UCF Game Thread

[chrissaran]

eebmg, as you stated solid performances by the "Core Four", but nothing overwhelming. Too many turnovers and poor free throw shooting. Game over. On to the next game.

 

[eebmg]

Honestly after the first quarter this team played with a distinct lack of focus and intensity. Geno's going to have plenty to harp on from now until East Carolina and beyond. Crystal Dangerfield is also going to continue to be the focus of Geno's ire, and deservedly so.

I would say we played well for most of the first half. Especially defensively. Second half was much more lethargic and our defense was not at UConn level.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Pheesa shot 10-11, and Gabby shot 6-7. Very efficient.

Lou had 7 boards, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. DPOY!

Good news: 21 assists. Bad news: 21 TOs.

Bad news: 8-14 on FTAs in the first half. Good news: 7-7 on FTAs in the second half.

Not a great game, not a bad one. Not so crisp in the second half. But a loss was never possible.

 

[NewCorn]

Honestly after the first quarter this team played with a distinct lack of focus and intensity. Geno's going to have plenty to harp on from now until East Carolina and beyond. Crystal Dangerfield is also going to continue to be the focus of Geno's ire, and deservedly so.

I agree, but if we compare the stat lines of Danger, the freshman, with that of Saniya, the senior, what's there to choose?

 

[Ozimoto]

After the Maryland game there was bound to be a bit of a drop off in efficiency. They seemed to be more "mentally" tired then physically tired to me. They weren't being realistically challenged. It is easy for the mind to wander in those situations when you are tired. I don't expect the lack of focus to become a permanent issue. I expect a much crisper game against ECU. I expect Geno will demand it.

And I must say we as a group are pretty demanding ourselves! Most fan bases would be ecstatic with the way the Huskies play, even on an "off" day.

 

[BobbyJ]

Pretty much a perfect scrimmage. Plenty of fuel provided for Auriemma to hammer them in practice with. And nobody got hurt. As Belichick would say,"We're on to the next one."

 

[BigBird]

Travel, sniffles, fatigue, opponent rep, and whatever else conspired a bit today. UConn looked very good in short segments, but I didn't think they did very well at connecting them.

 

[Carnac]

The game pretty much played out as we figured. Did you notice the first sub off the bench for Geno? It was Crystal. He's getting her ready for post season play, and she's the only guard on the bench he would put in this early. Dangerfield continues to struggle at times. She continues to turn the ball over. The frequency of turnovers will diminish as time goes on. As Meg Culmo also mentioned, Crystal also shows us flashes of brilliance once in a while.

UCF was vastly outclassed today. All they could do was to play hard, compete, and let the chips fall where they may. Geno will have lots of fodder for their next film session this week.
I'm sure the team will be glad to return home after a 5 day road trip. East Carolina (9-5) is next up for the Huskies Wednesday at the XL Center, riding a two game losing streak.
This will be an excellent opportunity for the team to show that they have addressed their propensity to turn the ball over lately.

 

[Gus Mahler]

UCF seemed vastly improved.

I thought Crystal looked uncertain during her first stint, but had a lot more spring in her step after being subbed in after Saniya made the two bad passes. It was an opportunity, and by and large she took advantage of it.

I've been worried about Crystal's mental state, because now comes the most difficult part of the season Geno-wise.

 

[Carnac]

UCF seemed vastly improved.

I thought Crystal looked uncertain during her first stint, but had a lot more spring in her step after being subbed in after Saniya made the two bad passes. It was an opportunity, and by and large she took advantage of it. I've been worried about Crystal's mental state, because now comes the most difficult part of the season Geno-wise.[/QUOTE

Most of the teams in the AAC did show improvement during out of conference play. Dangerfield is still learning to play with this team, at this level. Her performance in the Baylor game proves she CAN play at this level. She's under intense pressure from Geno to cease and desist with the turnovers. She had 3 turnovers today, but so did Chong. Nurse had 4. Even TLaw got in on the action and picked up 1.

She's under a huge microscope right now. Once she settles down and in (and she will), the turnovers will shrink down to nothing, her assists will grow, and her defensive acumen and posture will become more consistent.

At some point, the light will go on. She will get there, be it this season or by the beginning of next season. Geno can afford to play her 25-30 minutes a game now until the end of the February. Ready or not, she's still going to be needed during the post-season. She'll just have a lot more minutes under her belt by then. Let's be patient, Crystal will be fine.

 

[Kibitzer]

Thank you for the thread as I was able to give Kib the run down as the VA doesn't have SNY but they have ESPN