UCF Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the UCF game:

• Let me start out with the good. UConn played really good defense through 3 qtrs tonight. However, with Liv on the bench, and then playing passively with 4 fouls, UCF started to attack the basket more effectively in the 4th qtr.
• UConn seems to be starting their offense farther away from the basket, which is a problem. When the Huskies get the ball inside, good things usually happen.
• UConn is going to get a steady dose of zone defense until they start to do a better job attacking it. The high post is the key. In past seasons we’ve had some great players fill that role. So far this season, no one has been particularly effective. Unfortunately, the player that was most effective tonight in the high post was Crystal our pg. Unless they change the rules, Crystal can't run the offense and then pass to herself in the high post.
• Crystal continues to do a little bit of everything. She needs more help.
• Anna: 10 pts & 6 turnovers and a bad foul with 10 seconds left. I don't know quite what to make of her game right now?
• It doesn’t feel like it, but the Huskies are 15-1.

 

[UConn2SF]

That was a vintage UConn performance.......circa 1984

 

[Kaizen]

Ugly game again.
UCF has 24 fouls, we have 13 fouls (if no Refs help we should have 9-10 fouls).
But we beat UCF ... LOL

 

[Urshurak]

I just can’t get over how awful the offense is. Just speechless.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Player of the Game: Crystal Dangerfield!!!!!!!

 

[pvdoggy]

I just can’t get over how awful the offense is. Just speechless.

especially with the talents they have

 

[Plebe]

Is there a crisis of confidence? The team played some ugly games in early to mid November but seemed to progress steadily after that. Is this a mental fallout from the late collapse against Baylor?

 

[Urshurak]

especially with the talents they have

Exactly. They don’t have long to figure it out. Oregon and SC (and possibly TN) are going to destroy this team If this is the offense they put out.

 

[Centerstream]

I am not a coach, but it seems to me that in the second half, the refs took the game over, whether or not you agreed with the calls or not, neither team could get their stuff together and the coaches just couldn't do anything to correct the play.
I also found it odd that the camera caught Coach Abe "talking" to the gray haired ref and within seconds he called that really bizarre "swinging elbow" on Liv near halfcourt.
The refs definitely had an impact on this game.

 

[caseyb7]

Such an increasing departure from our teams of the recent past - and it isn't improving as the season progresses in my eyes.

Really lacking foot speed and offensive stamina.

Any injury or foul trouble runs us dangerously low on people who can play the game.

 

[Carnac]

As hoopsfan commented in the chatroom, this is the 2nd AAC Conference win by less than 10 points. Before this season, that had happened only once in UConn's 6 years in the league, 63-60 at Tulane 2-3 years ago.
BTW, UCF out scored UConn in the 4th qtr by 7 points (25-18). Should this be cause for concern?

Final score: 59-52. Houston, do we have a problem? Query - Has Aubrey hit that freshman wall? Tis the season. This is about the time of the year when freshmen hit that wall, mid January.

Tonight's box score vs UCF

 

[BostonBay]

I'm resigning myself to this being a "rebuilding year". You dont lose 2 of the best players (& leaders!) in WCBB and expect things to be close to the same as last year. We've seen the same bad "patterns" game after game. Its a big enough sample now to say this is who we are.

 

[hoopsfan22]

200 consecutive wins against unranked teams. That's pretty crazy. How many of the top ten teams even have a streak like that in double digits?

 

[Dokey]

Anna: shoot shoot shoot please. You are drilling the three above 50% in last several games. Shoot shoot shoot

 

[Plebe]

At least this time someone had the good sense to mute the audio in the postgame interview with Maria

 

[SVCBeercats]

especially with the talents they have

Perhaps this is an incorrect assessment or assumption. What evidence is there to suggest high talent other then opinion. Not saying it isn't there just prove it.

 

[Kaizen]

I am constantly worry our team's lack of depth. If one of the core four is not playing well we will be in trouble. Today is CW. Fortunately Anna scored 10 pts but she has 6 TOs. Geno should teach her not to travel ....

 

[JBK]

Do people think Aubrey needs to play through her mistakes.

 

[Kaizen]

Today's refs: Tom Danaher, Ed Sidlasky, Fatou Cissoko-Stephens

 

[Centerstream]

I am constantly worry our team's lack of depth. If one of the core four is not playing well we will be in trouble. Today is CW. Fortunately Anna scored 10 pts but she has 6 TOs. Geno should teach her not to travel ....

I agree with you about Anna's traveling issues but tonight it was spreading.

 

[msf22b]

1. I think Anna and Aubrey need instruction and options on what to do when the manage
to drive into the paint or up the line....because the one thing they're definitely not trying to do is score.

2. Did anyone notice (last week?) that the instant Megan And Liv, were put on the Watch list, their games went into the toilet.

it's too bad that the committee doesn't have a mechanism to remove the unworthy with great fanfare.

 

[Centerstream]

As hoopsfan commented in the chatroom, this is the 2nd AAC Conference win by less than 10 points. Should this be cause for concern?

59-52 Houston, do we have a problem? Query - Has Aubrey hit that freshman wall? Tis the season. This is about the time of the year when freshmen hit that wall, mid January.

Tonight's box score vs UCF

View attachment 49996

Sorry but I will take a 1 point win night after night. Now in regards to my heart health...not so sure.

 

[Huskie02]

especially with the talents they have

Very hard to watch this game. Stagnant offense. They look lethargic, not great ball movement. Hard to believe this is the same team that went toe to toe with Baylor for 3 quarters. This is the second stinker in a row. If they keep this up some low to medium seed team in the tourney is going to kick their ass. Irwin as a starter is not the answer. They are not playing as a cohesive offensive unit.

 

[Centerstream]

I am constantly worry our team's lack of depth. If one of the core four is not playing well we will be in trouble. Today is CW. Fortunately Anna scored 10 pts but she has 6 TOs. Geno should teach her not to travel ....

I also wonder why she is the designated inbounder.
And at the moment I can't remember who does it when she is not on the court.

 

[jaydee602]

Today's refs: Tom Danaher, Ed Sidlasky, Fatou Cissoko-Stephens

I am not one to criticize officials, but tonight's refs were totally out of sync. They let everything go in the 1st half & then called phantoms fouls/violations in the 2nd half. They contributed to an uneven, lethargic pace that is hard to watch.

 

[Huskie02]

Tourney start is about 8 weeks away. Not a lot of time to fix this thing. Very disappointed in bench production. Can’t wait for the cavalry to arrive with the class of 2020.

 

[BostonBay]

This team hasnt figured out how to beat a zone. Teams are just clogging the middle & forcing UConn into shooting 3's or low percentage shots. No easy baskets.

 

[Ellie]

Some thoughts on the UCF game:

• Let me start out with the good. UConn played really good defense through 3 qtrs tonight. However, with Liv on the bench, and then playing passively with 4 fouls, UCF started to attack the basket more effectively in the 4th qtr.
• UConn seems to be starting their offense farther away from the basket, which is a problem. When the Huskies get the ball inside, good things usually happen.
• UConn is going to get a steady dose of zone defense until they start to do a better job attacking it. The high post is the key. In past seasons we’ve had some great players fill that role. So far this season, no one has been particularly effective. Unfortunately, the player that was most effective tonight in the high post was Crystal our pg. Unless they change the rules, Crystal can't run the offense and then pass to herself in the high post.
• Crystal continues to do a little bit of everything. She needs more help.
• Anna: 10 pts & 6 turnovers and a bad foul with 10 seconds left. I don't know quite what to make of her game right now?
• It doesn’t feel like it, but the Huskies are 15-1.

Great assessment of high post play when playing against the zone.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

This UConn team is regressing as the season goes on. I'm not sure if this team now could beat Notre Dame in a rematch. And we aren't even in the same league as Tennessee right now. UConn is playing so tentatively on offense, and as Kara Wolters pointed out, there is a shocking lack of hustle by all the players.

I've never seen a UConn team that didn't sprint down the court at every opportunity; these players job. I've never seen a UConn team in which everyone wasn't in there scrapping for loose balls; this team doesn't. I've never seen so many players pass up shots as this team. And have we ever seen a UConn team where on possession after possession, players just stand there as if they're stuck in mud?

The past two games against AAC opponents, they've been out hustled- pure and simple. And UConn teams are never, EVER, out-hustled.

Painful to watch.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Our pro player, Makurat, is playing as if she's a high school kid who was put on the floor in a Southeastern Conference game. She plays with no self-confidence. And when she does make an offensive move, she travels. Constantly. That's not what we expected. I"m guessing that Coach Geno is flummoxed as well.