UConn-UCF thread without complaints

[Blakeon18]

So many good things happened! On occasion Geno has mentioned that our players sometimes
pass so much that 'we were looking for the open turnover'....cute line with a point.

So....we played such great D last night that we forced UCF into 20 [!] open turnovers.

 

[Drumguy]

Positives from the game for me were as follows
1. Azzi is getting a taste of the dance and she likes it
2. We have three bigs so if two foul out Viola we still have one left
3. Another game back for Paige
4. Foul shooting
5. Great defense
6. A win

voila! love auto correct!

 

[ABCDFE]

The number of posts in this thread vs the original thread speaks volumes of the BY (in a good way that is . Great gutsy win by our team. I believe this game against UCF will be help us for the rest of the tournament, especially how we should not play when up 12 with 4 minutes to go.

 

[VA Huskie]

Great win and just loved the poise of the UConn program. Also...what a crowd, especially the student section!! OMG!! Made me wish that I could attend the game. Holy smokes. That energy was EPIC!!

We attended the game and it was one of the loudest UConn crowds we’ve ever heard.

 

[VA Huskie]

I never heard her say they should've been seeded higher. Her chief complaints were having to play another Florida team in the 1st round and being sent to UConn as opposed to another place.

UCF's best wins were over South Florida and Arkansas, and they had a very bad loss to Cincinnati. They really didn't have the resume for anything higher than a 7.

I agree that the resume doesn’t warrant a higher seed, but the eye test says they should have been higher.

 

[VA Huskie]

UCF does have a very good defense. They were all over us on every play. For that they should be given credit.

 

[UConnCat]

 

[faithfulfan]

So many good things happened! On occasion Geno has mentioned that our players sometimes
pass so much that 'we were looking for the open turnover'....cute line with a point.

So....we played such great D last night that we forced UCF into 20 [!] open turnovers.

Our D last night was so good, UCF only shot 50% from the foul line!-))

 

[faithfulfan]

Their two bigs, Holmes and Gulbe, are both 6’3”. Holmes has great post moves, while Gulbe faces the basket and can shoot the three. Their two, Ali Patberg (ND transfer), is in her seventh year of college basketball, courtesy of an injury, one year sit out and a Covid year. She is their biggest threat from the arc. They are only six deep, but their sub is an energizer bunny who can play both the post and the wing. They are extremely well coached and have been together as a unit for three years. If you saw South Dakota play against Baylor, that might as well have been IU. A challenge, to be sure, but we are taller, more athletic, and have more fire power.

Indiana is a lot like Creighton

 

[UConnCat]

 

[faithfulfan]

I'm totally unfamiliar with Indiana... more like this please.

They are a lot like Creighton, smaller and not as athletic as UCF, but better shooters!

 

[Happydad745]

Massey ratings have Indiana 15 at defense/24 at offense...UConn is rated 3 in defense/12 offense(questionable) if those figure help you decide who will win. UCF was 138 in offense and they scored enough points to make us uncomfortable.

 

[Mdoggie]

@HuskyNan have you watched season 4? Mrs Maisel.

 

[Plebe]

It was a strange, anomalous game in many ways.

UCF shot 50% (5 of 10) from 3; they came in averaging 30% with just over 3 made threes per game. (Sanders, who came into the game 8 of 51 from 3, hit 2 of 2 from the arc.)​

​

They were also 50% (10 of 20) from the FT line; they came in averaging 70%.​

UCF came in averaging 61 points per game, but they scored 18 points in the first 9 minutes of the game — on pace for 80 over 40 minutes.

UConn then held UCF to only 12 points over the next 23 minutes, an incredible sustained defensive run. But then UCF scored 17 in the last 8 minutes, very close to their scoring pace of the first 9 minutes of the game.

 

[jdote33]

Positives:
I think if you give Azzi those same looks she might get 25. She kept shooting even when she got off to a slow start and kept her cool throughout the game.
Similarly, I think Paige looked fine. She really could've easily had double figures if not for missing free throws she normally hits. Similar to Geno, I don't expect her to be great but I do expect great moments and she had those.
I think the press impacted them early but it didn't really break them. 13 turnovers for the game isn't really that many. I actually thought they handled it better this game than when they played sc earlier this season.
I also thought the bigs were really good defensively. Rebounding, blocking and disrupting shots, hedging on screens, all three were solid throughout the game.
Lastly the crowd and the bench were superb. The team is so great. It's so funny to see CD get so hyped on the bench for her teammates juxtaposed with how cool she is on the court. Nika was cheering all second half and super engaged. That can't be easy and shows real maturity.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Paige didn't shoot that badly but you can see she is not confident right now. Maybe she needs a ton of reps to "feel it". The Malcolm Gladwell approach. There is so much pressure on that kid and maybe she's just now starting to let it get to her some. One of the best things about recruiting USA basketball athletes is that they have played in high pressure games before. I think it may help. I think Paige is gradually working through it and another 4 days probably helps.

I'd really like to see him give Caroline a chance to work through some things. Getting her back on the beam could really make a difference as we go forward. He has to give her some patience.

 

[jazz]

The team showed some real toughness in the face of adversity. Missing a multitude of layups and getting called for tacky fouls can have a toll on you. I saw a team start to play with some tude...they didnt back down. We did have the home crowd as well though. It was not pretty by any means, but a win is a win and GA has a lot of teaching points.

GA is sure to spend a lot more time critiquing every tiny facet of this game, as opposed to telling them how great they were.

Defense was relentless. It seems the last quarter of the year, we started playing better and better defense - I might even call it suffocating at times.

Loved how well Dorka can move laterally in space and guard out to the perimeter. Not sure many teams have a 6-5 kid that can do that. CW played defense like she was determined not to give an inch.

I think we lost some energy in the 4th and I think GA would have better served the team by playing more minutes to the bench, in particular CD. I'm not sure what she did so terribly wrong to only get 4 minutes(I don't believe the game was too big for her), but she could have given us a breather and a lift.

They are not all pretty but they count the same. Now we just need to build on it. I think we will blow Indiana out. I feel something coming together here...a real determined group who may not hit as many shots as you like but will scrap and claw and fight like hell for every inch of of the 94 feet. I just hope GA plays his bench more..it would be nice to have some fresh players on the court down the stretch of
the 4th Qtr.

 

[sun]

I have nothing but respect for the UCF Knights, especially because I had no idea how formidable they were.
Their team is extremely talented, and they showed UConn how important every point made can really be.
Every point, every foul, every pass, every shot, every mistake, and every second of every NCAAT game can be vitally important.

I felt empathy for the UCF players who answered questions at their post game presser, and their coach too.
They could have been among the top 10 teams in the nation, and playing what amounted to be their NC game in the 2nd round.
But then UConn has probably broken the hearts of more NCAA teams than any other team in the country.
Of course the UCF players are feeling heartbroken.
But their players and coach are determined to come back stronger and recruit even better next year.
That's the spirit that the NCAAT is based on.
It just shows that there will always be more good teams & players than there are rankings to fairly rate them.

UConn needs to be on its toes at all times, and there's not much room for any errors at all going forward.
We have the UCF Knights to thank for helping to impart that lesson to the Huskies, and we also helped to teach them that same lesson in return.

Wow! I didn't realize that UCF has the largest enrollment of all universities in the entire USA.
I just looked it up, in 2019 it had over 61,000 undergraduates, and a total enrollment of 71,948 taking classes in the fall of 2020.
UConn has done itself proud by beating them.
It looks like UCF has been rapidly moving up in the academic world.

 

[HuskyNan]

@HuskyNan have you watched season 4? Mrs Maisel.

Yes, indeed. the whole season wasn’t dropped,though, new episodes are released weekly

 

[Boreifs]

Indiana is a lot like Creighton

Sorry, but I totally disagree. Creighton essentially plays five guards and lives and dies by the three. IU has a post game, does not rely on the three and it’s best player (Berger) stays within the arc. I don’t see any similarity at all.

 

[Mdoggie]

Yes, indeed. the whole season wasn’t dropped,though, new episodes are released weekly

I’ve seen all 8 episodes of season 8. Waiting for 9.

 

[jaundicedeye]

voila! love auto correct!

Phew! Viola had me thumbing through the recruiting and portal threads to see if I missed something!

 

[Stymie]

Dorka played a monster game- a game where the box score is not an indication.
Being out at the top of the key, arms up and switching smoothly is a HUGE disrupting factor to the opponent.
Also was super high energy.
I think her best outing of the year.
Stellar!

 

[rvwsleep]

Pollack, from the movie The Accountant...

I could be wrong but I don't think that's the JP that was in The Accountant.

Jackson Pollack

Jackson Pollock

www.jackson-pollock.org

It seems as though that painting is in the style of Jackson Pollack. But it's not an original or a copy of an original.

 

[MSGRET]

Was fortunate enough to be at the game with my two daughters (UCONN '14, '15) and the atmosphere was electric!! UCF's D was simply awesome and amazingly enough ours was even better!! I'm loving how the bracket has lined up. Bring on Indy and dare I say, "Go Irish"?!

Never ever ever ever in my lifetime would I say that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!