UNC Postgame Thread

[Woof]

UCLA beat MN by 24. But MN got called for 19 fouls whereas UNC only got called for 9!!! The refs are our biggest concern. You want to know why KK was less aggressive on offense, fouls weren't called. Why did we have missed layups? Fouls weren't called. Why we couldn't get open looks from three as often as we usually do? Fouls weren't called.

It is comical that anyone would criticize KK at this point. She is an absolute menace on defense, handles the ball extremely well, runs the offense well and even her shooting has been good this year.

I agree that Blanca needs to play more. The more she plays, the better she gets, period. But it shouldn't come at the expense of Serah, who also needs more reps. And we WILL need her. Yes, her hands could be better but, also, fouls.

Ash is the one that needs to play less. I love her hustle and toughness but she is also a liability on defense and her shooting has been off most of the year. Blanca needs to play more but not at the expense of Serah. At least, not entirely. Those minutes should also come from Ash. Hell, Allie should be taking some of Ash's minutes too.

 

[ABCDFE]

Excuse me but your criticism of KK is unwarranted and your analysis is erroneous. I agree that Blanca and SS had very good games and carried us offensively but to say that we were playing 4 on 5 due to KK and that “our guards” have to play better to take pressure off Azzi is ridiculous. Azzi (who’s the best SG in the country) is the guard who plays the most minutes on the team and had an off night shooting, Ash plays the 2nd most minutes and is a guard and had a bad game compared to her usual high standards. Meanwhile if you were watching KK she made great passes and handled the ball well but her usually reliable shooters were just missing shots that they usually make so her assist totals were down but she was still relentless and incredibly effective on defense, NC only had 30 points through 3 quarters!!! My point is that she did her job as usual and maybe had to slow it down a bit because circumstances so dictated, but to say it was 4 on 5 due to her is egregiously wrong. So what supposed guards are supposed to be playing better to take the pressure off of Azzi,who actually thrives under pressure? We beat a 4 seed decisively despite a sub par offensive performance, let’s just leave it at that rather than unfairly and mistakenly assign blame for no reason.

Let’s agree to disagree. KK, Ash will NEED to play better because Blanca is a freshman and we can’t expect her to play lights out in the biggest games even though she has this far. So in reality when we play the top teams like SC, Texas, UCLA and LSU it will be a tight game because those teams have the personnel to score even against our vaunted defense. So if we’re not playing well on offense at two our guard spots it will DEFINITELY be an issue. Another reality is NC lost to ND by 23 I believe during the season so it is absolutely important not to get too ahead our ourselves in thinking we can just weather any storm because YOU believe we have KK who can pass and defend and Ash plays a lot of minutes and we beat a top 15 team by 21. That’s why the eye test and watching all the games matter. Scoring margin doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Furthermore it’s not just me who has said KK needs to be more offensively and can show defenses she can hit a shot. Geno himself has said as much in interviews when talking about KKs development. So are you also calling Geno’s comments on KK needs to be a scorer and not let defenses sag and play off of her erroneous? Unfortunately nothing you’ve said changes my view and I don’t believe anything I’ve said is erroneous.

It looks like you’re relatively new to BY. However your usage of the word “erroneous”has me thinking of another poster here….hmmm 🤔

 

[1974yankees]

I thought our “non starter” named Blanca was pretty damn good!

But Geno refuses to Start Blanca...

No matter how much people complain lol.

I say play Blanca 40 minutes for all remaining games.

Let's win this thing and stop messing around...

 

[hoophuskee]

She was diving all over the floor for loose balls. I think her stamina was fine.

It was "non-stars" I would consider her a "star" at this point (or at least "star adjacent").

UConn needs larger offensive contribution for the "role players." They are too reliant of Sarah and Azzi plus what Blanca can find a way to contribute on her own.

I don't agree with the context. OFC you don't want several players shooting 24% but they will go as far as their superstars take them.

 

[hoophuskee]

Let’s agree to disagree. KK, Ash will NEED to play better because Blanca is a freshman and we can’t expect her to play lights out in the biggest games even though she has this far. So in reality when we play the top teams like SC, Texas, UCLA and LSU it will be a tight game because those teams have the personnel to score even against our vaunted defense. So if we’re not playing well on offense at two our guard spots it will DEFINITELY be an issue. Another reality is NC lost to ND by 23 I believe during the season so it is absolutely important not to get too ahead our ourselves in thinking we can just weather any storm because YOU believe we have KK who can pass and defend and Ash plays a lot of minutes and we beat a top 15 team by 21. That’s why the eye test and watching all the games matter. Scoring margin doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Furthermore it’s not just me who has said KK needs to be more offensively and can show defenses she can hit a shot. Geno himself has said as much in interviews when talking about KKs development. So are you also calling Geno’s comments on KK needs to be a scorer and not let defenses sag and play off of her erroneous? Unfortunately nothing you’ve said changes my view and I don’t believe anything I’ve said is erroneous.

It looks like you’re relatively new to BY. However your usage of the word “erroneous”has me thinking of another poster here….hmmm 🤔

Don't agree with your context at all. ND beat UNC by 23 on Jan 11th. If we're going to go back that far then lets go back to the UCONN vs ND game. IMO you're cherry-picking.

 

[Centerstream]

UCLA beat MN by 24. But MN got called for 19 fouls whereas UNC only got called for 9!!! The refs are our biggest concern. You want to know why KK was less aggressive on offense, fouls weren't called. Why did we have missed layups? Fouls weren't called. Why we couldn't get open looks from three as often as we usually do? Fouls weren't called.

There was one instance where Serah missed a layup and it looked like Geno was going to go ballistic. Then the foul was called on her defender. So, I'm not sure who Geno was going to go after, Serah for the miss or the ref for the miss...

 

[uconnfan68]

UConn got 30 minutes on the court at 5:30 am. These double regionals are great for ESPN; disaster for the players.

Thought this was to guarantee sellouts. Saw lots of empty seats there.

 

[browns]

That was our lemon game.
Ash had a terrible shooting game.
Serah literally has a hard time grabbing the ball. She is like Roberto Duran.
lots of missed layups.

I was thinking the same thing"Hands of Stone" As great as Uc onn is their really lacking in the post
So they won with their ,C game and Ash. shot terribly an KK was wide open few times an wouldn't take the shot..if she's afraid to shoot it play K9 more she's shooting 38 % from 3

UCLA beat MN by 24. But MN got called for 19 fouls whereas UNC only got called for 9!!! The refs are our biggest concern. You want to know why KK was less aggressive on offense, fouls weren't called. Why did we have missed layups? Fouls weren't called. Why we couldn't get open looks from three as often as we usually do? Fouls weren't called.

It is comical that anyone would criticize KK at this point. She is an absolute menace on defense, handles the ball extremely well, runs the offense well and even her shooting has been good this year.

I agree that Blanca needs to play more. The more she plays, the better she gets, period. But it shouldn't come at the expense of Serah, who also needs more reps. And we WILL need her. Yes, her hands could be better but, also, fouls.

Ash is the one that needs to play less. I love her hustle and toughness but she is also a liability on defense and her shooting has been off most of the year. Blanca needs to play more but not at the expense of Serah. At least, not entirely. Those minutes should also come from Ash. Hell, Allie should be taking some of Ash's minutes too.

Three or four times kk was wide open with no one near her an she wouldn't shoot.. If she's afraid to shoot put k9 in she shot 37% from 3 this year .. Azzi having an off day can't expect Sarah to do everything

 

[H Dog]

Let’s agree to disagree. KK, Ash will NEED to play better because Blanca is a freshman and we can’t expect her to play lights out in the biggest games even though she has this far. So in reality when we play the top teams like SC, Texas, UCLA and LSU it will be a tight game because those teams have the personnel to score even against our vaunted defense. So if we’re not playing well on offense at two our guard spots it will DEFINITELY be an issue. Another reality is NC lost to ND by 23 I believe during the season so it is absolutely important not to get too ahead our ourselves in thinking we can just weather any storm because YOU believe we have KK who can pass and defend and Ash plays a lot of minutes and we beat a top 15 team by 21. That’s why the eye test and watching all the games matter. Scoring margin doesn’t really tell the whole story.

Furthermore it’s not just me who has said KK needs to be more offensively and can show defenses she can hit a shot. Geno himself has said as much in interviews when talking about KKs development. So are you also calling Geno’s comments on KK needs to be a scorer and not let defenses sag and play off of her erroneous? Unfortunately nothing you’ve said changes my view and I don’t believe anything I’ve said is erroneous.

It looks like you’re relatively new to BY. However your usage of the word “erroneous”has me thinking of another poster here….hmmm 🤔

We can agree to disagree but you have misinterpreted much of what I was saying. All our guards ( including Azzi) need to play better than they did tonight for us to be performing optimally or close to it which is ideally what we would like to see in the elite 8 and hopefully FF. Ash and Azzi in particular were off as were others but saying or implying it was KK’s fault or that she and Ash need to be better so Azzi doesn’t have pressure on her to perform is wrong was what I thought I was trying to convey. In particular Geno’s comments that you were referring to were made at the beginning of the season and he’s since said that KK has exceeded all of his expectations and is probably the most improved player on the team. She has shot 57% from the field and 35% from the 3 point line and leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio and spearheads the nations best defense. so I don’t know how you can say or imply that we are not playing well at 2 guard spots when our SG (Azzi) and PG (KK) are performing as well as anyone in the country at their respective positions most games. As for your eye test comment I go to most of the home games and all Mohegan games and watch the others on tv and have for decades and reiterate that it was still a good win even though I acknowledge that several players were a bit subpar based on our standards of excellence. But it wasn’t just Ash or KK and they should not be singled out, especially KK.

 

[donalddoowop]

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.

They have one but she is not getting many minutes. If she got as many as Shade gets, we would see a reliable third scorer.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Geno said in Post game presser arena guys put brand new rims on before the first game and it made shots go off long!

 

[Aluminny69]

Based on the two games played today, I wonder if the rims are super tight, or the sight lines for shooters are really bad. Total points scored by 4 teams in a combine 80 minutes was 236 pts, or 59 points each. And field goal percentages was 90-245 or 36.7%. Subtract layups and I am sure it was below 30%. 3pt shooting was an abysmal 14-77 or 18.2%. Yeah, good defense but these are good shooting teams, and it was terrible.

I was worried that ND having shot 6% from three would explode against us in the elite 8, now I am not as worried since Uconn shot so poorly themselves.

Otherwise steady as we go. Blanca and Sarah getting to the rim saved the first half, while defense was great throughout.

Geno provides an explanation

 

[Husk.IE 12]

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.

"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."

I am very surprised more people don't understand this point. ND is not afraid of us (UConn) in the least bit. I expect a very scrappy game from them. I wonder if Geno locks up HH and makes the rest of the team try to beat us? I don't think we could perform as horribly on offense 2 games in a row.

 

[GetReal2day]

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!

It is time for Jana to get her chance and maybe Geno is finally seeing it as he started her in the 4th. Serah moves better on def, but anything regarding touching, catching or holding the ball is frustrating. I have not understood why Jana’s time have evaporated this season like it has.

 

[Skeets]

Thought this was to guarantee sellouts. Saw lots of empty seats there.

Every school gets tickets. Put 8 teams in 1 arena, that's a nice chunk of tickets. How many fans are going to stick around for a couple of days when their team loses? Time might be better spent waiting in a TSA line.

Does the NCAA care? Not if the tickets were sold. They could care less about actual fannies in the seats.

 

[HuskyNan]

@visitingcock Still think UConn fans will be happy just to survive and advance?

 

[WiseWillie]

Based on the two games played today, I wonder if the rims are super tight, or the sight lines for shooters are really bad. Total points scored by 4 teams in a combine 80 minutes was 236 pts, or 59 points each. And field goal percentages was 90-245 or 36.7%. Subtract layups and I am sure it was below 30%. 3pt shooting was an abysmal 14-77 or 18.2%. Yeah, good defense but these are good shooting teams, and it was terrible.

I was worried that ND having shot 6% from three would explode against us in the elite 8, now I am not as worried since Uconn shot so poorly themselves.

Otherwise steady as we go. Blanca and Sarah getting to the rim saved the first half, while defense was great throughout.

Your comment on shooting sight lines and rims is interesting and has come up occasionally in other venues in the past in addition to the oft-stated "nerves" but based on some of the offensive woes teams having in Ft Worth wonder if there are any data to support that.

 

[NycUcWbbFan]

Your comment on shooting sight lines and rims is interesting and has come up occasionally in other venues in the past in addition to the oft-stated "nerves" but based on some of the offensive woes teams having in Ft Worth wonder if there are any data to support that.

Geno Auriemma blames the rim, not the UConn players, for shooting woes | CT Post

 

[Dogdude]

@visitingcock Still think UConn fans will be happy just to survive and advance?

It's like some weird chatbot echo chamber...players who were amazing just two days ago are now the worst ever.

 

[HuskyNan]

I love this play

 

[BRS24]

Geno Auriemma blames the rim, not the UConn players, for shooting woes | CT Post

View attachment 118781

Wait. They didn't/couldn't have a shoot around at the arena on game day? What a ____ show.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[browns]

We can agree to disagree but you have misinterpreted much of what I was saying. All our guards ( including Azzi) need to play better than they did tonight for us to be performing optimally or close to it which is ideally what we would like to see in the elite 8 and hopefully FF. Ash and Azzi in particular were off as were others but saying or implying it was KK’s fault or that she and Ash need to be better so Azzi doesn’t have pressure on her to perform is wrong was what I thought I was trying to convey. In particular Geno’s comments that you were referring to were made at the beginning of the season and he’s since said that KK has exceeded all of his expectations and is probably the most improved player on the team. She has shot 57% from the field and 35% from the 3 point line and leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio and spearheads the nations best defense. so I don’t know how you can say or imply that we are not playing well at 2 guard spots when our SG (Azzi) and PG (KK) are performing as well as anyone in the country at their respective positions most games. As for your eye test comment I go to most of the home games and all Mohegan games and watch the others on tv and have for decades and reiterate that it was still a good win even though I acknowledge that several players were a bit subpar based on our standards of excellence. But it wasn’t just Ash or KK and they should not be singled out, especially KK.

KK is shooting 33.9% from the 3 point line not 35% which is below average.the only one on the team that is worse is Caroline
Heckle on the other hand is shooting 37% from 3 and is a good facilitator also

 

[meyers7]

Poor shooting, got out rebounded. Still won by 20+. Not pretty, but win and advance time of year.

If we win 3 more, nobody will remember this game.

 

[Bone Dog]

In the postgame interviews, the UNC players all said they managed to defend well for half the game by forcing UConn to play at their pace and to face their halfcourt defense. This probably reflects what they heard from their coach and matches what many of us saw. And they said their defense faltered when they had more TOs and missed baskets allowing UConn to avoid the halfcourt defense.

When asked about this same difference between the two halves, the UConn players focused on getting their confidence back at halftime and being able to ratchet up their defense and play better overall.

I’m struck by this difference in perception. When a traditional team plays solid halfcourt defense, they don’t get a ton of emotional support from it. It’s a workmanlike task and the experience doesn’t bring an emotional charge with it. When a pressing team like UConn succeeds in forcing TOs and getting transition baskets, it seems to carry a strong emotional charge and reinforces their entire effort.

This is reflected in their differing perceptions of what happened. They’re both right. They simply experienced the game from opposite perspectives. It was a grind to face UNC’s halfcourt offense and the UConn players experienced this as a challenge to their confidence. When they forced TOs, they experienced this in terms of their confidence rising. But their perceptions are also asymmetrical. When UConn forced TOs and ran in transition, the UNC players must have felt their confidence slipping. It must have taken a heroic effort to recover that confidence in the final quarter.

 

[Linart]

@visitingcock Still think UConn fans will be happy just to survive and advance?

Nope. UConn fans are the only fans who would view a 21-point win as a "squeaker."

 

[RoadMaster]

To throw on the fire...(why not...lol)
UNC has played each #1 seed this year, losing to each.
MOV:
SC - 9
UCLA - 18
Texas - 15
UConn - 21
I apologize if this ground was previously covered.

 

[Glenn]

Some of the predictive sites like Torvik and Massey had us winning by less than 20''Trovik by 19 and Massey by 15. So a 21 pint victory is a solid win. So all this talk about us not palying well is a bit odd''focused entirely on the poor shooting in the first quarter. Our defense was excellent, and most boneyarders seem to downplaying that part of the game.

 

[boontonbomber]

The half-court defense was not great in the first half. NC got to the basket a lot. If they hadn't missed a bunch of layups the game would have been even more interesting. In the second half UConn's half court in-your-face defense was the difference maker. That defense should be what wins it all.

 

[Phil]

I was underwhelmed by the announcing. It's pretty common for them to let us know when a teams on a run and when that run end. UConn had a 17 - 0 run, and I don't recall them either mentioning that fact or mentioning when the run ended. Maybe I missed it.