Villanova Postgame Thread | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Villanova Postgame Thread

It's important to note that Nova was giving us all we could handle at Finneran in the first half only a little while ago. You would never know that by the beat down tonight. KK's defense on Bascoe immediately set the tone and shut her down. Geno had Sarah hanging around in the back court too forcing Bascoe to get rid of the ball. Losing their playmaking engine was a mortal blow.

While we talk about KK's defense, I just want to point out one of the most underrated defenders in America. Henry has the ball near half court waiting to run down the clock, she is protecting the ball as she dribbles. Azzi is faking her on defense. Yup, faking her on defense. Henry decides to put the ball between her legs. Done, Azzi pushes it, gets it and is gone. So solid and so overlooked.

We now will have a minimum of 10 days before the next game. I still think there will be some minor tweaking, some new emphasis, some ratcheting down. Geno always does. This team is all about their depth. So many weapons and so much energy.

One more thing. John Fanta's mixed metaphor of the night: "Geno Auriemma, like a fine merlot, these Huskies can't be stopped". Huh?
 
Congrats to the Huskies for a dominant win tonight and their run through the tournament!

Although UCONN caught a break in the 1st half tonight with Villanova missing so many open threes, I don't necessarily feel that it will be a major problem if they should face UCLA as I think they've demonstrated the ability to adapt and self correct during a game.

The entire team contributed tonight both in readily quantifiable and more subtle ways, but it seemed particularly encouraging seeing:
  • Serah having an effective 2nd half.
  • Jana having real impact (sometimes, literally) with her 4 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in just 13 minutes (I disagree with the poster who felt that she was a real defensive downgrade from Serah).
  • I loved that UCONN'S 6th thru 12th players dominated Villanova's mostly first string players in the 4th quarter 19 to 9 (really 19 to 6 until Villanova hit a last second 3 pointer after UCONN dribbled out a possession to bring the clock down to 5 seconds - and probably presumed that Villanova would do likewise).
  • I was delighted with the 4th quarter minutes when Serah and Jana shared the court.
  • I was a little concerned with the sloppiness in the 2nd quarter (6 TO's), but amazed that, when all was said and done, UCONN won the quarter 26 to 12.
  • I was thrilled but UCONN'S efforts on the offensive boards, gathering 13 (off 31 UCONN misses) as opposed to Villanova grabbing 12 (off of 48 of their misses).

Finally, for all those fans and evaluators who were properly impressed by UCLA's demolishment of Iowa yesterday, I would encourage them to factor in how little UCONN'S big guns played tonight (Sarah 22 minutes, KK 19, Azzi 27, Blanca 18, with no one else playing more than 19 minutes) against a really good team who might actually be able to beat (or, at least, play a tight game against) Iowa, as opposed to how many minutes UCLA's prime players were on the court in yesterday's game.
 
DEFCONN1 said:
That 3 pointer did irk me a bit, especially after we took the shot clock violation in the previous possession
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Dillon was hardly effusive in her praise of UConn in her presser. Understandable after a drubbing. But doesn't she realize that Geno didn't want to embarrass her team further. No press in the second half, KK played 19 minutes, Sarah 22,
Leave our big guns in we win by 70.
 
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Few Thoughts:
*If you remember how frustrating it was to watch the bench players in the 4th quarter, the improvement is amazing. The bench actually looks like a team that maybe is not top 25 but will be competitive against most of teams.
*KK was amazing. it seems she took it personally how good Bosco was in the last game between UConn and Vilanova and was determined to stop her. Great job!
*Sarah and Azzi played like AA's. how crazy is it that they barley even play in the 4th quarter...
*Loved the improvement we saw from Serah in this game and her ability to stay with small players far away from the basket is tribute to her nimbleness and athleticism.
*Blanca was fantastic. She just does things that practically no one on UConn (aside than Sarah who is a unicorn) can do with her size, quick hands and ball handling.
*While Jana is a real good rebounder, she can't defend under the basket..love her spirit.
*K9 is a perfect fit for UConn.
*The refs were bad and one where K9 was clearly fouled (actually run over) and they didn't whistle it, was ridicules..
*The Peacock announcers are terrible. If you see one game if is maybe not to bad but when you watch 3 games in a row and they repeat the same things again and again is irritating.
*Vilanova is a pretty good team and i hope they can win at least 2 games in the NCAA's to show that maybe the Big East is not only UConn.
*In theory, UConn in the NCAA's will need the SEC championship (i can see how UConn will need to win against Georgia (1 against 8/9 winner), Oklahoma (Sweat 16), Vandi (Elite 8), South Carolina in the final 4 and last TX in the final.
*Great fun game! cognates on the Big East Tournament, let's get healthy and ready to rock the NCAA! UConn! UConn! UConn!
 
PJCLaw said:
They deliberately took a shot clock violation to not run up the score, only to have Villanova go down and throw up a 3 pointer. That was classless after UConn showed class!
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They better hope they don't see us in the tournament. Of course, they won't because the NCAA won't put them in our bracket. But Geno will remember this.
 
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DemonDeac22 said:
Even less classy? Leaving most of your starters in the entire game when you are losing by 40 points. What was up with that?
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Let’s give that issue a break. I was at the game and yes, it was annoying. But I think that was the only 3 Joens hit against us in 3 games. Nova got trounced by 40 and a kid took a shot at the end. Let that young lady have a little bit of happiness.
 
Basingstoke said:
Congrats to the Huskies for a dominant win tonight and their run through the tournament!

Although UCONN caught a break in the 1st half tonight with Villanova missing so many open threes, I don't necessarily feel that it will be a major problem if they should face UCLA as I think they've demonstrated the ability to adapt and self correct during a game.

The entire team contributed tonight both in readily quantifiable and more subtle ways, but it seemed particularly encouraging seeing:
  • Serah having an effective 2nd half.
  • Jana having real impact (sometimes, literally) with her 4 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in just 13 minutes (I disagree with the poster who felt that she was a real defensive downgrade from Serah).
  • I loved that UCONN'S 6th thru 12th players dominated Villanova's mostly first string players in the 4th quarter 19 to 9 (really 19 to 6 until Villanova hit a last second 3 pointer after UCONN dribbled out a possession to bring the clock down to 5 seconds - and probably presumed that Villanova would do likewise).
  • I was delighted with the 4th quarter minutes when Serah and Jana shared the court.
  • I was a little concerned with the sloppiness in the 2nd quarter (6 TO's), but amazed that, when all was said and done, UCONN won the quarter 26 to 12.
  • I was thrilled but UCONN'S efforts on the offensive boards, gathering 13 (off 31 UCONN misses) as opposed to Villanova grabbing 12 (off of 48 of their misses).

Finally, for all those fans and evaluators who were properly impressed by UCLA's demolishment of Iowa yesterday, I would encourage them to factor in how little UCONN'S big guns played tonight (Sarah 22 minutes, KK 19, Azzi 27, Blanca 18, with no one else playing more than 19 minutes) against a really good team who might actually be able to beat (or, at least, play a tight game against) Iowa, as opposed to how many minutes UCLA's prime players were on the court in yesterday's game.
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You are right. They really don't play anyone past their top 9 and even their 8 and 9 players didn't play all that much in the game. Seems unwise to me. But they sure didn't look tired so maybe it works for them. That could change by the third weekend of the tournament.
 
VA Huskie said:
Let’s give that issue a break. I was at the game and yes, it was annoying. But I think that was the only 3 Joens hit against us in 3 games. Nova got trounced by 40 and a kid took a shot at the end. Let that young lady have a little bit of happiness.
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I was just thinking that Dillon would have wanted to give her bench players who work hard all year an opportunity to get a little playing time in a tournament game with the outcome a foregone conclusion. Villanova won’t have that opportunity in the NCAA.
 
Tremendous tournament performance all around and a great game tonight. At the Arena it was clear that the 3 best players by far all weekend were Sarah, KK and Azzi. Their 2 way defensive and offensive excellence from the opening tip really overwhelmed every team we faced and on the floor you could literally see the frustration and intimidation of the other teams guards whenever they tried to advance the ball past midcourt and then set up some semblance of an offense. Each game was basically over after the first quarter and for the most part the whole team joined in the dominance one way or another. Let me say this regarding KK, even though she is finally getting some well deserved recognition, she has been underated and unappreciated for the most part cause she correctly is more concerned about setting up others and not turning over the ball and controlling tempo while playing elite defense. Frankly from a strictly fan perspective this weekend everyone in our section were really kind of dissappointed when KK would be subbed out early and then pulled from the game for the entire 4th quarter since it was so much fun watching her stellar energetic play and dominating both offensively and defensively in such an efficient manner while playing 18 minutes or less. Her shooting percentage was off the charts while she rarely turned the ball over or committed fouls. She now is close to a 4.2 assist to turnover ratio which is top 2 nationally i believe. IMO we have 3 players now performing at an AA level at just the right time. Go Huskies bring on the Big Dance!!!
 
I was at the game, announced as a sellout, maybe a handful of empty seats in the very top, great energy. It is a great venue but it does get awfully noisy there. The vast majority of the crowd stayed for the post game celebration and awards.

Lots of great comments in the thread, no need to repeat them here, but here are some in person impressions - first, just how fast UConn plays, led by KK of course but all of the guards were able to keep Bascoe in front of them. The transition from defense to offense is lightning quick, especially with KK leading the charge - but K9 is great at it as well, she reminds me of Nika in the way she maneuvers to set up open shots in transition. They just always seem to be flying around, but connected and with purpose, emitting a real "we got this" vibe.

Second, it was interesting in the first half at least that they were generally not denying the inbounds pass to Bascoe, allowing her to get the ball and try to bring the ball up against KK. KK was more than up to the challenge and it was a way of getting the ball out of Bascoe's hands, either by steal/turnover or pass. She ended up taking 19 shots but I suspect most of them were in the second half. Very few in the first quarter when it might have mattered.

Third - Blanca is truly unique, a work in process - she might blow some easy layups and yet she is also capable of making some impossible ones, like she did tonight. Unlimited upside.

Fourth - the work in the weight room is paying off. In addition to playing fast, overall they just look strong out there. They played physical defense but only ten fouls, and no one with more than two.

Finally, I am really happy that Sarah Strong played very well in this tournament. She had not been playing up to her lofty standards down the stretch of the regular season, dealing with illness, leg stiffness, and the wear and tear of a long season. She was in control tonight, shot it well, rebounded well, looked like who she is, the best player in the country. UConn will need her at the top of her game.

Geno once again appears to have his team peaking at the right time.
 
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Sarah is just so incredible. Just the entire package.

Secondly, the defense is just so amazing. I used to admire a long time ago the ability of John Thompson's Georgetown Hoyas press would do to opponents. And Pitino had similar. This defense is also so amazing. What a joy to watch. Wish we could have seen more competition this year from more higher rated teams.

Very very puzzled with Geno's halftime comment along with other posters - so I figure I'm missing something. What I'm puzzled about is that he seemed to fret over Villanova's getting so many open 3's. Well, what's the expectation when you trap other players? When they don’t turn the ball over, and they aren’t a team to work to look to work the ball in the paint, their 3pt shooters are going to get open looks. If you trap a player, you are leaving someone open. Secondly, the pace UCONN plays at and with them taking a lot of outside shots, the other team is going to have more opportunities from long rebounds to push the ball at UCONN in order to get their own open shots.

As I watch the game and further puzzled by Geno's pace issue (his team scored 49 points at halftime vs a guard/perimeter centric team), I see Nova jacking up 3's -- I loved it. My thought is take 100/ 200 etc. the quicker they shoot the ball the more UCONN gets pace. Long rebounds on misses also creates fast pace.

Villanova as a team shoots 35.3% from 3. That's 240th in Div 1. As I'm watching our amazing team press - I'm saying thank you Nova for keep jacking up 3's. Oh well. I didn't understand these type of halftime comments from him. Especially since I thought this was an extremely fast paced game. Others more in-tune with finding/ calculating stats would be better to analyze but that’s how it looked to me.
 
Woof said:
They better hope they don't see us in the tournament. Of course, they won't because the NCAA won't put them in our bracket. But Geno will remember this.
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I thought they always put the BE teams in the same region.
 
hoophuskee said:
Very very puzzled with Geno's halftime comment along with other posters - so I figure I'm missing something. What I'm puzzled about is that he seemed to fret over Villanova's getting so many open 3's. Well, what's the expectation when you trap other players? When they don’t turn the ball over, and they aren’t a team to work to look to work the ball in the paint, their 3pt shooters are going to get open looks. If you trap a player, you are leaving someone open. Secondly, the pace UCONN plays at and with them taking a lot of outside shots, the other team is going to have more opportunities from long rebounds to push the ball at UCONN in order to get their own open shots.
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I was puzzled at first, but then it kind of struck me. Nova was really on top of the players looking to pop out for three's. Ash had someone draped all over her all game, as did Azzi and Allie. Even with screens or sprints through the lane, they were giving us nothing, it was hard to get shooters open. It seemed like the only way we scored (and we scored a lot, don't get me wrong) was by devolving into one-on-one drives to the basket. We have the players to pull that off, but it wasn't our normal brand of beautiful basketball with lots of movement and quick passing. So hats off to Nova for cutting out part of our game, and hats off to us for having the players who can score in multiple ways. And yeah, our defense was a little unusual at times with Ash put into the lane as though she were a true old school center. Nova had the rotation to find someone open outside.
 
DemonDeac22 said:
Even less classy? Leaving most of your starters in the entire game when you are losing by 40 points. What was up with that?
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The Huskies are trying to win the National Championship. Geno needed/wanted something from his players and needed to play people as long as he did. I figure after 40 years, he knows what he needs. And Azzi played 27 minutes, Sarah 22

I have no issue with the late three. The kid was probably excited to get an open look
 
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