UCLA postgame

[Beemer]

As much as I love Nika I have always said if she’s your leading rebounder there is something wrong.

 

[Cuango]

I am not sure what happened to Q

She’s an overmatched freshman! This team is too short, too slow, not athletic enough, is clearly disheartened, and basically is undermanned! How did we come to this? If everyone were healthy, we could probably overcome our deficiencies but the simple truth is that the swallows (read; recruiting failures and injuries) are coming home to roost!
We have to throw any ideas of a championship out the window and Geno needs to reset this team back to simply trying to improve incrementally for the foreseeable future. We are far from a contender at this point! I don’t want to go overboard with the despair thing as it is true that we are missing much of our team to injuries but the simple truth is, we are just not very tough, and not very athletic! That is a very bad combination at a time when those qualities are on the rise all around the country! We do still have Paige but she is going to need lots more help than she got tonight!

 

[Cuango]

This will sound like sour grapes but Osborne may go the rest of the season without shooting 6/10 from three! I’m depressed.

 

[FairView]

Watching the game was painful. Most UConn players were off their game - who knows why? But UConn was playing without two of this year's starters and without two other players who saw no time this year but would have had good chances to start. We lost to the number 2 team in the country by 11. Take 2-3 starters away from any other team and tell me what they would have done. They limited Betts' touches and had some nice moments. Unfortunately, UCLA shot threes much better than usual tonight. Now is when true fans will rally. The team needs us.

 

[FairView]

She’s an overmatched freshman! This team is too short, too slow, not athletic enough, is clearly disheartened, and basically is undermanned! How did we come to this? If everyone were healthy, we could probably overcome our deficiencies but the simple truth is that the swallows (read; recruiting failures and injuries) are coming home to roost!
We have to throw any ideas of a championship out the window and Geno needs to reset this team back to simply trying to improve incrementally for the foreseeable future. We are far from a contender at this point! I don’t want to go overboard with the despair thing as it is true that we are missing much of our team to injuries but the simple truth is, we are just not very tough, and not very athletic! That is a very bad combination at a time when those qualities are on the rise all around the country! We do still have Paige but she is going to need lots more help than she got tonight!

What's wrong with you?

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Geno needs to stop going over seas looking for talent and focus on the kids here. It’s ok to have a couple of players from over seas but we are always not as athletic or tough as the better teams we play.

[ ]
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!

 

[Plebe]

This will sound like sour grapes but Osborne may go the rest of the season without shooting 6/10 from three! I’m depressed.

She was 6 for 11 against Bellarmine. Is that close enough? 20 of 36 on the year so far, almost exactly the percentage she shot today.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

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.

uconnever- - Please see my two other replies to your comments!

 

[maple]

Take 2-3 starters away from any other team and tell me what they would have done.

I think South Carolina would still probably win. Or at least play a better game than we did.

And it really pains me to say that.

 

[Notyetready]

I looked at the 28 minute highlight reel and I did not see the team executing, much, two major elements of Geno's offense-- cutting to the basket and screen and roll. Again, too much standing around.

 

[Happydad745]

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

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

She’s an overmatched freshman! This team is too short, too slow, not athletic enough, is clearly disheartened, and basically is undermanned! How did we come to this? If everyone were healthy, we could probably overcome our deficiencies but the simple truth is that the swallows (read; recruiting failures and injuries) are coming home to roost!
We have to throw any ideas of a championship out the window and Geno needs to reset this team back to simply trying to improve incrementally for the foreseeable future. We are far from a contender at this point! I don’t want to go overboard with the despair thing as it is true that we are missing much of our team to injuries but the simple truth is, we are just not very tough, and not very athletic! That is a very bad combination at a time when those qualities are on the rise all around the country! We do still have Paige but she is going to need lots more help than she got tonight!

Cuango- - - Before this current round of injuries hit UCONN they were one of the 2 or 3 favorites to win the 2024 NCAA's!
Not bad for a team so handicapped as you pointed out!

 

[Blond D.]

uconnever- - Geno recruited 6'5" Jana El Alfy, 6'2" Caroline Ducharme, and 6'3" Ayanna Patterson that are NOW sitting on the bench, injured and unable to play!
It's NOT Geno's recruiting, it's these da-n injuries that robs UCONN's ability to put a game plan together!

Plus there are a number of tall players Geno recruited that decided to go elsewhere.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I looked at the 28 minute highlight reel and I did not see the team executing, much, two major elements of Geno's offense-- cutting to the basket and screen and roll. Again, too much standing around.

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.

 

[Monte]

The big word right now is EARLY! It is still early in the season. It is still early for the Freshmen.

Think of how we all would feel if this was February, or March. HOPE is also a great word!

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

BYers, it's going to take a while to recover mentally from UCONN's recent injury news!
The players must be in shock that once again they are deprived of their regular talent!
These are young athletes that see their friends dropping like flies to assorted injuries for the 3rd consecutive year!
They must be going, "why us?"
Geno and his staff will put together the pieces asap so we'll look better in practices and games!

 

[Rings R Us]

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.

 

[Plebe]

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.

Is there really some magical starting lineup that Paige is somehow privy to but yet the coaches are clueless about? It's not like we have Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore buried at the end of the bench.

 

[bballnut90]

This will sound like sour grapes but Osborne may go the rest of the season without shooting 6/10 from three! I’m depressed.

Historically she’s played really well against bad teams and then shoots horribly in conference. Maybe this year she turns it around and puts together a better offensive season similar to Zia Cooke last year.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Geno recruiting foreigner's brought us Dorka from Hungary

Ohio St. found Dorka in Hungary. Geno found her when she transferred from Columbus, OH.

 

[Boreifs]

9-23 isn't very good at all. KiKi Rice was the best player on the court in my opinion.

Paige was also guarding Rice in the first quarter when she took over the game.

 

[ccwarrior]

Cuango- - - Before this current round of injuries hit UCONN they were one of the 2 or 3 favorites to win the 2024 NCAA's!
Not bad for a team so handicapped as you pointed out!

Could most of that been reputation and past success?

 

[real141]

He's been playing so called good players time and time again and not getting any results. Aka Caroline.
In my opinion Nika is a backup point on most top college teams but she starts.

I haven't seen a situation where it seemed he let Amari play substantially . I remember when Nelson Ododa first started she was thrust out there out of need for height. Under normal circumstances I don't think he would've played her . Similar to how he's doing Amari. However Ododa got PT and stumbled but eventually got better because she got consistent PT.

 

[Gordo]

Ohio St. found Dorka in Hungary. Geno found her when she transferred from Columbus, OH.

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

 

[Gordo]

I agree with the Amari assessment and felt that she should've been given way more playing time over the years than she has. There's a youtube video question Geno's coaching abilities. I actually feel the video is spot on

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