UCONN-Maryland post game thread

[and one]

We need to honestly evaluate the opposition to judge how much was demonstrated by this win. I think that by the end of the season, NC State will have several wins against Top 20 teams not named UConn, but I wonder if Maryland will have any wins against ranked teams.

Sellers is talented, but she and several other Terrapin players seem to be carrying extra weight, and I think their fitness is open to question. I see that they played South Carolina even for most of the first half in Sunday's game, and then came apart in the second half. In tonight's game against UConn, they were competitive for about the first 15 minutes of the game, and after that, UConn's lead got steadily bigger.

I hope this game convinces all Boneyarders that Geno is not averse to playing freshmen, or to playing a 9 or 10 player rotation, if everyone is playing at a competitive level. If someone had to be injured, it's good that the injury is in the backcourt. UConn has a lot of depth there, and while no one can shoot like Azzi, there is enough talent and hustle among the remaining guards so that her temporary absence can be endured without too much disruption.

Another note about the game which I consider important: everyone here seems to say that Qadence had an "off game". I disagree -- she shot the ball poorly, but she played well in all other aspects of the game. I remember noticing that within two or three minutes of her entering the game, she had a block, a great lob pass to Aaliyah for a score at the end of the shot clock, and she had a hand in a steal. Geno always distinguishes between shooting well and playing well (which implies a parallel distinction between shooting poorly and playing poorly). Boneyarders should heed that distinction.

I don't know quite what MD would look like. Turns out that with the exception of Sellers they are big, slow, and more aggressive than skilled. The announcers gave Brenda props for scheduling tough games - really?

 

[MilfordHusky]

Iowa lost to Kansas State!!
Caitlin Clark missed 23 shots including 14 from 3 point range.

Utah has lost, and Iowa has lost. Assuming we win at Minnesota, do we move up in next week's poll?

 

[jaydee602]

Utah has lost, and Iowa has lost. Assuming we win at Minnesota, do we move up in next week's poll?

No doubt. But only a few spots. Maybe to #6.
Let's hope NC State keeps winning, so UCONN's loss doesn't look too bad.

 

[wingsfan055]

I really like the way KK plays. First, she's big (thick and strong) and quick. KK can consistently create her own shot by driving inside and finishing among the trees or doing a step-back. This adds a whole new dimension to the offense, especially in the half-court. And she can lead the break and break the press at ease. At one point, I thought she was going to go behind the back pass a-la Magic (and the SC Freshman!) on a beautiful dish to Paige. I think she could do it, but she was smart as Geno would have gone nuts if she messed it up! Finally, she a pest on defense and a beast going after rebounds and loose balls. So much energy that fed to other players, especially Paige.

Nika might still start, but KK deserves a LOT of PT. She's one of the few players on the team that has plus athleticism and speed.

 

[SEbluebood]

I was fine with the intentional on Paige (she got her money's worth), but was beside myself that Sellers didn't get a personal foul. Evidently they missed the forearm to the jaw.

I was also taken aback that they didn't look to see about an intentional on the thumb to the eye that Paige got. It was contact above the shoulder when the ball was below her waist. No way that's a play for the ball.

From my point of view, the Maryland player was in a defensive posture with hands up and stepped out to switch onto Paige. Just unfortunate incidental contact. I don’t think in the mili second of the switch the player thought “I am going to intentionally poke another player in the eye” ! But I guess we all see what we want to see!

 

[wingsfan055]

Iowa loses at home to an unranked team. Clark had a poor game. The door is wide-open for Paige to claim her 2nd Player of the Year. She's the early favorite.

 

[jonack]

Is Amari hurt??? She didn’t even get any garbage minutes?

 

[Cuango]

I’ve gotta say, I never thought I’d see a Brenda Frese team play that physical and also play pretty good defense for most of the game! I wonder if she brought in a defensive coach or if she simply got tired of her teams playing soft? Whatever it is, I have to say I was very impressed at how tough that team was and I think they’re going to be a tough out for all but the very best teams.
So proud of our defensive effort tonight! I don’t know what to think about Caroline. It’s really breaking my heart to see her like this! Of course, now we have to hope Azzi is OK And on top of that we have to hope Paige’s eye is fine! Unbelievable! It’s almost as though someone somewhere is sticking needles into little mannequins of our team!
It does look like we’ve got some keepers with our freshmen+Ice. Aubrey was really magnificent tonight although I did wonder why she passed up several wide open threes? Aaliyah seems a bit out of sorts but at least she played hard. Hopefully she can get her groove back before UCLA. It was such a pleasure to see the team respond with such a strong defensive effort! If they can keep that up we’re gonna be fine.

 

[David54]

Here is what Paige did between 6:24 to 6:00 of the third quarter block,score on fast break,steal, assist on fast break. She really is better!

 

[cferraro04]

I like what I saw tonight. When I turned on the game and heard that Azzi has to have her knee evaluated...I couldn't help but think..here we go again. My first thought was, "You got to be kidding me". When I shifted towards thinking about how we would play without Azzi in the line-up...I thought, oh hell...we are going to see a lot of zone, they will pack the middle and life would be miserable for Edwards in the middle. At times Maryland did just that...but UConn's disruptive defense prevented Maryland from doing what they wanted to do.

Bueckers gave the basketball world a reminder of just how impactful she was before she had to deal with her injuries. It almost seemed like the commentator was right...when he made his comment about "poking the bear". She came back from being poked in the eye like a possessed woman...both defensively and offensively.

Thank God that we had Ashlynn Shade knock down a couple of threes. Samuels, Nika, and Ducharme were unable to knock down their Three-point shots. Granted hit her first attempt...but, nada after that...and, wasn't it a hoot when Ice Brady stepped into a three? I am really happy to see our freshmen playing so well this early in their college careers. KK, Ashlynne, Samuels and Ice were all on the floor together and they did not lose any ground to Maryland...pretty impressive and it bodes well for UConn as the season progresses forward.

UConn's defense was truly suffocating in this game...they held Maryland to 48 points. Maryland scored 75 against South Carolina. While Maryland's offensive performance against SC was better than it was against UConn tonight, I am not sure that anything can be gleaned from that fact. We are still early in the season to be making any sweeping generalizations.

All in all, it was a great bounce-back game and one that we needed despite the loss of Azzi Fudd from the line-up. I was off the MOV by
quite a bit...but, watching UConn get back its defensive swagger was well worth not being in the running for any points on the prognosticators thread. I hope that Azzi's injury is minor and we get her back soon. And, I hope UConn can build upon this game and develop a consistent defense that teams will come to fear.

Let's hope that the North Carolina State game was an anomaly and the loss ends up being the turning point to UConn's season.

 

[Zinethar]

If I were an opposing coach I would make sure whoever was guarding Paige did nothing to make her mad.She is like the Hulk. Get her mad and watch out!

Much better play and attitude tonight. It did make you wonder why Shade didn't play last game. I bet Geno knows.I hope all is well with Ines. I too noticed she looked like she was in a foul mood on the bench.

I've watched Azzi's dad's Europe videos from this summer. Fun watch. Was interesting to know Ines Folks were there as was Amari's mom and sister. Somehow made me happy.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

IMHO MD played over the line physically!
Hands and elbows flying out with hip checks, they played like hockey players not BB players!
Carolyn had ice on her head during the 4th period!
Q except for her shooting played a really good game, lots of hustle!
Geno has to find more minutes for Ines and Amari especially if injuries begin to mount up!
If we can play defense like we did vs MD we'll be in every game all season!

 

[Kat]

When I saw the starting five, I thought, these are the toughest players on this team. It set the tone.

 

[Blacketh’D]

I don’t post a lot so I will be doing my best to post more in these threads so I’m not seen as some random fan who just comments when there’s negativity to be had.

First off, Paige did her thing on both sides of the ball. She was the catalyst offensively and defensively for the team today. She put the loss on her shoulders and she responded like I thought she could.

Second I would like to again give a shout out to the freshman for stepping up. kK and Shade did a good job even if Q couldn’t put it together tonight. I will imagine they will be inconsistent the entire year but they all are our future for sure. Especially Arnold. She’s the explosive and athletic guard we’ve been getting beat by since Stewie left.

Much better effort on defense and keeping our feet moving and beating offensive players to the spot. The rebounding still wasn’t impressive but I don’t think it will be. It will depend on our guards and I don’t think they will be that adept at it.

I thought that Paige yanked the ball and the kid went with it. Meanwhile, Paige took 2 shots to the face on that play.

Paige didn’t yank her down on purpose, but she didn’t realize the ball got knocked loose by the time she tried to wrestle it to the ground. There was no ball involved in Paige’s wrestle to the ground.

 

[Notyetready]

On defense, as soon as the ball went up in the air towards the basket, Shade moved in front of domebody to box them out. 20 feet out, she put her body on somebody. Or she leaped for the ball. Right inder the basket, box out.

 

[Boreifs]

Love the way Ash covers double teams by jumping in the passing lanes. She is as fundamentally solid as any Freshman who has entered this program. If Azzi is not shooting well, Ash is a totally viable sub. She is a better defender, better rebounder and is faster and more athletic.

 

[LarryLegend]

IMHO MD played over the line physically!
Hands and elbows flying out with hip checks, they played like hockey players not BB players!
Carolyn had ice on her head during the 4th period!
Q except for her shooting played a really good game, lots of hustle!
Geno has to find more minutes for Ines and Amari especially if injuries begin to mount up!
If we can play defense like we did vs MD we'll be in every game all season!

I hope Geno can find a way to work in Ines. I don’t think he will ever find more minutes for Amari.

As I understand it, its a usual thing for Caroline to sit with an ice pack on her head, on the bench. That in itself should be troubling.

 

[Cornell Lt]

I really like the way KK plays. First, she's big (thick and strong) and quick. KK can consistently create her own shot by driving inside and finishing among the trees or doing a step-back. This adds a whole new dimension to the offense, especially in the half-court. And she can lead the break and break the press at ease. At one point, I thought she was going to go behind the back pass a-la Magic (and the SC Freshman!) on a beautiful dish to Paige. I think she could do it, but she was smart as Geno would have gone nuts if she messed it up! Finally, she a pest on defense and a beast going after rebounds and loose balls. So much energy that fed to other players, especially Paige.

Nika might still start, but KK deserves a LOT of PT. She's one of the few players on the team that has plus athleticism and speed.

When Nika and KK were on the floor together it seemed the offense was a little disjointed. Nika seemed a little lost when KK had the ball in her hands.

 

[Millenial23]

Paige didn’t yank her down on purpose, but she didn’t realize the ball got knocked loose by the time she tried to wrestle it to the ground. There was no ball involved in Paige’s wrestle to the ground.

I was at the game and had a good angle for this play. Paige totally grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground with herself on purpose. She knew what she was doing. Probably just got po'd.

 

[Conndog]

When Nika and KK were on the floor together it seemed the offense was a little disjointed. Nika seemed a little lost when KK had the ball in her hands.

I wondered right away about this, my thought was “why do we have two point guards in together?”

 

[PacoSwede]

Paige pulled the kid down, you could see it clearly in the replay

after she was elbowed by sellers ,,,, paige's reaction was appropriate and i was encouraged that she did responded forcefully... echoes of bam-bam.

 

[cohenzone]

Iowa lost to Kansas State!!
Caitlin Clark missed 23 shots including 14 from 3 point range.

She stinks.. Every great shooter has an off night. She is such a high volume shooter, Iowa has a problem when she is off. Her point total yesterday looks great, but it took a huge number of shots. Years ago i went to an NBA Celtic game where Tom Heinsohn who was a very good shooter went something like 0 for 16. Hard to explain why those games happen and other nights shots are going in from all over with eyes glued shut.