UConn Has Work to Do

[chrissaran]

Notre Dame played a great game, but we missed so many easy shots. The result should have been different, but once again when we needed to make plays, we didn't. We shot 10 less free throws, got burned on the offensive glass, and it's obvious that KML is the key to our season. We won't win games like this unless she plays 35+ minutes. When she got her second foul, you could see Geno say, "Damn."
He knows her importance. Stef was fantastic playing all forty minutes. Kelly filled up the stat sheet again, but she had one of the many easy misses. Add it all up, UConn has work to do.

 

[blackbird]

Bria needs to be Bria, and honestly that's the most important thing. KML had foul trouble, but she also scored 17 points. If Bria scores her sophomore average against good teams, we win easily. Instead she scored half.

I think Stewart will get better against competition as she gets used to it. But Bria concerns me. She's either still injured and not telling anyone, or something is mentally off.

 

[UConnCat]

Bria needs to be Bria, and honestly that's the most important thing. KML had foul trouble, but she also scored 17 points. If Bria scores her sophomore average against good teams, we win easily. Instead she scored half.

I think Stewart will get better against competition as she gets used to it. But Bria concerns me. She's either still injured and not telling anyone, or something is mentally off.

Well said. Geno was asked about Bria in his post-game and said what he's been saying: He's not worried about her; she'll be where she needs to be. I'm beginning to have some doubts about that. She's not herself. Is it physical, mental or both? We'll have to see what happens going forward.

 

[boontonbomber]

i don't think that this was a bad loss, unless, of course, kaleena's injury is bothersome. when you lose this many times to one team , it should start some serious soul-searching, for both players and coaches. and this is not a bad time of the season for that to happen. like stanford the other day, uconn needs to figure out how to not play scared in these kinds of games. imho, that's more the job of the coaches than the players. by the way, kaleena's injured right ankle/foot may well have been a factor in that last shot. pretty rare when she misses that badly.

 

[tomcat]

Well said. Geno was asked about Bria in his post-game and said what he's been saying: He's not worried about her; she'll be where she needs to be. I'm beginning to have some doubts about that. She's not herself. Is it physical, mental or both? We'll have to see what happens going forward.

Here's an awful thought: What if she's been playing out of her mind for the last year or so and is now, as statisticians would say, reverting to the mean? For most players in this world, their best is not how they play all the time. So the question in her case -- hell, in all cases -- is what is the level we can expect most if not all the time, understanding that at times she will play way above and at times way below. It is just possible that fans have overestimated her normal level of play because they have seen how good she can be when she plays out of her mind.

 

[blackbird]

I don't think so.

"Big Game Bria" showed up in essentially every big game (with the exception of two that I can think of) for the past two seasons. But even when she was playing well she always looked raw and like she could be better. She'd have a lot of turnovers etc.

Bria had the normal trajectory of a freshman to a sophomore. She's regressed so far this season, but I think that's more about the mental impact her injury had (or maybe her injury isn't healed) rather than Bria not being as good as she showed us she was for the past two seasons.

 

[Tonyc]

This was a weird game. We won in the stats and lost in the score. How many times does that happen? Gotta wonder what happens at ND in March? If we keep puttin up stats we will win. This may be the last time ND beats us for a long time.

 

[pap49cba]

All I know is Muffet has taken up residence in a corner of Geno's brain....

 

[Replicant]

This was a weird game. We won in the stats and lost in the score.

All I know is Muffet has taken up residence in a corner of Geno's brain....

It was a weird game on the one hand, because we played so rushed and frenetic throughout. I thought at some point we'd settle into a rhythm and more of the "be quick, but don't hurry" mode, but it never seemed to materialize. Obviously the refs can mess up the flow of any team's best laid plans.

But that's where the 'Muffett may be getting into Geno's head a little' idea may have some validity on the other hand.

No other coach but Muffett has been able to keep pace with Geno for the past few years, so he's unaccustomed to it. And since he's incredibly competitive, I'm certain it really, really pisses him off. If we fans all hate ND, you can safely increase the amps for Geno & Company. If the CBS report was accurate about Geno running them through a tough 3 hr practice Friday and then another 90 minute grind the morning of the game, he was obviously putting a lot of focus and added importance on the game...and unconsciously perhaps, some counter-productive pressure beyond the usual scrape-me-off-the-ceiling UConn-ND stuff. I'm sure the kids got the vibe. I know they want to beat ND like a drum. They also don't want to let coach down. I have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, but it looked to me like we were playing the game to win it, or not lose it, instead of just playing bball.

 

[Bill Slattery]

It was a weird game on the one hand, because we played so rushed and frenetic throughout. I thought at some point we'd settle into a rhythm and more of the "be quick, but don't hurry" mode, but it never seemed to materialize. Obviously the refs can mess up the flow of any team's best laid plans.

But that's where the 'Muffett may be getting into Geno's head a little' idea may have some validity on the other hand.

No other coach but Muffett has been able to keep pace with Geno for the past few years, so he's unaccustomed to it. And since he's incredibly competitive, I'm certain it really, really pisses him off. If we fans all hate ND, you can safely increase the amps for Geno & Company. If the CBS report was accurate about Geno running them through a tough 3 hr practice Friday and then another 90 minute grind the morning of the game, he was obviously putting a lot of focus and added importance on the game...and unconsciously perhaps, some counter-productive pressure beyond the usual scrape-me-off-the-ceiling UConn-ND stuff. I'm sure the kids got the vibe. I know they want to beat ND like a drum. They also don't want to let coach down. I have the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, but it looked to me like we were playing the game to win it, or not lose it, instead of just playing bball.