We've learned a lesson

[DaddyChoc]

For the year so far, UConn has 529 assists on 783 made baskets - or 67.6%, or right
around the 2/3 mark that has been roughly "normal" for years. So tonight we were
a little below normal, but not significantly so IMO. (particularly in view of the paucity of
fast break layups tonight)

can you give me the assist average per game this season

 

[ed4ourgirls]

can you give me the assist average per game this season

I just did - 67.6%. Or did you mean the average number of assists per game? That's
529/27 = 19.6. Obviously when only make 22 baskets (like tonight) you're unlikely
to get 20 assists.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I just did - 67.6%. Or did you mean the average number of assists per game? That's
529/27 = 19.6. Obviously when only make 22 baskets (like tonight) you're unlikely
to get 20 assists.

thanks... so they were off their normal number by about 6 (12-18pts)

 

[RoyDodger]

I agree with every word in Tony's post except the idea that turnovers are the ONE thing UConn needed to improve. Sorry, but as important as TOs are, IMHO they are not the only thing that needs improvement.
-- There was a really disturbing tendency tonight to sit back and let things happen to the team, and St. John's was poised enough to accept that challenge.
-- What happened after the turnovers was instructive. UConn gave up a ton of points after turnovers, something they almost never do.
-- This team seems to lose its composure from time to time. Maybe it's because Hartley is a bit off her game, and she's the one who has bailed UConn out time and again, or maybe because KML is having a really hard time. But without those scorers, and with the lack of crisp passes into the center, this team seems to have no Plan C.
-- This is not the first time that UConn has been outscrapped. They lost to ND in that way and were challenged by a number of other teams, pulled out most of them, but often looked like they werre having troubles.

I don't think UConn was exposed or anything, just that the team is fragile in a number of ways, and when it comes up against a well-coached team that casn play aggressively without fouling, they will have their share of problems.

This team is obviously vulnerable to teams that play hard physically. I thought St. John's played the cleanest physical game against UConn this season and in that sense deserved their victory (needless to say, while UConn almost never gets mentioned on NYC TV sports news, it was a highlight of the sports news this morning on ABC-TV). But for a lot of reasons the loss last night was one of the worst games I've seen our girls play in a very long time. A certain post player looked a little lost, while her freshman replacement looked a lot more confident. An honored senior looked a little out of control. The whole team looked confused. Poor Geno, I'll bet he didn't sleep well last night.

 

[Icebear]

thanks... so they were off their normal number by about 6 (12-18pts)

But that was because of shots taken not because of a low rate of assist %. Having just 2 more assists would put us right at our seasons avg.

Too few assists was the result of too few shots. The problem wasn't assists it was the 14 more shots and 9 more TOs SJ had.

 

[Icebear]

This team is obviously vulnerable to teams that play hard physically. I thought St. John's played the cleanest physical game against UConn this season and in that sense deserved their victory (needless to say, while UConn almost never gets mentioned on NYC TV sports news, it was a highlight of the sports news this morning on ABC-TV). But for a lot of reasons the loss last night was one of the worst games I've seen our girls play in a very long time. A certain post player looked a little lost, while her freshman replacement looked a lot more confident. An honored senior looked a little out of control. The whole team looked confused. Poor Geno, I'll bet he didn't sleep well last night.

Good observations, Roy.

 

[Sonny44]

I agree with every word in Tony's post except the idea that turnovers are the ONE thing UConn needed to improve. Sorry, but as important as TOs are, IMHO they are not the only thing that needs improvement.
-- There was a really disturbing tendency tonight to sit back and let things happen to the team, and St. John's was poised enough to accept that challenge.
-- What happened after the turnovers was instructive. UConn gave up a ton of points after turnovers, something they almost never do.
-- This team seems to lose its composure from time to time. Maybe it's because Hartley is a bit off her game, and she's the one who has bailed UConn out time and again, or maybe because KML is having a really hard time. But without those scorers, and with the lack of crisp passes into the center, this team seems to have no Plan C.
-- This is not the first time that UConn has been outscrapped. They lost to ND in that way and were challenged by a number of other teams, pulled out most of them, but often looked like they werre having troubles.

I don't think UConn was exposed or anything, just that the team is fragile in a number of ways, and when it comes up against a well-coached team that casn play aggressively without fouling, they will have their share of problems.

Yes, I agree. I think it was pretty much a team immaturity loss. They don't just yet know how to deal with any possible situation that comes up. I mean mentally deal with it, so they get confused, panicked maybe, and lack cohesion.

 

[Icebear]

come on Ice... you know that below what they "normally" do. 17,18 on 22 baskets is more like it

Go check the stats you are wrong, against strong teams, especially so.

 

[vtcwbuff]

That's 60%, not that unusual.

The team is averaging 70% this year. They also average nearly 20 assists per game.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Go check the stats you are wrong, against strong teams, especially so.

St Johns wasnt suppose to be strong...

 

[Georgestarr7]

Yes, and it is ironic because the first half of the year we were doing very well.

One of the enigmas this team has presented to me over the last few games is the man to man defense. Up until the last few games they would swarm the opponent (remember
Stamford?) and now they just seem to lack energy even after several days off. St.J's ran right by them/through them almost at will. I attribute the apparent lack of focus at times to the fatigue of playing large chunks of minutes against a set of opponents much more physical and deep on the bench than in previous years.

 

[msf22b]

I think that George is spot on.

 

[Replicant]

We've learned:

1) That we're capable of having an off night, even at home.
2) That we're still very young and still establishing who our leader/s are.
3) That all (3) losses this year were avoidable and made of our own doing. Which means it's correctable.
4) That the whole is always greater than the sum of it's parts, but when the majority of our parts are misfiring...the whole gets tentative and presses (see #2).
5) That we have a star (potential super star) developing in front of our eyes in Ms. Kiah Stokes.
6) That St. John's is a Sweet 16 caliber team...as good as any team currently ranked from #15 thru #25.
7) That we do a sub-par job of feeding the low post?
8) That we'll probably learn more about ourselves from this loss than any other game this year.
9) That UConn fans are by far, the most intelligent/knowledgeable fans in all of wcbb.

 

[Georgestarr7]

We've learned:


3) That all (3) losses this year were avoidable and made of our own doing. Which means it's correctable.
.

Excellent point to keep in mind

 

[Bestiarius]

To some degree, basketball is a game of chance. Just like flipping a coin - heads you win, tails you lose. Some teams coins have more heads on them than tails and occasionally a program comes along that has many more heads on their coins - like Uconn. But there is always a chance that tails will come up in any given game. We can analyze player/team ability all we want but the odds are always there even though they are stacked in our favor by the excellence of our players and coaches.

Leaving all of the variables out of the equation, a great player hits about 50% of her shots on average. Statistically, that leaves lots of room for having a bad day mixed in with many good days. When looking at the various consecutive wins accomplished by Uconn we should be in awe of their ability to beat the odds and marvel that the streaks were as long as they were. The length of the streaks show how vastly superior the Huskies have been over a long period of time. This one loss means nothing in the long run. The Uconn players and coaches are still at the top of the basketball gene pool and it appears they will remain there for the forseeable future.

 

[Replicant]

When looking at the various consecutive wins accomplished by Uconn we should be in awe of their ability to beat the odds and marvel that the streaks were as long as they were. The length of the streaks show how vastly superior the Huskies have been over a long period of time. This one loss means nothing in the long run. The Uconn players and coaches are still at the top of the basketball gene pool and it appears they will remain there for the forseeable future.

The coins made me dizzy, but I really like your summation!

 

[vtcwbuff]

I too was looking for the swarming defense - for the entire game. Lots has been said about UConn's offense (or lack of) last night but in reality the defense (or lack of) lost the game. I just rewatched the 1st half and the defense reminded me of the Maginot line as St John's players just blew past UConn defenders.

 

[Replicant]

I too was looking for the swarming defense - for the entire game. Lots has been said about UConn's offense (or lack of) last night but in reality the defense (or lack of) lost the game. I just rewatched the 1st half and the defense reminded me of the Maginot line as St John's players just blew past UConn defenders.

Gotta agree. St. John's is loaded with really good athletes who also have a lot of experience and experience against UConn for 4 years, specifically. We probably shoulda come out of man-to-man a bit sooner, as they're not an especially good perimeter shooting team. But of course this is all with 20/20 hindsight and from a fans perspective.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I agree with Replicant's 9 points, but I would argue that we already knew most or all of those.

We really need to improve the half court offense. We need better post play. We need to limit turnovers. We need to do better against physical teams. We need to make better decisions and execute better in late game situations. We need to find a go-to scorer. These things are not new.

The defense looked slow at Oklahoma. It sounded like another off-night last night.

In terms of point 3-- all (3) losses this year were avoidable and made of our own doing. Which means it's correctable--I agree, but we didn't learn from the first 2 losses, or we would have won last night so can we correct it and correct it in time?

I'm concerned about our vulnerabilities. I thought that home court would make the difference. We face Notre Dame, probably 2 tough games in the BE tourney, and 3-4 tough ones in the NCAAs. Think of that as 6-7 repeats of last night in which we need to win them all. Yeah, the sting of losing gets everyone's attention, but can we grow or do we keep repeating the same scenario?

I'm hoping that there were some special factors in play last night: the emotions of Senior Night; the injury to Caroline; the streak. Kelly may have been sick. The team looked tired. Those things will correct themselves. Is that enough or do we continue to struggle in close games against physical opponents?

 

[Replicant]

I agree with Replicant's 9 points, but I would argue that we already knew most or all of those.

I'm concerned about our vulnerabilities. I thought that home court would make the difference. We face Notre Dame, probably 2 tough games in the BE tourney, and 3-4 tough ones in the NCAAs. Think of that as 6-7 repeats of last night in which we need to win them all. Yeah, the sting of losing gets everyone's attention, but can we grow or do we keep repeating the same scenario?

I'm hoping that there were some special factors in play last night: the emotions of Senior Night; the injury to Caroline; the streak. Kelly may have been sick. The team looked tired. Those things will correct themselves. Is that enough or do we continue to struggle in close games against physical opponents?

Now if all of us "already knew most or all of those" things, we'd all be called the "Voice of Reason"! But there's only one "VoR" and for good reason.

As to our vulnerabilities...we have them. But so does everyone else in wcbb, including Baylor, ND and Stanford. That's when having the greatest coach in wcbb history is the most comforting. I felt it was important to re-emphasize (what everyone already knows ) our youthfulness and lack of a clear-cut leader. All (3) losses did not come from a lack of talent or athleticism, it came down to execution at crunch time. That speaks to a mental toughness and ability to focus under pressure that can only come from experience. The very same mental toughness, focus and experience we saw last night...problem was, it came from the Johnnies senior laden team.

 

[Icebear]

The team is averaging 70% this year. They also average nearly 20 assists per game.

They are averaging 67.5+% on the year. 529/783. The difference between that and last night is less than two more assists (13/22, 59+% vs 15/22, 68+%) . That is not a terrible night nor difference. We had lower %s of assist per basket against both Oklahoma and Louisville recently.