UConn - Villanova Post Game

[HuskyNan]

Crickets here in the thread. I love it when the Huskies win

 

[PJCLaw]

I was really hoping that after the poor performance, especially by Nika, vs. ND, that the team would come out really strong to start the game. Instead, they squeaked out a 1 point lead at half time. Was surprised we didn't take better advantage of Olsen picking up 2 fouls in Q1. I was really impressed with Nova's defense - they seemed to be great at stopping our penetration and drives, and we had to keep kicking the ball back out to reset.

BUT Q3 was much nicer! Both teams battled in Q4 -and UConn pulled away. Outscored them 44-24. Better rebounding, better everything. Really solid 2nd half.

In spite of lackluster 3 point shooting (31%), we still shot 61% for the game. And some really terrific defense overall on Lucy Olson - the BE leading scorer. Held her to 15 total points.

• Aaliyah came to play. Battled in the post. Some point black misses in the first half, but still managed a decent shooting % and was tough. 22 and 7.
• Nika - She really is essential to be on the floor most of the time for this team. 12 points, 10 assists, 5 boards, 2 steals, 2 TO's and only 1 foul - i'll take that from her every game. I know she felt she let her team down against ND, and she did. Double double!! Geno said he was "proud of her" after the game!
• I'm so glad Paige took so many shots (18). Her 3 point shooting was off, like for the rest of the team, but 21 points, 5 assists, 5 boards? Nice. She started kind of slow but picked it up as the game went on.
• KK showed much more scoring tonight than she has recently. And plays tenacious defense. VERY efficient shooting 5-6.
• Ash - didn't take many shots and "only" scored 4 points, but her effort is top notch.
• Some solid minutes for Ice and Q. Ice with 4 assists and 3 blocks and Q with 5 points, but more importantly, shot 2-3 not jacking shots up.

Bottom line a great recovery. Adequate first half, but really nice 2nd half. Please build off this ladies!!

I hope you were being tongue in cheek by saying AE had a "decent" shooting percentage because she shot 69% for the game, 9 of 13 shots made. Sheesh, what is a good shooting night?!

 

[Centerstream]

Crickets here in the thread. I love it when the Huskies win

While there is a lull...I don't know who your avatar is

 

[HuskyNan]

While there is a lull...I don't know who your avatar is

My husband and I saw the OrlandoPhilharmonic play the music for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring while the movie played. It was awesome. So, I have LOTR on my mind.

Galadriel

"This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper." —Galadriel to Frodo Baggins Galadriel was the "Lady" of the woods of Lothlórien, which she ruled with Celeborn, her husband. One of the greatest Elves in Middle-earth, she surpassed nearly all others in beauty, knowledge, and power. She...

lotr.fandom.com

 

[Bigboote]

What an enjoyable game. We expected it to be physical, and it was, but not in a dirty way. Nova is a well-coached team, and they showed it in the first half. They moved well, set good picks, and found open lanes.

UConn played a full game and woke up in the second half. Made some good adjustments on offense and defense.

Paige and Nika both played really well after the Notre Dame game.

Nika is in fourth place on the all-time assists list now.

 

[Rb335]

This one was truly a tale of two halves. Glad to see the response coming out of the locker room. Our seniors guards played nearly 40 minutes, a credit to Nova making it a true grind. A solid win, happy to be back in the win column.

 

[HopJim]

While not always pretty, particularly the first half, UConn played great fundamental basketball. Old fashion pick and roles, hard picks, etc. were all on display. If you were a recruit that believed in this type of basketball (Big O are you listening?), few other places to go but UConn.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

ESPN's version.

 

[BBallF]

I agree, especially the young players. The freshmen might have had their defensive confidence shaken as they seemed a little out of sorts. KK was fouling and Ash was standing around on offense a bit but to their credit, they shook it off

Exactly. I was at the game. The defense by all of the freshmen, especially Ice, was sub-par. The game was called very close and it did not look like it was going to be a 20 point game in the first half at all, quite the opposite. The frosh just have not learned how to defend the pick and roll and haven't yet broken other bad high school habits like not boxing out and reaching in. The poor pick and roll D killed us against ND with Hidalgo going crazy and it was apparent again tonight. We never get out and close out the dribbler coming around the pick.

We have to remember that at least two of our starters would not be starting but for injuries, and our 6th and 7th man would not be close to that if everyone was healthy. Still, they and we don't have a choice but the effort has to improve and quickly. It is frustrating to watch mental errors on both defense and offense but on defense they can be fatal.

In the end, at Finneran, the talent gap was too much, Paige took a solid number of shots, Liyah was strong, and Nika's D on Olsen held her in check. We are an undersized team with great speed but if we don't play great defense, or if any of our seniors have a poor game, we are in danger of losing to even just a good not necessarily very good or great team. Hopefully, any dent in the frosh defensive confidence has been smoothed out tonight.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

The men are playing a carbon copy of the game right now, lol

 

[DrummerDee]

I still can't figure out why Geno insists on leaving Brady in, at all costs, while Samuels sits the bench.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Exactly. I was at the game. The defense by all of the freshmen, especially Ice, was sub-par. The game was called very close and it did not look like it was going to be a 20 point game in the first half at all, quite the opposite. The frosh just have not learned how to defend the pick and roll and haven't yet broken other bad high school habits like not boxing out and reaching in. The poor pick and roll D killed us against ND with Hidalgo going crazy and it was apparent again tonight. We never get out and close out the dribbler coming around the pick.

We have to remember that at least two of our starters would not be starting but for injuries, and our 6th and 7th man would not be close to that if everyone was healthy. Still, they and we don't have a choice but the effort has to improve and quickly. It is frustrating to watch mental errors on both defense and offense but on defense they can be fatal.

In the end, at Finneran, the talent gap was too much, Paige took a solid number of shots, Liyah was strong, and Nika's D on Olsen held her in check. We are an undersized team with great speed but if we don't play great defense, or if any of our seniors have a poor game, we are in danger of losing to even just a good not necessarily very good or great team. Hopefully, any dent in the frosh defensive confidence has been smoothed out tonight.

Ice's defense looked good to me. Better than Aaliyah's in the first half at least and one of the best defensive games from her. She missed a couple of things for sure but so did everyone else.

 

[Cuango]

I don’t mind admitting I was sweating it in the first half! They seem to be a bit off both as a team and individually. This was really the perfect game for us as it turned out. I’m thinking (hoping) that some of them, Aaliyah, Nika, & KK especially, are back on track. Ash is still a bit tentative but almost there. Paige though, I’m a little concerned about. She seems a little off. Not sure what is going on with her, whether she’s hurt, or just off her game but I’m praying all will be well with her. She certainly doesn’t deserve any more bad breaks!
That Olsen girl is pretty sporty and Villanova really impressed me! They’re gonna be a tough out for a lot of teams.
I think the Notre Dame game was pretty frustating for this team and I think it carried forward to ths game. I think Aaliyah and Ice in particular showed a lot of frustration tonight. Ice threw a towel over her shoulder after being pulled and Aaliyah showed more frustration with the ref’s calls than I’ve ever seen. I was particularly happy Geno put Ice back in before the end of the game and that Aaliyah, to her credit, not only controlled herself but seemed to channel her frustration right back into her play! She and Nika were key in winning this game! Paige, even though she is off her game imo, just continues to show how great she is as even in a slump/off game, produces 21,5,5,& 1 to lead her team to a big win!

 

[donalddoowop]

How the team would react to the ND loss would tell us alot about this team's character.

We have our answer. A tight first half. Give Nova some credit. They played good defense and their guards got in the lane. But there was a spark of UConn there. Second half saw UConn lock down Nova's guards, especially Olsen - only 3 points in the second half. UConn pushed the tempo and Nova couldn't handle it.

Nika had a huge bounce back game. 12 points with timely 3's and 10 asissts. Most import was her tenacious defense on Olsen. She frustrated Olsen all night. Her leadership is so important.

We are by no means out of it.

Out of it? Did you see how many top 25 teams lost recently? They won't be out of it unless they get beat in the NCAA Tourney.

 

[Centerstream]

My husband and I saw the OrlandoPhilharmonic play the music for Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring while the movie played. It was awesome. So, I have LOTR on my mind.

Thank you.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

UConn needs to struggle early and figure it out as the game goes along!
Even though many BYers weep it sets our Huskies up for a stronger 2nd 1/2 of the season!
Games like this are more of a confidence builder than a 40 point blowout!
Learning what works and what doesn't in a game is important!

 

[tchalla1]

I liked the win
But, the team is just starting to find its identity (again) after being crushed by ND.

There was certainly some carry-over...Denise told her guards to get into the lane and good things will happen; they did and it did...At half-time the game was up for grabs.

And then, good coaching and players who could execute; the defensive pressure which had been a hallmark of the team exerted itself and they stopped the Villanova offense cold..That's the identity of our team and the offense flowed from there.

Things that concern me: the bench is if anything shortened...Ice was only occasionally effective and
Q was ok but seemingly not trusted...

I'm with those that can't understand the relegation of
Ines to the last minute...Last season she gave many meaningful minutes. Hard to understand her being completely ignored. Another guard would be useful.

I thoroughly agree with your points, esp., the one about Ines. As you pointed out, we can use a quick and nimble guard like Ines to spell Nika--I'd like to see her get more meaningful minutes, like she did last year out of necessity. This is how the criticism that Geno doesn't develop his players grows. I dare say Ines can make contribution...

And I don't know whether the freshmen have hit a wall, or what i do see is Geno is again turning our offense into an extremely Paige-centric offense where Paige takes almost every shot. Before, we ran plays for Ash, who is a very capable shooter and she was scoring 12-15 a night. Now it's just give the ball to Paige.

But what happens when Paige has an off night such as the Notre Dame game? One-dimensional offenses are easier to defend. I'm glad at least tonight he didn't stop getting the ball down to Edwards, who had a great game...

I know that Paige is going to be the Integral part of the offense, but I'd like to see a more diversified offense where Ash and others are better incorporated...

 

[Plebe]

Best line is at the end. “At least Denise is normal; I can have a conversation with her. The other guy, forget about it.” The ribbing of Perretta never gets old

 

[MilfordHusky]

Ice's defense looked good to me. Better than Aaliyah's in the first half at least and one of the best defensive games from her. She missed a couple of things for sure but so did everyone else.

I didn't see the game, but the box score shows Ice with 4 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. I like those numbers.

 

[jdote33]

shout out to Nika.

 

[Bone Dog]

I thought Q showed a spark here and there, as well as a boneheaded outlet pass to Ice out of nowhere. She had a great drive across the lane to score — vintage Caroline.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I didn't see the game, but the box score shows Ice with 4 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. I like those numbers.

And she set a few good screens as well. Idk I seem major improvement from her even though there are still some visible mistakes she’s playing through it and showing up with some positives.

 

[MilfordHusky]

What an enjoyable game. We expected it to be physical, and it was, but not in a dirty way. Nova is a well-coached team, and they showed it in the first half. They moved well, set good picks, and found open lanes.

UConn played a full game and woke up in the second half. Made some good adjustments on offense and defense.

Paige and Nika both played really well after the Notre Dame game.

Nika is in fourth place on the all-time assists list now.

I thought Nika was at 569, which would be 7th. If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct my numbers.

Mo's record is 659. How far away is Nika?

 

[ERWUC65]

• The defensive intensity in the second half was the difference.
• Still somewhat concerning about how easy it was for the Nova guards to get into the lane
• AE played great
• It is key to keep Nika on the floor (see ND loss)
• Paige played well
• Teams appear to be giving Shade less space to shoot, but she never forces it
• Solid game by KK
• IMO Q still shoots a little too quick
• Ice seems to be regressing -- shooting 3's, questionable passed, lackluster D

Disappointed that Ines did not see any court time. Considering Q and Ice still not performing and Aubrey's not coming back, we really need to find that best 6th man for those upcoming games against the top teams. Not sure why Geno is reluctant to use her as she is more experienced and has shown some skill and tenacity already this year. Not a great shooter, for sure, but who better to fill in for our tired starters. I think she should have been used in the ND game when Paige and then Nika were down. The starting five can win in the BE, but by March we will need more from the bench to go deep in the tournament.