UNC Postgame (merged)

[Zarathustra]

Paige, Sarah, with honorable mention to Ice

Truly, I appreciated ICE throughout that game.
But special Kudos to Jana for that timely put back!

 

[Zarathustra]

Swipe..

A very nice selection of HIGHLIGHTS when you do the swipes!
Loved the tip by Sarah, the dive to the ball by KK, her toss to
Sarah, Sarah's "soft hands" and drive for the layup = UCONN
Basketball, UCONN DEFENSE!

 

[Zarathustra]

Morgan is my favorite rookie defender. Nothing she does will show up on the stat sheet but she just moves so fluidly and switches so quickly.

As for Chen, that was pure nerves. She was over handling the ball, not passing (at me point she passed it to UNC on accident). KK was much more in control which I was surprised to see, considering Chen has been in tough, pressuring games many times. Her “score first” instinct halted the offensive game plan a lot, especially when she drove the ball 2 feet from the basket and stopped, and that is something I’m sure Geno will be harping on her for.

Ice did exactly what she should’ve. Those rebounds were key.

Allie was definitely nervous as well. Defense wasn’t as great as it was in the last two games and the 3 did not connect.

Sarah, I don’t know what happened to her 3 ball. She shot something like 43% in HS and here it’s non existent. Once that slump ends, she’ll be practically unstoppable.

I agree on the fine play by ICE....and the contributions by Morgan. Sarah should shoot ALL of her open 3 pointers.... they will FALL!
and UCONN will RISE higher!

 

[veryolddog]

Paige was really good. There were some very good moments by her supporting cast. I guess that I have lived to long as I can still recall UConn teams that really acted like a team and moved the ball with a precision that could not be copied by any other. This team has a long way to go or this will be Paige and the "other" players. It is still early and maybe Geno will get them to realize this in practice.

 

[huskeynut]

This game shows just how much we need Azzi. The sophomores (Ash, Q, KK) are not ready for prime time against top teams. I think the freshman (Sarah, Allie, Morgan) will give them a run for the money. In the meantime, it will be our experienced players that get us to the promised land.

You do know that KK and Ash were major players on last year's team that went to the final four. To say they are not ready for prime goes against the facts.

 

[David54]

My favorite play of the game was ice boxing out allowing Sarah to grab the board then sprinting to the rim where Chen hit her in stride for the lay up. That was pretty.

 

[BBallF]

The venue and the game had an impact on Allie, Morgan, Jana and Ash and I was surprised it had that effect on Ash this year as happened last year in similar games. She had a very sub par game. She will surely bounce back against FDU but we will need her to score and get involved more in the play against the likes of Notre Dame. She has to assert herself as a secondary or tertiary scorer to Paige.

Geno clearly is grooming all the freshmen and bringing them along ( Sarah excluded- what a game!) and throwing them in the water in a game like this to get their feet wet. Jana had that huge put back which was perhaps the biggest basket of the game and Morgan had a good floor game. A lot of shooting ( like putting) is confidence. Morgan and Allie are both great 3 point shooters. They just have to keep shooting and not think about it. You think you stink is usually a truism in sports. Geno has always said he hates freshmen. That's probably why he tries to make them sophomores right away.

Good floor games by Ice, KK, and KC. KK played very tough defense out there. Some residual bad habits for both KC and KK of the drives to nowhere but they are fewer and far between. Ice had 9 points and 9 boards which is all we really need from her plus good defense. This team needs a healthy Azzi for the most potent 1-2 combination in college basketball, all of it. Quoting Danny Hurley again " It's coming".

 

[oldude]

Yes, they played out of necessity as the team was decimated by injuries, and all credit to their efforts, but they did not contribute much to the box scores in the NCAA tournament. As freshman, playing so much, they never got the opportunity to truly learn the system with all its complexities, as now needed in games like tonight.

Really? Ashlynn put up 45 points in the first 2 tournament games last season. KK scored in double digits and had solid all-around games vs both Duke & Iowa.

 

[BBallF]

I agree on the fine play by ICE....and the contributions by Morgan. Sarah should shoot ALL of her open 3 pointers.... they will FALL!
and UCONN will RISE higher!

In only three games and 1 exhibition Sarah has shown she can make the 3 from anywhere. I think it's just a matter of getting her feet set and realizing if she makes 4 out of 10 it's like shooting 60% from the field. They are not bad misses so I agree. Keep hurling them.

 

[BBallF]

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?

Beth Mowins talks about everything except the game. It is a constant drone. I think she mentioned 1216 one thousand times. Rarely tells you who the foul is on. Best to just ignore her like your least favorite teacher in grammar school.

 

[Bone Dog]

Beth Mowins talks about everything except the game. It is a constant drone. I think she mentioned 1216 one thousand times. Rarely tells you who the foul is on. Best to just ignore her like your least favorite teacher in grammar school.

Ryan Ruoco would have been better. He’s worked a lot of games with Rebecca. But he was working an NBA game. I hope we see them working games together again.

 

[BBallF]

Allie didn't enter the game until the mid-4th quarter, when no one else was hitting 3's. I think Geno was hoping that she would hit a couple of 3's and light a fire for the rest of the offense. But her two 3-point attempts weren't especially close (the second one was an air ball, which might be a new experience for her), and on defense she gave up a 3 by not guarding the opponent closely enough.

I think it was nerves. We probably won't see the "real Allie" until she gets enough minutes to get her nerves under control, and I'm not sure when that is going to happen against good competition.

Sarah's 3-point shooting difficulties are harder to explain, since she shows absolutely no nerves in any other aspect of her game, and she obviously gets plenty of minutes. One has to assume that she will eventually revert to her long-term average for 3-point shooting, which is much better than what she has shown in the first three games.

This is the first game where Ice clearly played better than Jana. They both rebounded at about the same rate: Ice got 9 rebounds (3 offensive) in 25 minutes, and Jana got 4 rebounds (1 offensive) in 12 minutes. UConn as a whole out-rebounded UNC by 41-37, and both teams got the same number of offensive rebounds (11). Since both teams had post players who were about the same size and level of experience, that was a creditable performance for UConn. It helps that UConn's most inexperienced post player (Sarah) had 13 rebounds (2 offensive) in 38 minutes -- not to mention 5 blocks. Those who said that she prefers to hang out on the perimeter are dead wrong.

It was definitely nerves for Allie and probably for Morgan, Jana and Ash and that is why that win was so important. Knowing you can play like that and the team still win relatively comfortably is liberating. I'm really expecting a break out game soon from Morgan.

 

[HopJim]

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.

Watched the game again and Shade did all the little things winning teams need including a clutch steal with 5 minutes left to take the air out of a strong NC comeback. Always banging, running full speed, playing defense - skills that may not show up in the box score but slowed the opposition down and created opportunities for teammates.

 

[HopJim]

Allie didn't enter the game until the mid-4th quarter, when no one else was hitting 3's. I think Geno was hoping that she would hit a couple of 3's and light a fire for the rest of the offense. But her two 3-point attempts weren't especially close (the second one was an air ball, which might be a new experience for her), and on defense she gave up a 3 by not guarding the opponent closely enough.

I think it was nerves. We probably won't see the "real Allie" until she gets enough minutes to get her nerves under control, and I'm not sure when that is going to happen against good competition.

Sarah's 3-point shooting difficulties are harder to explain, since she shows absolutely no nerves in any other aspect of her game, and she obviously gets plenty of minutes. One has to assume that she will eventually revert to her long-term average for 3-point shooting, which is much better than what she has shown in the first three games.

This is the first game where Ice clearly played better than Jana. They both rebounded at about the same rate: Ice got 9 rebounds (3 offensive) in 25 minutes, and Jana got 4 rebounds (1 offensive) in 12 minutes. UConn as a whole out-rebounded UNC by 41-37, and both teams got the same number of offensive rebounds (11). Since both teams had post players who were about the same size and level of experience, that was a creditable performance for UConn. It helps that UConn's most inexperienced post player (Sarah) had 13 rebounds (2 offensive) in 38 minutes -- not to mention 5 blocks. Those who said that she prefers to hang out on the perimeter are dead wrong.

In the past few games, Ice has moved well to the ball while Jana tends to stand still under the basket. Jana seems a half step slower, likely a result of coming back from a year of rehab and normal frosh learning curve. Ice went through this last year and suspect that by the end of the year, both will be at full speed.

 

[freshler40]

Obviously, they haven't practiced against a lot of zone, but they adapted quickly enough. They just didn't knock down some 3s. Not worried. KK and Chen haven't quite figured how to fit in consistently on offense. It takes a minute and should be expected. I think they would benefit from two adjustments....pushing the ball up quicker and lifting the offense more towards half-court. Both are hard to handle in space. In close quarters they get a little beat up and thrown off their drives. I wasn't surprised to see Morgan inserted early. She's pretty physical.

Half-court sets look crowded on the baseline. Strong, Ice and Jana can all put the ball on the floor so more space would give them an advantage as well as making double teams more difficult. Help would also have a longer distance to recover to perimeter shooters. Proper spacing solves a lot of problems while at the same time creating problems for the defense.

It's a process.

Your baseline spacing comment is on the money. Jana needs room. If we give her that, she is unstoppable. We also need more foul line rebounding by our guards. KK and Paige especially can be great at that. I loved the fact that our bigs got rid of their rebounds quickly to the guards. In the first half, when we played fast, we got a lot of open looks and guards forcing the action. We were a different nasty team on offence. More of that and few teams can play with us.

The quickness of our guards was negated in the second half when we slowed down our offense. Failing to make open 3 pointers allowed NC to keep the game within reach. Hopefully, that will change. It is difficult, in a foreign arena, to adjust that part of our game so the coaches need to push more inside or mid range shooting much like Paige is able to do.

Our bigs need to put up a head or shoulder fake to be more effective inside.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Love, love Sarah Strong.