UCONN-Texas post game thread

[boontonbomber]

I though it was a very good game. The only issue I have is the same one I've had over the last couple of seasons. That is the inability to close out games against good opponents. Up by 17 with 4 minutes to play, you should not win by only 7. It looked like they stopped playing defense.

Fatigue?

 

[HuskyNan]

I’m baffled why so many are expecting a March level of competence in the second game of the season. Texas had similar problems that, for some reason, UConn fans are attributing to Vic. As Vic said, both teams will be a lot better by the end of the season.

There are new players to assimilate, returning players in new roles, and an opponent they haven’t seen in a while. Why would people expect post-season form?

 

[meyers7]

Can't play Dorka,Azzi and Nika 38-39 minutes. He's looking for trouble. So Ayanna fouls,so Lou can't play defense, so Caroline can't( I don't know what); so what. Just looking for trouble. Can't sit Azzi and/ or Nika last minute of a quarter? Really looking for trouble playing that many minutes. It's a really long season.

During most of the season, Geno won't be playing them 38+ minutes a game. But against Top 5 competition.....he probably will. And no, it's not looking for trouble.

They really didn't look all that gased last night. And they have til Sunday to recover.

 

[VaConnFan11]

Fatigue?

Probably. I though when Vic called a timeout around the 4 or 5 minute mark, Geno would call one right after to give the team a "long" breather for the final minutes.

 

[meyers7]

I think that they would have scored much higher if they were more effective in making foul shots. Apparently they were only 50 per cent. The lead would have been much larger.

True they were 9/18 and could have won by double digits.

However, Texas was 10/20. So if they'd have made their FTs, they could have won the game.

 

[Tonyc]

All this talk about bigs and SC and Stanford are good examples. How do you stop them. You dont but we've got Azzi and they cant stop her either. Just somethin to think about.

 

[KingKong139]

That was disgusting. Flopping/embellishment needs to be punished. I don't believe the NCAA has a rule about this. In the NHL if you flop/embellish to draw a call you can get 2 minutes in the box as well as your opponent. Unfortunately it isn't called nearly as much as it should be.

On the mens side it’s an automatic technical foul this year. Prior years gave a single warning.

 

[BobbyJ]

One more thing to gush about in Azzi’s performance. At the 8:20 mark in the 2nd quarter, Azzi brings the ball up the floor against Sonya and blows past her at the top of the key. Sonya lets her go because the Texas bigs have her back, but Azzi doesn’t care. She’s at the rim before they could react. We all thought Jones Gaston and Moore were a formidable front court. It speaks volumes about Azzi’s renewed confidence that she was willing to challenge them… and win.

Another sign of the new Azzi: she wanted the ball in her hands against the press. Nika brought it up a lot too. And Azzi’s handles are awesome. Once she had the ball in her hands the Texas press seemed irrelevant.

We all did? Formidable? This is a vastly different pre-game assessment than what you gave us in post #24 in the Rory Harmon Injury thread where you said:
"The other bigs -- Faye, Moore, and Gaston -- are not really credible post threats, though they are active on the boards and sometimes scramble for putbacks. To illustrate this, Piath or Amari could probably start or be major rotation players in this squad". Do you still think Gabriel and DeBerry would have started or been in that rotation last night? I don't think Schaefer does. Nor Auriemma.

 

[sun]

I didn't expect such a close final score without Harmon playing.
In the 4th quarter, Geno played the strongest defensive upper classmen which left Azzi as the primary scorer.
IMO it became a crunch test specifically for her which she passed with flying colors.
Not only does she now have the attention of the WBB world, but UConn didn't need to reveal other scorers that can be used for other games.
Any team that wants to target Azzi will need to deal with UConn's scoring depth.

In Dorka's defense, in the 4th quarter she became an important ball handler & dribbler in the back court, keeping the ball secure along with Nika until giving it to Azzi.
This was Azzi's opportunity to get attention for All American status as long as she can keep scoring on all levels, especially with her mid range game.
It's delightful to see her not need to only rely on lower percentage 3's.
Without a doubt she's the best all around player on the current team which makes her a leader and a role model.
Azzi showed that there's really no stopping her when she's on the floor long enough.
She put on a clinic.
That Azzi was spotlighted on Swin Cash's big night is a fitting tribute to both players as the torch of UConn stardom gets passed to a new generation.

 

[Bone Dog]

We all did? Formidable? This is a vastly different pre-game assessment than what you gave us in post #24 in the Rory Harmon Injury thread where you said:
"The other bigs -- Faye, Moore, and Gaston -- are not really credible post threats, though they are active on the boards and sometimes scramble for putbacks. To illustrate this, Piath or Amari could probably start or be major rotation players in this squad". Do you still think Gabriel and DeBerry would have started or been in that rotation last night? I don't think Schaefer does. Nor Auriemma.

Fair enough, @BobbyJ I did get it wrong about how good their bigs are. But only by a little bit. I did say Jones would be formidable as a scorer and defender. It was mainly Moore who surprised me. The stats don’t show much for her and Gaston, but I think Moore got sidelined by a couple of bad calls. She was other wise playing well.

I still think Piath and Amari would be in their rotation. You’ll notice that Faye barely played, though Vic says she’ll be part of their regular rotation, though probably not when they’re playing us. She’s who I’m comparing to.

Now that we’ve dissected my opinion, how about you make your case for the how their bigs played.

 

[southie]

That was disgusting. Flopping/embellishment needs to be punished. I don't believe the NCAA has a rule about this. In the NHL if you flop/embellish to draw a call you can get 2 minutes in the box as well as your opponent. Unfortunately it isn't called nearly as much as it should be.

There is a new rule in place. In Texas' game against Louisiana on Friday, a UofL player was called for flopping (warning or foul, I forget); it definitely resulted in a change of possession in Texas' favor.

So, if last night's crew who called the game is highly regarded, and they didn't issue any flopping warnings, then they didn't believe it was occurring. At least they called a foul when Patterson took Jones to the floor.

 

[BobbyJ]

Fair enough, @BobbyJ I did get it wrong about how good their bigs are. But only by a little bit. I did say Jones would be formidable as a scorer and defender. It was mainly Moore who surprised me. The stats don’t show much for her and Gaston, but I think Moore got sidelined by a couple of bad calls. She was other wise playing well.

I still think Piath and Amari would be in their rotation. You’ll notice that Faye barely played, though Vic says she’ll be part of their regular rotation, though probably not when they’re playing us. She’s who I’m comparing to.

Now that we’ve dissected my opinion, how about you make your case for the how their bigs played.

In her limited minutes Jones on offense had no problem with UConn's interior defense until GA finally realized they had to at least double her. On defense Juhasz did nothing with her inside. Moore is serviceable but somewhat undersized to play inside. I already thanked Shaefer in another thread for only playing Mwenentanda 22 minutes, she has more upside than any of his 6-2 and up players plus she can shoot. Gaston is physical and a decent backup. The rest are not a factor. And no, Gabriel and DeBerry wouldn't get off the bench for them either. JMO.

 

[southie]

No denying UConn was the better team last night. Injuries are part of the game, so you go with the players who are able to play game in and game out. Officiating (good or bad) is also part of the game; hopefully, it's not a deciding factor in the game's outcome.

Should these teams meet in the post-season, it will be either in Greenville, SC (where I'm sure the SC faithful will be rooting against UConn), or in a neutral setting out West. If we meet in Dallas in April, well, it's safe to say that probably 17,000 of the 20,000 fans in attendance will be cheering for Texas.

 

[eebmg]

We all did? Formidable? This is a vastly different pre-game assessment than what you gave us in post #24 in the Rory Harmon Injury thread where you said:
"The other bigs -- Faye, Moore, and Gaston -- are not really credible post threats, though they are active on the boards and sometimes scramble for putbacks. To illustrate this, Piath or Amari could probably start or be major rotation players in this squad". Do you still think Gabriel and DeBerry would have started or been in that rotation last night? I don't think Schaefer does. Nor Auriemma.

Oh man. Fact checking?

 

[BobbyJ]

Oh man. Fact checking?

It's called quoting.

 

[eebmg]

It's called quoting.

but 180+ posts earlier?

 

[Bone Dog]

In her limited minutes Jones on offense had no problem with UConn's interior defense until GA finally realized they had to at least double her. On defense Juhasz did nothing with her inside. Moore is serviceable but somewhat undersized to play inside. I already thanked Shaefer in another thread for only playing Mwenentanda 22 minutes, she has more upside than any of his 6-2 and up players plus she can shoot. Gaston is physical and a decent backup. The rest are not a factor. And no, Gabriel and DeBerry wouldn't get off the bench for them either. JMO.

I think you’re right about Jones. She played as well as I expected, though I also thought she wouldn’t be able to go an entire game. She’s just not in the shape for it, and may have a lingering injury. In fact all their bigs struggled to get up and down the court at times.

I may have been more impressed by Moore. She’s not tall, but she’s strong and she was more mobile than I expected to see.

As for Mwenentanda, she’s a good offensive player, as is Muhammad. Vic got a couple of good ones in them. They look more like wings than posts to me. They’re as tall as Moore, or maybe even a little taller. But they are slight compared to the main posts. I don’t see them standing up to other papers for 25 mins/game. If they play under better control, they could be stars next year.

 

[Bone Dog]

but 180+ posts earlier?

I know. It feels a bit combative. But I like @BobbyJ and I know he enjoys a good back and forth. Me too.

 

[Rixxx]

My view is to compare Dorka to Butler coming back from a broken thumb. Lack of strength in Dorka's wrist seemed to make her more tentative grabbing the ball, particulalry on contested rebounds. Predict as she gets more confidence in her wrist and we will see less of this. Regarding the Texas game, few teams will have as much height as the Longhorns so thank goodness Dorka was out there.

Tennessee has height, but that is all they have.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

let's review.

UConn punked the big, bad, cows on the interior. metrics prove this.
rock on!

 

[BobbyJ]

but 180+ posts earlier?

It was relevant to our previous conversation.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Watching the pregame now and some headless player just ran through the upper screen with one hellish full cast on. Anyone know who that could be. Texas player perhaps, but on UConn warm up half court. Edit: Duh, one displaced knee cap! She must feel so bad missing the season. Thinking of you Ice!

 

[Conndog]

All this talk about bigs and SC and Stanford are good examples. How do you stop them. You dont but we've got Azzi and they cant stop her either. Just somethin to think about.

Don't forget, we have more than just Azzi- and you can't stop them all. But man can she get a shot off quickly!

 

[mbr33ct]

I'm baffled as to why some posts refer to Harmon and not also mention Paige/Ice as well? Texas has played exactly two games (like UConn) and in neither game Harmon played.

Teams play with hand they have been dealt with, just ask UConn. Take the game for face value and stop diluting it with "if this player played results may have been different". If Harmon did play would Morris have gone off for the same 21 points? These hypothetical posts justify nothing?

 

[southie]

I'm baffled as to why some posts refer to Harmon and not also mention Paige/Ice as well? Texas has played exactly two games (like UConn) and in neither game Harmon played.

Teams play with hand they have been dealt with, just ask UConn. Take the game for face value and stop diluting it with "if this player played results may have been different". If Harmon did play would Morris have gone off for the same 21 points? These hypothetical posts justify nothing?

It's pretty simple. Paige/Ice have zero chance of returning this season. Harmon is listed as day-to-day.