UCONN-Creighton post game

[PAHuskeyFan]

Damn shame that Aubrey suffered her injury. I'm done thinking that all these injuries are bad luck/flukes or whatever other phrase you want to use. Something is very wrong within the program as far as strength and conditioning goes. These are premier athletes that are going down with significant knee injuries , almost every one via non-contact. Other programs have had players suffer knee injuries but not on the same scale and as often as UConn.

And here it goes... The BY Medical Staff is on the case.

 

[SLY63]

So let's see ... next game our "injured starting lineup" will be

G - Azzi
G - Caroline
F - Aubrey
F - Ayanna
C - Jana

 

[browns]

First, hopes and prayers for Aubrey - but it did not look good. Even Meg and Alan were like "ugh. We've seen this way to often with UCONN". Had to be helped off the floor. Really cast a pall over the rest of the game. Post game you could tell Geno was really down about it.

It would be easy to look at the first half offensive explosion of 53 points and say "wow the team played great", and to a degree they did. I thought Paige especially, and KK/Aaliyah all played tremendously well. 6-8 from 3, 66% overall shooting, holding Creighton to 32 points and 3-13 from 3. I thought the defense was particularly active and they tried really hard to close out and defend the 3 as well as they could. But Geno did mention Paige being too unselfish - and several times she passed up shots only to let someone else try, and miss, wasting the offensive possession. And Nika reverted back to making bad passes and poor decisions with the ball.

You always get the feeling Creighton could make a run, and boy do they jack up the 3's. But again, loved getting them into foul trouble. 3 of their starters with 2 fouls each in the first half. I think a lot of problems Creighton had came from UCONN making them play even faster than they wanted. The defense really was swarming, helping, and for the most part really good. 3rd quarter was meh. A bit of sloppy play and miscues. Great end to the quarter tho with a pressure turnover, nice save by Ice, and basket by Ash. And I'm just gonna say it (even if i get fined... LOL). The refs sucked. Paige and especially Liya were absolutely mugged in the post, but Nika breathes on a player and she's called for a foul? 14 total fouls called in the 3rd quarter alone.

• Paige - ridiculous stats - 24 points, 7 assists, 5 boards, 4 steals, 0 blocks (slacker!!). All this and I bet Geno still thinks she is too unselfish.
• I swear Liya had more boards than she was credited for. It seemed like she was snatching them down on almost every play. Great all around game from her. Double double yet again.
• Ash did what Ash does - a do everything player who plays 100% every second she's on the floor. Not only a stat stuffer, but a strong guard and terrific rebounder. She and KK were terrific.
• KK would be higher up due to her great play in the first half, but really - too many fouls. Good to see Geno talk to her after #4, and her to sit with an unhappy face on the bench. Something to learn from. And I'm guessing she did - came back in the 4th and really contributed. So impressed with her composure and maturity especially as a freshman.
• Ice looked much better, and even tho she was not great or even very good, her play so far this year has been disappointing enough that signs of life recently has been impressive, and will be much needed if what we fear is the worst news for Aubrey. She was solid, made good plays and choices, and hopefully is on the way up. She just looked more comfortable out there.
• Q - for all Geno's talk about her upside being so high, did not see that as much as hoped today. She will be sorely needed going forward. Nice seeing her drain a few shots late. She just needs to put it all together - the potential is there!
• Nika - 7 assists, 5 boards, and some great decisions separated by seriously bone headed turnovers. Still, mega congrats on her 500th assist. She is such a hard worker and bleeds blue forever.
• Nice seeing Ines and Amari get in - you'd expect that with a 40 point lead. But... and this sort of epitomizes their play. Amari was posting up. Ines threw a pass that was a tad too high for her. TO Ines. But instead of moving forward and leaping for the pass, Amari pulled hands back as if to say "i don't want it to go out of bounds off me". The problem was the pass came from Ines so it was already off a UCONN player. I doubt she could have caught the pass, but not to try - sort of sums up a lot of her game.

Came out strong in the 4th quarter. Actually, the team played really well after Aubrey's injury. Held Creighton to under 17% from 3 for the game. That's incredible. And we shot 47% from 3 and almost 81% from the FT line. Cannot complain at all about the MOV or how they defended Creighton. Much of the game was incredibly well played, especially for long stretches in the first half, and the 4th quarter. And they made a concerted effort to really get out and harass Creighton from beyond the arc. Overall a really solid game marred by potentially another devastating injury.

Wow it's like reading a novel

 

[cancontent]

And here it goes... The BY Medical Staff is on the case.

Nothing you can do. Doesn't matter how many times it's noted that many programs are going through this, fans will see or remember things how they want to.

 

[meyers7]

The five injured players as a starting lineup would be ranked. Ridiculous bad luck.

No, sorry. It's beyond "bad luck" at this point. Something is wrong.

 

[Ozimoto]

Sometimes I wonder if the soles of these engineered basketball shoes are too "sticky" resulting in increased rotational stresses on the knee. Seems like so many of these knee injuries are non-contact related.

 

[MilfordHusky]

So let's see ... next game our "injured starting lineup" will be

G - Azzi
G - Caroline
F - Aubrey
F - Ayanna
C - Jana

They are the 1 seed in the Rehab League.

Best wishes to all of them!

 

[msf22b]

A word on the Paige/Clark comparisons and controversy.
I think its just grand that we have two of the greatest shooting guards in the history of the sport active at the same time,

And I'm saving my ammunition because these two will be playing against each other for years.

It is such a pleasure seeing each operate within the constraints (hardly) ...better: requirements of the systems they find themselves within.

The POTY will unfold as the season progresses, I think if things continue at this pace, Paige might still prevail...possible...

But, if Caitlin wins, it will hardly be an injustice.

Two spectacular players.

 

[Bone Dog]

A leadership moment:
At 3:21 in the second, KK is fouled on a drive and the team gathers to help her up before the free throws. Q begins to move away before they’ve held their usual huddle and Aaliyah reaches out to pull her back with a hand on the waist. It’s what seniors do for freshmen.

 

[jeff30189]

SLY63- - -Ice's development was really held back by missing last year! She hasn't gotten used to the speed and aggression of the college game yet! But tonight she looked much better playing not thinking!

Maybe. But then how do you explain the speed at which the other freshmen have acclimated to the change? Ice was as heavily touted and recruited as any of the others. With Aubrey going down now is her chance to step up; no more training wheels and coddling and excuses. Prove the doubters wrong now that we're into conference play and the matchups should be UCONN -30 every game.

 

[oldude]

Maybe. But then how do you explain the speed at which the other freshmen have acclimated to the change? Ice was as heavily touted and recruited as any of the others. With Aubrey going down now is her chance to step up; no more training wheels and coddling and excuses. Prove the doubters wrong now that we're into conference play and the matchups should be UCONN -30 every game.

There is no substitute for actually playing the game, whether in HS or college. Ice did not play a single game last season while the freshmen all played complete seasons, all star games, etc.

Even Paige was a bit rusty at the start of the season after sitting out the entire 2022-23 season. Paige has had the opportunity to play her way back into form. Hopefully, Ice will have a similar opportunity as the season progresses.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Nothing you can do. Doesn't matter how many times it's noted that many programs are going through this, fans will see or remember things how they want to.

Some folks just have to have somebody to blame...

 

[RedStickHusky]

Maybe. But then how do you explain the speed at which the other freshmen have acclimated to the change? Ice was as heavily touted and recruited as any of the others. With Aubrey going down now is her chance to step up; no more training wheels and coddling and excuses. Prove the doubters wrong now that we're into conference play and the matchups should be UCONN -30 every game.

It's a more difficult adjustment for bigs. Backcourt players see the same game sped up; most D1 bigs come in accustomed to being the only big on the court. It's a new game.

 

[BRS24]

Maybe. But then how do you explain the speed at which the other freshmen have acclimated to the change? Ice was as heavily touted and recruited as any of the others. With Aubrey going down now is her chance to step up; no more training wheels and coddling and excuses. Prove the doubters wrong now that we're into conference play and the matchups should be UCONN -30 every game.

Lots of times when players have injuries, there's no hard and fast length of time it takes for them to trust that the repaired "thing" is gonna work ok, and that it won't happen again, and then there's the syncing of physical and mental state to do things without even thinking. It's different for everyone. Ice's injury was at the end of October 2023, and with some knee issues, it can take up to a year for things to meld. Depending on when she was physically and mentally 100% ok will impact when things on the court will look like she was never injured. And, adding on, she missed the entire freshman year, as when you play, make mistakes, learn by doing, getting a little or a lot of playing time, which would have been foundational for this year, her sophomore year. Many have said that the freshman to sophomore leap of improvement is the most important timeframe.

Look at Paige. She injured her knee in August 2023, and although was practicing with the team, did not play during the european trip, which was a year after her injury, which some say is when you are ready to return. She did not. Perhaps players and the coaching staff know when that is. We don't.

 

[donalddoowop]

It was a tremendous performance by the team, but it's hard for me to feel anything right now but a deep sadness and empathy for Aubrey.

I know this is just a game and the world is a whole lot bigger than basketball, but nonetheless I feel the emotional wallop.

I must have missed it. Has there been an update on Aubrey's injury?

 

[DefenseBB]

I have been thinking about the NPOY, and while I agree with you that Clark is currently in the driver’s seat, I can envision a scenario where Paige edges her out. First off, the Iowa-MSU game demonstrated that the Hawkeyes are absolutely vulnerable this year. If Iowa loses 3-4 games this year in the BIG, particularly if Clark has to put up 30+ shots and hits a mediocre % in the process, some of the folks who vote on these awards will start to ponder alternatives.

Enter Paige Bueckers, the consensus NPOY from 3 years ago. If Paige continues to play like she’s been playing, leading her depleted team through the BE undefeated, beating ND at home, and most importantly, finding some way to beat an undefeated SC on the road with say a miracle 3-pt shot from Paige that bounces 10’ in the air and goes in, then maybe, just maybe Paige steals the NPOY from Clark.

Oh, my friend, thanks for the chuckle on this rationale yet hopeful observation. The AP poll voting shows that the voters simply don't put that much effort into analytics as evidenced by Colorado's #5 ranking (#36 SoS), Stanford at #8 yet their SoS is 12, so why lower than Colorado? FSU at #22 (#59), Virginia Tech #13 (#185), TCU #23 (#241), Syracuse #25 (#170), North Carolina #26 (#56), Oregon State #28 (#238), Texas A&M #30 (#185), Miami #32 (#123), Miss State #36 (#200), Vandy #36 (#190) and egregiously Davidson #34 (#248).

All the voters will care is what is Caitlin's scoring average, how much did she break the NCAA scoring record by and does Iowa win the Big 10. All the rest is just not relevant to them.

 

[The deacon]

So if Paige doubled her shot total from 12 to 24, she would probably have gone for 48 pts tonight and still been 10 shots short of the kid from Iowa who went for 40 last night.

Just sayin….

You know it doesn't work like that, Oldude... let's just celebrate Paige's brilliance and efficiency. No need to disparage a brilliant 'kid,' whose name, since it apparently slipped your mind, is Caitlin Clark.

 

[uconnfan68]

Maybe. But then how do you explain the speed at which the other freshmen have acclimated to the change? Ice was as heavily touted and recruited as any of the others. With Aubrey going down now is her chance to step up; no more training wheels and coddling and excuses. Prove the doubters wrong now that we're into conference play and the matchups should be UCONN -30 every game.

The lack of acclimation to the speed is directly on her injury. Physically she might be 100%, but she’s not ready mentally yet. It takes a while to lose the inhibitions from devastating injuries.

 

[Rowdy831]

When a player goes down it gives another player an opportunity they might not have otherwise. Last year was a great example and Lou made the most of it. You hope Aubrey is going to be okay but based on history she may be gone for a while and that will give Ice a chance to shine without the normal pressure.

This team is showing they are a handful when they match up and in league I don't see anyone beating this group. Paige to me is a great basketball player and is working her way to the number 1 pick in the draft. Her efficiency is exactly what teams want and need at the next level.

 

[CL82]

Love our freshmen, really love those guys

It's kind of funny because if either Shade or Arnold were alone in the class, we would be marveling about them, maybe dubbing them with the seemingly ubiquitous "generational player." But because they are together, we think that "the freshmen are doing well."

KK is an incredible player whose game is growing in leaps and bounds as she understands the college game better. She is a gifted athlete who is now beginning to show a surprisingly good basketball IQ. She plays with a speed and intensity that is a blast to watch.

Yet, in some ways, I feel like her game is overshadowed by Ashlynn. Certainly, her sharpshooting is exactly what we need and a pleasure to watch, but it is the unbridled joy that she has playing the game that is just so contagious. That and her energy, being 100% in every moment of the game makes her a special player.

Q definitely gets overshadowed by the two of them. She is physically younger and still looks like a highschooler in many respects, but, I think that she may end up being a special player at UConn. She has a shooters mentality in that she's always looking to put it in the hoop. She has good range and will allow the team to spread the floor as her game develops.

So, yeah, Nan I love the freshman as well. What a terrific class!

 

[The deacon]

Wow it's like reading a novel

But a good one, at that...

 

[CL82]

The lack of acclimation to the speed is directly on her injury. Physically she might be 100%, but she’s not ready mentally yet. It takes a while to lose the inhibitions from devastating injuries.

I'm not sure if it is residual from her injury, or maybe a loss of conditioning while she was out, but she definitely looks a step slow out there. Last night, though, she did look a little better. Hopefully, with additional playing time, she will continue to develop.

 

[DefenseBB]

You're a good man, Charlie Brown

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

Hey, you two, get a room!

 

[BRS24]

Another teammate. . .

Woke up at 3 am thinking about this, and glad UConn did it. Let them circle the wagons, deal with another setback privately. Although there was a lot of exuberance showing after AG's injury, once the game is over, reality sets in.

 

[Skeets]

Qadence is now the key. She is the player who has the potential to replace Aubrey. She will be subbing for four players in the rotation.

Many of us have been saying that Q has a great upside. I'm hoping we lose the word "upside" and just say Q is playing great. If there was ever a time for Q to come into her own, the time is now. Go Q go!