Well not much more we can say

[Tonyc]

Some were wondering why I posted No Comment. Well read the threads. There is no explanation for what happened last nite. It happened and whether we're in a funk or something else we will have to play and practice through it. What happened last nite can be fixed. I have to agree it was tuff to watch. Remember after Paige got hurt and Geno was asked why he left her in the game and his answer was we dont look good when Paige isnt in there. Well she wasnt in the game last nite. Pretty smart coach to be able to know that and last nites debacle was everything everybody posted and then some.

Yeah we looked like we could loose the next 25 games or until everybody gets healthy. The thing thats got all of us wondering and looking for an explanation is how did this happen. Were looking for an answer and there is none. Well alot may have to do with confidence. Alot may have to do with what Geno said, they just dont listen at practice. Alot of was covered up with Paige on the floor.

There are no answers imo for what happened last nite. There is no explanation. We need to accept it and move on. It happened and we will have to keep playin until we get out of this funk we're in. Nobody is playing well and nobody is to blame. The worse thing you can do is continue to think about it which will only reinforce the negative thoughts in your head and you will spiral down even deeper. We have to hang in there until we get back on track.

First off we need to get back to working on the fundamentals. We cant worry about loosing or the negative things that have been going on on the court. we have to focus on working hard on the fundamentals and executing them and that will get our confidence back. Remember the ole saying Practice til you cant get it wrong.

 

[#1florida]

Some were wondering why I posted No Comment. Well read the threads. There is no explanation for what happened last nite. It happened and whether we're in a funk or something else we will have to play and practice through it. What happened last nite can be fixed. I have to agree it was tuff to watch. Remember after Paige got hurt and Geno was asked why he left her in the game and his answer was we dont look good when Paige isnt in there. Well she wasnt in the game last nite. Pretty smart coach to be able to know that and last nites debacle was everything everybody posted and then some.

Yeah we looked like we could loose the next 25 games or until everybody gets healthy. The thing thats got all of us wondering and looking for an explanation is how did this happen. Were looking for an answer and there is none. Well alot may have to do with confidence. Alot may have to do with what Geno said, they just dont listen at practice. Alot of was covered up with Paige on the floor.

There are no answers imo for what happened last nite. There is no explanation. We need to accept it and move on. It happened and we will have to keep playin until we get out of this funk we're in. Nobody is playing well and nobody is to blame. The worse thing you can do is continue to think about it which will only reinforce the negative thoughts in your head and you will spiral down even deeper. We have to hang in there until we get back on track.

First off we need to get back to working on the fundamentals. We cant worry about loosing or the negative things that have been going on on the court. we have to focus on working hard on the fundamentals and executing them and that will get our confidence back. Remember the ole saying Practice til you cant get it wrong.

"Not much more we can say". If only that were true for some people on the Boneyard. The negativity, the chopping up of the coaches and the team, because they dare to lose, or maybe not win a national championship. Years of great basketball, and championships is not enough. I would guess that some of these people don't have a life outside of Uconn. If you think I am being nasty to these people, no more than they are with this team of young women. Do they really think this team is not suffering and does not care if they lose. Come on people, give them support. Now JUMP ON ME.

 

[Tonyc]

The only way things will change is if we work them out. That means practice the fundamentals. Work on them. Now I expect the UCLA game to be more of run and gun and we've got Liv who should be able to score against them. CW should be able to penetrate. Perhaps after the game on Saturday the team takes a few days off and goes to a movie and just gets away from basketball for a while and then come back with their head refreshed .

 

[Aluminny69]

This situation feels eerily similar to the situation at Notre Dame that caused Muffet McGraw to retire. If you remember, ND went from Nationsl Champion to a mediocre team in one year. Muffet decided she was too old for that crap, and decided to retire. Will Geno do the same? He doesn't seem to be having any fun. He certainly is not used to losing. It doesn't look like he will catch Tara any time soon.

Stay tuned, only time will tell.

 

[huskiemaniac]

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing that has no explanation from last night is AE's continued/increasing funk. It's unbelievable. And sad. I hope she can shake it off somehow.

The rest of the debacle is explained by the overall play of the players on the court, none of which was too much of a surprise. PB's incredible basketball talent/IQ masks a lot of the team's shortcomings.

Again, I'm hoping last night was the bottom of the barrel and the team tracks upward from there.

With the awesome, incredible, unbelievable no back-back loss streak now in serious jeopardy, we can appreciate how awesome, incredible and unbelievable it really is.

 

[Inthepaint]

One good thing:
The Huskies were SO BAD that there should be no "Gee, if this tough break, bad foul call, injury (last night), buzzer beater, etc. hadn't happened, Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.
Let's just have the maturity to say "We stunk and got whupped".
Then move on and figure out what plan we have for UCLA.

 

[Inthepaint]

This situation feels eerily similar to the situation at Notre Dame that caused Muffet McGraw to retire. If you remember, ND went from Nationsl Champion to a mediocre team in one year. Muffet decided she was too old for that crap, and decided to retire. Will Geno do the same? He doesn't seem to be having any fun. He certainly is not used to losing. It doesn't look like he will catch Tara any time soon.

Stay tuned, only time will tell.

Depends on whether Geno is going to say"At this point in my life, there's nothing left for me to prove so I don't need this agitta anymore"
OR
"After spending all these years investing so much of myself in this program and all the people involved, I can't just walk away from it unless I can go out with my head high"

 

[CocoHusky]

"Not much more we can say". If only that were true for some people on the Boneyard. The negativity, the chopping up of the coaches and the team, because they dare to lose, or maybe not win a national championship. Years of great basketball, and championships is not enough. I would guess that some of these people don't have a life outside of Uconn. If you think I am being nasty to these people, no more than they are with this team of young women. Do they really think this team is not suffering and does not care if they lose. Come on people, give them support. Now JUMP ON ME.

Years of great basketball and championship bears no resemblance to the performance of this team last night. What is being said here on the BY has no significance to the players. What does have significance to the players is what their coach is saying.

“I don’t think it’s gonna get fixed. I really don’t,” he said. “I’ve been doing this a long, long time. Coaches are supposed to be optimistic. I’m too old to be an optimist. I’m a realist. I truly believe what I see. I don’t try to make up what I’m seeing and pretend it’s something else. I know what I see.
Geno.

 

[veryolddog]

Good post, Tony. We need more optimism on this board and the team. So much is expected of these all star players that this has placed heavy baggage on their shoulders.

I admit that everytime they step on the floor that I expect to see excellence. I have become use to it. So, now we know they are human and the coaching staff is human. You are correct: regroup and play basketball for themselves and for fun. Enjoy the "game".

 

[CocoHusky]

This situation feels eerily similar to the situation at Notre Dame that caused Muffet McGraw to retire. If you remember, ND went from Nationsl Champion to a mediocre team in one year. Muffet decided she was too old for that crap, and decided to retire. Will Geno do the same? He doesn't seem to be having any fun. He certainly is not used to losing. It doesn't look like he will catch Tara any time soon.

Stay tuned, only time will tell.

Muffet didn't have Paige and Azzi or Ice and Ayana on the way. As long as Geno has a healthy Paige that's enough to keep UCONN contending for Championships.

 

[HuskyNan]

"Not much more we can say". If only that were true for some people on the Boneyard. The negativity, the chopping up of the coaches and the team, because they dare to lose, or maybe not win a national championship. Years of great basketball, and championships is not enough. I would guess that some of these people don't have a life outside of Uconn. If you think I am being nasty to these people, no more than they are with this team of young women. Do they really think this team is not suffering and does not care if they lose. Come on people, give them support. Now JUMP ON ME.

You aren’t close to being nasty. I can’t imagine anyone would jump on you for your post. If a crankypants does, you can use the Ignore button to stop seeing their posts.

 

[tomcat]

With all due respect to the "people shouldn't be so negative" folks, I was at the game and you really had to see this in person to believe it.
First off, give GT some credit, they are a big, talented and well coached team. When Geno tried some defenses, Neil countered with offenses that worked.
Second, other posters are right about AE. She is playing way too fast, getting far ahead of herself and trying to do everything. The same might be said for Evina to a lesser extent.
Third. UConn ran no plays. None. There were some pretty drives, particularly by Williams, but none of the great plays we know they are coached to run.
Fourth, I keep trying to see what Nika would have added to this mix. Defense, yes, and urgency. She would have helped. But she would not have made hhe difference.
Other thoughts: DeBerry wss in for a little while and was fun to watch. I wonder why we did not see more of her, especially when no one else was delivering much of anything. Mir made a brief appearance and showed nothing.
This team really is capable of collapsing in the fourth quarter. I mean a full-on, "I got nuthin" collapse. I've not seen anything like it before in a UConn team. Apropos of that, I sure don't want to see them spend the last three minutes of the game deliberately fouling in hopes of catching up. Why? Because against a bad foul-shooting team, with UConn's best players on the floor, they scored something like four points in three minutes. Think it was bad to watch on TV? Try it in person.
To sum up, I thought that when Paige went down, we'd see a team of strong players who would suck it up, rely on the plays they had been taught and their own talents, and play well. Now, I'm not so sure. Now I wonder if the team has mostly players whose weaknesses are masked by Paige's ncredible skills. I sure hope that's not true.

 

[fan4eva]

The only way things will change is if we work them out. That means practice the fundamentals. Work on them. Now I expect the UCLA game to be more of run and gun and we've got Liv who should be able to score against them. CW should be able to penetrate. Perhaps after the game on Saturday the team takes a few days off and goes to a movie and just gets away from basketball for a while and then come back with their head refreshed .

after the UCLA and Louisville the schedule gets easier and they will probably start to work out some of the problems and start to clearly define peoples roles on the squad. I predict by the time they travel to SC they will be a totally different team.

 

[CocoHusky]

after the UCLA and Louisville the schedule gets easier and they will probably start to work out some of the problems and start to clearly define peoples roles on the squad. I predict by the time they travel to SC they will be a totally different team.

So you want to wait until after Christmas to "clearly define roles" for this team? Those roles have already been defined, the opportunities have been presented and some players have taken advantage and others have not capitalized on their opportunities. SC is certainly a future opportunity but UCLA game is tomorrow=opportunity is knocking.

 

[fan4eva]

So you want to wait until after Christmas to "clearly define roles" for this team? Those roles have already been defined, the opportunities have been presented and some players have taken advantage and others have not capitalized on their opportunities. SC is certainly a future opportunity but UCLA game is tomorrow=opportunity is knocking.

I guess we'll see I certainly hope they capitalize tomorrow but history is not on their side

 

[Charliebball]

This situation feels eerily similar to the situation at Notre Dame that caused Muffet McGraw to retire. If you remember, ND went from Nationsl Champion to a mediocre team in one year. Muffet decided she was too old for that crap, and decided to retire. Will Geno do the same? He doesn't seem to be having any fun. He certainly is not used to losing. It doesn't look like he will catch Tara any time soon.

Stay tuned, only time will tell.

they'll be plenty of fun when Paige returns and Azzi gets into the swing of things.........add the two aggressive front court recruits coming next year to the mix and I'd say there's no way Geno leaves now......

 

[Performance]

"Not much more we can say". If only that were true for some people on the Boneyard. The negativity, the chopping up of the coaches and the team, because they dare to lose, or maybe not win a national championship. Years of great basketball, and championships is not enough. I would guess that some of these people don't have a life outside of Uconn. If you think I am being nasty to these people, no more than they are with this team of young women. Do they really think this team is not suffering and does not care if they lose. Come on people, give them support. Now JUMP ON ME.

THANK YOU!!!!

 

[Charliebball]

I guess we'll see I certainly hope they capitalize tomorrow but history is not on their side

from what I have read earlier, UCLA has four players out injured right now too so let's see who limps to the finish line.....

 

[eebmg]

Depends on whether Geno is going to say"At this point in my life, there's nothing left for me to prove so I don't need this agitta anymore"
OR
"After spending all these years investing so much of myself in this program and all the people involved, I can't just walk away from it unless I can go out with my head high"

I don't see Geno leaving under any circumstances until Azzi and Paige are done.

 

[Olimpia Mi]

Hello everyone, I was finally able to see the game (thanks MJL243) and although a little conditioned by negative opinions on the forum I said to myself "look and then have yours". For me the first 3 Qs they found a kind of adaptation and more or less we were in line with what we would have expected without Paige, then in the 4Q as soon as they accelerated the real problems came up - many players out, organizational panic direction, shot not received, sensational mistakes under the basket ....
We are already in bad shape if we also add some
our hands ..., I also saw good things:

- Caroline fought a lot on both sides of the field...
good things, others less but you can see that the stuff is there and her shot will consolidate
- Amari beautiful debut in a very difficult game
she also said "if you need me I'm here"
- ONO, Evina, ok but we are waiting for something else

I've also seen bad good things:
CW, Dorka, little ?? the 3-point shot where it ended
AE, I like her a lot but to finish at 0 with all those mistakes under the basket ... something happens with her ?? .
Without Paige we also have to count 5 or 6 points less per player he did .

anyway if as someone said :
"if you don't die, see you again" I hope they all come back with Ucla and show up.
I'm confident ... GO Uconn
sorry if i was too obvious

 

[fan4eva]

that's the HC Geno being sarcastic. His way of saying I've been preaching fundamentals and attention to details, ball movement, movement with out the ball, boxing out, moving your feet on defense, keeping your man in front of you, all the stuff that helps you to win when your shot isn't falling, but this group is very hard headed and defiant. And I have to agree with the coach if you have your phone in practice and making videos in practice to post to social media then you're obviously not focusing in practice and, I've see a lot of videos from the players on social media.

 

[Bill In Georgia]

The only way things will change is if we work them out. That means practice the fundamentals. Work on them. Now I expect the UCLA game to be more of run and gun and we've got Liv who should be able to score against them. CW should be able to penetrate. Perhaps after the game on Saturday the team takes a few days off and goes to a movie and just gets away from basketball for a while and then come back with their head refreshed .

Tony ..you and I have analyzed this team for the past 30 some years, but I'll tell you I'm really scratching my head...???Then watching the game for the third time it hit me....A lot of guys took it upon themselves to prove, " I can fill in for Page" ...They pushed the button but played too fast, out of sync, out of focus....and once the adrenalin is on it's hard to turn off and come back to mother earth.

But have no fear we are 4 player steps from the 21-22 National Trophy. That was my educated feeling three months ago and it still persists...
Coach has been here, done that, so begin to look for the glue to begin to set and the kids get back on track..

 

[ClifSpliffy]

ok, no azzi, no nika, no paige. others out, too. find a little cohesion for now, dump in a pantload of sum paige when she gets right, sprinkle in sum nika when her signs all point to 'go,' and we're back on the road again.
cheez and crackers, calm down. it's not the 'getting knocked down' part that leads to failure, it's the 'not getting back up' part that causes problems.
we'll be getting back up soon enuf. patience is a virtue.

 

[msf22b]

Coach has been here, done that, so begin to look for the glue to begin to set and the kids get back on track..

Not that I can remember...I haven't been here as long as some...but in the years (for example) that we were losing to ND, they were all competitive, hard fought
games, in which a slightly tougher team eked out a win

This felt different, both to those fans watching it and obviously to the staff as well. Total capitulation.

We've all heard Geno rant...but not nearly so negatively and pessimistically as las night.

And yes, I agree with those comparing it to the demise of Muffit...I never thoght it could play out that way here, but watch it for free on your big screen in Living Technicolor...

He doesn't need the money and if he comes to the conclusion that he's had his time and that whatever he does isn't working; he'll (correctly) decide to turn the program over to someone else.

Survival of the fittest.

It's hard to be optimistic about the next bunch of games, I'm not...But would be delighted to be surprised.