UConn-South Carolina postgame thread

[freshler40]

A tough game and we played well as a team. Aubrey was amazing. Nika must develop a pull up; she's working on it. Lou needs to get used to being held, bumped, and accosted because that is what she will see in the WNBA all day. Still, she toughed it out. Dorka, needs to get stronger if she hope to play in the W. Use your height and weight. AE is on her way to greatness. Need a little more refinement and confidence with her jump shot. A great game by AE. Ayanna is not being handled properly. The staff should let her offense go. They're hurting her game. Refusal to use Amari against Cardoso is a travesty. How will she really improve if she not allowed to share in the action, i.e., the struggles of victory. Got to put her up against Cardoso...... Otherwise, a very good showing and we should win the NC with Azzi and Caroline.

It does look like Ayanna has been given the no shooting mode. That seemed to hurt us some with a then turnover happening. She did put in some good defensive minutes, but we need some offensive production from the bench.

Because we played a packed in zone for much of the game the blocking out of offensive players didn't work well. This is the bane of a zone. The individual defensive player loses direct responsibility. The two towers of SC had free rein inside and hurt us repeatedly. Dawn had a perfect game plan. This will have to be a key adjustment down the road. With two more starter type players back soon, this will provide some 3 pt offensive, more fouls to give and man to man defense. With these three factors covered, will then have more productive options. The short bench really hurt in a game like this.

 

[browns]

The game started to change in the 2nd quarter when Dawn went with Boston,Cardoso and Amihere all at the same time..still UConn battled with AE playing like an AA and Lou was simply amazing.. all the years I've watched Uconn this was Geno's worse T..down by 6 with the ball and he gets rung up and all of a sudden it's a 10 point game..really bad!!

Again, you obviously don't like Aubrey Griffin (so, I guess you will ask Geno to sit her on the bench for the rest of the season and see how the team performs without the Big East Defensive Player of the

 

[BRS24]

Someone please explain Patterson to me. In a game where we had great difficulty scoring, she had at least three opportunities to shoot, and never did. On one occasion, she was driving from the edge and there was little time left on the clock shot. But, instead of taking a shot, she decided to dish it off to a well covered player and lost possession. You can't tell me she scored zero points every game in high school. What is wrong with her?

Both times when she thought about driving in the lane, it was a bit of paralysis from analysis, as she started, thought about it, then stopped and attempted a pass out. She'll get better.

 

[Gabbyfan]

Remember Henderson’s beat down of Paige in the championship game last year? We saw it again on Lou today. I agree with those who dislike this aggressive defense that seems to not draw whistles. Geno’s strategy og packing the lane was a good one until it wasn’t. Those threes by SC late in the 4th quarter were tough to overcome

 

[jabstep]

A tough game and we played well as a team. Aubrey was amazing. Nika must develop a pull up; she's working on it. Lou needs to get used to being held, bumped, and accosted because that is what she will see in the WNBA all day. Still, she toughed it out. Dorka, needs to get stronger if she hope to play in the W. Use your height and weight. AE is on her way to greatness. Need a Cardosalittle more refinement and confidence with her jump shot. A great game by AE. Ayanna is not being handled properly. The staff should let her offense go. They're hurting her game. Refusal to use Amari against Cardoso is a travesty. How will she really improve if she not allowed to share in the action, i.e., the struggles of victory. Got to put her up against Cardoso...... Otherwise, a very good showing and we should win the NC with Azzi and Caroline.

 

[Padutch5]

It's gonna be hard for us to beat their bigs inside, should we meet SC again. Dawn's found a winning formula using Boston and Cordosa inside. Geno's got his work cut out to find a way to beat that all four quarters.

Dawn also needs to be sure she takes those refs with her as well.

 

[Bama fan]

Our Huskies were tough, inspired, outnumbered , but unbowed. Great effort, with a short roster and little help from the striped shirts. My only disappointment was the three times we could not get the ball inbounds. But this was a magnificent loss if such a thing exists.

 

[VA Huskie]

I think the technical was a good thing. It clearly inspired his team and stopped a possible blowout in the final minutes. If I had any criticism it might be hat he waited too long. The refereeing in the woman’s game has got to be addressed! It’s just terrible when their incompetence/bias affects the outcome of games and I must say, SC gets more help than anyone in that respect. They are a very good team. There is no denying that, for sure. If we can’t figure out a way to limit the offensive rebounding, it’s hard to see how we can win. Of course, a healthy Azzi & Caroline could have made the difference in this game but even so, when you give the other team 15-20 extra shots, it’s pretty hard to win. Very proud of our team! They played their hearts out!

I’ve read a number of comments that indicate that Geno got the T at the wrong time. The implication seems to be that he got it on purpose. I’m not too sure about at. I think he was really frustrated and lost it. I suspect he regrets his actions, but s…t happens. Personally I wasn’t upset by it. I was a legit reaction the the way the game was being called.

I’ll be very interested to see what Geno says about the reffing and the technical in the postgame presser. He doesn’t usually complain about the refs… suspect he might here.

 

[Urshurak]

Great effort by the huskies. So glad we never have to play Boston ever gain. We Should be blow them out next year with everyone back and healthy

You hoping SC gets beat in the tournament before they have to face UConn again?

Or

Do you expect UConn to get knocked out early?

 

[maple]

Big difference in SC guards driving to the basket, and UCONN guards getting hacked with no calls from the refs, you wonder how much more Lou can take before she gets injured!

So many times SC players drove in towards the basket and ran directly into UConn players with no attempt at making any sort of play, sometimes just plain out of control. I don’t remember a single offensive foul being called on SC for doing this either.

 

[maple]

I still don’t understand how this wasn’t reviewable.

 

[Longtime fan]

A bit surprising that nobody has mentioned the coaches leaving their best player in to pick up her 3rd foul in the first half. Sort of automatic to get that player out of there after the 2nd foul. Aaliyah got her 2nd with 5 min. left, her 3rd 2 minutes later. When she picked up her 4th in the 3rd quarter got to think this affected her defensive mind-set.

It wouldn't have mattered. Just like Geno's pointless " walk about" ( for a technical foul) didn't matter. We could only score by miraculous effort. SC controlled the boards, shut down the middle, shut down the fast break ( they are faster than we are), covered Lou really well, and played such tight defense that Nika had zero assists in the first half.

Despite these physical and mental errors ...(see Geno technical )...the team competed endlessly. They did very well with the limited ammunition in the UCONN gun. Speaking of which, I am shocked by how unhelpful Patterson is on offense. She did get an awful foul called on her, when she beautifully blocked a shot and never touched the SC player...But for a top recruit, she plays like a person programmed never to look to the basket. Never to shoot or attempt to shoot. He unwillingness to play basketball on the offensive end of the floor is killing us. And I notice that the Uconn players seem to (purposefully) avoid passing her the ball, even when she is wide open. They know it won't result in a shot, will eat more clock, and may result in a turnover. I think. In any case, who would have imagined a top recruit would be a statue on offense? Someone please explain. And don't tell me "she is a freshman." After this many games and practices, she has to be more than that.

 

[JBK]

SC won because of the rebounds leading to second chance points plus their depth (37-0) by bench.

It’s exactly what we expected. What was unexpected was how close UConn kept it. We certainly had our chances.

So, if we get to face them again, will that change? Short answer? Nope. The difference, however, is hopefully we have Azzi and Caroline to help Lou on perimeter. That will be the difference in evening it out a bit. If UConn hits their shots from the perimeter with 7-8 3’s, they win the next matchup. If we had Azzi, CD, Paige and Ice now? UConn by 15-20. I’m sure Dawn knows it too…..just sayin.

Do you think Dorka can work on body positioning in the next month. The other 4 starters attack the hoop off the dribble and was wondering if Dorka could do that as well
When her shot is off she is pretty much done vs SC.

 

[BRS24]

One thing obvious in person is SC getting low on Lou and leaning into her upper leg, restricting her ability to move on the perimeter. That seems like a foul to me. Apparently is does to others as well, including the head coach. I also don`t understand why what Boston does in the post, lowering her left shoulder and creating contact, is not called a foul. It is pretty evident she gets favored treatment. The refereeing left a lot to be desired.

Kept wondering why Lou was losing her balance on cuts and finally watched her and Cooke. It was a hip/thigh check that completely knocked her off stride. Maybe (maybe?) the refs will look at this game and see what's happing. So much for freedom of movement. DT all over again.

 

[MD#12Fan]

3 times Cooke beat her off the bounce and went in for an uncontested layup

Come on man! What are you watching. Cooke, arguably a possible 2nd team AA, goes 2-15 for 8 points. In tight D situations, players get beat off the dribble. It’s actually part of it. Next guy slides over and stops the ball or forces a contested J. Really, the concern in AG’s D. Ugh

 

[Padutch5]

Only one official missed the handoff - the official administering the inbound pass. The other two have other areas of responsibility to watch. If all three are watching the inbound pass, no one is paying attention to what is happening on the baseline, in the paint or at the 3pt line.

That being said, the inbounding official clearly missed it, and I guarantee he'll regret it when viewing the film. He and I worked high school games together back in the day. I had, and still have, great respect for his body of work. He's a class act, a stand-up guy, and will be haunted by it.

Based on todays game his time has clearly come and gone.

 

[Longtime fan]

I still don’t understand how this wasn’t reviewable.

Not only was that inbound an illegal hand off, but the SC player had signaled for a time out. And the refs missed it all and reviewed nothing. The refs were awful. As is almost always true in WBB.

 

[jabstep]

Cardosa was so far off anyone when playing defense. we needed 3 pointers at the end. I wish we could tell Amari I know you can shoot the 3pointer go in and take and make that shot. Use her to foul as well. We used her in the championship game last year why not today. I agree what the refs are allowing to do to Lou is shocking. It was a really good effort by All players. They should be proud of themselves.

 

[browns]

Again, you obviously don't like Aubrey Griffin (so, I guess you will ask Geno to sit her on the bench for the rest of the season and see how the team performs without the Big East Defensive Player of the Year)

Who says she's the BE DPOY ? She's a good defender but Ashley Battle she isn't..and yes I would have her the 6th or 7th player off the bench if/when either Azzi or Caroilne comes back healthy..if she doen't drive to the basket she brings nothing to the flow of the half court offense..I'll give her credit she had 1 assist today she usually has none

 

[Soxx]

Cardoso sorry if spelled wrong, killed us

And 6’ 7”—not surprising.

 

[BRS24]

I still don’t understand how this wasn’t reviewable.

I orignally thought the ref was doing the count and not looking at the inbounder but then realized that's his only job. I mean, he was right there, FGS.

 

[HuskyNan]

So many times SC players drove in towards the basket and ran directly into UConn players with no attempt at making any sort of play, sometimes just plain out of control. I don’t remember a single offensive foul being called on SC for doing this either.

There was a call. The same play was an offensive foul on Aubrey on the other end

 

[Wonder 12]

Dawn also needs to be sure she takes those refs with her as well.

Sadly they all treat this team preferentially

 

[Zarathustra]

I continue to be amazed by Aubrey Griffin's abilities....Lou and Aaliyah were great. SC put Boston on Dorka to keep her from being a scoring threat, which worked. Nika did everything she could to keep us in the game...a really hard fought one. Ayanna is showing great maturity for a freshman. All in all, without Geno's Technical, this game could have gone either way.

Yanna value in this game doesn't show up in the scorecard! Nice game, Yanna!
Great Game for the starting "5"!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

We had little margin for error in this one. In this crazy 2 year pummeling of the Huskies I'm taking today's game as a win.

 

[Padutch5]

Game ended as I expected yesterday, but you gotta notice that again the difference is foul shots, just like last year's NCAA tournament, SC get more foul shots then anyone they play, and against the better teams, its the difference in the score!

I’d hate to see it as a tactic to follow, but she works the refs at every stoppage in play. I dont know why they put up with it but it obviously impacts their judgement.

 

[Zarathustra]

Both times when she thought about driving in the lane, it was a bit of paralysis from analysis, as she started, thought about it, then stopped and attempted a pass out. She'll get better.

I like YANNA! Her future is BRIGHT!

 

[hookshot]

Between a few good plays Aubrey is a negative relies on being athletic but still gets lost on team ball.

Would have been nowhere without Aubrey in this game When the offense was stalled, she was the only weapon we had. played tremendous defense

 

[Kaizen]

South Carolina player's foot is out of the line?

 

[Zarathustra]

And 6’ 7”—not surprising.

and a 6' 8" wing span. She NEVER jumps for rebound and NEVER lowers her arms with
the ball ( does not get 'tied up").