If you bring your post out to pick and AE follows her then the guard gets picked, AE is standing there defending her player and at that point it all depends on how well your defense fills in behind them. The fill in at that point are guarding players squaring up from the 3 point line so you have a race to the basket. It is definitely something they need to fix before they play some better teams
- 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
When I first joined the BY, I didn't even know what an avatar was. I said to my wife, Husky Nan really looks like Halle Berry.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
Creighton is always dangerous; don’t underestimate themIt was nice to see Nika come up with an outstanding performance. She did a lot of impressive things but what she didn`t do - get into foul trouble against a tough matchup - was most significant.
Opponents have learned not to crossover to their left hand in front of her - she has an uncanny ability to poke it away (without fouling) and head for an easy layup. Olsen, who is very skilled, tried it and it did not turn out well for her.
This was a game where a lot of stuff in the box score surprised me:
I thought we were very sloppy at times but we only committed 13 turnovers.
The officials seemed to be calling it tight but there were only 28 total fouls called, 14 and 14.
I didn`t think we were doing a good job on the boards but we outrebounded Villanove 34-28.
Aaliyah seemed to be getting bottled up but scored 22 on 9 for 13 shooting.
Nika was passing the ball well but I didn`t think she was anywhere near 10 assists.
Thought Olsen was playing well but she ended up 6 for 17.
Particularly surprised that we shot 61%. Only 5 of 16 from three so 29 for 40 from inside the arc, or 72.5%. Now that`s pleasantly surprising.
This was another game where Aubrey would have made a huge difference. I think she could have changed the energy in the second quarter.
This could have been a trap game - on the road in a difficult environment against a disciplined team, UConn coming off a loss, and at a time of year when at all levels, college and professional, upsets abound. It is the last difficult road game on their conference schedule. They should handle the rest of their conference schedule without difficulty.
The " deal" with ASH right now ( still a freshman and all ) is that; if she misses her first shot, she stops shooting. Unless forced to do so.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.
Bottom line a great recovery. Adequate first half, but really nice 2nd half. Please build off this ladies!!
- 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.
It was very noticeable to me last night. I often watch our defense even away from the ball when I'm there. It is a team issue but Nika did a good if not great job with it last night and Paige is great at it also. I think a big issue for Ice is quickness and timing. I think last year off hurt her a lot. Hopefully, the defense improves but you saw the weakness against ND. If Olsen had 30 last night it's a different game.I see that but everyone I struggling with the pick and roll defense right now. Aaliyah made a bunch of mistakes with it as well
During halftime I posted in the chat room that I thought we were not fluid on both ends of the court. It was much better for parts of the second half.What I saw from my couch:
Both the ND game and last night's game didn't have the fluidity and sense of purpose shown earlier.
The talk of Uconn being unable to keep quick guards from getting easy shots will continue until we can stop it from happening on a regular basis. Both Nika and Ash play tenacious defense but neither can keep the quick guards from driving by them.
Yes, the officiating was rather suspect at times. That first foul on Aaliyah, where she took a hard forearm...that was crazy. I've never seen someone draw a foul on a player by committing a flagrant foul on that player. Aaliyah gets beat up and hardly ever complains.Another BE game where when you heard a whistle, you had to wonder who it was going to be on...for both teams. And another BE game where bodies fell to the court and then silence by the refs, way too often, again for both teams.
And in the 4th when Ice passed the ball inside to Paige but the ball ended up in a different zip code. I am still dazed by that play.
We won by 21, and we earned every point to get there.
But, I'm a happy camper tonight.
They are not always dangerous, we beat them at their place 94-50 in early January.Creighton is always dangerous; don’t underestimate them
Yes, well, that basket where KK shoved Lucy out of her way wasn’t called. It was clearly an offensive foul. The reffing was spotty but didn’t favor either teamYes, the officiating was rather suspect at times. That first foul on Aaliyah, where she took a hard forearm...that was crazy. I've never seen someone draw a foul on a player by committing a flagrant foul on that player. Aaliyah gets beat up and hardly ever complains.
Good time to start perfecting your batte cryit was the first move. They’ll do The Two Towers in August and we are definitely going
So ... Nika has 9 remaining reg season games, and likely 3 BE tourney games, and we can count on at least 2 NCAA tourney games I think = 14 total. She averages 6.2 assists per game which would be 87 more assists which would be just short of Moriah. If Uconn advances to the E8 or she improves her average just a smidge she would break the record. It will be close one way or the other.You are correct, Nika is at 569 career assists and is presently in 7th place on the all time list. Ahead of her are Sue Bird (585), Crystal Dangerfield (599), Renee Montgomery (632), Jennifer Rizzotti (637), Diane Taurasi (648) and at number 1, Moriah Jefferson (659).
Of those above Nika - all were All-Americans and all but one Crystal, left UConn with atleast one national championship. A rarefied group indeed to be a part of!
That’s wasn’t an offensive foul at all imoYes, well, that basket where KK shoved Lucy out of her way wasn’t called. It was clearly an offensive foul. The reffing was spotty but didn’t favor either team
Equally impressive would be getting 96 more assists, getting to 232 for the season and thereby passing Sue Bird. Nika would then have the top two assist seasons in UConn history.So ... Nika has 9 remaining reg season games, and likely 3 BE tourney games, and we can count on at least 2 NCAA tourney games I think = 14 total. She averages 6.2 assists per game which would be 87 more assists which would be just short of Moriah. If Uconn advances to the E8 or she improves her average just a smidge she would break the record. It will be close one way or the other.
A thought:Yes, well, that basket where KK shoved Lucy out of her way wasn’t called. It was clearly an offensive foul. The reffing was spotty but didn’t favor either team
DOH! You're absolutely right, I was looking at the Basketball Reference list, which doesn't have data from something like 2000 earlier. (Need to get the assists number somewhere other than the UConn website, which doesn't have Nika's first two years.)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?
Also, as I posted earlier if she gets 200 or more assists this season (64 more to hit 200) she will be the only Huskie to have ever had 200 or more assists in two seasons.Equally impressive would be getting 96 more assists, getting to 232 for the season and thereby passing Sue Bird. Nika would then have the top two assist seasons in UConn history.
Ice and Q are developing as forecast. Unfortunately, the storm worsened, and we need them to be better faster. But that cannot be forced. UCONN is already doing that with KK and ASH.Q and Ice are performing just fine. They just need to keep it going. Nothing I’ve seen from Ines make me thinks she’d do any better, in fact I think she might do significantly worse.
I call it a too many minutes fatigue wall.Some talked about the freshmen hitting a wall. Looks like for a while, the whole team hit a wall. What do you call that, a sophomore, junior, and senior wall.
So ... Nika has 9 remaining reg season games, and likely 3 BE tourney games, and we can count on at least 2 NCAA tourney games I think = 14 total. She averages 6.2 assists per game which would be 87 more assists which would be just short of Moriah. If Uconn advances to the E8 or she improves her average just a smidge she would break the record. It will be close one way or the other.