UCLA Postgame Thread

[jaydee602]

I NEVER blame officiating for wins or losses. But how in the world do three Final Four refs miss that assault on Evina?? Forsberg, Kantnor, & Inouye are better than that! LOL...how far would Geno have gone if he wasn't held back?

 

[eebmg]

Paige was happy as we built up the 14 pt lead but she was clearly simmering on a slow burn under her mask as we almost made history giving up a 14 pt lead in 1:20 seconds. I imagine all she kept thinking is how she would have defended Osborne hard and not let those ridiculously open 3pt shots at end of game get off. Caroline and Dorka (sans FT) did some great work.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Oh good everything is back to normal in the Boneyard.

 

[oldude]

Christyn couldn’t hit the water from a boat today but she had some great drives and dishes

It certainly felt that way in the 1st half. But Christyn was 2/2 from the arc in the 2nd half.

 

[msf22b]

Paul McCartney sang
Better, better, better (scream)...

Why?
It was the beginning of the rebirth of a UConn team
Young woman with talent started to step up and play (occasionally even joyously)
team basketball. Find a role, compete.

Evina carried the team in the 1st half and it looked a lot like the Georgia game

But the biggest difference, and most importantly Dorka...who did nothing the other night
She fought, scrapped, made some shots, rebounded her butt off.
But everybody was better...Edwards, Caroline and in the 2nd half after a benching and a lecture Wililams.

And at times ...it was a team again...a beginning, don't expect miracles
but...better.

 

[Linart]

The first quarter all I could think of is "This must be what other teams felt like playing the UConn teams of the past."

 

[oldude]

I NEVER blame officiating for wins or losses. But how in the world do three Final Four refs miss that assault on Evina?? Forsberg, Kantnor, & Inouye are better than that! LOL...how far would Geno have gone if he wasn't held back?

At least they got the deflection right with 30 seconds left in the game. For the longest while, I was expecting them to decide it was inconclusive and give the ball back to UCLA.

 

[Valleyfan]

News flash: Or maybe they werent the 5 players needed on the floor. AE has been struggling and showed some modest progress. Who would you have taken out to put her in? Dorka who had her best game this year? CD who played with more aggressive/confidence that she has all year?

I would have tried Mir

 

[Carnac]

I like the way UConn “gutted” out this win today. They have some things to button up, but they played a complete game today and came away with a hard fought win. They showed me something today. Congratulations to Geno, his staff and the players.

 

[Luckystrike]

DORKA JUHASZ!!!!!!!!!!!! This is what I’ve been waiting to see from her!

 

[Mirmir]

News flash: Or maybe they werent the 5 players needed on the floor. AE has been struggling and showed some modest progress. Who would you have taken out to put her in? Dorka who had her best game this year? CD who played with more aggressive/confidence that she has all year?

I agree with you 100%. Dorka deserved to be in the game over AE. Edwards has been very tentative over the past few games and really hasn't been the FORCE that she was last season. Ducharme also needed to be in the game ahead of AE. Mir McLean has been not shown any ability on the offensive end and is presently buried deep on this bench, along with Piath Gabriel. Maybe AE is better suited to be the 6th Person (1st coming off the bench) which is a role that is better suited to her than a starter. Right now, it
appears as if both AE and Mir are in Geno's Chateau De Bow Wow

 

[Nolefan]

How does UConn recruit so well and have like zero depth .. Evian was gassed so was our post players .. How does other teams have freshman playing at a high level and out side of generational players they ride the bench at UConn for years or transfer ? This was a good win for UConn but against a top 25 team we probably lose again imo .. The players have it their all today and played hard … side note CW please stop trying to finger roll a bunny and just put it up ..

 

[Vowelguy]

I would have tried Mir

instead of?

 

[Vowelguy]

How does UConn recruit so well and have like zero depth ..

Funny how you dont have much depth when 5 players are injured.

 

[Jc718]

Glad we won. I miss Paige’s bb iq though.

 

[donalddoowop]

• There was significant improvement in ball and player movement on offense
• New people (Dorka, Caroline) stepped up
• Aaliyah showed incremental improvement
• Rebounding and boxing out also showed significant improvement
• Amari played enough minutes (6) to get her exposure to different styles of play without undue pressure to perform
• After yelling at the TV in the 1st quarter to “Pass the (bad word) ball!!” the team did. There were actually a few pretty plays

Improvement! Visible improvement!

I'm curious. What was the bad word? Seriously, UConn played much better than I thought they would but, I did not know they had only one practice since Paige got hurt. DeBerry looks as if she will benefit from the minutes she got the last two games. I also think Dorka gained a lot of confidence during this game.

 

[Tonyc]

Well we were down double digits and won by double digits. A huge turn around. We looked much improved in the second half and with that said we have a long way to go. Caroline and Dorka earned starting positions. Their team flow, the aggressiveness they play with was great to see. We need to spend the next week on shooting foul shots.

In the second half we slowed down and worked the ball. With our height it worked well. We looked like a different team then we did against GT and in the first half. We looked like a team not so much one on one. Now with our next game and a big game against LVille next Sunday we have time to re group and work on playing without Paige. Some really good signs in the second half and 5 players in double figures.

Deberry may not have Genos plan down but she can score and right now we need her in the game. She can score underneath and plays pretty good offense. We need her developed.

 

[dcheng021]

That’s amazing that uconn hasn’t lost back to back games since 1993. Glad they kept the streak alive!

 

[Twolf]

Geno got roughed up pretty good after GT. He deserves props for out coaching Cory Close yet ag

UConn made some nice defensive adjustments. They took Chou out of the game.

The non foul on Westbrook was one of the worst pieces of officiating I have ever seen. I don’t blame Geno one bit.

Rebecca said Dorka is benefiting, if there is such a thing, from Paige’s absence. I only partially agree. Ducharme’s progress has been accelerated. The mistakes are being made but they are decreasing. Her upside is unreal.

It is disappointing that a coach has to challenge a senior player’s desire to play. It helped but not much.

The third quarter was one of the best of the year.

I credit Evina’s missed free throws to fatigue.

Edwards was a little better but still sat for large portions. I loved that Geno did not start her.

The tough schedule may pay off in the post season. Lots of teaching moments so far.

I agree GA got lambasted pretty well after the Georgia Tech, but he was exactly the same coach after that game as he was today. After all the consternation of his brutally candid comments after GTgame, I saw some players competing harder and with more heart than any time previously this season. Just maybe there is a method to his madness. His reaction to the no call on EW’s drive was more than justified, since there are places where people have got jail time for less.

 

[ucbart]

They started out terribly, got better, and finished the game in a horrendous fashion.
They took 3 steps forward and 7 steps back, IMO. What a hideous way to close out a game. Every bit of good they must’ve felt being up 14 was washed away with those FT’s

And again, to every person that’s said “we’re doomed” as a response to me complaining about FT shooting in blowout wins-I see you.

 

[BBallF]

I agree with all the previous posts, I just want to add one thing.
These games are starting to resemble tackle football games. Women CBB has to address the issue of impeded ball and player movement. There is too much blocking the person with the ball that is not called.
The other area is on rebounding. With every rebound it becomes a "Mosh" pit of over the back, hacking the rebounder, etc.
There is a definite need to clean this stuff up.

I thought it was perhaps the worst officiated women's game I have ever seen. That incredible hack job on Evina in front of the referee, the out of bounds call that was reversed late in the game, the failure to call pushes on rebounds, restraints on drives, charges instead of blocks , is an embarrassment to the women's game. Whatever they are doing in training, they are doing it wrong. More and more players are going to get hurt due to the referees allowing this ridiculous amount of body contact and only calling easy ticky tack fouls or bad picks. On national television, it was just very badly done.

I have heard of a theory that the women's officials tend to let them be physical to a degree unlike the men because they feel that the players can't hurt each other because they are women. I am only repeating what one referee told me once. It is clearly a sexist assertion.

For a finesse team like UCONN, it works to our disadvantage. I do not know the reason, I only know that it is systemic, obvious, and outrageous. This crew of officials should never, ever work together again in women's basketball. Between the 3 of them, it seemed that the whistle was blown less on fouls, excluding the intentionals at the end of the game, than in an AAU game and that is saying something pretty harsh.

 

[jaydee602]

I NEVER blame officiating for wins or losses. But how in the world do three Final Four refs miss that assault on Evina?? Forsberg, Kantner, & Inouye are better than that! LOL...how far would Geno have gone if he wasn't held back?

Just watched the replay. Forsberg was under the net and had the clearest view. Inouye was on the left side between the foul line & half court. Kantner was trailing the action & was watching from behind center court.

At least they got the deflection right with 30 seconds left in the game. For the longest while, I was expecting them to decide it was inconclusive and give the ball back to UCLA.

LOL....you would think they could use a bigger monitor! They were looking at an I-pad sized screen to make a crucial call.

 

[choochoo]

Looking at the box score if we shot 80% from the free throw line we would have won by 18 or 19 points. Leaving alot of points out there. That is one area that we really need to improve on.

 

[Vowelguy]

And again, to every person that’s said “we’re doomed” as a response to me complaining about FT shooting in blowout wins-I see you.

Before today, UConn was ranked 113/348 in D1 and 21/67 in the P5(+1) in FT shooting.

 

[HuskyNan]

How does UConn recruit so well and have like zero depth .. Evian was gassed so was our post players .. How does other teams have freshman playing at a high level and out side of generational players they ride the bench at UConn for years or transfer ? This was a good win for UConn but against a top 25 team we probably lose again imo .. The players have it their all today and played hard … side note CW please stop trying to finger roll a bunny and just put it up ..

You know there are 4 injured players right now, right?