Tired Team in Nevada?

[dualskeptic]

I sat courtside tonight with 49erDan. We both perceived Geno as having become disinterested. Was team performance uninspired? It often seemed players (Kia and Katie Lou, e.g.) were running timeout huddles as he stood off to the side facing away from the team.

 

[Phil]

I noticed Katie Lou running most of one time-out.

 

[Phil]

I think we need to get back to playing ranked teams. These unranked teams are too tough.

 

[CTyankee]

Geno for all intent and purposes never left the bench during the game. It seemed to me that he basically left the coaching to the staff. Another oddity, the team and staff stayed in their locker room for almost the entire half time period and had no warm ups prior to the 2nd half start. I sense dissatisfaction...

 

[GoUconn7961]

I believe these are classic "Geno is angry" moves by him and the staff. There is still a lot of work to do to get this team up to snuff despite the impressive wins so far.

 

[ochoopsfan]

I noticed Katie Lou running most of one time-out.

I have also heard that Lou's sister Karlie was often sought out for advice when she was at Stanford and they called a timeout. Family has a High BB IQ

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Nevada was very impressive. They hustled and hustled and hustled. They played tenacious defense, made lots of threes, and even made good shots in the lane. I'm going to be following their progress during the rest of the season. They outplayed and outscored UConn from about midway in the second quarter until well into the fourth quarter. Kudos to them and their coach for fielding a well-coached, aggressive team.

They reminded me on defense of the old Rutgers teams. But unlike Rutgers, these kids could play on the offensive side as well.

No fluke.

 

[BostonCanuck]

This is all quite fascinating. The game did (at times) devolve into something of a circus, as Gabby was quoted as saying in the ESPN article linked in another thread. I'm guessing that Geno was upset that his team lacked the discipline to keep that from happening, apparently allowing the long and exhaustive road trip to get the better of them. One thing's for sure. They're all going to enjoy sleeping in their own beds tonight.

 

[Charliebball]

Nevada was very impressive. They hustled and hustled and hustled. They played tenacious defense, made lots of threes, and even made good shots in the lane. I'm going to be following their progress during the rest of the season. They outplayed and outscored UConn from about midway in the second quarter until well into the fourth quarter. Kudos to them and their coach for fielding a well-coached, aggressive team.

They reminded me on defense of the old Rutgers teams. But unlike Rutgers, these kids could play on the offensive side as well.

No fluke.

I thought they played some inspired basketball but don't be surprised if they lose their next game by 20 to some very average team in front of 800 fans..................

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Gabby said the team had tired legs and at least a couple of them expressed dissatisfaction over the performance. It was an extraordinarily long road trip. As a fan I can't get worked up about it. This team has performed in an extraordinary fashion while presented with the challenges posed by Katie Lou being out and living out of their suitcases and lacking access to their training/conditioning/palliative facilities. As a fan of women's basketball I am cheered by the fact that UConn gave a maybe up and coming program a bit of a leg up.

 

[Centerstream]

I was shocked when Nevada scored on 2 pick and rolls, and I think on back to back possessions, or close to back to back. And they looked way too easy. I can't remember that happening before, no matter what players were on the court for the Huskies.

 

[Carnac]

I was shocked when Nevada scored on 2 pick and rolls, and I think on back to back possessions, or close to back to back. And they looked way too easy. I can't remember that happening before, no matter what players were on the court for the Huskies.

Nevada did UConn a favor in more ways than one. Yes, they facilitated UConn for Gabby's homecoming game, but they also gave the Huskies a very competitive game that did in fact get then ready for Notre Dame this Sunday. I certainly did not see that one coming. It was the highest-ranked team that Nevada ever played and the game drew 7,815 fans-the most in state history for a women's game. Nevada played its first nationally televised game in program history. The previous highest-ranked team Nevada played was then-No. 4 Louisiana Tech in 1987. This game will certainly give the Wolfpack something to build on.

I thought their game was as competitive as UCLA's. That's why the starters played as many minutes as they did. Geno was not happy with what he was seeing. These three games give the coaching staff plenty of "fodder" to use in pointing out their errors in judgment and execution. I have no doubt these things will be addressed and cleaned up in practice this week. The team will be ready for the Irish when they roll into town this weekend.

In case you missed it - this is the kind of pressure Nevada put on the the Huskies all night. The warrior in Kia boiled over, and she responded with a team high of 27 points. The refs should have called 2 fouls on this play. One on each defensive player grabbing her from either side. Nevada went down, but they went down fighting and scrapping (but clean, no chipping), just the way their coach wanted to see them play. No one can accuse the Wolkpack of laying down and kissing UConn's rings.

 

[chrissaran]

I was wrong about the score being, "Not even close." Also, I can't figure out what's wrong with Napheesa? She doesn't look like the same player as last year. Is it semi final hangover?

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I thought they played some inspired basketball but don't be surprised if they lose their next game by 20 to some very average team in front of 800 fans...

Perhaps. But if they could play that well against UConn, forcing Connecticut to keep all of its starters in for over 30 minutes each, then they could gain the confidence to stick it to their other opponents. The center was quality, scoring 17 points against one of the best centers in the game- Stevens. They forced UConn into one charging foul after another.

I realize that UConn finally won by 31 points, but they got it down to 20 points a couple of times late in the game, and kept the bench players on the bench for all but the last couple of minutes. That was a tough team.

I'm willing to wager that they'll get better as the season goes on. They've got the internal fire to win basketball games.

 

[Carnac]

I thought they played some inspired basketball but don't be surprised if they lose their next game by 20 to some very average team in front of 800 fans...

I would agree with the possibility that Nevada played UP to the level of its competition last night.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I thought they played some inspired basketball but don't be surprised if they lose their next game by 20 to some very average team in front of 800 fans...

Next game is at a tournament in Hawaii. Hopefully there will be more than 800 fans in attendance. Opponent is Oregon St., who I think is better than very average.

 

[HopJim]

I was shocked when Nevada scored on 2 pick and rolls, and I think on back to back possessions, or close to back to back. And they looked way too easy. I can't remember that happening before, no matter what players were on the court for the Huskies.

Most teams UConn has played missed their 3's. Nevada shot outstanding but UConn left them open- if they had a few less turnovers, game would have been close.

 

[augustaTC]

Ref Napheesa....my own, very uneducated, guess is that she, along with the rest of the team, is struggling to a degree to get used to how Z fits into the picture, and how it affects their own game. That integration is very much a work in progress. Last year Pheesa was kind of a Tuck clone - toss it in toward the basket and she would manage to grab it and put it up. 2 points, pretty much like clockwork. While Z adds a new dimension, she's also learning a new way to play & more is being asked of her. Affects everyone. Pretty sure Geno will have it running smooth by year end.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was shocked when Nevada scored on 2 pick and rolls, and I think on back to back possessions, or close to back to back. And they looked way too easy. I can't remember that happening before, no matter what players were on the court for the Huskies.

From what I've seen, UConn has really been jumping/overplaying passing lanes this year. Stanford hit them w/ quite a few backdoor cuts in the 2nd half of that game. The Huskies have been forcing so many TOs and scoring so many easy points on fast breaks that it's probably okay if they give up a few layups during the course of a game.

 

[willtalk]

Fans need to remember that players are not machines. They have up and down days. A lot of variables can come into play on any given day. I think all of us can remember days when nothing seemed to work out right or we had the droppsies. Also days when we wanted to stay in bed but were not sick enough to do so but still feeling under the weather. Well those days can also happen to players no matter how good they are.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I wonder if anyone read the scouting report. Nevada came into the game 12th in the country in 3-point shooting percentage. After the game, they were shooting at .446 from the arc for the season, but only .430 overall. King is now at .522. There are 5 players on the team shooting over .400 from 3-point range.

 

[MilfordHusky]

From what I've seen, UConn has really been jumping/overplaying passing lanes this year. Stanford hit them w/ quite a few backdoor cuts in the 2nd half of that game. The Huskies have been forcing so many TOs and scoring so many easy points on fast breaks that it's probably okay if they give up a few layups during the course of a game.

Yes, the UConn defense is very aggressive. When they don't get a steal, a player is often left open. I love Crystal, but she didn't play close enough to King last night. King was shooting from the same spots as Crystal, 22-25' from the hoop.

 

[MilfordHusky]

In watching the replay, I found it interesting that the Nevada players didn't look as tired as some other UConn opponents. Then it hit me--Reno is 4,500 feet above sea level. The Nevada kids were accustomed to the altitude. The UConn players may have found the air a little thin.

 

[Centerstream]

From what I've seen, UConn has really been jumping/overplaying passing lanes this year. Stanford hit them w/ quite a few backdoor cuts in the 2nd half of that game. The Huskies have been forcing so many TOs and scoring so many easy points on fast breaks that it's probably okay if they give up a few layups during the course of a game.

I agree but it just seemed disturbing because it happened on the same possession, the first layup was missed but they got the ball right back and had to inbound from the side line. Then they immediately ran another one that was successful. In my original post I thought that they made both layups but after watching the game replay, I stand corrected.