EricLA
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- Aug 24, 2011
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I actually was able to watch the game out here in LA. I don't have SNY, but watched it on espn360 on my large mac computer. I addressed it slightly in the game thread, but my first answer to anyone who thinks the game was boring is that they really need to become fans of another team. If you look at the current top 10 teams, UCONN has played 6 of them. That's a crazy ridiculous hard schedule. The only top 10 teams to NOT face UCONN this year are Baylor, Oregon State and Arizona State. UCONN is so much better than most teams that many games will be blowouts. My advice would be this - instead of complaining about it, find things to enjoy and appreciate about the game - first and foremost, we have limited time left to marvel at Stewie and Moriah... As fans we are currently in a magic bubble that will burst soon enough. Love and enjoy it while you can...
How great was it for Geno to start Nurse, Chong, Samuelson, Collier and Butler? Midway thru the 1st quarter, it was tied, and UCONN didn't pull away till he put the rest of the starters in, but...Cinci came out like a house on fire and played tough - like their coach. In the 4th quarter, where it was mostly those same players including Polly and Tierney for the last 3-4 minutes, UCONN still outscored Cinci 15-4.
Name me any other team in WCBB who could literally start their entire bench and still play even or slightly beat another team in their league, even one as "bad" as Cinci. How do you think SC would do with starting Roy, Cliney, Cuevas, Imbovich and White, or ND starting Maybrey, Ogunbowale, Huffman, Thompson and Johnson?
How about Collier scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 boards, and playing aggressive on both ends of the court, especially ripping rebounds away from Cinci players?
How about Butler with a double double - 14 and 10, finding her "hands" again, ripping the ball away from defenders and scoring from multiple places on the court - also, demanding the ball in the post?
How about Ekmark with 5 points, 2 assists, 2 boards and 1 steal while playing solid on both offense and defense? She looked "confident" out there. Not saying she's a future starter, but it was wonderful seeing her involved in a positive way.
And how about the other freshman - Lou - 2-5 from beyond the arc, 10 points, 3 assists, 1 steal and only 1 TO.
I'm not going to make projections for next year because there's till a ton of this year left, and a ton of time for growth and development. But I think it was an excellent showing by our youngsters and bench/role players. I get that Geno is preparing them for the long run. I know that in games from the sweet 16 and on, it's unlikely he goes beyond 7 players on the floor, but one reason the game was so fun for me to watch was seeing so many diverse players contribute in different ways when they were on the court.
How great was it for Geno to start Nurse, Chong, Samuelson, Collier and Butler? Midway thru the 1st quarter, it was tied, and UCONN didn't pull away till he put the rest of the starters in, but...Cinci came out like a house on fire and played tough - like their coach. In the 4th quarter, where it was mostly those same players including Polly and Tierney for the last 3-4 minutes, UCONN still outscored Cinci 15-4.
Name me any other team in WCBB who could literally start their entire bench and still play even or slightly beat another team in their league, even one as "bad" as Cinci. How do you think SC would do with starting Roy, Cliney, Cuevas, Imbovich and White, or ND starting Maybrey, Ogunbowale, Huffman, Thompson and Johnson?
How about Collier scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 boards, and playing aggressive on both ends of the court, especially ripping rebounds away from Cinci players?
How about Butler with a double double - 14 and 10, finding her "hands" again, ripping the ball away from defenders and scoring from multiple places on the court - also, demanding the ball in the post?
How about Ekmark with 5 points, 2 assists, 2 boards and 1 steal while playing solid on both offense and defense? She looked "confident" out there. Not saying she's a future starter, but it was wonderful seeing her involved in a positive way.
And how about the other freshman - Lou - 2-5 from beyond the arc, 10 points, 3 assists, 1 steal and only 1 TO.
I'm not going to make projections for next year because there's till a ton of this year left, and a ton of time for growth and development. But I think it was an excellent showing by our youngsters and bench/role players. I get that Geno is preparing them for the long run. I know that in games from the sweet 16 and on, it's unlikely he goes beyond 7 players on the floor, but one reason the game was so fun for me to watch was seeing so many diverse players contribute in different ways when they were on the court.
) anyone points to the 15-15 tied score as a sign that the starters were not getting it done, I would remind people that the regular starters have struggled at times in the first quarters against inferior teams as well. Temple was no masterpiece, and there have been other less than stellar first quarters this year. And it is often the same issue - a player shooting 29% from three nails two in a row to get them back into contention.
