UNC Postgame Thread | Page 2 | The Boneyard

UNC Postgame Thread

Whew..so I bought 6 pounds of Easter candy for the egg hunt for all the kiddies..tomorrow I have ti buy it all over. Gone in the first quarter. But Blanca and Sarah kept the scoring going while everyone held the defensive pressure. Weird game, glad it's gone. On to ND.
 
victor64 said:
You almost take Strong’s brilliance for granted but Blanca’s performance today in my mind was the difference in the game.

For the first time I think in 37 games, Geno called timeout because they looked tired. Rare indeed. Strong for sure, needed the extended minutes.

The early cold shooting manifested itself again but as usual, defense allowed them to settle in.

I thought Jana was effective in her time on the floor. Is she close to earning some first half time?
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I think she is showing that she is ready, willing, and able as we head (hopefully) into these last three games but I’d be surprised if we see much of a change beyond a possible increase in minutes for Jana. I do think we’ll likely see that for sure. She, (Jana) is clearly much more confident and efficient around the basket now and is clearly the second best rebounder on this team. I think she may be a critical piece in this final push for the big prize!
 
ec33 said:
All in all, I was never concerned about this one but continued the lack of production from the non-stars against quality opponents remains worrisome for later on down the line. Hopefully a familiar opponent next game brings back some comfort for the likes of KK and Ash.
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KK and Ash are what they are at this point. They are basically seniors. Next season is going to be the Sarah and Blanca show, but they need to find a third star that can put the ball in the hoop reliably many times per game.
 
Blue Huskie said:
When we start out shooting poorly in ANY game the chat room is unbearable. Heaven forbid we look human. I had to just step away and watch the game. That worked out well for my mental health. As many have said, "Survive and advance".
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I get flashbacks to the Miss. State game when that happens.
 
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I mean, Uconn did hold UNC to 28% shooting. In addition, UNC scored its lowest amount of points in their entire season. Only Notre Dame held them to 50. All this, while Uconn was somewhat struggling to score, I cant imagine how dialed in Uconn will be vs Notre Dame. The best thing about these types of games is that you want to just dominate the next match that's coming. .
 
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I mentioned earlier in the season Arnold and Shade have got to be consistent contributors offensively. Being liabilities from the perimeter could’ve spelled trouble today, and honestly would’ve against a more talented team than UNC has. I think Blanca has what it takes to be a difference maker even deeper in the tournament, and I think Heckel did well with controlling the offense when she was in.

Really sad for Nivar, she did what she could but didn’t have nearly enough help.
 
ThisJustIn said:
CD on radio with Bob

Winning ugly survive and advance

Doesn't matter what it looks like, sometimes you have to grind it out. We had to grind it. Had looks, didn't fall. But we survived.

Defense was strong

Yes. But #24 likes to go left and we kept letting her going left. Annoyed me. lol. But, can't fault our defense, kept them to few points. Offense, walked the ball up too often in first half. Better in second. Pushed the ball, even if we don't get a layup, must push

Blanca

We wouldn't have the lead we had without blanca. Good def. w/pressure. Bailed us out offensively.

Uconn had 18 steals

Did a really good job, forced guards to give ball up. Might not get steals with our pressure, but it wears teams down..

Thought could have don't better on getting around the ball screens.

Navarre had good game last time. Huksy slayer. Good player. Good team. Very physical. Give ourselves credit. Not easy to miss shots - azzi ash not missed that many all year. Jana came in and gave us a couple of good minutes.

ND - elite 8

Hildago - playing much better as a team than when we played them. We've improved too, not like we were taking vacation. Get rest tonight. Get our game plan. NOT expecting to go in we beat them by 30. Diff. team. Good old battle. They're playing well.

Defensive ND?

Saw Vandy's Blakes 1-11, gets free throws. Surprised ND didn't play zone. They're feeling really good about themselves. Lot of confidences. Get that from Hildago. Also, another player KK B is back. Going to enjoy this win, get some rest, and prepare for a battle.
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That first game was interesting - basically a 2 on 2 contest Blakes and Galvan vs Hidalgo and Prosper 50-46, but ND got just enough from their other 5 to beat Vandy and their other 6.
 
oldude said:
Per Geno, Sarah asked to be taken out of the game for a breather 5 times today. Every time he told her no. Sarah played a little over 38 minutes today
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Many on the BY thought it was fine that Sarah played limited minutes in all those blowouts to protect her from injury and keep her well rested. Perhaps if she had played more minutes it would have helped to build up her stamina. Hope it doesn’t become more of an issue in the stretch run to the National Championship.
 
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bantamlaker said:
Many on the BY thought it was fine that Sarah played limited minutes in all those blowouts to protect her from injury and keep her well rested. Perhaps if she had played more minutes it would have helped to build up her stamina. Hope it doesn’t become more of an issue in the stretch run to the National Championship.
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She was diving all over the floor for loose balls. I think her stamina was fine.
 
Blanca was key in this game. I thought Sarah and Blanca played the best. Tonight was not Shade's night. KK when she's not aggressive offensively it's 4 on 5 and that's what we saw. Really need our guards to play better to relieve some pressure of Azzi. Overall it was just not a great game from the eye test. I think they will be ready on Sunday, so lets just win and advance.
 
I’m with What Sarah said in her interview. You cannot stay away from statistical averages for too long. If the team has had a low on shooting, most likely, another game will have a high and most games will be close to the average. I am good with that!
 
We win by 21. Really good D as usual and given that our scoring was less than expected, or at least hoped for, the defense was responsible for the win. Our path to a NC will be easier if KK, Ash, Allie and K9 can make enough baskets to keep the defense honest. We can ride the scoring of Sarah, Azzi and Blanca if need be, but life will be so much easier if the supporting cast can chip in for a few more points.

Speaking of our defense - watching Vandy/ND I couldn't help noticing how slowly the game was played. Without constant defensive pressure by either team it seemed the game flow was down right leasurely.
 
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ABCDFE said:
Blanca was key in this game. I thought Sarah and Blanca played the best. Tonight was not Shade's night. KK when she's not aggressive offensively it's 4 on 5 and that's what we saw. Really need our guards to play better to relieve some pressure of Azzi. Overall it was just not a great game from the eye test. I think they will be ready on Sunday, so lets just win and advance.
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KK needs to penetrate and not walk the ball up. She played us much too slow. Ten points from KK and it's a blowout.
 
Blanca needs to be playing at least 35 minutes a game going forward in my opinion...

Sooner or later she is going to be the best basketball player in America. We are going to need her big time down the stretch.

She makes some athletic moves that not even the best players in the world can stop. (Including WNBA players)

She is also by far the best athlete on the court.

I also think you can throw this whole "#1 overall seed" out the window....Re: "easiest path"

Nothing down the stretch looks easy. A rejuvenated Notre Dame with an incredible HH wont be easy. Not to mention anything can happen when these two teams play. (I am always looking to avoid Notre Dame)

South Carolina and either UCLA or Texas wont be "easy either"

Either way, they probably have to beat their Arch Rival and two other 1 seeds to accomplish their mission..
 
GoCardinal said:
I mentioned earlier in the season Arnold and Shade have got to be consistent contributors offensively. Being liabilities from the perimeter could’ve spelled trouble today, and honestly would’ve against a more talented team than UNC has. I think Blanca has what it takes to be a difference maker even deeper in the tournament, and I think Heckel did well with controlling the offense when she was in.

Really sad for Nivar, she did what she could but didn’t have nearly enough help.
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Is it just me or has anyone noticed Shade is often a step slow defensively. She gets blown by far more frequently than I’d like to see. With her experience I’d expect her to adjust, anticipate and use angles to cut off the dribble.
 
hoopsfan22 said:
KK and Ash are what they are at this point. They are basically seniors. Next season is going to be the Sarah and Blanca show, but they need to find a third star that can put the ball in the hoop reliably many times per game.
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Possibly Big O? Jovanna? I'm not usually so quick to have so much faith in freshmen but if they are anything like Sarah, Blanca or Paige they might be big contributors.
Maybe Morgan? She was really coming along before her ankle gave out.
 
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I had said before the game, yes you need a good to great defense BUT you also have to out score your opponent. UNC came in with a very good defense but the worst offense of the 16 teams. Our worst case scenario actually happened, facing a good defensive team AND not shooting well at all yet we won by 21 points. Our “B” game is still better than all but 4 teams “A” game (UCLA, SC, TEXAS or LSU). Geno and staff never overlook the current opponent but, ND just doesn’t have the defense, offense or depth to match us. While not a great game by any standard, this team showed poise and an assassins determination.
 
HuskieDawg said:
Blanca was the opening act and Sarah was the main event. The two of them really carried the day offensively.

NC did a really good job on Azzi I thought. She really had a hard time with her shot and getting her shot on her own I thought.

Shade, in my view, is a streaky shooter and right now she is in it deep. I think she is 4-20 in her last two games and 0-9 from 3. I don’t necessarily think she’s taking poor shots, but maybe taking a shot to quickly or looking for her shot a bit more than she should.

Would love to see KK get some aggressiveness back on offense. She can help.

No matter what our defense travels.

We shouldn’t underestimate ND. They are a very hot team right now who has historically played us very tough. Hannah might be the hottest player in the tourney. We are the better team but wouldn’t surprise me ND hangs tough and even has a lead at one point.
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Not to be a smarty pants, but could Ash need eyeglasses? She had good looks and ihas been a pretty good shooter not only from 3 but 2's also. When she has open looks, she should shoot it unless somebody has an easier or better opportunity. She's a very important player. I'd encourage her to keep shooting. Never know when those points will be really needed.
 
First, it's win and advance.

NC's defense did a very good job of slowing us down. And we slowed then down. The difference in the second quarter was Sarah not trying 3's but using her mid range jumpr and drives the the bucket to get us the lead. Second half we come out with a 12 - 0 run and hols NC to 5 poins in the quarter. Game was over.

Our 3's didn't fall neither did NC's. Just for comparison, in the first game, ND was was 1 - 17. Vandy was 5 = 18.

So we get ND again. ND has improved but so have we. We know how to slow down ND and Hidalgo.
 
For a team ranked around 15th, I'd say UNC has an average offense and a slightly above average defense. In that context, UConn played 3½ quarters of very good defense and one quarter of very good offense (Q3).

Ash gets more minutes than Blanca?! I dissent. UConn needs scoring to complement and augment its defense against top teams. In the first three games of the tourney, Blanca is averaging 16.3 ppg on 20-31 (65%) and 5-11 (45%), with nine steals. Play her more.
 
Blue Huskie said:
When we start out shooting poorly in ANY game the chat room is unbearable. Heaven forbid we look human. I had to just step away and watch the game. That worked out well for my mental health. As many have said, "Survive and advance".
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The Report function works in the chat room too

For chat room lunatics - you can, and will, get booted for going overboard
 
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