tOSU Postgame Thread [merged thread]

[BostonBay]

We had Boston on layaway but was delivered to the wrong address.

Boston is a generational player. She's probably the best "big", post player in the country right now...as a Freshman. Scary thought. I think Geno was surprised she did not come to UConn - as most of us was.

 

[victor64]

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.

 

[BostonBay]

Very disappointed in UConn’s play over the first 5 games. Is Maracat ever going to make a shot? Seems like she’s also slow a foot. I’d rather play Aubrey and let her get some experience. Irwin comes in the game and makes a 3, then on the next play throws the ball away and OSU scores a 3. Her best game (13 ppt’s.) came against Virginia, a very weak team. What ever happened to Molly Bent? Dangerfield, Williams, and Walker can’t all play 35-40 minutes a night. If they do it will definitely take a toll on their bodies. This is no top four or projected final four rated team. The way they have played this month, I wouldn’t rate them in the top ten. We are going to take our lumps this season.

I think there is a very long learning curve from European style to WCBB. The game is much much faster here, more intensity here, more complex here, and the talent pool is much deeper. I hope she picks it up, but from what I've seen over 5 games, she's not even close to getting it.

 

[MilfordHusky]

About 2 or 3 games ago, I suggested that one basic fix would include making layups and making free throws. I was on a very long flight today, but listened to part of the game and just watched the replay of the first half. In the first 20 minutes, we missed 11 layups, some of which were contested and some of which were simply attempted tip-ins. If we include the 2 that Liv had blocked and never made it put of her hand, we missed 13 layups--in the first half. In some cases, we missed multiple layups in a single possession, but we could have had another 6-8 buckets at least.

 

[Hope]

I'm starting to question Anna's ability to create her own shot. Does she need to work off screens, or what?

 

[bantamlaker]

True, but most use fracture to refer to something that doesn’t require extensive medical care (think hairline fractures, stress fractures) and a break to refer to a bone that’s been completely broken or significantly fractured. Always good to specify the difference since a broken bone is a lot different than a hairline fracture!

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

 

[DEpup]

Have you actually watched any other teams? You don’t have a clue what you are talking about. This team has a lot going for them. They have 1 senior and 1 Junior and a lot of new faces Tom acclimate. To say they are not top ten is an utterly ridiculous statement. #1 Oregon struggled tonight at Syracuse who is without their best player. Baylor struggled at home earlier this week, Stanford was struggling tonight against Buffalo, Texas A&M struggled against Rice...and so it goes for the rest. Name the 10 you think are better? There is more parity as there are better women players and better coaching. Stop acting spoiled. Jeez. This team deserves more positive support.

And Cal actually beat a ranked Arkansas team so maybe they aren't that bad....

 

[JordyG]

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?

No.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Well..what to say. I watch the game through the first half. UConn was not UConn. However, they wasted a lot of energy and still stayed with OSU. I was so bored with them that I fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw the last 18 seconds of the 4th quarter which I thought was the 3rd quarter and so that UConn was ahead with 73 points. I was surprised and glad that they had the win.

I beg to differ. This WAS this Uconn team with it's warts showing. Will that be the Uconn team at the End of January 2020? You better believe it won't be --head or tails will roll. However, this team in the first BIG game for the new guys fought through adversity and hot shooting to win. It took a terrific effort by 7 or 8 kids but they got the job done. There was never a time or moment that Uconn seemed like they could lose. It was close and Uconn was behind but not in the 4th quarter where it counts.
This was a very good game for this team. EVERYONE learned something. The lessons could fill 3 textbooks on Basketball and Geno will have most of the errors fixed soon. He isn't regarded as the Master of WBB for nothing. Believe!!

 

[stamfordhusky]

Once again, UConn's opponent pulled down more offensive rebounds than UConn. Does that mean that we're not bothering to box out? That UConn isn't bothering to fight for rebounds? That they're depending on ONO, who is having to do it all herself? All of the above?

Absolute numbers when it comes to rebounds are irrelevant. The only meaningful stat is what percentage of available rebounds a team gets. On average a team can be expected to get about 30% of available offensive rebounds.

In today’s game the offensive rebounding stats were almost identical. UConn got nine offensive rebounds out of 32 opportunities, which is a fairly normal 28%. Ohio State got 14 offensive rebounds out of 48 opportunities which is 29%. Almost no difference.

 

[Dokey]

OSU played good defense, and that made it a game. They have some big players. Huskies had difficulties penetrating, and OSU seemed to be better 3 pt shooters, but in fact Huskies 8 of 21 to OSU 9 of 30 (38% to 30%). Also, my theory is that if the previous game was a blowout, the subsequent game will often be a grinder. Almost tempted to subscribe to ESPNplus to see if the Dayton game is a blowout.
CD got UConn through the grinder; made some big shots.
CW was more up and down with the layups than usual, but she made some that were astonishing to me, and she was playing against some big players defending the basket. She carried the team through a good part of the first half, it seemed. I said in Chat that she played like OSU was Notre Dame.
Walker consistent in scoring, but I don't recall anything that really stood out. But she was core, no doubt.
ONO, as noted, was playing injured, so props for that. I don't know how it affected her failed bunnies, but today scoring was mostly the core three, not the core four.
Ana Mak sitting the entire 2nd half, and no scores in the first. Getting the Brianna Stewart treatment? Weak on the assists this time around, and continued to have problems with handles. Lost ball control that led to one bucket and one missed bunny.
I don't think Kyla matched up too well with OSU bigs, so that might be why she didn't get as much playing time, even when Ana was on the bench. But she did allow ONO to get some relief.
Did Aubrey make a difference in the team's "energy?" I'm not good at noticing such things.
Rather ticked that Braxtin Miller was able to get the transfer waiver and Evina Westbrook did not.

Well, Anna made a couple of good defensive plays. Thought Heno gave up on her and team suffered as a result.

 

[JoePgh]

In watching the replay, I noticed the following:

With about 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the score was 40-35 in favor of Ohio State. After that, the score of the remainder of the game was 38-22 in favor of UConn. So (leaving aside the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter), UConn really did play a dominant game in the second half. OSU stopped being competitive after their initial burst in that half.

So that is a silver lining, although this was hardly an exemplary game. I agree with Geno and the announcers that the main issue was the lack of offensive flow. The defense was competent and the rebounding was the best that could be expected with a slightly lame center facing a team with three or four players at 6-4 or thereabouts.

 

[DEpup]

Well, Anna made a couple of good defensive plays. Thought Heno gave up on her and team suffered as a result.

We don't know what else was going on.. she is known to get pretty nervous so maybe she was not in the right frame of mind and he needed to send a message to his freshman.

 

[donalddoowop]

We don't know what else was going on.. she is known to get pretty nervous so maybe she was not in the right frame of mind and he needed to send a message to his freshman.

She stated that she had never played in front of the size of the crowds UConn plays in front of. When I heard that there were seven thousand fans there, I thought that she would be nervous and maybe struggle and she did. I also knew that if UConn struggled the doomsayers would be out again, after such positive comments after the Virginia game. However, if they had hit just half of their layups, they would have scored at least eighty points and won going away. Someone asked who said anything about the team averaging twenty points a quarter, well I did. I always look to see if they will score at least twenty points in a quarter which some former teams usually did with ease. If UConn averages at least twenty points a quarter they will average at least eighty points a game and they rarely lose when they score eighty or more points. Also, the someone said the defense was bad. Geno did not think so. They allowed thirty one points in each half and that is not bad, especially on their home court. This game should prepare them for Tennessee because this team had more length as will Tennessee. If UConn loses to UT, the Boneyard will never be the same. Explode is not a strong enough word.

 

[Dokey]

And Cal actually beat a ranked Arkansas team so maybe they aren't that bad....

Like I’ve said PAC-12 top to bottom is tough. This UConn team isn’t the best but are definitely top ten and maybe down the road...plus maybe Lou and Pheesa were even better than we thought. They had four years to develop together. Lou was a coach on the floor. CD tries to be that but it is not in her.

 

[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?