USA Postgame Thread
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I believe it was Kaili McLaren!
HuskyNan
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Dillon77
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Some quick-hitters from the Dome:
- Really fine night of basketball. Congrats to all concerned.
- UConn put in a focused, determined effort and the players should be commended. I fully expected Geno and Chris to have them ready, but it's up to the players to, well, play. And that can be intimidating when every player you face may or may not be someone you admire. A lot. That said, they dug down and went for it.
- Megan was the fulcrum, in my humble opinion. Her consistent and gradual improvement is noted by this Irish fan. Anna Makurat seemed very at home (international rules?). She's getting better all the time. Darn.
- Thought Liv had her moments, but it's tough going against USA bigs: Sylvia Fowles, puts on a national uniform and just attacks the rim. If Tina had her touch last night, whew.... And then just imagine when Griner and EDD show up and Stewie is back in game shape.
- Speaking of Stewie, it was great, just great, to see her in action last night. Despite what she did to the Irish during the course of her career, she's one of my favorite hoopsters. Admire, respect and enjoy her game.
- Along those lines, it was great to see another fave (and fellow Alum) - one Kayla McBride - off the ND coaching bench and back in the US of A uniform last night. Once she got warmed up, K-Mac dropped a few of her laser-like 3's and also played some subtle, but tough, defense, accumulating 3 steals in 20+ minutes.
- Kelsey Plum got in later in the game and made some definite contributions with 8 points (3 of 5 shooting) and 5 assists in 17 minutes.
The Aces connection with K-Mac & Plum was evident.
Once again, tip of the hat to current and alum Huskies and USA basketball.
- Really fine night of basketball. Congrats to all concerned.
- UConn put in a focused, determined effort and the players should be commended. I fully expected Geno and Chris to have them ready, but it's up to the players to, well, play. And that can be intimidating when every player you face may or may not be someone you admire. A lot. That said, they dug down and went for it.
- Megan was the fulcrum, in my humble opinion. Her consistent and gradual improvement is noted by this Irish fan. Anna Makurat seemed very at home (international rules?). She's getting better all the time. Darn.
- Thought Liv had her moments, but it's tough going against USA bigs: Sylvia Fowles, puts on a national uniform and just attacks the rim. If Tina had her touch last night, whew.... And then just imagine when Griner and EDD show up and Stewie is back in game shape.
- Speaking of Stewie, it was great, just great, to see her in action last night. Despite what she did to the Irish during the course of her career, she's one of my favorite hoopsters. Admire, respect and enjoy her game.
- Along those lines, it was great to see another fave (and fellow Alum) - one Kayla McBride - off the ND coaching bench and back in the US of A uniform last night. Once she got warmed up, K-Mac dropped a few of her laser-like 3's and also played some subtle, but tough, defense, accumulating 3 steals in 20+ minutes.
- Kelsey Plum got in later in the game and made some definite contributions with 8 points (3 of 5 shooting) and 5 assists in 17 minutes.
The Aces connection with K-Mac & Plum was evident.
Once again, tip of the hat to current and alum Huskies and USA basketball.
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Can I point out that UConn has run out of gas against other teams late in the game? Baylor, for example? Let DePaul get much closer? It isn't just against Team USA.
UConnCat
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Of course you can. We would expect nothing less from you. If there’s a negative trend, real or imagined, you will tell us about it. You’ve settled nicely in to that role here.
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Some quick-hitters from the Dome:
- Really fine night of basketball. Congrats to all concerned.
- UConn put in a focused, determined effort and the players should be commended. I fully expected Geno and Chris to have them ready, but it's up to the players to, well, play. And that can be intimidating when every player you face may or may not be someone you admire. A lot. That said, they dug down and went for it.
- Megan was the fulcrum, in my humble opinion. Her consistent and gradual improvement is noted by this Irish fan. Anna Makurat seemed very at home (international rules?). She's getting better all the time. Darn.
- Thought Liv had her moments, but it's tough going against USA bigs: Sylvia Fowles, who puts on a national uniform and attacks. If Tina had her touch last night, whew.... And then just imagine when Griner and EDD show up and Stewie is back in game shape.
- Speaking of Stewie, it was great, just great, to see her in action last night. Despite what she did to the Irish during the course of her career, she's one of my favorite hoopsters.
- Along those lines, it was great to see another fave - one Kayla McBride - off the ND coaching bench and back in the US of A uniform last night. Once she got warmed up, K-Mac dropped a few of her laser-like 3's and also played some subtle, but tough, defense, accumulating 3 steals in 20+ minutes.
- Kelsey Plum got in later in the game and made some definite contributions with 8 points (3 of 5 shooting) and 5 assists in 17 minutes.
The Aces connection with K-Mac was evident.
Once again, tip of the hat to current and alum Huskies and USA basketball.
I was very impressed by Team USA's passing: crisp, fast, and a level of professionalism that was like watching a top European soccer team on tour in the US. A thing to behold!
As for the older players and Team USA, you can bet the house that the starting backcourt in the Olympics will be Sue and Diana, the best women's backcourt in history. I think Eric Frede and Rebecca were right, the coaching staff was checking out the borderline players. Plum, McBride and Ogumike looked really good. As for us, CD (Crystal) is right. If we can do that against the best players in the world, we can do it against anyone. Look for a huge blowout against Cincy heading into Oregon!
oldude
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What you refer to as “running out of gas” is more accurately the challenge that comes from trying to execute effectively down the stretch in a close game. There are a number of close games this season when UConn did in fact execute effectively down the stretch: tOSU, Seton Hall, Memphis & TN. In fact, prior to the TN game Geno spoke about this very issue. He anticipated a close game and said that he expected the team to do a better job down the stretch vs TN than they had vs Baylor.
UConn’s level of fitness is as good or better than any team in the country. The Huskies don’t get gassed. They lost to Baylor and the USA team because those extremely talented teams executed better down the stretch. Against TN, UConn used only 6 players the entire 2nd half against a 9 player rotation by TN and they didn’t get “gassed.”
You really need to give this argument a rest.
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Some quick-hitters from the Dome:
- Really fine night of basketball. Congrats to all concerned.
- UConn put in a focused, determined effort and the players should be commended. I fully expected Geno and Chris to have them ready, but it's up to the players to, well, play. And that can be intimidating when every player you face may or may not be someone you admire. A lot. That said, they dug down and went for it.
- Megan was the fulcrum, in my humble opinion. Her consistent and gradual improvement is noted by this Irish fan. Anna Makurat seemed very at home (international rules?). She's getting better all the time. Darn.
- Thought Liv had her moments, but it's tough going against USA bigs: Sylvia Fowles, who puts on a national uniform and attacks. If Tina had her touch last night, whew.... And then just imagine when Griner and EDD show up and Stewie is back in game shape.
- Speaking of Stewie, it was great, just great, to see her in action last night. Despite what she did to the Irish during the course of her career, she's one of my favorite hoopsters.
- Along those lines, it was great to see another fave - one Kayla McBride - off the ND coaching bench and back in the US of A uniform last night. Once she got warmed up, K-Mac dropped a few of her laser-like 3's and also played some subtle, but tough, defense, accumulating 3 steals in 20+ minutes.
- Kelsey Plum got in later in the game and made some definite contributions with 8 points (3 of 5 shooting) and 5 assists in 17 minutes.
The Aces connection with K-Mac was evident.
Once again, tip of the hat to current and alum Huskies and USA basketball.
Plum, IMO, was the most assertive player on the floor while she was in. I was very impressed. I thought UConn handled themselves well for the most part. Some of the nitpicks were due to playing the, uh, NATIONAL TEAM...
1. I feel UConn gets stuck at times in half court offense. The ball stops for too much time and there seems to be a lot of thinking as opposed to doing - making them seem a step slow. This isn't as prevalent in normal play but having the incredible defense of the national team in front of them definitely made it challenging.
2. The national team was ungodly quick with their hands. Not many passes made it inside, either on post ups or cuts, without it being deflected or stolen.
3. The size and strength of the national team was tremendous even without the full roster suited up. Made ONO and Griffin look smaller (both height and physical size). Later in the second half, US started to flex their inside muscle and it was impressive. I have the feeling if they played an inside out game and really pounded us, the score would have been significantly different.
As I said, this is not your average opponent. Some of the positives I noticed:
1. Megan looked like she belonged. I was close enough to hear the players and she was incredibly vocal barking out instructions to the others. She looked great and turned the corner multiple times. Her quickness hurt the defender.
2. Anna matched up well size wise. This was my first game this year (live in NH with two athletic boys so scheduling can be a challenge) and I read that she looks bigger in person and this is so true. Her shots and form were great. Most all taken in the offensive flow. Her misses were barely off.
3. Griffin also looked like she belonged. She banged against bigger opponents and frequently held her own. Her leap is just jaw dropping and I feel she is going to be one of the most important pieces going forward.
4. Crystal was fantastic. Her speed was on par with anyone on the floor. My only quibble was a few passes that got tipped but, again, the hand speed of the US team was ridiculous.
This game was such a pleasure to watch. The US bench was so into it - DT was chirping with an official - and was often three feet onto the court cheering and (probably) trash talking UConn. When Megan got the intentional foul, the whole bench jumped up and went crazy. It was pretty cool. Kelsey Plum was chippy the second half. Very physical and frequently chirping with UConn.
Did anyone see Geno try to run Ogwulike over on an inbound play? He kept bumping into her. Pretty hilarious.
It was Kaili McLaren
Meg is great. However, it seems to me that this team has a totally different feel when Anna is on the court.
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Well, USA put in a bunch of fresh, talented, young legs in the 4thQ. UConn could not match that. Of course, UConn was out-talented the entire game. Our girls were fantastic, nothing troubling about it.
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huskeynut
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So UConn has run out of gas in the 4th quarter, according to you, against 3 teams. That's 3 teams out of 19 or 15.7 percent. Can I point out that 3 teams does not make a problem as you would like us to believe.
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I completely see your point; however, there have only been three wins decided by 10 points or less (and the Baylor loss). It seems, to me, that a majority of the games UConn wins by 10+ would not have the "out of gas" factor due to the ability to lengthen the bench. I know this can be a little misleading with games separating late and being close for 3+ quarters but it does stand to reason that the games that are contested should be the only ones used as part of this data set.
The ROAR was so loud when Evelyn made the basket! All of our gals have something to contribute to the games......I love that Geno subbed all the kids in. My badassses of the game were MW and AMak! Mak was stellar on defense and her stat line was impressive.
You could tell she really loved all the minutes Geno rewarded her.....applause to all our gals!!
You could tell she really loved all the minutes Geno rewarded her.....applause to all our gals!!
Biff
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No need. She's already got a framed copy hanging on her room wall!Even better, Anna can photoshop the picture and cut everyone else out except herself and her new BFF.
Papa33
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The problem of movement (both players and ball) has been noted many times and from numerous sources, including Geno, so I was half-expecting it to happen vs. the kind of defensive pressure the National Team can exert. So I was pleasantly surprised, especially in the second quarter, to see more cuts through the middle/key than has been usual. No big surprise, then, that we climbed back into the game during that quarter. But there were patches when we moved and passed the ball only around the perimeter and penetrated only by dribbling, which too often led to turnovers and forced/missed shots.
That second quarter (and other, briefer moments) showed what our young, developing team CAN do; I'm sure that it is an incessantly stressed message from the coaching staff. When we do it, we play and score at an entirely higner level.
oldude
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With 9 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, UConn was up 56-54
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It is hard to rate this exhibition as anything more than an unusually difficult practice session for the collegians. Some of the UCONN kids played okay; Ania showed good poise for a 19 year old; Aubrey rebounded well; Megan had her shot going, as did Crystal; Williams went back into her shooting shell; Olivia battled and everyone got some court time. Many of the UCONN turnover were because they forgot they were playing pros, and many passes were simply shut down or intercepted. Passes that would typically work against peers, had no shot against the pros. Maybe a lesson was learned that will pay-off in March. A sad day. When no one really wanted to be playing or cheering. But the world doesn't stop for tragedy.