UConn-Oregon State postgame thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the OSU game;

• Scott Rueck built a wonderful WBB program at his alma mater in Corvallis, OR, only to see his OSU Beavers devastated by conference realignment, liberal transfer rules and NIL.
• At the half, UConn had shot 50% from the floor , 50% from the arc and 50% from the FT line .
• Paige, A.K.A. Miss Basketball Efficiency, had 23 points on 13 shots, with an A/TO ration of 6/1 in approximately 25 minutes of PT.
• I continue to be in awe of Sarah’s hand quickness. She is basketball’s version of the Artful Dodger.
• Jana showed some improvement today. She did execute one really nice move in the low blocks, catching the ball and scoring over her left shoulder. The next time down, she got the ball again in the low blocks and turned it over. She’s a work-in-progress.
• Geno continues to roll out lots of different lineup combinations, some of which look good and some of which do not. At some point, UConn’s rotation will become more predictable.
• Ecstatic to see the lid finally come off for Azzi from the arc. I now expect her to knock down 5-10 x 3’s in a row.
• So who exactly are the LA Sparks GM & HC in the Bahamas to scout??? I can't imagine it's anyone on BC, OSU or Ole Miss.
• 18th ranked Ole Miss should be a good challenge for UConn. Their roster is loaded with athletic 6’0” – 6’2” wings who play hard. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch it live.

 

[yhun89]

Finally, Chen is making good decisions. She gave up some contested drives she normally would take, and I am SO glad she chose to pass. Good improvement.

PB: Great as always.
Jana: MUCH better game. Good post moves.
Sarah: Look at PB's comments.
Ice looks solid defensively still. Her fight for rebounds is getting better.
Azzi was all over the place on the glass, getting 4 boards against some girls 1 foot taller than her. She's got hops. You can also tell her confidence is at a great place right now. She missed 6-7 shots before she finally made one. Freshman Azzi was too down on herself, and lacked the self esteem. It's a great sign of personal growth for her.

A bit rough on the perimeter defense in the second half. We really need to clean that up before Ole Miss and ND. Ole Miss doesn't typically shoot great, but ND sure does.

Azzi for 3 from PB. Lit up the stands.

 

[maple]

We won, which is really all that matters.

To nitpick a bit, I didn’t love how flat we came out in the second half. I think the MOV could have been much greater — I almost would have preferred a good old fashioned beat down like UConn is known for. But I guess this is just me being spoiled. We still won big.

Oregon St hit almost 50% from 3 today. Don’t love that.

 

[HuskyNan]

A couple of long scoreless stretches in Q4 but per Live Stats, OSU left their starters in until the end of the game even after Geno cleared out the bench

 

[PJCLaw]

After watching tonight's game against Oregon State, I have to say I am concerned about playing Ole Miss, ND, USC and SC with KC at the PG position. She is a good player, but her lateral quickness and ability to keep players in front of her were exposed tonight. She often got turned around and was left trying to find her man. If she had trouble with Oregon State's guards, who most hardly are considered athletic, what will happen when a really athletic guard like Hidalgo gets in front of her. We will certainly have to employ help defense and a lot of switching to compensate for her lack of lateral quickness. I hope I am wrong on this, but she did not look good tonight IMO.

 

[HuskyNan]

The ugly Q4 box score

 

[AmeriConn]

A 1-4 team. Ugh!

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[Stagnant]

Not good. Didn't understand the rotations today. Gave up way too many easy 3's. I think we have gotten worse since South Florida.

Today was either a wake up call. Or the first loss of the year will come against Ole Miss.

There is a positive. Sarah Strong. She is becoming more and more dependable each game. She is kind of like Paige. Those are the two you can trust to play well. They just need others to join them.

 

[Bone Dog]

Paige played 29 and scored 23 shooting 68% including 60% from 3
Sara played 23 and scored 13 including 40% from 3, 2 blocks and 6 steals.
Ice played and scored 5 with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks
Jana played 13 and scored 12 on 54%
Allie played 9 and scored 7 including 40% from 3

 

[Husky fanatic]

Yes Jana can make layups!

 

[RoadMaster]

Swipe..

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I didn't watch the game...just followed the ESPN play by play. Feel from that? He's trying to jumpstart Fudd, Jana and KK. Post break...I think most games will be an 8 player rotation not including junk minutes. They sure gave up a lot of 3s.

 

[Tonyc]

Understand against Ole Miss we will have a shorter bench and I expect better results. We had 5 players out there today that have never played for UConn. It takes time for them to adjust and tonite they got some time. They will need more time and that may not happen against Ole Miss. Geno is still experimenting with different combinations and that too will take time. So a game that we win by 19 playing everybody and giving everybody good minutes is good for the team. It takes time to build a team with new players and Geno is giving them a chance. Im glad Azzi finally got some good minutes and hit a shot. She needed that and it will pay dividends with the tuff schedule we have coming up.

 

[The deacon]

Azzi was all over the place on the glass, getting 4 boards against some girls 1 foot taller than her.

Wow, Oregon State with multiple players standing 6'11"?

 

[HuskyNan]

I didn't watch the game...just followed the ESPN play by play. Feel from that? He's trying to jumpstart Fudd, Jana and KK. Post break...I think most games will be an 8 player rotation not including junk minutes. They sure gave up a lot of 3s.

OSU made 9 threes; UConn made 10

Geno will continue to go deep into his bench in the regular season to avoid wear and tear on the key players

 

[huskeynut]

Good game for the ladies.
Geno playing everybody that's available. He hasn't had that luxury in a few years.

Paige doing Paige. Such a joyh to watch. Her shots come within the flow of the game.
Sarah Strong. Just a steady all aeround game. She does so many things well.
Jana El Alfy. Good game. She making progress. Some good post moves and stayed out of foul trouble.
Azzi. Dropped that first 3!!!!!!!! The rest will come.
Kaitlyn. Improving, understanding how UConn rolls on both sides of the ball.
Ash. Very good defense tonight. Steady, not flashy and that's okay.
KK. Not the same player as last year. Don't know if the ankle is still a problem or what. She did have 5 assists.
Ice. Good game. Kept the 6' 7" girl off the boards and ineffective.
Allie. She can shoot. defense is a work in progress.
Q. I don't get her inconsistangt play.
Morgan. Decent game.

We didn't run up the score. Geno getting the freshmen a lot of playing time. Will pay dividends later in the season. Rotation will shorten up when we have ND and others.

 

[Plebe]

So who exactly are the LA Sparks GM & HC in the Bahamas to scout??? I can't imagine it's anyone on BC, OSU or Ole Miss.

There are mutiple other brackets and tournaments going on in the Bahamas. Something like 14 teams were in action today alone.

 

[ConnManFan]

Before the game, Geno spoke glowingly about how good a coach Oregon St. has. He also talked about how rough it was to have the 7 players leave and that he admired the fact that they would still travel and attend this tournament. Geno and UConn were never going to put the hammer down and embarass this opponent. I do hope that ends though. I miss the day of the 40 point blowouts we used to see a lot.

 

[donalddoowop]

People complain when Geno waits until the game is out of hand to put the bench players in. Well, he has put them in earlier this season and people complain because they don't play as well as they think they should. You can bet Geno won't sub as much tomorrow as he did tonight. He is getting the team ready for the future. What matters is that they won.

 

[Rb335]

Something that I’m noticing is that we’re a live and die by the 3 team sometimes. When we go cold, it feels like we step off the gas. But in reality we’re just missing 3s. It’s been interesting to see nearly every opponent play zone against us. I’m thinking that as the season progresses, we’ll need Shade and Chen to knock down 3s, or shift our lineups.

This game felt a little disjointed with the lineups changing very often. But great practice for different groups to gain chemistry. I’m intrigued to see which lineup gets the most run against Ole Miss, a team that could pose us some great challenges.

Each game we learn a little bit more and I’m seeing a group of 8 out of the 11 healthy separating themselves.

 

[oldude]

I know this may sound sacrilegious. But Geno may be learning from Dawn. Over the past few seasons, Dawn played lots of different lineups, usually winning games, but often not pretty. Even in the loss yesterday to UCLA, Dawn played 12 players, 9 of whom played double-digit minutes.

The benefit is that everyone is well rested for the Big Games in March, and the added depth you gain from giving lots of players meaningful PT becomes a serious advantage to deal with the various opponents and matchups you face in the tournament.

 

[Stagnant]

Q today will have had Geno pulling his hair out.

 

[Centerstream]

I "watched" the Live Stats Recent Plays feed and the On the Court Stats.
Didn't get a real feel about the game, but if I sensed anything is that Kaitlyn had some bad stretches (fouls) and the same with Qadence (TOs).
But it did feel like the first half was better than the second.