tOSU Postgame Thread [merged thread]

[Zinethar]

I see others thought the officiating was poor. Yeah I'm biased but all our rebounds that got contested were jump balls and all theirs were fould on UConn. The worst non call I've ever seen (and I mean that) was in the 3rd when Ohio State kicked an attempted UConn pass (and it was pointed out by the announcers also) and it was not called but instead gave them a clean run to the basket. It should have gone back to UConn. Just an example of not a stellar performance by the refs - but then again it was also not stellar performance by UConn either. Just wondered if anyone else has noticed that Megan Never passes the ball to whoever is the 5th person even when they are wide open. Obviously no trust there but it can't happen.

 

[Rocket009]

Personally, I prefer her missing long rather than off line which to me would be evidence of nerves. Anna also had a good early drive that rimmed out. So tough shooting luck but unlike the last game, she really did not compensate doing other stuff. Freshmanitis

Watch how her feet are set when she shoots - she's not square to the basket which is making her lean in. You can call it long when she lets it go. When she makes a shot she is squared up and more vertical. It really looks like she is pressing. The bigger issue was with her passes, not very crisp and a little casual. I'm sure Geno did not like that

 

[Rocket009]

--Speaking of Kyla, other than the sloppy entry pass near the end of the game, she showed that she belonged out there during a close game. She was guarding Kiersten Bell a lot and seemed to do OK. Both charges she took were impactful.

Not to mention that no one boxes out better than Kyla.If you had a couple more people boxing out like she does there would be no offensive rebounds.

 

[mbr33ct]

Ouch! In so many ways. How many layups did this team miss today?

I am as big a UConn fan as anyone. But this has to be the weakest UConn team I can remember seeing.

Five mostly slim wins against five mediocre, unranked teams.

Never seen so much standing around by a UConn team. And each player appears to be looking to the other players to make the big shot, make the big play.

ONO, as the former Georgia coach stated, just doesn't give UConn strength inside.

The team has struggled against the portion of the schedule against which it was supposed to have breezed.

And the one big on the team has a broken toe?

Ouch. In so many ways.

How many more ways can you say they struggled against five mediocre, unranked teams?

 

[trb123]

My older son broke his toe in college, playing "hall ball"--barefoot soccer. He kicked a plaster wall. His younger brother broke his toe when he tripped on a concrete parking barrier while wearing flip flops. Doesn't everyone break his/her toe in college?

Did you break your toe in college?

 

[Roger G]

I enjoyed this game. It was competitive long into it. This year we don't have one of the super teams, but we still have a lot of talent and they are fun to watch.

Ohio State was very good at using their length and angles to cut off the passing and driving lanes.

We stuck with it and pulled it out. It could easily have been a loss, yet it wasn't.

 

[oldude]

One comment about the Buckeyes. When tOSU had Kelsey Mitchell, her Ast Coaching dad and a cast of underachieving mismatched stars who crashed out of the Big Dance in 2018 at home to Central MI, I seriously questioned Kevin McGuff’s coaching ability. But I have to say that over the past few years, McGuff has shown me something.

Last year, with the cupboard bare, he brought in 6 lower level grad transfers and coached them up to be a competitive team. This year he has some real talent that plays hard and shares the ball, something we never saw with Kelsey Mitchell and her teammates.

 

[Ozimoto]

Ohio State was a bad match up for UConn at this point in the season. Their size, length, and athleticism sped up the freshmen. What had worked so well at Temple and UVA often resulted in turnovers yesterday. The Buckeyes played tough, quick double teaming defense that the Huskies had not experienced to date. This game will provide a good lesson to the team. They needed a game like this to prevent complacency from creeping in. The key now is to see how they respond.

Geno didn't seem to be too upset. He knows what he has and as long as they work hard and maximize their talent and ability I think he is OK with this group so far.

 

[Jeff H]

5 & 0. All double digit victories. Average margin of victory 20.6 points. We're terrible!

 

[mhshuskies]

Was there any discussion regarding the Ohio state player that transferred from OK state without sitting a year, a little salt in the wound?

 

[oldude]

Was there any discussion regarding the Ohio state player that transferred from OK state without sitting a year, a little salt in the wound?

No one knows exactly why Braxtin Miller’s waiver was granted other than the fact that she’s closer to home at tOSU. But that should only matter if it was tied to a hardship waiver.

 

[Dokey]

Watch how her feet are set when she shoots - she's not square to the basket which is making her lean in. You can call it long when she lets it go. When she makes a shot she is squared up and more vertical. It really looks like she is pressing. The bigger issue was with her passes, not very crisp and a little casual. I'm sure Geno did not like that

Why not bring in a recuperating Lou to work with Anna on three point shot?

 

[donalddoowop]

Why not bring in a recuperating Lou to work with Anna on three point shot?

Lou struggled her freshman year hitting her three pointers. That is the job of the coaching staff, imo.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I live an hour from the Ohio State campus and was lucky to get to the game. Here is what I saw:

--UConn travels well. Even to Ohio. It was weird seeing 75 fans behind the UConn bench standing until the Huskies scored.

--I don't know how obvious it was on TV, but every time UConn drove to the basket in the first half, they were fouled, sometimes hard, with no call. I found it interesting that there was not a word from Geno to the refs. They deserved to hear him complain.

--Crystal gave a 40 minute demonstration on what All-American point guard play looks like. The pass she got from Kyla coming out of the timeout at the end of the game was just one of several impressive plays. What other 5'5 point guard jumps up and intercepts an in-bounds pass?

--Speaking of Kyla, other than the sloppy entry pass near the end of the game, she showed that she belonged out there during a close game. She was guarding Kiersten Bell a lot and seemed to do OK. Both charges she took were impactful.

--As well as, overall, Megan has played, she still does three or four head scratching things a game. Today was no exception.

--Anna joins a long list of freshmen that spent the second half of a game on the bench for apparent bad play. The only extended emotion I saw from Geno was with Anna. What was on her arms? Was it discussed and I missed it?

-- Ohio State subbed freely trying to stay fresh. They still got tired at the end. UConn conditioning is not normal.

--I kept thinking about how Geno wants to restrict Crystal's minutes. Maybe Tuesday against a less talented Dayton team.

--I don't know what the announced attendance was. Looked to be about 7,000. It will probably be their biggest turnout of the year.

--You don't appreciate UConn's composure until you can compare live with another team's. Many here, of course, are used to it. It is still impressive to see in this day and age.

--The turnover against the press was CW's fault. She did not move to the pass. OSU went right through her to steal it.

--I saw about four possessions of a UConn zone. A passive zone. I kept thinking it was a matchup. It was not. They did not look comfortable in it. I think a zone would be helpful second look but not the zone I saw today.

Irwin took two critically important charges, made a timely assist for a layup by Williams, and then made that three. She did far more to win the game than came up in the standard stats.

 

[Triad]

Lou struggled her freshman year hitting her three pointers. That is the job of the coaching staff, imo.

You know as I do --the Uconn staff are working with Ania, Evelyn, Griffin full time. Ania is introspective she is searching her soul--WHY??? Why?
5 or 6 games in away from Poland, the language isn't comfortable, the game is slightly different, new teammates, new coaching staff and a VERY demanding head coach. CONFIDENCE. and second guessing yourself tend to lead to some un-natural things. The 3 ball shot , once accurate now fails--too short then too long but most on target. Defense learned at home is not the defense now wanted.
My point is---IF I WERE ANIA I'D SAY---GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

 

[hart2hart]

Thank you for that Bellemare!
AMEN! She will shine as well as Aubrey,
give them time! Some in this forum forget their still teenagers.....I personally look forward to seeing them both play every game!!

 

[JordyG]

Was there any discussion regarding the Ohio state player that transferred from OK state without sitting a year, a little salt in the wound?

I said before, I'd like to see the stats on players that transfer to schools in the middle and western part of the country as opposed to those who transfer to colleges on the coasts.

 

[Kaizen]

 

[VaConnFan11]

My take on the game and the team in general is that this year's UConn team is a lot like this year's New England Patriots. The talent level may not be where it has been in the past, but there still are very good players on both teams and they are going to win a lot of games. There are going to be more grind out, ugly wins than easy ones. Teams that are young and/or have not played together long often play to the level of the competition. Instead of having win margins of 30+, most are going to be in the 10-20 range.

I expect UConn to lose 4 games this season. Baylor, Oregon, one they shouldn't and one in the tournament. I think they start the 20-21 season as the preseason #1.

Don't forget. You only have to win 6 games in a row to be National Champions and with the the first 2 or 3 being gimmies, it is possible with a talent laden team.

 

[donalddoowop]

You know as I do --the Uconn staff are working with Ania, Evelyn, Griffin full time. Ania is introspective she is searching her soul--WHY??? Why?
5 or 6 games in away from Poland, the language isn't comfortable, the game is slightly different, new teammates, new coaching staff and a VERY demanding head coach. CONFIDENCE. and second guessing yourself tend to lead to some un-natural things. The 3 ball shot , once accurate now fails--too short then too long but most on target. Defense learned at home is not the defense now wanted.
My point is---IF I WERE ANIA I'D SAY---GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

She can say safely say that to the BY but, not to Geno.

 

[oldude]

Just think if we can still be saying that about Kyla in March....

 

[DefenseBB]

Not to mention that no one boxes out better than Kyla.If you had a couple more people boxing out like she does there would be no offensive rebounds.

Seriously? That’s what you believe? No, just no. Kyla has shown significant improvement to spell our starters and I am happy for her but stop with “best” or “better than” phrases as they simply are not true. If they were, she would be a starter or do you see something Geno and CD are missing?

 

[Centerstream]

I said before, I'd like to see the stats on players that transfer to schools in the middle and western part of the country as opposed to those who transfer to colleges on the coasts.

I once asked to see the stats on players transferring in to the "big time" (money makers) P5 conference teams, such as OSU, ND, SC, etc.

 

[luvgiraf]

Why not bring in a recuperating Lou to work with Anna on three point shot?

I'm wondering if the ball used by NCAA women is a different circumference than the ball Anna is used to?

 

[eebmg]

Seriously? That’s what you believe? No, just no. Kyla has shown significant improvement to spell our starters and I am happy for her but stop with “best” or “better than” phrases as they simply are not true. If they were, she would be a starter or do you see something Geno and CD are missing?

I interpreted this as 'kyla needs to blockout better because she is athletically limited' while our otber athletically gifted players are less diligent and rely on outjumping their opponents

 

[Rocket009]

Seriously? That’s what you believe? No, just no. Kyla has shown significant improvement to spell our starters and I am happy for her but stop with “best” or “better than” phrases as they simply are not true. If they were, she would be a starter or do you see something Geno and CD are missing?

Yes seriously - You should rewatch the games - UCONN has real problems giving up offensive rebounds because no one is blocking out. Why do you have a problem with Kyla being good at blocking out? While I'm at it, she's best at timing those passes on the backdoor plays, and best high fives.

 

[Dokey]

Lou struggled her freshman year hitting her three pointers. That is the job of the coaching staff, imo.

Continuity and aiding a young foreign player.

 

[donalddoowop]

Seriously? That’s what you believe? No, just no. Kyla has shown significant improvement to spell our starters and I am happy for her but stop with “best” or “better than” phrases as they simply are not true. If they were, she would be a starter or do you see something Geno and CD are missing?

She can be the best at blocking out but lacking in other areas and that prevents her from starting. Who blocks out better than Kyla?

 

[Zanzman]

Did you break your toe in college?

That’s why I didn’t go to college my toes are fine

 

[southofnorth]

Here’s the scoop southofnorth. A stress fracture (sometimes referred to as a hairline fracture) is a specific type of fracture. Otherwise, as others have stated a fracture and a break are the same. You might tell your friends you have a broken wrist but your official report is going to state there is a fracture of the radius (or one of the other bones of the wrist). Let’s just say it’s time to give this a break

Would sure be strange to call a partial fracture of any bone a break when referring to it though. Again, always good to clarify because, like I said, although they are the interchangeable, the words themselves mean very different things when used outside of a medical chart.