UConn-Oregon State postgame thread

[HuskyNan]

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.

First and second half boxes

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[pvdoggy]

Geno certainly sounds happier in the postgame interview than some fans here.

 

[azfan]

Who else beat OSU by 19? Arizona State while. scoring 79. UConn fans best be concerned.

 

[BBallF]

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.

I think that's true. This year we actually have the depth to have a deep rotation in games like this. It will be interesting to see how deep he goes on Wednesday night. I was always of the opinion that when we had the squads that played 5 or 6 players that we were beaten down come April and I thought it showed in the Final Four.

 

[maple]

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.

A great coach knows enough to look inward and realize that they can still learn from others’ success, no matter how successful they themselves are.

 

[dtbtbtb]

A bit of a strange game with Geno trying to give everyone, minutes. By mid-second quarter all available 11 players played.
It also clear that some of the emphasis was to get Jana confident by feeding her constantly, and to give Azzi an opportunity to find her 3-point shot making ability.
Paige: what can be said about this marvel that was not said before. Clearly a while level or 2 above everyone else on the court. Can make a basket every time she feels like it. and clearly the leader of this team. Giving directions to her teammates on both defense and offense. A real coach on the floor.
Sarah: those hands...unreal. catches/deflects/steals balls that she shouldn't. Wish she'll shoot more as she is a great shooter but she seems to always look for an open teammate.
Jana: Physical and today finished well around the basket. had few mistakes but this game was for sure a step forward for her.
Ice: she is much improved both on defense and showed some good touch on offense.
KC: was in control and didn't take bad shots or drive too deep.
KK: a demon on defense. She was giving fits to the PG of Oregon St. Need sot find a sweet spot on offence.
Ash: it seems that Geno is rotating her with Azzi so she is losing some minutes. Works hard as always.
Azzi: every UConn fan had to cheer that 3 pointer she made after few misses. Hopefully she'll start knocking them in on a regular basis now.
Allie: seems to have the greenest of lights to shoot whenever open. Struggled some on defense.
Morgan: a solid but not spectacular game. she plays hard and moves well around the court.
Q: still seems lost.
UConn will need to play much better against OM who played very well in the game against BC. Real good defensive team, physical under the baskets and looked good going to the basket time and time again.
Was surprised at the small size of the crowed. Clearly most fans were UConn fans.

 

[hoophuskee]

A great coach knows enough to look inward and realize that they can still learn from others’ success, no matter how successful they themselves are.

Geno has always played a deep bench early in the year when he has had it in games that there is little fear they will lose. The difference is these last 3 years he basically has no sr class or jr class. Therefore the set rotation which usually came natural is now different/more volatile.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

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

That's one way to defend the 3! Five out of the next 7 games are against ranked teams. IMO, this isn't the time to get rest.They have this stretch because they need quality wins. I would want to see what my best team can do during this period. Conference play is coming up and they shouldn't have a lot of tough games.

 

[BobbyJ]

Geno certainly sounds happier in the postgame interview than some fans here.

Not surprising. Smart coaches approach and manage these types of mismatches differently than rabid fans do. The fans can hold off on the panic until they see how UConn handles the real competition that’s coming up.

 

[Next 12]

It quite wasn't what I wanted, but a win is a win. Paige will always play good, she is a given. Sarah was like name, she played strong. Allie shows promise. ICE held her own playing against a bigger player. The rest of the team played credibly enough that while not a blow out as expected,was a comfortable win. We are still undefeated and the future still looks bright. One "close" game is not a cause for alarm. UCONN is still the team to beat. GO FRESHMEN!!! GO SOPHOMORES!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!

 

[hookshot]

Who else beat OSU by 19? Arizona State while. scoring 79. UConn fans best be concerned.

You're right, it wasn't a great showing, particularly the reluctance to take open shots. if you are afraid to take an open shot, you shouldn't be in there

 

[hookshot]

A bit of a strange game with Geno trying to give everyone, minutes. By mid-second quarter all available 11 players played.
It also clear that some of the emphasis was to get Jana confident by feeding her constantly, and to give Azzi an opportunity to find her 3-point shot making ability.
Paige: what can be said about this marvel that was not said before. Clearly a while level or 2 above everyone else on the court. Can make a basket every time she feels like it. and clearly the leader of this team. Giving directions to her teammates on both defense and offense. A real coach on the floor.
Sarah: those hands...unreal. catches/deflects/steals balls that she shouldn't. Wish she'll shoot more as she is a great shooter but she seems to always look for an open teammate.
Jana: Physical and today finished well around the basket. had few mistakes but this game was for sure a step forward for her.
Ice: she is much improved both on defense and showed some good touch on offense.
KC: was in control and didn't take bad shots or drive too deep.
KK: a demon on defense. She was giving fits to the PG of Oregon St. Need sot find a sweet spot on offence.
Ash: it seems that Geno is rotating her with Azzi so she is losing some minutes. Works hard as always.
Azzi: every UConn fan had to cheer that 3 pointer she made after few misses. Hopefully she'll start knocking them in on a regular basis now.
Allie: seems to have the greenest of lights to shoot whenever open. Struggled some on defense.
Morgan: a solid but not spectacular game. she plays hard and moves well around the court.
Q: still seems lost.
UConn will need to play much better against OM who played very well in the game against BC. Real good defensive team, physical under the baskets and looked good going to the basket time and time again.
Was surprised at the small size of the crowed. Clearly most fans were UConn fans.

a few misses ? She had missed 8 in a row before that one. May not see much action against Miss. likely going to take some time to work out the kinks

 

[Stagnant]

Geno certainly sounds happier in the postgame interview than some fans here.

It might be a little like the Boston game. And we could have actually won by 50. But Geno called off the dogs in the second half because he wanted to work on things.

 

[LGITB]

You know, I sometimes think some of the messages here are a bit... spicy, I'll put it that way. Today I hopped over to the mens' board because I was curious to see the comments post their game yesterday (which to my shock I was able to watch) and boy oh boy.

 

[Bald Husky]

LOL, I can't believe people are concerned that we only won by 19, and we should be worried about Ole Miss. Yes, Ole Miss will be a challenge, but anyone who saw the game saw many, many different lineups. In a close game, he will play 8 players, and not go into his bench like he has been. He is still trying to find out who the top 8 will be, so against the lower teams he will continue to rotate in and out until he finds the right combinations. Don't worry, when he gets it, you will know and there will not be any more questions.

 

[BRS24]

Only got to listen to the game, however it seemed as there were numerous lineups being used throughout the game? If so, I'd rather Geno tinker with it now so that he knows what works, then get forced into something and not have any understanding if it will. I'll also take a lesser MOV that lets the team use these different combos. Last year, he had no choice but to use the freshmen, this year, he's giving them PT to see how they handle things and where they can contribute. All of this will be beneficial down the road this season.

 

[victor64]

I understand why Geno was happy after the game.

--Ball movement was great. They just didn't shoot quite as well in the second half.
--Only nine turnovers which is great considering the numerous lineup combinations.
--He got 19 minutes from Azzi. She didn't shoot well (weird to type) but did have 5 assists and 4 rebounds. She hasn't forgotten how to be a great on ball defender.
--Improvement being shown with playing without Paige.
--Even though they were outscored in the second half, they still allowed only 52 points.

 

[GoUconn7961]

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.

It's almost like nit picking is a hobby here. Go figure. (BTW, I agree w/you).

 

[LwrcasefaN]

LOL, I can't believe people are concerned that we only won by 19, and we should be worried about Ole Miss. Yes, Ole Miss will be a challenge, but anyone who saw the game saw many, many different lineups. In a close game, he will play 8 players, and not go into his bench like he has been. He is still trying to find out who the top 8 will be, so against the lower teams he will continue to rotate in and out until he finds the right combinations. Don't worry, when he gets it, you will know and there will not be any more questions.

This. Finally saw some highlights. They weren't even playing all out. Just working out the kinks. Some possessions seemed very methodical almost like a scrimmage. No one is trying to get injured on a free vacation right before going home to relax.

 

[yhun89]

This game is a good indication of what's to come.

We finally have Chen, willing to pass rather than take contested drives.

Azzi has worked on every aspect of her game. Rebounds, passing, and most of all, defense. She looks great out there, minus the shooting.

Sarah gets better every game. As does Paige.

KK was all over people on the steals. Love the intensity.

Jana had some decent post moves on a girl a few inches taller than her. Good to see.

Q is looking a bit like a liability right now... costly TOs.

Allie looked good. The lineup where Allie and Azzi are together is opening up shots for them nicely, and drawing defenders. I hope Geno finds a way to make it stick as a secondary lineup. This might be essential against ND, where we absolutely need to get people like Citron and Hannah away from Paige.

Ole Miss will be an incredibly tough defensive challenge before ND, but honestly, that's good. We NEED to feel true, tough, pressure defense before we face ND, so we'll be able to counter whatever they throw at us better.

 

[HuskyNan]

It's almost like nit picking is a hobby here. Go figure. (BTW, I agree w/you).

 

[meyers7]

It was a win, but not a good game for UCONN. When you get outshot across the board, 44.4% / 47.4% / 75% vs 43.8% / 34.5% / 62.5%, by a 1-4 team, not good. And most of those losses weren't against really good teams. They're only win was against a Div II team. This 19 point win, was against a really, really poor team. Thank goodness for turnovers.

 

[Bone Dog]

Now that I’ve managed to watch the game through it’s clear to me this was another game of two halves. There was plenty of subbing and uneven shooting, especially in the second half. And a few personal milestones, like Allie hitting two effortless 3-pointers in a row. I bet that felt good. And Jana hit more shots.

Defense was solid (even smothering) in the first half and a bit less so in the second. Lots of steals and forced turnovers. But more importantly, they showed they could matchup against a much bigger team in the front court. At points Geno played small ball against OSU’s big lineup. There were a number of “mouse in the house” occasions OSU couldn’t capitalize on. And generally, despite having 6’7” and 6’5” OSU scored most of their points from the perimeter. Yes, they got too many of those, but this is not surprising when you’re preventing entry passes into the low post. And Sela Heide looks bigger than 6’7”.

On offense, Paige carried the team in the first quarter and built a comfortable lead. And then, as in previous games, she was less interested in scoring and made room for others. Even Sarah got in on this exercise, passing up several open shots. The defense looked ragged at points, especially in the second half, but the offense looked crisp for most of the game even when the shots weren’t falling. The trademark no-dribble passing game was thrilling.

Comparing this game to the other two big games this weekend, I’d say we’re farther along in the process of crafting a powerhouse than USC, UCLA, or SC. Those teams mostly looked lost on offense, though a bit better on defense. Only ND looks to be playing in mid-season form though even they had ragged stretches. But they look a little crisper overall than we did. Yes, we missed a lot of open shots, but when Geno was interested in building a big lead in the first half, the team didn’t look lost on offense, they knew where to be and how to flick the ball around the court to create opportunities. Only ND also seemed capable of that consistently. They all had tougher opponents, to be sure, but that doesn’t excuse all the sloppy play by their main rotations.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno was doing a sink-or-swim with the young players. If he was truly worried about this game, he would have left Paige and Sarah in longer. He's been criticized, heavily, for years for not developing young players earlier but now that he's doing what fans want, people are complaining that the freshmen and sophs don't look as polished as the upperclassmen. Make up your minds - do you want him to develop the younger players in game situations or not?