Wanna Think About That 3 Point Loss

[RockyMTblue2]

ESPN does. I found the article pretty good.

"Auriemma also elected to play freshmen Mir McLean and Nika Muhl more minutes than they typically average, perhaps throwing them into the fire against a good team on the road without as much concern for this outcome as for the benefits those minutes might provide in the postseason. Combine that with the fact that Nelson-Ododa scored only two points, Aaliyah Edwards fouled out in the third quarter, the Huskies were again without Anna Makurat and the game came down to one possession, the Huskies are just fine."

You may have to scroll down a bit.

Should UConn be worried, which teams are No. 1 seeds and other questions

Previously unbeaten No. 2 NC State and third-ranked UConn were upset on a busy night of games in women's college basketball.

www.espn.com

It's not all sunshine and lollipops:

"That Williams hasn't fixed her shooting woes from last season is the one area that might be of larger concern. After missing all five of her 3-point attempts against Arkansas, Williams is now 4-for-24 from deep in the past three games and shooting just 28.1% from 3-point range on the season (compared to 33.3% last season). She still gets to the basket as well as anyone and is scoring 15.6 PPG, but Williams' jump shot has abandoned her."

 

[EricLA]

Wanna Think About That 3 Point Loss​

Yeah, not so much. Nope LOL

 

[MD#12Fan]

I think the article was actually an excellent assessment.
I have a question, maybe worthy of responding to: Did Geno use the Arkansas game to make a point to his team? (alluded to in the article regarding minutes by the young players) Could Geno have done more (as in much more) to slow down Dungee? Why wouldn't you throw up a wall out front to force Dungee to only shoot 3's and at the same time spot up on the short girl. (Ramirez? Don't feel like looking it up) How many zones do you think Geno has in?

 

[Tonyc]

First of all UConn imo is the most talented team in the country and although very young they need a few more games to start clicking and then they do everybody else is gonna have to worry not UConn. Now I know some fans are going to say what about the middle. Well if all goes right Liv and Edwards just need to hang around under the basket and that will deter the dribble drive and help our rebounding. Paige can get her shot almost anytime she wants to under pressure. Thats hard to defend. I think after the loss and after the win we saw two different teams. We know our strengths and we know our weaknesses. We know who can shoot the trey and who needs to avoid taking to many treys.

I keep reading about fans being worried about SC and more importantly Boston. Im more concerned about us playing to our strengths. SC is not a good 3 pts shooting team. Which means we can pack it in a little tighter. Im not real concerned about this game. IMO win or loose we are the better team and SC is a very good team.

 

[veryolddog]

I keep reading about fans being worried about SC and more importantly Boston. Im more concerned about us playing to our strengths. SC is not a good 3 pts shooting team. Which means we can pack it in a little tighter. Im not real concerned about this game. IMO win or loose we are the better team and SC is a very good team.

I agree with everything you have said except you may have jinxed our team for that game against SC. Watch: SC will come out that night and shoot the lights out with 3 pointers which they are not suppose to do. LOL.

I think that they have to plug up the middle on defense, get the defensive rebounds, and do their own (UConn) share of scoring with as few turnovers as possible.

 

[DefenseBB]

Basically, we need Liv to show up and BE THE PLAYER WE KNOW SHE CAN BE! If that happens, we will be fine, if not, Geno needs to get Aaliyah more time.

 

[bluedevil]

Basically, we need Liv to show up and BE THE PLAYER WE KNOW SHE CAN BE! If that happens, we will be fine, if not, Geno needs to get Aaliyah more time.

Just wondering when that will be...next season will be too late...

 

[JonathanXIV]

I agree with everything you have said except you may have jinxed our team for that game against SC. Watch: SC will come out that night and shoot the lights out with 3 pointers which they are not suppose to do. LOL.

I think that they have to plug up the middle on defense, get the defensive rebounds, and do their own (UConn) share of scoring with as few turnovers as possible.

If by jinxing, you mean Tonyc has predicted that we will win handily, well, he's "jinxed" every game UConn has ever played. And we seem to be doing okay. Jinx or no jinx.

 

[BBallF]

I think the article was actually an excellent assessment.
I have a question, maybe worthy of responding to: Did Geno use the Arkansas game to make a point to his team? (alluded to in the article regarding minutes by the young players) Could Geno have done more (as in much more) to slow down Dungee? Why wouldn't you throw up a wall out front to force Dungee to only shoot 3's and at the same time spot up on the short girl. (Ramirez? Don't feel like looking it up) How many zones do you think Geno has in?

I too thought Geno was detached from the game and wondered why he didn't play a box and 1 or triangle and 2 against Dundee or against Dundee and Ramirez. He did not seem terribly upset with the loss either. The only real adjustment I saw was the small ball with E, Paige, CW, Mir and Nika for a stretch of time. He is clearly the man behind the curtain, knowing what it takes to win it all, and willing to suffer the slings and arrow of outrageous fortune along the way if it gets him to the mountaintop. This is his "reinvent the team" time of year anyway although there were usually a lot more games so let's just watch the King's Gambit take place and see if we were right.

 

[Bigboote]

I too thought Geno was detached from the game and wondered why he didn't play a box and 1 or triangle and 2 against Dundee or against Dundee and Ramirez. He did not seem terribly upset with the loss either. The only real adjustment I saw was the small ball with E, Paige, CW, Mir and Nika for a stretch of time. He is clearly the man behind the curtain, knowing what it takes to win it all, and willing to suffer the slings and arrow of outrageous fortune along the way if it gets him to the mountaintop. This is his "reinvent the team" time of year anyway although there were usually a lot more games so let's just watch the King's Gambit take place and see if we were right.

Yeah, I was hoping against all hope that Geno would do what he hates and play a junk defense. I was thinking of a box and one with Aubrey on Dungee. I'd like to think it might have worked, but there was a snowball's chance that it would happen.

 

[veryolddog]

If by jinxing, you mean Tonyc has predicted that we will win handily, well, he's "jinxed" every game UConn has ever played. And we seem to be doing okay. Jinx or no jinx.

To clarify and re-read what Tony posted: he said that SC was a poor 3 point shooting team. I said that on that night, that SC would be a great 3 point team because he said that they were a poor 3 point team. Does that help you understand what was said here.

 

[PacoSwede]

Just wondering when that will be...next season will be too late...

huh? too late for what?
i don't get it, sorry.
too late for liv? why?
too late for uconn? the huskies can win (or lose) regardless of how an individual player performs. it don't depend on liv -- or christyn or evina or paige or any of the rest. anything can happen in any singular game.

and i guarantee all uconn foes are at least as nervous about facing US as many BYers are about facing them

 

[donalddoowop]

I think the article was actually an excellent assessment.
I have a question, maybe worthy of responding to: Did Geno use the Arkansas game to make a point to his team? (alluded to in the article regarding minutes by the young players) Could Geno have done more (as in much more) to slow down Dungee? Why wouldn't you throw up a wall out front to force Dungee to only shoot 3's and at the same time spot up on the short girl. (Ramirez? Don't feel like looking it up) How many zones do you think Geno has in?

Do you remember a few years ago when Geno said he wished UConn would lose a game?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Basically, we need Liv to show up and BE THE PLAYER WE KNOW SHE CAN BE! If that happens, we will be fine, if not, Geno needs to get Aaliyah more time.

We also need the drive to the hoop CW if her outside shots ar cold.

 

[JonathanXIV]

To clarify and re-read what Tony posted: he said that SC was a poor 3 point shooting team. I said that on that night, that SC would be a great 3 point team because he said that they were a poor 3 point team. Does that help you understand what was said here.

I understood fine. Was just having a little fun celebrating Tonyc's relentless optimism for all things UConn. I thought the accompanying GIF made that clear.

 

[JoePgh]

Regarding the Arkansas game itself, the box score on uconnhuskygames.com shows an interesting factoid:

In the 4th quarter, Arkansas shot 36% from the field (5-for-14), took only 3 3-point shots and made one, and scored only 18 points. This wasn't because they took their foot off the gas (at least not intentionally), since the game was in doubt until the very end and UConn took a lead at one point in the 4th quarter. Arkansas did have a 10-0 run in the middle of the quarter, but UConn outscored them decisively by 25-18 in that quarter.

To me, that suggests that UConn's defense finally got a grip on the Razorback offense by the final quarter (or maybe there was a fitness factor coming into play). It looked to me as if Geno committed to a man-to-man defense in the last quarter, having consigned the zone defense to the ash heap of history for that game.

That provides some reason to expect that if a rematch occurs in the NCAA tournament, there is reason to expect a different result.