USF thoughts

[RichZ]

OK, it was USF. Playing them lets the guys know what life is like for the UConn Women's team. Be that as it may...

1. Thought it was funny at the beginning of the game, the ref spent all that time getting the two centers positioned and repositioned so neither had an advantage, then Cousins didn't even jump.
2. Amida played pretty well. I'm not talking about the dunks and blocks. His defensive positioning was leaps and bounds better than earlier this year, and on several occasions, he purposefully and forcefully blocked out on the boards, too. Plus, he usually caught the ball.
3. Enoch also played well. I suspect he got the minutes he did because we were playing against a team that, you know, kind of sux. Still, he got to play against a similar sized, and reasonably skilled big, and showed good offensive presence, was only badly out of position a couple times on D, and he does know how to box out at least as well as any of our other bigs.
4. Hamilton only took 5 shots and scored 4 points? Of course there was the matter of 8 boards, 9 assists and a couple steals.
5. Appreciated Gibbs' 3s last night, but would be perfectly happy if he never drove the lane again. Did he and Rodney go to the same school of driving to the hoop in traffic? No jukes, no moves, no english. Head down, straight to the left side of the board and lead with your shoulder.
6. Adams is the polar opposite. Every trip into the lane is full of moves designed to find a clear shot at the rim, even if the shot itself needs to be a little circusy to go in. One or two of his drives of late have almost looked a little Pearl Monroe-ish. That kind of ability will be fun to watch as he progresses. I did however get the feeling that the last 6 minutes or so of the game, when he put on his little scoring run, there was a bit of "I've got to get mine" going on.
7. When Shonn took a charge early, the announcer said he leads the team in taking charges. Really? I would have bet money on Phil. It's not like the kind of stat you can just look up, so unless he just made it up, I would guess it came from the staff. Shonn definitely leads the team in heady interior play though.
8. The graphic of the night -- with about 4:30 to go in the first half, it said UConn 7 Assists/USF 3 FG. Just let that sink in for a while and enjoy the warm fuzzies. I don't care if it was against Saint Adele's Sisters of the Poor and Feeble, that's an impressive stat. For what it's worth, for the night, we had 21 assists to their 14 FG.
9. In the 2nd half, they weren't playing against USF as much as they were playing against the ghost of collapses past. He tried to sneak in there, but after a timely KO time out, they seemed to have sent him home.
10. When Rodney hit threes on 4 consecutive possessions beginning at about the 13 minute mark in the 2nd half, I thought he was going to keep chucking, but his next touch was a great assist to Steven.
11. All in all, it was a nice effort, and a fun diversion. I enjoyed the play of the two freshmen, because they help point the way to a bright future. I enjoyed seeing Brimah play well again without the tape. And I liked seeing the team having fun -- especially in the 2nd half. 2nd halves have been very trying for them of late.