UCONN - NC State post mortem thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

UCONN - NC State post mortem thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
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!
 
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.
 
Steelerone said:
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.
Expand ...

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.
 
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.
 
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!
 
.-.
Surly1 said:
I, probably like a host of others, would have preferred that Paige assert herself earlier in the game.
Expand ...
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.
 
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.
 
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!
 
.-.
HuskyNan said:
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
Expand ...
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.
 
I was very disappointed like everyone else here. I thought we were out hustled, outplayed and perhaps most disturbing to me very outcoached. I saw no second half adjustments on Rivers, no defensive changes of any kind of tangible substance. I don't understand why we did not use a Box and 1 with Aubrey or Nika on Rivers and simply face guard her like Kia used to do and make the rest of the team beat us. If we tried it, I didn't see it. Being outhustled is simply not acceptable for UCONN. I also thought that the early substitutions of Q, KK and Brady hurt the team, because it altered the early flow and fluidity of the starters and Aubrey and was counterproductive. We were up by double figures at that point. Finally, while everyone is praising Q here, who deserves it, her defense is weak but it did not stand out because our entire defense is weak, uncharacteristically disorganized, and fundamentally unsound with regard to boxing out and switching at this point. If it doesn't change and fast, it is going to be a long season with several out of league losses. Final note, referees were awful as they usually are in women's basketball. I don't understand how, after last year's NC embarrassment of an officiated game, it just never changes.
 
.-.
Bottomline was that they outplayed us .

Totally outrebounded us.

Had to leave with 2 min left--had a feel they were gonna storm the court.

Bueckers and Samuels came to play.

Taurasi and Griner were there most of game.

Am never going to a NC State game again. Obnoxious fans. Some even cheered when Griffin was on ground in pain. Wasn't even students, was actually alumni adults. Had to turn around and say something
 
Last edited:
Azzi shot 4-13 and 1-7 from three. AE shot 8-17 most of them bunnies. You can't win with number's like that against a team like NC State. They need to get their act together or the will lose to Maryland.
 
DOMINATED!!!!
I just flushed my lofty expectations down the toilet…. Rivers was the best player/guard on the floor. Uconn has no legitimate bigs… won’t be able to compete against the best teams with talented bigs and good guards who are willing to play tough defense. Uconn has to shoot lights out, because they won’t get second chances… This NC was no fluke!
 
Azzi picked the wrong time to lose her 3 point shot. She went 1 for 7. If she had gone 5 for 7 (which she is entirely capable of doing), the extra 12 points would have been enough to squeak out a win.
 
.-.
UCONNRPh said:
Bottomline was that they outplayed us .

Totally outrebounded us.

Had to leave with 2 min left--had a feel they were gonna storm the court.

Bueckers and Samuels came to play.

Taurasi and Griner were there most of game.

Am never going to a NC State game again. Obnoxious fans. Some even cheered when Griffin was on ground. Had to say something to a young couple.
Expand ...
What? Cheering when a player was on the ground?? Awful.
 
BBallF said:
I was very disappointed like everyone else here. I thought we were out hustled, outplayed and perhaps most disturbing to me very outcoached. I saw no second half adjustments on Rivers, no defensive changes of any kind of tangible substance. I don't understand why we did not use a Box and 1 with Aubrey or Nika on Rivers and simply face guard her like Kia used to do and make the rest of the team beat us. If we tried it, I didn't see it. Being outhustled is simply not acceptable for UCONN. I also thought that the early substitutions of Q, KK and Brady hurt the team, because it altered the early flow and fluidity of the starters and Aubrey and was counterproductive. We were up by double figures at that point. Finally, while everyone is praising Q here, who deserves it, her defense is weak but it did not stand out because our entire defense is weak, uncharacteristically disorganized, and fundamentally unsound with regard to boxing out and switching at this point. If it doesn't change and fast, it is going to be a long season with several out of league losses. Final note, referees were awful as they usually are in women's basketball. I don't understand how, after last year's NC embarrassment of an officiated game, it just never changes.
Expand ...
I always love the “out coached” people. Short of tackling Rivers and breaking her legs there wasn’t much UConn could do. She was in the zone today and pretty much unguardable. She had a great game. Congratulate Rivers on a job well done.
 
GaMo said:
Tentative because of previous concussions and other times being hit in the head?
Expand ...
I like CD's game. She is slow, but she has basketball smarts and often knows what is the right basketball play. The ball always "finds" her. Unfort, her concussion issues obviously make her more cautious in terms of her flow. Maybe as she gets more confidence, she will be a consistent "6th man" contributor.
 
When we were up, Nika was shooting and making shots. After she missed one, she quit shooting. She also had 5 assists in the first half, but only one in the second half. Edwards didn't do much from the start and was shooting poorly like Azzi, but at least she came to life in the fourth quarter to post decent numbers.
 
So, I've read a bunch of post here. We break down as follows:

A. The sky is falling. No chance we will ever win another game again. (this is only mildly hyperbolic if you read some of this stuff)

B. Showed some fundamental weaknesses that will have to be addressed.

C. No reason at all to worry. A bad game, both in terms of quality of play and enthusiasm, and badly called especially at key moments. Playing a team at home that was better than expected AND playing at their best. There's a difference between slow, and running slow. There's a difference between being too small and playing mostly with your feet glued to the ground. There is a difference between being a bad shooter and shooting badly.

Mostly as a group we favor A and B. I feel like an outcast as a group C but I thought they looked terrible in the first quarter and were lucky (mostly due to turnovers both ways) and it was just that a bad bad horrible day and I don't look to see it happening again. Geno should obviously use the game as a learning experience but I'm hoping it's basically stay the course.
 
.-.
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,171
Messages
4,555,745
Members
10,441
Latest member
Virginiafan


Top Bottom