UCF Postgame Thread

[huskeynut]

An ugly game. But then UCF plays ugly.

Officiating was poor, and I'm being nice, for D1 college basketball. I will continue to say that the NCAA needs to make a strong statement on head shots. Head shots should be a flagrant foul. Saw plenty of games at USF were the officiating was terrible. AAC needs to get its act together.

Glad we may only have one more game against UCF.

Olivia is improving and it showed in the first half.

Still concerned about the sluggish 1st quarters. The offense is what it is.

A W is a W. On to our next victim.

 

[wbball novice]

I was concerned about this game. UCF has always been trouble, pressures not to lose a conference game increases as the season closes, and senior day (though most of the seniors this time were bench players & CD is unflappable almost always). And one forgets sometimes "barring injury."

Megan/Livia doing a Sabrina/Ruthie, with Anna doing an Erin Boley. In a minor key, anyway. Crystal offense picking up a little from the last couple games. Seems to shoot better from further out, maybe because less chance of defender obscuring her field of vision. Hate to see her getting banged around along with Liv by rough play, though Liv really got the brunt of it this afternoon; hope her profile hasn't been marred. Treasure every game CD plays in. Christyn seemed to be out of the game this afternoon sometimes. Anna' s one handed passes led to turnovers; not enough oomph behind them, I guess. But her shooting contributions were major. All senior starters did a pretty good job, setting the tone for defense for the regulars. Nice to see Aubrey make a couple FTs, but she didn't seem to have too much of an effect on the game today. Both AG & Kyla weren't adequate subs for Liv, in part because Liv has improved so much this season.

UConn survived, and Cinci will probably be a bit more of the same. Fingers crossed for CW & Liv's nose. Congratulations to the whole team for winning the AAC Conference.

 

[Dokey]

Today AM stepped up and AG did little. Next game it can swing the other way. Kind of funny how they compliment each other in a strange way. If there is a style that bothers AM it seems AG can step up and vice-versa (if not competing against an elite team.).

But I see yet again AG and Liv offensively are not a compliment to one-another though today I thought there was better passing when they played together.

Anyhow, some games AG's athleticism will impact the game, other times AM's skill will impact the game.

Roomies stepping up for each other. I have noticed that as well. The difference is AM is a scorer and if CW continues her funk, Geno has to firmly tell Anna your job now is to score. He knows she can, we know she can, and maybe now she thinks so as well. Not just threes but drives to basket and pull-ups. She has demonstrated she can make any shot. And is a good FT shooter who needs to drive basket to collect more FT attempts. This girl could average 20 easily.

 

[HopJim]

Roomies stepping up for each other. I have noticed that as well. The difference is AM is a scorer and if CW continues her funk, Geno has to firmly tell Anna your job now is to score. He knows she can, we know she can, and maybe now she thinks so as well. Not just threes but drives to basket and pull-ups. She has demonstrated she can make any shot. And is a good FT shooter who needs to drive basket to collect more FT attempts. This girl could average 20 easily.

OK, I have to tell everyone's Geno's Anna secret. When the NCAA's come, he will start letting her shoot off the drive. Forecast 30+ points a game. Just kidding....maybe.

 

[Alydar]

I am really concerned about Christyn, wasnt up until now. Her confidence seems to be at an all time low. Shes just too talented to be struggling this much.

Last year all she was the third scoring option and this year she started the season being the 2nd. She also started getting much tougher defensive assignments. Sometimes the transition from regular season to post season can be a sort of reset for a player. I still think Williams as a future AA.

 

[HopJim]

Roomies stepping up for each other. I have noticed that as well. The difference is AM is a scorer and if CW continues her funk, Geno has to firmly tell Anna your job now is to score. He knows she can, we know she can, and maybe now she thinks so as well. Not just threes but drives to basket and pull-ups. She has demonstrated she can make any shot. And is a good FT shooter who needs to drive basket to collect more FT attempts. This girl could average 20 easily.

Anna, Megan and CW all tend to want to be standing still when they get the ball. Tough to run an offense this way. At least Anna cuts frequently. As great as Megan is, she is at her best standing around, making it tough for others to receive ball inside the 3 point line.

 

[cbraarj]

Some thoughts on the UCF game:

• Senior Day is always bittersweet. It was great to see all 5 seniors start. What was even better was to see that group of seniors come out and battle a tough UCF team, holding them scoreless before the cavalry arrived. I got a little emotional when Touly took that charging foul and then shouted in exhilaration.
• The cavalry was a little sluggish on offense, which I sort of expected. But UConn’s defense continued to be stifling, holding an opponent to single digits for the 4th straight qtr with only 4 pts.
• Against an active zone defense like UCF’s, the Huskies really need Liv on the floor. She makes attacking the zone much easier with her presence in the paint. While she didn’t score much in the 3rd qtr, the court opened up for UConn to knock down a bunch of 3’s.
• Megan really stepped up today with a solid all-around effort, and Anna really picked it up in the 2nd half with a number of big baskets.
• I’m all for the refs letting the teams “play,” but these games against UCF are just flat-out ugly. The Knights bang you with their bodies, slap you with their hands and throw an occasional elbow to your face, as Liv discovered, with a possible broken nose. UCF is increasingly pushing the envelope from playing physical to dangerous play. The AAC refs need to take control of these games. An ejection or two might send an appropriate message to UCF’s players as well as Coach Abe.

Those were the Rutgers games all the time. It's part of the game.

 

[Dokey]

Anna, Megan and CW all tend to want to be standing still when they get the ball. Tough to run an offense this way. At least Anna cuts frequently. As great as Megan is, she is at her best standing around, making it tough for others to receive ball inside the 3 point line.

Yup.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Those were the Rutgers games all the time. It's part of the game.

It's not part of the game. I'm tired of "they're a physical team" as an excuse to let players get injured or for generally rough play. Nowhere in the rules does it allow for such.

 

[Dokey]

OK, I have to tell everyone's Geno's Anna secret. When the NCAA's come, he will start letting her shoot off the drive. Forecast 30+ points a game. Just kidding....maybe.

Or Geno can tell her she can cut down on TO’s by shooting instead. That works for Meg. Am I kidding? Frankly, I can’t tell anymore.

 

[eebmg]

I am really concerned about Christyn, wasnt up until now. Her confidence seems to be at an all time low. Shes just too talented to be struggling this much.

I have to admit I am getting worried as well. Shooting is shooting and I guess that will get better. On the other hand, her driving to the basket has been non existent lately. I get there is a little sagging off of her due to her outside shooting slump but It is almost as if she is tipping off her drive moves. Never seems to get a step on the defender anymore.

 

[cbraarj]

It's not part of the game. I'm tired of "they're a physical team" as an excuse to let players get injured or for generally rough play. Nowhere in the rules does it allow for such.

You never seen games like that? You ever play in games like that? It's been part of basketball for years! Where you been?

 

[oldude]

You never seen games like that? You ever play in games like that? It's been part of basketball for years! Where you been?

With all due respect, there is nothing wrong with physical play, but I agree with Hoopsfan22. Deliberate shots to a player’s head is not part of the game. Why else would the refs call a pair of flagrant fouls on UCF if head shots were a part of the game?

Once upon a time you could get away with all kinds of cheap shots in basketball. That all changed when Kermit Washington crushed Rudy T’s skull in 1977, effectively ending both of their careers. Protecting players health and safety is the #1 job of coaches and referees. Failure to do so should put into question whether or not such individuals like Coach Abe should continue to earn a living coaching young women.

 

[UConn2SF]

I have to admit I am getting worried as well. It is almost as if she is tipping off her drive moves. Never seems to get a step on the defender anymore.

I wonder if her bad shooting is allowing defenders to play off her, impeding her drives. She showed a very confident, quick, and decisive first step and the ability to finish with either hand last year and even some early on this year. It was explosive, lethal, and she converted at a really high rate.

 

[oldude]

I wonder if her bad shooting is allowing defenders to play off her, impeding her drives. She showed a very confident, quick, and decisive first step and the ability to finish with either hand last year and even some early on this year. It was explosive, lethal, and she converted at a really high rate.

Christyn is not going to get many opportunities to drive against a team that plays zone, which UCF did for the entire game. But against a zone she has to do a better job knocking down perimeter shots.

 

[Littlemin]

Williams played 38 minutes today, made 1-6 shots, had 2 assists, and no rebounds. Pretty much seemed satisfied to play D, which she did, and give the ball up almost as soon as she touched it. Kinda strange but the coaches must be satisfied as she seldom comes out of any game.

 

[hoopsfan22]

You never seen games like that? You ever play in games like that? It's been part of basketball for years! Where you been?

I'm of the belief that every foul should be called. This stupid strategy of "well they can't call 'em all" is how we got here, and it just escalates until Liv gets her nose broken or the refs finally start calling them in the waning minutes of a close game and then everyone complains about the consistency of the officiating. Physical play is a cheap way of leveling the playing field and it only happens because the refs allow it. Sure it's been going on for years, but it doesn't make it right. The rules are the rules. We're either going to follow them or we're not.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I'm of the belief that every foul should be called. This stupid strategy of "well they can't call 'em all" is how we got here, and it just escalates until Liv gets her nose broken or the refs finally start calling them in the waning minutes of a close game and then everyone complains about the consistency of the officiating. Physical play is a cheap way of leveling the playing field and it only happens because the refs allow it. Sure it's been going on for years, but it doesn't make it right. The rules are the rules. We're either going to follow them or we're not.

The absolute worst games to watch are the ones where the refs are tweeting every 5 seconds. Physical play is part of the game. Basketball is a contact sport. Chippy play is a different matter.

 

[eebmg]

I wonder if her bad shooting is allowing defenders to play off her, impeding her drives. She showed a very confident, quick, and decisive first step and the ability to finish with either hand last year and even some early on this year. It was explosive, lethal, and she converted at a really high rate.

I agree that could be part of the problem and I had modified my post to include that.

I have to admit I am getting worried as well. Shooting is shooting and I guess that will get better. On the other hand, her driving to the basket has been non existent lately. I get there is a little sagging off of her due to her outside shooting slump but It is almost as if she is tipping off her drive moves. Never seems to get a step on the defender anymore.

 

[Kaizen]

NCAA should have the rules,

2 intentional fouls, remove the coach. If it is the same player with 2 intentional fouls remove both the coach and the player.
3 intentional fouls, remove the assistant coach.
4 intentional fouls,, end the game.

 

[Boreifs]

I am really concerned about Christyn, wasnt up until now. Her confidence seems to be at an all time low. Shes just too talented to be struggling this much.

Her game is ill-suited for a match-up zone. She can’t drive to the basket when the lane packed and she is a very weak three-point shooter. However, her defense has been much better in the last few games. Still, for her to be on the floor for 38 minutes and Griffin for 13 is mind boggling.

 

[MSGRET]

The absolute worst games to watch are the ones where the refs are tweeting every 5 seconds. Physical play is part of the game. Basketball is a contact sport. Chippy play is a different matter.

UCF DOES NOT play basketball, it's more like mugball. Almost the whole game Liv was being mugged and the refs let do it until AFTER she got hurt.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The absolute worst games to watch are the ones where the refs are tweeting every 5 seconds. Physical play is part of the game. Basketball is a contact sport. Chippy play is a different matter.

Contact sports usually require protective equipment of some kind. There's incidental contact, and then there's intentional contact to gain a competitive advantage. The latter is against the rules unlike a true contact sport like football.

NCAA should have the rules,

2 intentional fouls, remove the coach. If it is the same player with 2 intentional fouls remove both the coach and the player.
3 intentional fouls, remove the assistant coach.
4 intentional fouls,, end the game.

If a player is assessed two flagrant one fouls, I believe they are ejected. A flagrant two foul is an automatic ejection. A coach is ejected if they get two technical fouls, so some of this is already in place. I too am tired of seeing our players beat up because that's how lesser talented teams can even things up a bit. The refs need to call the fouls. If that means UCF ends up fouling everyone out, then so be it. You can't correct bad behavior if you're unwilling to correct bad behavior. Being physical because refs can't call all the fouls should not be an allowed strategy the same way the strategy of having a really tall player simply reach up and grab every ball that's about to go into the hoop isn't allowed.

 

[Boreifs]

Last year all she was the third scoring option and this year she started the season being the 2nd. She also started getting much tougher defensive assignments. Sometimes the transition from regular season to post season can be a sort of reset for a player. I still think Williams as a future AA.

Future AA?!! On what basis? Virtually every two guard she has played against this year has played better. No one in the history of college basketball has become an All-American with the kind of FG, 3-point and FT percentages she has so far. Right now, she will be lucky to start on next year’s team; Westbrook didn’t transfer here to sit on the bench.

 

[BBallF]

Someone said Anna didn’t have a pull-up and I recalled her hitting pull-ups when she tried. She could shoot more but she is pass oriented, either because that is her freshman mindset or coach ordered. Have you noticed she is more likely to shoot when her teammates are out or struggling? Plus she was once again open several times and ignored, a couple of times by ten feet. I do think she could work herself free a bit more.

Is Aubrey holding the ball too low under the basket allowing her lay-ups to be blocked? I do wonder why with her speed there aren’t more designed plays with her cutting to basket.

Meg had mvp game and Liv played extremely well before nose job.

Two things about Aubrey underneath. One, yes she is holding the ball too low. Two, she never head fakes or pump fakes before she goes up. She has to do that to neutralize the height and length of the defender.