have a problem with it, you need to direct your anger and angst at HIM.

PVdoggy, Donalddoowop and you are looking at the disparity in the 11-1 bench point differential differently than I am. PVDoggy's arguent was that their bench played 40 minutes to UConn's 11, thus the large difference in points. When I see the 11-1 difference, I wonder why the SJ coach has more faith in his bench than Geno has in his.

I'm suggesting that the quality of the players on UConn's bench is better than that on SJ's. With rare exception, UConn recruits only highly ranked top 100 players. This is another opinion we can debate if you like.

You're injecting your own personal thoughts/opinions as to what you think I meant, and the way you perceived it. I said: "The only negative I took away from this game was that the St. John’s bench out scored UConn’s 11-1". As I mentioned before, this is a statistical FACT. You can argue or debate opinions, but you can't argue facts. All I did was repeat this stat the exact same way it was given to us on the radio by Bob Joyce. He read off a list of game stats. This was one of them. Anytime your bench gets outscored, it's NOT a positive. Stats are either positive, or negative. Just like battery terminals.

I would wager without checking, there is not a single player on SJ's bench that was ranked in the top 100 of their respective class. I see the negative here as SJ's coach has more faith and trust in his reserves against the #2 ranked team in the country, than Geno does in his against an unranked mid-major. This was proven by the minutes Tartamella gave his bench, versus the minutes Geno gave his. Even though theoretically, Geno has better players on his bench than Tartamella does. I don't know how you view this dynamic, but I see this as a negative.

You're venting at me personally for having an opinion and mentioning a factual game statistic. Really Shenandoah? I can only imagine the critical and tyrannical posts that will be posted here after a loss. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It would not surprise me if a poster or two suggests that Geno is washed up, can no longer coach and calls for his head. There will be losses (plural). Now, if you want to argue something, argue that. This UConn team will not go undefeated.

St. Johns played UConn very close until the last minute. St. Johns is unranked. Looking ahead, UConn will play 6 teams that are currently ranked in the top 25. I expect UConn to get tougher play from these 6 teams than they did from St. Johns. UConn may look and play a lot worse against these 6 than they did last night.

This may also be the year UConn loses it's first AAC game. Don't forget the 63-60 narrow win at Temple 2 years ago. The other AAC teams are slowly closing the gap and improving the quality of their programs by recruiting better players and hiring new coaches.

Remember, on any given night, a series of bad calls leading to early foul trouble for one or more of our starters, an injury to a starter, etc, and there you have it. Or simply a team is up for you, and is balling out figuring they have nothing to lose.....as St. Johns did last night, and Stanford did in 2014.

That's also how Louisville beat Baylor in the 2013 NCAA final 4 to clear the way for UConn to win the NC that year. Baylor was highly favored to win the NC that year, not UConn. They had already lost to Notre Dame 3 times that year, and to Baylor (Feb 18) 76-70. Some teams don't fear UConn anymore. If Haley Jones chooses to go else where, they'll fear UConn even less.

As Longtime fan says in a post below, "We have to be prepared to lose some games during the season."

“Slap and tickle” doesn’t mean lazy. Honestly, when I first saw you use this term I was rather taken aback, given the real meaning.

 

[reno tony]

I was going to post exactly what CTtoSD just posted. This is very big for the March-to-come. I don't really want to talk about the "Big 3" anymore. These two--CW and MW--are equal parts now. And they will just get better and better.

Now Touley has played her first meaningful minutes at UConn. More to come.

I am very happy with this game. We will grow.

I give... who is Touley?

 

[Carnac]

“Slap and tickle” doesn’t mean lazy. Honestly, when I first saw you use this term I was rather taken aback, given the real meaning.

Nan, I didn't use this term, Shenandoah did. I was responding to his comment about my post.

 

[Carnac]

I give... who is Touley?

Batouly Camara #32 A transfer from Kentucky