UConn - Notre Dame post game | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn - Notre Dame post game

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Very poor defense by pretty much everyone. Should have had KK on Hidalgo (who is fantastic!) as KK is quicker than Nika. Ice is a big question mark- hopefully, she’ll be better in future years. Too injury depleted this year.
 
ucbart said:
It's amazing to me, that as a senior, she still makes that many mental errors. That was the worst game she's ever played.
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It really seemed like it. On that one fast break to take the lead she had a clear path to the basket on the left side and passed to Paige out of position who was then forced to pass it and we never scored. Real momentum shifter. Very disappointed in her.
 
victor64 said:
Tip your hat to ND. They were well prepared and played great.

Citron caused Paige to have one of her worst shooting nights probably ever.

First time I have felt the team really missed Aubrey.

I wish Geno would use those Big East scrimmages to let Q and Ines to log some serious minutes. The team was gassed in the fourth quarter.
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Citron didn't do bad in scoring---
Everyone has a bad night. Some defenders are better than others. This is the 2nd bad game Paige has had in 3 years--time to look for another star.
I'm proud of Ashlyn, extremely proud of Edwards, KK, Paige, ---I'm still waiting for ICE to get hot. Westbled--has been with ND since knute or Digger but played well.
I was ready to hand my hanky to Ivey--now I'm using it.
 
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Game was over when AE got that third awful bad foul call. She was unable to defend in the paint and when Nika fouled out she was forced to stand there with her arms at her sides.
 
luminosity said:
3. Geno. I know Geno is a coaching god and a legend but he simply refused to adjust to the Hildago pick and roll all night and the team continuously got burned by it. UCONN is very very prone to a quick guard torching them and it's happened time and time again over the past couple years and happened yet again.
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Agree 100%
 
tchalla1 said:
There's absolutely no correlation with Nika fouling out and UConn losing. We were soundly defeated and Nika's performance tonight was marginal. Wow, you talk about disassociated logic...
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Marginal.
31 points for their point guard and Nika had one shot blocked. I know we all love Nika and she gives us everything she has - but elite talent is too much to Ask for her. Really disappointed KK could not stay with their guard -
 
Obviously its easy to be overly critical after that performance but there are so many areas that need to be addressed.
ND couldn't stop the pick and roll with Paige and AE in q3 and we completely went away from it.
KK needs to sometime find the open shooter when penetrating, lots of times its Shade, but she rarely passes, she shoots all the time.
The hardest and lease productive shot is the "Middy", pullups from the foul line. Paige takes way too many of those. she would be better if she took the threes that they give her.
Ice is left alone for a reason on offense. Also, I think I could drive by her.
Nika probably had her worse game at UCONN.
 
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My completely honest opinions.

PIt’s felt like the last couple of years we have struggled to win big games. It’s felt like the injuries pile up, we lose a big game. We seek confidence from conference games, but fall flat in the big ones. It’s something nobody wants to hear, but the big east isn’t that good this year. I felt the conference had its best season last year, but most of the high profile players transferred out.

This was our first big game since Aubrey went out, and you could feel her absense for the first time. The current level for this team is mainly unknown. We just got solidly beat at home against the 6th best team in the ACC according to rankings. We simply don’t have a measuring stick for where we are at. The big east isn’t going to provide that level.

Unfortunate night for Paige to be ice cold, but credit to the ND defense. They made her life miserable. I’m not an huge Clark fan, but tonight made me appreciate the work she does every single night. And Nika, no words on that performance.

The biggest bright spot was Edwards. She was dynamite for 30 minutes. The team we away from her down the stretch which was puzzling. Also kudos to Shade and Arnold for their steady contributions.

The low of the game for me was the poor defense. Hidalgo torched us, yet another speedy guard we couldn’t contain. And Westbeld punished us for lack of rotational and switching defense.

Just feels like a bummer, the atmosphere and reunions brought quite the buzz to campus.
 
maple said:
I don't know what to say.

But I knew that a different ND team should show up today compared to Thursday and look what happened. Sigh.

Missed bunnies and some absolutely devasting mental errors that just killed us every time we started to get momentum. You just can't have that, especially from the upperclassmen. There was one time when Paige tried to get cutesy with an extra pass when the easy bucket was right there ... why? Just why? Please just shoot the ball. Please just make the easy layups.

I love Nika but fouling out early into the 4th quarter is just plain terrible.

I don't understand how Syracuse was able beat ND twice and yet UConn just looked absolutely lost at time. The fact that they killed us on rebounding and points in the paint is just so hugely frustrating. How does that even happen?

Felt so positive about how much progression the team made this year and now I just feel like it's gonna be another out at the S16 again. Yes we're back to killing everyone in the BE but we haven't really been able to win the big games this year and it's worrying.

I know it's a young team and all that, but Hidalgo is also a freshmen. She put up 34 points! She practically single-handedly beat us, when we weren't beating ourselves with dumb fouls and/or TOs. And ND has also suffered from injuries as well, so it's not just us.

Not good. I don't know what they need to do but the SCar game is going to be a nightmare if they don't figure some stuff out before then.

I am trying really hard not to be a doomer but it's another bad big game. We are not where we need to be.
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Good points--I almost turned my TV off when we had that 3 on 1 and we tried those cutesy passes. and ended up with a turnover. How stupid... What a lackluster performance. Stupid plays, lazy D and no Paige--this was her worst game ever, probably.
 
A bit shocking- especially defensively. No adjustment on the two man game. Hidalgo did whatever she wanted, easily the best player on the court. Plenty of issues. Nika back to making freshmen fouling mistakes. Not feeding Aliyah in the second half. But the most surprising was Paige. I hope she’s okay as she did not look healthy today, like she was playing at half speed. She did not play like an all American, was not even one of the better players on the court today. Hopefully the soft performance by the team is long forgotten
 
EricLA said:
What a humbling game. Time for the team to go back to the film room, lick their wounds, and see where they go from here. And how unfortunate to have a performance like that in front of so many UConn "dignitaries"...

Congrats to ND to beating the heck out of us and Hidalgo - wow. Sensational.

BTW this should put to rest the hoopla over "just how good is this UConn team". We ARE a good team. But not an elite one.
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Hidalgo, Westbeld, and Citron were best players on the floor tonight, also great coaching job by Ivey.
 
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This was a bad loss. Not so much that they lost, but the way that they lost at home in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Where did the UConn suffocating defense go? It was porous. I know Hannah Hidalgo is fast & shifty, but how many times did she drive to the basket unencumbered?

It seemed that UConn reversed to the early part of the season where there was a lack of flow on offense. The ball movement was lacking and there was a lack of screens, and pick and rolls.

I love Paige, but playing passive, deferring to freshman has to end. Say what you will about Caitlin Clark, but some games, even when her shot is off, she keeps firing and shoots herself into a rhythm. That pass to KK underneath on a 3 on 1 was a prime example.

Give credit to ND. After laying up at home against Syracuse, they came out focused and determined. Although Hidalgo was the star of the game, Maddy Westbeld killed UConn with timely threes and Sonia Citron did a commendable job covering Paige. She never allowed Paige to get into a rhythm.
 
Out of conference games have been brutal this year. The thread on the board asking how good is this UConn team has been answered in my opinion.

Injuries have just limited what they can do two years in a row. Can’t put their best foot forward like that. You thought this was bad? Wait until SC game. That’s gonna be brutal considering how bad they got beat in paint by ND. SC is another level. 30 point loss probably.

Maybe sweet 16 this year, but unlikely.

Hopefully full compliment of players next year and they can go injury free and have the kind of year we know they can.

This year ain’t it.
 
jaydee602 said:
The UCONN freshmen played like freshmen & the seniors except for Alliyah did not play like seniors.
That's OK. It's a learning experience.
Also, having Ice Brady first off the bench instead of Aubrey is a big factor.
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I thought Ash had a good game after she settled down. The team was nervous and it affected the freshmen in a very negative way. Terrible defensive lapses, bad shots and passes, just seemed out of their depth. In a game like this, the unresolved weaknesses become glaring. In the 4th quarter, the only ones that should be shooting are Paige and Liyah and Ash when fully open and the ball should be going under to Liyah constantly. She was the best interior player on the court. Give her the ball.
 
drweo said:
And off the court but on the air: Hated, HATED the announcing!
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Me too! Whose idea was it to hold an interview for 5 minutes of game time while totally ignoring play by play??
The only replays were from several posessions earlier. They never replayed several vital plays.
Stephanie White is very knowledgable. But she talks endlessly during the action and doesn't give Gus Johnson a chance to call the game.
Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the broadcast!! ;):)
 
luminosity said:
You could tell the entire game that ND was going to win this game. They just had a certain edge that UCONN simply couldn't match. However, there are three reasons why UCONN lost.

1. Nika Muhl. The worst game of Nika's collegiate career. 0 points. Fouled out early in the 4th quarter. An embarrassing display of no game sense and being overly aggressive and she was ineffective in stopping Hildago even when she was in the game.

2. Paige Bueckers. Arguably the worst game of her collegiate career but was also triple teamed all night. She simply didn't show up and got outclassed by two different opponents (Hildago and Westbeld)

3. Geno. I know Geno is a coaching god and a legend but he simply refused to adjust to the Hildago pick and roll all night and the team continuously got burned by it. UCONN is very very prone to a quick guard torching them and it's happened time and time again over the past couple years and happened yet again.

The last big game of the year is South Carolina and they are gonna get torched by 30 if they play like they did tonight.
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Yes, injuries do play into this. Aubrey Griffin's game was certainly greatly missed tonight. And no Azzi Fudd, Ducharme, El Alfy, Patterson etc. was a factor. But remember, ND was without their All American Guard in Olivia Miles as well as Casandra Prosper, Jenna Brown and Sarah Cernugel.

And, Geno Auriemma got totally "Out-Coached" tonight by Coach Ivey.
 
Bone Dog said:
Nika fouled out with a lot of time to go and the game was effectively over. If anyone doubts Nika's importance to the team, this team ought to show otherwise.
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Too many Uconn heroes in Gampel this night. I'd have the jitters playing before the best of Uconns best. Cheers to YOU for you Nika comment.
 
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TCC Kid said:
Let us not take down Nika. For most of 4 years she played hard and played well. In 99 games out of 100 I want NIKA in the game. She shall always be one of my 50 top Uconn players ( Geno has had so many).
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We want her in the game too, that's why fouling out like she did was so disappointing
 
Bone Dog said:
Nika fouled out with a lot of time to go and the game was effectively over. If anyone doubts Nika's importance to the team, this team ought to show otherwise.
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When she fouled out, my mind went immediately to the LSU game vs S Car with Reese fouling out. I knew we would lose.
 
Surly1 said:
I love Paige, but playing passive, deferring to freshman has to end. Say what you will about Caitlin Clark, but some games, even when her shot is off, she keeps firing and shoots herself into a rhythm. That pass to KK underneath on a 3 on 1 was a prime example.
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I have to agree. I don't believe that Paige should have to do everything. But I NEED her to start just dominating from the start. She is the best player on the floor, she needs to own it. I love that she is unselfish but sometimes the greats need to just step up and be great.

We literally had a discussion the other day on the BY about where Paige stacks up against the UConn greats. She doesn't take over like a DT or Maya or Stewie. NONE of those players were selfish players but they just knew when it was time to step up. Clark does it too.
 
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