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USC Postgame Thread

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Bigs need to improve- I’ll give a pass to Jana being new to program and freshman coming back from injury, but Ice? Poor rebounding, too little offense- not surprised they didn’t play much 2nd half. Encouraging that UConn came back. Besides Paige and Sarah, Ash and KK were great. When will Aubrey get back?
 
uconnever said:
Well said, I totally agree, but tonight with Sarah at the five have me new hope. That’s something they can work on and get better at. It could also backfire and Sarah get into foul trouble early, just have to wait and see. But I agree they are not where they need to be as far as toughness, mostly mentally.
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One thing is clear - Strong is the prohibitive frosh of the year. No one appears close in terms of talent or impact. She just plays the game at a high level and makes it look effortless. What a treat to watch her.
 
maple said:
While I agree that KK should get more playing time I don’t feel like Azzi is ready right now except limited time. Not because of injury but because she was unproductive tonight. If she was hot I would say yes let’s keep her out there.
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Just.A.Fan said:
Azzi? She gave us absolutely nothing out there tonight. She had no business being in this game at all as she was ready. Chen is getting such a bad rap from many of you. Ice and Jana have terrible hands and haven't learned to move towards the pass QUICKLY when being defended. They don't and as a result Chen gets a turnover when the defender slaps the ball away. Both she and Arnold played very well in this game, KK sparking the turn around for us and Chen hitting a big 3 pointer. I was so happy that Geno kept his "bigs" on the bench where they belonged.

After this game, I too now believe we would be better off with Sarah handling the post along with four (4) guards.
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Chen did not play well. She did little of anything, missed a big three late, and took that awful 1-on-3 shot in transition with about 2-1/2 to go.
 
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SLY63 said:
Morgan is becomming my favorite. No reason not to keep the 4 gaurd lineup at this point
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It’s also interesting that Paige, KK, and Ashlynn played many many many minutes together last year. They have chemistry, but rarely share the court. I thought you could see that chemistry in the 3rd on a play where KK pushed tempo and knew where Ashlynn would be for a 3.

We have 3 returning players from a final four run, plus a freshman who is playing at an AA level. Finding the right lineup feels like the biggest obstacle at the moment. But there’s a golden lineup somewhere. Too much talent for there not to be one!
 
Morgan looks like a freshman....a VERY GOOD freshman but still a freshman. As she gets more playing time she will lose that freshman wide eyed look and will find the "short-cuts" to guarding and put herself in better positions to score.

Sarah doesnt look like a freshman. She looks like an all American Jr or Sr. Its scary that she will get better too. I see her slimming down a bit and putting on more muscle next summer. She will be unstoppable then.

Shade and KK look great on defense....as if they had a great teacher last year. (can you say Nika?)

Our only problem is our bigs. They need to get faster both physically and mentally. I'm trusting they will before March.
 
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Just.A.Fan said:
Azzi? She gave us absolutely nothing out there tonight. She had no business being in this game at all as she was ready. Chen is getting such a bad rap from many of you. Ice and Jana have terrible hands and haven't learned to move towards the pass QUICKLY when being defended. They don't and as a result Chen gets a turnover when the defender slaps the ball away. Both she and Arnold played very well in this game, KK sparking the turn around for us and Chen hitting a big 3 pointer. I was so happy that Geno kept his "bigs" on the bench where they belonged.

After this game, I too now believe we would be better off with Sarah handling the post along with four (4) guards.
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After watching tape on Ice in high school, I’m shocked she’s so hesitant to shoot when left wide open. It’s like she’s been told not to, which seems to be totally against Geno’s usual advice to his players.
 
A few observations.
1. As everyone else has noticed, UConn does not have a center who, at this point, can compete with high-level programs. The smaller lineup makes more sense unless UConn is playing against a really tall team. At that point, I have no idea what they should do, because neither Ice nor Jana are ready to handle competition like that. They may be later this year or next year, but not now.
2. After the loss to ND, I made the observation that a team like USC, which has a superstar and a good center, can do what Notre Dame did to UConn. a number of responders said USC was nothing like Notre Dame and was not nearly as strong. Well, it's true that USC doesn't have ND's guard play, but they proved they don't need it., In this game it was Watkins and Iriafen instead of Hidalgo and the ND center. USC's center absolutely owned UConn's.
3. The UConn comeback was thrilling, even as it fell short.
4. It's very hard to criticize a player who comes up with mid-20 points and a bunch of great passes. But the opposition has gotten so much better in the last two years that Paige simply cannot put the team on her back and carry it over the goal line as she did in her freshman year. That puts the burden on the coaching staff to come up with plays other than just give it to Paige.
5. I thought KK Arnold played a very good game. She was a buzzsaw on defense and ignited at least a couple of offensive plays. She may not be the steady presence that Chen is, but she sure does up the overall team amperage when she is in there. She made a real difference.
6. Sarah Strong is already very good and will get better. I agree with the previous post that noted how unfair it was that she ended up in that really pressurized situation at game's end.
7. Morgan did not look out of place at all. Her game has steadily progressed in the last month.
 
SLY63 said:
. . . No reason not to keep the 4 gaurd lineup at this point
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The reason is that we need to continue to develop Ice and Jana. Especially Jana. She's only
played about a dozen D1 games so far.

We don't have any all american post players coming down the pipeline. Gandy looks to be a
project for her first two years at least. We have to develop what we have (as with Kara Walters).
 
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Won't be a Popular Opinion, but like the Notre Dame game this game shows that Paige should not be in serious consideration for Player of the Year. Yes, she scored 22 Points and USC would have won in a Blow Out if Paige didn't play. However Ju Ju outplayed Paige in all facets of the game. Paige was 2-8 on three point shots (9-22 overall shooting) and only had 3 Rebounds and 2 Assists. Many of her 3's were wide open. I thought down the stretch she took an ill advised three that wasn't in the flow of the offense. Now if it went it, it would have been a clutch shot. That is not POY Stats in a Game this big. Injuries have taken the toll on Paige. She's not the same player she was as a Freshmen.
 
Katie or Karen the one official on the end by g he bar had one of the worst games I’ve ever seen by an official. But you can’t cry about that but I’ll tell you I wouldn’t want her to officiate any of my games. Great experience for young players. It’s inevitable that Cheli and Strong will win the 4 and 5 spots the other two can’t guard their women. I also feel that Chen needs to move out of the starting lineup. You can’t have your PH and Big with no points. You might have to put Paige there with Ashlyn and Azzi (when healthy) out there as shooters. USC had shooters out there with Watkins. It’s early but changes need to be made cause some of them have been earned.
 
rubymae4 said:
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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The announcers … at a critical juncture in the first half the guy asked the woman what was the most exciting game she’d ever played in … nobody cares! Talk about the damn game we’re watching!
 
Key coaching blunders late were fatal. Taking KK out after her energy sparked the second half comeback and going back to the slog half court offense that produced three brutal possessions after the fast paced free lance play got us back into the game.
 
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Wbbfan1 said:
Won't be a Popular Opinion, but like the Notre Dame game this game shows that Paige should not be in serious consideration for Player of the Year. Yes, she scored 22 Points and USC would have won in a Blow Out if Paige didn't play. However Ju Ju outplayed Paige in all facets of the game. Paige was 2-8 on three point shots (9-22 overall shooting) and only had 3 Rebounds and 2 Assists. Many of her 3's were wide open. I thought down the stretch she took an ill advised three that wasn't in the flow of the offense. Now if it went it, it would have been a clutch shot. That is not POY Stats in a Game this big. Injuries have taken the toll on Paige. She's not the same player she was as a Freshmen.
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Good thing she has a lot more games.
 
Wbbfan1 said:
Won't be a Popular Opinion, but like the Notre Dame game this game shows that Paige should not be in serious consideration for Player of the Year. Yes, she scored 22 Points and USC would have won in a Blow Out if Paige didn't play. However Ju Ju outplayed Paige in all facets of the game. Paige was 2-8 on three point shots (9-22 overall shooting) and only had 3 Rebounds and 2 Assists. Many of her 3's were wide open. I thought down the stretch she took an ill advised three that wasn't in the flow of the offense. Now if it went it, it would have been a clutch shot. That is not POY Stats in a Game this big. Injuries have taken the toll on Paige. She's not the same player she was as a Freshmen.
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Love Paige. But she is out for now. A 40 point performance in a win over South Carolina and we can talk about her as a potential candidate again; but for now… that discussion should be dead imo.
 
How quickly people forget. When USC lost to Notre Dame recently, USC was 1-13 from 3. Juju was 0-5. Was it the ND defense? Maybe a bit but I'm inclined to think they just weren't hitting. We had open threes tonight (And at ND) but just didn't hit a lot of them. That's the thing about threes. I don't think Geno will fret about the threes as much as he will be bothered by the missed free throws.
 
Wbbfan1 said:
That is not POY Stats in a Game this big. Injuries have taken the toll on Paige. She's not the same player she was as a Freshmen.
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It's still a long season. Hidalgo now leader in clubhouse, followed by JuJu then Paige, but each will have some bad games.

To be fair Paige was a big part of the comeback, as her shooting came back from awful first half.

Both HH and JJ will be expected to lead their teams to league titles. ND has a pretty clear path, but USC has to deal with UCLA.
 
Surly1 said:
Unfortunately, there was no carryover from the Iowa St on offense tonight. As hot as the team was against ISU, they started the game ice cold. Wasn't the best effort in the first half, but give USC & JuJu credit for being prepared and ready to play from the opening tip.

I wasn't a fan of having Paige guard JuJu. She is a strong, physical player that really makes you work on defense. I think it took a lot out of Paige on offense as she was off & short on her shots most of the evening.

However, happy to see the fight from UConn in the second half, and KK brought a lot of the energy & tenacity. It's easy to forget that in the last minutes of the game, UConn had Paige, a transfer, a soph and 2 freshmen on the floor. Obviously, it wasn't a win, but this loss hopefully prepares the team for later contests against SC and UT, and more importantly, tournament time.
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Speaking of the opening tip, starting Ice makes it tough for the guards to get free for a clear three. I don’t know why, but Ice seems incapable of setting a solid pick for Paige (or anyone up top.) I wish she would not start.
 
uconnfan68 said:
Not if she has a say. If I recall, she really didn’t want to be a low post player during recruiting.
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She literally never said that. What she did say was that she’s going to play whatever position Geno wants her to play.
It just so happens that having her at the 5 and Paige going back to the power forward position, is the best lineup
 
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