UCONN - NC State post mortem thread

[uconnfan68]

Only Paige and Quadence were aggressive.

Surprised Geno didn't give Ashlynn Shade any minutes to change things up. She's a pesky defender and seems pretty sound offensively as far as making cuts and getting in there for some rebounds too.

NCSt guards (3 of them) were very good. Quick and physical, and hot shooters. Probably didn’t want Shade overwhelmed.

 

[CTBballfan243]

A complete and total disaster. Coaches didn't seem upset.

That’s a little dramatic. UConn lost a basketball game. The sun will rise tomorrow and UConn will go to practice this week and try be a little better each day than they were the day before. That’s all you can ask from the kids.

 

[808fan]

Team speed. Nothing Geno can do to improve this. It’s a year with speed across the nation and guards like Azzi are going to be a liability. Especially if she can’t hit her shots. Her differential must’ve been hella negative, got beat so many times to the rim and for rebounds and loose balls.

Against lesser team speed, this team will dominate. When March Madness hits, more than likely this flaw will be exposed. This team will need luck from above

 

[uconnfan68]

But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?

I didn’t. Not sure I want to rewatch Thursday either.

 

[oldude]

I didn’t see that coming. A couple thoughts:

• Outside of Paige, most of the experienced players didn’t handle the pressure of the game particularly well.
• Most of the inexperienced players played like inexperienced players. The one exception was Q. While she made a number of mistakes, Q was not afraid of the moment and shot the ball exceptionally well.
• Obviously, Geno and his staff have a lot of things to work on. But UConn’s lack of size/rebounding will be a season long challenge.
• For a number of years now, WBB players have been getting more and more athletic. There are explosive and athletic players all over WBB. Many of them are freshmen. NC State will not be the last team UConn plays this season that is more athletic than UConn.
• NC State will be ranked next week.
• SC will be #1 next week.
• There’s still a lot of basketball to play.

 

[Rings R Us]

NCSt guards (3 of them) were very good. Quick and physical, and hot shooters. Probably didn’t want Shade overwhelmed.

I feel like he could have at least tried it for a few minutes! Nothing else was going right, why not throw her in there for a few mins to see how she'd do? Oh well!

 

[LarryLegend]

Paige was terrific and is back.
Q was aggressive and showed she deserves more playing time.
Team looked slow and played slow.
Defense was a mess with a ton of missed assignments.
Lack of toughness and hustle plays is troubling.

Azzi and Caroline seemed half-asleep.

Much of the time, Fudd is tentative and her vaunted shooting skill is not evident. Ive been a big Ducharme fan but she appears to be a shell of her freshman self.

 

[Cuango]

That was a very good, very well coached team! As for us, once again we are shown to be simply lacking in toughness! I’ve been worrying about this for a few years now. We just don’t seem to be able to punch back when we get punched in the mouth. Our shooters, the strength of our team, (with the exception of Q and Paige) were terrible! Not only did they miss but many of the misses weren't even close! It looked like they were rattled and uncomfortable from the start! Azzi seemed reluctant to shoot for a long stretch, though she did hit a few pull ups. Finally, if we don’t see a complete turnaround in our rebounding and, to a lesser extent, our defense, we’re not gonna sniff the final four! Pretty disappointing!

 

[Ellie]

Where was the bench in the second half? Aside from Q seems we stood and watched Paige. When she hit open players we acted like a deer in headlights. Should be interesting to watch Geno navigating this team which isn’t as good as we thought nor as bad as we looked today. Go Huskies … the sky isn’t falling … yet!

 

[boscolino]

This team is obviously short, with just Edwards. Elalfy Patterson injured. Deberry (where is she?)
Ducharme fragile. Brady still a freshman. If you are small, to have some chances you must shoot very well, and you must defend very aggressively. Otherwise no way. We are going to learn the lesson. Work in progress.

 

[Bone Dog]

A few months ago I wrote a thread elaborating on the difference in women's basketball in just the past ten years, pointing out how the women's game has gotten bigger and that the one area we have not emphasized enough is our size. I was met with a barrage of negative criticism from people who felt our backcourt talent was more than enough to make up for the height difference.

Who exactly is the WE?

Us BYers cheer on the teams Geno is able to recruit. Of course we're going to focus on our backcourt strength, when that's what UConn has. We're fans, not recruiters. We emphasize guard play and try to imagine ways in which it might be enough.

But I am far from believing that Geno is not focused on recruiting bigs. To suggest this sounds almost absurd. If anyone criticized you for thinking Geno was not trying to recruit more bigs, it was because of this absurdity. On the other hand, if you were suggesting that we shouldn't cheer on the team he has actually managed to put together, of course fans will bristle at such a suggestion.

 

[Surly1]

As I mentioned in a post after the Dayton game, UConn is undersized and if the team is clicking offensively, or playing suffocating defense, the question of who wins the rebound battle may not be critical. Today, the offense wasn't cohesive and UConn played matador defense, and lost the rebounding battle. Therefore, not a surprise they lost to NC St.

Searching for positives, It's safe to say that Paige will make a successful return to previous form. However, I, probably like a host of others, would have preferred that Paige assert herself earlier in the game. I realize she is a team first player and likes to get others involved, but she too good and too good of a shooter to defer.

I hope this is a wake-up for the team and that Paige realizes she needs to channel a little more "Caitlin Clark" by taking games over sooner than later.

 

[Rings R Us]

Well I mean, technically we are based on all the championships between the men and women's teams.

 

[mauconnfan]

Outside looking in:

Refs were awful and certainly leaned the wrong way but weren’t the reason. NC State is better the fact that team isn’t ranked is a joke.

Paige looked very good no worries there. Cadence first chance to see her lots of promise there. Can’t play Caroline versus athletic teams she’s slow, can’t guard and can’t rebound. Azzi if not making shots, wow she doesn’t guard anyone either. Think they need to use KK a bit more she’s a creator and pesky in D. She did miss a switch on D with Muhl that led to a lay in but she gives them a chance.

Defense wasn’t good nor was rebounding and yet they were pretty much in the game despite that for 30 minutes or so. Lots to get better at but they have some nice players will be interesting to see the frosh mature and they need to. And Geno needs to let them, I include Ice in that!

 

[CTBballfan243]

Contrary to what CD believes, Azzi's shot is NOT automatic

So much for the ten player rotation. Not that it would have helped, but Geno quickly went back to his old ways, using a seven player rotation.

I think 9 players for UConn.

 

[Bone Dog]

I, probably like a host of others, would have preferred that Paige assert herself earlier in the game.

Yeah, that would have been nice. But this was her first really competitive game and she may have needed the first quarter to fully reinstall her confidence. I suspect it is now fully online.

 

[MSGRET]

I'm just trying figure out how NC State wasn't ranked by the AP or Coaches Polls. Massey has them as #8 and he is a lot closer to the truth then the other two.

 

[Geesworld]

Hard to believe Rivers was the best player on the court today. The SG, playing point guard, had her coming out party against us.

These things will Make or Break us this season.

Height
Defense/Rebounds
Shooting
ICE/Aaliyah

The out 3 point shooting the other team by three pointers isn't a sustainable recipe for winning. We have to find ways to get easy buckets that helps keep the opponents off balance.

I Think we found a keeper in Q. She will take minutes if she continues this type of play.

Bad news we have more perimeter players coming in next season.

 

[UConnCat]

The look on Azzi's face during this game was shocking. It was not the look of a confident player. I don't understand.

 

[omshanti]

Uggh… very disappointing play. One of the worst defensive performances in a long time. Paige was the lone bright spot. NC State played out of their minds. Good for them for being ready to play.The officiating was sub par yet no excuse for getting butts kicked. Man, lots of great games in the first week of the season!

 

[Flyegirl]

I feel like he could have at least tried it for a few minutes! Nothing else was going right, why not throw her in there for a few mins to see how she'd do? Oh well!

I don't know - I'm just getting so tired of the 7 player rotation.

 

[90BSEE]

Eight points combined for the upperclassmen - Nika, Caroline, Aubrey. No bueno. But the team gave up 92 points. 92! I don’t blame the freshmen but the juniors and seniors should have done better.

Qadence and KK are the only ones with positive +/-

View attachment 93001

Those numbers are SHOCKING!!! But they don't lie. Something is wrong with how the team played when Paige and Azzi were on the floor.

 

[maple]

The look on Azzi's face during this game was shocking. It was not the look of a confident player. I don't understand.

I don’t understand what happened with her. It’s so disappointing.