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USF Postgame Thread

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Some thoughts on the USF game:
  • A step up in competition today for the Huskies against Geno’s golfing buddy and the USF Bulls, who always compete hard and play smart.
  • I love to watch the Huskies storm out of the gate, go up 7-0 and force USF to call their 1st timeout less than 2 minutes into the game.
  • Evidently Geno trusts Paige and Kaitlyn, his two 5th year players, leaving both on the floor in the 1st half with 2 fouls apiece.
  • Interesting that Morgan got the call off the bench ahead of Q, once again draining her 1st shot, a corner 3, as well as her 2nd shot, another 3.
  • It’s hard to fathom that Sarah is just a freshman. She does so many little things on the court to help this team win: boxing out, jumping passing lanes, setting screens, leading the break, dropping dimes in traffic and so on. Sarah has one serious basketball IQ.
  • You just get the feeling that Paige can take the ball and score anytime she wants to. In addition, Paige is really working well off the ball, with Sarah, Kaitlyn and others getting very comfortable finding Paige both inside and out. Today she scored 22 pts on only 10 shots, in just 28 minutes on the floor. :cool:
  • Ashlynn’s sophomore leap is more like a triple jump. Everything about her game is better than last season when she was only the BEFOY.
  • The Huskies shot an incredible 66.7% from the floor. Ice and the Great Pyramid were a combined 7/9. :)
  • Bring on the Heels!!!
 
Paige scored a ton (22 points on 9-10 shooting) and made plays all over the court in the first half. But she played too much. Sarah and Ice and Ash played really well, but the halfcourt offense still bogged down at times. Fortunately, USF got tired in the second half and our youngsters practically ran them off the court in one stretch of the 3rd quarter, and that was the end of the game.

One classic moment in a pre-free-throw huddle: Jana stretched her arms around the entire team and pulled them all close. She will be the shelter for all of them eventually.

Another classic moment, at the end of the 3rd after Ash had engineered the blowout: Paige met Ash as she came off the court to give her a congratulatory hug. Ash’s face lit up. That’s a mentor.

Thankfully, the 4th quarter belonged to the youngsters – Paige Ash and Sarah sat down. Morgan got 15 minutes and was all energy. And Jana plays really hard. The stats don’t capture all the work she does. Same with Ice. This game was a confidence builder for both of them.

In these early games, the ones who sit out the 4th quarter are the indispensable players. Tonight it was Paige Ash and Sarah. This is practically their case for major rotation minutes for the rest of the season. I don't know if Ash will start once Azzi returns. But she will be on the court in the important passages.
 
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-The Huskies are now 34-0 against the Bulls. Jose Fernandez is a good man and coach but also must be a glutton for punishment. lol

-He has good team this year though. Hard to imagine that there is a better team in their conference. A great early test for UConn.

-Paige may put up Caitlin Clark scoring numbers this year. The difference will be the variety of ways that Paige can score. Her post up game is almost unfair.

-Chen struggled some but her ability to penetrate and finish or pass to open shooters will take heat off Paige. Plus, she isn’t as good as KK as an on the ball defender but it is close.

-It only took me two games to start taking it for granted how good Sarah Strong is (tongue in cheek).

-The four guard look surfaced again. Was surprised how well it looked considering that USF appeared to have a size advantage.

-Shade had a a quiet first half offensively but had a fabulous second half. She gave Puisis fits defensively. I think Geno trusts her almost as much as he trusts Paige.

-It is amazing how much better the posts look in just a short time.

-A great win against a typically well coached Bulls team.
 
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Notes:

Paige is Paige. 90% from the floor.

Chen's decision making seemed a bit rushed. Allie was open and yet Chen was still pivoting around below. A few other questionable passes as well. That'll improve as the season goes on. She is great at finding the open lane and the closeup jumper.

Morgan had 15 ish minutes and made the most of them. Love her energy on the boards. I think she was on the floor at least 4 times fighting for the rebound. Also made some nice shots.

Sarah is unreal for a freshman. Positioned for rebounds, steals, fast breaks, elite passing, still working on that 3, but once it develops more...

Jana was good. Not as good as she was last game, but she had some nice post moves, like that hook shot in the 1st half.

Ash lit up the second half. Midrange is pure. And of course the fast breaks she was getting every other possession.

Ice earned that starting spot tonight. Finally made some moves in the post rather than the outside. Good fight for boards as well.

Takeaways:

Way too much baseline driving- caused TOs and steals from USF.

I find it hard to believe anyone is taking Ash's spot in the starting five. She's infinitely better than she was last year, and she was already pretty damn good last year.

Paige's whistle is truly non existent. There are closeup clips of her arms getting hacked while slashing to the basket, or just being whacked in the shoulder on a lay in. But hey, nobody can call her a free throw merchant at least.

With UNC, our defense on the perimeter needs to be top notch. Donarski can be a lights out 3 point shooter when she's hot. We also need to stay out of foul trouble down below, now that they have Gakdeng, Thomas, and Toomey available. They combined for 21 rebounds. Ustby is also a huge foul drawer.
 
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IMG_3291.jpeg
 
There are really no negatives today. I actually think South Florida is better than most teams in the big east.

I don’t have Morgan as a shooter. So her being 3/3 from behind the arc this year. I don’t know what to make of that. I would say she has earned some more minutes.

What do you guys think of Morgan and Ziebell coming into the game before Q? Was Geno just looking to squeeze them in because they are new players? Can anything be gleamed from that?
 
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Good hard fought game. USF as usual tried very hard to compete, but to no avail.This is the games of the future. 20 points off the bench as the freshmen make their mark for Uconn Ashlynn again proving last year was no fluke, This year she will be SO much better. 15 points, 2 RBs, 2steals for scores and no fouls and no turnovers. JANA was effective with rebounds and scoring. The Newbies participated in the game with a plus. This is our year! GO FRESHMEN!!! GO SOPHPMORES!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!
 
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Paige is pure All-American plus..
Strong is impressing the heck out of everyone and Shade is playing like a veteran. Great team play today.
One thing I did notice as a delightful change: Late in or during the 4th quarter was usually garbage time if we had a big lead, but not anymore. The talent on the bench is really good, and we have not seen the great flock of injured players come back yet.
 
Through 2 games, 9/10 players are shooting 57.9% or better from the field. Insanity! Q is down at 30%. This team is filled with shooters and the offense has been generating great looks. That’s a great sign.

The Paige during the first 20 minutes is the Paige we love to see. Aggressive and assertive.

Sarah continues to impress me. She’s outstanding passing the ball, solid defensively, quick, smart, and strong. I’m incredibly impressed with her skills and have nothing but praise.

Loving the dynamic Jana brings. She’s that strong post we’ve been searching for and she’s my X factor at this point. She can be pivotal to the success of this squad.

Great win, and great atmosphere at Gampel. Excited to see this team against another step up in competition against UNC.
 
Stagnant said:
There are really no negatives today. I actually think South Florida is better than most teams in the big east.

I don’t have Morgan as a shooter. So her being 3/3 from behind the arc this year. I don’t know what to make of that. I would say she has earned some more minutes.

What do you guys think of Morgan and Ziebell coming into the game before Q? Was Geno just looking to squeeze them in because they are new players? Can anything be gleamed from that?
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Jose' has been reported in Florida press that this may be his best team ever. It'll be fun to watch how they progress through the season.

On the Q question, off one game no. Several games it becomes a fair question what's going on.
 
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I was looking for Brady, Chen and Arnold to get going today. I am pleased there was progress. These are some of the players who have to step up when Bueckers is not on the floor. Hopefully, they will continue to figure out how to keep the ball moving and allow ChelI and Ziebell to get open shots. El Alfy will also get better with more playing time.

All in all, a good game. If we can get all 10 players contributing consistently, this team will be hard to beat.
 
Little things like Sarah is surprising quick to the hoop and great hands on both ends of the court
Jana with post moves and drives to the hoop.
Paige is looking like Akeem
Defense Defense is why will will get the final 4, We are good at defense
The reason Ash is on the floor is as other have said she rarely does anything wrong
Ice Played better
Allie is pretty good defender and didnt force anything and made a very nice lefty shot
Morgan so far a 3 point bucket machine and a good rebounder
Q got the least minutes for two straight games and did exactly what Geno doesnt want today but I still think she could be really good
 
Random thoughts:

-Q was not in until pretty late... after most (all?) of the freshman and you sort of can see why...she had trouble staying in front of her man (sic) and was not very inventive or accurate in her shots...KK came in pretty late too, but was aggressive as could be...She's competing for minutes...made a great impression...everyone is.

-Ice played a lot better...does not have the greatest hands but I thought she seemed much more confident and played well...

-Jana is a very special player....makes moves that 2nd/ 3rd year center still struggle with...Her folks back in Egypt taught her the full repertoire of post moves
She is going to be handful for the country.

-There was a moment in the 2nd half when Geno took Paige out and the question was...who is going to take over and give the team the leadership it requires and that person was Shade...She was magnificent..

Must be fun for Geno this season...And with Azzi returning soon...what a job minute distribution will be...So many good players.
 
Brady really took a step forward and I thought Ash's defense took a step forward.

I thought Chen got exposed today. Way too much dribbling and fouling without enough creating. She's an ivy league graduate so I'm sure she'll see the errors on film and get better.

Back to the old Q unfortunately. Her lack of strength and defensive challenges were exposed.

Happy for Cheli.

I watched Duke today and I'll take Sarah over Toby every day. Seeing them on the same day really showed the difference in maturity at this point in their careers.
 
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