Villanova post game thread

[MilfordHusky]

That was ugly and disappointing. I thought we might have moments of being flat, but not 30 minutes worth. Only 2 players were offensive threats, and they were really good. Rebounding was very poor.

We were down by 22-7. We need to figure out how to start better, especially at home.

I can't imagine how difficult it is to play with a different lineup on no notice. I was hoping we'd have Carol and expected to have Liv. For sure, they would have made a difference.

Regarding the next game, DePaul will be competitive. We'll need Liv and/or Carol back, or else the consecutive loss streak could go by the wayside, just as the conference streak did.

This team could be really good when everyone is healthy. But we need 3-4 players to be really good when we are playing a solid team.

Let's see what tomorrow's NCAA reveal shows. I'm afraid we may be in Spokane. As a 3 seed.

On the positive side, Christyn was excellent on the offensive end and shot the ball great from distance. For the folks who hadn't seen it before, you got to see more of Azzi's repertoire--3-pointers, midrange, layups, and FTs. Maybe she needs to shoot even more.

 

[Jingo]

View attachment 73145 Disappointing game. Olivia’s absence ( her rebounding in particular) was the difference between winning and losing. She is not only was a rebounder but her points and assists made her an essential part of the team’s success. I will end with a quotation above by Churchill that Geno has used recently.

I have said before that Liv is the anchor of our defense - rebounds, blocks & intimidation - and, from the high post, the hub of our offense - assists, screens, & pick-n-rolls. She is overlooked by many duffers who only look at points. Tonight's game vs Villanova clearly showed how indispensable she is, eh? She is the 'sine qua non' of Huskyland!

 

[TeamFirst!]

Christyn is a striving young woman doing her best. It's not easy living with her expectations at uconn. It seems no matter what she does someone will still crap on it. She had a great game today, as did Azzi. Two champions in my book.

 

[TeamFirst!]

All the sudden we are a great 3 point shooting team. I love it.

 

[jdote33]

CW"s quote is interesting. it sort of reminds me of the we underestimated AZ quote. idk. It's cool she took responsibility and I do think this is a good wakeup call for the team. They have been resilient all season, but I don't think they can have the mindset that the only reason they lose is because of health. They still got a target on their back and their a lot of good teams across the country.

I didn't see Dorka limp as people are saying. She did not play well in today's game and the team was definitely missing an inside presence.

 

[tchalla1]

Some nimrod said there was no leadership. I hope he heard Christyn’s press conference

True, an important aspect of leadership is taking responsibility--but leadership also is providing guidance and direction during the storm and I personally didn't see much of that tonight--except from Paige...

 

[TeamFirst!]

Azzi's not bad at creating her own shot. She's just so precise about it people don't see it happening.

 

[npignatjr]

Let's hope every seat is FILLED Friday. Show up. The empty seats tonight glaring.

 

[dtbtbtb]

Few thoughts:
*Villanova absolutely deserved to win this game! They played smart, hard, with amazing understanding of fundamentals with suffocating defense. They clearly followed the scout for what are the strength and weakness of the different UConn players.
*Our 2 post players had a total of 2 rebounds (1 for each of them). How can you win?
*There is no excuse for a small, not very athletic team to out rebound UConn. The one sequence where Maddi S. short the ball from one side of the basket, missed and rebounded the ball on the other side of the basket was inexplicable (and that only because E didn't go to the ball to catch the rebound and was waiting for it)
*DJ seems to be injured...
*Have to admire the fight of CW...she gave everything in this game to try to will the team and her taking the responsibility for the loss, while honorable, is not correct. She was the reason UConn had any kind of offense in this game (together with Azzi).
*Azzi is an amazing player and got superstardom written all over her! She is so cool under pressure and does the right basketball moves. I just do not understand why the team doesn't have more screens for her...she could have scored 40 in this game if she just would have gotten some more screens.
*AE fought hard but she should not fall in love with the outside shot as she does not (at this point) have a reliable outside shot.
*With the sorry state of the posts in this game without ONO, the lack of progress of AD is magnified. At this point of the season she should be in a position to get 5-10 min. in a game where ONO is out and the 2 posts are not performing.
*This game as well highlighted the value of ONO to the team both on defense and as a facilitator on offense. I'm sure that Azzi could have gotten the ball for that easy layup if ONO had the ball.
*Very short turnaround to DePaul and hopefully ONO and CD can play as if not, Morrow is going to eat AW and DJ for dinner....and DePaul got more tools than Villanova.

 

[boontonbomber]

A nice push at the end dispite wasting way too many seconds. The rest of the game...oh well, you saw it just like I did. Clearly Villanova is better than UConn if they are spotted 3 starters. Which isn't to say that Nova isn't a pretty good team, which they are.

Now for some venting, not against UConn but rather against the technology boogie man. I get SNY via Roku/Fox Sports. A couple of times early in the first quarter the feed would stop and take 10 or so seconds to get back to the game. Then it was fine until the last couple of minutes in the game, at which point the feed was lost three times including the last 20 seconds of the game. I don't ask for much in life but damn it, don't be messing with my UConn games!

 

[ccwarrior]

CW"s quote is interesting. it sort of reminds me of the we underestimated AZ quote. idk. It's cool she took responsibility and I do think this is a good wakeup call for the team. They have been resilient all season, but I don't think they can have the mindset that the only reason they lose is because of health. They still got a target on their back and their a lot of good teams across the country.

I didn't see Dorka limp as people are saying. She did not play well in today's game and the team was definitely missing an inside presence.

I appreciate her saying it as well, but I think people have been expecting it from the seniors for a few years. It was the lack effort for most of the game that was depressing.

 

[Littlemin]

True, an important aspect of leadership is taking responsibility--but leadership also is providing guidance and direction during the storm and I personally didn't see much of that tonight--except from Paige...

You don‘t hang tough through the adversity of losing Ono at game time, playing poorly against a team playing well, falling into a deep hole but fighting back when the game seems hopelessly lost without leadership. Sometimes you just lose to a better team that night, and that’s exactly what happened, nothing more, nothing less.

 

[boontonbomber]

Gotta say don't understand not changing up the defense, and applying pressure sooner. Of course there were people with a few fouls, but when you're down double-digits seems like you better do something different. Nothing different for 3+ quarters. 'Nova loved it.

 

[hoopsfan22]

They lost by 3 points. This was the closest of the five losses.

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Blueballer]

On the flip side of the coin this is what the Big East hoped for when UCONN came back. That their presence would elevate the play and the other programs. I thought Denise Dillon was a good choice to take over there. A player for Harry she will keep his philosophy alive. With the exception of the last couple of minutes this must have been their best or one of their best games of the year. Lots of physicality & hustle, smart plays, and making a lot of shots. We always get other teams best efforts. Nova did deserve to win.

 

[uconnfan68]

They lost by 3 points. This was the closest of the five losses.

Biggest 3 point blowout I’ve ever seen.

 

[HuskyNan]

Gotta say don't understand not changing up the defense, and applying pressure sooner. Of course there were people with a few fouls, but when you're down double-digits seems like you better do something different. Nothing different for 3+ quarters. 'Nova loved it.

The Huskies didn’t have enough players to press or play man for long. Fatigue was an issue

 

[hoopsfan22]

Gotta say don't understand not changing up the defense, and applying pressure sooner. Of course there were people with a few fouls, but when you're down double-digits seems like you better do something different. Nothing different for 3+ quarters.

When there was 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, they needed to start playing like it was 3 minutes left in the game. They had Villanova rattled in the final few minutes of the game, and if they could have started that even just a minute or two sooner the outcome may have been different because Villanova couldn't hit FTs or stop Azzi. We just ran out of time.

 

[BobbyJ]

CW: "This was on me, I apologized to my teammates, and it won't happen again going forward."

She's wrong. Auriemma always claims that he doesn't coach effort. And no player should have to police it. At this level of competition, if a player can't be ready to go 100%, they don't belong there.

 

[jchusky]

stat of the night. Someone in the chat mentioned who would replace Olivia if she left this season, honestly might be a good question. I don't know her natural position but I assume Patterson would help out.

 

[rvwsleep]

Does anyone else wonder why, in a game we are short of players and are getting out rebounded badly, DeBerry can't get even a minute's playing time ?