UConn - Louisville post game thread (merged)

[kidfrom360]

This team is finally starting to figure out its groove. I just need Nika to get on board and clean it up a little.

 

[Bone Dog]

What more can be said about Paige? That behind the head pass to Aaliyah is guaranteed to make some highlight reels. She is so smooth out there, such a fantastic shooter, I sometimes wish she would take more shots, but she has her eye on the future. UConn will need her to lead, but the more consistent help she gets, the more dangerous this team becomes. She is painting the seeds now and hoping they sprout by the time the tourney comes around. She looks better with each game.

THIS! Exactly this is what I've been saying too. Paige doesn't beat you with her shooting. She beats you with her team. It's like the cudgel she beats you with. And to get that cudgel balanced just right, she needs to teach her team how it's done on defense as well as offense. It's an academy class on self-discipline and self-reliance.

And this is also why we haven't seen much of Ice and Qadence -- they haven't figured out the defense in practice yet. When they do, Coaches P and G will have them in the game.

 

[HuskyNan]

Dorka still #BleedsBlue

 

[Zarathustra]

-You can tell UConn was rested. 66% shooting in the first half and a solid defensive effort after a shaky first quarter indicated they were ready.
-UConn took advantage of Louisville’s struggles guarding the dribble. Aubrey and Ailiyah were having no problem getting to the rim.
-The assist number was impressive, but Nika’s turnovers deserve more attention. She continues to force too many passes and put receivers in bad positions.
-When Ailiyah makes outside shots like she did today, she looks like the All_American candidate again.
-KK is having no trouble getting into the paint but teams have made her make bad choices once she gets there. They are playing the kick out and she is responding with trying to force layups. The pull up in the middle of lane seems to be the answer.
-Aubrey played like a confident, consistent senior.
-Among other things is Paige the team’s best defender? 4 blocks again today. Sheesh.
-Love the throwback uniforms.
-Geno reiterated this week that he gets a better feel for what he has when he plays a brutal non conference schedule. They have several areas to address and improve but they are prepared for Big East play.

But KK did have a number of "dishes" to Aaliyah ( and others ) after she made her deep penetrations.
When the defense collapses sometimes it is a problem, sometimes a score through contact, and sometimes
a wonderful dish out to an unguarded UCONN post player.!! This is looking smoother and smoother.

 

[Tonyc]

There was no let up today. They played tuff and got tuffer as the game progressed. I really like the way we looked. We played as a team. Now Butler and off to Toronto then the break. We come back with Marquette and Creighton two very good teams. I hoping that some of our newbies pick up more of the scoring and Im sure they will. I also hoping for a good break like maybe Caroline gets healthy and surprises all of us and can come back. We deserve some good breaks.

 

[Bone Dog]

But KK did have a number of "dishes" to Aaliyah ( and others ) after she made her deep penetrations.
When the defense collapses sometimes it is a problem, sometimes a score through contact, and sometimes
a wonderful dish out to an unguarded UCONN post player.!! This is looking smoother and smoother.

One play I loved was in the second half when she penetrated, the Cardinal defense collapsed on her and she managed (somehow!) to turn and flip it back to Aaliyah who was following in behind her for an easy 2. That is peak KK.

 

[darrell]

Aubrey getting her flowers is something I’ll never get tired of seeing. Jeff Walz a class act as always.

 

[Zarathustra]

I smiled when I saw the sequence in the second half when ASHLYNN was coming down the
court with the ball (after a Louisville turnover), ASH attempted an ill- advised lob pass into Aaliyah.
Geno's hand motion after this was not to criticize the bonehead pass but to indicate to
ASH: "SHOOT THE BALL!!" ... When your "role" is a shooter.. SHOOT ! Leave the passing to
KK, Nika, and Paige.

 

[cohenzone]

Really, really nice win today by the Huskies over a very good Louisville team. A couple thoughts:

• 
  
• Does Paige need a new nickname? How about THE HUMAN ERASER? I’m sure Marvin Webster would be OK with that…
• 
  

You know you are really old when you use that comparison and don’t have to Google to understand what the heck you were talking about. Paige had great instincts. reflexes and very long arms. Great write up. BTW.

 

[Bone Dog]

I learned to really like Jeff Walz in a presser after a tough loss a few years ago. He was such a subtle teacher in that moment, criticizing and praising at the same time. But what I really was struck by is that he has a pronounced stutter. I hadn't noticed it before. He's able to be a great motivator -- and his teams are motivated above all -- with a significant speech impediment. Kudos to you, Jeff!

 

[Zarathustra]

One dumb thing I noted on the chat but still annoyed me. Fox talking about the 2019 U19 FIBA team and the U.S. squad that won gold. Absolutely loaded team. And had a graphic with Caitlin Clark as the MVP. I mean, I know she's the It Girl in hoops now but, uh, Paige was MVP of that tournament!

Anyway, fun win, good win.

I remember that FIBA tournament... in S.E. Asia... Finals USA over Australia! A great game by Paige and
that memorable last seconds inbound pass from PAIGE to Hailey Van Lith to bring the USA back from
DEATH'S DOOR. USA wins in O.T.

 

[HuskyNan]

Official box score. Only 2,000 short of a sellout

 

[jaydee602]

I smiled when I saw the sequence in the second half when ASHLYNN was coming down the
court with the ball (after a Louisville turnover), ASH attempted an ill- advised lob pass into Aaliyah.
Geno's hand motion after this was not to criticize the bonehead pass but to indicate to
ASH: "SHOOT THE BALL!!" ... When your "role" is a shooter.. SHOOT ! Leave the passing to
KK, Nika, and Paige.

Yes, it looks like Geno is defining their roles to the freshmen. We saw KK penetrate much more today, Quadence is focusing on long range shooting, Ice is needed for rebounds, & Ashlynn is the all around player with a shoot first agenda.
LOL... I don't think Ashlynn will pass up that shot again!

 

[freshler40]

But KK did have a number of "dishes" to Aaliyah ( and others ) after she made her deep penetrations.
When the defense collapses sometimes it is a problem, sometimes a score through contact, and sometimes
a wonderful dish out to an unguarded UCONN post player.!! This is looking smoother and smoother.

KK is a key with her deep penetrations and heavy quick offensive pressure. She had the ball in her hands much of game. Nika is better as a shooting or passing guard. She just has to shoot more with her smooth stoke or drive from the corner.

 

[Bone Dog]

I'm rewatching the game on YouTubeTV while I wait for my hero, @MJL243 to upload the preferred version. One thing I noticed is that Paige doesn't even bother trying to score in the closing minutes. Against UNC, she only took one shot in the 4th quarter, and in this game, she sank two 3s in the first 2 minutes of the 4th to build a safe lead and didn't take another shot. In effect, all of her offense comes in 3 quarters each game. She gets more defensive stats (blocks and steals) in the 4th, but she is not an offensive stat stuffer. She's more interested in teaching her freshmen how to play better.

And in case anyone's interested, I'll watch this game another few times before the Butler game.

 

[my2cents]

Best part of the game was Aubrey's smile when Geno took her out.

 

[Blond D.]

My only qualm is that Nika continues to be a turnover machine. I thought there were a couple more possessions when she wasn’t credited for the turnover, but she put players in bad spots. Turnovers did us in last year, and have played a major role this year. She needs to cut them down, 8 empty possessions in one game is massive. She really struggles against a press.

I thought there were several turnovers where her and her intended receiver weren't on the same page and it wasn't totally Nika's fault. I will admit there were several passes she definitely shouldn't have tried. Plus she has the ball taken from her twice. That's a bit unusual.
I noticed a couple times when we got the ball and were running the floor, a certain freshman was out front of everyone but wasn't looking back and Nika didn't pass it this time. Had it been Paige, Aaliyah or Aubrey, Nika wouldn't have even hesitated and they would have had an easy layup.

 

[Centerstream]

This was a great game, especially the 2nd half. After seemingly taking forever to grab and maintain a double digit lead, getting and maintaining a 20+ lead was fantastic.
One comment about Louisville. If they have a coach that teaches foul shots, we need to find out their methods. It seemed throughout the game that every made FT was "nothing but net". And because of this, I am kinda surprised that they only made 8 of 12. In real time, I thought that they were more like 10 or 11 of 12.
I have got to learn to relax when our guys make a mistake on the court cause I was freaking out, even in the 4th quarter, whenever someone made an errant pass. Maybe it to do with the fact that we were up 24 in the 4th and Louisville was still pressing us (WTF?) and a couple of times it worked.
I am a happy camper and am looking forward to watching @MJL243 's replay tomorrow. I may want to watch it a couple times.

 

[fomalhaut]

Maybe Nika thought 10 A and 10 TO would count as a double-double.

To be fair, she wasn't the only one who made some absolutely terrible passes.

 

[MSGRET]

Not sure what 2nd half adjustments Geno made, or what was discussed at halftime, but please bottle that and save it for future games!

There were so many really good things about this game - first and foremost, hopefully the team feels really good about where they are after the way they played the last 2 games. And it isn't just the fact that they won both of them. I think they are getting acclimated to the new chemistry and puzzle that is required with so many pieces going down recently.

• I love that we got 3 of their starters into foul trouble all with 4 fouls. Contrast that to ONLY Aaliyah and Ashlynn had more than 2 fouls - at 3 for Ash, and Liya picked up 1 late to have 4.
• The first quarter especially was a faced paced game of pure offense. As a fan, sort of wishing we slowed them down a bit, but we were en fuego too!
• The team not only poured in on in the 2nd half, but there was no letup in the 4th quarter.
• Post player Paige with 5 blocks LOL. Seriously, she takes defense personally. Such a leader. The big 3 of her, Liya, and Aubrey - very nice!
• Aubrey is my co-POG - off the bench with 25 points but on 9-11 shooting. So efficient.
• Equally efficient was Aaliyah shooting 10-12. My other POG... This against a really solid team. Good on her!
• Nika almost with a triple-double in assists (10), rebounds (7) and turnovers (8) LOL. 2 outta 3 ain't bad...!
• Ashlynn and KK really sliding nicely into the starting lineup. I keep using the word fearless for the freshmen, and the pair of them really embody that.
• Outscored L'ville 40-20 in the 2nd half. Reminiscent of Q3 against UNC, but this time they put 2 awesome Q's together in a row. Do I hear 3 for next game?
• Q and Ice did some nice things, but mostly had no impact on the box score. Hopefully that changes and improves.

Bottom line just a feel good win. Great for the team, great for the fans, great all the way around.

Considering that the game is against Butler it better be 4 for the next game.

 

[Plebe]

This team continues to be a mixed bag, but the progress has been huge. As against UNC, a huge 3rd quarter busted open a close game.

Three stats that I find most indicative of our improvement:
— 24 assists on 32 made FGs
— 25 points off turnovers
— 24 fast-break points

It's a good thing we were able to turn them over and run on them, because Louisville had 22 points off our turnovers, a continuing weakness for us.

Paige was Paige. Her 5 blocks were eye-popping, but most importantly she is expertly steering this team in the right direction, getting others involved.

Aaliyah and Aubrey combined for 19-23 FG and more than half our points ... AND did a ton of work defensively. I thought Cochran figured to be our most challenging matchup, but it turned out to be Kiki Jefferson; but we did a good job limiting her in the 2nd half.

 

[David54]

AE and AG combined 19 of 23. That’s just stupid.

 

[HopJim]

As I mentioned in another post, Paige, particularly factoring in her blocks of key shots at key times, could have been the defensive MVP. Her ability to contort her body to avoid the shooter's body and stretch her arm out for the block is unique and something we are seeing from her every game. Her rebounding is surprisingly strong as well.
Interesting to see Geno bench Nika in some key parts of the game, if only for a few minutes. Never seen her throw so many bad passes, refuse to shoot open shots, and play average defense (at best). Not sure what was going on there today and in several past games.

 

[Huskee11]

I was at the game - actually it was two games, the first quarter and the next three. I was sitting there after the first quarter wondering how we were going to stop Louisville on offense and that we might just need to go outscore them. They were hitting everything but we were giving up way too much room especially to Cochran. Obviously our defense showed up big time the rest of the way.

I am loving watching Paige on defense. All the perimeter defenders are good and everyone was banging the boards.

KK is getting better and more comfortable game by game.

Many of Nika`s turnovers were the result of her unwillingness to take an open shot and instead going for something that isn`t there, like a lob to a guarded post player or a bad crosscourt pass. Others messed up cross court passes as well, we should do less of that. If I were Geno I would tell Nika to shoot every time she is open against Butler. Mindset gotta change.

It was great to be there. Big, enthusiastic crowd, only complaint was all that Taylor Swift music (sorry, fans). Warm day, and we wandered around Pratt Street after the game, it was hopping. Nice to see what downtown Hartford can be.