We all know that Practices are Geno's heaven. He has stated many times that Practice sets the tone for EVERYTHING. The Deep subs seem to be playing at a higher level when they get in -- better than in past seasons where it was visibly concerning. In addition, the 9-12 players look like the "difficult practices" are paying off for them. They look smoother and more flowing than past years when they finally get on the court.
Well, I did say "serious". Maybe the voters mixed her up with someone else. I just don't consider a career 32% 3 ball shooter with 1.4 APG a serious player. Maybe a decent contributor. Plus a serious player might have had some impact on last night's game. But she didn't.
I think she gets plenty of love. That’s why we squabble over her so much.
To me, shooting is just a byproduct of the relentless pressure. (may have been UConn in the 2nd half against MI) Getting sped up.
I found it interesting that early in the game, the announcers mentioned a couple of times how many minutes (something like 4 minutes) the Huskies were trailing in all of their previous games. They showed the graphics once or maybe twice. Granted, USC may have exceeded it but they didn't mention how many minutes the Huskies led, or were behind, after the 5 minute mark of the 1st quarter.
She looked a little off to me, and that was confirmed by Geno's presser, where he said she had a stomach issue. I don't expect perfection from her, but I'm used to getting it.
She called her only time out that was used in the whole game with 1:55 left in the first quarter with UConn leading 18-9.
Watching this team's defense makes me think the pregame player against player analysis, while helpful and enjoyable, misses one VERY key factor, which is hard to quantify; team defense.
We could do both maybe? 😁
USC's shot selection and inability to re-establish their offence caught my attention as well. Especially when they started to take quick shots instead of running a set offence. They played right into UConn's hands which is dangerous considering how UConn wants to push the pace in transition.
For a quick summary of the skills (still developing) and raw talent of who might be the best FR in this year's class, see Nan's post number 92 in this thread. I also suggest going to the full game recording and watch the complete play when we were winning 69-39. Blanca blocked a shot, got the ball and absolutely blew past all USC players as she dribbled down the full court. It looked like the Trojans were running with their feet stuck in the mud. I have not seen a player with a quicker move to the basket, not even KK or Kelis.
As I suggested in another post, the bottom half of the top 25 is filled with deficient teams in one way or another. So I think USC remains in the top 25. As for TX, I don’t know whether or not they lose 1st place votes. What I have become convinced of is that UConn will likely win out. That means the only possible way the Huskies lose the #1 overall seed is if TX also wins out and gets a deserved benefit from their outstanding SOS.
I feel like this discussion will go on every other game...
I would say no. They've beaton some teams in the 20s so I suspect they will stay in the high teens. After watching 10 games, I'm not sure anyone should get penalized for getting a beat down by UConn.
Maybe, but she is now clearly on the AP 5-person 1st short list! The almost fills my Christmas list, just in case my family reads this, I don’t want them thinking they don’t have to get more UConn garb, cups, glasses, mugs or other paraphernalia…😉
BobbyJ, don’t confuse talent with a lack of a coaching scheme or system. Gottlieb will never be accused of being an “Xs and Os” savant. This team has plenty of highly ranked talent but no coaching plan to get them to play together and elevate each others game. Losing Juju, who basically had card blanche to do whatever she wanted (ie volume shooting) masked a lot of the coaching ills but now, with her out, they were relying on Jazzy to fill that void…