UConn-Dayton postgame thread

[Fairfield Fan]

KK Arnold reminds me of Odyssey Sims during her freshman year at Baylor: size, stocky, muscular physique, talent and aggression. Looks like an All American to me.

 

[BRS24]

First game Ice was a disappointment. Hope that passes.

A disappointment to whom, you? Someone else? Were you expecting a double-double in her first game?

I'd like to offer another way to look at Ice's first regular season game as a Husky, as she's pretty much at the same level as the freshmen. Perhaps it was nerves. She laughed at herself for missing a layup. It's not easy playing for Geno, playing for this team. Sometimes the players make it look easy. From a post presence, Aaliyah will be the primary focus, as she's a senior, and the expectations are that she plays this well (or better) every night.

Right now, Geno & the staff are trying to figure out all the best combos of lineups, sub patterns, etc, so I didn't read much into who did what, who didn't do what, etc, etc. After last season, I've learned not to have unrealistic expectations as there is too much not in anyone's control, so last night I cheered, had a few "ughs", laughed, and enjoyed watching the team play some pretty good hoop for the first game.

 

[The deacon]

More players = fewer minutes = less chance of injuries

The 2 players whose FG% worry me least are Paige and Azzi. Azzi shot 42.8% on threes yesterday. Her aggressiveness driving to the basket isn’t new but coming off screens for drives and rebounding for putbacks is. Give her a couple games to settle in.

Nika looked good doing going to the basket last night. Terrific growth by her. Some help handling the ball has taken a lot of pressure off her and she’s thriving so far.

Agreed, Nan, and well said about Paige. My point about Azzi is simply that we all project performances and accolades from and for her that have not consistently come to fruition yet... hopefully, this season!

About Nika, yes, she has reached a maturity at just the right time to capitalize on a much more comfortable role this season. I'm looking forward to seeing her being both an improved scorer and sharing leadership.

 

[wingsfan055]

My key takeaways. Starters looked good and healthy for the most part. Liked how CD and AG played in particular given their recent injuries. They will be relied on heavily to play the 4.

KK showed she belongs. She has "plus" quickness and tenacity. She blew a layup after a great drive. A few minutes later, she made a more difficult drive to the basket. We need her skillset to "speed up" the game.

Q showed she has a smooth stroke. Can she do it against a press defender with length? Can she create her own shot?

Ice looked nervous and seemed to be slowed by her injury recovery. She did have open looks which is a good sign. I dont think Geno has much choice but to give her minutes considering we are so thin on the front line.

Sunday against NC State will be a much more realistic picture of where we are. How will this offense operate in a half-court with actual defenders pressing the perimeter? Will we have enough cohesion and passing to score efficiently? Will we be able to hold our own on the boards? Daley's comments about the team being undersized was very concerning, even though it's obvious to see. The hope is that a rotation of AG, CD, Ice, and Patterson will be enough to play the 4 position. Pray to the heavens that AE doesnt get hurt or get in foul trouble against good teams!

 

[Charliebball]

Loved what KK did....just loved it!

She performed as advertised........she's fast, shifty and fearless.........if her outside shot is consistent, she will be a royal pain to guard.......I expect her to get 15 minutes plus per game............like Aubrey, she's a game changer.........

 

[Jewels]

A disappointment to whom, you? Someone else? Were you expecting a double-double in her first game?

I'd like to offer another way to look at Ice's first regular season game as a Husky, as she's pretty much at the same level as the freshmen. Perhaps it was nerves. She laughed at herself for missing a layup. It's not easy playing for Geno, playing for this team. Sometimes the players make it look easy. From a post presence, Aaliyah will be the primary focus, as she's a senior, and the expectations are that she plays this well (or better) every night.

Right now, Geno & the staff are trying to figure out all the best combos of lineups, sub patterns, etc, so I didn't read much into who did what, who didn't do what, etc, etc. After last season, I've learned not to have unrealistic expectations as there is too much not in anyone's control, so last night I cheered, had a few "ughs", laughed, and enjoyed watching the team play some pretty good hoop for the first game.

I would add that this was Ice's first college game after being out with injury for well over a year! Not a disappointment in any regard.

 

[sun]

Edwards' 23 points in 23 minutes shows how much offense she provides & puts her on track to be a 1st team AA this year.
But I hope she doesn't become too much of the focus of better teams trying to stop our offense.

Dayton essentially has the same team as last year when they averaged 65.2 points per game against much weaker teams.
UConn's defense didn't slown down their offense very much since we were only able to prevent them from scoring 7 points despite all of our athleticism.
That's sort of surprising considering how many boards, blocks & steals we had.
In this game UConn relied on a high powered offense & a fast pace to achieve the blowout.
All of the substitutions helped to keep up our pace & to find who would provide a hot hand.

It was nice to see everyone available get to play like in the exhibition game.

 

[Bone Dog]

My prediction:

Ice will find her stroke and her confidence very quickly. She's a strong girl with good handles who moves well and rebounds well. In effect, she's Aaliyah 2.0. I expect she'll hold her own with opposing bigs in February and March, she'll be an effective sub for Aaliyah, and an excellent front court partner when they're on the floor together.

I hope Ayanna comes back soon. She's already got a year of UConn experience and she's as strong as anyone in D1. She already plays good post defense. It's just a question of her finding her offensive confidence now. She'll be an important part of the frontcourt solution.

Also, @sun , I'm not at all moved by Dayton's scoring. They finished with an 8-0 run in the final 2;00 against our weakest lineup. This is unrepresentative. I'm more struck by quarters 1-3 when we held them to 12-40 fg shooting. We played suffocating defense especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. That's what we'll see much more of.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

My prediction:

Ice will find her stroke and her confidence very quickly. She's a strong girl with good handles who moves well and rebounds well. In effect, she's Aaliyah 2.0. I expect she'll hold her own with opposing bigs in February and March, she'll be an effective sub for Aaliyah, and an excellent front court partner when they're on the floor together.

I hope Ayanna comes back soon. She's already got a year of UConn experience and she's as strong as anyone in D1. She already plays good post defense. It's just a question of her finding her offensive confidence now. She'll be an important part of the frontcourt solution.

Agreed. This is a time when playing in a conference like the Big East is a benefit. Ayanna being out early season isn't as much of a detriment because there will be a lot of opportunities to reintegrate her into the rotation come January and February if she is slow to return this fall.

 

[Longtime fan]

A couple thoughts:

• Geno played a 10 player rotation through much of the game with lots of different player combinations and, for the most part, the level of execution was very good. Until the last couple minutes the Huskies had 23 assists and only 5 turnovers. It got a little sloppy when Geno emptied his bench in the last several minutes, but I was impressed at how well everyone played together.
• UConn's defense and energy really picks up when Aubrey is in the game. When Aubrey, Nika and KK are all in the game together, UConn's defense is suffocating.
• OK, who had KK to lead the team in assists tonight?

Everyone has to be pleased with the outing against Dayton. Sure, Paige is rusty and trying to do too much too early. But that will come She has barely been on a court with many of these players. The freshman were highly impressive;. Each, in their own way. KK has a speed element we are not use to seeing. Qadance shot better than I imagined. And Shade is smart, hard working, relentless and can score at will. Edwards and the other regulars were as good as advertised, if sloppy from time to time. But Dayton played a very physical game. I liked what I saw from Ice Brady. She will improve game to game. I must add, however, that DeBerry played as though she is still hampered by whatever injury/surgery she had. She turned the ball over far too easily, and seemed barely able to move up and down the court. Hope she is okay. Does anyone know when the green light goes on for Patterson?

 

[sun]

Also, @sun , I'm not at all moved by Dayton's scoring. They finished with an 8-0 run in the final 2;00 against our weakest lineup. This is unrepresentative. I'm more struck by quarters 1-3 when we held them to 12-40 fg shooting. We played suffocating defense especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. That's what we'll see much more of.

UConn only exceeded 100 points once last year against Seton Hall yet already scored over 100 in its 1st game.
Both the defense & all of the substitutions helped to keep up the fast pace which allowed it to happen.
Having more PG's on the court also helped to facilitate the offense.
The faster pace helped Dayton have more possessions but overall the pace allowed for more UConn offense, especially thanks to those players with a hot hand.
The players with higher scoring may change from game to game but I suspect that UConn will try to keep up the faster pace of play.
Geno was pleased with the pace in his commenets.
We'll see if UConn can exceed last year's scoring average of 75.9 points per game.

For Geno to even play 12 in a game is quite remarkable.
If 13 were available he would have let all 13 play.
IMO the faster pace provided more scoring opportunities.

 

[Rb335]

Random memory that I have. I believe Uconn once received the same administrative technical for not having Meghan Gardner listed in the book.

 

[BRS24]

UConn only exceeded 100 points once last year against Seton Hall yet already scored over 100 in its 1st game.
Both the defense & all of the substitutions helped to keep up the fast pace which allowed it to happen.
Having more PG's on the court also helped to facilitate the offense.
The faster pace helped Dayton have more possessions but overall the pace allowed for more UConn offense, especially thanks to those players with a hot hand.
The players with higher scoring may change from game to game but I suspect that UConn will try to keep up the faster pace of play.
Geno was pleased with the pace in his commenets.
We'll see if UConn can exceed last year's scoring average of 75.9 points per game.

For Geno to even play 12 in a game is quite remarkable.
If 13 were available he would have let all 13 play.
IMO the faster pace provided more scoring opportunities.

Great points about having the opportunity to sub in fresh legs. Players don't have to hold anything back, thinking they will be playing 35-40 mpg.

 

[PacoSwede]

More players = fewer minutes = less chance of injuries

The 2 players whose FG% worry me least are Paige and Azzi. Azzi shot 42.8% on threes yesterday. Her aggressiveness driving to the basket isn’t new but coming off screens for drives and rebounding for putbacks is. Give her a couple games to settle in.

Nika looked good doing going to the basket last night. Terrific growth by her. Some help handling the ball has taken a lot of pressure off her and she’s thriving so far.

the way i see it is that the deacon was saying azzi has the potential to be an all-american, but she hasn't been ... and yet lots of BYers are in the camp that azzi is an AA. 'taint so.

personally, i don't like giving azzi a pass while others on the team are not given full credit for their importance to the team. it minimizes their contributions: nika finally gets plaudits, as does liya, but to me aubrey deserves similar notice ... and if she's beaten the injury bug, so does caroline. azzi should get such recognition too, but many here are delusional -- not about her potential, but her actual performance. it's very good at times, but she's yet to be at aa level.

getting piping hot at times doesn't make it. hell, at times Aubrey and nika could qualify ... liya already has, like paige.

and like the deacon, i think azzi is great and i love that she's a huskie, but she's got a way to go before i'm willing to say she's AA.

 

[sun]

Also, @sun , I'm not at all moved by Dayton's scoring. They finished with an 8-0 run in the final 2;00 against our weakest lineup. This is unrepresentative. I'm more struck by quarters 1-3 when we held them to 12-40 fg shooting. We played suffocating defense especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. That's what we'll see much more of.

P.S. Last year's scoring average of UConn opponents was 58.8 points per game.
UConn also cut down on a lot of turnovers.
Last year UConn averaged 16.4 TO's per game & only had 8 against Dayton.
It's a great start especially considering how many played for UConn & handled the ball.

 

[Surly1]

Lots of good thoughts, Surly1, but I'm curious whom the two All-American guards are... if you're referring to Azzi, you might be interested to know that I believe the only post-season honor she's earned in two seasons (much of it due to injury, for sure), was all-Big East freshmen for 2021-22.

She has yet to even get honorable mention all-Big East (again, due to injury) and isn't on the radar for all-American honors.

We Boneyarders like to project, for sure, and we all hope Azzi will improve her shooting to the level that many of us already wrongly believe she's achieved.

I suspect this post will earn me an 'Azzi hater' tag, which is miles and miles from the truth. I'm a huge admirer of the young woman, but we should save those All-American labels for those who have earned them, at this point Aaliyah as a third-team A-A and Paige for what she achieved in '20-21, and root for Azzi to rise to that standard.

Thanks Deacon for pointing out my overzealousness. I should have said two All-American talents or All-American capable. From coast to coast, the women's game is loaded with talent, so it will be difficult to have 2 players listed in the top 15 (All-American), let alone 3 players.

 

[Notyetready]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

During a timeout At 59:33
Jana grooves to the music and Ayanna notices and then has a secret smile. Priceless.

 

[uconnfan68]

UConn did what was expected last night. Looking at the team there will be a lot of games where double digit players will play in the game but when they play the big teams it will be 8 or less. This team won't be limited by talent that's for sure and I think you might see that 5th player change depending on who the opponent is that night.

I read a lot of great comments on the game and some that said Paige wouldn't be a scorer this year. Well that one I completely disagree with since she is the best shooter they have in game situations. When they are playing schools that have an outside chance of beating UConn Paige will show up and show up big. Her and Aaliyah are both great players you can count on when the game is on the line.

Nika seems to know and be comfortable with her role and eventually Azzi will fall into her role without the team having to force her into shooting every time she gets the ball. When that happens this team goes from being great to being unbeatable. I would not be surprised if last night was at or below their shooting average for the year once it is all said and done. My last thought is that eventually you will see Aaliyah and Ice on the floor at the same time. Right now I see Ice as the only player who can sub for Aaliyah without a great reduction of size.

Last sentence is key to the year. I think Aubrey will need to play a little more at the 4, just to help rebounding. Just don’t see Caroline mixing it up down low.

 

[mhshuskies]

Gotta love Caroline Ducharme, every time she came out of the game, she immediately sat next to CD (original) and was picking her brain continue to learn.

 

[mhshuskies]

What will be Ines roll, she always looks comfortable when she comes in the game, but with so many guards where will the minutes be available for her?

 

[Willowglen]

My prediction:

Ice will find her stroke and her confidence very quickly. She's a strong girl with good handles who moves well and rebounds well. In effect, she's Aaliyah 2.0. I expect she'll hold her own with opposing bigs in February and March, she'll be an effective sub for Aaliyah, and an excellent front court partner when they're on the floor together.

I hope Ayanna comes back soon. She's already got a year of UConn experience and she's as strong as anyone in D1. She already plays good post defense. It's just a question of her finding her offensive confidence now. She'll be an important part of the frontcourt solution.

Also, @sun , I'm not at all moved by Dayton's scoring. They finished with an 8-0 run in the final 2;00 against our weakest lineup. This is unrepresentative. I'm more struck by quarters 1-3 when we held them to 12-40 fg shooting. We played suffocating defense especially in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. That's what we'll see much more of.

Ice Brady has the potential to be an Elton Brand type player. With great athletes, I think it fine to draw comparisons to male performers where warranted. I think it an understatement to state she is a strong young women. And it strikes me as reasonable to predict she will begin to use that strength effectively, especially with Edwards as a teammate, who will draw double teams consistently.

If I were on the team, I would thank my lucky stars for having an assist machine like Nika Muhl. Just makes everyone better and is a great defender.

 

[Oldschoolbb]

My favorite part was having six scoring in double figures and two more scoring 8 points. The freshmen looked really, really good. I'd like to see Geno mixing in the bench players with two or three starters to develop them for the post season.

 

[DEpup]

Edwards' 23 points in 23 minutes shows how much offense she provides & puts her on track to be a 1st team AA this year.
But I hope she doesn't become too much of the focus of better teams trying to stop our offense.

Dayton essentially has the same team as last year when they averaged 65.2 points per game against much weaker teams.
UConn's defense didn't slown down their offense very much since we were only able to prevent them from scoring 7 points despite all of our athleticism.
That's sort of surprising considering how many boards, blocks & steals we had.
In this game UConn relied on a high powered offense & a fast pace to achieve the blowout.
All of the substitutions helped to keep up our pace & to find who would provide a hot hand.

It was nice to see everyone available get to play like in the exhibition game.

I would say you have to ignore the points scored by Dayton in the last 5 minutes in this kind of analysis. I also think Tamika has to get some credit for player development so hopefully they are better this year than last.

 

[DEpup]

I think Ice was really tight and feeling the feelings of her first official game. I'm not making any conclusions about the next 4 years from that game. She took good shots for her skill set and they didn't go in. They will.

 

[Nolefan]

Ice looked good to me .. she rebounded yea would have been nice to made a couple bunnies .. she looks like she belongs out there and looks fleet on her feet .. Now Deberry geez I’ve been waiting for her to breakout .. maybe Santa will grant me this wish this year ?