UConn - Villanova Post Game | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UConn - Villanova Post Game

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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.
 
HuskyNan said:
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
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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.
 
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BBallF said:
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.
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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 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!
 
huskeynut said:
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.
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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.
 
HuskyNan said:
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.
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Thank you.
 
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!
 
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msf22b said:
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.
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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...
 
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.
 
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Bigboote said:
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.
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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?
 
SLY63 said:
  • 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
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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.
 
ERWUC65 said:
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.
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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.
 
hoopsnloops32 said:
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.
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That may be true, probably is, but you would think getting Ines some minutes would be more of a priority with the potential of foul trouble looming over this team every time they step on the court!
 
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Cuango said:
That may be true, probably is, but you would think getting Ines some minutes would be more of a priority with the potential of foul trouble looming over this team every time they step on the court!
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I just think Ines is far away from not being net negative on the court. Ice and Q are so much closer. But I do wish we could add an eighth person to the rotation, Nika and Paige had to play far too much. Ideally Amari due to our lack of size but im not holding my breath on that one.
 
HuskyNan said:
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.

lotr.fandom.com

Galadriel

"Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold… but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the...
lotr.fandom.com lotr.fandom.com
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Did the crowd yell "DEATH!" when they played 'Ride of the Rohirrim'?:D
 
SLY63 said:
  • 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
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I agree with most of the above, but except that ICE attempted those two threes, she
is making progress (IMO): fourteen minutes of playing time, two rebounds, FOUR assists (remember this
is 14 minutes!!) "only" two fouls, THREE blocks (in14 minutes, right?!) and a steal. I also believe that
one of her blocks was against LUCY OLSEN! I believe that one of ICE's turnovers was a bad pass to her
when she wasn't expecting it...it hit ICE so it was "her" turnover ... the pass was on a transition
play so it should have gone to a GUARD,) I'll have to rewatch the game to check these impressions.
One of the critical things about ICE's play in this game was the inside defense capability she is developing so as to be
effective when Aaliyah is not on the floor, and the offensive capability of those assists... So,
to repeat, no "regression" in my opinion.
 
hoopsnloops32 said:
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.
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When you watch her carefully live, you will see that she does not defend the offensive player on the switch, especially on the pick and roll, well at all. She doesn't get out to stop the dribbler or move her out. When the player comes off the pick she either has a short pull up or an open drive lane. Most of Hidalgo's points came that way.
 
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