UConn vs. Syracuse post game - on to the sweet 16! | Page 4 | The Boneyard

UConn vs. Syracuse post game - on to the sweet 16!

The past three years Coach Geno has displayed perhaps the best coaching of his entire career. Complete mastery of the coaching arts. Absolutely incredible that Connecticut could lose seven of their fourteen players, including the expected starting post player, a can't-miss All-American guard, the starting wing, and several other critically important players, yet play their way into the Sweet Sixteen!!

Utter brilliance by Coach Geno. He's getting better by the year!!! He is the Coach of the Year, even if he doesn't get the award!!!
 
Congrats to Nika for being the assist leader.
Our freshmen is just too good. They really did well in the offense side and were not afraid to take shots. But I don't think we will go far once Paige has an off night. I will be satisfied if we can be ended at FF.
 
pghhuskydoc said:
Fantastic game. The maturity of the freshmen really shined brightly.
Paige is tough as hell. What a performance.
Gotta say, the Syracuse women are much harder to hate with Coach Jack in charge.
I’ll always hate the ‘Cuse guys, though. That ain’t changing!
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Good for you! I believe extreme dislike for all things Orange [particularly Tennessee] is a good thing!!

TWO Oranges out on the same afternoon/evening is good for the soul...

Go Huskies!!!
 
Bone Dog said:
I don't care if we win another game this tournament.

I'm kidding. We still need to beat Duke (sorry @triaddukefan)

What I mean is no one should expect this group to accomplish more than they already have. They are already overachievers. Anything beyond the Sweet 16 is gravy. Relax, Huskies, no pressure. Just enjoy beating those Blue Devils.

And next season, after this experience, our freshmen will be the equivalent of grad students.
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Absolutely!!! The Sweet Sixteen with half of the roster out for the season is a brilliant achievement! Indeed, making the Final Four once, and Sweet Sixteen twice during three years when injuries devastated the team is a breath-taking achievement! So proud of Connecticut for all they've achieved!!!
 
Super rushed transcription of post-game w/AE and CD by Debbie and Bob:

AE: We had a will to win. We’re built for March

Brady presence – created opps to score, not a guard line. Been working on our chemistry. She helped us, especially when Nika went out. For some of us, it might not have been our night, But Paige and Ash did that. We concentrated on rebounds.

Bob: How tough was it under the boards?

I think my nose is broken in 5 different places now. It still hurts every time. The crowd help us in the 4 quarter. They were our 6th man.

KK Dagger 3?

AE: Guts. Absoluety. I knew it was going in. That’s who we are. We’re not done yet. Built for March.

Super special to me. UConn. Crowd energy will last for our road to Portland. It’s home. A second home.

BobYou're one rebound away 1st rebound..

AE: Felt like I had 30. A lot of "keep alives"

Bob: Next rebound: 1000/1000 – 9 players only
****
Bob/Debbie:
30th consecutive trip to 16.
Debbie – that girl is playing through a lot of pain. One tough cookie, can’t keep you off court.
That was a fun game
Time in Portland TBA

**
CD/
KK dagger

CD: That was a big shot. Didn’thesitate. Key. So was Ash’s pull up fro the corner. Paige's– all key. :-)

Defense did job on kid Fair. She made some tough shots.

Handles ourselves on the boards.

Didn’t have "A" game from everyone. But everyone had moments. Missed opportunities on offensive end.

Were a little impatient. But we stayed with it. Nika foul out? Not a smart play by her. We could have folded, but we didn’t. Paige calming influence. AE big on boards

Yay, it was physical. But losers go home

First quarter offense flowed. 2nd quarter went two bigs. Good combo, attack zone.

They did good job. Funnel us into center in second half (can't make passes into it) 2 people on Paige. Once we moved the ball… They made a second half adjustment how guarding. We made adjustment offensively.

Key Ash shot: Ash – loves the pull up. Likes that spot. Seen her in practice to make 10 dribbles to get to that spot, and always go in. This time only had to make one.

Freshmen play. 2 hrs and three freesh.

Just think these guys are freshmen, 9 months ago they were in high school. They've had to make big plays in crucial game. Felt like five freshman were playing. (Laugh.)

Bob: Another sweet 16 impressive. Whoa.

CD: Happy for players. Happy for Nika, would have been distraught if we handn’t moved on. Able to pick it up.

Nika: her defense wastremendous – not smart last 2 fouls for a senior. Hopefully she's gotten that out of her system.Other guys stepped up. Paige, then AE stepped up on Fair. Not easy person to guard.

Don’t see a lot of zone. Handled pressure. They’re a well coached team.


DUKE? Played them in Portland. Teram is diff w/transfers. They’re playing really well. Good defensively. Richardson shooting really well. (Lost track of days. Thought Sunday was Monday...laugh)

Leaving Wed. for Portland.

2 games. 2 wins. That’s what we’d like.
 
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HuskyNan said:
Aaliyah turned it over 5 times, too
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Good point! There were several times when Alliyah got a tough defensive rebound, only to have it knocked out of her hands. Her shot was blocked too.
I hope the week long break will help her to regain her dominant style.
 
topogigio said:
Took a while to get my heart rate down before I could post. The Orange are a good lot. I believe they beat ND 2x this season. Paige was spectacular, but needs to shoot more in games like this. Edwards looked out of sorts at times. Ashlynn is a killer! Nika simply can't continue to make bonehead plays this late in the season, or in her career. KK was solid, and Brady looked very unsure of herself (she had a number of open shots she passed up, and I kept yelling "go up strong"! When was the last time making the sweet sixteen such a big deal? On to Portland.
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When was the last time UConn had 5 key players out for the year Thats what makes reaching sweet 16 big deal
 
A win is a win. Yes, it got a bit nerve wracking at the end, but they didn't fold and they hit the shots they needed to and held on for the win. I think this will be a confidence boost as it showed that they could face adversity and come out on top.
 
Not a criticism, but I was waiting for Geno to insert Q into the game for a few minutes. She might be inexperienced & prone to turnovers, but she is always good a for 3 pointer & Syracuse would have to cover her.
And we know that she is very confident!!;)
 
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mainerhuski said:
The refs need some “flop detection” training.
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Yes, x 100!! That incidental contact has gotta go down in lore as the 'ponytail flop' - Paige barely brushed against her ponytail, and the Syracuse player chewed scenery & flopped as if she'd been hit direct on by a semi. I've seen better acting in professional wresting . . . ;)
 
The bigger the game, the more Paige wants to produce. When UConn is up 30 points she takes no pride in running up her points. She wants to get other people involved.
But the big games coming up, are where she gets excited and starts her "superwomen" impersonation.
 
SLY63 said:
Some thoughts:
  • ICE, out of respect, I will just say, we need something from her on O
  • That Aussie on the top of their zone really was a pain (for us)
  • I'm not sure about all of the SYR hate in the chat, I thought they played hard
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Put it this way.... Q and Ines had a better game than Ice. That's not going to work with 8 healthy bodies.

Nika played really solid D on Fair until she had three brain farts in the span of 1 minute and fouled out. Agreed it would have been a tragedy to see her go out that way.

Ash Fudd did it again. I think KK's expression after her dagger was 50% joy and 50% relief that she got the shooters roll on that three. Good for her for having the confidence to take it. Alicia was off tonight, maybe lingering effects of the nose, maybe the zone, maybe the cage match defensive tactics.

Paige is other worldly and proving it, but even Superman had his kryptonite. If she doesn't go 30/10/5/3/3 we don't win. Duke is no cakewalk, but at least it's not Ohio State.

The refs were again awful. Was the lead official the same clown from the Jackson State game?
 
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dtbtbtb said:
Few Thoughts:
*what a game. SY was really really good. and Fair is an amazing player!
*We have Paige, and they didn't. She put the team on her back on both offense and defense. The Best Player in WBB.
*Ash: unreal performance considering that she is a freshman. Without her showing up big time, we don't win this game.
*KK: was ok till this 3-point shot in the end which was HUGE! She won the game for UConn with this shot.
*AE: was not as efficient on offense as usually she is but what a warrior on the boards...
*Nika: that 5th foul was just bad especially considering that she is a Senior. Guarded Fair amazingly in the first half but you can't stop a great player like Fair for the whole game.
*Ice: a disappointing game. too many times with butter fingers.
*on to the Sweet 16 to meet Duke. Duke is a really good defensive team but somewhat challenged on offense. IMO if UConn will score about 75 points they'll beat Duke.
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I agree with you 100%. Nika did great a great job of defending Fair for most of the game, but fell for the theatrics in Q4. And then the silly push-off foul that sent her to the bench. And she’d be devastated for a long time, had UConn lost the game.
I am always rooting for Ice, but today her fingers were so buttery, Geno had to get her out of the game at one point. Maybe it was nervousness, but she’s needed to help the team succeed.
Overall, I’m pleased that the team was able to win this game. Proud moment.
 
UConn990411 said:
UConn did more than enough to cough that lead up on their own, but my god, that was a breathtaking display of bad officiating.

From the lengthy review on Paige’s incidental contact, to the review when Edwards clearly tipped it out, followed by the ridiculous shooting foul called on Paige when Fair flailed into her - the refs were making wild guesses down the stretch this one.

They continue to do a disservice to women’s basketball with their incompetence.
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Weren't these the same three terrible refs that officiated the game against Jackson State?
 
fomalhaut said:
A little???

It bugs me when big scorers like Fair (yes, she's a great player) are given more leeway to push off defenders than lesser offensive talents. A few seconds before Muhl fouled Fair on the three-point attempt, Fair committed a blatant offensive foul, as least as bad as Muhl's 5th.
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Wait... so you're saying call fouls on star players even though folks say, "we want to see star players play"?
I kid, I kid!!!!
 
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Yeah Ice had a rough night... it was high intensity in the paint and she was pretty sped up when the ball came to her. Only a week since she bailed us out in the BET so don't quit on her. <EDIT:> Like Gollum, I believe she still has a part to play.
 
Bone Dog said:
Paige Ash Aaliyah and KK were totally clutch in a rock fight of a game. I like Coach Jack and she has changed the culture of Syracuse. But there was a good deal of cheesy play and that is taught behavior. But Paige & Co rose above it.
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What cheesy?
 
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