USC Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the USC game;

• Really terrible start to the game for UConn. As with ND, the Huskies came out tight and dug themselves a big hole that they just couldn't climb out of.
• Through my 30 years as a UConn fan, these were the games that I lived for. The Huskies won far more big games than they lost, but even the handful of losses were usually close and hard fought to the end. But I have never seen anything quite like the game I watched tonight.
• Once again, the Huskies showed signs of life in the 3rd qtr. Obviously, UConn can’t continue to wait that long to start playing basketball against teams as talented as USC.
• UConn went with a small lineup and fought their way back into the game. I thought that KK's ferocious defense was the jump start the team needed, and then everyone else started making plays.
• I am sure the BY is frustrated and there will be an inclination among some UConn fans to blame the players and coaches. I have one word for you, DON'T!!!
• The season is not over by any stretch of the imagination. UConn has a lot of things to work on, and it is certainly possible to build this roster into a team capable of making a deep run in March. If anyone can build that team, it’s Geno.
• Merry Christmas everyone. Go Huskies!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[BRS24]

I’ll take this result. We could have folded. A few things here and there and maybe a win. Lots of learning lessons to use for the rest of the season.

 

[Bone Dog]

What a battle! In the end, UConn was cold from 3 and that made all the difference. It came down to the last shot, and it didn’t have to.

First half — USC 42-29. Juju was on fire and USC shot 60% from 3. UConn did not. Sound familiar? Kiki also shot and rebounded well. Azzi played briefly in the 2nd quarter but didn’t score. Also, it looks like Coach Gottlieb has developed her freshman better than Geno has. Heckel, Smith, Samuels and Howell all had meaningful minutes at both ends of the court. Other than Sarah and to a lesser extent Morgan, no freshman contributed for UConn. Finally, Paige was throttled again in the first half (7 pts on 3-10, and missed 2 FTs). In general, USC’s defense was hyper-aggressive and since we weren’t hitting 3s, they paid no penalty for overplaying every pass and cutter.

Second half: UConn 40-30. Paige and Sarah lit up on offense and defense and closed the gap to 6 in the 3rd quarter and took the lead in the 4th. But there were still a lot of missed opportunities. In the 4th quarter, there were some dubious whistles, especially the usual friendly whistle for Juju and some silent whistles for Paige and a couple of tight whistles against Kaitlyn. Geno’s not wrong when he says Paige is the most fouled player in D1 who gets almost no whistles. There was something sweet to see Juju whining about an obvious foul she committed against Sarah shooting a last second 3.

Also worth noting that Geno played a small lineup most of the game. Jana and Ice played less than 20 minutes between them. By contrast, Morgan played 20 minutes for the first time.

And the game within the game: Juju+Kiki combined=42 pts 17 rebounds, Paige+Sarah = 44 pts and 16 rebounds.

 

[maple]

Props to this team for battling back. Strong and KK really carried the comeback.

Awful first half absolutely killed us. Gave me PTSD flashbacks to that FF game against Mississippi State back in 2017. You just can’t let teams dominate against you in the first half; it’s too much to overcome.

 

[HuskyNan]

Some thoughts on the USC game;

• UConn went with a small lineup and fought their way back into the game. I thought that KK's ferocious defense was the jump start the team needed, and then everyone else started making plays.

Small and young: a senior, 2 sophomores, and 2 freshmen. Terrific composure from the young guys

KK was amazing. I loved her game in the second half

 

[LwrcasefaN]

No complaints here. Heck of a contest.

 

[Inthepaint]

Some thoughts on the USC game;

• Really terrible start to the game for UConn. As with ND, the Huskies came out tight and dug themselves a big hole that they just couldn't climb out of.
• Through my 30 years as a UConn fan, these were the games that I lived for. The Huskies won far more big games than they lost, but even the handful of losses were usually close and hard fought to the end. But I have never seen anything quite like the game I watched tonight.
• Once again, the Huskies showed signs of life in the 3rd qtr. Obviously, UConn can’t continue to wait that long to start playing basketball against teams as talented as USC.
• UConn went with a small lineup and fought their way back into the game. I thought that KK's ferocious defense was the jump start the team needed, and then everyone else started making plays.
• I am sure the BY is frustrated and there will be an inclination among some UConn fans to blame the players and coaches. I have one word for you, DON'T!!!
• The season is not over by any stretch of the imagination. UConn has a lot of things to work on, and it is certainly possible to build this roster into a team capable of making a deep run in March. If anyone can build that team, it’s Geno.
• Merry Christmas everyone. Go Huskies!!!

Next year we START the season in January

 

[Hoops66]

Please send Sarah to the basket anytime you need a critical score and possible free throw. Also please play Morgan more. Great comeback from 18 down!

 

[Vowelguy]

Bad 1st half but 2nd half adjustment to small lineup was key

Sarah more than handled herself at the 5. Are we back to a 4 guard lineup?

Curious decision to not play KK most of the 4th.

 

[Inthepaint]

No complaints here. Heck of a contest.

Agree
They fought back

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Yeah, yeah 2 points. So what. Having lived through most of the Geno era I have never learned how to take a loss well. Yes, we have more growing to do. Congrats to USC.

 

[Blueballer]

Showed a ton of character coming back from that rough first quarter. We've got plenty of talent just can't start out a game like that. Hard to comeback especially missing free throws. Much more promising than the ND game. We fought really hard.

 

[BlueWolf25]

Love the fight from this team. This one stings to lose, even being down 18 we ended up with multiple chances to take the lead late. Oh well. Gotta give props to the lineup of Paige Ash Sarah Morgan and either KK or Kaitlyn, they were awesome in the 2nd half

 

[HuskyNan]

Curious decision to not play KK most of the 4th.

I think Geno was platooning KK and Kaitlyn for defense and offense, respectively

 

[uconnever]

Yeah they were nervous for a lot of the first half but they showed a lot of fight. I like the rotation Geno used the second half, KK and Morgan along with the five in the floor to close out the game. Never saw such poor decision making as we had the first half, most of the game before th come back. They missed a lot of open players. Great come back. I think we just have to accept that we don’t have any bigs. Sarah was awesome and expended a lot of energy on defense down low. KK has been showing up for the big games this year.

 

[Tonyc]

WE got killed on treys again Just like ND. We got off to a slow start again. We came back with ICE and Jana on the bench. Im frustrated again. We made a huge comeback against a top team and almost pulled it off. I believe with Azzi and Aubrey we win. Thats the future. Now we have the Big East A chance to pull it together and get going. USC is really good and we came back from down somethin like 18 -20 pts That shows you what we care capable of. WE NEED MORE SCORERS Ive been screaming that.

 

[Stagnant]

We need to play a consistent 40 minutes. We need to figure out our frontcourt. This isn’t the first time we have been better off just going small.

I like that the team showed fight. It’s hard to have too much of a problem with the result since the team showed fight. But our schedule is really weak now. I think we really needed this one.

 

[maple]

Yeah, yeah 2 points. So what. Having lived through most of the Geno era I have never learned how to take a loss well. Yes, we have more growing to do. Congrats to USC.

I will never take a loss well. Every single loss has me like this internally:

If it were up to me we would never lose a game.

 

[Happydad745]

Amazing, crazy game...really impressed that we came back and almost won it. We knew Strong was really good for a freshman, but Chelli also showed maturity, focus, and toughness playing much more than she usually does. Paige was guarded close and had good and bad shooting streaks. I think Shade is making us big believers in her talent. Hell of a game.

 

[Reypl21]

UConn has a real problem for the rest of this season and the next 3. That problem is Sarah Strong. Seeing her go against Marshall and Iriafen with strength and poise. She's already the best power forward in the country. She missed the second free throw, and missed the last on purpose. It gave them a look, that's all you can ask for.

She reminds me of Maya Moore. Impressive confidence and skillet, that's unique for her size. I think she's one of the top 10 players already.

 

[Vowelguy]

Also, it looks like Coach Gottlieb has developed her freshman better than Geno has. Heckel, Smith, Samuels and Howell all had meaningful minutes at both ends of the court.

Lol
They have 7 highly regarded frosh and 4 played.
We have 3 and 2 played.

 

[rubymae4]

What an intense game. I had to turn the sound off as the announcers were stressing me out.

How many people had Morgan Chelli being a second half fixture on their bingo cards? Good for her for rising to the occasion.

I would take Ashlynn Shade on my team any day.

We are going to enjoy Sarah Strong for the next few years.

 

[Vowelguy]

I think Geno was platooning KK and Kaitlyn for defense and offense, respectively

Not for the first 8 minutes (in my recollection).

 

[Stagnant]

This game was a good experience for Morgan and Sarah.