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Villanova Postgame Thread

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Well my girl Nika had a very tough game today- shot 0 fer from the floor, had 7 turnovers and basically had the snot beaten out of her. Also after her second foul she lost her composure & mouthed off to the referee who promptly called her for a third as soon as possible.

On the other hand after that she calmed down and stayed in the game picking up just one more foul & ending with 8 assists.

I think having to play so many minutes finally caught up to her although I know she'd rather die than admit it.

Advice to Nika- next time the ref calls a stupid foul on you, borrow a trick from Sue Bird & pull your jersey over your mouth while you cuss him/her out!
 
tkaes said:
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.
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Villanova is a good team because they are well coached and play hard, and also have a legit all-american, and a very decent PG in Olson (who arguably outplayed Muhl today) the other starters are role players and they have no bench (even less than Uconn). But those first few things will take you a long way, particularly in the Big East.
 
JoePgh said:
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.
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It looked like she had the ice on her neck, not her head, so hopefully it was the neck that hurt, not the head, but neither is good. At least the neck is just pain, I think. concussion can throw everything off. Neck issue has been around for a while, does not seem to be getting better.
 
Junkman said:
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.
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Bad Luck ???
 
Like others have stated, this team never quits! We got frigging six players and one of those players is courageous as heck! They all are showing levels of toughness but Caroline. OMG!! That young lady is one tough rascal.

Great win. Lou is unreal! So many programs have transfer players. Some are working out and some that are not working out. I am just glad that Lou is working out very well for our beloved UConn. She is tough and very low key. Just goes about her business without all of the extra stuff.

Nika. Our little vocal floor general. I do not care what anyone says about her and her "silly" turnovers. She is the walking definition of "Fail Fast and Move On". She does not dwell on silly mistakes. On to the next play. I love her confidence and I love that she understands the game so much. She read the game beautifully today despite the naysayers out there. Well done, Nika.

Dorka, Aaliyah, and Aubrey. Dorka was efficient today. Aaliyah continues to display the heart, toughness, and muscle out there. Aubrey, like Lou, just goes about the game in her usual manner. Not a lot of scoring but she was, like Aaliyah, very active on defense and that is all that you can ask a player. If the shots aren't falling, there are other ways to help the team and Aubrey does that every game.

Gritty game. Next up, St. John's.
 
Reading the ESPN recap, and then checking in their play-by-play, they shorted Muhl the assist on the fast break pass to Juhasz to go up 12 in the 4th; they gave it incorrectly to Senechal in both.
 
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Overall, strong defense and barely enough offense. Our offense has not been good since the SC game, even with Caroline back. Just too many turnovers.
Villanova is clearly a top 16 team, but when we are flowing, we should be able to beat them handily. But this tired group is not flowing.
 
Two observations right off the bat:

1. Lou is awesome.
2. The refereeing was awful at times, but more or less equally bad for each side… except that Siegrist should have fouled out at the beginning of the 4th quarter. She had 3 fouls after the third and then had two glaring unwhistled fouls: one when she hit Caroline in the face on a rebound, the other when she crashed into Nika going for a loose ball.
 
I recorded the game and just finished watching it. Upside - got some tennis in and a walk with the wife and then watched the game without commercials or halftime chatter. Downside - 128 Yarders have in sum already said it all. So I'll keep it short.

The reffing was at times inexplicable. Many times.

Having two starters not scoring much or at all isn't a recipe for success. Sure, we won. Regardless, Nika and Aubrey need to help out with scoring. I'll cut Nika some slack but Aubrey is quick, rangy and a good athlete. Early in the year she showed she could make jumpers and get to the rim and finish. Not so much anymore. She needs to look to score and keep her defender honest.
 
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Surly1 said:
First, a solid win on the road. After letting Siegrist roam for 10 early points, the team collectively did a great job defensively on her, not allowing her clean looks. Aaliyah struggled again offensively, but made up for it with her rebounding and having the primary responsibility of guarding Siegrist.

The game was not pretty as the refs wanted to stamp their imprint on the game. Lou was back in her "flow."

One peeve I had was with the announcers. IT appeared they were more interested in hearing themselves speak rather than cal the game. It was beyond annoying how they couldn't let one second pass without speaking. Is it me or did anyone else feel likewise.

Hopefully, the team can have a few breathers in the next 3 games before the BE tournament begins.
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Back at you Surly... I turned the volume off numerous times. I don't know which announcer was so verbose, but it was way annoying.
 
Ralph said:
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.
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And there was plenty of time to show the replay where the "foul" occurred. One commentator was criticizing the jump ball call because thefre was no posssession, but they ignored the confusing foul call.
 
dtbtbtb said:
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!!!



*
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There was no doubt what Muhl's opinion of the call was and given the proximity of the officials she is probably lucky to not have been t'd up. That said the soft fouls they called vs. Nika getting an elbow to the head and Edwards catching a hand to the face not being called and Dorka was also hit hard more then once.
 
The deacon said:
Well said all around, UConnCat. I'll just add because probably no one else will that Villanova got called for seven more fouls than the Huskies, and Maddy Siegrist was fouled often on her shots with no whistle. I suspect not many others will mention that.

That said, great win by the Huskies!
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Well then, they should have called fouls? So I guess you agree that the officials were tasting lollipops?
 
You don't have to be a professional lip reader to know what Nika said after her second foul. I thought it was funny, because I yelled the exact same thing at the same time. These officials were really bad, but unfortunately, every game is like that now.
 
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Folks, there is a lot of complaining on the BY about the refs. While I will acknowledge some inconsistency by the refs, the fouls more than evened out in UConn’s favor. Nova was whistled for 7 more fouls than UConn (23-16). The Huskies shot 14 more FT’s than the Wildcats (26-12), scoring 11 more pts from the FT line (17-6).

Considering that UConn won by 9 pts, I would not at all be surprised if Villanova fans were complaining right now about how the refs handed the game to UConn.
 
SLY63 said:
Great win. D was great. Nika showed poise after the 3rd foul.

Aubrey looks way off on both O and D and Nika with 0 points and 7 TOs, not her best effort.

What is the deal with all those tie ups when we were getting mauled?

We really need Azzi
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I agree, we really need Azzi. With Caroline back, now Geno is down to only playing 6.
 
Another gutsy win in a hostile environment in Philly. Good job ladies for playing through that nonsense and keeping your composure. Nika, please continue to take those shots that you are missing. They are good shots as the defenses are sagging. They will start falling. Aubrey seemed out of sorts, today. Not often does she let multiple people blow by her in a single game. What can we say, Caroline is one tough cookie! She brought her hard hat to work. Dorka played some some good D and made good post moves to draw fouls. AE started making baskets in the 2nd half after missing a few bunnies in the first half. She also made it difficult for Siegrist. Nothing new here as teams continue to grab and hold Lou with any repercussions. No wonder she can’t drop 30 most nights. Her arms are too fatigued.

Maybe the NCAA need to take note, if they haven’t already: Adam Silver says NBA disciplines referees for missed calls.

Can someone please explain how it’s considered a tie up when neither team has possession of the basketball and it then rolls away from the pile-up?
 
I don't usually complain about reffing, but my issue is one call: when a jump ball was called after Nika was pushed and no one (let alone two) had possession and for some crazy reason Villanova shoots free throws in spite of the fact that no one was even plausibly fouled but Nika.
 
SLY63 said:
Great win. D was great. Nika showed poise after the 3rd foul.

Aubrey looks way off on both O and D and Nika with 0 points and 7 TOs, not her best effort.

What is the deal with all those tie ups when we were getting mauled?

We really need Azzi
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Getting mauled is putting it mildly!! Not sure where they get some of these refs . Geno’s previous comments: “ This isn’t basketball. I don’t know what it is!” Definitely applied a number of times during this game!!
 
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Centerstream said:
Have you been watching the same games that most of us have watched? How many points has she scored?
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It's not always about scoring points. There are an abundance of ways a player can contribute to the outcome of a game. That being said, I'm less concerned that she hasn't scored much than I am with the fact that she doesn't even look to score any longer.
 
oldude said:
Some thoughts on the Villanova game:
  • This was a dog fight of a game between two really good teams who were fighting over the same bone. Everyone should know, don't ever try to take a bone from a Husky...;)
  • It’s been 10 years since UConn had a conference matchup this BIG. While it isn’t quite ND-UConn, the game today between UConn and Villanova is the biggest WBB game yet in the NBE, with a national audience, NCAA tournament implications as well as conference tournament seedings in play.
  • UConn’s win today over a very good Villanova team answers a lot of questions for the Huskies, and it certainly helps UConn’s seeding for the Big Dance. In addition, today’s victory practically assures UConn the top seed in the BE tournament, as the Huskies need only 1 win in their final 3 games to lock up the top seed, something that’s really important with the prospect of playing 3 games in 3 days with a very limited bench.
  • Today, the refs got a little whistle happy on both sides, which clearly put added pressure on UConn’s limited rotation. Despite a bunch of fouls on everyone, the Huskies somehow managed the game effectively with a 6 players rotation.
  • If you watch Villanova on offense, frequently, after they put up a shot, all 5 players sprint back on defense. Clearly the goal was to force UConn to try to score in the half-court offense as opposed to allowing UConn to get out in transition. It wasn't always pretty, but somehow the Huskies managed to put enough points on the board to come out on top.
  • I guess that holding Siegrist under 30 points constitutes a moral victory of sorts. Aaliyah really worked her tail off battling the likely BE POY throughout the game, while holding her to only 22 points on 8/22 shooting.
  • I kept waiting for a Husky to step up and win the game today. Today UConn got just enough from everyone, along with a HUGE SHOT & SOME FT's BY LOU to pull out a really hard-earned victory.
  • Stat of the Game - UConn was +22 on the boards!!!
  • UConn has faced some large, hostile crowds on the road this season such as ND, MD & TN. In addition, the Huskies have had some tough conference battles over the last few weeks. I have to believe those games helped the Huskies deal with the pressure of today’s game on the road against an outstanding Villanova team.
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Maddy S . is one heck of a determined young lady. She shot 20 percent, her team was 30 percent or under. I wonder how THAT happened. Hats off to the entire Villinova squad, coach too. It was a blood fest and one heck of a game. It is the kind of game that a BASKETBALL LOVER loves and the loser cries not tears over lack of effort but for a loss that (in their minds) it shouldn't have been. I cheer Both teams.
The BADASS of this game was GENO and CD. A Technical was one breath away, and Geno held it in, with CD's help. 6 player again. The IRON WOMEN of Uconn. I bow to Carolines courage and TEAM spirit --she could have sat with that NEW head bump, She didn't. Her, She (?) being in the game opened up some lanes for LOU. Was that BIG, no it was huge.
 
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