Villanova Postgame Thread

[Longtime fan]

It could be time the censors put up a pixelated area around her mouth, while cam is on her.

We do need AZZI, but I have about 5% confidence we will get her back full on healthy. Maybe we won't see her at all. I have long felt that surgery is lurking, but she ( and UCONN ) just cannot face it. And Caroline needs some easy games to get back right.

 

[topogigio]

Just got back from a brisk walk after the game. Needed time to "settle down" before I post. My take;
The game started with the refs calling everything real close, I thought "well, Geno got what he asked for."
After halftime, and especially in the 4th quarter there were brutal no calls on some brutal fouls by Villanova.
Very no quit, gritty performance for the Huskies, but we expect no less by now.
Lou is a superstar, as clutch a performer as there is. I have no problem with her taking as many shot as Seigrist.
Dorka had some clutch shots, rebounds, assists, and hustled throughout the game. I like her pump fake and drive, but darn, don't stop 10 feet from the basket. Take it to the hole strong like there is absolutely no one there, even if there is!
Hope Caroline is OK, she is going to be very valuable down the stretch, and into the tournament.
Doesn't Nika ever get tired?
Edwards made some very tough shots, and strong rebounds, but seems like her confidence is not what it was.
Aubrey needs to attack all the way to the rim, strong!
Turnovers are killing the team, Geno, and me!
A great overall win and with the Utah loss the other night, should be back in the top 4!

 

[CTinLA]

This was a really nice win! Even though the Huskies led almost the entire game, it felt like it could go either way up until the last 45 seconds. There were way too many turnovers, but the defensive effort was fantastic. As for the officiating, there has to be a happy medium between ‘let them play’ that means ‘let them get mauled’ and the whistles today for many tiny touches. At least there were bad calls and missed calls that went both ways. We got a bit lucky that Maddy missed some shots she usually makes, but huge credit to Aaliyah for her defense and for holding Maddy to 22 points. Getting it done took double-doubles by both Aaliyah and Dorka and a really good game from Lou, but we got it done. Great game!

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I don't like to complain about referees because I think they have a tough job that I could not do. But it seems that the past couple of games it apparently is not a foul to hit a UConn player in the face/head. Glad Aaliyah decided to wear that mask. And hoping Caroline is ok. I won't tell you what I yelled as I threw my pistachio shell at the tv, but it rhymed with duck.

And they finally realized that Siegrist does foul. She should have fouled out by my count.

 

[jaydee602]

I missed something completely near the end, Nika had the ball two players went at her, one of them seemed to hit her in the face. Announcers seemed to be saying jump ball tie up. Then with no explanation Villanova is shooting free throws. What happened?

It looked like three refs made three different calls. one ref called nothing since there was no possession. One ref inexplicably called a jump ball despite neither team having possession. The 3rd ref came charging in from midcourt & incorrectly called a foul on UCONN. For some reason, they deferred to the foul call.
This was a synoposis for the whole game with three refs calling the game differently and players trying to adjust to the disparity.

 

[cferraro04]

Something less than this was a penalty in the Super Bowl

Yeah...literally grabbing and impeding Lou's ability to move and no foul called.

 

[maple]

I don't like to complain about referees because I think they have a tough job that I could not do. But it seems that the past couple of games it apparently is not a foul to hit a UConn player in the face/head. Glad Aaliyah decided to wear that mask. And hoping Caroline is ok. I won't tell you what I yelled as I threw my pistachio shell at the tv, but it rhymed with duck.

The fact that AE traveled BECAUSE she got hit in the face .... Some choice words were also uttered in my house as well.

 

[jaydee602]

LOL....fans who don't follow UCONNmust think Geno hates Nika because he screams at her the whole game. They don't realize that Geno yelling at her is the only language Nika understands. She seems to embrace it!

 

[tkaes]

Few Thoughts:
*Great win for UConn which practically assured them the regular season championship! Villanova is a good team and winning against them on the road with that sell out hostile croud was great.
The refs in WBB sxck...all those ticky tack fouls they called and all the hard fouls they didn't call was hard to understand.
*Why is CD head such a magnet to be hit??? poor kid! there must be a for her to play with some kind of a soft helmet...
*Lou: what an amazing player! so cool under pressure
*AE: was waiting for the Edwards the AA to show up during the last few games. Still was not it but she was fighting hard, guarding Maddy S. and did a real good job on her (remember that Maddy had 50 and 39 points her last 2 games).
*Nika: our mad Husky you don't want to mess with Nika but when she complained very verbally (using some choice words), the refs were quick to give her a third foul...
*Those turnovers are just crazy...they make some brain fart mistakes that cost them in having way less opportunities to shoot.
*The strong defense is really keeping UConn in games.
*Azzi, we need you!!!



*

Disagree that Villanova is a good team. Nova is Siegrist and a bunch of others. They might be lucky to have won 5 or 6 BE games without her. In addition to 2 injured players on the bench who can dominate a game like #20, UCONN starts 5 players who individually are better than their match-up on Villanova.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

It looked like three refs made three different calls. one ref called nothing since there was no possession, one ref inexplicably called a jump ball sepite neither team having possession. The 3rd ref came charging in from midcourt & incorrectly called a foul on UCONN. For some reason, they deferred to the foul call.
This was a synoposis for the whole game with three refs calling the game differently and players trying to adjust to the disparity.

No because that would have been Nika’s fifth.

 

[Littlemin]

Well, a win is a win and this was a good win that positions UConn to move into the BE Tournament with a positive record. In this game, the only thing worse than UConn's shooting was Villanova. The UConn turnovers were just like they UConn wanted Nova to win. They gave Nova extra opportunities score. And the fouling, the play acting and referee calls made wife jump out of her chair and walk up the TV and scream language that I could not post on this board at the refs. And this is usually a very calm women.

When are they going to control the turnovers? Maybe the next game. Someday, someone is really going to eat UConn's shorts with these turnovers and it will all stop there for the rest of the season.

Funny thing is, Uconn is averaging virtually exactly the same TOs per game in their 4 losses as their 24 wins. Interestingly enough, the fewest amount of TOs in the 4 losses was against SC.

 

[jaydee602]

Disagree that Villanova is a good team. Nova is Siegrist and a bunch of others. They might be lucky to have won 5 or 6 BE games without her. In addition to 2 injured players on the bench who can dominate a game like #20, UCONN starts 5 players who individually are better than their match-up on Villanova.

Villanova is a well coached, top tier team. Lost in their defeat was their ability to hold UCONN under 60 points. They just faced a team that played better defense. And it was only a 2 point game with 4 minutes left.

 

[JoePgh]

From the box score on the UConn web site (not the ESPN box score), there were some notable and somewhat concerning stats:

• Most importantly, Villanova had 13 more field goal attempts than UConn. The turnover margin (as others have noted) was -13 (i.e., in favor of Villanova), but the offensive rebounding margin was +7 in favor of UConn. So those two stats would explain a margin of -6 (in favor of Villanova) in FGA's. But the actual margin is -13, which is hard to explain. Nonetheless, allowing an opponent 13 more FGA's in a game is something that Geno has to be concerned about. It resulted in both teams having the same number of made field goals (20) despite UConn's much higher shooting percentage.
• For all the complaints about the referees (most of which I agree with), Villanova still committed 23 fouls to UConn's 16. That resulted in UConn taking 26 free throws to Villanova's 12, and UConn's margin of +12 made free throws was really the only reason that the Huskies won. Granted, many of those Villanova calls occurred near the end of the game and were intentional, to stop the clock.
• I expected to hear a lot more moaning and groaning in this thread about whether Caroline re-injured herself and will need more time off, whether she should have been playing in the first place, and whether she should have been permitted to re-enter the game after the head hit. I hope someone other than her and the coaches (e.g., Janelle Francisco) gave a thumbs-up on the re-entry decision, but she appeared to play alertly and effectively after that. Now the question is whether she will have symptoms tomorrow -- hope not, obviously.
• Maddy Siegrist's uncharacteristic shooting slump in the second half (including a couple missed free throws) was a gift to UConn, without which UConn probably would have lost this game. She was wide open for several shots that she missed.
• Aaliyah continued to miss close-in shots, as well as 15-footers, that she has made for most of the season. But I'm inclined to give her a pass on that, given the amount of energy that she expended guarding Siegrist, and the fact that she had to play 37 minutes. I hope she gets more rest from here until the NCAA tournament starts.

 

[JoePgh]

LOL....fans who don't follow UCONNmust think Geno hates Nika because he screams at her the whole game. They don't realize that Geno yelling at her is the only language Nika understands. She seems to embrace it!

You don't think Nika understands Croatian?

 

[jaydee602]

No because that would have been Nika’s fifth.

They called the foul on Aubrey Griffin. Like I said, just a baffling call!

 

[HuskyNan]

Grinded?

 

[fomalhaut]

Dalce had a subpar game with only 1 point (6 points below her average) and only 4 rebounds (4 below her average).

Probably above her foul average, though.

 

[OldSchooler]

Both teams came to play defense today, and in that respect both succeeded. Yeah, we had too many TOs, but I credit a lot of them to Villanova's swarming D. On our side, we held their two best players, Siegrist and Olsen, to 34 points on 14/36 (2/9 from 3).

This was a lot closer game than the final score would indicate. The lead was padded in the final minute because of all the fouls Villanova had to commit.

I know Nan hates when we beat a dead horse, but two of the calls were among the worst I have ever seen: 1) where Olsen shoved Nika back into Maddy, resulting in a foul against Nika and sending Maddy to the line; 2) the scrum under Villanova's basket late in the game, where the ball rolled away and was picked up by Aubrey. Ref right on the spot called a jump ball. I looked at that play again. AT NO TIME DID TWO PLAYERS FROM OPPOSING TEAMS EVER TOUCH THAT BALL SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Offensive play of the game -- Lou's last FG, that high-arcing jumper while heavily guarded.

Let's put this one in the bank and get out of town. Hopefully we'll meet them again in the BE finals, with a little help from our bench.

 

[GoUconn7961]

We won!

The End.

 

[Crossover]

They would probably start the bar fight

Since when does a travel give the other team foul shots?

The travel comment was meant to be, and was, humerous.

 

[HuskyNan]

I think Fox has got to be loving UConn.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[fomalhaut]

Most importantly, Villanova had 13 more field goal attempts than UConn. The turnover margin (as others have noted) was -13 (i.e., in favor of Villanova), but the offensive rebounding margin was +7 in favor of UConn. So those two stats would explain a margin of -6 (in favor of Villanova) in FGA's. But the actual margin is -13, which is hard to explain.

You explained it in the next paragraph: Connecticut took 14 more free throws, which is about 7 possessions (unless there was a three-point play).

• For all the complaints about the referees (most of which I agree with), Villanova still committed 23 fouls to UConn's 16. That resulted in UConn taking 26 free throws to Villanova's 12,

 

[jaydee602]

You don't think Nika understands Croatian?

LOL...I know that Geno doesn't understand Croation! The only way he can communicate with Nika is by screaming at her. That usually gets her attention. And she makes steady eye contact with him during his outburst.

 

[Kaizen]

I know Nan hates when we beat a dead horse, but two of the calls were among the worst I have ever seen: 1) where Olsen shoved Nika back into Maddy, resulting in a foul against Nika and sending Maddy to the line; 2) the scrum under Villanova's basket late in the game, where the ball rolled away and was picked up by Aubrey. Ref right on the spot called a jump ball. I looked at that play again. AT NO TIME DID TWO PLAYERS FROM OPPOSING TEAMS EVER TOUCH THAT BALL SIMULTANEOUSLY.

I think at 2), the refs gave Aubrey a foul.

 

[Carnac]

Lou! Top scorer two games in a row now. She's got game.

.....and to think during the entire summer, the "skeptics" here (including yours truly) in the yard were questioning if Lou could (coming in from mid-major Fairfield) could adapt and play at THIS level. Heh heh.....as I look back on our skepticism now, it's laughable. How could we have known? Some fans have commented that they wish we could have had Lou for 4 years. UConn could have recruited her when she was available, but it didn't. She was a diamond in the rough that was not on UConn's radar.

Enter Fairfield. We must remember that over the last 4 years, Lou developed into the player she is now because the program and coach allowed her to. No FF expectations, national championship expectations, or 25-season game-win expectations. Fairfield (13-12) is currently ranked #230. Last year, every play was run for Lou.

The expectations at Fairfield were nowhere close to those of UConn. She was allowed to play a lot of minutes every game during the course of her development. That would not have happened at UConn. Lou came to UConn at just the right time. We didn't NEED her last year, and won't next year, but.....WE NEED HER NOW!,!! She is coming through for us! She's a warrior and a gamer. That rainbow jumper late in the 4th quarter was magnificent and very timely. We have had her for only 1 year, but boy what a "gift."

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Carnac]

Credit to UConn's defense on Siegrist this time or did Villanova again not look to get the ball to their best player?

Lou scored 22 points on 12 shots and Siegrist scored 21 points on 22 shots. I love Siegrist btw.

The kindest thing I can say about the officiating in this game is that it was horrendous.

Very good win.

I wonder how many points Lou would have had if SHE had 22 shots?

 

[Ralph]

It looked like three refs made three different calls. one ref called nothing since there was no possession. One ref inexplicably called a jump ball despite neither team having possession. The 3rd ref came charging in from midcourt & incorrectly called a foul on UCONN. For some reason, they deferred to the foul call.
This was a synoposis for the whole game with three refs calling the game differently and players trying to adjust to the disparity.

So how could Fox not show us a replay of what happened? Terrible for a call that could have changed the game if she made the free throws.

 

[Carnac]

Grinded?

The best thing about UConn's win today is that the sellout crowd at today's game went home unhappy and unfulfilled.