UCONN-Texas post game thread

[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.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

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.

It was a vulnerability last year even for Paige and it lingers and is stubbornly hard to cure. Thankfully Paige lost that bug in the NC State game. Maybe she could be Free Throw Coach too.

 

[Tonyc]

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

So is Caroline. mbr made a great post just a couple above this one. Who wouldve sat if Harmon and Caroline played and would Morris and Azzi had gone off. We will never know. What we do know is neither played and the box score shows that. There are no "IFs or Buts" It is what it is.

 

[jdote33]

Does anyone know how to calm down after games like that? Lol. I was on a high and couldn't go to sleep until like 1 am when I had work in the morning. Post game interviews on both sides were interesting. Vic was hard but encouraging about his players. Geno was generally really positive. Lou saying she looks up to Azzi even though she's older was pretty touching.

 

[mbr33ct]

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

I agree but the way these posts are written "imply" if Harmon played perhaps the results may have been different...no ones knows that, why I said play the hand and players you're dealt with.

 

[mbr33ct]

Does anyone know how to calm down after games like that? Lol. I was on a high and couldn't go to sleep until like 1 am when I had work in the morning. Post game interviews on both sides were interesting. Vic was hard but encouraging about his players. Geno was generally really positive. Lou saying she looks up to Azzi even though she's older was pretty touching.

So you calm down overnight but once you hit the Boneyard in the morning your blood begins to boil again.

 

[uconnever]

Well you know we all wanted to see Boston and /or L. Betts on the Huskies but things don't always work out that way. Neither Dorka or Edwards were top recruits by any means. So you take what you can get and turn them into blue collar types. We've had those people before and won National Championships. It can happen again. Are they All Americans? Of course not. As for terrible at finishing under pressure you mean can she score while getting fouled? Not tonight she couldn't. She got fouled at least 3 times working around the basket and that's the way it's going to be. Sometimes these AA players are not only very talented but they get preferential treatment from the refs. So when you play a team with Boston you do what you can and hope you don't foul out of the game. We don't have the type of team that's going to do the bulk of scoring in the paint. You try to minimize the damage from the "Boston" type players and hope the posts can chip in with few points. I'd say 17 points and 17 boards between AE and Dorka (Like tonight) is a pretty good contribution that can be good enough while the guards score the bulk of the points.

I agree, and I love Dorka and Edwards and am very satisfied with how they play and love having them on our side. I just think Dorka needs to finish better down low, her technique at this is bad and because of this South Carolina and any other elite team with a lot of good bigs are gonna be a problem for us. Ice was a bigger loss than many know. She’s skilled and not only tall but wide. She was exactly what we needed to be complete in the front court. With her I think we would be a shoe in for a final four. Without her it depends on who we’re matched up with.

 

[LoTrader]

Easy to come away impressed with Fudd--I was also very impressed with her breakaway speed. Having watched Taylor Jones for 2 years in Corvallis, she has clearly put on some muscle. Taylor still needs a lot of work on her offensive game, but she is a monster on defense. UCONN fans should be thankful to have a game against Texas BIGs. Outside of South Carolina or Stanford, Texas is a great test for UCONN BIGs. Should these teams meet again in NCAA Playoffs, I expect a toss-up game assuming all players are healthy (minus Paige of course). Really enjoyable game to watch last night--had playoff intensity.

 

[oldhusky]

Regarding the heavy minutes question, I want to remind people that we lost the fourth quarter against Texas. I also want to refresh our posters memory regarding last year. During the height of our injury crisis, we had a few games with an extremely short bench. We had games with no backup guards available, needing to use Aaliyah at the 3, and overworking the three guards that were healthy. We looked gassed in the fourth quarter of those games, and it showed in the results.

In other games Dorka or Liv was out and our already limited three big rotation, became a two big rotation. The remaining bigs played more than their optimal minutes, and since Geno was unwilling to use Amari as a solution, he went small ball for the backup minutes there. That didn't work well either.

We can all debate the optimal minutes for our players. IMO most starters for most programs play around 30 minutes a game with true stars approaching maybe 35 on the high side. Well conditioned players more, and if the gap between starter and substitute is large the starter of course gets more.

I don't think the Texas distribution was ideal for most competitive games, but two things affected it. First Caroline was not yet ready for a significant contribution, and Lou was in foul trouble. Take those two factors away, and Azzi and Nika can play closer to optimal minutes.

Upfront it was a confidence and experience factor with the bigs. At least in that game, Geno preferred using Dorka and Aaliyah more than the ideal minutes, to avoid having to play Ayanna more. I suspect that will change in the future as well, but Ayanna can't be a foul machine as soon as she gets in. She doesn't need to be as good as Dorka or Aaliyah to play more, just as good as a very tired Dorka or Aaliyah, and I suspect she may be close to that, as she may be the team's best shot blocker and rebounder.

I think the only 35 minute a game player should be Azzi, and the others should max out at slightly more than 30. If everyone is healthy, we have a very high quality bench, if not a very large rotation. There is an option of near same quality or potentially so, for every player except Azzi. Only she should play minutes even when she is pretty tired IMO.

 

[Sam.the.Man]

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

Well, Caroline seems to be absent in your thinking. If and when she once again become an intricate part of this team, her talents will add greatly to UConn's success this season.

 

[hoophuskee]

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.

She scored 10 points in 29 minutes in a losing effort. Big deal.

 

[MilfordHusky]

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.

Azzi ran by players several times last night. She's fast when healthy.

 

[hoophuskee]

I agree, and I love Dorka and Edwards and am very satisfied with how they play and love having them on our side. I just think Dorka needs to finish better down low, her technique at this is bad and because of this South Carolina and any other elite team with a lot of good bigs are gonna be a problem for us. Ice was a bigger loss than many know. She’s skilled and not only tall but wide. She was exactly what we needed to be complete in the front court. With her I think we would be a shoe in for a final four. Without her it depends on who we’re matched up with.

How many teams are out there that play physcial bully ball have a more elite front line than Texas while having enough shooters that can prevent double teams?

 

[HuskyNan]

I agree, and I love Dorka and Edwards and am very satisfied with how they play and love having them on our side. I just think Dorka needs to finish better down low, her technique at this is bad and because of this South Carolina and any other elite team with a lot of good bigs are gonna be a problem for us. Ice was a bigger loss than many know. She’s skilled and not only tall but wide. She was exactly what we needed to be complete in the front court. With her I think we would be a shoe in for a final four. Without her it depends on who we’re matched up with.

Like Texas?

Geez, people, Texas is the #3 ranked team, an elite team with elite players. People are completely ignoring that

 

[uconnever]

Like Texas?

Geez, people, Texas is the #3 ranked team, an elite team with elite players. People are completely ignoring that

I disagree, those Texas bigs are not as good as South Carolina’s or Stanford. Different level. It was a good experience and it’s early so it’s all helping us get better, but cmon, Texas bigs are big and aggressive and deep, South Carolina is all of those things plus skilled and experienced. I dislike them all but I’m just be honest from my point of view. We can still win those games but down low, we are at a clear disadvantage just like I believe we have an advantage at the 2 guard and wing spots over anyone we play.

 

[hoophuskee]

Like Texas?

Geez, people, Texas is the #3 ranked team, an elite team with elite players. People are completely ignoring that

I was just going to reply on the other thread the Tony thread a poster not impressed.

I'm not sure that there is an understanding that the other team is very good too and they are going to make plays and outplay UCONN at some spots. And the coach isn't incompetent.

And UCONN are not pros.