UConn - SJU post game

[EricLA]

Sort of inconsistent first half - better in Q2, for sure. 2nd half was a struggle. We'd start to pull away, then SJU would go on a mini-run. Their banked 3's were annoying. But credit to them for not giving up like they seemed to do in the last game. They battled and kept the game relatively close, even winning Q3. We just weren't crisp. We'd play good defense for 15 seconds, then get out of position and give up an open shot. Again, credit to SJU. They played poised and never let the game get out of hand. But still, just when you think/hope UConn has turned the corner and is really ready to play some cohesive good team ball, we seem to take steps backwards.

• Nika sub-par in Q1. 2 fouls (1 on a 3 point shooter) and some momentum stopping turnovers. But her defense on Drake (SJU top scorer) great, at least in the 1st half. But again, fouls caught up to her. Mystifying play at times from a senior.
• Paige with 4 turnovers the first half - 2 on consecutive possessions - and then only 1 the rest of the game. Seemed like we sort of needed her to take over in Q4. Which is really too bad. But she is unstoppable when she takes over. Just wow!
• Liya had a monster first half, but then... maybe got a tad tired for a minute? Still... career high! Woohoo! and really good from the FT line. POG for sure!!
• Watching SJU start their offense is like watching paint dry... Slow-Mo!

When was the last time Geno had to call a TO to stop a run, or re-set? But he had to 1 minute into Q4. Game never REALLY felt in doubt, but it was not the solid performance I would have liked to see. Liya and Paige were mostly great. The rest of the team... had their moments, but... Anyway a nice grind-out win overall - SJU is #3 in the BE. They really are no slouches. Hopefully some good stuff for the film session. and to end on a good note - Paige and Liya - STUDS!!

 

[msf22b]

It is not a winning formula for UConn for Paige and Edwards to do most of the scoring.

 

[Bone Dog]

This was a good Big East win, but the narrow distribution of points doesn't bode well for their chances in late March. The freshmen seem still to be a bit shaken by the ND loss and are playing a little tentatively. Geno may have lost confidence in Q, for example.

Aaliyah and Paige showed they can take over a game as needed and get wins like this one.

 

[HuskyNan]

It is not a winning formula for UConn for Paige and Edwards to do most of the scoring.

Well, as long as they win, why isn’t it a winning formula?

 

[maple]

Decent Q1 and a great Q2 followed by a extremely lackluster Q3. Felt like UConn was just going through the motions with such a large lead. Q4 was a gut check moment and the Huskies were able to (mostly) right the ship and get the win.

Edwards and Paige both played fantastic for pretty much the entire game. I was so pleased to see Edwards get her career high for scoring. She was dominating in the paint the whole game on both ends.

Nika with foul trouble again but I find it hard to fault her given her defensive assignment. 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals is a pretty good stat line. I thought she played very well.

Paige's biggest "flaw" this season was 5 TOs. She got her pocket picked more than once. Not ideal, but she played very well overall.

The freshmen had a quiet game points-wise but I can't say I'm really upset. Credit to St. John's for playing tough the whole game.

The officiating in this game was very poor, IMHO.

 

[veryolddog]

Glad that they won. Looked like a Edwards and Bueckers game with support from a few others. How ST Johns came within 7 points towards the end of this game is a mystery to me. Well, onward to the next one and the end of the season.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[SLY63]

Starting 5 played well, but more and more it looks like we are only "5 deep". No confidence in Ice and Q just shoots too much coming off the bench.

SC game will tell a lot as we will need our bench. SC is so deep, it will be almost impossible to win without our bench improving miraculously in a week, because our starters will be worn down by Q4.

 

[Bone Dog]

Glad that they won. Looked like a Edwards and Bueckers game with support from a few others. How ST Johns came within 7 points towards the end of this game is a mystery to me. Well, onward to the next one and the end of the season.

A mystery to me, too. But Paige seemed to wake up and scored 7 quick points in a row to fix it.

The freshmen were a collective 5-16. That's not going to cut it in March. Our enthusiasm a few weeks ago was based on v very different offensive performances. is this the "wall" folks were worried about?

 

[hoopsdiva]

I was hoping that Ice and Q would get some minutes so our starters could get some rest, but the drop off when our limited bench comes in is... noticeable.

 

[Cornell Lt]

Wasn't particularly aesthetic, but a win is a win.

 

[luminosity]

I don't have a strong judgement of this game other than that I am happy that they won. You are going to have games like this during the year where the opponent (which I know the BY refuses to acknowledge sometimes) plays better than you expect and/or the team isn't playing as well. Today was one of those days and I think it's silly to overreact over it.

It's also nice to have two All-Americans that can carry your team when the rest of the players play subpar and that's what Paige and AE did, especially in the second half. Nika, again, played outstanding defense on St. John's best player and shut her down. The freshman weren't that good but this is a reminder that they are, indeed, still freshman.

On to the next one!

 

[Mike72fl]

If I were Geno, I’d make Nika and KK watch hours of tapes of how Kelly Faris played defense - hard and smart defense.

 

[msf22b]

Well, as long as they win, why isn’t it a winning formula?

View attachment 96060

I'm sure a response is unnecessary as it is obvious that what may work against St. John's will be less effective against better squads.

 

[Blond D.]

All 3 of our seniors had a pretty good game. A couple of phantom fouls on Nika. Edwards did a magnificent job getting in position and scoring under the basket. Paige, Nika and KK were great with the assists.
St. Johns got within 7 when everyone went cold and we couldn't buy a bucket. Mostly when Nika or Paige was out.
Our bench better get better fast.
But we had some really great moments!!!

 

[boscolino]

It is not a winning formula for UConn for Paige and Edwards to do most of the scoring.

Iowa gets most part of the score by just one player.....

 

[HuskyNan]

I'm sure a response is unnecessary as it is obvious that what may work against St. John's will be less effective against better squads.

Yes, but as EF Hutton used to say, past performance isn’t a guarantee of future results. In other words, each game stands alone. If they were robots and were programmed to play exactly the same way every game, it would be a problem but human beings can adapt and control their own fate

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Decent Q1 and a great Q2 followed by a extremely lackluster Q3. Felt like UConn was just going through the motions with such a large lead. Q4 was a gut check moment and the Huskies were able to (mostly) right the ship and get the win.

Edwards and Paige both played fantastic for pretty much the entire game. I was so pleased to see Edwards get her career high for scoring. She was dominating in the paint the whole game on both ends.

Nika with foul trouble again but I find it hard to fault her given her defensive assignment. 5 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals is a pretty good stat line. I thought she played very well.

Paige's biggest "flaw" this season was 5 TOs. She got her pocket picked more than once. Not ideal, but she played very well overall.

The freshmen had a quiet game points-wise but I can't say I'm really upset. Credit to St. John's for playing tough the whole game.

The officiating in this game was very poor, IMHO.

Paige’s biggest “flaw” was having a terrible knee injury in 2021, early in her sophomore year, and then tearing her ACL in the same knee not long after that. It was something beyond her control. She probably will never entirely recover 100%. She still is a great player and has made an amazing comeback but she is not the girl who won NPOY as a freshman and was hands down the best player in the country that year.

 

[jcoton56]

Plenty of stuff to clean up.Still a win albeit a sloppy win.

 

[Husky fanatic]

Looks like the plan was to send it in to Edwards and it worked great for most of the game. Between her and Paige they scored 75% of the points. So much for offensive continuity. We seem to have abandoned the press for the most part.

 

[Huskie837]

Our bench was regressed; hope it turns around

 

[Blueballer]

Starting 5 played well, but more and more it looks like we are only "5 deep". No confidence in Ice and Q just shoots too much coming off the bench.

SC game will tell a lot as we will need our bench. SC is so deep, it will be almost impossible to win without our bench improving miraculously in a week, because our starters will be worn down by Q4.

I don't think the SC game is going to tell us anything we don't already know. Even without Cardoso it will just confirm that we have too many injuries to go deep in the tournamnt. I'd love to be wrong about that but I doubt it.

 

[maple]

Paige’s biggest “flaw” was having a terrible knee injury in 2021, early in her sophomore year, and then tearing her ACL in the same knee not long after that. It was something beyond her control. She probably will never entirely recover 100%. She still is a great player and has made an amazing comeback but she is not the girl who won NPOY as a freshman and was hands down the best player in the country that year.

I wasn't attacking her at all, simply pointing out that it happened this game. I did make mention of her otherwise great performance.

EDIT: I just realized I wrote "her biggest 'flaw' this season" in my original post. It was meant to say "this game". That's my error.