UCONN-Texas Post Game Thread

[Edward Sargent]

In playing the freshmen so many minutes, Geno was playing for March today. The freshmen were terrific

Much better than our upperclass

 

[jabstep]

I saw some things I really liked today. I liked Brady starting and even though she made terrible passes in the hi low game with Aaliyah the play was there. So they went with Ice down low and Aaliyah at the foul line and she passed to ice who sealed her girl well and she scored down low Yeah. Its early and that was a better version of hi Low that will improve. I also love KK and I thought she should have been on Harmon the whole game. I think Q played with passion and was trying to show Geno that she wanted to be out there. Now Geno has to let her play and coach her up. She has an offensive game with more upside then Aubrey right now. She can shoot from the outside and also hit a midrange jumper and a backdoor play. Ashlynn wants to play as well but I see her off the bench.
My starting five would be Paige, KK, Ice,Q and Aaliyah.
Aubrey and Nika off the bench for energy and defense. Amari when we play the really bigs. Like Cardosa,Betts etc.
Give Paige less minutes and let her build up as the season goes on. We will need her for the Big dance and who knows.

 

[Conquistador]

AE gets hammered and Geno does nothing. Says nothing to the refs. He turns around and yells at an assistant. Come on, Geno… fight for your players!!! The other coaches do.

 

[Centerstream]

TX had some hot shooting in the first quarter, and they continued to put it up, often. They took 83 shots (field goals and 3s) compared to 54 for UConn. The turnover difference hurt, of course, but UConn has to shoot more. Geno will fix that.

Texas took 68 shots from the floor, we took 44.

 

[Conndog]

Refs are allowing a lot of “incidental” contact that seems to leave a lot bruises.

But the play of the freshmen is encouraging. I hope Geno gets comfortable with playing Shade and Samuels more. The talent is obvious. Arnold will certainly play a lot and she is fearless. Ice needs to learn how to box out. With her strength even though not super tall her, biggest value to this team could be defensive rebounding.

Ice should resist taking the 3 pointers for now too

 

[Centerstream]

AP gets hammered and Geno does nothing. Says nothing to the refs. He turns around and yells at an assistant. Come on, Geno… fight for your players!!! The other coaches do.

Who is AP?

 

[Conndog]

TX had some hot shooting in the first quarter, and they continued to put it up, often. They took 83 shots (field goals and 3s) compared to 54 for UConn. The turnover difference hurt, of course, but UConn has to shoot more. Geno will fix that.

And rebound better- somehow

 

[GoUconn7961]

I didn’t watch the game. Sounds like I had the right idea.

 

[Conquistador]

Who is AP?

Fixed it - meant AE

 

[npignatjr]

1 Geno get a T when your players are getting fouled or called for bad fouls show your team you still GAS
2 another teams freshman better than any of UConn's at this time
3 Aubrey the less she plays the better 4 years of mostly inconsistent play, throughout the game left her player open then a turnover machine She should play behind all 4 freshmen

 

[uconnfan68]

Brady is shaking off a year of rust. Give her a minute.

 

[donalddoowop]

The ting that concerned was the look Amari had on her face the last few seconds of the game. Same with Brady. The last player I saw with a look similar to that was Brianna Banks in her sophomore year and she played on a NC team. The player who needs to put on the floor and let her play through her mistakes is Amari. UConn is lacking height and have a 6'5" Junior sitting on the bench. I would think she came to UConn thinking the coaches would help her improve her talent level. That has not happened. Although she scored well today, how does a player go from a third team AA to playing like Edwards has been playing this season?

 

[ctkaiser]

Texas was more talented, aggressive and deeper than UConn but UConn’s relentless fight made it a game. The fourth quarter no call when Aaliyah was mugged probably prevented a fabulous comeback.

-Nika could not handle Rori Harmon but I am not sure there are many guards who can.

-Still waiting for Ice Brady to show the ranking she had coming out of high school. Just too many mistakes on both ends of the floor.

-Aubrey is still disappearing for long stretches. As a senior in Geno’s program, she should be way more consistent than she has shown.

-Paige’s minutes may not be a concern to many but it does me. These games don’t mean much. I wish Geno would limit her minutes more. Especially since teams are just beating her up physically.

-He doesn’t like to, but this team should probably play more zone. I think they could rebound better out of zone.

-Q must be practicing poorly but with this group Geno can afford the same patience with Q as he does with Ice.

-I think Geno needs a pep talk of his own. He seems to be understandably frustrated with the injuries but these kids need him. This means doing something he has had not had to do much over the years. Bite the bullet and let the pups go through game time growing pains.

-Still love this program because the kids never strop playing hard. Their body language even when things are going poorly, is good. Turnovers, giving up second chance baskets and scoring from others besides Edwards and Paige will improve as the year goes on.

-Encouraged by the fourth quarter run with the three freshmen on the floor and Paige on the bench.

Agree with the Texas evaluation and they're also taller and stronger.

They were home and got more calls

As you said Nika couldn't guard Harmon. KK did a little better. I would have liked to have seen them try a box and 1.

Aubrey and Nika have failed to develop consistent offensive games. Leaves us depending on Paige and Aaliyah as our only consistent offensive options thus as you said too many minutes for Paige.

Seemed the couple of times they went to zone Harmon hit a 3. I would have liked to see the freshmen group in the 3rd qtr.

I was looking for one of the best coaching staffs in the country to be more creative in getting Paige open. This team also needs to really want to rebound. Put a body on somebody.

All this being said they're a work in progress. Players, especially the four first year players will improve and the coaching staff will better learn how to use them.

Still a really, really good team. The teams they lost to are top 10 teams.

Go Huskies!

 

[topogigio]

I will try again and elaborate this time. There are a number of players getting way too much playing time who, in my opinion, are playing too soft. They are not aggressive enough, not going after the ball enough, not being physical enough, and certainly not having enough confidence with shooting the ball. The girls/women game has changed dramatically the past few years - nice girls do finish last (well at least don't win championships). In the words of Michael's sister, Janet, UConn needs to be "Nasty" girls!

 

[Skeets]

There's no nice way to say this, UConn played stupid.

1. How many passes thrown out of bounds?
2. How many Texas players were left open for wide open shots? (to Texas credit they made many of those shots)
3. How many UConn free throws were missed?

Nika needs to shoot more. UConn needs to get Paige free. How could Harmon get free repeatably, but Paige couldn't shake her defender? Maybe Shade and Q need more minutes. They played pretty well when they were in there.

I've said this in other threads, UConn does not travel well.

 

[tchalla1]

They made their last run when she was at the point guard. IMO, your take is unfounded.

I think what people are saying, is that given our present lineup being so small and lacking speed, we probably cannot afford the luxury of having two point guards in the game--we need scorers, athleticism, etc. So really, I think we need to play either Paige or Nika, but rarely both...

Anyways, unlike the UCLA and Kansa games, I was encouraged by what i saw from the team--after another slow and uninspiring start, in which our seniors again seemed both listless and clueless, UConn showed heart and grit and yes there were a lot of unforced bonehead TOs committed mostly by the seniors, but the freshmen showed a lot of promise. The team competed and this is something that we can build upon...

 

[Flyegirl]

AE gets hammered and Geno does nothing. Says nothing to the refs. He turns around and yells at an assistant. Come on, Geno… fight for your players!!! The other coaches do.

PB gets hammered several times every game and nothing is called. I'm afraid she's going to get injured. Geno does nothing, it is his responsibility to protect his players. I don't know why the refs keep letting this happen.

 

[Longtime fan]

Texas was more talented, aggressive and deeper than UConn but UConn’s relentless fight made it a game. The fourth quarter no call when Aaliyah was mugged probably prevented a fabulous comeback.

-Nika could not handle Rori Harmon but I am not sure there are many guards who can.

-Still waiting for Ice Brady to show the ranking she had coming out of high school. Just too many mistakes on both ends of the floor.

-Aubrey is still disappearing for long stretches. As a senior in Geno’s program, she should be way more consistent than she has shown.

-Paige’s minutes may not be a concern to many but it does me. These games don’t mean much. I wish Geno would limit her minutes more. Especially since teams are just beating her up physically.

-He doesn’t like to, but this team should probably play more zone. I think they could rebound better out of zone.

-Q must be practicing poorly but with this group Geno can afford the same patience with Q as he does with Ice.

-I think Geno needs a pep talk of his own. He seems to be understandably frustrated with the injuries but these kids need him. This means doing something he has had not had to do much over the years. Bite the bullet and let the pups go through game time growing pains.

-Still love this program because the kids never strop playing hard. Their body language even when things are going poorly, is good. Turnovers, giving up second chance baskets and scoring from others besides Edwards and Paige will improve as the year goes on.

-Encouraged by the fourth quarter run with the three freshmen on the floor and Paige on the bench.

There was also a phantom call on a fine defensive play by Ash Shade. Instead of a turnover, in a then 6 point game, it gives Texas two free throws. Refs seem to think there is no such thing as an excellent defensive play. There " must" have been a foul...so they call one. It is a disgrace. We did play better with Paige on the bench. How odd is that? But it kind of forced the team to play and score without her. Now we need them to play and score with her. Edwards gets more credit in this game than due, I think. Yes, she had a high point total. But she also clanked free throws and turned the ball over more than usual. Geno is simply going to have to live with Brady and her foibles. She hasn't played in two years, and never against this competition. Liked what I saw ( little though it was ) of Ash, Q and KK. Muhl looks like she has already played a full season. And I agree about Aubrey. The occasional rebound is not going to cut it. But where can we turn?

When we suddenly look like an "all world" team against Ball State, let's remember UCLA, NC State and Texas. It is going to be difficult to exponentially improve in the Big East, where there is only occasional competition. But we need to do that. And we need bigger, faster, stronger athletes. Paige is on the floor after every drive to the basket. Every one.

Away games are tough to watch, especially when they are over in the first 4 minutes. And that was the case today. Sure, give some credit for fighting back. That used to be how the other teams comforted themselves. Now we take whatever scrap of optimism we can.

 

[Boreifs]

Brady is shaking off a year of rust. Give her a minute.

Giving her a minute won’t add speed to her game. Whether it is a result of her injury or not, she is very slow compared to her teammates.

 

[Gordo]

Texas was unconscious offensively, especially in the 1st quarter. I liked the way UConn fought back, but the turnovers and personal fouls killed us. Although Brady made a couple of shots, she can't seem to make one around the basket and should completely stop trying to shoot 3s. I was surprised with the inability to get Paige clean open shots. We don't stand much of a chance if she can only score 13 points. Edwards played very well, and could have used a little help from the refs. Aubrey's play is still a mystery.

 

[donalddoowop]

I saw some things I really liked today. I liked Brady starting and even though she made terrible passes in the hi low game with Aaliyah the play was there. So they went with Ice down low and Aaliyah at the foul line and she passed to ice who sealed her girl well and she scored down low Yeah. Its early and that was a better version of hi Low that will improve. I also love KK and I thought she should have been on Harmon the whole game. I think Q played with passion and was trying to show Geno that she wanted to be out there. Now Geno has to let her play and coach her up. She has an offensive game with more upside then Aubrey right now. She can shoot from the outside and also hit a midrange jumper and a backdoor play. Ashlynn wants to play as well but I see her off the bench.
My starting five would be Paige, KK, Ice,Q and Aaliyah.
Aubrey and Nika off the bench for energy and defense. Amari when we play the really bigs. Like Cardosa,Betts etc.
Give Paige less minutes and let her build up as the season goes on. We will need her for the Big dance and who knows.

So, play Amari only against Cardoso and Betts which will be very few times, and when she gets in the game you expect her to play at a high level? Won't happen.

 

[my2cents]

The ting that concerned was the look Amari had on her face the last few seconds of the game. Same with Brady. The last player I saw with a look similar to that was Brianna Banks in her sophomore year and she played on a NC team. The player who needs to put on the floor and let her play through her mistakes is Amari. UConn is lacking height and have a 6'5" Junior sitting on the bench. I would think she came to UConn thinking the coaches would help her improve her talent level. That has not happened. Although she scored well today, how does a player go from a third team AA to playing like Edwards has been playing this season?

Amari in her time has played way better than #25.