Thoughts about the ND game

[tomcat]

I've been holding off reaching conclusions about this team until now. ND provided a real test, much more of one than I would have expected, given than they were missing two of their best players. If even one of their bigs had been in this game, I fear for what the result might have been.

Other thoughts:
1. Were the UConn players just letting ND's guards jack up threes, or was it that they simply could not guard the Mabry sisters? Maybe after about 3 or 4, someone could have suggested that a UConn player stay in the freshman's face?
2. Morgan Tuck is a fine player, and IMHO we cna expect her to get her 10 to 14 points a game. That said, UCOnn's strategy cannot just be to toss it in to Stewie and let her do her magic. Even though she will be magical many nights, that just is not a successful way to win against the really good teams, even in a year when UCOnn is measurably better than all of them.
3. The more I think about it, the less I think of UConn's opening defensive strategy. I mean, they knew ND was going to have to play small ball and they knew ND had some quality gunners. And IMHO, it seemed to take forever and a day for them to really guard Mabry.
4. Looks like there are some teams that Gabby won't match up well against, or else some nights when she just cannot get it done.
5. The freshmen are freshmen. KLS had her moments, and those threes are going to drop more regularly at some point, but she's not terrific yet. Napheesa seems like a good kid and I hope she gets her game together, but it is certainly not there yet.
6. Leave it to ND to play out of their minds in a game like this. They weren't going to win with the personnel they had, but they came very close with unbelievable shooting and hard work.

 

[huskyd]

Old Chinese saying: "Crisis=Danger+Opportunity." For two straight games, UConn opponents threw up what are usually called "prayers." Those prayers were answered. So for two straight games, the Huskies had to assert themselves when it didn't seem beforehand that it would be necessary. Bottom line: they did what they needed to do. Geno said about DePaul that UConn had all of the answers when they were needed. Ditto here. Kudos to Muffet and the Mabrey sisters. Also to the Irish players who really scrapped while undermanned. ND fans will say that w/out Turner, etc. Didn't matter last year, won't matter this year. I must admit to being surprised to see Brianna smiling and even laughing on the Irish bench in the last quarter. Kayla McBride would have been through two boxes of tissues by then . . .

 

[Bgillon]

I had a few thoughts as I watched the game; can we stop saying this is the greatest UCONN team ever, we really miss KML to break a zone defense, after 2 games in a row where the opponent shows lights out 3s should be a concern, we are still undefeated, and let's start taking this season one game at a time instead polishing the NC trophy already.

 

[WestCoastFan]

I've been holding off reaching conclusions about this team until now. ND provided a real test, much more of one than I would have expected, given than they were missing two of their best players. If even one of their bigs had been in this game, I fear for what the result might have been.

Other thoughts:
1. Were the UConn players just letting ND's guards jack up threes, or was it that they simply could not guard the Mabry sisters? Maybe after about 3 or 4, someone could have suggested that a UConn player stay in the freshman's face?
2. Morgan Tuck is a fine player, and IMHO we cna expect her to get her 10 to 14 points a game. That said, UCOnn's strategy cannot just be to toss it in to Stewie and let her do her magic. Even though she will be magical many nights, that just is not a successful way to win against the really good teams, even in a year when UCOnn is measurably better than all of them.
3. The more I think about it, the less I think of UConn's opening defensive strategy. I mean, they knew ND was going to have to play small ball and they knew ND had some quality gunners. And IMHO, it seemed to take forever and a day for them to really guard Mabry.
4. Looks like there are some teams that Gabby won't match up well against, or else some nights when she just cannot get it done.
5. The freshmen are freshmen. KLS had her moments, and those threes are going to drop more regularly at some point, but she's not terrific yet. Napheesa seems like a good kid and I hope she gets her game together, but it is certainly not there yet.
6. Leave it to ND to play out of their minds in a game like this. They weren't going to win with the personnel they had, but they came very close with unbelievable shooting and hard work.

Good points, tcat.

--Gabby is a great athlete but has yet to show she can play "big" in big games.
--Defense, by UConn standards, was really BAD the 2nd and 4th. Too many uncontested 3s and drives to the hoop. Shouldn't have been a surprise about that game plan. No clue if Butler can shot block, but they need that presence.
--Need a stronger bench. Good teams have figured out how to attack. Chong and Ekmark probably won't contribute much. Butler becomes even more important.
--Really surprised it took so long to let Mo be Mo on defense re: that freshman.
--Strange game to watch. I do believe that ND played better with this group than with Turner and that slow other girl.

 

[WestCoastFan]

I had a few thoughts as I watched the game; can we stop saying this is the greatest UCONN team ever, we really miss KML to break a zone defense, after 2 games in a row where the opponent shows lights out 3s should be a concern, we are still undefeated, and let's start taking this season one game at a time instead polishing the NC trophy already.

Amen. Loooooooong season.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Good points, tcat.

--Gabby is a great athlete but has yet to show she can play "big" in big games.
--Defense, by UConn standards, was really BAD the 2nd and 4th. Too many uncontested 3s and drives to the hoop. Shouldn't have been a surprise about that game plan. No clue if Butler can shot block, but they need that presence.
--Need a stronger bench. Good teams have figured out how to attack. Chong and Ekmark probably won't contribute much. Butler becomes even more important.
--Really surprised it took so long to let Mo be Mo on defense re: that freshman.
--Strange game to watch. I do believe that ND played better with this group than with Turner and that slow other girl.

This I don't understand. Was it just Geno being stubborn? Once Mabrey2 had 15 points in what seemed like 5 minutes of play, I put my bestest defender on her. And that happens to be Mo. Why wait until after the half to make adjustments? This seems to happen in football as well and I could never understand that strategy. If you see something, say something, er fix something.

 

[johnnyc]

The last two games have only increased my admiration of this UConn team. They are going for something that has never been done before. They know every team is going to bring their best. They fully know that they have a target on their back and they embrace it. DePaul, ND, SC etc........they had/have the UConn game circled, starred and underlined. ND didn't have Turner? Well UConn didn't have Butler. ND will only get better? UConn will also get better. Enjoy the ride.

 

[HoopsFan21]

The last two games have only increased my admiration of this UConn team. They are going for something that has never been done before. They know every team is going to bring their best. They fully know that they have a target on their back and they embrace it. DePaul, ND, SC etc...they had/have the UConn game circled, starred and underlined. ND didn't have Turner? Well UConn didn't have Butler. ND will only get better? UConn will also get better. Enjoy the ride.

The difference is Turner was a top recruit while Butler has never played a minute for UConn and is not in the same neighborhood as Turner talent wise.

 

[CTBballfan243]

This was just a regular season game. Geno/ UConn were not going to play this game like a national championship game. This is just one non-conference game in a long season. You want to use this game to experiment a little. Try different lineups, defenses, and offensive sets. Rest assured, if this were a tournament game UConn's approach would have been much different.

 

[HoopsFan21]

This was just a regular season game. Geno/ UConn were not going to play this game like a national championship game. This is just one non-conference game in a long season. You want to use this game to experiment a little. Try different lineups, defenses, and offensive sets. Rest assured, if this were a tournament game UConn's approach would have been much different.

What experimentation did Geno do tonight? Looks to me like he was just trying to hang on. It's not like TLaw and Ekmark got any time, and Saniya and Collier got little time.

 

[Aluminny69]

Well, I feared only one competitive game this season ( @ SC) and I was wrong! That's why I don't predict, and I don't bet. But the last two games were fun to watch. And maybe a few more games will be somewhat competitive. It will make this season much more interesting. I believe the UConn players will develop and grow from these type of games.

 

[msf22b]

The problem for me is that many of our players are just a bit less steady, certainly less domineering than we hoped they would be.

Kia for one; and her sub Chong was pretty invisible tonight.
Gabby hasn't quite gotten it how to channel her aggressiveness on D...she gets whistled and then withdraws somewhat into a shell.
Moriah and Stewie, the untouchables still continue to turn the ball over at an unacceptable rate.
Morgan was 6 for 14..with all her offense which was necessary for the win, she still missed a lot of makable shots and foul shots as well.
Napheesa was overwhelmed by speed and intensity of the game...she'll get it.
Maybe the only one hard to criticize it was Lou who though far from perfect, played with poise and confidence, and did lots of good things on both ends. certainly efficient on the offensive end and makes her ft's.

Geno will start having more time to practice and challenge the individual players to correct some of these deficiencies.
And Butler may very well make a huge difference.

 

[msf22b]

Good points, tcat.
--Really surprised it took so long to let Mo be Mo on defense re: that freshman.
--Strange game to watch. I do believe that ND played better with this group than with Turner and that slow other girl.

Absolutely agree

Did you observe how unbelievably slow Mabry Sr. is?
She had at least a quarter of the court lead on Mo's breakaway and still hardly even tried to keep up.

 

[Gabbyfan]

I thought Geno was out coached for the second game in a row. Other than the switch to put Mo on Mabrey , I saw very few adjustments .....mostly the same old offense. ND kept it close by not only making threes but by moving on offense while our girls were less active. If it were not for Stewie and her all court game, it could have been embarrassing for us.

 

[Monte]

This I don't understand. Was it just Geno being stubborn? Once Mabrey2 had 15 points in what seemed like 5 minutes of play, I put my bestest defender on her. And that happens to be Mo. Why wait until after the half to make adjustments? This seems to happen in football as well and I could never understand that strategy. If you see something, say something, er fix something.

I was thinking the same thing................why wait until halftime?

 

[BobbyJ]

This game illustrates to me what Kiah Stokes meant to this team. With her presence inside to help Stewart, this game was over before halftime. It would've allowed UConn to extend the defense to take away the 3's with no fear of the penetration. If Butler can give them this presence they'll be fine. Without it they will be vulnerable against SC and in the tournament because Stewart is by herself inside. Injury or foul trouble to her and they've got major problems in there.

 

[Kibitzer]

Geno should have drawn up a game plan calling for 65% accuracy on three-point field goal attempts - just as Muffet did.

 

[geneticrex]

If quality team are going to continue to jack up 20+ 3s a game and continue to hit them at a 117% clip whether there's a hand in their face, or they're 27ft out and off balance, of course the games are going to be competitive.

 

[HoopsFan21]

I thought Geno was out coached for the second game in a row. Other than the switch to put Mo on Mabrey , I saw very few adjustments .....mostly the same old offense. ND kept it close by not only making threes but by moving on offense while our girls were less active. If it were not for Stewie and her all court game, it could have been embarrassing for us.

Well Geno is 60-something years old, so it's gonna happen. Not that Muffet is much younger! People need to start mentally preparing for 5 years from now when Geno is in his late-60s and hanging it up. I suspect we'll start to see some negative recruiting used against us regarding Geno's age in that this is probably the last recruiting class that he can guarantee that he'll be around for their graduation.

 

[Gabbyfan]

Maybe he should stop making commercials and work on his coaching.

 

[CTBballfan243]

What experimentation did Geno do tonight? Looks to me like he was just trying to hang on. It's not like TLaw and Ekmark got any time, and Saniya and Collier got little time.

I wouldn't expect TLaw to play in a meaningful game, she is a practice player. Ekmark is in over head right now. Both Collier and Chong did see minutes. Chong gets lost on defense and Collier is coming along and will bea player. Why show ND everyrhing you have in a meaningless non-conference game.
Save it for the game that actually means something!!!!

 

[HoopsFan21]

Maybe he should stop making commercials and work on his coaching.

Oh come on. The man has won 10 championships in the last 20 seasons. Going for four in a row this year. When you've won half of the national championship titles over the course of multiple decades, I think you're probably doing at least an OK job!

 

[HoopsFan21]

I wouldn't expect TLaw to play in a meaningful game, she is a practice player. Ekmark is in over head right now. Both Collier and Chong did see minutes. Chong gets lost on defense and Collier is coming along and will bea player. Why show ND everyrhing you have in a meaningless non-conference game.
Save it for the game that actually means something!!!!

I seriously doubt Geno was saving anything. TLaw is a scholarship player just like Stewie is. Ekmark also. UConn had to play starters until the final buzzer because if they didn't they would have lost the game.

 

[iamcbs]

I thought tOSU Football Fans were spoiled!! UConn beat the #3 team in the country by 10 points and still some of you fans are not satisfied. The ND ladies are on scholarship too and some of them are pretty good. In the past two games both DePaul and ND shot a higher 3-point FG percentage than they their season average. Their was a hand in Marina Mabrey's face on a lot of her shots in the 1st half, she just made them tonite. When a teams two top post players are out, why would not pound the ball inside to your NPOY AA? What happened to all that Gabby love from the first couple of games? She's still the same player, with the same athletic ability I've been hearing about since Game 1 of this season. She's still working on aspects of her game and will be fine, so will the team. they haven't even played 10 games yet, calm down folks!!

 

[nd2tty]

However, unlike DePaul's "prayers" and their 29% 3pt shooting coming into the UConn game, most of the ND 3s were in the flow of the offense (Mabrey Jr's step-back in the first half perhaps excepted), close to the 3pt line, with varying degrees of close-out by UConn, shot by a team that was averaging 41% from 3 before this game.