UCONN - Marquette post game thread (merged thread)

[Bigboote]

UConn gutted this one out. Marquette came in with a game plan and executed it very well. There have been UConn teams in the past few years that might have let this one slip away. It wasn't a beautiful game to watch, but now we know this team can win ugly when they're not firing on all cylinders.

These kids play with a lot of heart, and I love them for it.

I can't wait till Aubrey and Azzi come back. Keeping my fingers crossed that the team can finish out the season with minimal additional injuries.

 

[Bone Dog]

I loved this game, difficult as it seemed to watch in stretches. But we have to be able to win games like this one, too. The UCF game last year was like this, too -- the team has to have the resources to "gut out" a tough win when shots aren't falling and the transition game isn't available. I'm very pleased to see that the girls have deep enough resources to find the wherewithal to win when it doesn't all go their way.

I'm especially pleased with Lou and Caroline. Those two carried us when it really mattered. That's who we can turn to, and I'm glad they have the confidence for it.

 

[Centerstream]

is CD looks like she is playing at 60-87% health-wise. She can barely get any lift on either end of the floor, and is much slower than she usually is. Yet, she showed today she is a match-up nightmare than can score at either the perimeter, inside, or midrange. If she gets close to 100%, she can put up 20-10 stats in her sleep.

Can you explain how you came up with the 87%?
And unfortunately when she is playing at 100%, she will be coming off the bench and providing Coach with the scorer he needs, most likely subbing for Azzi and Lou. I believe that she going to contribute immensely but her minutes are not going to help her put up 20-10 stats.

 

[OldSchooler]

Re our being forced into a lethargic half-court offense, Marquette only shot 34.5%, and rarely crashed the O-boards, choosing to fall back on defense on missed FGAs. That's what took away our vaunted transition game. And they knew we were thin in outside shooters. I credit the closeness of this game not just to fatigue on our part, but also to good scouting, preparation and coaching by Marquette. Wouldn't be surprised if our MOV is greater when we play them in Milwaukee in February.

What's with the ice packs to the head for CD every 4th qtr? I didn't see her take any spills in this game, although she might have taken a whack or two to the head under the basket. I hope she's not having headaches, and I assume if it had anything to do with her concussion protocol, she wouldn't even suit up to play. Can't see our winning this game if she had not been able to play.

 

[GardenState]

Love love love Nika, but curious if others have noticed something that’s bothered me for a while. At the end of games, as she’s dribbling out the clock, at the 5-second mark, she puts the ball down on the court and slowly walks toward the bench. Not a good look. (Was glad to see Amari pick up the ball and hand it to the ref yesterday.)

 

[JellyBean]

Love that: 1). We won. 2). That we had a different player with the hot hand. This game it was Lou with Caroline having a pretty solid game, IMHO. I loved that High/Low connection her and Aaliyah have going. 3). Nika does not get a lot of attention for her rebounding skills. Love that she just goes amongst the trees and is unafraid to mix it up. 4). Lou is a freaking beast! Love that she plays fearless out there. Confidence is off the charts!

Great win, Huskies!!

 

[Carnac]

UConn gutted this one out. Marquette came in with a game plan and executed it very well. There have been UConn teams in the past few years that might have let this one slip away. It wasn't a beautiful game to watch, but now we know this team can win ugly when they're not firing on all cylinders.

These kids play with a lot of heart, and I love them for it.

I can't wait till Aubrey and Azzi come back. Keeping my fingers crossed that the team can finish out the season with minimal additional injuries.

Good analogy BB. Watching this game was like riding in a car with a bad spark plug. It’s drivable, but not completely comfortable as the engine is running on one less cylinder and making strange noises.

 

[Bigboote]

3). Nika does not get a lot of attention for her rebounding skills. Love that she just goes amongst the trees and is unafraid to mix it up.

This is a really important point. Nika is strong and feisty, a good combination for a rebounding guard.

I think a conscious decision has been made to get her under the opponents' basket when the shot goes up. This serves a few purposes. It's another body available for rebounding. When Aaliyah or Dorka gets the rebound, Nika is "available" for a short pass. And it allows Lou and/or (especially) Aubrey to streak down the court for the long pass.

 

[oldude]

Love love love Nika, but curious if others have noticed something that’s bothered me for a while. At the end of games, as she’s dribbling out the clock, at the 5-second mark, she puts the ball down on the court and slowly walks toward the bench. Not a good look. (Was glad to see Amari pick up the ball and hand it to the ref yesterday.)

Nika started doing the “game over, ball on the floor” thing last season. I first noticed it during UConn’s Sweet 16 win over IN. It’s kind of her signature now and, to be honest, I really don’t have a problem with it.

 

[Carnac]

Love that: 1). We won. 2). That we had a different player with the hot hand. This game it was Lou with Caroline having a pretty solid game, IMHO. I loved that High/Low connection her and Aaliyah have going. 3). Nika does not get a lot of attention for her rebounding skills. Love that she just goes amongst the trees and is unafraid to mix it up. 4). Lou is a freaking beast! Love that she plays fearless out there. Confidence is off the charts!

Great win, Huskies!!

Geno reminded us in his postgame presser that lou is the oldest player on the floor at 24, and is the most experienced player with 4 full seasons behind her. She should be doing the things she doing. Don’t forget, she was Fairfield’s go-to player the last 3 years. We should all be grateful for all she’s doing, but not surprised.

 

[Biff]

What's with the ice packs to the head for CD every 4th qtr? I didn't see her take any spills in this game, although she might have taken a whack or two to the head under the basket.

Well watch the game at about 3:30 left in the game. She took an elbow to her head on a drive across the lane. They showed it in replay. Very clear. No foul called.
It hurt, so she iced it. What would you do?

 

[Bama fan]

CD looks like she is playing at 60-87% health-wise. She can barely get any lift on either end of the floor, and is much slower than she usually is. Yet, she showed today she is a match-up nightmare than can score at either the perimeter, inside, or midrange. If she gets close to 100%, she can put up 20-10 stats in her sleep.

I am fascinated by your 60-87% quote. Can you explain how that estimate was determined. I agree with your overall assessment, but wonder as to the figures.

 

[HuskyNan]

What's with the ice packs to the head for CD every 4th qtr? I didn't see her take any spills in this game, although she might have taken a whack or two to the head under the basket. I hope she's not having headaches, and I assume if it had anything to do with her concussion protocol, she wouldn't even suit up to play. Can't see our winning this game if she had not been able to play.

 

[Carnac]

Everybody seems in 100% agreement that UConn looked tired today. I was at the game, in the lower level about 30 feet from one of the baskets. I did not think that fatigue had a major impact on how UConn played.

Yes, there were small signs. I attribute Aaliyah's near misses to fatigue, but (as usual) she hustled more than almost anybody, so that may account for it. I did see one play where Caroline retreated on defense holding one of her hips. That can be a sign of fatigue, but in her case it can also be a sign that someone tweaked her in a spot that is still recovering from summer surgery.

I think that the Boneyard consensus about fatigue being a major factor reflects group-think. Some people seem to think that if starters play 35+ minutes 36 hours after getting off a plane from Omaha at 3:30 AM, they must be fatigued, and the fatigue must account for every missed layup or missed defensive assignment. I think that those mistakes have been present in every game against good opposition, so it's too facile to blame them on fatigue in this case.

UConn lost the second quarter by 3 points, then won the third quarter by 3 points and the 4th quarter by 6 points. The fourth quarter was UConn's best shooting quarter (61% after 50%, 31%, and 42% in the first three quarters). A fatigued team would be expected to perform worse in the last quarter of the game. I just didn't see that today.

Thanks for the “on-site” report Joe. I always like reading the game perspective from a fan that was at the game. Especially one that’s fair and rational.

 

[Carnac]

Patterson played for a short while in first half. Set a nice screen for a Lou drive.

Ayanna did have an impact on the game. How many times has Nika started and either not scored, or scored 1-2 baskets? Anyone that knows the game knows that a player can help his/her team by doing things that don’t show up in the box score.

Ayanna helped her team by being available and subbing in, allowing her teammates to go to the bench for a quick blow. As long as she does not foul, turn the ball over or do anything that hurts the team, she did what Geno and the team needed her to do. Of course Geno would have loved for her to score twice and grab 3-4 rebounds, she didn’t, but she didn’t hurt them by being out there.

She gave them 9 minutes. 9 minutes Geno needed from her, not Ines. I’m expecting a whole lot more from Ayanna next year than I am now. Next year we lose Dorka and Lou. There’s no guarantee Aubrey (a red shirt junior) will return as this is her 4th year in college, making her eligible for the WNBA draft in April.

 

[freshler40]

Love love love Nika, but curious if others have noticed something that’s bothered me for a while. At the end of games, as she’s dribbling out the clock, at the 5-second mark, she puts the ball down on the court and slowly walks toward the bench. Not a good look. (Was glad to see Amari pick up the ball and hand it to the ref yesterday.)

Yes, placing the ball on the court could be interpreted as disrespectful. Not a good look as you mentioned. Coaches/players need to find a better way to wind down a game.

 

[Carnac]

Nika had the main job of shutting down Marquette's best player. King ended up with 4 points, 2-9 shooting with 0-2 on 3 pointers. She also had 0 assists and 3 fouls.

That’s right. You can’t always tell a player’s impact or contribution to the game by looking at the box score. Nika sacrificed her offense to blanket Marquette’s best scorer and hold her to a season low.

 

[Carnac]

Love love love Nika, but curious if others have noticed something that’s bothered me for a while. At the end of games, as she’s dribbling out the clock, at the 5-second mark, she puts the ball down on the court and slowly walks toward the bench. Not a good look. (Was glad to see Amari pick up the ball and hand it to the ref yesterday.)

I agree with you if no one else does. I don’t like it either. I’m old school, that’s not how I learned to play or finish a game. In all of the games I played in, no one (on either team) ever did that.

The 2 coaches I played for in college would have went ballistic if one of his players did that. We always waited until the horn sounded, then handed the referee the ball. When you play for a coach, you know (learn) what he wants and what you can and cannot do.

I watched my son play hundreds of games from Jr. high, AAU, high school and 4 years of college, I never once saw a player do that. It must be a new fad because I’ve seen other WBB players do it too this year. They must think it’s cute or perhaps it’s sending a message or making a statement.

Geno must be ok with it or she wouldn’t do it. Yes, that was a nice assist by Amari. I liked that.

 

[Bald Husky]

Yes, placing the ball on the court could be interpreted as disrespectful. Not a good look as you mentioned. Coaches/players need to find a better way to wind down a game.

Disrespectful to whom? She didn't shoot the ball, she didn't throw it down the court, she just put it down on the floor. Game over.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Megan Duffy continues to get the most out of her teams. I would be fine with her being a candidate as an eventual replacement for Geno.

A Golden-domer? Aack!

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think Ayanna only played 3 minutes, if I remember correctly, and you can not judge that a player didn’t hurt the team just because they don’t do anything that shows up in the score sheet. There is always “opportunity” lost. In the same way that a 40 minute player can sometimes get credit by just participating on a successful team even if they do not really contribute that much to the bottom line. Often those 5th - 7th players are the weakest link but if they are good enough not to hurt you much that’s a plus. Their role is often not to hurt you much but they need to accomplish something while playing beyond some obscure intangibles. What Geno wants from Ayanna is rebounds and defense without turning it over.

 

[Gus Mahler]

5. I think Amari can score down low if given the chance.

I wish Amari can get more playing time she has
the ability to contribute….size…outside threat….can post up strong.
And I like she is back to her old hairdo.

I'm with y'all on Amari. This may seem odd, but I think she plays "tall," that she makes good use of her height. I think she is the best rim-protector on the team. Ditto on the hair!

 

[The deacon]

That’s right. You can’t always tell a player’s impact or contribution to the game by looking at the box score. Nika sacrificed her offense to blanket Marquette’s best scorer and hold her to a season low.

Nika played a really good defensive game, Carnac, but how did she sacrifice her offensive game? Everybody plays both offense and defense, or they wouldn't be out there. I'll give you Nika works really hard on D, but I believe the other Huskies, do, too.

 

[hoophuskee]

Happy new year everyone!

I loved the game. Not that it was artistic. What made this terrific, was they were slightly challenged while winning this was one differently with UCONN beating a pretty good team not because the opponent gave the game away, but due to Wings ability to score. One game it’s the posts for UCONN vs a pretty good team – and the next it’s the Wings.

And it was apparent Auriemma’s strategy of using the best players is spot on with Ducharme as the obvious example. Would she have played this well with teammates without significant minutes? Nope. And how he has had Lou meld perfectly, not only this season but future seasons his philosophy shows different players, even not High School A/a’s or Big Conference players, can excel in his system. And they will get “minutes” if they are that good because as Geno shows over and over; he will play his best.

As Ducharme gets minutes and becomes more comfortable then with Azzi and Aubrey back, we’ll have a solid 7 to run with and hopefully with spot minutes and once healthy future blowouts either Patterson or Amari will show out. Don’t expect anything in big games from Ines.

Looking forward to this “solid 7” with maybe an 8th emerging. But for this game, Ducharme’s shot looked so darn sweet. And looking forward to those 7 getting pretty decent big minutes because as we see, UCONN needs work - and is not a good passing team at the moment with way too many turnovers in this game and the season. They can’t improve by sitting on the bench for other lesser players. Gotta get better passing which should help Dorka and Edwards though Edwards has been super. As a result they need more significant minutes together. Loved this game. If Ducharme can hit 3's like we think and even post smaller forwards- potentially wow.

Even the perimeter players are not passing well. Gotta play them.