tOSU postgame Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

tOSU postgame Thread

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oldude said:
Some thoughts on the tOSU game:
  • This was a difficult game to watch. After UConn raced to a 10-2 lead forcing the Buckeyes to call timeout, the roof collapsed on the Huskies.
  • tOSU is a guard-oriented team that starts 5 players, who are all approximately 6’ tall, which is good if you’re pressing, creating turnovers and scoring in transition. That’s exactly what happened today against UConn who has struggled with the turnover bugaboo all season.
  • While turnovers were a big part of the problem, so too was the fact that UConn felt the pressure, was rushed on offense and took some really bad shots. With that said, UConn missed a bunch of wide-open looks and even struggled on the foul line.
  • Unfortunately, many UConn fans will get pretty ugly in their criticism of Geno and some of his players for this loss. I CHOOSE NOT TO. The Huskies overcame adversity and persevered all season long. The team feels far worse about today’s game than any of us could possibly feel.
  • tOSU clearly flopped whenever Aaliyah was in the same zip code. If the refs call it, it’s a successful strategy to take an AA player off the court.
  • As I watched Azzi struggle for much of the game, all I could think of was DT’s play her freshman year during the national semifinal. Just like DT, Azzi will be back with a chance at redemption.
  • Yes, If Paige was healthy, she changes the entire complexion of this game, singlehandedly. She makes all the right decisions against the press and settles down Azzi and her teammates.
  • Nobody wants to lose the last game of the season, and yet, just about every team in the country does. The loss today is disappointing for sure. But it should not obscure the overall success and perseverance of this UConn team.
  • Sincere thanks and best wishes in the future to Dorka & Lou, our two wonderful graduate transfers, who both played their hearts out today.
  • Finally, channeling my inner Brooklyn Dodger fan, “Wait til next year!” As of right now UConn’s 2023-24 roster looks incredibly strong: Paige, Azzi, Nika, Aaliyah, Aubrey, Caroline, Ayanna, Ines, Amari, Ice, Jana, KK, Ashlynn & Qadence. How many days until next season starts?
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Well said OD. I co-sign on your entire narrative. I join you in refusing to criticize our team. No need to. Everyone saw the game. We did the best we could. Ohio State was the better team today. Congratulations to Kevin McGuff and his players. Keep our heads high and our hope for next season strong. I believe next year is our year. Stay strong UConn Nation. The sun will rise tomorrow. :cool:
 
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Congratulations to Ohio for exploiting UConn’s weakness to pull out a convincing win.

The positives:
1. Lou had an outstanding game with 25 points. She fought despite being injured.
2. Dorka had a double double.
3. Azzi contributed 14 points.

What did not go well
1. 25 turnovers
2. we took 53 shots to their 60
3. We missed more than half the free throws.
4. Aaliyah was in foul trouble so did not play much of the game.

That said, it has been a crazy season. Many players were not healthy and the team had to fight very hard to keep the season moving forward.

Thank you players, coaches, and supporting cast for an exciting season. I wish you the very best for the off-season. I hope all of you rest and get healthy for the next season. I wish the graduating seniors the very best for the next phase of your lives!
 
Cornell Lt said:
Was there a contract put out on AE ? The girl never had foul trouble in the regular season or Big East Tournament but come the NCAA Tournament seems like she was in foul trouble every game. Makes no sense
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NCAA tournament offered much better competition than the Big East.
 
That was beyond rough.
What a roller coaster of a year. The ending is no surprise. Lots of heart, but head-scratchingly careless with the ball.
Gonna miss Lou in particular. Calm in the storm all year.
Gotta figure out how to keep these kids healthy. I think it is more than bad luck. Like young pitchers who blow their arms out - injury shouldn’t be inevitable.
 
Bama fan said:
We were unprepared , and played poorly. I love this team, but this was a terrible loss. Better luck next year. :eek:
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I don’t believe for a second they were unprepared, that is just too easy. Ohio State was quick and opportunistic and deserved the win. Sometimes teams play poorly, that’s why UConn’s NCAA consistency over the years is so remarkable. When you come down to it, they got little from Muhl, Fudd and Edwards and they got next to nothing from the bench; just too much to overcome.
 
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luminosity said:
I'm not shocked at all.

Turnovers has been the Achilles heel of this team all season long. They are THE flaw.
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Yes they have been. And UCONN's second quarter blues have been a problem all season. Lou & Dorka played like All-Americans. They are older and perhaps more mature so they better handled the pressure of the moment. As a friend once said "no one died today." So celebrate who they are and who they will be for having been part of the UCONN women's basketball program. True fans are supportive even in the down times. Think about how badly the players feel.
 
Carnac said:
I join you OD in refusing to criticize our team. No need to. Everyone saw the game. We did the best we could. Ohio State was the better team today. Congratulations to Kevin McGuff and his players. Keep our heads high and our hope for next season strong. I believe next year is our year. Stay strong UConn Nation. The sun will rise tomorrow. :cool:
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I would disagree that we did the best we could. If that is criticism then so be it. The team had a bad game, it happens. The coaches didn’t seem to be able to come up with any answers either. It happens. But I do not think we did our best, our best is much better than what we saw today.
 
Feeling very sad and hollow, and I'm just a fan. Can't imagine how badly the players feel.

Ohio State was the better team today and they deserved to win. However, they did not deserve the help they received from the refs. Basically, Ohio State won the game without having to face AE.

Still very proud of what UConn overcame this season to get this far. Thanks and love to Dorka and Lou.
 
It was hard to watch and even harder to accept that UConn was unprepared mentally for this game. OSU coach, Kevin McGuff is often maligned for his coaching, but today he had his team ready and they executed almost flawlessly. As Rebecca stated, OSU had UConn on its heels the entire game. As good as the team played against Baylor, they were equally out of step today. It reminded me of two years ago, following their Elite Eight victory over Baylor. Their next game, the team lacked the same energy & urgency from the previous game. Today, almost a carbon copy.

Thankfully, we had Lou or this would have been a blowout. Numbers don't lie and the same problems that plagued this team all season erupted against the worst possible opponent. OSU thrives in chaos and UConn prefers to be a well-oiled machine. Unfortunately, the engine sputtered and there weren't available mechanics to correct all of the misfiring circuits. One doesn't have to know a thing about basketball, but looking at the foul shooting & TO's explains it all.

Azzi is a great player & talent, but she has room for growth and to improve her overall game.

A disappointing end, but for the returning players, I hope it leaves a bitter taste for next season. Everyone can only hope that Paige makes a full recovery and is able to remind the world of what makes her a superstar. UConn's hopes for next season depend on it.
 
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pvdoggy said:
Wish Azzi would not have gotten gun shy in the 4th qtr. She passed up so many shots you would never see she passed up before. Win or lose you need to go down swinging. She definitely does not have the same killer instinct as Paige.
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Not everyone has that killer attitude. Not everyone wants the ball in their hands to decide games. She might just be a complementary type player, and there is nothing wrong that.
 
The most bitter of seasons. The most painful of seasons. The most heartbreaking of seasons. And for the courageous Dorka to lose to the team from which she transferred has to be a most humiliating of endings.

Yet this could be considered one of Coach Geno's greatest coaching fetes. He began the season by losing to injury the two best guards in the nation, and what could have been one of the finest freshman front court players in the America. And that was just the beginning of the injuries and tribulations. Yet Coach Geno managed this team not just to another 30-win season, but to three blow-out wins and the title of Big East Champion, and to Connecticut's 29th straight place in the Sweet Sixteen.

It simply wasn't in the stars this year. But these players never lacked for courage, for heart, for tenacity. They fought magnificently.

They made us proud.
 
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BostonCanuck said:
These bad March Madness losses don't really shock me much anymore, but I do wish we could have got some better performances out of some of your guys. Lou played really well.
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Yeah, I got over this in like one and a half beers (10 mins). The first few years of Final Four losses I would have been mental for days or even weeks!
 
There's two ways to look at a loss like this - was it "about the best we could do with the team we've got," or was it "Things could have been better if circumstances were different?"

I think it's more of the latter, which sucks because the latter is more of a bummer. I think this team would have been less vulnerable to opponents like this if they had had a whole season to play together without various players coming in and out of the roster for injury recovery.

OSU, for its part, executed exactly as they needed to to win. So credit to them. Even if I can't help but to look askance at some of those officiating decisions. But yeah. This is a team that could have had more oomph in it, that they didn't get to refine and perfect like they normally would over a season.

With that said, I'd like to especially thank our transfers for playing their last game - and most of the season - like lions.
 
UConn990411 said:
There’s getting beat, and then there’s folding immediately the first time a team punches you.

This was one of the most inexplicable performances I can remember. The coaching staff and starting backcourt shoulder most of the blame, but no one outside of Senechal came to play today.

This will be a very long offseason for these coaches and players.
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I wonder if they had colds, flu or something. Geno had a tissue at start of game and camera showed him blowing his nose. Lack of energy throughout the game. Just a theory
 
pvdoggy said:
Wish Azzi would not have gotten gun shy in the 4th qtr. She passed up so many shots you would never see she passed up before. Win or lose you need to go down swinging. She definitely does not have the same killer instinct as Paige.
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Neither does Bueckers sometimes or did you miss her not hunting shots against Arizona and SC the last 2 years? Both games begged for that and she didn’t do it in either of them. It happens, they are human.
 
CTBballfan243 said:
Not everyone has that killer attitude. Not everyone wants the ball in their hands to decide games. She might just be a complementary type player, and there is nothing wrong that.
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Maybe or it might just be something she needs to learn from an grow. I remember Geno screaming at Taurasi when she was a freshman and in the tourney wouldn’t shoot. She turned out to be pretty good. I think Azzi will too.
 
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Well Geno said a few weeks ago they may as well have all the streaks stopped this year and they pretty much have..think of the hundred's of kids that have come thru the program and have never lost back to back games like this team did..the FF streak was amazing too and it hurts that that is gone now
At least posters can't complain that Uconn was tired or hurt they had the same 10 players they started the season with and since day one they have had TO problems which were never fixed
How fiting was it that Lou and Dorka(her last double double) were the only 2 that played well and now they are gone..Really going to miss both of them next year and I wish them the best of luck
SJF said:
This might ruffle some feathers but KK Arnold will be the starting PG after Christmas next year with Paige and Azzi on the wings. And this backcourt will be the reason Geno gets #12 next year.
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Right the 2 time DPOY who broke Sue Birds assist record and was our best defensive player isn't going to start..the only way that happens is if Geno retires
 
This may well have settled who our point guard is next year? Azzi will not survive at the next level being as tentative as she showed at times. Great ride ladies. No team in the country had to overcome what this team did. Great having Lou aboard and Dorka was a great addition and both were stand up women.
 
and one said:
Ohio State just flat outplayed us. It happens. This wasn't a nail bite - it was clear after the first quarter that a UConn win wasn't likely. If there is a lesson to be learned it is that nothing good happens when you turn the ball over well more than 20 times.

Lou showed up and went out in style. She needed help.
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Dribbling issues plagued us today, stopping too soon, making poor passes. Maybe some new talent next year will bring more assertive dribblers and passers.
 
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