Vermont Postgame Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Vermont Postgame Thread

Ducharme was perfect from the field and did a great supporting role so the team could keep pressing.
It also seemed to me she was moving quicker on defense. She gave some good positive signs that maybe she is getting back to last year's form. Azzi looked good physically too, but other than the obvious rust with the shot, I think she was tentative looking for her own shot, maybe not confident in her shot off the dribble or attaching the rim. She penetrated pretty easily but then was looking to pass instead of score herself. I think it's coming but she is not there yet.
 
Great team win. Our bigs had a feast against the smaller opponents. Caroline had her best game in quite some time, great to see. Especially given the next paragraph of my post.

Hoping Lou is ok. Also noticed that Aubrey only played 6 minutes. Hope she isn’t suffering too much with back spasms.

1 game down!
During CD’s post game interview with Bob Joyce she stated that AG’s back tightened up.
 
This was the game I was looking for from UConn. Some highlights:

10 assists from Nika, but 11 from the starting front court. The same front court that had 43 points. I'm not sure there's another team that could get 10 assists from the point guard AND the front court.

Geez, what a job from the bench! 12-19 from the field; 29 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, a block (from the shortest player on the team); 3 turnovers, and ONE foul (and it wasn't Patterson). Ducharme looked really good, not tentative at all, seems to have found her shot. Patterson looked like she belongs out there, and I just love Ines. She's still finding her way, but she's fast, strong, and has a huge heart.
 
27 AST was nice and both Nika and Caroline had a couple of no look beauties.

We are so complete right now. Awesome!
Nice to see everyone healthy but we will be more complete when Azzie finds / regains her shooting touch. So glad to see her moving so well but 2 for 10 from the floor and 1 for 8 on 3s is not her game. She will be much needed vs tougher competition.
A shout out to Vermont: a gutsy Team that when it relaxed could really shoot the 3's. Good job! Vermont.
Agree and they had to sit a couple starters early with foul trouble. They did themselves proud.
Me thinks she is winded, she plays very hard on defense and doesn't have her game legs or lungs, yet!
A very good point as she is always on the go both on offense and defense and the shot starts with the legs.
 
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Dont worry about Azzi It will come just be patient. She needs time and thats all. The good thing is shes shooting and looking for her shot and not afraid to take it
So here's my two cents. All 3 point shooters, including Azzi, when looking for their shot, should move in, shoot from closer, get comfortable, then go back to the 3 point line. Nothing gives you confidence like watching your shot go in. And we know Azzi has a great mid range shot. The more she misses from three, the more it gets in her head, the more she thinks about it, the worse it gets.

So, after that unsolicited advice, Azzi will probably go 7 for 7 next game. Hopefully
 
The best shooter in the world, Steph Curry, said that Fudd is the third best (behind him and Klay). I'm not all all worried about her shots starting to fall.
Except Azzi is still a teenager, coming off extended injury, not a professional ( yet).
 
Vermont was never in this game.

what most of us expected to see against a vastly over-matched opponent.

Vermont is not in UConn's class, which is probably why Geno doesn't schedule them in his OOC lineup.
Did you get a speeding ticket in Vermont? They played hard, made some shots, never got chippy. It's what you get in a 2/15 game. No reason for us to kick them while they're down.
 
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I thought Caroline looked like she was back today. She moved well, she hit all her shots and made some good passes. I don't recall a game where her and Azzi both played good this year. If they get that in the last 5 games it makes them that much tougher to beat. I also though Azzi did a good job running the offense when Nika came out of the game.

AE played an almost perfect game. Great great on offense and really was working on defense. When she is focused she is as good as their is in the country and she is the only person I have seen that can play Boston straight up.
 
Some Thoughts on the Vermont game:
  • For Vermont, a team making their first appearance in the Big Dance in 13 years, it’s probably a thrill to play the greatest program in the history of WBB on the big stage at the BASKETBALL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. For UConn, a team that’s made 14 straight FF’s and won 11 national championships, it’s simply GO TIME!!!
  • I had a feeling UConn would open up pressing Vermont, something we haven’t seen since early this season. Make no mistake, Geno wants to push tempo, cause opponents to rush, turn the ball over and score in transition. We will absolutely see more of UConn’s press as the tournament continues.
  • Aubrey is back and hopefully healthy, although she sat for the 2nd half...precautionary? She was moving well while absorbing a couple hard shots with no apparent problem when she played.
  • A lot of Huskies played well today, but Aaliyah & Dorka were everywhere, scoring, rebounding, dropping dimes, blocking shots and making steals.
  • The Huskies outrebounded the Catamounts by +24, dropped 27 dimes, shot 62%, while holding the Catamounts to only 33% shooting. Today, everybody played and EVERYBODY ATE!!!
  • So please explain to me why Aaliyah is only a 3rd team AA??? :confused:
  • Other than worrying about Lou’s balky knee and Aubrey's back, I suppose the one thing we all really need to see is for Azzi to start the game hot and stay hot the whole game. As the tournament goes on, the Huskies are going to need the Azzi Fudd who dropped back-to-back 32-point games against TX & NC St.
  • Survive and advance. Bring on the Bears or the Crimson Tide….:cool:
I would like to talk about Azzi. She actually played a pretty decent game of basketball. Handled the point when Nikka needed a rest, and moved well on defense. She passed well and earned a few open looks. However, at this moment, there are. probably 100 Division I guards who are more reliably hitting their three point shots. I know you will all say, " well she has to work her way back into her game, having missed so much basketball this season due to injury." And that is all true. However, the clock is running. This UCONN team needs Azzi to be exceptional. We need her to be the most reliable and consistent three point shooter in the country and we need it now. Having the smoothest shot in America is what she is known for. If we don't get it ( if she can't find it given the time lost ) we may not beat Baylor. They will find a way to limit our inside game ( which Vermont could not do ), and we are going to need a lot more from the guards. If Lou is hobbled; if Aubrey can't play, it will all fall to Azzi. (And Caroline).
 
I liked it. UConn did what UConn does with a Team that had10 days to regroup, relax and do whatever these young ladies do. The results showed and it looked like to me that it did not take much effort. Lou and Azzi saved themselves for a breakout 3's performance in the next game.

A shout out to Vermont: a gutsy Team that when it relaxed could really shoot the 3's. Good job! Vermont.
" Lou and Azzi saved themselves?" You make it sound as if it was their plan. Lou was injured and that limited her ability to create and execute shots. Azzi has not found her stroke. Right now, there are 100 guards in the Division I tournament who are having more success shooting threes than Azzi Fudd. And she is the best there is. But that particular talent has not yet re-emerged. And the clock is ticking. If those two are not going to be at the top of their games, we are going down. Lou has carried us all year. And we need Azzi to carry us now. She is an exceptional talent. And that is what UCONN needs right now.
 
If we don't get it ( if she can't find it given the time lost ) we may not beat Baylor. They will find a way to limit our inside game ( which Vermont could not do ), and we are going to need a lot more from the guards. If Lou is hobbled; if Aubrey can't play, it will all fall to Azzi. (And Caroline).
I understand the concern. But even given the worst case you describe I think we beat Baylor going away.
 
Dont worry about Azzi It will come just be patient. She needs time and thats all. The good thing is shes shooting and looking for her shot and not afraid to take it
Plus +1 here Tony, only because you can't +2.
 
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Gastronomic outburst. Ines, Deberry. Patterson. You cannot stop them. You can only hope to contain them.:)
So funny.
More press on the BY for our 3 bench players today- more so then AE.
I am really happy for them, but it may be the only time they get in this tournament.
Ayanna may get a few minutes in some games, but Geno had no confidence in them throughout the entire season. I know we are all excited today - but we need a healthy AE and Azzi getting her shot back to get where we want to go.
Geno will probably keep the rotation to 8 going forward and maybe 9 - but that’s it ..
 
We've got some really special guards coming in next year, but they are going to have to keep up with Ines to earn playing time. I hope to see more of her this post-season...mostly because we'll be ahead, but I do think that she'll shine in the future. Also just check the stats to see what Caroline did today in the amount of time she played. Keep your head up Caroline!
We have incredible talent coming in next year and it may be a challenge for Ines.
I know she will have a great experience being on a NC team
 
Great game overall. Excellent energy in the first half. A bit of a drop off in the second but that's to be expected. Would like to see Azzi catch fire. If that happens we 'll be a tough out. Should beat Baylor/Alabama but if OSU makes it through they'll be a difficult Sweet 16 game. Maybe our toughest in a long time. That being said I Love it! And I like our chances of making it back to the Final Four. Go Huskies!
 
There was a good crowd at the game. Not a lot of students though, although I expect quite a few on Monday night when they are all back from their break. It looked there were non-students in part of the section normally reserved for students.

It was also a little weird that the Vermont band was where the UConn band normally is and the UConn band was on the other end of the floor.

It was great to see UConn extending the defense full court. They have not been able to do that up until now due to the short bench. The defense was very intense although the few hoops that Vermont scored in the first quarter appeared to be due to defensive mixups on switches. As has been noted, we gave up too many threes throughout the game, that is probably the only blemish in an otherwise great showing.

I was watching Aubrey closely in warmups before the game and I thought she was moving a bit stiff. This was before she fell in the game.

Our passing was terrific today. Nika of course, but really everyone. Nika`s feeds into the post are simply remarkable, the post players are getting the ball in perfect position most of the time. Occasionally she will force one inside but I can live with that.

Aaliyah was totally dominant inside. She scored on drives, rebounds, jumpers, everything. She is playing at another level. They obviously had no answer. I could not understand why Vermont was allowing both Aaliyah and Dorka to drive to the right, almost like they were playing them to go left. They were just waltzing in uncontested much of the time.

Caroline was moving and playing far better than she was a couple of weeks ago. Good sign.

I think Ayanna is starting to put things together. She usually plays like she is holding her breath and I didn`t see that today.

Watched the first half of the second game. Even though Alabama was up pretty big, I figured that Baylor would probably win. I would have preferred to face Alabama but I am not concerned about Baylor. We do need to guard the three point line against them though, as they made 14 against Alabama. (They also gave up 14.)
 
In addition to solid practices, in the ten days b/w BET and NCAA R1 the team was able to tighten up and work on defense. I get that they won't be able to press as much vs better teams, however it was great to see today. Although there were a few breakdowns on switches, the team looked locked in. All those little errors will be fixed tomorrow at practice.
 
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