Villanova Postgame Thread

[HopJim]

I said this before and I will say it again. KK is the 2nd best pure pg in the nation to Rori Harmon and it’s close.

Agree although KK likely best defensive guard in nation. When you add the points she takes away from opposition, the two are very close in value.

 

[FanSince17]

I agree with you 100%. Two "bigs" come to mind: Natalie Butler and Jana. IMHO they were/are treated differently.

Come on guys, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Famous Coach at Cal, wrote the Bible on post-moves- Pete Newell. Would be a nice read!

 

[HopJim]

She did contribute a lot. However, on offense , I would like to see more. As a freshman, I thought she made more of her 2 point shots. She is really struggling to put the ball in the basket.

Wow!!! Tough audience, even for Boneyard!

 

[EricSD]

Watched the game twice to really enjoy it. Aside from a 10-0 run by Nova in Q2, there was very little to complain/worry about. I think Nova is well coached and has a good future, but on no planet is anyone but Geno the COY in the BE. Why? He lost Paige and Chen - 2 huge starters. He's got 1 starter who is brand new, and all the core players off the bench are brand new save for Allie (who for a lot of reasons didn't do much last season), and Jana. He's mixed and matched every game, sometimes with poor results, but he's finding what works.

And it's not that this team has "way more talent than anyone else". Sure Sarah is magnificent. Azzi can be at times. Blanca is one of the best freshmen in the country. But KK, Ash, Serah, Allie, Kayleigh, and Jana? Geno and co. have coached the hell out of those guys. And IMHO he deserves to be recognized for getting them all to play more and more total minutes like a well oiled machine. Instead of "pooh-poohing" UConn because they have much talent, people should look at HOW he's gotten them so good this season after losing what we lost and adding so many new pieces (rant off LOL).

For the game... The defense was again elite. The double teams and held balls we caused were so frustrating for 'Nova.

• Sarah. OMG. That under the basket reverse layup was extraordinary. And everything she does is elite. Just wow. NPOY
• Azzi - not concerned, per-se, but her inability to make layups lately is odd. But her defense is elite. I hope she gets some momentum and publicity for DPOY in the BE. It would be deserving
• KK - one of the best PG's in the country IMHO. She's NOT a scoring PG like some who get way more attention, but she is aggressive and scores when open, is a masterful runner of the offense, and plays elite defense every second.
• Ash - off shooting night, but a total dog with a bone warrior. Loved seeing her get those tie-ups, and kind of get into it with one of the Nova players who tried to rip the ball out of her hands. Do NOT mess with Ash LOL. For those few who keep complaining that she should come off the bench, not gonna happen. She does too many good things out there.
• Serah - continues to be competent. But watching her and some of the mistakes she makes - those are freshman mistakes, not senior mistakes.
• Blanca - I hope she gets some scratch as 6th woman of the year nationally. She's for sure one of the top freshmen in the country, and isn't even a starter
• Slowly but surely, Kayleigh seems to be getting a little better every game. SO glad we have her.
• Allie is such a surprise to me this season (maybe not to Geno and the staff tho). So glad she's blossoming.

The bench had a really solid 4th quarter. It seemed like most of it was against Nova's bench, but still, it was nice seeing Yanna and Caroline especially look smooth. Kelis has some terrific drives and scores, but I do wonder how good her PG skills are at this time. Her passes often seem mis-timed or ill advised - something that will come with experience. I really do think she's gonna be a good one.

Bottom line, a really good game especially in prep for the ND game coming up. A really healthy amount of minutes of high quality basketball from the team.

 

[DEpup]

No one disputes Ash's defense and hustle, but a starter needs to contribute more than 2 points to the offense. Trying to alter her shot mechanics to the faster game pace is proving to be a challenge.

Not really with UConn's best teams. Ash's role reminds me a lot of Kia Nurse, Kelly Faris, and Kaleena Greene where they were largely the glue players doing the dirty work and not depended on to be prolific scorers. They often were situational scorers and sometimes dubbed streaky. That often means they scored when that is what the defense gave as the opponent picked their poison. The glue players can often be the smartest on the floor since they are flexible enough to do what's necessary. Carla Berube was a glue player.

I wish folks could come to the realization that Ash does the things necessary for the Sara Strong's of the world to focus on their strengths and be amazing. Trust me, 5 Sara Strongs on the floor would be a hot mess.

 

[FanSince17]

I said “pure pg.”. I know it’s splitting hairs. But I would suggest that Miles is more of a combo guard. In any event Miles isn’t close to KK when it comes to defense.

What is a "pure point-guard"? A point guard who doesn't score? I vote for doing away with the term in today's spread offenses. Same could be said for "pure center".
KK is a key player on this team, the #1 ranked team. We saw what it looked like when she was out. (Nika fouling out versus ND)
Like a perfect recipe, KK is a crucial ingredient. The world could see that and speak about her accordingly. Same could be said about Ash.
I'll make a bet today, regardless of whether this talk remains the same, KK as a top 10 draft pick. I wonder where she would fall if she was able to come out this year. Are "combo guards" a dime-a-dozen?
Like NFL running backs. When we were young, they were the top picks. Now teams fill RB slots off the waiver wire.
Here's a question for us: Would we replace KK with Olivia? Tough one.

 

[HuskyNan]

I see we’re no longer discussing the game. Please either get back on track or I’ll lock the thread

For those introducing new topics, please start a new thread. Other people, who have moved on from last night’s game, might be interested in your topic but would never see it because it’s buried in a game thread

 

[oldude]

One other comment about the game last night. 6 years ago Kylee Watson was the #17 recruit in the nation. Paige was #1. Much was made of the fact that last night Watson had the opportunity to be the only player ever to beat UConn while playing for 3 different teams, having already beaten UConn while on the rosters of both Oregon & ND. Of course that didn’t happen.

But when Watson transferred to Villanova, they were getting a legitimate 6’4” Big and one of the highest ranked players in the BE not playing for UConn. Here’s my question. What in the hell happened to Kylee Watson? I understand she’s had an injury or two. But she was a starter and/or significant role player at both Oregon & ND. At Villanova, she’s an afterthought.

Last night Watson played only 9 minutes. She missed her 2 shots from the floor, hit 2 FT’s, pulled down 1 rebound and committed 1 turnover. One sequence was particularly telling. Sarah drove right at her, pulled up and hit an 8 ft bank shot that Watson barely contested. On the next Nova possession, Watson received the ball in the low blocks, turned to shoot and Sarah easily blocked the shot.

In her 6th year of college basketball, Watson’s impact is surprisingly limited.

 

[boontonbomber]

OK, let’s say Caroline has earned a start. She is most definitely a Wing/forward. You can’t start her at center because that would be a negative mismatch in the post and she doesn’t have the handle to play the guard spot. That leaves two possibilities. So who do you sit: Sarah or Azzi?

Except for the post and point , I think the other 3 are pretty flexible. She handles the ball as well as Shade, certainly can't defend with her, but even at this point I think she offers more offensively. Not gonna happen, so I'm going to put away my wishing and hoping.
By the way, Geno did do some gifting, years ago, to Nykesha Sales. Have to admit that, even though she was one of my very favorite players, I did not think that it was the right thing to do.

 

[RedStickHusky]

I love Caroline and feel for everything she has been through. She is just not athletic enough to make the rotation with the current roster. Different level. Watch Blanca, Heckel - those are the players coming off the bench.
Not saying she couldn’t help if we were hit by a bunch of injuries and I’m happy to see her get 4 th quarter extended minutes in these blow outs. But starting? Or even top 8 player. Not happening. Geno knows what he’s doing.

I can't claim to know this, but I suspect Caroline would not be happy taking a single minute away from one of her teammates. She had some big moments before the injuries and I don't doubt she's crawled through hades to get back on the floor, but her time as a rotation player has passed. I hope she's working on coaching chops.