TN Postgame Thread [merged]

[npignatjr]

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.

When Paige released the ball Anna ran to rebound, She had great position

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.

 

[eebmg]

Sportscenter giving Paige and UConn a little love. Funny how the announcers butchered Liv and CW's name but gets Bueckers correct.

Also brought up how the Fans were taunting Evina.

 

[Geew1992]

Some of you are so negative!! Yes.... those free throws were bad. With that said, this team has played exactly 1 game since December 29th. And this is their 8?? With their stop and go season....

 

[DeeHusky]

It was the first real game so they had to get their legs under them for this type of situation. I’m not worried at all. And never once thought we would lose.

 

[npignatjr]

I re-watched the game and I did not see what Anna did that has caused some on here to say she played badly. She did not shoot but she did not hurt the team as far as I could see. She did not look lost to me. Also, at the beginning of the game, Tennessee had won more games than UConn had played. Not playing a consistent schedule and having games postponed or cancelled does not help a team reach their peak level. If UConn ever plays on a regular basis, Tennessee won't want to see them at tournament time.

Until the 4th the only time the team looked good, as noted by coach, was in the 2nd with Olivia, CW and AG on the bench Anna, Aaliahsp and Mir in

 

[nickp91]

Evina Westbrook and Christyn Williams were the stars

 

[ucbart]

Does anyone remember after the Christmas break of 2015 that Moriah Jefferson became a completely different player? I'm hoping that scoreless Providence game by Christyn was her "Christmas break." Moriah was good till that point, but she became great after that and I'm hoping the same happens for Christyn. I haven't seen the Christyn that played last night since the ND game her freshman year. I'm crossing my fingers that she took a GIANTTTTT leap last night. I thought she was fantastic.

 

[Teacherdeb]

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.

You nailed it! I completely agree. I enjoyed the game and was delighted by the win. All those who want the comfort of a 30 point win of pretty basketball- those days are gone.
There are so many more good players spread out around the country and better coaches.

 

[Ralph]

question on rebounding. Until the 4th qtr seemed like when we missed a shot there were 3 or 4 white jerseys under the basket, maybe one blue, sometimes none. Does this come from playing man to man? Are the defenders looking at the player they are guarding, don't see a shot go up and run to the basket? The offensive players are looking at the basket, see the shot and they do head to the basket. Did we switch to zone in 4th, did that help our rebounding? On the ladyvol forum, they are always screaming, our team can't shoot, everyone who plays a zone against us kills us. They pray for teams to play man against them. Do we stick with man to man because that is what we do? Even it the team we are playing hates a zone?

 

[Teacherdeb]

TN looked gassed by the start of the 4th quarter. I was hoping we’d take advantage of it, and it looked like they tried to speed it up.

I agree- TN’s fitness needs work.

 

[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.