Three comments on OSU game.

[Intpseeker]

Junior guard Saniya Chong, who had been sidelined recently due to IT Band Syndrome, was not expected to play due to the practice time she missed but she did get enough done in the last day or two to take part in warmups before the game and checked into the game late in the fourth quarter.

"I was surprised because at shootaround today she went through it and all of a sudden, 'hey if she feels good coming out of this, she wants to play,'" Auriemma said. "I was the most shocked person in the gym because I thought there was no way she was going to play. I said to myself I am not going to play her, she hasn't practiced in a week. I gave her a choice and said. 'do you want to play a little bit?' and she said yes. Now we can get started when we get back so it was a pleasant surprise for me."

http://elmcitytoeaglevillenhr.blogspot.com/

It was great to see her in there.

 

[huskyd]

I'm not sure anyone noticed, but Saniya Chong played for three minutes in the game. I was surprised to see her. Obviously, her injury can't be that bad.

Also, I have a question for those who saw the game. I've noticed that when ESPN covers the games, their sound can be awful. I could barely hear Mowins and White over the noise of the crowd. And I've had that experience before. It was a little better in the second half when the OSU fans quieted down due to the score. But at the beginning, I could barely hear the announcers. And it's certainly not my TV or my sound system which are first rate. Anyone else notice this?

Luckily, you're not missing much. At away games in noisy stadiums (SC is shockingly loud), I often turn off the sound so I can focus on the game w/out distraction. The Huskies, however, don't seem to mind what's going on around them . . .

 

[huskyd]

All teams want to win; some teams expect to win; UConn DOES win. This is what separates teams.

 

[BroadwayVa]

As usual, your comments are more enriching than mine -- so thanks.

And BigPetunia had perhaps the most insightful post of all -- pointing out how remarkable it was to win the game by playing suffocating defense, yet scoring 100 points!

I was really disappointed in Beth Mowins, whom I had regarded as one of the best.

I have the feeling that McGuff is a terrific recruiter but the jury is still out about his coaching skills.

Finally, a confession. My expectations of Gabby were short of what we are all seeing -- which is a reincarnation of Ashley, Kalana, and Kelly -- with better hops!

Pretty good stuff. But you are selling Gabby short. Ashley, Kalana, Kelly were good and as good as Kelly was on Defense, my opinion is that Gabby is better. None could jump and rebound like Gabby. Gabby's shooting skill (now) exceed those of Kelly until Kelly's 3rd year. It would be nearly impossible for Diggins to "stuff" Gabby. I too was WRONG on my assessment of Gabby --I knew she was good against poor teams or undersized team or not good in big game---those thoughts are GONE.
I agree McGuff is a good recruiter--may in time become a good Div 1 coach--but he failed miserably to get his hot shots --shots..

 

[BroadwayVa]

It wasn't a matter of crazy shot selection. There was no thought of selection st all -- she just kept jacking them up.

She has been successful with CRAZY Shot selections--until she met Nurse and Jefferson..

 

[Huskylove3]

Our starting five are really really good. I have to say that i thought Saniya played more than 3 minutes. I think Saniya looked good when she was out there. She is playing within herself and if she can be consistent, she might be a fantastic 6th man. It's going to take time like always for the freshman to learn the system, but you can see the talent they have already.

 

[BroadwayVa]

My 3 comments, Kib:

1) Geno is a tricky dude, going well into Q2 in a very uncharacteristic, suffocating zone D, and then he unfairly confused the Buckeyes further by starting Q3 with his usual killer man-to-man. which McGuff wasn't ready for and resulted in a major sweating episode for him and his enormous sidekick.. That was cruel, Geno. It was nice, however, to see McGuff chill out and relax several minutes into Q3 when he realized the futility and inevitable doom.

2) Commentator Beth Mowins was a disgraceful ESPN shill who went entire minutes at a time ignoring the game and doing a disservice to all those who expected her to do her job and talk about the game, not all that irrelevant crapola. Stephanie White is great, but rarely had a chance to get an intelligent word in edge-wise.

3) I loved watching Stewie take a moment while running off the court after the game to sign an autograph for a very young girl (and obviously really smart) clad all in OSU red.

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YOU rule with these comments.. Very good. Tricky poster..

 

[BroadwayVa]

Our starting five are really really good. I have to say that i thought Saniya played more than 3 minutes. I think Saniya looked good when she was out there. She is playing within herself and if she can be consistent, she might be a fantastic 6th man. It's going to take time like always for the freshman to learn the system, but you can see the talent they have already.

I'm conflicted, confused, and mentally challenged---5th man/woman??? Gabby some games --Natalie some games?? Or does Gabby own the spot (my choice)-. 6th person --Butler, Chong, Collier, KLS or Gabby???
All I can say is---As a coach I'd love to have Geno's problems of selecting 5,6,7,8,9, 10, 11 players for games. It gets to be a mix and match season of who is what number in what game.
Few mentioned the fact that when Stewie was out for 6 minutes plus--the level of play didn't drop off at all--
Give Geno huge points for playing Collier and KLS as many minutes in a game this big this early... He has confidence..

 

[huskeynut]

A couple of things - Rebecca commented last night that she had viewed a recent practice. Geno was his normal, demanding self as was the entire coaching staff. She noted that when things didn't go as anticipated, he didn't shout or rant, he coached, explained & encouraged. She said he really, really, likes this team! That was evident in his post game comments last night.

So - when Sinaya, Natalie & DeJanie are all healthy, Geno has his starters and a 6 deep bench. Now that is scary. He will, as he usually does, turn games into a chess match. The five on the court will match the need at the time. He will be able to go big up front, Natalie, Stewie and Morgan or go small with the likes of Moriah, Kia, Gabby, Napheesa or KLS or Sinaya with Morgan or Stewie. How are teams going to plan for this one?

Well you can start by asking McGuff who admitted that he didn't ecpect UCONN to start last night's game in a zone. Game - set - match!!!!!!

 

[BroadwayVa]

Stewie would give you the shirt off her back. Heck, she might even offer up her bed to a stranger and sleep on the couch! Geno said that Stewie is reserved and if she was more like Maya or DT, she might be the best ever. Anyone catch that quote? Geno also said she can touch 11 feet, and in practice can drop in a put-back and on the next trip down the court make a 24 ft jump shot.

Not to disagree with you or Geno----but I always thought, from the day she arrive, that Maya was then and still is the nicest kid, young woman to every play the game or in life.
Stewie being from the cold Syracuse NY is still trying to thaw out from that cold. When she thaws --she'll lose her reservations. Look out world..

 

[BlueDevils]

I saw some really good moves from Kelsey, Ohio St offensive spacing just didn't compliment her moves. Gabby and Kia have the chance to make this Uconn team truly special. The top half of the 3-2 zone

 

[CocoHusky]

1) What must South Carolina & ND be thinking about the perimeter defense of Gabby Williams, MoJeff, Nurse, & Collier against the 2nd best backcourt in the Country playing mostly zone defense-can you say nightmare!
2) After getting destroyed by South Carolina bigs and twisted up by the UCONN backcourt hopefully Kevin and tOSU will realize that there is more to a team than a collection of talented players and some work on the defensive side of the ball is badly needed.
3) On a night when Moriah and Stewie dominated and everyone was completely giddy about Gabby, I couldn't help but notice that Kia may just have surpassed the college game- with almost 3 full years of eligibility remaining. Will there be
4) Tierney Lawlor's jumper looks mad wet! Geno needs to get her some more shots.

 

[BlueDevils]

Also, I am really impressed with this Uconn team. The way they compliment each other is incredible ... BUT I need to mention something and I'm hoping I'm not the only one who sees is ... BUT is it me or does KLS not really seem like as a typical Uconn player? I started watching Uconn when Dt and A.Beard would face off so I've seen a lot of Uconn over the years. I'm intrigued to see how Geno utilizes her over the years. She seems more of a Stanford type player if you were to ask me. Maybe its her shot idk. She is talented though.

 

[BroadwayVa]

1) What must South Carolina & ND be thinking about the perimeter defense of Gabby Williams, MoJeff, Nurse, & Collier against the 2nd best backcourt in the Country playing mostly zone defense-can you say nightmare!
2) After getting destroyed by South Carolina bigs and twisted up by the UCONN backcourt hopefully Kevin and tOSU will realize that there is more to a team than a collection of talented players and some work on the defensive side of the ball is badly needed.
3) On a night when Moriah and Stewie dominated and everyone was completely giddy about Gabby, I couldn't help but notice that Kia may just have surpassed the college game- with almost 3 full years of eligibility remaining. Will there be
4) Tierney Lawlor's jumper looks mad wet! Geno needs to get her some more shots.

I jumped for joy when Tierney was given the dish and made that shot. I didn't realize at the time she just got Uconn into 100. VERY NICE.
If ever a WIN was a TEAM WIN this one was. Tuck, Nurse, Gabby all did their thing. Katie Lou, Napheesa played great for Frosh being in their first big College game, Ekmark and Chong, and Tierney all put in excellent minutes. Geno has to be pleased and proud that his subs didn't let him down.
The constant and unnecessary high level crowd noise --should have bothered Uconn's upper class-men, it didn't . What was amazing it didn't seem to effect the new kids either.

 

[Bgillon]

Also, I am really impressed with this Uconn team. The way they compliment each other is incredible ... BUT I need to mention something and I'm hoping I'm not the only one who sees is ... BUT is it me or does KLS not really seem like as a typical Uconn player? I started watching Uconn when Dt and A.Beard would face off so I've seen a lot of Uconn over the years. I'm intrigued to see how Geno utilizes her over the years. She seems more of a Stanford type player if you were to ask me. Maybe its her shot idk. She is talented though.

You raise a very interesting question. Some Byers were saying she would start over Gabby and I thought that was ridiculous given we had never seen her play college ball. I think it will take her some time to settle in and define her role. Collier on the other hand looks very comfortable already. KLS will get more comfortable and that will be great for us. It just may take a little more time than some people thought.

 

[BlueDevils]

You raise a very interesting question. Some Byers were saying she would start over Gabby and I thought that was ridiculous given we had never seen her play college ball. I think it will take her some time to settle in and define her role. Collier on the other hand looks very comfortable already. KLS will get more comfortable and that will be great for us. It just may take a little more time than some people thought.

Good for us we dont have our annual December meeting. Seems as if your players always embraces their role that game. Although, I wouldn't mind playing you guys in March. Someone has to do it lol.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Also, I am really impressed with this Uconn team. The way they compliment each other is incredible ... BUT I need to mention something and I'm hoping I'm not the only one who sees is ... BUT is it me or does KLS not really seem like as a typical Uconn player? I started watching Uconn when Dt and A.Beard would face off so I've seen a lot of Uconn over the years. I'm intrigued to see how Geno utilizes her over the years. She seems more of a Stanford type player if you were to ask me. Maybe its her shot idk. She is talented though.

Katie Lou IS A UCONN PLAYER--she probably got a lot of Bonnie and Karlie Stanford injections--. She still is a bit snakebitten in her shooting. But for a Frosh in her first REALLY big College game she did good. 3 point shooters (Chong, Ekmark, KML, Thomas,etc) start out needing to set up to shoot--Geno teaches them to stop and pop. I suspect that by January, after a dozen AAC games under her belt, she'll be drilling 3's and playing Uconn defense. I liked what I saw. I love Collier, good hands, quick thinking, she also needs time.

 

[CocoHusky]

Also, I am really impressed with this Uconn team. The way they compliment each other is incredible ... BUT I need to mention something and I'm hoping I'm not the only one who sees is ... BUT is it me or does KLS not really seem like as a typical Uconn player? I started watching Uconn when Dt and A.Beard would face off so I've seen a lot of Uconn over the years. I'm intrigued to see how Geno utilizes her over the years. She seems more of a Stanford type player if you were to ask me. Maybe its her shot idk. She is talented though.

She is very much a typical UCONN player IMO. She is 1) Adjusting to the college game 2) Playing on a team (for the first time in her life) where she is not the most talented player. Her greatest strength is as a scorer at the moment UCONN is not devoid of scorers. With her size ,length, and shooting stroke look for her to emerge as the number one scoring option for UCONN-perhaps as early as next year and look for Geno to use her all over the floor as she gets stronger. I see a player who understand spacing & movement within the UCONN offense. Her first basket was off a backdoor cut and bounce pass from MoJeff. Her second basket would have come the same way but MoJeff's pass was slightly off. What I see that I don't like is the vast majority of her shot (almost immediately) when she comes in the game is 3 Pt shot. Not the ideal way to come into a game. Doug Collins talks about this all the time. The way you get a shooter going is with a layup or get them to the foul line first.

 

[Icebear]

i expected more from kelsey..... she had a bad shooting night.... and of course, our D had much to do with that

We lived in her head all night long. Between her foul trouble, denying her the ball and the on ball pressure when she did get it we simply lived inside her head.

 

[Icebear]

Katie Lou IS A UCONN PLAYER--she probably got a lot of Bonnie and Karlie Stanford injections--. She still is a bit snakebitten in her shooting. But for a Frosh in her first REALLY big College game she did good. 3 point shooters (Chong, Ekmark, KML, Thomas,etc) start out needing to set up to shoot--Geno teaches them to stop and pop. I suspect that by January, after a dozen AAC games under her belt, she'll be drilling 3's and playing Uconn defense. I liked what I saw. I love Collier, good hands, quick thinking, she also needs time.

She apparently has, also, been ill.

 

[John Glass]

She has been successful with CRAZY Shot selections--until she met Nurse and Jefferson..

Mitchell shot 41% last year and the team was 24-11. You will not beat good teams shooting 41% .

 

[RoyDodger]

Luckily, you're not missing much. At away games in noisy stadiums (SC is shockingly loud), I often turn off the sound so I can focus on the game w/out distraction. The Huskies, however, don't seem to mind what's going on around them . . .

Oh, I didn't mind not hearing what they were saying. I'm more curious about why ESPN has such mediocre sound equipment. I can't believe, in this day and age, they can't have better microphones for their announcers that emphasize the sound of the voice over the background noise.

 

[JSB60]

I liked a lot of things about KLS, she understands the game and uses her height to get on the boards. The shot will come.

 

[RoyDodger]

A couple of things - Rebecca commented last night that she had viewed a recent practice. Geno was his normal, demanding self as was the entire coaching staff. She noted that when things didn't go as anticipated, he didn't shout or rant, he coached, explained & encouraged. She said he really, really, likes this team! That was evident in his post game comments last night.

So - when Sinaya, Natalie & DeJanie are all healthy, Geno has his starters and a 6 deep bench. Now that is scary. He will, as he usually does, turn games into a chess match. The five on the court will match the need at the time. He will be able to go big up front, Natalie, Stewie and Morgan or go small with the likes of Moriah, Kia, Gabby, Napheesa or KLS or Sinaya with Morgan or Stewie. How are teams going to plan for this one?

Well you can start by asking McGuff who admitted that he didn't ecpect UCONN to start last night's game in a zone. Game - set - match!!!!!!

I saw that McGuff admitted that he was "outcoached." Outcoached? OSU played more like a high school team than one that is nationally ranked in the top 10. At times, the OSU players looked completely disorganized and if it weren't for Shayla Cooper, the score might have been even more embarrassing.

 

[FASTEDDY]

]

Absolutely correct, right on, naturally.
I was impressed with Geno using Collier and KLS early . Also when Stewie went out the score changed little (negatively)

what choice did Geno really have?

right now, not a lot of proven depth on the bench. KS and NC need to play well because there's not a lot there at the moment IMO.

also, we need big NB back soon so she can provide size and upgrade our bench.

somewhat of a concern is backcourt depth. Has Saniya improved and is she ready for some big minutes? need her to seriously step it up this year.

LOVED the game and its a GREAT TEAM but I am concerned about inexperience and depth on the bench.