UCONN-Texas post game thread

[Viet Vet]

You sir are very wrong ..

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.

 

[Dawson]

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.

 

[jaydee602]

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.

 

[Dawson]

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.

 

[oldhusky]

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.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

up 5 at the half, 7 at the close.
crushed them.

can o' corn. next!

 

[BobbyJ]

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]

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...

 

[Penn]

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.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

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.

 

[Blue Huskie]

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%.

 

[Redux]

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.

 

[Kaizen]

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.

 

[Blue Huskie]

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.

 

[Kaizen]

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 than necessarily means they will shoot 60%.

Ask Steph Curry, he said Azzi can score 40-50 pts in a good game.

 

[UConnCat]

 

[ABCDFE]

As a team, even though we shot well tonight, I sense that everyone not named Azzi will struggle to score against top competition. We still need Caroline to take it to another level.

Lou scored double digits in her limited minutes. She is a work in progress in D so let’s give her some time

 

[UConnCat]

 

[Conndog]

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.
We did shoot well, but a couple of the Texas players had great nights too, maybe above their expectations. You say without Azzi’s career night it would be a tie game, what if these Texas players had average nights too, would it still have been a tie game?
Azzi, Lou and Caroline are hugely important- Azzi starred today, Lou got some points early but foul trouble limited her, and Caroline is getting her feet wet again. We’ll see a lot more of her which will help.
Great games by Aaliyah, Dorka, Nika and especially Aubrey. Aubrey really shone tonight too

 

[browns]

Very physical game..I don't think Lou was used to that but the girl can flat out score..Dorka played tough underneath and had 9 boards..Nika was terrific..had some fantastic passes..and then there is Azzi..don't know why Vic kept Jones out she was tough..nice basket by CD at the half but otherwise didn't do much..maybe she has to get in shape
Texas is a good team but not the# 3 team in the nation without Harmon playing

 

[jaydee602]

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.

Edwards had 11 points & 8 rebounds.
"Soft" Dorka had 6 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, & 4 steals.
Aubrey (14 points) & Ayanna added 8 total rebounds.
They will only get better as the season progresses.

 

[slug25]

Let’s thank Vic for parking Morris and Jones on the bench as we pulled away. Morris had done a great job on Azzi defensively and was Texas’ best scoring threat. Jones could have fouled out our bigs.

 

[darrell]

 

[mbr33ct]

Now we know for sure what kind of team we have. Everyone showed up to play!! Nobody disappeared. Azzi stepping up to lead her team with a new career high of 32 points. No doubt who the BADDASS was tonight. I wonder if the Texas players still think this was "just another game?" A sellout game tonight per Bob Joyce.

You would think there would not be any doubt for the Badass award but you're forgetting this is the Boneyard.

 

[BBallF]

Super victory. Sorry to be critical but I can't unsee what I saw. Yes it was a great win but there were two glaring weaknesses I saw. First is Lou. She is not a good defensive player at all and that is why her minutes were so limited. She got beat on simple strong hand drives. She gave up what she got on offense and my vote is for Aubrey to go in the game for her early. She is a delight to watch.

The other weakness is Liyah. I thought she had turned the corner and that the costly floor mistakes were a thing of the past. They weren't. There was a reversion to last year in many respects. You won't necessarily see it in the box score but it was things like a back in offensive foul to give the ball back when we were poised to break it open, not grabbing the ball, going for a rebound with Dorka and not knowing she was there and losing the ball and also judgment plays. She seemed tight and nervous to me and I hope this game will restore her to the heady player we saw the first game. It was also the first game this year against size and power underneath and that may have affected her at times by making her tentative. All she has to do is play within herself.

They shut down Azzi in the beginning but she started to drive, get some breakaways, and then started bringing the ball up and got open. She figured it out or Geno figured it out for her. Her release is Curryesque and her performance was stellar.

Nika had a workmanlike game. Gritty with some big steals and assists. 9 assists and three steals is impactful.

As for the refs, if you are going to call taiky tacky freedom of movement calls, please also call ticky tacky fouls on the shot and layups. They blew the whistle on every possession it seemed like. I was at the Seton Hall men's game on Saturday and it was the same thing. I guess they are stressing that in referee camp this year. The problem is that come March you see beat downs and a different game being called. I will also make a prediction. You will never see a tacky tacky freedom of movement foul called on the returning POY. Just saying.

I'm not ready to give us the trophy yet. We need a defensive stopper at the guard level and more movement on offense and a healthy with good timing Caroline. Should be there in two more games at the most. All in all, a W and that's all we really needed.

 

[HuskyNan]

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 make it sound like the Huskies wouldn’t have scored if Azzi hadn’t. Geno would have run something else for whoever had the hot hand if that were the case. The team shot 55% (51%without Azzi) and 50% from three. it’s not like there was only one person that could score

 

[Iluvacc2]

The Longhorns had some uncharacteristically bad defensive lapses against Azzi, I don't care how many shots she's missed, you don't leave her open

A healthy Paige and Azzi will be amazing to see next year! Good luck covering them.

I've been critical of Muhl in the past, but I thought tonight was probably her best game I've seen her play.

Aaliyah is looking like her freshman year self. I thought her two missed free throws at the beginning of the game was a bad sign of things to come, but fortunately she shrugged that off her shoulders.

Dorka battled hard, but Taylor Jones was giving her the business all night. Not sure why Vic left her on the bench so long in the 4th quarter, that was a real headscratcher?

Aubrey!!! You would never believe she was recovering from back surgery. She looks better than ever.

Random note, the broadcasters at the beginning of the telecast misidentified someone else as Swin Cash From what I could see, I'm thinking it was Ashley Battle? Whoever it was, she was sitting next to Asjha Jones.

 

[Geew1992]

The Longhorns had some uncharacteristically bad defensive lapses against Azzi, I don't care how many shots she's missed, you don't leave her open

A healthy Paige and Azzi will be amazing to see next year! Good luck covering them.

I've been critical of Muhl in the past, but I thought tonight was probably her best game I've seen her play.

Aaliyah is looking like her freshman year self. I thought her two missed free throws at the beginning of the game was a bad sign of things to come, but fortunately she shrugged that off her shoulders.

Dorka battled hard, but Taylor Jones was giving her the business all night. Not sure why Vic left her on the bench so long in the 4th quarter, that was a real headscratcher?

Aubrey!!! You would never believe she was recovering from back surgery. She looks better than ever.

Random note, the broadcasters at the beginning of the telecast misidentified someone else as Swin Cash From what I could see, I'm thinking it was Ashley Battle? Whoever it was, she was sitting next to Asjha Jones.

Yup…it was Ashley battle

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

My small two cents.... Nika was able to play awesome, disruptive defense, without getting into foul trouble... everything else has been said... Azzi scoring, Aubrey being amazing, especially early, Dorka and Edwards battling underneath

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn's lack of interior defense kept Texas in the game too long and could be a major problem against good teams with size.

Didn’t you just describe Texas?