UCONN-Texas post game thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

UCONN-Texas post game thread

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Brewski

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Lou had a tough night on defense. That resulted in 3 fouls that put her on the bench. However, she was our third highest scorer and without her 12 points we don't win. She was our jump start for the first 5 minutes. She is one very important cog on our team.
 
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File this under "So you want to be a gambler?".
Tonight's point spread was UCONN (-9). UCONN had an 11 point lead when Texas missed a shot with 13 seconds left.
A UCONN rebound would have covered the spread, But Texas secured an offensive rebound and scored a basket plus a foul. They missed the foul shot, but again got the rebound & scored another basket.
Those two meaningless baskets by Texas led to a 7 point final &UCONN fails to cover.
 

eebmg

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Great win and Azzi was NPOY class after Q1 but the game was not without it's flaws and I hope that is the lesson we take out of this game so we improve. The last 3 minutes were tough as we got out rebounded and TX made some well orchestrated plays to get to single digits. Surprised Vic did not try harder to extend the game although Azzi is an automatic FT (FT bugaboo came back)
 

MilfordHusky

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Some folks here have wondered why Nika gets so many minutes, whether Aubrey would contribute, and whether Azzi would live up to her advance billing. I had confidence in all 3. They made statements on national television. I'm very happy for the team!

I thought we were the #3 team after Paige and Ice got hurt. I think we and Texas will trade places in the polls.
 
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Lol what is "top competition" if they just beat the #3 team in the country? Are you basically just doubting them against SC and Stanford? If that is the post just say it, but you're acting like they did not just knock off a team ranked ahead of them.
We did shoot well and it was a great win but it took a career night from Azzi to beat Texas without Rori Harmon. Notice that Harmon’s replacement had a horrible game. With Harmon, this game would be tied. We should score well overall but to optimize our chance of winning the NC I still think we need Lou, Azzi and Caroline in the primary minutes lineup. Caroline has shown that she can score against any team.
 
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Azzi picks Sonya's pocket with 1:05 left in the first half and blazes down the floor. Sonya gives up on the chase because Azzi is way too fast for her! It's like she totally channeled Nika on that play, and then some!
 
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We did shoot well and it was a great win but it took a career night from Azzi to beat Texas without Rori Harmon. Notice that Harmon’s replacement had a horrible game. With Harmon, this game would be tied. We should score well overall but to optimize our chance of winning the NC I still think we need Lou, Azzi and Caroline in the primary minutes lineup. Caroline has shown that she can score against any team.

I definitely agree with you on Caroline being a key piece, and I cannot wait to see her back in full swing. I disagree that the inclusion of Harmon would have made any difference on the final result. It did not take a career night from Azzi, that is what she is going to be bringing night in and night out and then some. With the addition of Caroline and the increased confidence in the physical abilities of our front court, I see some good things. Lets maybe wait a couple more games to say we are doomed, when they just beat a top ranked team handily.
 
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UCONN fans should get used to players not getting enough playing time on a given night. This team is loaded & the bench players will contribute in a big way. When Geno likes a combination on the floor, he won't make substitutions for the sake of equalizing playing time.
 
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No, I think he is right. Edwards is soft and slow, Dorka is soft and weak. Didn’t matter tonight, but it will. I want to be wrong, but am predicting points from the bigs will be hard to come by in March. And they both give baseline easily.

You do realize that Texas has one of the top front court teams in the country right? There's basically just SC and maybe Stanford ahead of them.
 
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Everybody is covering the major points, but I had three observations to make. When the season began, I thought 4 players would consume all but a few of the minutes for positions 1-3, but that we would need a 5th for limited minutes, and Aubrey was the most likely candidate ahead of Ayanna and Ines. Still there were some doubts about her effectiveness on the wing, since she had been more of an undersized PF previously, and of course we hoped she regained her physical skills after back surgery.

Now it is clear there is no more competition for the 5th option, Ines and Ayanna don't look like they will be used much in that role, and Aubrey has played well enough to justify more than a few minutes even when everyone is healthy. It is not 4 plus 1 we have to use sometimes, rather we have 5 that we want to use now.

With Caroline still ailing and Lou in foul trouble, the combo of Nika, Azzi, and Aubrey did pretty well. Outside shooting a little weak, but that is a great defensive trio and they do enough other things to be effective.

I think Ayanna looks more and more like a 4, not a 3/4 and will be needed in a mostly 3 big rotation. She might be the best rebounder and shot blocker, but is a little like a bull in a china shop regarding fouls. She looks to get more time when she cuts her fouls down to a more acceptable level.

The other thing I noticed was how Geno managed the PG role. It was mostly Nika in the first half and she got quite a few good passes in transition and pushed the pace. Given her defensive intensity, she is probably a little gassed during the second half, so having Azzi bring the ball up might give Nika a little time to rest more on offense, and let Azzi create more. Nika still gets the ball in the half-court offense quite a bit, but she probably needs a little breather now and then bringing it up and Azzi was solid in that role.
 
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Three main takeaways: 1) Tip of the cap to Fudd for stepping up and answering the bell, especially in the 2nd half. I'm surprised GA got away with not having a second shooter on the floor after LLS came out. 2) Tip of the cap to Shaefer for only playing Mwenentanda 22 minutes and forgetting about most of his interior offense and defense (Jones) on the bench for a big chunk of the 2nd half until only 4 minutes were left. 3) As I expected, UConn's lack of interior defense kept Texas in the game too long and could be a major problem against good teams with size.
 

CTyankee

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Aubrey took time away from Caroline and Lou in the second half with her stellar play. Azzi on fire. Nika just fires everyone up. Dorka and Aaliya did a good job on the boards. Lou got us going early. Pretty intense first two and a half quarters and then Azzi took over and I could relax.

Relax???

My heart is still in overdrive...

Azzi, Azzi, Azzi!!! Not to 'dis the others... Aubrey... Nika... Dorka... Lou... and of course Aaliya...
 
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After this win, the well known lyrics of the Texas song should require one notable edit:

“THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT
DEEP IN THE HEART OF UCONN

Great team win especially Azzi’s performance. UCONN WBB is back.
 
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Some folks here have wondered why Nika gets so many minutes, whether Aubrey would contribute, and whether Azzi would live up to her advance billing. I had confidence in all 3. They made statements on national television. I'm very happy for the team!

I thought we were the #3 team after Paige and Ice got hurt. I think we and Texas will trade places in the polls.
Stanford and SC are playing Sunday. If we beat NC State Sunday in don’t see how UConn’s not number 2 in the polls with two top ten wins.
 

Blueballer

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We did shoot well and it was a great win but it took a career night from Azzi to beat Texas without Rori Harmon. Notice that Harmon’s replacement had a horrible game. With Harmon, this game would be tied. We should score well overall but to optimize our chance of winning the NC I still think we need Lou, Azzi and Caroline in the primary minutes lineup. Caroline has shown that she can score against any team.

You think that was a career night? Wait until you see what she does down the road. And as a team TEXAS shot 50%. I don't think with Rori that necessarily means they will shoot 60%.
 
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Both teams were fouling on most possessions
I hate people who rain on parades but I have to say had foul calling been more typical this might have been a different game (not necessarily bad for us, but different).

You play the cards you're dealt and UConn played great; lots of positives all around. Lou was fine and I don't agree with some downers in my home audience. I think they all came to play and had the mindset to win this game regardless of the variables.
 
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We did shoot well and it was a great win but it took a career night from Azzi to beat Texas without Rori Harmon. Notice that Harmon’s replacement had a horrible game. With Harmon, this game would be tied. We should score well overall but to optimize our chance of winning the NC I still think we need Lou, Azzi and Caroline in the primary minutes lineup. Caroline has shown that she can score against any team.
Remember Droka did not play well in points (she has only 6 pts but great reb, stl) and Caroline only played 4 mins. If those two played well then it is also different game.
 
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Blueballer

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No, I think he is right. Edwards is soft and slow, Dorka is soft and weak. Didn’t matter tonight, but it will. I want to be wrong, but am predicting points from the bigs will be hard to come by in March. And they both give baseline easily.

Beg to differ. Between the two of them they had 17 Boards and 17 points against a top 5 team. I don't see anything soft or weak about them.
 
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