UConn - Butler Post Game Thread

[hoophuskee]

Agreed. She is faster, more athletic, more aggressive, much better on defense and a more reliable shooter. Azzi is unstoppable when she is in a zone, but that zone was seldom there. Stats don’t lie; hype never wins games.

When Azzi was healthy for those brief 6 - 8 games last year that stats don't lie she was unbelievable. Azzi's issue has always been health.

Even in her frosh year she was in and out with injury, her efg% for the season was 56.2%. You're making it sound like Azzi wasn't very good when you suggest the zone was seldom there. She was the 3rd leading scorer when UCONN got to the Finals during the NCAA's as well. Probably don't beat UCF without her.

 

[npignatjr]

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.

Lost to Maryland last year

 

[huskeynut]

What we are starting to see is a UConn team that has 5 players on the floor that can score at any time. Thden we include Aubrey coming off the bench. She is difficult to defend. The next one to show her scoring ability will be Ice. That is seven players.

The problem for our opponents will be how do you defend this. Do you want to double team Paige? We know her scoring ability and so does every other team. Who do you leave open? Do you want to double team Aaliyah? She is a tough one down in the post. Somebody will be open.

Now add to this the teams ability to move without the ball and their ability and willingness to pass the ball. This becomes a difficult task.

Granted this is still in the infancy stage of development, but it's there. Practice after practice and game after game it will improve.

 

[hoophuskee]

Ashlynn Shade's ability to knock down 3 pointers would elevate this team enormously. This will make her mid range jumper that much harder to defend. Before this game she was shooting 30% from 3. It's much easier for UCONN to run their offense and spread the opposing defense if players have longer outside range.

And the more UCONN can spread the floor - the better opportuntiy they have to counter the height disadvantge on Defense.

 

[npignatjr]

What we are starting to see is a UConn team that has 5 players on the floor that can score at any time. Thden we include Aubrey coming off the bench. She is difficult to defend. The next one to show her scoring ability will be Ice. That is seven players.

The problem for our opponents will be how do you defend this. Do you want to double team Paige? We know her scoring ability and so does every other team. Who do you leave open? Do you want to double team Aaliyah? She is a tough one down in the post. Somebody will be open.

Now add to this the teams ability to move without the ball and their ability and willingness to pass the ball. This becomes a difficult task.

Granted this is still in the infancy stage of development, but it's there. Practice after practice and game after game it will improve.

It took the losses and the injuries for the coaches to come up with rotation, which is making the team a force again, even while the players are still learning

 

[oldude]

What we are starting to see is a UConn team that has 5 players on the floor that can score at any time. Thden we include Aubrey coming off the bench. She is difficult to defend. The next one to show her scoring ability will be Ice. That is seven players.

The problem for our opponents will be how do you defend this. Do you want to double team Paige? We know her scoring ability and so does every other team. Who do you leave open? Do you want to double team Aaliyah? She is a tough one down in the post. Somebody will be open.

Now add to this the teams ability to move without the ball and their ability and willingness to pass the ball. This becomes a difficult task.

Granted this is still in the infancy stage of development, but it's there. Practice after practice and game after game it will improve.

UConn WBB will develop a very nice 8 player rotation by March imo, with both Ice & Q as key contributors. Geno is the Master. If you think about what he’s done to overhaul this team after all the injuries it’s amazing. He’s got his AA power forward playing center, his AA pg and former NPOY playing power forward, last year’s record setting pg playing the wing, and 2 freshmen very capably handling the pg & shooting guard positions just 11 games into their college careers. In Aubrey, he’s got a “super sub” who immediately impacts the game at both ends of the court.

Geno’s gone to a small lineup playing aggressive defense and pushing the ball at every opportunity. He’s living with mistakes as the freshmen develop before our eyes. There’s a lot of really good college coaches in WBB. I don’t know that there’s any coach other than Geno who could have made so many changes on the fly and come out with a better team than he started with.

 

[HuskyNan]

What we are starting to see is a UConn team that has 5 players on the floor that can score at any time. Thden we include Aubrey coming off the bench. She is difficult to defend. The next one to show her scoring ability will be Ice. That is seven players.

The problem for our opponents will be how do you defend this. Do you want to double team Paige? We know her scoring ability and so does every other team. Who do you leave open? Do you want to double team Aaliyah? She is a tough one down in the post. Somebody will be open.

Now add to this the teams ability to move without the ball and their ability and willingness to pass the ball. This becomes a difficult task.

Granted this is still in the infancy stage of development, but it's there. Practice after practice and game after game it will improve.

Geno said recently he likes to get scoring from his guard (Ashlynn), his wing (Paige), and his post (Aaliyah). Any other scoring is gravy but having three strong players at those positions is a recipe for success

 

[pk1234]

No. CD played Ines and she did well. As soon as Geno returned, she got very little playing time. If she can't get playing time when the team is up by 28 with four minutes to play, why is she on the team? When UConn needed a backup guard she gave up a chance to go to a school where she would probably get a chance to start. If she is playing well in practice, why not give her more minutes than she is getting in blowout games, at least five minutes?

If all they blew was 2 or 3 calls, then they called a really good game. Think of how many calls were made. It was probably more than two or three. Kantner can't call a game with only 2 or 3 bad calls.

Obviously there are reasons that Ines is on the team beyond what she can provide in games. She is helpful in practices, a good teammate, and was needed in case of emergency last year (and that emergency happened when everyone including Nika was hurt)

They had excess scholarships so Geno found a kid he liked a the last minute to essentially be a "walk-on" and gave her a scholarship to come.

Ines got 15+ minutes in 4 games last season, 3 of those games the team had 8 healthy players, and the Maryland game they had 7 (and the only other guards were Lou & Caroline). This was not a player that Geno intended to be in the rotation anytime soon.

 

[HopJim]

UConn WBB will develop a very nice 8 player rotation by March imo, with both Ice & Q as key contributors. Geno is the Master. If you think about what he’s done to overhaul this team after all the injuries it’s amazing. He’s got his AA power forward playing center, his AA pg and former NPOY playing power forward, last year’s record setting pg playing the wing, and 2 freshmen very capably handling the pg & shooting guard positions just 11 games into their college careers. In Aubrey, he’s got a “super sub” who immediately impacts the game at both ends of the court.

Geno’s gone to a small lineup playing aggressive defense and pushing the ball at every opportunity. He’s living with mistakes as the freshmen develop before our eyes. There’s a lot of really good college coaches in WBB. I don’t know that there’s any coach other than Geno who could have made so many changes on the fly and come out with a better team than he started with.

While too soon to know how good this team can be, they are fun to watch!

 

[Boreifs]

When Azzi was healthy for those brief 6 - 8 games last year that stats don't lie she was unbelievable. Azzi's issue has always been health.

Even in her frosh year she was in and out with injury, her efg% for the season was 56.2%. You're making it sound like Azzi wasn't very good when you suggest the zone was seldom there. She was the 3rd leading scorer when UCONN got to the Finals during the NCAA's as well. Probably don't beat UCF without her.

That’s your interpretation, not mine. My intent was that Ash is a more than capable replacement who in her early career stages appears to be a better and more aggressive shooter inside the arc. The stats confirm that impression.

 

[Bone Dog]

I like the new optimism in the 'Yard! Geno has whipped us into shape.

 

[jeff30189]

Let's all admit that this board suffers from an extreme case of recency bias. After a loss it's "Geno can't coach" and the sky is falling. Now after one good outstanding game Ashlynn is the best shooter in the history of UConn basketball. This team can be very good, but we need alot of things to all happen on a regular basis.

• Ashlynn really does become this year's Azzi Fudd, a designated, lights-out, no conscience shooter who can get you 20 points a night.
• Aubrey (the version from the past 2 games) shows up every night and doesn't lose her confidence or aggressiveness.
• Nika continues to knock down open 3's and adapts to being more of an off-guard.
• KK develops a shooting range beyond 5 feet and stops fouling everything that moves.
• Ice brings something... anything... off the bench. Stat lines with 10 minutes, 4 points and 2 rebounds are what we expect from Amari

'Liya and Paige I'm not worried about. But the rest of the crew has the capability to be really good... or really bad... on any given night. It wasn't too long ago (after one solid game) that Q was going to be this year's Ashlynn. Then she goes 0-5 and can't hit the ocean if she was standing on the end of a pier.

There will be a game this year where Ash goes 2-11, Aubrey disappears, Nika goes 1-3 with 7 turnovers, KK fouls out before halftime and Ice has more turnovers+fouls than points+rebounds. Because each of them can be just as bad as they are great. Hopefully as the season goes on the great games are far more frequent than the bad ones.

FWIW, Nika doesn't seem to be the same lockdown DPOY as she was the past few years. Her changing role on offense might have something to do with it? But it might also be that other teams resign themselves to playing one person short (or at less than full capacity) - sort of like what a lockdown DB does to an offense in football by taking away 1 of the other teams WR options. She has less opportunity for steals because fewer teams dare to challenge her.

 

[Boreifs]

What we are starting to see is a UConn team that has 5 players on the floor that can score at any time. Thden we include Aubrey coming off the bench. She is difficult to defend. The next one to show her scoring ability will be Ice. That is seven players.

The problem for our opponents will be how do you defend this. Do you want to double team Paige? We know her scoring ability and so does every other team. Who do you leave open? Do you want to double team Aaliyah? She is a tough one down in the post. Somebody will be open.

Now add to this the teams ability to move without the ball and their ability and willingness to pass the ball. This becomes a difficult task.

Granted this is still in the infancy stage of development, but it's there. Practice after practice and game after game it will improve.

I would add that Quadance is also a legitimate scoring threat; at least Geno thinks so.

 

[donalddoowop]

Obviously there are reasons that Ines is on the team beyond what she can provide in games. She is helpful in practices, a good teammate, and was needed in case of emergency last year (and that emergency happened when everyone including Nika was hurt)

They had excess scholarships so Geno found a kid he liked a the last minute to essentially be a "walk-on" and gave her a scholarship to come.

Ines got 15+ minutes in 4 games last season, 3 of those games the team had 8 healthy players, and the Maryland game they had 7 (and the only other guards were Lou & Caroline). This was not a player that Geno intended to be in the rotation anytime soon.

Which is good as long as this was explained to Ines. However, if she has played well in practice, treat her the same way the other players are treated when they play well in practice.

 

[BBallF]

Aubrey is the best defender on the team.

It used to be a given but now it is close between her and Paige. If they gave the national award out right now, it might be Paige. Aubrey is a phenomenal defender and a one person press, but Paige anticipates like no one playing right now.

 

[hoophuskee]

That’s your interpretation, not mine. My intent was that Ash is a more than capable replacement who in her early career stages appears to be a better and more aggressive shooter inside the arc. The stats confirm that impression.

I cited stats. How is that an interpretation? The 56.2% are stats. As is Azzi being the 3rd highest scorer for UCONN her freshman year.

And the stats as of right now would favor Azzi as a 3 point shooter, right?

In regard to this past game, Ashlynn shot 4-10 from 3. Before that she was a 30% shooter from 3. These are stats. Not "intepretations." Going forward if Ashlynn could come close to replicating these numbers from 3pt range then she'll be a beast. But no one can say she has been consistent yet from 3.

Exciting to see how Ashlynn will perform vs the better teams.

 

[ctchamps]

Ashlynn is not only willing to shoot, she appears to want to shoot. Geno usually needs to remind Azzi to shoot. It’s no good having a better midrange game unless you use it.

It's the same with Aubrey and Nika. Wish we could give them a transfusion of Q's blood.

 

[Conndog]

It used to be a given but now it is close between her and Paige. If they gave the national award out right now, it might be Paige. Aubrey is a phenomenal defender and a one person press, but Paige anticipates like no one playing right now.

Paige is fantastic as defender too- much quicker than opponents realize, long arms, she's got it all

 

[ctchamps]

Let's all admit that this board suffers from an extreme case of recency bias. After a loss it's "Geno can't coach" and the sky is falling. Now after one good outstanding game Ashlynn is the best shooter in the history of UConn basketball. This team can be very good, but we need alot of things to all happen on a regular basis.

• Ashlynn really does become this year's Azzi Fudd, a designated, lights-out, no conscience shooter who can get you 20 points a night.
• Aubrey (the version from the past 2 games) shows up every night and doesn't lose her confidence or aggressiveness.
• Nika continues to knock down open 3's and adapts to being more of an off-guard.
• KK develops a shooting range beyond 5 feet and stops fouling everything that moves.
• Ice brings something... anything... off the bench. Stat lines with 10 minutes, 4 points and 2 rebounds are what we expect from Amari

'Liya and Paige I'm not worried about. But the rest of the crew has the capability to be really good... or really bad... on any given night. It wasn't too long ago (after one solid game) that Q was going to be this year's Ashlynn. Then she goes 0-5 and can't hit the ocean if she was standing on the end of a pier.

There will be a game this year where Ash goes 2-11, Aubrey disappears, Nika goes 1-3 with 7 turnovers, KK fouls out before halftime and Ice has more turnovers+fouls than points+rebounds. Because each of them can be just as bad as they are great. Hopefully as the season goes on the great games are far more frequent than the bad ones.

FWIW, Nika doesn't seem to be the same lockdown DPOY as she was the past few years. Her changing role on offense might have something to do with it? But it might also be that other teams resign themselves to playing one person short (or at less than full capacity) - sort of like what a lockdown DB does to an offense in football by taking away 1 of the other teams WR options. She has less opportunity for steals because fewer teams dare to challenge her.

Even the best UConn teams have had games where players play flat. And in some of those games they lost. My excitement is based on my observations over the past three games. The motion offense, the switching defense, the team effort on defensive rebonds, the release on steals, the avoidance of other teams fast breaks, the ball movement and so on. The rate of improvement with so many new components is mind boggling for me. It's not a predictor of future outcomes. It's an indication that the coaching staff has a nucleus of players that understand team play, can learn things quickly and can put out an effort to accomplish those goals.

Can they progress more? They still need improvement on multiple fronts but I believe these players have what it takes. Time will tell.

Do they have depth? No and that is a major weakness for now which is why it's imperative for Ice and Q to reach at least a degree of play that they can be substituted in for ten or more minutes without being a liability in the game.

Do we have a positional weakness? Yes. At the five and that cannot be fixed this season. But Geno is playing Ice and Aaliyah together in these games as a potential offset to the problem. I'm watching what other players he's playing with that combo. My gut tells me that when Ice and Aaliyah play together the players playing the most time with them should be Nika at point and Ashlynn and Paige at the wings.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

EIGHT turnovers. Eight! And the Huskies win the rebounding battle 32-21


View attachment 94235

Got to love the bench shooting @ 9 for 12, 3 for 4 from the arc, and 3 for 3 from the line. Crazy low # of turnovers, considering that 3 of the 8 turnovers were on three subs (one each) in the 15 player minutes (out of 200 mins). Just WOW after they were down by 6 in the second quarter...

 

[HuskyNan]

Let's all admit that this board suffers from an extreme case of recency bias. After a loss it's "Geno can't coach" and the sky is falling. Now after one good outstanding game Ashlynn is the best shooter in the history of UConn basketball. This team can be very good, but we need alot of things to all happen on a regular basis.

• Ashlynn really does become this year's Azzi Fudd, a designated, lights-out, no conscience shooter who can get you 20 points a night.
• Aubrey (the version from the past 2 games) shows up every night and doesn't lose her confidence or aggressiveness.
• Nika continues to knock down open 3's and adapts to being more of an off-guard.
• KK develops a shooting range beyond 5 feet and stops fouling everything that moves.
• Ice brings something... anything... off the bench. Stat lines with 10 minutes, 4 points and 2 rebounds are what we expect from Amari

'Liya and Paige I'm not worried about. But the rest of the crew has the capability to be really good... or really bad... on any given night. It wasn't too long ago (after one solid game) that Q was going to be this year's Ashlynn. Then she goes 0-5 and can't hit the ocean if she was standing on the end of a pier.

There will be a game this year where Ash goes 2-11, Aubrey disappears, Nika goes 1-3 with 7 turnovers, KK fouls out before halftime and Ice has more turnovers+fouls than points+rebounds. Because each of them can be just as bad as they are great. Hopefully as the season goes on the great games are far more frequent than the bad ones.

FWIW, Nika doesn't seem to be the same lockdown DPOY as she was the past few years. Her changing role on offense might have something to do with it? But it might also be that other teams resign themselves to playing one person short (or at less than full capacity) - sort of like what a lockdown DB does to an offense in football by taking away 1 of the other teams WR options. She has less opportunity for steals because fewer teams dare to challenge her.

One good game? Even though Ashlynn is 6th on the team in minutes played she has:

8.2 points per game (5th on team)
Is 2nd in 3 point attempts, tied for 3rd in three pointers made
Has 11 assists and only 6 turnovers, 1.83 A:TO
Only 11 fouls in 10 games

The ball doesn’t get stuck in her hand and she doesn’t need much time at all to set her feet. That pull up j was apparent early on and it’s a weapon that this team desperately needs. The kid has the mindset of a shooter - misses don’t seem to bother her - something that’s remarkable in a freshman.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Weird start tonight with Butler shooting 80% from 3, but the team really settled in nicely.
Another game where the team keyed off its defense, and more solid performances from the freshmen.
Ashlynn Shade was outstanding. She’s such a smart player.
And 2 very strong games in a row from Aubrey.
Loving the more consistent and fearless play.

Got to love Geno Playing Ash for 38 minutes in the XL [& she played eXtra Large] against Butler, located 14 miles from her hometown, playing against women (mostly) from the State of Indiana whom she "whupped" along the way for a State Championship as a Junior in High School at Noblesville, IN.

In this game, it appeared that her catch and release from beyond the arc is just as fast as AZZI's, and went 4 for 10, but was 5 for 5 inside the arc (mid-range and finishing at the rim). She definitely proved why Geno is starting her now - absoluely no hesitation!

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Butler is a major college job.....just sayin.

It is now! After getting ahead by 6, falling behind by 30+ and battlin' to the end....

Ten wins better in his first year, probably an WNIT deep run this year, and see what happens next....

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Great game from 2nd quarter on. The starting 5 should be , Paige, Aaliyah, Ashlynn, Nika and Aubrey with KK first off the bench. Check their scoring. GO HUSKIES!!!!!

I like Aubrey off the bench, as no team has an answer for her burst of energy, and speed to the hoop. After 4-5 minutes of full energy, Aubrey is fresh, and quicker when she is cutting into passing lanes and then it's off to the races [she does not lose those very often...]

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Maybe that is why Geno calls her "Ash" [besides her "burning" the opposition's defense]; don't worry about the "n's" - just take the 'W'!!! [....and don't throw shade, as Ash's pull up jump shot is deadly!]