What did I just see?

[Ron and Vida]

I agree with this. UCF's helter skelter push pull bump hold defense disrupts Uconn, had before and hopefully not again. This is NOT the first time the Core 4 have seen this defense. At least twice last year (remember tulane?) and a couple of times this year, including the previous UCF game. All teams in Division ONE practice how to escape the trap (Wooden perfected it). With our with out Crystal Uconn is not devoid of Guards: KLS, Kia, Gabby all played guard. If you look into Uconn's practices today the emphasis will be on escaping the trap and the practice players will be helter skelter defenders. Then they will move on to practice to play Louisville.
The Uconn WBB world did not end! Uconn was beating them by ogoover 30 until Geno let the Bench play for 3 minutes good experience all around.
The double dribble, and running jump stop appeared to be violations allowed by the Ref,why?, have they not see that before??

Speaking about escaping the trap. Kyla Irwin was superb in moving to open space to receive a pass from a Huskie caught in a trap. It's been said before but she is one savvy bballer. One bright spot of the game.

 

[meyers7]

Regarding #1... The definition of "kid" is simply = a young person. So its open for interpretation because many here could be these players parents.

Half the posters on here could be their grandparents.

 

[HuskylnSC]

I am going to concerned if we play a team with a similar physical style, but better athletes. I am thinking a Missouri might give us all we can handle.
They played with 3 very quick guards and pushed our guys to the max physically.

 

[bpear1600]

Z's offensive game suffered because she allowed herself to be fronted by the UCF player guarding her for much of the time she was in. She has to do better in getting offensive position through better movement in and near the lane.

Also, the number of missed layups is frustrating. She tends to rush her shots.

Length she has but her game needs work. She needs to get a lot stronger and a lot quicker. It makes you wonder what individual coaching she had, if any, prior to coming to UConn. Geno sees potential and is being very patient with her.

 

[phil sampieri]

And for the record, I am a glass-half-empty kind of guy. It keeps my expectations within reason. But on this night, I was not viewing things through the gloom. I simply reported what I saw and mostly, it was not pretty.

Sorry but your glass has a hole in it. Gave up 20 points in the first 3 quarters while we took a 28 point lead against a team that played not to lose by 40 or 50 limited us by half the possessions by running clock to 4 seconds left and then go to full court press in the 4th quarter with their 1sr team against our scrubs.Had we left all of our 1sr team we would gave won by 30. Lastly we got mugged with no calls while they got tiny tac fouls. Take a quick breath and appreciate our teams resilience.

 

[CocoHusky]

@tomcat my major issue with your post is the complete dismissal of the UCF team & players: By saying, "BUT. the team they were playing against is a much smaller team of lesser talent." It is as you were expecting Globetrotters playing against the Washington Generals. UCF is among the best defensive teams in the NCAA (ranked 5th) that team has perfected a style of play to bump and grind and trap and create turnovers. That syle of play works for UCF and it wears the referees down because if the refs call everything you'll be there all day. Despite that UCONN out defended UCF and despite your anxiety this game was never in doubt. UCF had 4 point at the end of the 1st quarter and 12 points at the half and 20 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. The answer to your original question is: You saw a team (UCONN) dominate another team (UCF) defensively. If you were expecting something else you probably missed that.

 

[bpear1600]

Was number 2 on UCF wearing a diaper?

 

[JoePgh]

I would make these observations that I don't think have been made in this thread so far (which I've admittedly just skimmed):

1. There was a HUGE difference between the first half and second half. I didn't see UCF doing anything differently with their press in the 4th quarter vs. the 1st quarter, but in the early part of the game UConn had no problem with turning the ball over against that press. The halftime score was 37-12, which means it would have been a 74-24 game if the second half had been like the first. I think Geno had the right explanation: "We got tired". Holding a pretty good team to 20 points in three quarters, especially when they make you play nearly the full shot clock on every one of their possessions, is no mean feat -- but last night UConn could not sustain that into the 4th quarter.
2. What I noticed was the major difference in Geno's reaction to this game vs. the Tulsa game at home. He didn't say that the 4th quarter was disgraceful or that the fans should get their money back. He actually defended the way his team played. The fact that he is allowing tiredness as an excuse for poor play (which is how I took his comments) tells me that he fully understands that it is a real problem. I don't think anyone on this board is more anxious to play the bench players than Geno is, but he isn't willing to lose a game doing that, which is why Lou and Kia each played 38 minutes. Or maybe this is just part of the seasonal "break down, then build up" approach that he has taken in other seasons -- he is critical of his players through January, but starting in February he is more concerned with building up their self-belief, so his tone and reaction changes even with similar input from the team on the floor.
3. I agree about the huge number of missed layups, which I'm sure is to a great degree a symptom of tiredness. But there is also a bright side to that -- it shows that UConn was still executing on offense (up to but not including the bunny shot) and that it was working against the 5th best defensive team in NCAA land.

Tiredness should not be such an issue in March. There is a two-week break between the conference tournament and the first round of the NCAA's, and then two games per week during the NCAA tournament. The first two games of the NCAA tournament will probably be laughers. So by the time things get serious, the players should be fresh.

I don't foresee a problem of this nature against Louisville, because their modus operandi is not to run out the shot clock on every possession for four quarters. If it is more "run and gun", UConn will probably get a significant lead as it did against South Carolina, and the players will be having fun -- which usually means that they won't get tired.

 

[cohenzone]

that game was a mixed bag...it's hard to look your best against a team like UCF....playing without Crystal doesn't help matters.....hopefully it was a good learning experience which will serve them well later in the season.......bottom line is unlike most teams, when UConn doesn't play particularly well they still manage to win..

Lack of depth or not using depth clearly exhausted them.


But people have to understand that beating UCF and their style by 20 points is like a 35 point + win over most other teams. They are more or less Villanova on offense with a much better defense. Silly point differentials are less likely. I’m disappointed Tanara didn’t see any meaningful time. UCF seems like the kind of team her skill set fits.

 

[Centerstream]

@tomcat my major issue with your post is the complete dismissal of the UCF team & players: By saying, "BUT. the team they were playing against is a much smaller team of lesser talent." It is as you were expecting Globetrotters playing against the Washington Generals. UCF is among the best defensive teams in the NCAA (ranked 5th) that team has perfected a style of play to bump and grind and trap and create turnovers. That syle of play works for UCF and it wears the referees down because if the refs call everything you be there all day. Despite that UCONN out defended UCF and despite your anxiety this game was never in doubt. UCF had 4 point at the end of the 1st quarter and 12 points at the half and 20 points at the end of the 3rd quarter. The answer to your original question is: You saw a team (UCONN) dominate another team (UCF) defensively. If you were expecting something else you probably missed that.

What defensive category are they ranked at #5? If it's Points allowed Per Game, then that would make sense seeing that on offense they hold the ball for 25 of the allowed 30 seconds before shooting thus decreasing the offensive opportunities for the other kids. So if this is the case, it really isn't a valid "defensive" ranking, IMO.
If it's another defensive category, nevermind.

 

[paisan]

This was an ole Big East UConn-Rutgers match up...

It’s interesting that you brought up Rutgers. I had the same thought. In my opinion UCF played defense with the idea “if we constantly foul all of the players all of the time..the refs can’t call everything and eventually will let more and more go. Rutgers played the same way. It works. UCONN looked both tired and rattled in the second half. To blame it all on Crystals absence is silly. At this point in the season someone should have been trained up for this eventuality. I honestly do not understand the handling of the bench players this season.
The starters are obviously wearing out just like last year.

 

[JS]

I think Geno had the right explanation: "We got tired". Holding a pretty good team to 20 points in three quarters, especially when they make you play nearly the full shot clock on every one of their possessions, is no mean feat -- but last night UConn could not sustain that into the 4th quarter.

VIP - very important point that can't be emphasized enough.

On the road, excellent defensive team playing a slowdown game. Nice margin of victory under these circumstances.

Playing good defense is tiring. And with UCF you have to play more minutes of it than you will with any of the teams you're likely to meet in the latter stages of the tournament.

That's because the slowdown teams will get beat. As UCF just did. They're just trying to keep it close and then hope for something to happen. And they didn't succeed at that.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Speaking about escaping the trap. Kyla Irwin was superb in moving to open space to receive a pass from a Huskie caught in a trap. It's been said before but she is one savvy bballer. One bright spot of the game.

When 3 ucf players were trapping 1 Uconn player; that allowed 2 Uconn to be undefended--a numbers game. Others should have followed the Coaches daughter's actions and found a way to be an out let.

 

[Jaybird65]

I honestly do not understand the handling of the bench players this season.
The starters are obviously wearing out just like last year.

I don't really think he is handling the bench any different than in past years; the progression of improvement in the bench players seems like it has not been as steady & consistent. I remember back in the 1st National Championship year, CPTV ran a couple "town meeting", question/answer type programs that featured Chris Dailey. I remember one of the questions being "why are the reserve players not getting into games when you are winning by 30 points?" Chris's answer was that playing time is earned in practice; if you don't earn it there, you are not going to play. It's one of the program standards & they're sticking to it.

 

[CocoHusky]

What defensive category are they ranked at #5? If it's Points allowed Per Game, then that would make sense seeing that on offense they hold the ball for 25 of the allowed 30 seconds before shooting thus decreasing the offensive opportunities for the other kids. So if this is the case, it really isn't a valid "defensive" ranking, IMO.
If it's another defensive category, nevermind.

It is scoring defense where they are ranked just ahead of UCONN,
Scoring Defense | DI Women's Basketball Statistics - NCAA.com

 

[Bigpetunia]

Two weeks from now, if I were to initiate a thread referencing the UCF game, respondents would be scratching their heads collectively...”oh yeah, what happened in that one?”

 

[FridaFriend]

I think that the Tequila Sunrise they made our players drink before the game eventually had an effect on their playing.

 

[Bronxjeff]

I reiterate the gripe about refs “allowing them to play” really is the human nature of wanting to help the underdog.

Last time around Geno made the point big time that his team shouldn’t look for the refs to allow them to play basketball, but have to toughen up to rugby play. Rewatch the game focused on Azura and you will see that she did that this time. There was one play particularly shown in replay where she was hard fouled before receiving the pass, then fouled twice as she went up , no calls made. She did make the bucket and sprinted back on d.

Any of us would have taken a hike to the chiropractor before getting the ball in our hands!

 

[Centerstream]

It is scoring defense where they are ranked just ahead of UCONN,
Scoring Defense | DI Women's Basketball Statistics - NCAA.com

Then I guess that I make a valid point...if you limit the number of offensive possessions, then you limit the chances for them to score, especially if you don't turn the ball over a lot.

 

[CocoHusky]

Then I guess that I make a valid point...if you limit the number of offensive possessions, then you limit the chances for them to score, especially if you don't turn the ball over a lot.

Yes very valid point, that same point has been made by @JoePgh and restated by @JS also. BTW that has been Dawn's strategy (limit the number of UCONN posessions) since the series with South Carolina began.

 

[Kaizen]

The 2 technical fouls just suck.
I don't like the refs at all. With good refs UCF will not have only 15 fouls.

 

[Centerstream]

The 2 technical fouls just suck.
I don't like the refs at all. With good refs UCF will not have only 15 fouls.

Was it ever confirmed what Gabby said that warranted the technical? Or what the UCF bench said to get theirs

 

[Centerstream]

Yes very valid point, that same point has been made by @JoePgh and restated by @JS also. BTW that has been Dawn's strategy (limit the number of UCONN posessions) since the series with South Carolina began.

I was only addressing their "invalid" (IMO) #5 defensive ranking. If @JoePgh and @JS made this point previously, I missed them and I apologize.

 

[Jeff H]

Two weeks from now, if I were to initiate a thread referencing the UCF game, respondents would be scratching their heads collectively...”oh yeah, what happened in that one?”

Right, but I will remember that UConn put on an absolute clinic and destroyed South Carolina a week ago.

 

[uconnfan68]

Z's offensive game suffered because she allowed herself to be fronted by the UCF player guarding her for much of the time she was in. She has to do better in getting offensive position through better movement in and near the lane.

Also, the number of missed layups is frustrating. She tends to rush her shots.

Not sure why she refuses to try a jump hook type shot. Or if she could use the glass like Gabby. She could be do much more effective.