TN Postgame Thread [merged]

[HuskylnSC]

Because as someone has already pointed out, probably Geno told ONO and Aubrey to take shots early on from the outside, to draw the Tennessee Bigs out to them, freeing up the paint.

true, but did he specify how far out?

 

[HuskylnSC]

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THROWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They’re FREEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

Not really, you pay for them with practice.

 

[Ex Nutmegger]

What a game. Why was Olivia taking outside shots instead of being down low?

Cause she knows she can’t mix it up with big, big girls.

 

[oldhusky]

I dont understand why everyone doesnt get this. They were being left wide open. Key was staying 10 feet away. I AM SURE that Geno told them to shoot it if that was happening.

Maybe it wasnt the right game plan, but I doubt they decided on their own "I'm going to do my Steph Curry impression tonight."

For sure was not the right game-plan. Aubrey or Olivia should never be shooting threes unless the shot clock is down to a few seconds. They have enough trouble with free throws. I think you can probably count the number of bad free throw shooters, that are good three point shooters, on one hand and have five fingers left over.

 

[Boreifs]

What a game. Why was Olivia taking outside shots instead of being down low?

Evina is really good tonight fighting her formal team with 15 pts, 5 rebs, 4 asts ..

On 4-8 shooting, plus two steals and the two dagger threes. She was the player of the game, IMHO.

 

[UConnCat]

It was our 9th game in a weird season of start and stops. First big game, on the road, with fans, with a young team, and they showed they could come from behind late and pull it out. I'd be happy with a one point victory all things given.

Agree with everything you said here.

 

[Ozimoto]

They have now been battle tested and show they can hang in and make a comeback. That is an improvement over last year. They won when the lid was on the basket. They didn't panic and fall apart. I look at those things as positives moving forward. Winning this kind of game has to help their confidence.

That said, moving forward the shooting from three has to improve as does the foul shooting if they want to make a run at the final four this year. Make another 6 or 8 foul shots and drop a couple more threes and this game is a 15 to 20 point win.

 

[UConnCat]

 

[UConnCat]

 

[eebmg]

I saw that. Thinking they will beat us by 30 next time. I doubt that. They can be happy they have moved up from Holly but don't get too cocky.

The VolNation argument goes something like this. If our best players showed up, we would have won by 30 (ignoring the tough games most of our players had). When the slowest player in D1 basketball is your second best player, that could be a problem.

 

[Heytherego]

Love this. Proud of Evina for stepping up. She’s now a crucial part of this team

 

[cohenzone]

Geno trademark, D wins, O says by how much. Change up D in the second half and just enough O to pull it out. Westbrook hit some biggies. UConn shot lousy in all facets of the game. An average game and they kill UT. But they needed a test.

The most concerning thing is what I suspected. First game ONO faced a team that could handle her. Alll year the O ran through her and she had her way. They couldn’t do it tonight. So she and they struggled. And of course Paige did too with her shot . But she made two critical plays. Her great pass to CW as she hurt her ankle and her big time 3 as the clock expired. I’m glad they were tested. And won.

 

[Mike_In_Storrs]

Re: Tennessee

As a Tennessee hater it was nice to see they have a good basketball team again. I think having a good Tennessee basketball team is great for the sport.. They are definitely up and coming.

It is nice to see this series again. I hope we go back to the 2 games a year format..

 

[UConnCat]

The VolNation argument goes something like this. If our best players showed up, we would have won by 30 (ignoring the tough games most of our players had). When the slowest player in D1 basketball is your second best player, that could be a problem.

Right. Does UConn get to change anything about the game? Or do the "if only's" go in one direction?

 

[UConnCat]

 

[jaydee602]

What a game. Why was Olivia taking outside shots instead of being down low?

It was our 9th game in a weird season of start and stops. First big game, on the road, with fans, with a young team, and they showed they could come from behind late and pull it out. I'd be happy with a one point victory all things given.

You nailed it! This is one surreal season & these players are facing unforseen adversity every game. Let's admire their fortitude & celebrate the victory.

 

[JoePgh]

I just read through this entire thread. I think there are a few points made by multiple posters that are wrong and that need a response. So here goes:

1. Many of you asked why Liv and Aubrey were taking outside shots early in the game. I am sure that Geno told them to take early jump shots, hoping and expecting that they would hit a few of them, and that TN would decide they had to guard them at that range. And Aubrey actually did make one early 3-point shot. But they didn't make enough to make the strategy work, and it wasn't continued for the rest of the game. I will bet that they were making similar shots in practice, and Olivia has shown in Big East games that she can make the shots that she was missing tonight.
2. I think that the poor free throw shooting was a symptom rather than a fundamental disease. In recent Big East games (although not at the beginning of the year), free throw shooting (even by Liv) has been adequate (around 70%). The underlying disease is nervousness and the pressure of a big game against a better opponent than they have previously faced. I think that also explains why those jump shots by Liv and Aubrey were missed. I would argue that the reason why the game was unexpectedly close was not a bad strategy or inadequate athletic talent to deal with the size, but simply nervousness/pressure felt by a young team in a big situation. The fact that the 4th quarter was so much better (after they had finally gotten over the drama and were just playing basketball) supports this hypothesis.
3. I think Paige's shot at the end of the game has not been adequately celebrated. To me, that was a Willis Reed moment. Perhaps a better comparison is to the Dodger player in the late 80s (was it Kirk Gibson??) who was too severely injured to run to first base, but he came up as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning and hit a home run, so he didn't have to run at all. For Paige, I think this game was like the Diana game against Notre Dame where she went 1-for-15, except that this one ended better for Paige and for UConn.
4. As is often the case, looking at the box score gives a different impression (and leads to different conclusions) than the eye test during the game. Did you know that UConn got 7 offensive rebounds in the 4th quarter, and thus ended up with 11 for the game -- not so much less than Tennessee's 14? Did you know that UConn shot 41% for the game, compared to TN's 36.9%? What about UConn being 7-for-25 from 3-point land, compared to 7-for-20 for TN? Did you know that UConn got 21 free throw attempts (I realize they only made 10) compared to 10 free throw attempts for TN, even though UConn was on the road? Most surprisingly, did you know that UConn took 61 shots in the game, while TN took only 65 shots despite all those offensive rebounds?

I guess the conclusion I would draw from all of the above is that the closeness of the game was mainly attributable to nervous jitters by the young UConn team, particularly in the first half, and that the game would probably have been a 15-to-20 point game if UConn had made 17 or 18 of its 21 free throws, and a higher percentage of its open jump shots.

 

[oldhusky]

As Geno would say Tennessee's free throw defense was awesome. Surprised at the end when defense was crucial as we had a lead, he left a very gimpy Paige in and they go two baskets.

It may seem strange, but there is something to free throw defense, at least in terms of the percentage you give up. A smart team rarely fouls the great free throw shooters, and they foul the bad ones relatively more often. A team that is smart about who they foul will have a lower percentage against them on average, but not by much.

 

[psconn]

Guaranteed that will be played as part of a highlight package when her number goes up on the wall and at her last Senior Night. Legendary.

 

[eebmg]

OMG. Looking at this clip, I did not realize Anna was open in the corner and just a slight shift in Paige's mood might have made her pass and history would be different. Why? Irregardless if Anna made the shot, Geno would have run out on the court and sat her down for the rest of the year.

 

[msf22b]

OT: Watching the 2nd game: the announcers just don't call the game, its a disgrace...busy speaking about this or that...worse than ever..
(I tried to write OT but the program wouldn't allow it)

 

[Vowelguy]

Agree with most everything @JoePgh
Except for Willis Reed

just a regular season game; not for a title

 

[WFFL]

Well, given the rankings and pre-game predictions (by most "experts"), wouldn't YOU be satisfied if you were them? Tenn pretty much dictated the tempo the first 3 quarters. Lol. You're acting like it was a blowout win for us.

No I’m just stating the obvious in which they LOST

 

[DefenseBB]

Rolled her ankle in the 4th qtr dropping a beautiful dime on Christyn for a key layup. Had to come out and get it tape, returned to the game and hit a monster 3 with time running out on the shot clock to effectively put the game out of reach.

I was hoping she’d run to the corner and puke in a bucket, sprint back and get a steal to add to the legend...

 

[pvdoggy]

OMG. Looking at this clip, I did not realize Anna was open in the corner and just a slight shift in Paige's mood might have made her pass and history would be different. Why? Irregardless if Anna made the shot, Geno would have run out on the court and sat her down for the rest of the year.

Yeah, a few weeks ago, Paige (or any other Uconn players) would have passed that ball to Anna for a more wide-open shot.