A day later, wondering why Wilson seemed to lose her intensity. At beginning of game, seemed like she was impossible to stop. As game evolved, instead of imposing her will on UConn, seemed to let Gabby and KLS impose theirs.
And her reaction when after answering the 1st 3 questions, a reporter asked Jackson a question... that was real bad... and what did she expect, SC sent their Star and a freshman to meet the press... who do they want to hear from??
In the presser, I saw the question and comments by Geno - he basically said the atmosphere was great. He also added that SC has great attendance and when you go to an "away" game like at SC, you have to expect that 18,000 screaming fans are not going to be on your side, and that it's going to be a "hostile" environment. He said he has no knowledge of what the fans did before, during, or after the game but he said he watched the entire game from his couch and enjoyed the atmosphere a lot (or something to that effect).
SC missed many 2' shoots as well. Wonder if someone tightened the rims prior to game. With UConn's 3's mostly clean, didn't matter early on.
Agreed. There were several times in the first half when Wilson just stood there and did absolutely nothing, allowing the Huskies to get offensive boards or open shots. I don’t think she was tired. It appeared to me that she and some of her teammates had thrown in the towel.
People were wondering the same thing in the game thread. Dawn messed up, imo, and hung her team out to dry.
The problem with playing against a Geno team is they not only reveal your shortcomings as a team, but your personal shortcomings as a player. Combine that with the pace of play UConn demands and it becomes disheartening. We've all seen it time and again, and we'll continue to see it. As for Jackson, surely she had a nice game. But since Geno had such a small sample size for her trust me, the next time they play the Master will prepare for Jackson a bit better. Perhaps next time we'll see how she deals with a box and one or a match up zone. Or perhaps we'll see how she deals with Geno's best defender. She's talented certainly, but she'll have to prove it again next time under tougher circumstances.
Any excuse is better then no excuse. Lol
or up 30 pts
Umm, beg to disagree as at that time, our subs/scrubs are in and they are too inconsistent and hesitant to pull the trigger. Did anyone notice that when Z is left in with the others, the subs look to her to score and when Z is out, they look to Meg to score? I was happy Coombs pulled the trigger last night on a few, just wished she hit the rim...
Correct, although she still had to knock down the shots.
One of the best fan bases in CBB.
UConn's whole defensive philosophy to help down low, not just on Wilson. The reason is pretty simple-shooting percentages are higher in the paint than from 3 pt land. So it is like pick your poison and when other teams try that with us, Kia, KLS and for the most part Crystal Dangerfield knock down the 3. When they come out to cover us, Gabby and Napheesa eat them up inside. On defense, if the wing keeps a mindful eye on the post player and the corner shooter, they usually get there when the ball arrives, thus allowing the other weakside wing defender to guard the post on the backside. Most times it works, sometimes it doesn't. The shooter still has to be proficient and make the shot.
The Cocky Talk forum is full of comments of how good UConn is and that they were lucky that MIssSt pulled a "fluke" win because they could not have beaten last years team either. Very many nice comments about us and very critical of Dawn and A'ja shooting percentagesI’ll never understand this argument though because UConn didn’t beat last year’s team tonight. They beat a significantly less experienced/talented squad. Not even close to last year’s team in terms of talent level really...
I saw this game result coming from 100 Miles away... SC lost too much last year and had too many important players for this year’s team sitting on the bench. They just don’t have it. The rosters aren’t comparable.
Coming into the season I didn’t think the disparity was that bad but it’s glaringly obvious after tonight. SC is not at the point where they reload on talent.. this looks like a roster that needs rebuilding and Dawn needs to consider that when she schedules teams next year because it’s not going to get any easier once they lose A’ja. You want to schedule good teams of course, but I don’t think getting your brains bashed in by 25 points helps your team’s confidence (and I can’t imagine it helps recruiting when it happens primetime on National TV)... and tonight won’t be the last time it happens if she doesn’t allow her roster to “grow up” a little bit next year. Lol, it sounds weird to say, but she might need to take a page out of Mulkey’s book!
What a disappointing showing by the Gamecocks...
Or he needed to rest his walking wounded. The reason the second half didn't look so great was because Gabby and Crystal spent most of the half on the bench with injuries.
She might have the space. Geno most likely decided to slack off the freshman to guard A’ja. Good for the kid she was able to knock down those shots. When UConn and S.C. meet again, she might find herself open again. It’s s a valid strategy
I have to agree with Connie. I thought Aja was quite respectful to UConn. Her quote above is what I would expect from a great player
It reminded me of the UCONN , Duke game about three years ago when Duke was ranked number two and got blown out by the Huskies. The guy giving the score said "that was the number two team in the country"?
Not meant as an insult just easier to shoot when defender not tight in your face
No doubt. Next year, without Wilson in the post requiring extra attention, Jackson will have a UConn defender locked on her with a hand in her face.
