UConn - Butler Post Game Thread

[EricLA]

Such an odd game to start - a nice win in the end. Butler is MUCH improved. I think their new coach will have a lot of success there. Butler was en fugo from 3 - especially in the 1st half. I found myself saying "um... how about guarding the arc???!". Butler ended up shooting 62% FROM 3, but at one point were 83%. That's insane. Good for them (not so good for us)... But after a tight first quarter, UCONN seemed to adjust and kept the pressure on defensively while continuing with the hot shooting pretty much all game. Butler didn't wilt tho. Outscored 10-2 to start Q4, they battled back a bit, only to have the hammer dropped back on them, then they battled some more - right to the end.

• Every player NOT named Ice and Liya attempted, and hit, a 3. Shot over 40%.
• 10-12 on FT's is much better!
• Only 8 total TO's! Much better as well!
• Paige was the distributor tonight with a majority of the assists, but how nice to see Nika NOT sharing the ball with her teammates AND the other team. Only 1 block for Paige - slacker!
• Speaking of Nika, the 3 ball was falling for her tonight. I wonder if her lower assist total was a conscious effort not to throw the ball away as much which impacted her assists? Still, more in control game for sure.
• Really solid game for Ash. She's just so fundamentally sound, and while she nailed some 3's (awesome), her pull up jumper is money. It seems that she's better at shooting 3's when getting a pass and her feet are almost set as opposed to coming off screens. Just an observation, not a criticism. 22 points from the freshman?? Woohoo!! Oh, and 4 assists. The girl can ball!! She's my POG.
• Aubrey is a game changer off the bench. A joy to watch when she's dialed in on both sides of the ball.
• Speaking of the bench, how nice to see the other 2/3 of the bench contribute in a positive way on the score board? Both Ice and Q knocking in some shots. They also had a few boards, assists, and steals. Their contributions will be NEEDED as we continue on with the season so hopefully this game gave them some confidence.
• Liya was a monster on the boards. At one point she had 10 and no one else on the team had more than 1. Ended up with a double-double.
• Root hard for Amari and Ines, but they came in and both instantly had a TO. Not the way to earn more PT.

Bottom line - a solid game where I think they can take away way more good than bad. I'm sure Geno will review the game tape with the players for areas of improvement, but overall a solid win against a much improved team.

 

[HuskyNan]

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

 

[Bone Dog]

 

[jcoton56]

No one is going home hungry.

 

[Bone Dog]

Jinx

 

[LarryLegend]

any news on what might be ailing Nika

 

[victor64]

-Austin Parkinson will eventually get a major college job. His transformation of this program in a short time is obvious. UCONN was just awesome for the last three quarters.
-I think the way Shade played tonight will quickly become the norm for her over the next four years.
-Geno commented at half that Aaliyah has to kick the ball out when she is double teamed. Teams are swarming her and she is forcing things. She is also getting hammered without fouls being called
-Another slow start defensively. Butler shot threes wonderfully but they were getting great looks. They fixed it quickly however.
-Paige is on the short list of the most unselfish stars ever. She doesn’t pass up many open looks but has no problem giving it up to open teammates.
-Ice showed some life. Happy for her to maybe finally settling down some.
-Nika was better with her passes tonight. Paused a little before making a pass.
-Geno has found his rotation. What an improvement since Texas.

 

[oldude]

A couple thoughts on a nice win over a pretty good Butler team:

• Ashlynn is doing a lot of really nice things on the court: scoring, passing and defense. In just 4 games as a starter, she has already raised her game to another level…..and she’s put her name in the hat for next week’s BE FOW…
• It’s almost like UConn has another gear they shift into after a slow start on defense. Some of that has to do with Aubrey entering the game off the bench, but I would really like to see the starting 5 put the hammer down on D from the opening tip.
• We should start another BY contest for how many seconds Q is in the game before she fires up her first 3-pt shot. Tonight, it was about 5 seconds and she buried it.
• UConn did a much better job taking care of the ball tonight. The Huskies dished out 24 assists while committing only 8 turnovers.
• You had to wonder who else on this UConn team could support Paige by hitting shots from deep with both Azzi & Caroline out. So far this season, the Huskies are shooting 3's by committee, with Aubrey, KK, Q, Ashlynn and Nika all getting in on the act. Nika, in particular, has really improved her 3-pt shooting going 14/33 (42%) this season.

 

[pghhuskydoc]

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.

 

[maple]

Was watching the game on my phone but then had to switch to following on ESPN — that’s when UConn took the lead and ran away for the rest of the game.

Paige, AG, Ashlynn, and AE all with some really great games. AE’s last play in the paint was inspired. Love seeing the offense come together; I know it’s Butler and not SCar but every little bit counts and the more everyone performs well on offense and things start clicking, the better the team will continue to do.

 

[jaydee602]

Out of necessity, Geno has probably been riding his freshman much harder in practice than he had palnned. Instead of pouting or losing confidence from the criticism, these star players have learned quickly & responded by improving every game. It shows their talented, determined pedigree.
KUDOS!

 

[kidfrom360]

Good game! Way to make some good in game adjustments! Also, what a game for Ashlyn! She is really coming into her own. I love her game, she is just fun to watch. Seems like she is having fun out there. Looking at the stats, I think we just need to start having more controlled aggression. We only shot 10 free throws all game, I would love for us to double that each game and that starts by attacking the hoop in a smart way and making the refs make the call. Overall good game though! One more and then we get a break!

 

[oldude]

-Austin Parkinson will eventually get a major college job.

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

 

[Bone Dog]

This game was close at first because Butler shot the lights out from 3 (87%), and then they got tired and Paige Ashlyn Aaliyah and Aubrey took the game over.

Ashlynn scored 22 on 9-15 shooting and 4-10 from 3, with 4 assists. This was a Paige-game
Paige scored 16 on 5-9 shooting with 7 assists
Aaliyah had 12 pts and 12 rebounds and really just shut the door in the second half
Aubrey 14 pts on 5-6 with 4 rebounds 3 assists and 4 steals. She was a force of nature, and shut down their hot perimeter shooter, Rachel Kent who hit 4-4 from 3 in the 1st quarter

 

[Redux]

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).

 

[Zarathustra]

-Austin Parkinson will eventually get a major college job. His transformation of this program in a short time is obvious. UCONN was just awesome for the last three quarters.
-I think the way Shade played tonight will quickly become the norm for her over the next four years.
-Geno commented at half that Aaliyah has to kick the ball out when she is double teamed. Teams are swarming her and she is forcing things. She is also getting hammered without fouls being called
-Another slow start defensively. Butler shot threes wonderfully but they were getting great looks. They fixed it quickly however.
-Paige is on the short list of the most unselfish stars ever. She doesn’t pass up many open looks but has no problem giving it up to open teammates.
-Ice showed some life. Happy for her to maybe finally settling down some.
-Nika was better with her passes tonight. Paused a little before making a pass.
-Geno has found his rotation. What an improvement since Texas.

Proud of Ashlynn, pleased with KK, ICE!! (her cold shooting is "melting") and cool ( i. e. HOT 3 pointers) game from "Q" . CONTINUE
the Same on Wednesday in " O, CANADA" !!

 

[tchalla1]

Such an odd game to start - a nice win in the end. Butler is MUCH improved. I think their new coach will have a lot of success there. Butler was en fugo from 3 - especially in the 1st half. I found myself saying "um... how about guarding the arc???!". Butler ended up shooting 62% FROM 3, but at one point were 83%. That's insane. Good for them (not so good for us)... But after a tight first quarter, UCONN seemed to adjust and kept the pressure on defensively while continuing with the hot shooting pretty much all game. Butler didn't wilt tho. Outscored 10-2 to start Q4, they battled back a bit, only to have the hammer dropped back on them, then they battled some more - right to the end.

• Every player NOT named Ice and Liya attempted, and hit, a 3. Shot over 40%.
• 10-12 on FT's is much better!
• Only 8 total TO's! Much better as well!
• Paige was the distributor tonight with a majority of the assists, but how nice to see Nika NOT sharing the ball with her teammates AND the other team. Only 1 block for Paige - slacker!
• Speaking of Nika, the 3 ball was falling for her tonight. I wonder if her lower assist total was a conscious effort not to throw the ball away as much which impacted her assists? Still, more in control game for sure.
• Really solid game for Ash. She's just so fundamentally sound, and while she nailed some 3's (awesome), her pull up jumper is money. It seems that she's better at shooting 3's when getting a pass and her feet are almost set as opposed to coming off screens. Just an observation, not a criticism. 22 points from the freshman?? Woohoo!! Oh, and 4 assists. The girl can ball!! She's my POG.
• Aubrey is a game changer off the bench. A joy to watch when she's dialed in on both sides of the ball.
• Speaking of the bench, how nice to see the other 2/3 of the bench contribute in a positive way on the score board? Both Ice and Q knocking in some shots. They also had a few boards, assists, and steals. Their contributions will be NEEDED as we continue on with the season so hopefully this game gave them some confidence.
• Liya was a monster on the boards. At one point she had 10 and no one else on the team had more than 1. Ended up with a double-double.
• Root hard for Amari and Ines, but they came in and both instantly had a TO. Not the way to earn more PT.

Bottom line - a solid game where I think they can take away way more good than bad. I'm sure Geno will review the game tape with the players for areas of improvement, but overall a solid win against a much improved team.

As to your last bullet on Amari and Ines with TOs--if you've ever played competitive basketball, please understand that it is extremely difficult, coming off the bench cold and then perform at an efficient level. I guess I understand why Amari gets so little playing time, but it's unfortunate the same for Ines because last year, she showed her comparable worth in several games...

 

[Centerstream]

Not to rain on our parade, but I am looking forward to how Butler does against the rest of the BE. I think that they will surprise some teams.
Another game where I was freaking out because it seemed like we weren't going to get separation in the score even though it seemed we were playing very good. Luckily for my heart, it did happen.
Loved the starting lineup's game, Aubrey being Aubrey again and the contributions by Ice and Q.
Another game that I am looking forward to watching again tomorrow courtesy of @MJL243 's replay.

 

[mmeade258]

I AM SOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY FOR ASHLYN!!!!!!

 

[mmeade258]

ASHLYN SHADE OR ASHLYN FUDD!!!???

 

[Next 12]

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!!!!!

 

[pk1234]

Butler's going to wish they saved some of that shooting for Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, etc.

 

[LarryLegend]

As to your last bullet on Amari and Ines with TOs--if you've ever played competitive basketball, please understand that it is extremely difficult, coming off the bench cold and then perform at an efficient level. I guess I understand why Amari gets so little playing time, but it's unfortunate the same for Ines because last year, she showed her comparable worth in several games...

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