UMass-Lowell Postgame Thread

[mysticmajor]

I love this team! Every single player. What a great group.

I‘m good with CW and ONO. One of my favorite signs of success was fairly early in the game when the team gained the ball and I think it went Evina to ONO to CW. Done. Otherwise, it seemed like the team tended to be slow to break and almost waited to let the other team get back quite often, which I equate with early in the year when the new players are having to think a lot. Maybe it was first game conditioning? ONO and CW seem to work better in more space. I liked the way Evina seemed to understand how to make that happen. She may not have been playing last year, but she was paying attention to the teammates . Aubrey was amazing as usually when she put it in that extra gear. All of the freshmen were exciting and fun to watch. I am so happy for them all. I think I saw Paige pushing the ball down individually in an attempt to get the rest of the team going - ALA Kia Nurse, Moriah, and CD, but that didn’t seem to work. Maybe next game.

PS - Patiently waiting for that early game blitzkieg of defense so tight that the other team crumbles and offense so quick that there is no traffic - cause no one is back yet. I would dearly love it before we ring in the new year, but would settle for something the Easter bunny brings. I think game one was a great start.

 

[Jingo]

Just watched the game for a 2nd time with my analytical eye, and a particular focus on Liv. In the first half Liv actually played pretty well. The second half was another story.

Liv runs the court as well as any Big in the country, and it lead to several fast break baskets for her. She is playing much stronger in the post this year, whether establishing position in the blocks or battling for rebounds. Her strong move to the basket, going to her left and right resulted in baskets or trips to the foul line.

Liv also showed a good understanding of where her teammates were, whether setting screens or passing the ball. She had 3 assists, although her best pass was an over the shoulder beauty from the low post that hit a cutting Paige on the baseline. Unfortunately, Paige uncharacteristically missed the reverse layup.

Liv demonstrated a really nice understanding of defensive positioning. With her head constantly on a swivel she was able to defend the paint as well as roaming all the way out to the arc to shut down open shooters. Liv was credited with 3 blocks, but actually had 4, all of which occurred when she came off her man to defend an open shooter. Liv also appears to have eliminated her former habit of swinging down when blocking shots, something that should keep her on the court rather than on the bench in foul trouble.

Liv’s fade away jump shot was clearly off. It looked a little flat to me, and perhaps simply the result of her timing being off after shutting down practice for almost 2 weeks then starting up again. Liv is not Pheesa, who could make that shot with her eyes closed, but she was fairly effective with that shot last year, against better competition than she faced yesterday. So I think it may be simply a case of timing and a little work on her release.

As for the 2nd half, Liv only played a little less than 4 minutes before Geno sat her down, probably to save her from herself. She was 0-7, including one sequence when she missed 4-5 straight layups right under the basket: miss, rebound, miss, rebound, miss, rebound... I feel reasonably certain that whatever we witnessed from Liv at the beginning of the 2nd half was an aberration that will hopefully not repeat itself

Good analysis of Liv .. to me, she's one-of-a-kind, a tall agile post who can run the floor, catch&pass, use her off-hand, and is a monster on defense - rebounding and esp blocking shots. She showed all of this in the first half vs Lowell yestidday when she led the team in scoring at the break. Her splendid performance fell off in the 2nd half, mebbe bcuz of UConn's huge lead and the lack of a 'killer instinct' .. eh?
If I had to start up a new team, I would pick her, over Boston, as my anchor any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
If she can maintain her first-half consistency, Liv is our bona fide AA this year even if she is usurped by our new one-of-a-kind point guard!

 

[MooseJaw]

I just think she ran out of gas. The bigger the body, the more work it takes to build conditioning....

Taller and bigger athletes as well as regular people's hearts have to work harder to circulate blood flow through the body. All the talk about ONO what she isn't, what she is is one of the top bigs in Women's BB. ONO and Piath would be coveted by 99.9% of the countries teams. Liv will be at or near the top of the heap as far as bigs when all is said and done. I am glad she is a Husky.

 

[mysticmajor]

Taller and bigger athletes as well as regular people's hearts have to work harder to circulate blood flow through the body. All the talk about ONO what she isn't, what she is is one of the top bigs in Women's BB. ONO and Piath would be coveted by 99.9% of the countries teams. Liv will be at or near the top of the heap as far as bigs when all is said and done. I am glad she is a Husky.

I agree, I think she looked gold in movement and defense, but the ball didn’t drop. I am inclined to give them a pass as long as the open shot.

 

[DEpup]

Taller and bigger athletes as well as regular people's hearts have to work harder to circulate blood flow through the body. All the talk about ONO what she isn't, what she is is one of the top bigs in Women's BB. ONO and Piath would be coveted by 99.9% of the countries teams. Liv will be at or near the top of the heap as far as bigs when all is said and done. I am glad she is a Husky.

I agree. If folks only watched the first half and say Liv makes two more FTs and we'd be saying she's AA material and the team's best player.... I really like how she has altered her blocking technique in a Stokes fashion to also steal the ball.

Then it seemed like she lost steam and is probably a lack of conditioning which will come with more game play. To be honest, I haven't seen a first few game situation yet this weird season where the bigs didn't lose steam. Boston for instance has showed some conditioning issues. It takes more time for the bigs.

 

[Cornell Lt]

Very high expectations from a lot of folks on here. To put it into perspective, these young women have been in purgatory since July, I think most on here had unattainable expectations for their first game. Let's see the improvements (individually and team) over the next week or so, then maybe there might be enough information/observations to have a legitimate critique.

 

[Centerstream]

I believe that she wants to establish her role playing duties first. Then when her 3pt game is needed she will unleash it upon her opponents.

I meant to mention this in my 2 cents worth analysis. Somehow I don't think you or anybody is concerned.... I want to hold back what I really want to say until I see her against elite competition.

I was being 100% sarcastic with my no 3 PTers comment about Paige.

 

[mysticmajor]

Very high expectations from a lot of folks on here. To put it into perspective, these young women have been in purgatory since July, I think most on here had unattainable expectations for their first game. Let's see the improvements (individually and team) over the next week or so, then maybe there might be enough information/observations to have a legitimate critique.

Agree. I don‘t know about anyone else, but because of the delay I have watched WNBA finals 2018 and 2020 at least 10 times, not to mention all of Pheesa favorites, Crystal’s first games, UCONN championships and UCONN/TENN blockbusters. Not once have I gone back to a first warm up game. The bar is high and interest is intense. I’m just happy we are here and relieved that we are playing.

 

[HopJim]

Liv basically showed the same skills as she did as a freshman, good and bad. Not as concerned in her missed shots as her physical condition. After all the hype about working out during the off season, she did not look any stronger or had any new moves than last year. Making a number of wide open layups over very short, low D1 talent in first half did not give much info to go on. Getting pushed away from the basket on every jumper not a good sign.

 

[donalddoowop]

Either you can't comprehend what you read or you just like to write. You don't make sense to me.

 

[hoophuskee]

Either you can't comprehend what you read or you just like to write. You don't make sense to me.

ditto.

 

[CocoHusky]

Good analysis of Liv .. to me, she's one-of-a-kind, a tall agile post who can run the floor, catch&pass, use her off-hand, and is a monster on defense - rebounding and esp blocking shots. She showed all of this in the first half vs Lowell yestidday when she led the team in scoring at the break. Her splendid performance fell off in the 2nd half, mebbe bcuz of UConn's huge lead and the lack of a 'killer instinct' .. eh?
If I had to start up a new team, I would pick her, over Boston, as my anchor any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
If she can maintain her first-half consistency, Liv is our bona fide AA this year even if she is usurped by our new one-of-a-kind point guard!

You funny. Liv a rebounding monster? Who you would pick over Boston? That Long Island BB savvy is really showing itself.

 

[jazz]

With respect--

I don't why you bothered to mention such as wins and losses and low post. For example if UCONN adjusted to low post then that negated the low post efficiency, yet you felt it relevant during this game thread to post that philosophy? - Yet that philosophy was shown to still result in a loss? Okay. But it's okay if I don't think that a team can consistently do this and beat UCONN as you are suggesting, right? What games are there to cite in recent memory that UCONN lost to a team that featured low posting their guards? With Dangerfield imo they didn't low post her as a feature - they just shot over her whether 5 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet etc. And there is a huge difference in size.

And wins and losses- you felt a need to post "they could lose" "but they might not?" I mean every year they might lose imo. So you can understand my response if I think so, right? And I agree with this year they might lose. So are we arguing? I thought we were agreeing? However, I have not seen a large number of posters suggesting UCONN will 100% win all the games this year. If you have - ok- but I haven't.

As far as Piath - you previously said "Don't be surprised if Piath earns some playing time before the season ends." Based on your other posts - I don't know what this means now. I won't disagree with that "she might improve"-- but if you are suggesting she is going to play more than a minute or 2 in big close games unless foul trouble or injury - then imo that won't happen. She'll play in blowouts. You have to earn playing time in those too.

She very well could earn playing time simply because she is big can rebound, clog the middle and give us a few minutes in case Liv gets into foul trouble. She may not score much except for put backs, which at her size she can do. In my view, after one game, she may be able to achieve this and it may be needed in some games later on.

 

[jazz]

I was being 100% sarcastic with my no 3 PTers comment about Paige.

Sorry, my comment was a bit tongue in cheek as well which is why I worded it the way I did, knowing you probably thought the same as I did.

But in all seriousness, it is one thing that we didn't see in this game. I do find it interesting there were little or no situations where the ball was swung around to her for a long 2 or a three. Hopefully, this will avail itself in future games and she can do that too. I think she will and it seems so do you....

 

[Rb335]

Not really sure what to make of this game, but these were my first impressions:

Paige is really good. She was our best player, and she reminds me a lot of Ionescu. She isn't super athletic, but is able to get to any spot on the floor. The game just seems to slow down for her, and I am confident that she will be consistently good all year.

ONO has been a big disappointment for me. For as highly ranked as she was, I haven't really seen anything to justify that. She is an elite shot blocker, and a pretty good defensive post, I will give her that. But she just seems to lack the coordination of a good offensive basketball player. Her release is so awkward and her post moves are incredibly limited. Against this type of competition, it's puzzling that she consistently fades away, avoids contact, and has trouble finishing.

On the other hand, Aaliyah has that coordination and aggressiveness. When she learns how to harness her aggressive mindset, I think she will be more valuable than Olivia. Or at least more productive offensively.

CW had a lackluster opener. She contributed, but looked rather similar to last year. We need growth from her to be a really good team. Shooting aside, I just didn't get the vibe that this is her team, or that she will ever be the go-to player. Early to make that assumption but I am. Shes a junior and the expectations are high.

Evina is the wildcard to me. I thought she played decently well on the defensive end, and had some nice passes. Her biggest contribution was leadership and attitude. Once she shakes off the rust, I'm intrigued to see what her role becomes. I think we'll end up relying on her to score the ball a lot more.

Ana seemed to fade into the background, but still seemed to impact the game. A steady presence on the boards, passing to open teammates, and keeping the defense honest. Her biggest asset is outside shooting, because she's the best we have. I think Geno trusts her and she will be on the court a lot, so we need her to be productive.

Overall, I think it's interesting that we played a pretty dreadful opponent, and didn't score 80 points. It's easy to be blinded by the Paige show, but stepping back, we didn't really play super well offensively. It's too early to call, but I am not so sure if this years team will be better or worse than last year. Looking forward to the next week to get a much better understanding, to draw some meaningful conclusions.

 

[tomcat]

I don't know how long Geno will allow Christyn to have big minutes simply because she has more experience than others. She rebounds and plays defense but seems to get lost on offense a lot of the time.; I have no idea what happened to her offensive swagger, but it seems to have evaporated. I know it's only one game, but Liv should have eaten up the competition all game. Instead, she lasted for one half and then couldn't hit anything.

I hope both of these things are temporary aberrations. Based on how things went last year, I am not sure they are. Meanwhile, Paige was Paige. 'Nuff said. The rest all had their moments, though Nika looked a little lost out there. Mir sure is athletic. Edwards sure is aggressive. Piath sure is big.

 

[Jingo]

You funny. Liv a rebounding monster? That you would pick over Boston? That Long Island BB savvy is really showing itself.

Well Coco, I coached at Christ the King High School, the #1 girls' basketball program in the country, the school that produced Chamique, Sue and Tina, three of the best players in the world, and key players in eight women's National Championships!
My daughters - both Long Islanders [like Sue] - played for undefeated squads at CK, and both earned NY Daily News All-City honors. Is that enough 'savvy' for you?
So Coco, do you have any basketball credentials? any credentials at all?

 

[psconn]

I think Tamika is the best parallell at the moment

Agree to disagree. Tamika was more of a burly space maker... moving people to get to the ball or the rim is not Mir's game. Swin was slim, athletic and quick-jumping. Went around folks with her quickness much like Mir. Needless to say, if Mir comes close to the level of either of those two she's gold.

 

[hoophuskee]

She very well could earn playing time simply because she is big can rebound, clog the middle and give us a few minutes in case Liv gets into foul trouble. She may not score much except for put backs, which at her size she can do. In my view, after one game, she may be able to achieve this and it may be needed in some games later on.

What is Edwards?

 

[JonathanXIV]

Well Coco, I coached at Christ the King High School, the #1 girls' basketball program in the country, the school that produced Chamique, Sue and Tina, three of the best players in the world, and key players in eight women's National Championships!
My daughters - both Long Islanders [like Sue] - played for undefeated squads at CK, and both earned NY Daily News All-City honors. Is that enough 'savvy' for you?
So Coco, do you have any basketball credentials? any credentials at all?

Yes, now that you mention it I remember Sue Bird attributing her basketball success to you.

 

[CocoHusky]

Well Coco, I coached at Christ the King High School, the #1 girls' basketball program in the country, the school that produced Chamique, Sue and Tina, three of the best players in the world, and key players in eight women's National Championships!
My daughters - both Long Islanders [like Sue] - played for undefeated squads at CK, and both earned NY Daily News All-City honors. Is that enough 'savvy' for you?
So Coco, do you have any basketball credentials? any credentials at all?

As a matter of fact I do. Geno was my JV High school coach so ....

 

[UconnWBB]

As I was watching the game, one of the things that I thought about was the possibility of Mir and Aubrey playing their brand of defense (or hard press) AT THE SAME TIME! Talk about a nightmare...
I think the possibilities are endless for this team (it is rather early), but my personal optimism is really high!!

 

[Jingo]

As I was watching the game, one of the things that I thought about was the possibility of Mir and Aubrey playing their brand of defense (or hard press) AT THE SAME TIME! Talk about a nightmare...
I think the possibilities are endless for this team (it is rather early), but my personal optimism is really high!!

Yes .. I agree! .. in fact, I proposed this several weeks ago .. a UCLA 2-2-1 zone press [think Goodrich&Hazzard] with Mir&Aubrey on top, Nika&Paige in the 2nd Row, and Liv protecting the rim. Disruption! Chaos!
Geno could pick the right moment to spring this on an unsuspecting opponent.
Obviously, there are other options for the 2nd row, eh?

 

[VA Huskie]

VA Husky, absolutely no attack just a hint. Geno has multiple ways to send a message.

As to the game a lot of respect for UMass Lowell and coach Garrick. They came into a match with Goliath and played hard through out. Not going to do a team run down as so much here already. I will say I still believe in Olivia and she will learn to finish. Not a lot to be taken from a game like this other than it lowered the blood pressure of The Boneyard to finally have a game.
Happy to have our new Jamelle on board in the form of Aaliyah, a must for facing bigger teams. Will re watch the game, view the stats and watch the development with the coming games. Going to be an interesting season to say the least.
Game stats.....

Women's Basketball vs UMass Lowell on 12/12/2020 - Box Score - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official box score of Women's Basketball vs UMass Lowell on 12/12/2020

uconnhuskies.com

Woof - I thought about that. I noticed that preseason Geno would mention how well various players were doing, but seldom mentioned Aubrey.