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USC Postgame Thread

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oldude

oldude

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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!!!
 
IMG_3381.jpeg
 
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.
 
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.
 
oldude said:
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.
Expand ...
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
 
.-.
oldude said:
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!!!
Expand ...
Next year we START the season in January
 
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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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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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.
 
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 skillset, that's unique for her size. I think she's one of the top 10 players already.
 
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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.
 
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They at least showed some fight this time, but the same bad habits continue to put this team in difficult positions.

I know a lot of people don’t want to hear this, but the coaching has been inexplicable this season. We’ve seen way too many Chen minutes at the expense of Arnold/Azzi, not nearly enough of Paige at the point, and Brady starting over El Alfy is indefensible at this point.

It’s time for a lineup change so this team can compete athletically with the top teams in the nation.
 
OK, caught my breath and I can now post. Great comeback, just a bit shy. Gutsy 2nd half, but gotta' give USC their props, too. Yep. the small lineup was much better than having either Ice or Jana in there. The D was really turned up a notch in the 2nd half, but they just can't wait 20 minutes to start digging in. Bigs were disappointing when they were in! Good to see Azzi in there, she seemed to move all right. Great game for experience and will pay off down the road. Chelli is a keeper! Time to feast on the East!
 
BlueWolf25 said:
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
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I don’t mind this loss, I don’t like it but I think we may have found a formula that we can get better at. Sarah being able to guard Kiki shows that she more a capable of holding it down at the five if need be. I just hope she doesn’t get worn out by having to do too much. In the big east Ice and Jana will be fine, but against the elite teams, Sarah will end up having to guard those bigs because they will be a lot better. I hope I’m wrong.
 
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