Top 3 Things You Want Us To Work On In Practice Before The Big Dance Starts.

[BBallF]

It can be individual or team, it can be offense or defense, it can be layups or 3 point shots, you pick them. Here are my 3:

1) As I see this, Ash may be the key to the whole thing. If we can get 8-12 points from her off the bench consistently and relieve the pressure on the Big 3, we will be pretty tough to beat. So I would like her to get her movement, shot, and confidence back in practice.

2) KK and KC to look up and pass in transition. We will play bigger teams and they will double and triple Paige in the half court set. Passing is way faster than dribbling so launch it right away if Paige, Azzi and Sarah especially have an opening. An opposing post player has a lot farther to run than a point guard to get back on defense so let's practice doing just that to use our speed and neutralize any post disadvantage..

3) Close out defense on the 3s. We had a less than perfect patch last night. That's a no-no in a close game.

Okay Coach, what do you want to work on?

 

[Bone Dog]

TikTok dancing

You'd be surprised how much defensive stamina can be built up in a TikTok dance video. Also, a ton of coordination, which is key for defense and offense. And those elbow jumpers aren't going to practice themselves.

 

[jdote33]

I really want Ash and Azzi to get going. KC as well. I just feel like last year AE and PB were as good as any duo in the country. But it ultimately wasn't enough. Just looking at box scores SS and PB are basically doing the same thing. My concern is it doesn't allow others to be as involved unless you play at a quicker pace. They took 27 out of 54 shots in the championship game and 31 out 58 shots the game before. I get it, they are your two best players. But I worry it's not the right formula to best the better teams.

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

My two things are getting Ash involved offensively and for Ice to play meaningful minutes for the team. When Ash starts making 3s, it takes sooo much pressure off Azzi and Paige. Ice just has to play tough defense, get rebounds, and if she is on iso against a player, go strong to the basket and draw fouls.

As a team, Uconn has to defend the 3 at all times. Uconn has to make opposing teams shoot jumpers, box out, get the rebound and immediately go on a fast break.

 

[Blond D.]

I want to see us score on those inside layups and bunnies. We miss WAY too many of those.

We had a few break downs in the switches on defense. We need to clean that up.

More boxing out the big guys. Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds!

 

[uconnfan68]

Growth spurts for everyone.

 

[DEFCONN1]

Moving while Paige has the ball and not just watching. She will find you when she doesn’t have the shot.

 

[victor64]

Aubrey being healthy and ready to do "Aubrey" things

 

[HopJim]

Not sure why so many negative comments regarding Ash. She has been aggressive, played great defense, and for most games, shot well. She often is the 4th option, having to shoot with a few seconds left on the clock. When open, she typically does well from all distances. In many games, Ash has better shooting stats than anyone on team except Paige.

I don't have a top 3 other than to say play like team did against South Carolina and all will be good.

 

[Hoops66]

Practice quicker and faster passes. We've been giving away too many careless passes in recent games.
Jana taking a few shots when unguarded at the top of the key. Keep them honest....and guessing. A few drives to the hoop might pay off too.
On defense, pick up the guards sooner. Think Nika! The full court press has been great, though.

 

[Dugway]

Not sure why so many negative comments regarding Ash. She has been aggressive, played great defense, and for most games, shot well. She often is the 4th option, having to shoot with a few seconds left on the clock. When open, she typically does well from all distances. In many games, Ash has better shooting stats than anyone on team except Paige.

I don't have a top 3 other than to say play like team did against South Carolina and all will be good.

I don’t see all the negative comments; Ash has been a streaky player all season. She Averages about 8 pts per game. Against Villanova she had 3 pts and against Creighton she went scoreless. I think that is what folks are pointing out.

I am not too worried about Shade’s offensive production when Azzi is scoring well. But the fact is that Azzi is also very streaky. The games that concern me is when the two of them together are not able to find the bottom of the net! At that point we are going to have to look to the forwards and/or KC n KK combo to fill in some of those points that we would elsewise have got from the shooting guards.

 

[DemonDeac22]

1. Azzi to become much more consistent including taking a pull-up jumper from mid-range.
2. Ashley to find her shooting touch and keep shooting. She’s immediately passing the ball unless she’s really wide open since her shots have not been falling.
3. Jana to keep the ball at shoulder height and above when getting offensive rebounds. She always brings the ball down to her waist and gets tied up or loses the ball.

 

[Bigboote]

Boxing out

Defending the perimeter

Point guards take care of the ball

 

[Rb335]

I don’t see all the negative comments; Ash has been a streaky player all season. She Averages about 8 pts per game. Against Villanova she had 3 pts and against Creighton she went scoreless. I think that is what folks are pointing out.

I am not too worried about Shade’s offensive production when Azzi is scoring well. But the fact is that Azzi is also very streaky. The games that concern me is when the two of them together are not able to find the bottom of the net! At that point we are going to have to look to the forwards and/or KC n KK combo to fill in some of those points that we would elsewise have got from the shooting guards.

This is absolutely what I see when I watch. When Ash comes in and hits her shots, it’s too much offensive firepower to stop. When she isn’t hitting, teams can key in on PB/SS. Generally teams are going to take their chances with Chen/KK. We need Shade in the 4th scoring slot to produce.

When she came in and hit the looks she got against South Carolina, the game broke open incredibly quickly.

 

[Conndog]

1. Azzi to become much more consistent including taking a pull-up jumper from mid-range.
2. Ashley to find her shooting touch and keep shooting. She’s immediately passing the ball unless she’s really wide open since her shots have not been falling.
3. Jana to keep the ball at shoulder height and above when getting offensive rebounds. She always brings the ball down to her waist and gets tied up or loses the ball.

Agree with all. Regarding Jana, team needs to practice passing to her when she is open- maybe she needs to better time her action to get open so that it happens when guards are in her vicinity. I loved seeing her pivot the other game, I forget who it was against- she rotated one way, then the other, and back again before taking (and making) her shot. Shades of Sanogo!

Things to work on:
1) Passing to Jana when she is open- score every quarter!
2) Move and weave instead of watching Paige- keep shooting even if cold
3) When guard is bringing up ball, use screens to shake off defender- could reduce turnovers
4) grab rebounds instead of tipping them towards teammate- if they can get a hand on ball to tip it, they should be able to grab it.

 

[Stagnant]

1. Three point shooting defense. I am hoping we will really prioritize guarding the 3 and really emphasis to players we don’t want them over helping with their team defense.
2. The halfcourt offense. When we aren’t getting easy buckets. We do still struggle in the halfcourt sometimes.
3. I want the coaches to fly somewhere and offer some scholarships to 2026 and 2027 players.

 

[kjkj3]

I’d like to see passes from the guards to Jana that aren’t at her knees or ankles. And she is tall, pass it up to her, not a bounce pass! She spends way too much time reaching down to get a pass, which is another reason she always gets tied up and either she fouls or the ball is grabbed out of her hands.

 

[Ozimoto]

Keep the floor spread and keep moving in the half court offense
Consistency of effort both offensively and defensively for the full 40 minutes
Make shots and play with joy

 

[Bone Dog]

Because it's become a recurring theme, I'll add that Ash and Azzi have been remarkably consistent on defense, and this will decide how far UConn goes in the NCAAs more than their offense.

As for their offense, I think what we see has as much to do with what Paige and Sarah are able to do as with themselves. We all dream of having a 4th double digit scorer on the floor. But there's only so many shot opportunities in a given game. It's typically ~63 shots/game, 25 of which are usually divided between Paige and Sarah, another 17 go to Azzi and Ash. That leaves another 21 for the rest of the team. If we hope Kaitlyn and KK, or Jana and Ice, or Aubrey, take more shots, I'm pretty sure those opportunities are not coming from Paige and Sarah. This can only mean fewer shots for Azzi and Ash.

Context might give us a reason to hope for great things. Two seasons ago, with no Paige in the lineup, Azzi stepped up and had the makings of an NPoY season in the first 5 or 6 games. There were just more opportunities for her and she took them. In the first 5 games, she averaged ~20 shots and 27 pts. I'd expect Azzi next season to pick up roughly where she left off after those first 5 games, because she'll have more opportunities and she'll have a partner like she had in Aaliyah, namely Sarah. The question is whether KK and Kelis (and Morgan) can combine to be the PG Nike was for them. I suspect they'll rise to the occasion.

Ash is also consistent on offense if we consider the shot opportunities she gets, though perhaps less so than Azzi. For the season, she's averaging 7 shots/game, down from 9 last season, and her eFG% is 574%, which is almost identical to last season. Over the last 5 games, she's down to 5 shots/game and 4.6 pts/game down from 8 for the rest of the season. The most worrisome thing is she hasn't hit a 3, going 0 for 8. We all worry this means that the pressure of the tournament is getting to her and that it may be a pattern. But I suspect it's more a result of two other factors: 1) the defenses she's facing are much tougher, and 2) her own defensive intensity is making up much more of her game now. This appears to be what Geno wants from her now and I suspect it will pay off for the team.