UConn - Butler Post Game Thread

[Boreifs]

My take on UCONN vs Butler:
1. Ashlynn Shade is the real deal!
2. IMHO Butler shot 83% in first 1/4 while being covered!
They hit some great shots!
3. I still think somehow Ines should get more minutes!
I think if she has some more time she will relax and show the improvements she made over the summer! UCONN will need her down the road!
4. UCONN's defense can be smothering with all their rotations!
5. I know other WBB are close knit, but UCONN stands alone as "we are family!"
6. Our Nika haters have to cut her some slack! We find out tonight she's been sick for about a week with the flu!
We don't know all the facts that effect our girls day-in-day-out!

Whose minutes would you decrease to give to Ines? Nika? KK? Ash? Paige? No thank you. If she is needed, it will be because of catastrophic injuries; did Lawler or Pulido ever play significant minutes? No D1 or D2 program signed her; she was going to play at a community college. I’m sure she is a great person, but she will never be part of a winning rotation at UConn.

 

[freshler40]

I actually thought Geno was subdued about Shade. What did he see from her? "The ball went in." Maybe doesn't want to get too much praise in her head too early, but this was a good overall game. One foul, zero turnovers, looked to pass as well. Great offensive game and held her own on defense (Butler blew by everybody at times, they have some quickness).

Butler's offense had very quick ball movement until it found a shooter. The ball did not stick as it does quite often in our guards and bench players. That seems to be the major area for future improvement. All of our players need to look for the ball and move around some in their respective areas like the corners. We also eliminated the easily read cross court pass cutting down on turnovers and fast breakpoints for the opponents. This was a good coaching change.

 

[freshler40]

Was at the game as well and agree wholeheartedly
On your take on Ashlyn and paige
Would live to see kk mimic her mid range pull up

KK Arnold is a disrupter. She gets the ball into the paint and just needs to slow down a tad. KK is what the teams needs. Her shot will come. The starting players are now playing enough minutes together that they jell. The coaches know where to place the pieces to maximize their efforts. The players respect and love getting the ball in good places.

Our coaches have done a great job with integrating the freshmen so all players are that much better. We are seeing the early results of that after losing major key players. We have a lot of up-side built on solid switching defense and quick hands. If Ice B continues to improve, we will have some size to counter some of the tournament teams. Many of these top women's teams are built around an outstanding player. We are built around a team concept.

 

[BBallF]

We are lucky if UConn gets any fouls called when the Dee is officiating, I believe that she is one of the worst refs in basketball.

One of the worst? That's a compliment for her. How about that call on KK?

 

[GamecockFam]

As an outsider just looking at the score, it seems like UConn is starting to get its mojo back after a brutal beginning to the season. And it looks like you have found something in your freshmen!

I'm surprised Ice Brady isn't getting more minutes out of a need to have more bigs feeling comfortable on the court. IMO she needs to be averaging 20 min a game. It may result in some close games while she is learning but I think it would pay dividends in the post season. UConn will be extremely vulnerable if AE ever gets in foul trouble.

 

[HuskyNan]

As an outsider just looking at the score, it seems like UConn is starting to get its mojo back after a brutal beginning to the season. And it looks like you have found something in your freshmen!

I'm surprised Ice Brady isn't getting more minutes out of a need to have more bigs feeling comfortable on the court. IMO she needs to be averaging 20 min a game. It may result in some close games while she is learning but I think it would pay dividends in the post season. UConn will be extremely vulnerable if AE ever gets in foul trouble.

Ice took a big step forward last night. I think a couple games vs teams like Butler and Toronto Metropolitan are good to rebuild her confidence before the team plays a couple ranked teams (Marquette and Creighton).

 

[Zarathustra]

got a feeling that Ines may be needed before season is over, would be good to get her some time

I was a fan of INES BEFORE she came to STORRS! She is the ideal guard/PG for her role on
this team. I was also a big fan of Molly Bent, so you get the idea!

 

[Tonyc]

FWIW Ashlynn was ranked 15th by Hoopgurlz and Gabby Williams 14th That turned out pretty good. I think a great stat for last nite was how well Butler shot and made some shots with the defense all over them and UConn won by 26 while being up 30 in the 4th qtr. How far has UConn come in just a couple of weeks. I have to wonder if we had this lineup early on if those early losses might have been wins. Moving forward we have alot to look forward too The missing piece all season will be a big down low. ICE would be nice and Amari would be great. All we can do is hope.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Meulemans vs Shade. Advantage Butler?! Who said that? Good defense by primarily Shade to hold Meulemans to 3 points. Aubrey not quite as efficient as last game but still the most efficient on team and very entertaining.

 

[Boreifs]

KK Arnold is a disrupter. She gets the ball into the paint and just needs to slow down a tad. KK is what the teams needs. Her shot will come. The starting players are now playing enough minutes together that they jell. The coaches know where to place the pieces to maximize their efforts. The players respect and love getting the ball in good places.

Our coaches have done a great job with integrating the freshmen so all players are that much better. We are seeing the early results of that after losing major key players. We have a lot of up-side built on solid switching defense and quick hands. If Ice B continues to improve, we will have some size to counter some of the tournament teams. Many of these top women's teams are built around an outstanding player. We are built around a team concept.

When a team clogs the paint on defense like Butler did, the largest facet of KK’s game is taken away. Perhaps Quadance needs more time and KK less when that happens. Having said that, though, KK was a better matchup defensively.

 

[HuskyNan]

ICE would be nice and Amari would be great. All we can do is hope.

Tony, in the time Amari did get last night she put in little effort to grab rebounds or put a body on a post player in a defensive effort. I saw Q fly in from the perimeter to try to snag a rebound while Amari just watched it.

Ice looked so much more comfortable last night, and it wasn’t just in garbage time, either. That’s where we should pin our hopes.

 

[HopJim]

Best of the night - Jana in her Grinch shirt!!!!!!!

This team continues to develop and improve on both offense and defense. Nice to see Ice and Qadence with positive and important contributions.

Butler had the hot hand in the first quarter. After that it was good night Irene. UConn basketball started the run in the second quarter and didn't stop for the rest of the game. The defensive adjustments were made and the pressure showed. Butler's top scorers were locked down by the defense.

On offense, Ash does not play like a freshman. She seems to have a very good grasp of the offense. She is constantly in motion. Love the 3's but her jumper inside the arc is deadly. Ash is also playing good defense.

Excellent balance with 4 players in double figures. Aubrey with another great game off the bench. She is so so difficult to defend. Paige is not having to carry the scoring load. This is so important. The defense not being able to focus on just Paige will pay huge dividends the entire season.

Fourth game with the same starting 5. It's working and working well. The sub patterns are working. We have an 8 player rotation that works.

While no surprise to anyone who has followed Ash, she played all but the finial few minutes, played constant defense against quick guards, moved constantly on offense, and never looked like she was tired.

 

[HopJim]

Butler is much improved, but does anyone seriously think Geno could lose 7 BE league games? Hurley’s national champion men did.

BE men’s schedule is a gauntlet. Women’s is a cakewalk. I’m disparaging the league, not the team.

Not a great league but much improved. Creighton, Marquette are solid, top 20ish teams. Several others will make the top 40. While I do not expect UConn to lose these games, it would not be surprising to see one these experienced teams get hot and steal a game.

 

[Ozimoto]

Success breeds success. They are playing together now and as they get used to each other and it shows.

 

[FanFromMaine]

On an arguably better team last year, Ines got much more playing time and played well. It is curious why she is relegated to the end of the bench with Amari.

My sense is that Ines does what Paige, Nika and KK do.

 

[Rowdy831]

Paige is so efficient on offense. She gets her points without shooting 20 times and her assist to TO ration was off the charts too. She is doing a great job of leading this team and making those around her better players. Funny thing is that Nika seems to be the best spot up 3 point shooter on the team which means value outside of defense for her. Ice has a few shots fall so she has something to build off in the next game. She needs to build her game inside out and I think she will be fine and she certainly will be needed.

 

[Rowdy831]

On an arguably better team last year, Ines got much more playing time and played well. It is curious why she is relegated to the end of the bench with Amari.

Last years team wasn't better, it was different. The guard play this year seems to be much better and last year she was a true point guard and I don't think that is needed as much this year. She is a quality player and will see more time as the season progresses but I don't think she moves into the rotation ahead of anyone that is currently in front of her.

 

[Bone Dog]

My sense is that Ines does what Paige, Nika and KK do.

I agree. Her story is an interesting one and may still have some surprises in it given how plucky she seems.

Inês got crisis playing time last season in a few games because of injuries and didn’t do too badly. When Nika went down she was the only pg we had against Princeton and MD. She was exposed several times in each game. She sank a key free throw staved off Princeton’s late run and floundered against MD and Aubrey’s heroics saved the day.

We were all grateful for Inês’s effort even with its shortcomings because we knew her story and admired her willingness to give it a go. And she has some ferocity about her even if her skill set and confidence are not at the right level yet. This led me and others to believe or to hope that she could compete for a rotation spot. But the bar is a lot higher for her now that we are deeper in point guards.

Can she develop her skills enough this season or next? I don’t put it past her, and she could get into the rotation next year, especially if the pg position is less loaded than this year.

 

[Gusaford]

Tony, in the time Amari did get last night she put in little effort to grab rebounds or put a body on a post player in a defensive effort. I saw Q fly in from the perimeter to try to snag a rebound while Amari just watched it.

Ice looked so much more comfortable last night, and it wasn’t just in garbage time, either. That’s where we should pin our hopes.

Of all the positives from last night, I would put the play of Ashlynn and Ice at the top of the list. AS's shooting and defensive effort were superb; the team needs another reliable scoring option and why shouldn't it be AS?

Ice played with much more confidence. Got beat once or twice on defense but she was moving her feet and hustling the whole time and did a nice job boxing out on rebounds. The speed of the game appears to be slowing down for her. She also has a very nice shot when she pulls the trigger. Clearly an upward trajectory.

 

[oldude]

Ines was a wonderful, late addition to UConn last season, and she certainly came in handy when the Huskies were severely shorthanded at guard. But this year Ines is the 5th guard, and even though the other 4 guards all start, the first 3 reserves off the bench are all forwards/wings. That doesn’t leave much PT for Ines.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Speaking of Ash, is there any protocol on how happy a player should look on the court? If there is, surely she's breaking it.

 

[The deacon]

My take on UCONN vs Butler:
1. Ashlynn Shade is the real deal!
2. IMHO Butler shot 83% in first 1/4 while being covered!
They hit some great shots!
3. I still think somehow Ines should get more minutes!
I think if she has some more time she will relax and show the improvements she made over the summer! UCONN will need her down the road!
4. UCONN's defense can be smothering with all their rotations!
5. I know other WBB are close knit, but UCONN stands alone as "we are family!"
6. Our Nika haters have to cut her some slack! We find out tonight she's been sick for about a week with the flu!
We don't know all the facts that effect our girls day-in-day-out!

View attachment 94237

Hopefully Nika will feel much better today and in coming days. Dehydration's often the culprit with those 'stomach bug' symptoms.

She played hard and shot the three well, so I think it's pretty safe to say she didn't/doesn't have the flu. If she did, I'm pretty certain she'd be back on campus in bed rather than hanging around with her teammates and coaches.

That said, kudos to Nika for her effort while feeling sub-par.

 

[my2cents]

As for the pieces that Geno was looking for with all the injuries, it looks like he has found some.
Nika will not be on top of the halfcourt offense, she will be more of weakside wing, a la Caroline. As she keeps hitting those wide open threes, as she has been doing. Teams will have to start paying more attention to her.
Ashlynn will be more of the Azzi piece. She showed in the last few games that her offense is very well rounded. Quick three's, driving to the basket, but what's most impressive is her pull ups and mid-range; she has been lights out on 2's
Where to improve?
KK making better decisions with her speed, AE kicking out when doubled, and Paige being more aggressive looking for her shot.