tOSU postgame Thread

[The deacon]

Do you really think Ohio St wouldn't have been destroyed by halftime by any of Stewie's teams?
Hartley, Dolson, Tuck , Nurse, and others would have run through or over that press.
And then they would have turned around and pressed them.

Don't think 'Stewie's team' is in the tournament, are they? We had a really good team to root for as it was... just sad they lost today.

 

[BigU]

Congratulations to the starting lineup that carried them though most the season Lou, Dorka, AE, AG, NM!! And to the rest of the team with all their supporting roles! Congratulations to the Geno, the coaches and entire staff who gave it their all to get the entire team ready for the NCAA! It was a challenging year full of ups and downs!! Let's all regroup and then begin plotting for next season! Lou and Dorka we will miss you both !!

 

[BobbyJ]

As I contemplate the game I thought that Ohio State looked like we used to when we pressed every opponents possession after a made basket. My only question is, with 10 players healthy, why didn't we press the whole game too?

Because as the opponent begins to advance the ball over halfcourt, you need to have athletes with the speed and lateral quickness to retreat very quickly into your base defense ahead of the ball. UConn only had 2-3 of those type kids in their current 7 man rotation. Edwards, Muhl, and maybe Fudd.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Ohio State waited until UConn got comfortable then deployed their press. Smart tactic. The surprise element through them off entirely. UConn may have practiced how to beat a press but it did not appear that they noted the nuances of how Ohio State deployed theirs. They trapped ball screens, trapped the high posts, congested the middle of the floor and UConn was not prepared for that.

Credit to the freshman McMahon who had more pep in her step than anyone in white. UConn's offense never looked on balance and

1. There was no leader on the court. Muhl's loud voice on offense and defense was absent. She was flustered. Azzi was flustered. Dorka at 6'5 couldn't see any targets. Lou tried but she was hurt. No one was cutting or coming towards the ball to help their handlers or calling out traps, they were just 5 pieces out there, not a cohesive unit.
2. Whomever had the scout for this game missed some assignments in the details of the press, trapping, personnel and schemes.
3. Game management was off. Instead of reorganizing the group, Geno and co let them commit turnover after turnover while they just shrugged or yelled on the sideline. This team needed to be micromanaged to success in this game. He needed to call a timeout until they figured out how to break the press. Halftime was too late, by that time Ohio State had the element of fear.

Onward towards next year. Considering what these ladies have went through they should be proud. The better team won today and that was not us.

 

[iri10]

They have Caitlin Clark and we don't.

Can't also discount the benefit of seeing them every year in the conference, and twice this year. The longer you get to see something, no matter how disruptive it may be, the easier it is to adjust.

Even in this game, UConn managed it better in the last 20 minutes of the game than they did between minutes 5 and 20. They didn't defeat it, but that probably would have come in any hypothetical future games we had with Ohio St. this season.

A defense that's anchored in a great full court press tends towards extremes in its effectiveness. It can lead to results like today's, or it can become a liability when well countered (as in that 2nd OSU-Iowa game).

 

[uconnfan68]

Lots of girls come back 100% from ACLs. She’ll be older, stronger, and more determined than ever.

 

[Bigboote]

This was a very disappointing game, but hats off to the team for a great season.

 

[bbfanLA]

UConn set the record for consecutive final fours with 14. The old record was 5! UConn set the record with 16 consecutive elite eights. I believe the old record was 7. Those records are statistical anomalies and will probably never be broken. Next year UConn can pursue its quest for their record extending 30th straight sweet sixteen.

 

[NoSpamHere]

Florida Atlantic just beat Kansas State to make the final four. Note that FAU had 22 Turnovers to 12 for KState (minus 10 vs our minus 11). Our TOs may be bad but you can overcome that with good play in other areas. Obviously we didn’t, but don’t just say “TOs are the reason we lost”.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Do you really think Ohio St wouldn't have been destroyed by halftime by any of Stewie's teams?
Hartley, Dolson, Tuck , Nurse, and others would have run through or over that press.
And then they would have turned around and pressed them.

Yep. Any of the 2014-16 teams would beat every single team in this tourney, South Carolina included, by double digits. There's only parity because there aren't any truly great teams like that anymore.

 

[BB Dawg]

Lou & Dorka ---All the best. They played very well today.

 

[temery]

I love you.

 

[Littlemin]

I disagree, Paige I believe just off of memory scored at least 20 against AZ and fought really hard against SC. She was one of the more aggressive if not the most aggressive against SC. They both are killers anyways. Injuries have hindered their growth. It’s coming next year if healthy.

She took 13 shots in each game, not nearly enough in either where points were hard for Uconn to come by. For the record, she scored 18 against Arizona on 5-13 shooting with 4 assists and 3 TOs. Make all the excuses you want, not enough shots for the POY, she at least had to TRY to create more offense the way the game was going and it’s not like she made any of her teammates better. And again, I am not knocking her or commenting on her effort, she just did not have a good game in either of them.

 

[toadfoot]

Geno said several weeks ago that he couldn’t fix the turnover problem. We can love on Nika Muhl all day, but we can’t have a point guard making near double digit turnovers. We can’t close our eyes and pretend 28 turnovers is okay. I will always have a place in my heart for Dorka and Lou. If we didn’t have them, this team would have been lucky to win half of the games played this season. On to next year.

I’ve been reluctant to criticize any UConn player during the year but Nika’s minutes next year will be greatly minimized and justifiably. She made many fine passes this year but the errors were too numerous and she frequently plays out of control. I much prefer a PG that makes good solid passes with few turnovers. In her defense she was thrust into her role as primary PG due to injury but unless she raises the level of her play next year she’ll be primarily a bench player. Next year 75% of backcourt minutes will go to Paige & Azzi. Nika will be hard pressed to get minutes from Arnold, Bettencourt & Shade.

 

[augustaTC]

Lots of girls come back 100% from ACLs. She’ll be older, stronger, and more determined than ever.

And probably more don't make it back. I hope Paige has a record breaking year, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

 

[Littlemin]

Basketball acumen says that if you have a player that continually turns the ball over then you have to take the ball out of her hands or put her on the bench.

No, it doesn’t; you don’t change horses in midstream. I guess than Auriemma should have benched Fudd because she was playing and shooting lousy, not put Edwards back in, because she was fouling, along with forgetting about Ducharme and Griffin. Come to think about it. why didn’t he just concede and quit?

 

[jdote33]

It's funny how one game changes perspective. I'm not sure that's even unfair as it's the standard set at UConn. I remember the start of the season the team even had a show called the standard, which talked about living up to expectations. Players r judged by their performance in these big moments unfortunately. I do hope for the team to just have good health next season. But I don't think Paige solves everything singlehandedly. Atleast not to the point where they for sure r title favorites. Like the scary part is Lou probably played as well as Paige would play. Dorka played about as well as one could expect Ice would play. But it really wasn't all that close. I thought their athleticism on the wing really hurt us. It almost looked like Caroline couldn't really contribute in this game. I'm a huge Ducharme fan btw, I'm just talking physically and athletically,their wings were just at a different level.

 

[HuskyBaggins]

Basketball acumen says that if you have a player that continually turns the ball over then you have to take the ball out of her hands or put her on the bench.

And replace them with... WHO ?

 

[ME Husky Fan]

I trust you mean KK? I think we should wait for her to get a few games under her belt first...

Paige?

 

[NHRich]

Hoped for better, but was pretty sure before the season started what would happen. But, things actually got worse as the season went on. They did pretty good considering.

 

[Blueballer]

Well Tennessee elimination day was lot less fun this year.

 

[Littlemin]

My last post for tonight, best of luck to all you fans of the Uconn men’s team, St. John’s mens fan so no real rooting interest, just hope it’s a good game.

 

[enigmatic]

I‘m proud of our team foraging through a season of trials and tribulations. It was the not the way I would’ve wanted their season to end but that is just how the dice rolls. As always, I will be dreading through this offseason because I’m already eagerly waiting to see what is in store for 2023-2024. I pray to the basketball gods that we won’t have to endure major injuries and that we will be full fledged as we can.

 

[Golden Husky]

...

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

...

--Rudyard Kipling