UCLA postgame

[Latecomer]

A lot of people diss Amari solely on the box score, solely on her statistics. I did not see the game, as was the case with most people posting today; however, the radio announcer said she played well guarding Betts and should get more minutes and her coach said she gave him good minutes. To me, that sounds like a departure from the past. I look forward to seeing her play earlier in games against some of the bigs UConn plays.

I saw the game and this is exactly right. She didn't work any miracles, but her minutes visibly improved how Betts was guarded inside.

 

[nwhoopfan]

And he didn't go to France to get Lou Lopez, she was in our backyard and looking for a place to transfer.

Yeah her too. Bringing in a transfer who has been in the U.S. at another school for 3 or 4 years is a different scenario than bringing in a Fr. who is an international player.

 

[JBK]

Based on previous games...they aren't cutting because there isn't the space to go backdoor and not surprisingly reads aren't in sync. They are playing a lot of new people and that takes time. And we have 3 really good pgs, but they are all ball dominant. Someone is going to have to adjust. That's hard because those dribbles are a cadence that is important to their shot...and passing. We have some athletic players, BUT some aren't as athletic in the half-court. Streaking up court is a different story. I say...press and run at this point. Put more pressure (force rotation or put them on their heels) on the defense. So far...once a defense gets back, they pretty much sit on AE and try and guard Paige. The rest...they let shoot. Pretty certain they (coaches) will figure it out. They only lost by 11.

Agreed. It is hard to cut to the basket when defenders are not really guarding Nika and Aubrey. The lane is way too crowed for AE to work - hence all of her 15 footers. I know many on this site have Nika in the HOF and the WNBA and will quote her shooting percentages- but she must be a threat, shoot more and needs to get in the lane. I would say the same for Aubrey when she is not in the open court and running — these ladies give their heart and soul and have more offensive talents than they are showing right now. They hesitate before shooting and take way too much time thinking about it It looks awkward. ( Catch and shoot )
When you are not a threat you would struggle even making top 10 rosters.

 

[JBK]

And he didn't go to France to get Lou Lopez, she was in our backyard and looking for a place to transfer.

Morgan recruited her

 

[Soxx]

There is going to be lots of growing pains with a team full of freshman that will have to grow up on the court. It will be fun most of the time watching the maturation. I don’t care if the opposing posts are 7’0 and 6’11 our Senior post has to produce

I was surprised by Edwards’ play in this game. She was battling for a lot of rebounds that just didn’t go her way. But offensively, she was almost invisible. She is capable of a nice jumper from just outside the lane and barely took any and also wasn’t hitting the few she took. Hoping for a bounce back today.

 

[From France]

0 points, 0 rebounds, 2 fouls & 1 to

Stats lines don't say the whole thing

I didn't watch the game, but a player can have an impact without being great in stats

 

[omshanti]

The team played UConn basketball in the middle of the second and fourth quarters. I didn’t care for the starting lineup but understood why Geno used it. The UCLA guards shot the lights out, kudos to them. They took what UConn gave them.

it is still November so there will be growing pains due to the injury situation. Edwards was a non factor. Nina might be better off the bench for a few games. There wasn’t enough fire power at the start. The offense was stagnant once again.

We know who will not be available moving forward. The available players have to be ready to contribute. there are no excuses for the lack of execution. Time to stop with the what if’s and get on with it.

They only lost by 11. It could have been much worse. let see what happens tonight.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Hmm, Amari played 9 minutes, scored 0 points, grabbed 0 rebounds, had 0 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 personal foul.

I watched the long highlight. She played better than those stats. She set some nice picks (lacking this year). When she got the ball around the foul line...she did look for cutters...and there were none. Her defense was pretty good.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

As bad as we shot outside of Paige, if UCLA shoots threes like they did against Princeton (2-9 from three) we could have possibly won this game. It's all part of the growth process. Unfortunately our upperclasssmen are having a rough time.

Edwards, Ice, Q, did not make the open jump shots that they normally make. On defense, Ice and Aliyah I thought did a pretty good job on Betts, but our perimeter defense was awful. Rice had a field day. Nika only having 3 assists for the game also hurt us. I love KK’s game, she was awesome, and I wish Shade and Q had been given more minutes even at the expense of the starters. JMO

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Transition defense was pretty bad in this game. No wonder UCLA made all those 3s. On Amari's impact. When she came in UCONN didn't have to pack it in around Betts and leave open all those perimeter shooters. That won't show up in the stat sheets. The offense was up and down because it's obvious that we still had players that aren't 100% comfortable where to be. I'm talking Freshmen. They just need a little more time. If you looked at the score and decided "it's a wrap" for the season. You're wrong. They didn't play bad. They didn't play as a team and with consistency.

 

[HuskyNan]

Criticize plays all you want but do NOT take this loss as an opportunity to trash players. Consider this a final warning.

 

[Bald Husky]

Except for Paige and KK the team player horribly. For the season, the player I am most disappointed in is Ice. Her 3 point shot reminds me of Christyn Williams, always going off the back of the rim. I expected more rebounding, scoring from under the basket, and made short jumpers. I guess I expected too much, but she is the player I thought would make us forget about Dorka. We need her to do these things. Having sat out a year, we forget the accolades she received before coming here. She is a huge key for us this year, so hopefully she can turn it on going forward and become the player that we need on the floor.

 

[Linart]

9 assists is not part of a functioning team.....

If you don't make baskets, you won't get any assists.

 

[SCyankee]

Except for Paige and KK the team player horribly. For the season, the player I am most disappointed in is Ice. Her 3 point shot reminds me of Christyn Williams, always going off the back of the rim. I expected more rebounding, scoring from under the basket, and made short jumpers. I guess I expected too much, but she is the player I thought would make us forget about Dorka. We need her to do these things. Having sat out a year, we forget the accolades she received before coming here. She is a huge key for us this year, so hopefully she can turn it on going forward and become the player that we need on the floor.

The team lost because we did not have Azzi, Caroline or Jana, all likely starters if healthy. We also did not have Yana an important big reserve for Ice who is missed all of her freshman year.
It is a big mistake to start Aubrey and Nika together because neither has an outside shot respected by the opposition. Aubrey is best as the energizer bunny 6th man. Consider this what UConn player other than Paige could have made 6 of 10 three point shots last night?
Finally , Amari played better than the stats sheet shows. Her height and length contributed to the comeback in the second quarter.

 

[maple]

The biggest problem is that Paige is the only player who shows a consistent ability to score. We need everyone to show up and contribute to the offense. There is no reason we should be struggling this badly.

 

[Conndog]

Didn't see the game, disappointed obviously, UConn needs more production from center/bigs, and they need to start a more offensive skilled line-up. Ice played 22 minutes yet zero points, she did take 5 shots. Amari played 9 minutes and 0 points and 0 shot attempts. Amari should be taking some shots if she is in the game. Nika and KK should not be playing together. Assuming Caroline is out again against Kansas, I'd start Aaliyah, Paige, KK, Ice and Ash. Then sub in Nika for KK, sub Aubrey for Ice, sub Q for Ash. When Aaliyah needs breather, try Amari for a spell- when Paige needs a breather, put in whoever has been productive, otherwise Ash. Can Ines get some time? Getting Caroline back will help as will Ayanna.

 

[UCONNRPh]

Would love to see Shade get more playing time. Would like to see her in the offensive flow and see what she can do.

 

[freshler40]

Just checked out the box score. UConn had more FTs, 7 more FTAs and only 3 less 3 point FGs. We missed too many inside the arc, that was the difference.

The bigs need to shoot better than a combined 2 for 16. Inside is the bread and butter of basketball. The coaches need to identify the best inside combo early in each game. Edwards needs to slow down in these games to be more effective. With Patterson coming back, our dynamics inside can change.

We have the pieces, using combinations is what early season games are all about. I was hoping the overseas game would have sort this out earlier but they were soft games apparently not helping the coaches much in that regard.

 

[freshler40]

I think it's time for Paige to waltz right into the coaches meeting before tomorrow's game, and tell them who she thinks should be in the starting lineup with her.

Might work. Being on the floor provides a lot of experience. Too often we slow down our offense and pick-up our dribble, don't penetrate. This allows the defense to get set and they do to our loss. KK should run the point most of the time she is on the floor. Nika could be a shooting guard but doesn't seem to have the fire to do that consistently. We have too many passive combinations on the floor looking for Paige.

 

[cancontent]

Paige played very good. A lot of her misses were her shooting threes in the end of the game. And her being the only one doing anything she had to force some shots. Paige was definitely the best player on the floor it’s just her team wasn’t helping much. Kiki had help so we couldn’t just focus on her. She is really good too, I’m not saying she isn’t. But I agree about the firsts and as good as Paige is, I believe these other players aren’t up to UConn standards in regards to the kind of players we’ve gotten in the past. Some may disagree, but I’ve thought that for awhile. We aren’t athletic as a lot of teams and are to soft. Geno needs to recruit better. As I’ve said recently, these next two recruiting classes will be very telling as to where this dynasty is heading. We have two excellent pieces next year now he needs to focus on some tough athletic skilled bigs and more shooters, one is not enough.

Have you seen the landscape in the NCAAW lately? What do you think Coach Auriemma can do differently when there is so much parity in the sport? Players have more choice as to where they want to play. Coach Auriemma is doing everything he can to bring in the best players possible. This era between 2000 and the mid 2010s is over. Times have changed.

UConn continues to remain a program players are attracted to and a team that is still considered a top contender after HOW MANY decades? What other program has had that type of success? I get fans are frustrated because this is unusual and uncomfortable territory, but come on. Take a 100 foot level view and appreciate what the fanbase has.

 

[FanFromMaine]

Yeah her too. Bringing in a transfer who has been in the U.S. at another school for 3 or 4 years is a different scenario than bringing in a Fr. who is an international player.

Pedantic…

 

[DennieEddy]

[ ]
Geno recruiting foreigner's brought us Dorka from Hungary and Lou Lopez from France! And Aaliyah Edwards is from Canada!
Svetlana Abrasinova was from Russia!
And of course Nika Muhl is from Croatia! And only se 2 UCONN assist records last season!
Jana El Alfy was headed to possibly be the outstanding player in the African World Tournament when she got hurt!
Talent is all over the world not just in the USA!

Kia Nurse

 

[DennieEddy]

[ ]
Geno recruiting foreigner's brought us Dorka from Hungary and Lou Lopez from France! And Aaliyah Edwards is from Canada!
Svetlana Abrasinova was from Russia!
And of course Nika Muhl is from Croatia! And only se 2 UCONN assist records last season!
Jana El Alfy was headed to possibly be the outstanding player in the African World Tournament when she got hurt!
Talent is all over the world not just in the USA!

Schumacher

 

[hookshot]

Could most of that been reputation and past success?

No, had to do with 3 pre-season All Americans and a highly top-ranked incoming freshman class. Except for the reputation of past injuries they likely would have been pre- ranked #1 , although some would have instinctively top-ranked the defending champions as #1 until proven otherwise, which it now has been. Challenging times are not all in Storrs, the mission is to overcome to the extent possible

 

[GG]

It’ll be interesting to see which player(s) steps up to help paige. Would love to see two bigs starting, as opposed to the lineup we currently have. Aubrey is one of my favorite players, but without an outside shot defenses only have to worry about Paige because nikka is hesitant to shoot as well. Really wish we had Lou this year.