UCONN - Seton Hall post-game thread

[Blue Ghost]

Nika continues to impress me...As a former martial arts instructor I can honestly say she would have been really good(Karate): Quick, strong and relentless.
Good to see lots of players get their minutes.
Lou: Hard to believe she was (Division 2?) before playing for us...love watching her play
AE really is showing her stuff, and yes, I believe she could be AA.
Dorka showed us why we miss her.

Absolutely love what Lou brings to this team. I only wish she had another year.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Seton Hall let Nika, Caroline and Aubrey shoot and tried to cut off Lou and they got burned. I thought this was maybe the best game I've seen Nika play overall. Some turnovers but creative passing, more penetration into the lane and solid shooting, not to mention shutdown defense man to man against Park Lane. It's a great matchup for her.

AE is just crushing it every game. Continuing to improve and she is both working hard and executing very well. Don't look now but she's also 2nd on the team in assists.

I thought CD's player rotation was solid. She kept everyone fresh and contributing.

I personally thought Ayanna was going to be a big part of the rotation this year and put up 7-8 rebounds a game. Her defense is not bad but she's having problems playing the post position in college. I'm not sure how it's going to work out for her but she's clearly trying hard and over time should improve.

Lou is like a Swiss watch out there. She puts up good numbers every game. She must be opening up some WNBA eyes at this point with her overall great shooting. She looks well on her way to shooting well over 40% from 3 for her college career and she's finishing with her best year ever.

It was great to see Caroline have a good game. She even seemed to be getting up and down the court quicker. Getting her up to speed is so important for this team as opponents are going to continue to force her, Aubrey and Nika to shoot. Even one of them knocking down consistent 3's would be huge for this team, this year.

 

[Martin]

Observations:

1. Those live ball turnovers, especially the forced passes into covered post players, are going to be flying back in the other direction against top teams.

2. Aubrey walked three or four uncalled times before her first dribble.

3. The team is much better with Dorka back. But she seems to juggle rebounds or fumble passes of any difficulty quite often. It's the thumb, I'm sure,and maybe it will get better.

Eh i seem to remember a number of folks referring to her as butter fingers last year to. ))

 

[rt bb fan]

Completely forgot about the game and did not DVR the game. Where can I watch a replay?

 

[OldSchooler]

3 TAKEAWAYS FROM CD'S POST-GAME PRESSER:

1. She acknowledged that going with just 6 players for all but 2 minutes of the FSU game (yeah, I know, some of the benchwarmers were dinged up) left her players tired in the second half and ragged in the 4th qtr. That was remedied with a more even rotation today.

2. Increased TOs is often a by-product of a game plan that heavily emphasizes transition. That will improve with practice.

3, There is definitely a firewall between coaching staff and medical staff on this team. She has no idea when Azzi will be back, and doesn't ask. ("Not my pay grade.")

AND ONE OBSERVATION THAT WAS TOUCHED ON BY A PREVIOUS POSTER IN THIS STRING:

For a player of her size (and I'm talking bulk, not just height), why is Ayanna getting so many inside shots and put-backs blocked? It's like she has weights on her ankles.

 

[wingsfan055]

Not so. The last two games the opponent has scored 18 points off turnovers. A turnover is a lost possession, a lost opportunity to score and an opportunity for the opponent to score.

Most of the turnovers result from really awful passes. Some of them coming from Muhl. I have never seen such a poor passing UConn team as this one.

Yup. Good categorizing of TOs. That's why they pay Geno and coaches to analyze the game film. I would love to see a breakdown like this.

The worse TOs, imo, come in the half court game when the offense gets stuck because of high perimeter defense, which results in forced passing and a TO, and this leads to 2 on the other end. We had a lot of those in our 2 losses. These are much harder to fix than lazy passing.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Completely forgot about the game and did not DVR the game. Where can I watch a replay?

See here: UConn vs. Seton Hall Replay

 

[Nolefan]

3 TAKEAWAYS FROM CD'S POST-GAME PRESSER:

1. She acknowledged that going with just 6 players for all but 2 minutes of the FSU game (yeah, I know, some of the benchwarmers were dinged up) left her players tired in the second half and ragged in the 4th qtr. That was remedied with a more even rotation today.

2. Increased TOs is often a by-product of a game plan that heavily emphasizes transition. That will improve with practice.

3, There is definitely a firewall between coaching staff and medical staff on this team. She has no idea when Azzi will be back, and doesn't ask. ("Not my pay grade.")

AND ONE OBSERVATION THAT WAS TOUCHED ON BY A PREVIOUS POSTER IN THIS STRING:

For a player of her size (and I'm talking bulk, not just height), why is Ayanna getting so many inside shots and put-backs blocked? It's like she has weights on her ankles.

Ayanna has the same issue Ono had she holds the ball down too low and gets stripped easily .. hopefully she can fix that and that’s something Ono didn’t improve much on in her time at UConn ..

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

Not worried about turnovers at this stage.....they are simply eager to share the ball as they move around. As time and play go on, they will learn when not to be too adventurous with the pass, how to tidy up their walks, and how to make sure the opponents can't take the ball away from them so easily. The spirit of player movement and sharing the ball has taken root quickly and the level of assisted baskets is rather incredible as this game attests. They will learn that a few less assists will keep the opponents from scoring off their mistakes....but current their attitude and goal are really, really sensational.

As trends are showing, will we:

1) Say, Aliyah who? about Boston....and joyfully declare, Aaliyah Edwards, take a bow!!!!

2) See Nika set a record for assists? If this trend continues, definitely a new record is coming at UConn where a parade of excellent point guards have tread....it's a very long line and some HOFers among them.

3) See Nika keep that 3pt shooting up? Imagine: adding her to Azzi, Lou, Caroline with a sprinkling of Aubrey and Dorka dropping 3s?

4) Continue to see the coaches immerse Ines in the thick of the game more in Big East games? 4 assists in 11 (?) minutes is doing wonders for her confidence.

5) Continue to see Caroline becoming more herself as the games go on? Choose your poison time is coming and the scariest time this year still to come when Azzi returns. Imagine how it will be next year?

 

[jazz]

Here's the tale of the tape:

View attachment 82206

Amazing game by NM. Taking the good with they bad, NM is 5 for 10 from 3 pt range which is outstanding shooting. Also hitting her FTs to get closer to 70%. Double double by NM which again is outstanding. The untold story is how well she rebounds, routinely getting roughly 5 RBs per game - again outstanding. Of course, most know that her passing skills are unique and special and no, not everybody could do this on this team. Put NM on the worse team in the country and she still gets the assists. She often passes people open. She fills up the stat sheet every game. Terrific player. Need a bit more consistency in her shooting but I'm not complaining too much on that end when you consider the assists, rebounds, the hair on fire defense she plays, and leading the team in what she does and what she says. Her value is obvious.

Dorka with a double double and you have to say that her these two games have been really good. Good to see CD doing some more positives for us - I still think she may struggle against quicker teams but this was a good step in the right direction.

AE is AA and has played that way all year, except for ND when I thought she might step up and have a better game.

AG - solid. Nor sure what is going on with Yanna. Maybe she is in the doghouse??? last two games, only 13 minutes PT is way different than I would have guessed for her at this time of year. More time this game, but she didn't get as much done as expected.

I think Lou is on an AA pace. Could be honourable mention AA.

 

[mbr33ct]

Apparently I was not alone missing the "live" game, I mean who starts a game at 12 noon on a week day? Realized something was afoot when I happened to come on the Boneyard just after the game ended and see this thread...was I surprised . I have to say, there is an advantage of seeing a replay, fast forward commercials and half time altogether.

 

[Skeets]

Nika's full court touchdown passes are Taurasi-esque. She hits the runner in stride for an easy, no dribble, layup. Jim Mora would like his QB to do that.

 

[OldSchooler]

Apparently I was not alone missing the "live" game, I mean who starts a game at 12 noon on a week day? Realized something was afoot when I happened to come on the Boneyard just after the game ended and see this thread...was I surprised . I have to say, there is an advantage of seeing a replay, fast forward commercials and half time altogether.

Up until the last minute, ESPN still had the starting time listed as 7 pm.

 

[meyers7]

Scored 98 points, shot 60%/52%/92% with Bueckers and Fudd sitting on the sideline.

 

[Beemer]

I finally watched the game last night.

What.a.game.by.Nika.

That's it, that's the post.

 

[Longtime fan]

Nice way to go into the holiday break. I was happy to see everyone play and nearly everyone score. I fear that @Longtime fan will be unable to buy many presents this year, as he surely lost his bet and his prediction. CD played everyone and they generally performed well.

And that is a bet I was happy to lose. I think both Ines and Amari should play in important minutes. And they did against Seton Hall
( less so Amari ). The same is true for Patterson. All will become more useful and reliable assets if UCONN does that. But we all know that wont happen unless the players " force the issue" in practices. As a side note; I thought Amari would be better than she so far shows. She is slick around the basket, and (one day) will hit a three. She needs to do that for her confidence. But she doesn't rebound worth a lick ( for a 6'5"player with long arms ). And her defense varies ( blocked shots are great, but she isn't always where she should be). Ines also needs to remember that she has offensive tools other than brining the ball up and passing. And Patterson needs to blossom. She can shoot. I know she can shoot.