TN Postgame Thread [merged]

[BBallF]

Evina is our "glue" player but she is 16-22 in her last 3 games from the field. She finally, finally shot her pull up jumper in the lane, making them both and they looked sweet. She really should be shooting more, as much as 12 shots a game. When she shoots in rhythm, like those two 3s in the 4th quarter she has a deft touch. ONO should have stayed on the block more. I understand the misinterpretation on the players' parts of what the game plan was but ONO could have taken that defender or at least caused foul trouble with her moves. She was out of position for rebounding as well on the foul line. She can always receive the ball low, pass out and reset as several of us have been saying for a while now. Also, we saw last night why Paige is Paige. Whoever said she was a mix of Sue and DT was spot on. Lastly, this game still feels like a big game and will draw big crowds and should be continued for the history alone. Geno was both wistful and nostalgic and it really is a celebration of the women's game which many would say first came into the national spotlight on MLK Jr. day in 1995.

 

[bantamlaker]

Also you all may note that Liv's game picked up dramatically and she had more rebounds once AE stepped into the game with her.

We definitely will need them to be on the court together in big games against the bigger, stronger teams. I hope Geno gives them more playing time together in the upcoming games so they will really be in sync in time for the more challenging opponents.

 

[meyers7]

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

Trying to pull TN's bigs out of the lane. Works better if they actually make the shots though.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Geno told them to look for outside shots to pull the bigs of Tennessee out from under the basket. I would bet money he didn't mean to shoot 5 3 pointers in the first 3 minutes. Olivia is not an AA. She is an average post against players her own size. Aubrey did well in the first half but the half court offense was terrible with her in there and you don't set a screen for one second and roll to the basket with your back to the ball. She didn't allow the player to use the screen and when you roll to the basket you look xfor the ball. Paige needs to stop hesitating with her shooting in the beginning of the game. She tries to get her teammates going all the time. How about getting yourself going with what's given to you. Edwards played really tough last night. I like the way she knocks people around. IMO she takes pressure off of Liv because of that. She needs minutes especially in these games.

Evina is the heart and soul of this team. She needs to look for her offense more. Those 2 threes were sweet and dagger like for the Huskies! She is tough plays hard and is a true leader. A totally different player from her Tennessee days. Her play today showed Rocky Top it wasn't her it was the environment at Tennessee!

Miss Williams came to play and what a game! She kept UConn in the game in the first half. She is looking for her shot and not just going to the hoop every time. She played real good defense on Rae Burrell in the first half but Rae couldn't miss. She is Tennessees best player and fun to watch. She also played tough defense on Paige all night. Paige had a decent game with 9-8-7 but that assist to Christyn when she hurt her ankle was pretty and the 3 of course at crunch time! Williams was the catalyst and POG!

As a team they nee to improve on rebounding big time and to box out a lot better. Weak side defense and rotating on defense instead of giving up lay ups. Spacing on offense to make the defense work. It was better in the second half when it was Liv, Evina, Christyn, Paige and Edwards. Lastly
FREE THROWS!!!
UConn should have won by 20!

@cbraarj nails it! Thank you for saving me some typing!

 

[HuskylnSC]

One point I haven't seen yet. You just saw 6 freshmen with 8 games experience play their first 'big' game in front of hostile fans in a famous arena. You wonder why it took until the 4th quarter to get their act together.

 

[schmendrick]

Tennessee fan perspective....UCONN has talent but the polish isn't there yet.

Nuff said.

 

[meyers7]

I prefer this plain assessment that does not belittle a young player— as a couple of snarky, sarcastic comments do elsewhere in this thread.

I think the snark was directed at whoever asked the question.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I think the snark was directed at whoever asked the question.

Snark often has an area effect. 😎

 

[mbr33ct]

Is it getting lost this team has no seniors. I may be wrong but this team has to be one of Geno's youngest team he ever put on a basketball court. As @bballnut90 said, the talent is there but the polish is not there yet.

 

[Ozimoto]

I think that some on here act like this team should perform as well as the team did when Stewie, Mo, and Morgan were seniors. Not going to happen, people. MAYBE by the time this group of freshman are seniors.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

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

EXACTLY!!!!!! Why in the world doesn't Coach Geno take her out of the game whenever she attempts one of her terrible outside shots? She should be made to run laps- or steps- or something. Absolutely hurts the team when she does that.

 

[vballcoach]

EXACTLY!!!!!! Why in the world doesn't Coach Geno take her out of the game whenever she attempts one of her terrible outside shots? She should be made to run laps- or steps- or something. Absolutely hurts the team when she does that.

One has to assume that the fact that ONO and AG didn't get yanked after what felt like a thousand of those shots means that Geno was fine with those shots. Indeed, once Jones, Charles, and Dolson became threats from that spot (or, to be fair, a little closer in than that), they became HUGE problems for the opposition.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Last night was a very good game from start to finish. I never thought UConn would lose but thought UT played very well and had a solid strategy. The talent level between the two is pretty significant but what occurred was a hard fought game that had moments of intrigue and great plays.

UConn has the tools to be the national champions and it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see them get the crown. UT has a ways to go but had a lot of fight in them last night and didn't make anything easy.

This is the type of game that is good for the sport and both teams will grow from it.

 

[WFFL]

Evina Westbrook and Christyn Williams were the stars

Tell ESPN that

 

[oldude]

Tell ESPN that

?
At the end of the game ESPN immediately named Christyn as the POG.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I guess I saw a different game. When Anna was in she positioned herself for several three point shots. Her teammates NEVER passed to her. on the base line on the left and mid side on the right. wide open and no passes. Can't get hot if you can't get the ball

It could be that her teammates- and her coach- have lost confidence in her. When she gets the ball this season, she passes up open shots, only opting to score, as Coach Geno has pointed out, in the fourth quarter after the game has been decided. This is the second straight game in which Makurat has not scored. And during those two games, she's only attempted one shot. Unlike earlier games, she also did little in terms of assist, credited with just one in twelve minutes.

Anna has now scored just under 5 ppg, compared with nearly 4 ppg for Mir McLean. Yet Anna has played four times as many minutes as Mir: 28 mpg versus 7 mpg. And she's ranked behind previous non-starters Aubrey Griffin and Aaliyah Edwards in scoring as well. And in the previous game, while Anna was not scoring or attempting a shot, McLean notched 6 points in just 10 minutes. Clearly, Makurat has the physical frame, the skills, the outside shot, to be successful. That's why Coach Geno put her in the starting lineup to begin the season. But there appears to be a large, and growing, deficit of self-confidence that is keeping Anna from performing at the level of a starter. She needs to get her mind right, and soon, in order to begin contributing as one would expect from a player on a crowded roster should to deserve big minutes. And, yes, if this keeps up, her presence on the floor could be severely limited next year when Fudd and Ducharme show up, and when Poffenbarger is in UConn shape and has learned the offense.

Wishing her luck, and hoping for a turnaround. But seems clear why she's now coming off the bench, and for decreasing minutes.

 

[HopJim]

ONO and AG maybe shot one to many 3’s but they were necessary. At some point down the stretch of the season, you will need ONO and AG, to be able to hit some outside shots.
Liv is such a good passer from the post, I wish they would have given her more post attempts and let her pass back out to the shooters. When posting it seems that ONO and AE received a few dump off passes from dribble drive in the 4th quarter.

Agree that ONO needs to be able to take outside shots but not Griffin. With both ONO and Griffin outside, it clogged the court for everyone elsen and lessens the ability for offensive rebounds. If you were the opposition coach, would you give Griffin every 3 pointer she wanted if it prevented ONO from shooting layups and getting your bigs in foul trouble? No accident that UConn went on its comeback when Griffin went to the bench. Not a shot at Griffin, but the game plan of having both outside was not working.

 

[msf22b]

It could be that her teammates- and her coach- have lost confidence in her. When she gets the ball this season, she passes up open shots, only opting to score, as Coach Geno has pointed out, in the fourth quarter after the game has been decided. This is the second straight game in which Makurat has not scored. And during those two games, she's only attempted one shot. Unlike earlier games, she also did little in terms of assist, credited with just one in twelve minutes.

Anna has now scored just under 5 ppg, compared with nearly 4 ppg for Mir McLean. Yet Anna has played four times as many minutes as Mir: 28 mpg versus 7 mpg. And she's ranked behind previous non-starters Aubrey Griffin and Aaliyah Edwards in scoring as well. And in the previous game, while Anna was not scoring or attempting a shot, McLean notched 6 points in just 10 minutes. Clearly, Makurat has the physical frame, the skills, the outside shot, to be successful. That's why Coach Geno put her in the starting lineup to begin the season. But there appears to be a large, and growing, deficit of self-confidence that is keeping Anna from performing at the level of a starter. She needs to get her mind right, and soon, in order to begin contributing as one would expect from a player on a crowded roster should to deserve big minutes. And, yes, if this keeps up, her presence on the floor could be severely limited next year when Fudd and Ducharme show up, and when Poffenbarger is in UConn shape and has learned the offense.

Wishing her luck, and hoping for a turnaround. But seems clear why she's now coming off the bench, and for decreasing minutes.

And remember Saylor is on the way...with more height and at least equal long range skills

 

[HopJim]

Liv battled and did some good things, especially in the 2nd half. Not dominating doesn't mean she isn't competing. I don't think she deserves some of the shade thrown her way.
Aubrey's 4th foul was not smart and could've really hurt us.. She hasn't had that worry coming off the bench but if she's gonna play starters minutes, she's gotta be smart.
Anna's in a spiral... Losing minutes means fewer opportunities to play through her funk. Starting to look like foul/injury insurance.
It's trendy to call the huskies soft but I'm seeing some money time swag from pb, ew, and cw. I like it.
It was fun to see a competitive game.

As some say, we must have seen a different game. Anna did exactly what you would hope a sub would do - come in and maintain or increase the level of play. Aubrey did alot of things well. She also missed a number of shots, got crushed in the first half on the defensive boards, and got a number of fouls at a critical time in the game. Remember, UConn got and increased its lead when Aubrey was out of game. Anna did nothing spectacular but did her job. Not seeing any "spiral."

 

[HopJim]

Not really, you pay for them with practice.

Free throws are also a reflection of how relaxed you are as well as how your body reacts to the physical nature of a game. As we keep in mind this was barely a top 25 rated team, I prefer to think of this game as experience that will help in future Top 10 games.

 

[CocoHusky]

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.

No... history would have been different indeed. One more pass to Anna would have resulted in a shot clock violation. The shot clock expired as Paige's shot was in flight.

 

[RedStickHusky]

As some say, we must have seen a different game. Anna did exactly what you would hope a sub would do - come in and maintain or increase the level of play. Aubrey did alot of things well. She also missed a number of shots, got crushed in the first half on the defensive boards, and got a number of fouls at a critical time in the game. Remember, UConn got and increased its lead when Aubrey was out of game. Anna did nothing spectacular but did her job. Not seeing any "spiral."

A couple of clear blow-bys on D, but mainly on offense, she's just not making the plays we'd expect from her last year. If Mir was playing at Anna's level we'd be ecstatic, but Anna should be showing some progress, no?

 

[HopJim]

It could be that her teammates- and her coach- have lost confidence in her. When she gets the ball this season, she passes up open shots, only opting to score, as Coach Geno has pointed out, in the fourth quarter after the game has been decided. This is the second straight game in which Makurat has not scored. And during those two games, she's only attempted one shot. Unlike earlier games, she also did little in terms of assist, credited with just one in twelve minutes.

Anna has now scored just under 5 ppg, compared with nearly 4 ppg for Mir McLean. Yet Anna has played four times as many minutes as Mir: 28 mpg versus 7 mpg. And she's ranked behind previous non-starters Aubrey Griffin and Aaliyah Edwards in scoring as well. And in the previous game, while Anna was not scoring or attempting a shot, McLean notched 6 points in just 10 minutes. Clearly, Makurat has the physical frame, the skills, the outside shot, to be successful. That's why Coach Geno put her in the starting lineup to begin the season. But there appears to be a large, and growing, deficit of self-confidence that is keeping Anna from performing at the level of a starter. She needs to get her mind right, and soon, in order to begin contributing as one would expect from a player on a crowded roster should to deserve big minutes. And, yes, if this keeps up, her presence on the floor could be severely limited next year when Fudd and Ducharme show up, and when Poffenbarger is in UConn shape and has learned the offense.

Wishing her luck, and hoping for a turnaround. But seems clear why she's now coming off the bench, and for decreasing minutes.

I think the key stat for Anna is does UConn score when she is in game. While she gets criticized on this Board, other teams come out and guard her. A good passer, she opens the floor up for the other shooters with her movement and gets the ball where it needs to go. Anyone who saw how UConn's offense was stagnant the first half will understand the value of opening the court up. If you run a motion offense, this is critical. Tough game last night but lets not give the starters more credit than they deserve - they only scored 67 points against a barely ranked team. Agree that Anna needs to shoot more but will continue to be a key sub no matter what.

 

[MooseJaw]

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

I think the answer is obvious. That's the way Geno wanted it. If not Liv would have been on the bench faster than Old Dude makes his post game threads. {Which I look forward to} The coach wanted to spread the defense out making it easier to run the offense while getting to the bucket. He isn't kidding when hw says the isn't a good shooting team.

 

[Vowelguy]

While some like to criticize our highly rated HS players for non-ideal performances, I'll note that TN's most prized recruit Horston was 1-11 with 2 reb 3 asst 4 TOs, 2 pts.

 

[HopJim]

FYI, Vol Nation UConn game thread up to 859 posts. Yikes!

 

[CL82]

My take? On an night when we struggled to get the ball in the basket, even from the free throw line, we found a way to win, on the road, against ranked team. That is what good teams to do.

While we wait for the next game, I strongly recommend that the girls spend sometime on the Steve Nash free throw drill... like a lot of time. If we shoot even 70% as a team, we win by ten points and everyone is a lot happier this morning.

 

[CocoHusky]

Much has been made about the 3Pt attempts taken last night and if it was part of the game plan and if the players had Geno's permission to launch those threes. Even Rebecca made a comment towards the end of the first quarter regarding bigs taking so many three that early in the shot clock. This prompted me to go back and look at the 1st quarter specifically with an eye on the shot clock and when those threes were taken.
Format: Player Attempting the shot, Time remaining on the shot clock, result

1. Aubrey, 8 seconds, (Miss)
2. Olivia, 18 seconds, (Miss)
3. Paige. 20 seconds, Miss)
4. Christyn, 18 seconds, (Made)
5. Olivia, 22 seconds ( Miss)
6. Aubrey 16 seconds (Made)
7. Paige 20 seconds ( Miss)
8. Olivia 18 seconds (Miss)
9. Christyn 19 seconds ( Miss)

I don't believe this was part of the game plan. If it was part of the game plan it was a poor plan because it is very unusually for UCONN teams to be shooting that early in the shot clock. This is still TN and although they played good defense last night the way you beat TN is off with the secondary action like back door cuts. The secondary action does not have time to develop if UCONN is shooting that early in the shot clock. Someone has already noted that if Geno was not OK with this he would have stopped it. I don't have any good explanations for why Geno did not stop this except possibly this: This is still a relatively young team with a lot of growth to do. One other interesting note and in support of that point the only UCONN player to pass up a 3pt attempt in that 1st quarter was Evina Westbrook.

 

[MooseJaw]

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.

Yes! Fans I know a lot of you want every game to be a blowout for the Huskies, have we forgot what it feels like when we are on the edge of our seats, our pulse is elevated, we are yelling at the TV, all the things that make us feel alive. A roller coaster of a game, my b. p. went wild I was in despair, I was elated, I had a pit in my stomach and I loved every minute of it. After 11 months of being stuck inside with the highlight of the day being do I eat dinner at 5pm or 5:15pm. I needed this type of game my fire is back and I bet the team's fire is hotter than at any time this season.
This game gives fuel to the coaches to show from game experience what the players individually and team wise needs to be done to improve. Yep there was poor shooting, lapses on defense, too much standing around at times, all which can be worked on. Dang I loved it, I don't want every game to be like this one but I stand a little taller today. Thank you Huskies one and all!

 

[Geesworld]

Agree that ONO needs to be able to take outside shots but not Griffin. With both ONO and Griffin outside, it clogged the court for everyone elsen and lessens the ability for offensive rebounds. If you were the opposition coach, would you give Griffin every 3 pointer she wanted if it prevented ONO from shooting layups and getting your bigs in foul trouble? No accident that UConn went on its comeback when Griffin went to the bench. Not a shot at Griffin, but the game plan of having both outside was not working.

I totally get your assessment of clogging the lane. Just so that I'm clear. Which comeback are you talking about? There was several comeback's in this back and forth game which had multiple rotations.