UCONN-Texas Post Game Thread

[BRS24]

Ice did not not have a major knee surgery, she was practicing with the team end of last season. Azzi has had many major surgeries, Paige one, Caroline also.

Ice dislocated her kneecap last year at the end of October, right before the season started. That is major surgery, as there are a lot of parts that are connected to the kneecap. Although she was seen in game warmups at the end of the season, there was probably a good reason why she didn't play until this fall.

 

[Zonepress]

My rebuttal is that we need rebounding, Ice is one of our bigs who plays a lot, and she can’t rebound from deep outside. I believe she will be a good threat from outside in future, but right now she is missing them at a high rate. She would be more effective from closer and really needs to work on layups. Let Q or Ash shoot the 3, Paige too of course, and Caroline if she returns to play.

The rebounding problems were on the defensive end Texas had 16 off rebounds
Your fence will continue to struggle until shooting improves and create some space under the basket

 

[Centerstream]

Reboundsand TO are killing us.
Rebounds Rebounds Rebounds

We were out rebounded by a much taller front line by 3, 32-29.
You (unintentionally) nailed it

 

[Classof87]

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.

I would like to have seen more minutes for Shade & Q. He's leaning on PB too much and she'll wear down. I think Ice started in order to give us more height in the post, but 3 RBs ain't gonna cut it, she has got to step it up. I thought Aubrey was a bit of a no-show; yes, she had 6 RBs but took all of two shots in 20 minutes. The worst stat is the 16 Off RB's we gave up, we are not a very good rebounding team. Still, it's December... Still a lot of time to get our ducks in a row. GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!

 

[Classof87]

We were out rebounded by a much taller front line by 3, 32-29.
You (unintentionally) nailed it

Except on the offensive boards - we got crushed 16 - 5. I don't know what the 2nd chance points were, but I gotta believe they had a lot more than we did.

 

[BB Dawg]

A lineup I’d be interested in seeing would be KK, Paige, Quadence, Aaliyah, and Ice. Not sure how it would look but I’m curious.

Give us height, outside shooting, and some guard speed. At this point, wouldn’t hurt to try it for a couple minutes of run time.

They went big...And as Geno said they we were out rebounded by quite a bit. He said they made their comeback when he played small...He said he probably be going that way

 

[enigmatic]

This is going to be a season of trial and error but I'm all in with this team. I believe we will decipher our issues, be more polished when late February and March comes around, and challenge to make a deep run. #bleedUCONNblue

 

[Centerstream]

Except on the offensive boards - we got crushed 16 - 5. I don't know what the 2nd chance points were, but I gotta believe they had a lot more than we did.

Well they missed 37 shots, (11 more than we made, btw) and with taller payers, odds are that they would get more offensive boards, ergo more possible points.

 

[AzzisBraids]

Agreed. Azzi's loss has a ripple effect as well. It's not only how many points she scores, but it is also when she scores. Imagine the energy it gives your teammates when you hit back-to-back 3's in a comeback attempt. It's a game-changer that we are missing this year, unfortunately, Team rebounding will have to be the focus as we are too small in the post, especially against the top teams. I hope to see our freshmen get more minutes as the season progresses because this will only make them better.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't like losing but I'm not upset with these losses. Many teams have looked forward to the day that they could beat UCONN. To them I say congratulations. But I am also marking these losses on my calendar and looking forward to some payback. When the time comes I will be front and center cheering our Huskies on as I have for 30+ years!

I agree with this, Azzi's presence on the floor alone clears space for others. Whether she misses all her shots or not, if she's there, you have to plan for her. Without it, Texas ignored the screeners when Bueckers had screens to trap, picked her up early in transition, denied her the ball when she didn't bring it up, stopped her dribble drive with an active second defender and attacked her on offense with Harmon.

They took her out of the game completely and this was the equivalent of being jumped in high school.

 

[tchalla1]

Actually, 38 minutes, and just two assists, no steals and 5 TOs... good thing she can shoot!

Well, humorous, but that's not fair to Nika, since we have all but abandoned our motion offense--out of necessity--to a pick and roll offense to get Paige a shot, since no one else seems capable of scoring. It's difficult for Nika to assist when except for Paige, you have no scorers. Hopefully, this will change when the freshmen gain more confidence...

 

[Boreifs]

I would love to see what would happen if Paige actually played like a wing. Cut through picks, get open and take her shot, just like Azzi was supposed to do in that position. Nika has proved with Lou last year that she can deliver the ball in a good spot and in a timely manner. The team has three point guards getting minutes; in the starting lineup no one was playing like a wing.

 

[Classof87]

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

And she is our best on-ball defender. She was 4 for 4 from the field today.

 

[jdote33]

I think that’s a tad harsh on Paige. I do agree she’s not yet the Paige of her freshman year but she’s still not 100% and she hasn’t played in more than a year! Texas as focusing on her the entire game! I’d be willing to bet Vic structured his entire game plan around not letting Paige do what Azzi did last time they played. Paige might could overcome that kind of attention if she were healthy and if there was the usual UConn offense surrounding her bt right now she can’t. I think, assuming she get’s right physcally, we will see the Paige of old start showing up as the team gets more proficient on offense. Harmon is a stud and I wish we had gotten Booker! That team could make some serious noise come tournament time! I think you have to ask yourself if here are 5 players you would rather have than her? For me, that is a clear no.

Fair enough! It's a good point. I remember Jamaal Murray from the Nuggets going through struggles throughout the season last year and I believe he may have had more time off then Paige to recover. So I do think it's an unfortunate reality that she still is coming back. I also wanted to say that I liked all 11 or basically 10 of her shots - save the last 3 pt heave late in the 4th. She had some clean looks she just missed (i remember a step back 3, as well as a dribble up 3 she took in transition). I think in the 4th she may have missed 2 layups at the rim. Additionally there was a post up in the first half that was a chippy that she missed. So if she's 7-11 (with the 2 3's) its probably a much closer game and the criticism is a lot lighter. Geno in his post game did say - without mincing words that she had a lousy game. One last thing, and a couple people have mentioned it, is that the number of fga's is a concern. As a sophomore in the championship game, I remember thinking similarly that she took too little shots, even though the shots she took were good. I think she was 6-13. Ironically that's another game that they were killed on the glass. I'm not sure if she just needs to get the ball more inside/in the post, as when Rori or Henny or Aari McDonald defend her, its hard for her to get open on the perimeter. IDK just a thought.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

The rebounding problems were on the defensive end Texas had 16 off rebounds
Your fence will continue to struggle until shooting improves and create some space under the basket

The camera sweeps to the bench gave me encouragement for the future as Patterson had some serious fire in her eyes. I think she will be ready to grab some serious rebounds in the very near future. I'm thinking mid-December [Louisville-ish] & praying for same!

Now it's time to "right the ship" vs. Ball State, and then defeat the UNC team that gave South Carolina a strong showing for 3 qtrs.

Go Huskies!

 

[darkstar1]

Agreed. But having a post (like Dorka last year) would really help Nika’s game.

 

[Classof87]

Nika can shoot and Nika can dribble and Nika can pass the ball as well as anyone. The problem is no one gets open under or anywhere close so she has to clear it out again. Nika wasn't open all that much either.

We didn't do much posting up with our bigs today - we barely even tried. AE took it to the hole a few times, but she started her play at the foul line.

 

[ccwarrior]

UConn was within 5 with 7 minutes to go in the game, with 4 players on the bench, against #10 Texas.

I hope this isn’t seen as a positive for the UConn women’s bball team.

 

[Zinethar]

I've read a lot of weeping and wailing about how poorly UConn played. I disagree. At the 7:19 mark of the first quarter it was 15-3 and timeout was called. From there to the end of the game the difference in the final score did not change. Texas shot lights out. UConn made too many unforced turnovers yet from there to the end of the game they were even. They need to become at least one point better during that first 7 minutes to win. It is obvious there were many chances for that to happen. The slow starts need to get fixed. Everything else gets exponentially easier if it gets fixed. Small steps everyone. This hard early schedule was made to help the team they thought they would have not to get 4 rookies what they would need Tyler Phommachanh learn to start by the 8th game.

All the early development was prioritizing what the experienced players would need. The rookies got to watch what AE and Paige could do. They still revert to that too much. They actually showed they could succeed when Paige was not on the floor. All they need is a little time, patience, and a bit of better luck.

Go Huskies. I still have faith!

 

[Zinethar]

Who is AP?

Come on guys we all make typos (well at least I do). Lighten up.

 

[Reypl21]

We were out rebounded by a much taller front line by 3, 32-29.
You (unintentionally) nailed it

I think they meant offensive rebounds. Only getting outrebounded by 3 doesn't look bad on paper, but UConn shot it way less. They were turning it over so much Texas didn't get the opportunity to defensive rebound a whole lot.

 

[ccwarrior]

What makes me sad is that the team was outhustled, outcoached, tired, missed too many bunnies, had way too many turnovers, weren’t aggressive, and were clearly less athletic - not the team I have enjoyed watching for a very long time. I’m not sure we are a top 25 team and the postseason is certainly not a given.

 

[MSGRET]

Brink was sick and only played 11 minutes. Definitely a factor.

One player sick and they can't beat Gonzaga, yet UConn has three major players from last year out and everyone is screaming, sorry but I don't buy it, Stanford blew it big time.

 

[Classof87]

I think that’s a tad harsh on Paige. I do agree she’s not yet the Paige of her freshman year but she’s still not 100% and she hasn’t played in more than a year! Texas as focusing on her the entire game! I’d be willing to bet Vic structured his entire game plan around not letting Paige do what Azzi did last time they played. Paige might could overcome that kind of attention if she were healthy and if there was the usual UConn offense surrounding her bt right now she can’t. I think, assuming she get’s right physcally, we will see the Paige of old start showing up as the team gets more proficient on offense. Harmon is a stud and I wish we had gotten Booker! That team could make some serious noise come tournament time! I think you have to ask yourself if here are 5 players you would rather have than her? For me, that is a clear no.

Well, Geno was not impressed with PB's play tonight - he said it straight out in his post-game comments that she was awful tonight.

 

[Classof87]

Come on guys we all make typos (well at least I do). Lighten up.

Its worse when your spellchecker changes things for you, lol.