USF Game Thread

[HuskyNan]

Ok, not arguing at this point. Will say that KLS is not averaging 6 rebounds a game. You put in Williams' number.

Whatever.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Whatever.

That's what I thought when you decided to make the subject overall play when my only comment during the game was that I wished Samuelson was shooting like SF's freshmen.

 

[Blueballer]

That's what I thought when you decided to make the subject overall play when my only comment during the game was that I wished Samuelson was shooting like SF's freshmen.

But that's the point - you focus on the negative.

 

[chrissaran]

Geno seems to have a quick hook on Napheesa lately, and has played Katie Lou more in key moments. Here's to hoping the both keep improving, along with Natalie, which gives us the best chance of winning this year and hope for next year.

 

[Baroloboy]

Rebecca Lobo said she thought SC could beat Uconn. Here is why she may be right. Against a USF team without Jenkins Uconn shot FT% 44.6. Allowed USF to shoot 46.2 % from beyond the arc. Had 3 more turnovers than USF and 2 less steals. When as the last time that happened.. Had more fouls than USF. When did that ever happen.? And Uconn could not slow down, much less shut down CW. Yes Morgan was great but if we are honest this was a sub-par performance and Geno is going to have heartburn. If we play like this against SC we are going to have our hands full.

 

[FairView]

I enjoyed the game.
I liked being nervous yet confident.
I reveled in the team's offensive improvement as the game went on.
UConn won by a bunch.
Hooray for us!

 

[donalddoowop]

Butler didn't play because Geno knew he had to have mobile defenders who could match up with Williams and Laksa on switches. Not much more to read into her lack of PT. The USF bigs were no factor.

However, her presence could have taken some pressure off Stewart and UCONN may have scored even more inside..

 

[Sluconn Husky]

But that's the point - you focus on the negative.

Well then so does Geno.

Nurse and Tuck were great in the second half. There's my positive comment for the day.

 

[donalddoowop]

Rebecca Lobo said she thought SC could beat Uconn. Here is why she may be right. Against a USF team without Jenkins Uconn shot FT% 44.6. Allowed USF to shoot 46.2 % from beyond the arc. Had 3 more turnovers than USF and 2 less steals. When as the last time that happened.. Had more fouls than USF. When did that ever happen.? And Uconn could not slow down, much less shut down CW. Yes Morgan was great but if we are honest this was a sub-par performance and Geno is going to have heartburn. If we play like this against SC we are going to have our hands full.

I don't remember UCONN missing over 50% of their free throws in this game.

 

[Blueballer]

Well then so does Geno.

Nurse and Tuck were great in the second half. There's my positive comment for the day.

He does, that's his job and he's good at it. As for us ..... I thought the "team" was great in the second half.

Mighty big of you to throw two players a bone.

 

[HuskyNan]

Rebecca Lobo said she thought SC could beat Uconn. Here is why she may be right. Against a USF team without Jenkins Uconn shot FT% 44.6. Allowed USF to shoot 46.2 % from beyond the arc. Had 3 more turnovers than USF and 2 less steals. When as the last time that happened.. Had more fouls than USF. When did that ever happen.? And Uconn could not slow down, much less shut down CW. Yes Morgan was great but if we are honest this was a sub-par performance and Geno is going to have heartburn.

The Bulls are the closest to making something dramatic happen against the 10-time national champion, who came into Sunday's game at the Sun Dome 45-0 in conference play in AAC history

"It was a really well-played game between two teams," coach Geno Auriemma said.

Hartford Courant

“We’ve been coming down here a long time and every time we come down here Jose (Fernandez) has a better team each time,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said. “It’s unfortunate that they weren’t at full strength today. I thought the environment was great, the crowd was fabulous and I think both teams played really well.”

The full quote from the USF website

 

[Kaizen]

Rebecca Lobo said she thought SC could beat Uconn. Here is why she may be right. Against a USF team without Jenkins Uconn shot FT% 44.6. Allowed USF to shoot 46.2 % from beyond the arc. Had 3 more turnovers than USF and 2 less steals. When as the last time that happened.. Had more fouls than USF. When did that ever happen.? And Uconn could not slow down, much less shut down CW. Yes Morgan was great but if we are honest this was a sub-par performance and Geno is going to have heartburn. If we play like this against SC we are going to have our hands full.

They said the same thing last year until we beat USCr badly.
Any team have a good mood and bad mood times. At bad mood , you may not play perfectly. But UConn is a great team who can recover from the bad mood and win the game. That is important for a great team.

 

[UcMiami]

I REALLY wish we had a "don't like" button

Do what I do - give the post a 'Like', and then you can hit the 'UnLike' button.
It isn't quite as satisfying as a 'Don't Like' button, but it if you look at the persons 'likes received' count before you hit the 'Unlike' you get the added pleasure of seeing the counter going backwards!

If the post is particularly offensive, you can do it like ten times in a row and work off a little of your frustration. (Or you can do the like at the start of a day, and then hopefully after the person has already seen that they received a like, do the unlike lat at night so they wake up to fewer likes than then had the day before!!!)

 

[UcMiami]

KLS
7.9 ppg (40.4% FG%, 30.8% from three)
3.1 rpg
2.0 apg
0.8 spg
28 assists to 13 TOs = 2.2 A:TO
15 personal fouls

Kitija Laksa
12.1 ppg (40.5% FG%, 41.5% from three)
1.9 rpg
0.6 apg
0.5 spg
9 assists to 19 TOs = 0.5 A:TO
33 personal fouls

Kitija Laksa has shot the three ball better than Lou at this point in the season, but Katie Lou Samuelson is a better basketball player. That's been my point. And her defense on Laksa was stellar.

One really nice feature on the Bulls site is that they maintain a the cumulative stats for each game of the year. Laksa has just had two hot shooting games where she scored 47 points on 13 of 19 three point shots - that has raised her season stats to those listed above. Prior to these two games she was shooting .354/.333 - she looks like an interesting player and a good one, but ...
Moriah Jefferson had a six week stretch as a Sophomore where she was shooting around .750/.680 - she couldn't miss, but I and most others were wise enough not to think that that would continue for her career. (She had another hot stretch last year during which she shot a more modest .680/.650 as well.)

 

[Jimbo]

You mean the announcer in the arena was offering "Commentary" on the plays rather than just matter of factly reporting on who was called for a foul, who scored and the substitutions? I haven't been to a live game for a while but is this common now?

I don't get to attend many games anymore either, so I can only hope it's not that common. Even so, while extra commentary from a PA announcer is obnoxious as a general matter, having the announcer call out an opposing player for a perceived "dirty" play is just completely inappropriate. IMO if that's what happened here (and I have no reason to doubt chrissaran's account of it), the AAC or somebody ought to make clear to the gentleman in question that broadcasting his editorial criticisms of opposing players to everyone in the arena during the game is not acceptable.

 

[hoophuskee]

Rebecca Lobo said she thought SC could beat Uconn. Here is why she may be right. Against a USF team without Jenkins Uconn shot FT% 44.6. Allowed USF to shoot 46.2 % from beyond the arc. Had 3 more turnovers than USF and 2 less steals. When as the last time that happened.. Had more fouls than USF. When did that ever happen.? And Uconn could not slow down, much less shut down CW. Yes Morgan was great but if we are honest this was a sub-par performance and Geno is going to have heartburn. If we play like this against SC we are going to have our hands full.

I don't think it has anything to do with USF. When we were up by 21 - did you think we were going to lose? USF surrendered the perimeter and all but acknowledged if UCONN hit from the outside - they would be fine. USF wants to push the ball. If USC wants to use Coates they aren't going to run a lot to throw the ball back out and go bombs away from 3. The two teams and the two games will be completely different. USC is also going to attack the boards. That is "who they are," If they attack and don't get the rebound they will be more susceptible to a counter-attack.

USC should be better - they are playing at home. Their confidence is high. They have a lot of talent.

And - while they will be tough and you full- their hands will be full dealing with UCONN too.

I do think USC can win. But IMO Rebecca got it wrong. The key is USC's perimeter.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

He does, that's his job and he's good at it. As for us ..... I thought the "team" was great in the second half.

Mighty big of you to throw two players a bone.

Next time I won't compliment anyone, or maybe whoever you say it's okay to compliment. Sorry for the offense.

 

[Tonyc]

Hey guys we are 107-1. Not every game is a 20+ pt win. I didn't like some of the calls either but we won by double digits again in spite of all the things we did wrong that fans say we did. A couple of things and you can call them excuses. Mojeff Stewie Chong Butler and Tuck have all not been 100% over the past week or so. We are playing how many games on the road in how many days? It aint easy and we are still winning by double digits.

As for SC on Feb 8. I expect some terrible calls and I expect UConn to win by double digits. UConn will handle SC inefficient 3 pt shooting and bottle up down low. This game could be close for a while but when the final buzzer sounds it will be UConn by double digits and I believe by more then 15. SC does not score a lot of points and UConn is to quick for SC to keep them for scoring a lot of points. We will go undefeated this season and win another NC. Relax and stay positive.

 

[HuskyNan]

What exactly was the point of playing Butler and Ekmark wit 11 seconds left in the game ?

Geno took them out so the large contingent of UConn fans could show its appreciation for the way they played.

 

[cabbie191]

She was SOOOO excited after USF's 3 to make it 11-4. Gag me

C'mon - give the announcers a break. I know it was very early in the game but at this time in the contest, the score was totally unexpected. Possible upset in the offering.

Any announcer is going to get excited at the prospect of a huge upset. Doesn't matter the sport. You got the same reaction from the NFL broadcast crew when the Dolphins beat the Patriots.

I was only successful in recording the first half of the game but during that time period, I don't recall Peck saying anything that was disparaging of the Huskies. She stated they are the best team in the country and added that this is for a good reason.

Do I think Peck is a particularly good announcer? No - rarely good insights and sometimes factual mistakes. But I think the tone of the complaints about her, particularly being biased against UConn, is not something I am observing.

 

[huskyd]

Nice win UCONN! This will only make us better and smarter moving on.

On a side note, I am sick and tired of seeing Stewie getting mauled in the paint. Give her credit for her keeping her mind in the game and not losing it. Geno as well. The best player in the game and she gets banged up on almost every offensive set. Disgusting, IMO

Excellent point, Kevin. I have repeatedly said that Stewart takes a beating because of the lack of interior help (ie, a true center). Now, with Butler, things should improve and free Bre up to roam a bit. But Natalie didn't play on Sunday; I'm not sure why. USF was collapsing its defense in the post, leaving the perimeter open and daring the Huskies to shoot 3's (relatively low % shots). Stewart was bottled up for the most part. And, as you wrote, banged around too much. Yet I've never heard Bre complain about the punishment. Instead, she's said she'd be surprised not to be man-handled in a game. Much as we appreciate her, it isn't nearly enough.

 

[j66kicker]

C'mon - give the announcers a break. I know it was very early in the game but at this time in the contest, the score was totally unexpected. Possible upset in the offering.

1) Do I think Peck is a particularly good announcer? No - rarely good insights and sometimes factual mistakes.

2) But I think the tone of the complaints about her, particularly being biased against UConn, is not something I am observing.

1) She can hardly even talk. Replay the post-game interview with Morgan to see what I mean.

2) She hates us. It IS something I'm observing over a long period of time. I can feel the loathing oozing out of the TV (sorry Frank Z, R.I.P.). The Patriots-Dolphins announcers showed professional excitement, but Carolyn sounded like she had just won Powerball and jumped clear out of her seat with uncontrollable personal joy.

Just my unscientific, non-objective observations....

 

[chrissaran]

First, if you're going to criticize a player, learn to type your response correctly. Maybe you haven't been watching, but Katie Lou has been playing at important times during the games. Against Houston, UConn made their run with Katie Lou on the floor. Morgan didn't play, and Breanna was on the bench. The five on the floor played extremely well. Also, who was on the floor in the fourth quarter last night? Again Katie Lou. No, they didn't win because of her, but she's finding her shot and was one of three players to hit a three in the deciding fourth quarter when they closed the Bulls out. Maybe before you criticize, you should know what you're talking about.

 

[chrissaran]

Just thought. I'd mention that during the game, I noticed on several occasions Uconn had players wide open under the basket. Gabby was begging for the ball at least twice but nobody could find her.

See my post above. I was at the game, and there were too many instances where open players were not passed the ball. That's something they can work on and correct.

 

[Baroloboy]

I don't think it has anything to do with USF. When we were up by 21 - did you think we were going to lose? USF surrendered the perimeter and all but acknowledged if UCONN hit from the outside - they would be fine. USF wants to push the ball. If USC wants to use Coates they aren't going to run a lot to throw the ball back out and go bombs away from 3. The two teams and the two games will be completely different. USC is also going to attack the boards. That is "who they are," If they attack and don't get the rebound they will be more susceptible to a counter-attack.

USC should be better - they are playing at home. Their confidence is high. They have a lot of talent.

And - while they will be tough and you full- their hands will be full dealing with UCONN too.

I do think USC can win. But IMO Rebecca got it wrong. The key is USC's perimeter.

Agree SC will be a very different game. Dawn is a terrific coach and will the right strategy to maximize the chances for her team to win but Geno will too. Both will know exactly what the other team will be trying to do. So, if both teams bring their A game we win. If both bring their B games we win. If SC brings their A game and we bring our B game???