UConn - Notre Dame post game

[uconnfan68]

I’ve seen this exact game more then a few times from this team.

Strong start, then the wheels start to come off until all four of them are gone in the 4th. They were resigned to their fate in the fourth quarter - what little fight they had in them was entirely gone when they failed to gain the lead at the end of the third.

The unforced errors put them down in the second and kept them from getting a gap in the third. Our fast break was a blooper reel….13 steals vs four for Notre Dame translated to only +6 for UConn in fast break points. Really need more there to offset the beating they were giving us in the paint.

All that aside….the no-call on the tackle by Notre Dame and awarding them possession to bank in a three at the half was about the worst call I’ve seen in a long time.

Vaszily is a terrible official, and he always makes sure we’re on the wrong side of most of his calls. Almost Kantner level bad.

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

IMO, I'm fine with this loss. This is a non conference game and the girls gotta be focused on the big east tournament. These loses, the way I see them, are preparations for the ncaa tournament. And please, keep in mind that 4 players injured on the bench that, if healthy, the outcomes of these loses would of been very different. Hidalgo is an offensive player, and just like Clark, are virtually unguardable. You beat Notre Dame by containing everyone else on her team and letting a player like Hidalgo try to win the game herself. Watson from Notte Dame was the difference maker for me.

The freshman played good considering the magnitude of the game. We have three freshman on the floor at the same time, at Uconn. This is all a learning experience.

 

[Plebe]

IMO, I'm fine with this loss. This is a non conference game and the girls gotta be focused on the big east tournament. These loses, the way I see them, are preparations for the ncaa tournament. And please, keep in mind that 4 players injured on the bench that, if healthy, the outcomes of these loses would of been very different. Hidalgo is an offensive player, and just like Clark, are virtually unguardable. You beat Notre Dame by containing everyone else on her team and letting a player like Hidalgo try to win the game herself. Watson from Notte Dame was the difference maker for me.

The freshman played good considering the magnitude of the game. We have three freshman on the floor at the same time, at Uconn. This is all a learning experience.

I'm guessing you meant Westbeld, not Watson.

You've made some good points, but I'm not moved by the injury situation since Notre Dame was also missing an injured all American and they also played with only 7 players, 3 of whom played all 40 minutes. Yet they didn't have anyone foul out, and they didn't have their best player play one of the worst games of her career.

 

[Jumper33]

I somehow thought that UConn would be able to contain Hannah Hidalgo and I was sure that they would not be able to stop Paige. Both these assumptions were wrong.

I sort of scouted ND watching them play against Syracuse and they could not stop them. I wonder if they were looking ahead to this game?

UConn got outplayed, plain and simple. Unbelievable that ND got whooped on their home floor and then 48 hours later came in and did this. I know some were concerned that ND would be desperate and dangerous, but frankly I didn’t think they had this in them. Hidalgo looked the part of a first team all American.

 

[Javafan]

How do you let a 5’6” kid drive the lane over and over?

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 ?)

 

[triaddukefan]

I somehow thought that UConn would be able to contain Hannah Hidalgo and I was sure that they would not be able to stop Paige. Both these assumptions were wrong.

I sort of scouted ND watching them play against Syracuse and they could not stop them. I wonder if they were looking ahead to this game?

UConn got outplayed, plain and simple. Unbelievable that ND got whooped on their home floor and then 48 hours later came in and did this. I know some were concerned that ND would be desperate and dangerous, but frankly I didn’t think they had this in them. Hidalgo looked the part of a first team all American.

Considering that Syracuse had already beaten ND, I would highly doubt that.

 

[From France]

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...

Well there was a tie at 60 before Nika goes out, doesn't it tell you something ?

 

[OldSchooler]

What a beat-down, in front of one of the largest and most enthusiastic crowds ever. Tied at 60, we got crushed, 22-7, with the game on the line. Punished in every aspect of the game, at both ends of the court. Ice's totally ineffective minutes out there would have gone to Aubrey, but what's the use of crying over spilled milk. Hard to believe how much better ND would have been with Miles out there.

We were outplayed and out-coached. Hidalgo and the entire Irish team came in ready. Have to give all kinds of credit to ND's players and coaching staff in preparation for this game. Seemed like they totally ignored preparing for Syracuse, and just concentrated the entire week on preparation for this game.

This may sound like sour grapes, but the massive beat-down obscured some very questionable calls, and what was one of the worst telecasts of a big game I have ever seen. The nerve of that crew to take up so much live-action time interviewing DT. The camera was focused on the broadcast table, with two worshipful announcers not even watching the game, while a bunch of strange whistles were being blown with no explanation from the crew. A disservice to the fan-base of both teams. Shame on you, Fox!

Let's hope we can limp into the NCAA tournament with only 5 losses. We deserve whatever seeding we get.

 

[Topsail]

Wow, I was out last nite and missed the game. I kept checking the score and could not believe we laid an egg in front of a sell out home crowd and distinguished alumni . I had been waiting for this game and SC to see if we were truly a top 5 team. I have my answer With the SC yet to come. The big East has given us a false sense of where we rank. I m now going to watch the game that I taped.

 

[omshanti]

Very disappointed in the game , wow. UConn was outplayed in every aspect of the game. Paige was too passive! Why was she on the bench late in the first half? The players on the court at that time looked lost and confused. There wasn’t any offensive flow for most of the game. Great defense by ND.

KK ought to stop trying to drive to the basket against four defenders; throwing up crazy shots and ending up on the floor. She may be quick but against good teams it’s not good.

This game exposed the weaknesses due to the injuries. perhaps this loss will be the wake up call for Paige to get unleashed…

 

[Skeets]

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...

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.

 

[freshler40]

They mentioned in game that on Thursday vs Syracuse, Syracuse played a zone D against them and ND struggled to score the entire 4Q.

No idea why we didn't switch to that.

Especially with four (4) freshmen like players on the floor tonight. Where was the detailed scouting??? This is X and O's. A speedy rim running guard shows up our man to man and weak interior defense. Ice has trouble sliding over or doesn't read what is happening. ND's guard always went to her right. Our coaches were watching a different game.

 

[Skeets]

Agree, a game where zone might have been an answer

Geno switched to zone. Some of the worst defense was when UConn was in zone. The kids had no clue who to guard and they were leaving players open constantly. Eventually Geno went back to man-on-man, but that wasn't good enough either without Nika on Hidalgo.

 

[LGITB]

I went to sleep and only saw the score line when I woke up. Not what I was expecting! With everything that goes on in my region I have to say I'm probably less bothered about the L than most, but I really feel bad for them faltering like this at home.

Couple of thoughts:

1. As Geno always says, 'This isn't March', and if there was ever a good time for a spanking and a way to see where you're going about things all wrong, this is probably a good time as any.
2. In hindsight, maybe the excitment of the day with all the alumni and whatnot had a negative in fluence on the game? that being said, it'll teach the players (especially the freshmen) how to handle big game day nerves.

 

[freshler40]

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.

I don't agree about the zone thoughts. Let the other team make some adjustments from what was an easy down-hill lay-up after lay-up. We don't have to play zone the entire game, just stretches. With four freshmen on the court, for much of this game, the switching man to man was a challenge. We were not up to doing this well and it led to many reach in fouls.

ND played zone for some of the game. We had few answers but for a good stretch in the third quarter getting the ball to Paige inside the foul line. This led to good scoring chances, many by Edwards off of feeds. Then we stop doing this with Edwards not getting the ball in her sweet spot in the fourth. Why????

 

[maple]

Geno switched to zone. Some of the worst defense was when UConn was in zone. The kids had no clue who to guard and they were leaving players open constantly.

Genuinely asking, do players not know how to play multiple types of defense?

 

[Bald Husky]

Well, what can I say that wasn't already said. Completely STUNNED. Nor looking forward to SC, and I'll leave it at that.

 

[Zanzman]

I will respectfully disagree and agree here. Azzi was not consistent enough, I agree. But that doesn't matter. She can get hot or cold, but no team is going to take that chance. She's a superstar-level talent and her presence alone would be enough.

1-2 consistent 3 point shooters doesn't do much in this game. Muhl and Shade have been consistent this year and were there. The difference is when Paige touched the ball everyone payed attention, they wanted to reduce her to a playmaker and they did. They needed another superstar guard to attract attention and, though injured, on the current roster Fudd fits the bill. We can't resurrect LLS, KLS or KML.

She seemed to be transmitting instructions in a professional way by using hand signals & finger signs.
When the cameras focused on Geno, he seems to be either yelling or getting emotional.
I understand that coaches have different motivational styles & techniques, but it not very good optics for the natuonal audience & potential recruits to see Geno yelling & demonstrating to the players by faliing his arms around.
His delivery of instructions looks a little more haphazard.

His styled seemed to work for the first 38 years seems you like to take the opposing side looking for a debate

 

[Skeets]

Genuinely asking, do players not know how to play multiple types of defense?

I don't know what they know and what they don't. I do know that UConn plays man-to-man at least 90% of the time. I imagine that is how it goes in practice too. UConn's defensive is notably better when they are in man-to-man. Geno goes zone, like last night, usually in response to foul troubles. When in zone switching looks slower, players are left open, mental mistakes all around. The solution? Either stay in man-to-man or practice the hell out of zone defense. Practice until you can't get it wrong.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Genuinely asking, do players not know how to play multiple types of defense?

They do, albeit some teams don't play a lot of zone. And what they play is on the coach. I was shocked at the lack of adjustment to the ND pick and roll with a player who was only driving right! Looks like they decided to switch, which is fine, but that left Hidalgo on a big or slower player. They also could have hedged, and forced her back into KK or at least made her drive left. I wouldn't be surprised if Geno didn't put this on the coaches and poor preparation. The players were hustling.

 

[BBallF]

Nika's play is on Nika. She took herself out of the game.

That's exactly right. I don't understand it given all her hard work and who she is.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I don't agree about the zone thoughts. Let the other team make some adjustments from what was an easy down-hill lay-up after lay-up. We don't have to play zone the entire game, just stretches. With four freshmen on the court, for much of this game, the switching man to man was a challenge. We were not up to doing this well and it led to many reach in fouls.

ND played zone for some of the game. We had few answers but for a good stretch in the third quarter getting the ball to Paige inside the foul line. This led to good scoring chances, many by Edwards off of feeds. Then we stop doing this with Edwards not getting the ball in her sweet spot in the fourth. Why????

When you find out...let me know.

 

[MilfordHusky]

We were out-shot, out-rebounded, out-defended, out-hustled, and out-coached. The alumni in the building had to be disappointed and possibly shocked. Usually, we need 3 players to play well to get a win, especially against a good team, but last night we had only Liya. We need a much better effort at Villanova or we could have another 2-game losing streak.

Speaking of the alumni, the 4 championship teams in attendance lost a combined 9 games. The margins were 4, 1, 15 (at ND), 3, 3, 1 (ND), 6, 9 (ND in 3 OT), and 2 (ND). Four of the losses were to ND, and the only loss in regulation by more than 6 points was at ND. This year's team has already lost by 11, 11, 12, and 15.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

That's exactly right. I don't understand it given all her hard work and who she is.

She's a heck of a defender when she's in the game. She's fiery and emotional and sometimes I think that gets the best of her. I also think she has a lot on her plate. She has had to make a lot of adjustments to her role, become more aggressive on offense, play part-time PG. It's a lot.

 

[Vancat]

Anyone notice we are forced to use a lot of freshmen?