"There's still a lot we need to work on"

[HuskyNan]

Sorry, rest of women's basketball, the Huskies are disappointed in their last three games and want to get better. post game quotes

Senior Guard, Moriah Jefferson

Her Assessment on the Season after Eight Games
"It hasn't been very easy and we've been traveling a lot. It has been a tough stretch. For the most part I think we have played pretty well, but there is still a lot we need to work on."

Senior Center, Morgan Tuck
On Team's Defense
"That has been our focus the last few days. The coaches were really upset that we kept allowing so many threes. Today we tried to make sure they weren't getting their first option and made them work a little harder to score."

On Assessment on the Season after Eight Games
"Well, I think after the first eight we have ended on a very good note. The last three games weren't the most positive for us. The coaches weren't very happy with us and we weren't happy how we were performing. I think this game marked a turnaround for us."

 

[HuskyBandDad]

This is very scary for all the other teams.

 

[DobbsRover2]

This is very scary for all the other teams.

The usual fright show. The Huskies realize how much harder they have to work and all the things they need to fix, they get exams cleared out of their brains and get over the Christmas celebration, and then go out to put the clamps on and crush. Horrible stuff for the poor crunched-up victims, but very fun to watch for the next four months.

 

[bleeckerhusky]

It's good to learn that the coach and the players see the need to improve. (It's not just us here on the BY.) The biggest improvement needed, in my view, is to get Natalie Butler on the court. The team needs another inside presence. (You can't coach height. ) Hopefully, the 10 days off until the next game will give Natalie enough time to get well. Good luck to all on finals.

 

[HuskyNan]

The usual fright show. The Huskies realize how much harder they have to work and all the things they need to fix, they get exams cleared out of their brains and get over the Christmas celebration, and then go out to put the clamps on and crush. Horrible stuff for the poor crunched-up victims, but very fun to watch for the next four months.

Just one caveat - sometimes the Huskies have struggled a bit, relatively speaking, in early January. The team is living in a hotel, gets bored or restless, and sometimes games aren't quite as consistent than at other times during the season. However, the stalwarts of this team are used to this by now and I expect Stewie, Mo, and Morgan to be important for this stretch, but the younger players may be uneven in their play. Fans should have patience during this period and not freak out when the young players don't seem quite themselves.

 

[UcMiami]

You know Nan - that was the pattern for years and years, the January doldrums - games like that 9 point win in 2002. But if you look at the past 5 years or so, Geno and the coaches have seemed to find ways to correct that - not sure what is different but the team seems to have better focus. Maybe it has just been that 'those' games have come against truly overmatched teams, or like last year a strategic benching has been enough of a shock to the teams psyche when the signs begin to point to poor focus.

 

[hoophuskee]

Sorry, rest of women's basketball, the Huskies are disappointed in their last three games and want to get better. post game quotes

Senior Guard, Moriah Jefferson

Her Assessment on the Season after Eight Games
"It hasn't been very easy and we've been traveling a lot. It has been a tough stretch. For the most part I think we have played pretty well, but there is still a lot we need to work on."

Senior Center, Morgan Tuck
On Team's Defense
"That has been our focus the last few days. The coaches were really upset that we kept allowing so many threes. Today we tried to make sure they weren't getting their first option and made them work a little harder to score."

On Assessment on the Season after Eight Games
"Well, I think after the first eight we have ended on a very good note. The last three games weren't the most positive for us. The coaches weren't very happy with us and we weren't happy how we were performing. I think this game marked a turnaround for us."

Is this different than last year? Last year there were concerns over our ability to stop penetration and losing such valuable leadership from the prior year. Every year there are concerns. And nearly every year we have enough issues so that we don't peak in December/January and actually we usually really do get a lot better by year's end. While the coaching staff drives the players hard.

 

[alexrgct]

Well, I would say there has been some continuity of vulnerability between last season and this one. Perimeter defense, for that matter, was an issue in 2003, another NC-winning season, so this is hardly the first time we're seeing it again. Of course, I'm referring to plural national championships despite some of these issues, but there are sobering counter-examples. If we are letting opposition shoot threes freely, those threes will eventually get hit too many times to sustain. Louisville in the 2013 regional semis against Baylor is an obvious example.

Meanwhile, I'm glad we can treat/perceive a 24-point win over a top -10/15 squad, however convincing it may have been, like it was a letdown and an opportunity for improvement. I do think the depth of Uconn is enough to overcome the game plan of Jeff Walz in 2013, but facing a free-shooting, physical squad with swagger and little to lose is a daunting prospect unless Geno prepares his kids fully. Which he seems to be doing and I trust him to do.

Only 16 days until yet another top 5 national opponent, this time at MSG!

 

[CocoHusky]

Sorry, rest of women's basketball, the Huskies are disappointed in their last three games and want to get better. post game quotes

Senior Guard, Moriah Jefferson

Her Assessment on the Season after Eight Games
"It hasn't been very easy and we've been traveling a lot. It has been a tough stretch. For the most part I think we have played pretty well, but there is still a lot we need to work on."

Senior Center, Morgan Tuck
On Team's Defense
"That has been our focus the last few days. The coaches were really upset that we kept allowing so many threes. Today we tried to make sure they weren't getting their first option and made them work a little harder to score."

On Assessment on the Season after Eight Games
"Well, I think after the first eight we have ended on a very good note. The last three games weren't the most positive for us. The coaches weren't very happy with us and we weren't happy how we were performing. I think this game marked a turnaround for us."

The first 4 FSU possessions last night had the most intense UCONN perimeter defense I have ever seen. Geno was please enough to actually clap after each FSU possession.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Just one caveat - sometimes the Huskies have struggled a bit, relatively speaking, in early January. The team is living in a hotel, gets bored or restless, and sometimes games aren't quite as consistent than at other times during the season. However, the stalwarts of this team are used to this by now and I expect Stewie, Mo, and Morgan to be important for this stretch, but the younger players may be uneven in their play. Fans should have patience during this period and not freak out when the young players don't seem quite themselves.

Nan, I think the fans of the teams that UConn pounded by an average margin of 45.5 points in January last year might have a few choice things to say to you about your description of the Huskies' struggles. Even if you change the span to ranging from the first game after Christmas through mid January, the margin is about the same.

I guess it's a matter of perception, but to me the team has often seemed pumped in recent times in January as the team really starts to jell. But the situation for different players will certainly vary, as by February last year Kia seemed to be having a bit of a freshman fatigue phase, while MoJeff's batteries were running at max last year. Stewie also had some later struggles in her freshman year, though again except for the two games she missed in January due to illness her struggles showed up most prominently in February and early March. Like runners in a long race, the freshmen just need to hang on until they get that second or third wind in March.

 

[Bigpetunia]

One of my favorite things about being a fan of this team is the opportunity to watch the squad, each year, as the cast changes, go from being a very good team early in the season to the well-oiled machine they inevitably become every February and March. This year will be no different. Lots will be ironed out between now and then! The defense is already coming around well, as might be expected...offensive flow takes a bit longer, especially given the heavy reliance on two freshmen and a relatively inexperienced, but hugely talented sophomore. In the meantime, while we wait for everything to gel, Stewie is playing on a level that can only be described as phenomenal. What team can match them???

 

[Gus Mahler]

One of my favorite things about being a fan of this team is the opportunity to watch the squad, each year, as the cast changes, go from being a very good team early in the season to the well-oiled machine they inevitably become every February and March. This year will be no different. Lots will be ironed out between now and then!

Yup. And they might add a few new wrinkles as well.

 

[HuskyNan]

Nan, I think the fans of the teams that UConn pounded by an average margin of 45.5 points in January last year might have a few choice things to say to you about your description of the Huskies' struggles. Even if you change the span to ranging from the first game after Christmas through mid January, the margin is about the same.

I guess it's a matter of perception, but to me the team has often seemed pumped in recent times in January as the team really starts to jell. But the situation for different players will certainly vary, as by February last year Kia seemed to be having a bit of a freshman fatigue phase, while MoJeff's batteries were running at max last year. Stewie also had some later struggles in her freshman year, though again except for the two games she missed in January due to illness her struggles showed up most prominently in February and early March. Like runners in a long race, the freshmen just need to hang on until they get that second or third wind in March.

Last year's margin of victory was helped by the 87-28 and 96-31 pastings of SMU and Cincinnati, respectively. Here are the scoring averages from last January. Who were the upperclassmen?

Morgan 17
Stewie 16
Kaleena 14
Mo 12
Kia 10
Gabby 8
Kiah 5
Saniya 5

I didn't say the underclassmen wouldn't have good games; I said they could be inconsistent.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Considering that our schedule this season is very heavily front-loaded, I would say that the rest of the AAC is in big trouble!

 

[Jronp]

IMO the only reason this team has struggled a tad with 3's or anything else is because Geno tinkered around with a zone defense. When they go man to man...like they did 2nd half against ND and much of the game against FSU they lock you down. (Plus they were tired)...Come March I really feel like they will truly be unstoppable.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I love when the players talk "Geno-speak." They have bought in fully.

 

[TitleTown]

One of my favorite things about being a fan of this team is the opportunity to watch the squad, each year, as the cast changes, go from being a very good team early in the season to the well-oiled machine they inevitably become every February and March. This year will be no different. Lots will be ironed out between now and then! The defense is already coming around well, as might be expected...offensive flow takes a bit longer, especially given the heavy reliance on two freshmen and a relatively inexperienced, but hugely talented sophomore. In the meantime, while we wait for everything to gel, Stewie is playing on a level that can only be described as phenomenal. What team can match them???

I agree that is amazing to watch Coach Auriemma shape and mold a team throughout the year. He is masterful at the mental side of the game and that shows in his 10 NCs. His ability to break a team down and then build them back up is a thing of beauty. As Kara Wolters said "he spends the entire year telling us we are the worst team in America and then March comes around and he is telling us we are the best team in the country".