UNC Postgame (merged)

[Nolefan]

I didn't see the game. Could someone comment on how Kaitlin managed 5 fouls?

Couple questionable touch fouls .. 5th was in the last 20 seconds trying to get a rebound when game was in hand

 

[The deacon]

I thought we made Toomey look terrific.

Strong and Bueckers were great. Ice was solid. I liked the minutes Morgan gave us at the end of the third quarter.

I'm pretty sure Toomey doesn't need help from UConn to look terrific. She'll be an All-American, right alongside Sarah Strong, in years to come.

 

[yhun89]

yikes of a game for Ustby and Donarski, two players we all thought would be the deciding factors. Ustby was shot putting that ball all night.

But Toomey and her odd shooting form and Nivar, who I don’t even think was mentioned in any analysis here, were standouts. Props to them.

Sarah is a stat stuffer and I love it. Paige was amazing. Loved Ice’s rebounding. Had some clutch ones.

Chen looked nervous all night. Not at all as composed as she should’ve been.

Conclusion: incredibly worried for the Ole Miss matchup in the Caribbean later this month. They know how to play tight D and we were helpless against the zone for the most part.

 

[Doctor G]

Going to be a lot of upcoming practices on breaking the zone defense.

Azzi will be back soon and the rookies will settle down eventually as they learn more about big road games and how to impact the game off the bench by doing what they do best. I don’t believe zone is going to be a winner against this squad by the time January rolls around.

 

[REB1094]

It’s a game of runs, and our runs were better than theirs. Got a little scary at times but we clamped up on defense when it mattered to put the game away. I will happily take a double digit win against a top 15 team where we led for 39 minutes

We saw aggressive Paige tonight. She can truly drop 25+ any night she decides to. What a game from her

I said it after the first game this season, but I think we’re all really going to like Sarah Strong. I feel pretty confident saying she’s our 2nd best player already

Let’s go Huskies!!

 

[hoopsfan22]

Player of the Game: Paige Bueckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Happydad745]

Lots of work left before this team reaches its potential...missed, open shots, trouble finding the open player, and not enough help from anyone not named Bueckers or Strong.
We did lots of things right, but really need to get better before playing ND, SC, USC and others.

 

[Kaizen]

Good game to watch.
Remember UNC is #14 in ESPN.

 

[hoophuskee]

The team shoots 7-29 from 3 take away one player they are 3-21 and still win comfortably. Not going to have that shootong (3-21 nom=Paige) happen very often.

And Sarah Strong is special. Her strenghth is her knowledge of the game and her passing. Every game a terrific 3pt shooter could be off as we saw tonight. But a very good passer will more consiistently be a very good passer. UCONN has 2. Thus the opposing defenses will more than likley always have to hope for misses like what happened tonight. So many were great looks.

I am so eager to see Sarah staritng hitting 3's. She may take more mid-range for a time but if she can hit 3's, her and Paige will be devatasting.

 

[topogigio]

In homeland of Italy tonight, couldn’t see game. Where was Q, not in box score?

 

[dtbtbtb]

Paige is all world, and Sarah is already one of the better players in WBB. Question is: who will step up to be that 3rd option?
By the way, Sarah got some of the best hands in UConn history...reminds me of Phee in that aspect.

 

[PJCLaw]

Some thoughts on the UNC game:

• The Huskies passed a Big Test today against a very good team. The last time UConn WBB won a regular season game on the road, against a ranked, non-BE team, in that team’s home state, with actual fans in the stands was almost 6 years ago, in December 2018 at Cal. It’s about damned time that streak has ended.
• The Huskies were on a roll until UNC went to a zone. After putting up 16 in the 1st qtr, Paige only had 2 in the 2nd qtr. Other players needed to step up. In the 3rd qtr, UConn got some offensive production from Paige’s teammates and the Huskies were able to extend their lead. In the 4th qtr, UConn slowed it down and hung on.
• Sarah continues to impress with her all-around game, poise and ability to stuff a stat sheet. She had a nice game in front of her homies. I am amazed at how many times Sarah gets her hands on the ball, making steals, blocking shots and coming down with rebounds in traffic.
• Some really nice post defense from both Ice and Sarah. UNC's starting forwards, Gakdeng & Ustby were a combined 2/10 with 5 points in total.
• I hate the double 3-pt line. Twice during the game, Kaitlyn buried a shot from the corner that Rebecca called as a 3, but she was only behind the inner line which made it a 2. I have no idea why Greensboro still has the inner line. It serves no purpose.
• UConn missed a bunch of open 3's tonight. Azzi can't get back in the lineup soon enough.
• This is a game the Huskies learned some things about themselves that they can build off of.
• So let the celebration begin. Geno and CD have tied Tara for the most coaching wins in the history of college basketball with 1,215 wins. I’m going way out on a limb here. Next Wednesday at Gampel against FDU, with many former players in attendance, Geno & CD will become the winningest coaches in the history of college basketball!!!

1216!

 

[Centerstream]

Lots of work left before this team reaches its potential...missed, open shots, trouble finding the open player, and not enough help from anyone not named Bueckers or Strong.
We did lots of things right, but really need to get better before playing ND, SC, USC and others.

It's the 3rd game of the season...

 

[hoophuskee]

In homeland of Italy tonight, couldn’t see game. Where was Q, not in box score?

She did not play.

 

[JellyBean]

In homeland of Italy tonight, couldn’t see game. Where was Q, not in box score?

Enjoy! I love Italy! Great food and great people. Q did not get on the floor tonight. Definitely enjoy being back in Italy.

 

[hoophuskee]

Paige is all world, and Sarah is already one of the better players in WBB. Question is: who will step up to be that 3rd option?
By the way, Sarah got some of the best hands in UConn history...reminds me of Phee in that aspect.

Azzi. She may very well be the 2nd option. Sarah's passing will find her as will Paige,

 

[DEpup]

Paige and Sarah were great. Can you imagine when the 3s start falling?

Ice was really solid and what was needed. If she can do that in games against ranked teams, her place is solidified. Although one more point and rebound would have made it just right.

I agree Chen seemed nervous and the double arc screwed her a couple times. They need to outlaw the inner arc now that the line has changed.

Shade was disappointing. She has a tendency to struggle in big games and she needs to get over it. That's probably the one thing that hurts her the most in the decision to keep her spot versus Azzi.

Well we know Jana will be the official's phantom foul getter... a couple of those were complete jokes.

I hope they learn from this game and gain maturity to sustain leads and work in a zone. After this game a lot of teams are going to try it.

 

[msf22b]

A game of several phases...Paige was all world in the 1st quarter...There was nothing anyone could do about her ability to get into a position to score. Somewhat less so thereafter until the last few minutes in which she hit a few timely shots to end any thought of a North Carolina comeback

After the first quarter, certainly in the 2nd half it was more of a grind it out game in which our 43% shooting basically tells the story.

Courtney Banghart is an excellent coach, set up some excellent defenses.made it difficult to get good shots, especially in the paint and tonight, UConn's three shooting was unexceptional....which made it almost a game. But UConn's defense, notably Strong made it an even more miserable experience for the better NC shooters.

A gripe...not against either team...Being an old-timer...I remember when the purpose of the announcers was to tell us what was happening on the floor, to acknowledge who came in and out of the game, to tell the score (perhaps not necessary with it on the screen) and to clearly indicate who fouls are on...Did they even say that Chen fouled out?...If they did, I must have missed it.

Among eligible players Q never got in...Is Geno relegating her?

 

[donalddoowop]

Lots of work left before this team reaches its potential...missed, open shots, trouble finding the open player, and not enough help from anyone not named Bueckers or Strong.
We did lots of things right, but really need to get better before playing ND, SC, USC and others.

I don't know of any team that will reach its potential after playing its first three games of the season.

 

[Centerstream]

It bothered me during the game when we were well in front that Ashlynn, Morgan, Allie and Sarah were missing almost every 3 they tried. I was wondering why he was using Morgan and Allie under these circumstances but Geno knows what he was doing...giving them experience while resting others. And Ashlynn and Sarah were in there at the end.
All in all, a good win and I never felt we were going to lose it in the end, we have Paige and Sarah and Ice. And hopefully Jana learns from this game and continues to improve.
And I have it recorded!!!
On to FDU.

 

[mainerhuski]

Burning question: why was that court so yellow?

It is a very unphotogenic court!

 

[jaydee602]

I promise that I will not be one of those fans who questions Geno's substitutions after every game.
But I hope that Quadence Samuels doesn't fall by the wayside with all of the newcomers taking away her playing time. Q was a valuable teammate off the bench last year & she accepted every role asked of her. I am anxious to see how much she has progressed after her freshman year.

 

[HuskyNan]

I promise that I will not be one of those fans who questions Geno's substitutions after every game.
But I hope that Quadence Samuels doesn't fall by the wayside with all of the newcomers taking away her playing time. Q was a valuable teammate off the bench last year & she accepted every role asked of her. I am anxious to see how much she has progressed after her freshman year.

Her defense isn’t yet up to the level that was needed tonight.

 

[Zonepress]

Few observations
Geno put Allie Ziebell in a very tough spot
No minutes in the first half and goes in in the 4th
With no Paige in the game and the game getting
Close her defense will need to improve to get meaningful minutes
Morgan can play
Best overall game I’ve seen from ice
Few minutes of the four guards and SS was impressive
Offense flows better with Kk at point
SS is a very good 3 point shooter unfortunately
It hasn’t showed
Can see why GA aggressively recruited
Ciera toomey very impressive after multiple surgeries and not having played for 2 years

 

[ConnManFan]

When Geno finally gets the starting rotation right, this team is going to be real dangerous. KK and Jana should be starting now and the second Azzi is ready, she will start also. KK plays much better defense and Jana's floor is the same as Ice's while her upside is much much higher. Jana needs those minutes to develop. 3-21 from 3 for those not named Paige. That's lower than 15%.