UConn - Notre Dame post game

[Zonepress]

As I remember, Nika's fifth foul came as we had battled back from a halftime deficit to tie the game at 60-60. From then on, ND outscored us 22-7. I believe that we have no one on the bench who can replace any of our starters in a tight game.

That covers it

 

[CONNCAN]

Totally agree with you. They almost never showed the last semi-controversial play, except for Nika’s 4th foul (which was imaginary to me).

Also Gus Johnson has to stop trying to be Stephen A. The game was exciting, he didn’t need to over hype things. SNY rules.

One has to remember that FOX and Gus Johnson HAS TO broadcast and call the game to a "National Audience" vs. SNY who broadcasts the games to a UCONN Audience. This is the biggest differential in styles. FOX was not going to call the game in the same manner as the SNY Broadcasters do. UCONN Fans may not like it, but again FOX wasn't catering to just the UCONN Audience (nor just the ND Audience) but rather a "NATIONAL AUDIENCE"

 

[VaConnFan11]

I have said this before and I will say it again, Geno is not a good in-game coach. Rarely scores after calling a timeout and rarely stops the other team from scoring when they call a timeout. He doesn't adjust to what the other team is doing.

I like the comments about "other teams/players have the games of their lives when they play UConn". The reason is because the are always wide open. How may wide open shots did ND get last night. The answer is, most of them. How many wide open shots did UConn get? Not many. ND took away the perimeter. They were guarding everyone past the 3-point line.

UConn misses too may layups. This has been going on for the past 3-4 years. Maybe longer. At this point it has to be coaching.

UConn seems to always be begging for fouls. Some are legit, some are not. I can speak from first hand knowledge. If you have a reputation of always begging for calls, you don't get the calls.

Reiterating something I said in the last 2 weeks; The Big East is bad!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Only saw the first half. Won't be looking for the rest. Pretty shocking.

 

[jaydee602]

We are not trashing players today. It was a team loss.

Non-UConn fans - some sensitivity is appreciated.

Thank you, Nan! We needed that!!
This team played:
*with 4 freshman who are playing above expectations
*without 5 players who would start for any team in the country
*with an injured Paige who fell on her face for the 2nd time this week
*against a well coached, determined team with a superstar freshman
Many teams would have folded long ago faced with so much adversity. This exciting team has over achieved and shown a building confidence. They hit a stumbling block, but they will recover & continue to succeed. So, jump off the bandwagon at your own risk.
It is time to support them, not disparage & abandon them.

 

[Zanzman]

One has to remember that FOX and Gus Johnson HAS TO broadcast and call the game to a "National Audience" vs. SNY who broadcasts the games to a UCONN Audience. This is the biggest differential in styles. FOX was not going to call the game in the same manner as the SNY Broadcasters do. UCONN Fans may not like it, but again FOX wasn't catering to just the UCONN Audience (nor just the ND Audience) but rather a "NATIONAL AUDIENCE"

Gus Johnson wasn’t calling the game to much other stuff let us know who the fouls are on , always behind minutes on substitutions keep it on the court your supposed yo be watching

 

[AgStatesman]

DT said during her interview last night that this UConn team is gritty and gritty teams can be dangerous. I think that's exactly where we are at. Nowhere good enough to beat anyone with an average effort game, but can beat anyone with above average effort and playing well. Of course when our number one plays like number two, there is no chance of winning a top 25 game in that scenario.

 

[bbsamjj]

One has to remember that FOX and Gus Johnson HAS TO broadcast and call the game to a "National Audience" vs. SNY who broadcasts the games to a UCONN Audience. This is the biggest differential in styles. FOX was not going to call the game in the same manner as the SNY Broadcasters do. UCONN Fans may not like it, but again FOX wasn't catering to just the UCONN Audience (nor just the ND Audience) but rather a "NATIONAL AUDIENCE"

FWIW, yes the long interview with DT was annoying, but that's a call made by the FOX producers, not the announcers.

I found Stephanie White's analysis very insightful, especially about the matchups and how each team was trying to defend against the other. I agree Gus was...annoying,

 

[SJF]

That's what puzzled me. How does a kid who is five feet six score at will at the rim for a whole damn game? Geno never figured that out?

Got caught in some bad switches

 

[Zonepress]

Absolutely "POINT ON" - Sonia Citron's job last night was to try to STOP Paige Bueckers. Here is a player, who is essentially playing on a 1/2 a leg, with that bulky knee brace on. But Sonia did one heck of a job stopping UCONN's most important player. Offensively, yes, you need to point to Hildalgo and Westbeld. But from a critical difference maker, it was the defensive play of Sonia Citron against Paige Bueckers (as one poster said "Citron played Paige so tight, that Sonia could tell you what brand of Hair Conditioner that Paige wore last night")

Perhaps Geno should have put Paige in a pivk
And roll with AE 30 ft away from the basket or play isolation like nba
Where there was no ability to help no
Way ciitron could stay with Paige in isolation
And let the best player control the game
This is exactly what nd did with Hidalgo isolation
In fist half pick
And roll in 2nd half
It’s a players game but the nd strategy
Let them
Dictate how the game was played
UConn not so much

 

[SJF]

Let’s face it Geno has to start winning some of these recruiting battles for elite bigs

 

[Zonepress]

Thank you, Nan! We needed that!!
This team played:
*with 4 freshman who are playing above expectations
*without 5 players who would start for any team in the country
*with an injured Paige who fell on her face for the 2nd time this week
*against a well coached, determined team with a superstar freshman
Many teams would have folded long ago faced with so much adversity. This exciting team has over achieved and shown a building confidence. They hit a stumbling block, but they will recover & continue to succeed. So, jump off the bandwagon at your own risk.
It is time to support them, not disparage & abandon them.

All true but it was 60-60 in the 4th quarter
At home with a great crowd
Let’s be honest nd met the challenge and
UConn did not
That’s sports

 

[browns]

FWIW, yes the long interview with DT was annoying, but that's a call made by the FOX producers, not the announcers.

I found Stephanie White's analysis very insightful, especially about the matchups and how each team was trying to defend against the other. I agree Gus was...annoying,

Stephanie's analysis was insightful except when she said she expected Paige to take over the game in the 4th quarter

 

[hookshot]

Nika did a decent job on Hidalgo. This ended when Nika had to take a seat in the first in the first quarter. When Paige also got a breather in 1Q the team looked completely lost. When Nika returned, Geno switched to mostly KK on Hidalgo. KK cannot guard Hidalgo. Nearly all of those drives to the bucket were on someone other than Nika. Geno went to zone and that was even worse. UConn is not a zone team. I don't think these kids know how to play zone.

Bottom line, Nika doing nothing on offense and fouling out, bad. Hopefully this was the worse Paige game we will ever have to watch. I don't want to lay it all on KK, plenty of bad defense to go around. Geno needs to stay away from a zone defense.

Your right, Uconn is not a zone team because it takes a lot of practice time to optimize a Zone defense, and uconn's commitment is to live or die with Zone. Still, there is plenty of practice time available and it is unfortunate that more time isn't devoted to zone given the variety of circumstances that you may run into in an NCAA tournament where zone could be helpful, [particularly with the limited personnel options now available, e.g. Brady can't play man-to-man at this point in her development. ND could not score against a Syracuse zone, but Syracuse is a zone culture - Uconn just isn't

 

[freshler40]

Perhaps Geno should have put Paige in a pivk
And roll with AE 30 ft away from the basket or play isolation like nba
Where there was no ability to help no
Way ciitron could stay with Paige in isolation
And let the best player control the game
This is exactly what nd did with Hidalgo isolation
In fist half pick
And roll in 2nd half
It’s a players game but the nd strategy
Let them
Dictate how the game was played
UConn not so much

Our players often looked to the bench for what to do. Odd at this late point in the season. We do have a young team but this bench coaching with often poor concentration/or reset by the players seems a distraction. Why isn't this handled in the huddles or practice?

 

[hookshot]

Can someone out there please explain to me why Geno hates playing zone defense?

We needed it tonight. Need to make these adjustments when we are getting torched in man to man.

Some coaches feel that a zone gives too many open looks. Not necessarily - but. it takes a lot of practice time to develop an effective zone and Geno is simply not enough of a proponent of zone to spend enough practice time on it, to make it effective. When you coach youth basketball, you come to realize that zone is the easiest way to effectively organize kids who have a wide variety of athleticism. Geno expects, at this level, that everybody should be able to effectively play man-to-man, but some are are not ready / able to do so, and we have few or no options on this 9 player roster (a good reason to stress more zone)

 

[AnonChoice]

Another factor.... the pressure on these kids given the fact that they were playing such a big game with the UConn legends in the house, ceremonial honoring of past championship teams, reminders of the legacy of this program. They're used to sold-out crowds and national TV coverage, so I think the "legacy" factor is the thing that could have affected their nerves in this particular game (e.g., defense on Hidalgo). Plus all the other things others have posted here. Terrible time for both Paige and Nika not to have the kind of games that have become characteristic (and expected) from them.

Now we'll tumble out of the top ten again in the rankings. Let's see, when we lose a game, we're generally dropped.... four or five spots?

 

[Blond D.]

First off I HATE to lose but this loss might be an advantage later on.
It was a night when we was shooting very poorly for the most part and ND was hitting everything.
It was a night where our defense was not clicking on all cylinders and ND took advantage.
It was a night we need to study and learn from.
In the long run it just might benefit us. We needed a reality check.
GO HUSKIES!

 

[RadfordRam]

HH is very good, but UCONN not stepping into the lane to challenge her drives made her look better.

Much of this was Freshman (and Ice) not having enough experience to automatically back up whoever was guarding HH. When she drove around her opponent, nobody was there or stepped in. Geno will work on this.

Another Freshman problem is KK driving one on two or one on three without a plan.
This is another common Freshman error. They got away with it in high school. She will learn fast.

Nah she's incredible and UCONN'S lack of defense didn't make her look better, she's just that great. Easily the best player on the court last night.

 

[reelfan]

FOX announcers are TERRIBLE, don't stay with the play, drift off into never land. Best to MUTE.

 

[Ron and Vida]

Unfortunately our 28.6 % 3 PT % last night was more Doom Doom than Boom Boom

 

[AmeriConn]

When we play against teams like ND, SC, LSU, etc., Paige will need to take control from the tipoff and score in the 30’s in order to set an example and win the game.

 

[reelfan]

Geno kept Paige and Nika out for much of the first half, message sent. Message received ????

 

[reelfan]

At this point in the season the tendencies of a team are pretty much set. Is it time for UCONN to shake things up a bit even with the limited bench ????

 

[browns]

When we play against teams like ND, SC, LSU, etc., Paige will need to take control from the tipoff and score in the 30’s in order to set an example and win the game.

That's what super stars do

 

[Huskee11]

The game was still winnable in the fourth quarter but the wrong players were taking the shots for us. Geno admitted after the game that it was a mistake to go away from Aaliyah in the second half.

Paige was clearly not herself but I also thought that Citron gave her problems.

Other than Aaliyah, our major advantage on the offensive end was whoever DeWolfe was guarding. It was Shade early. DeWolfe is very small and only played 14 minutes, she couldn`t stop anyone.

Brady needs to stop fouling. A lot of them are silly reach in fouls. Where is the coaching on that? Come on, clean that up. She also needs to put some air under her shots, everything is flat and long.

Nika`s fifth foul was inexcusable.

At one point in the first half we had four first year players on the floor with Aaliyah.

Hidalgo was going to go right no matter what and we still couldn`t stop her. We won`t beat Notre Dame until we figure out how to defend the high pick and roll.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Yeah, when NIka played dumb with faults why not try Ines to stop Hidaldo? Let Ines fault out if thats what it takes ?? Where is the coaching CHANGE ?? ( Just don't tell me putting Ines could lose more, so what ?)

The ND game was way above the level of play that Ines is capable of. She just isn’t that level of player.

 

[CONNCAN]

FOX announcers are TERRIBLE, don't stay with the play, drift off into never land. Best to MUTE.

Well, one "might" have to get used to the FOX Announcers, as rumors have it that UCONN will go out for bid after this season for the Television Rights to the UCONN WBB Games, in order to broaden the UCONN WBB audience. FOX Sports are in the best position to land that deal, given FOX's relationship to the Big East Conference. Its because not many people have access to SNY outside of the area and unless you pay thru the nose to get SNY, its nearly impossible to watch UCONN WBB Games. Much easier to get the games on FOX SPORTS as more providers have FOX Sports on their basic plan than SNY. Say goodbye to SNY

 

[Rowdy831]

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.

When your second tallest player on the court is 6'0 you have no chance to compete in the paint. ND would set a high screen with their post and Hidalgo would drive to the basket with now defense to pick her up. ND scored almost 50 points in the paint and UConn just isn't going to beat a quality team with size unless they shoot lights out and they didn't.

 

[maple]

When your second tallest player on the court is 6'0 you have no chance to compete in the paint. ND would set a high screen with their post and Hidalgo would drive to the basket with now defense to pick her up. ND scored almost 50 points in the paint and UConn just isn't going to beat a quality team with size unless they shoot lights out and they didn't.

Hidalgo is 5’6”. She’s not Griner.