What was most impressive to you of tonights performances:

[carpe diem]

I was most impressed with the maturity that Dangerfield exhibited, such as when she pulled up rather than go in for the showy layup in order to continue the work on the half court game, her deft and accurate passing, and the "vibe" she gave of "been there, done that". I am sure others have different impressions of what was most uplifting of tonight's many great to good moments.

 

[calpedaler]

KLS and Gabby look ready to lead.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Gabby looked like a serious NPOY candidate.

 

[Carnac]

Gabby was making it look easy. Bent & Irwin looked like they belonged. Bent looks as though she may be able to give Geno some minutes at guard during prime time. I know it's only one game, but neither of them look out of place. I wanted to see more of Dangerfield. She made a couple of real nice passes, and only 1 turnover.

It appears that Butler still needed to work on her game underneath the basket. She got a shot block by a player 5 inches shorter, She miss several easy baskets a foot out from the backboard. She needs to go up with power and authority when putting up shots from there.

Chong looked OK. Made some baskets. Didn't see any defense lapses. I still need to see more from her though. Lou looked great. First games jitters for everyone. The next game should be a lot smoother, with less fouls. Overall, they put up 111 points, albeit on a lesser opponent, that's still a lot of pints.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Nobody wigged out here... so far.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Gabby was making it look easy. Bent & Irwin looked like they belonged. Bent looks as though she may be able to give Geno some minutes at guard during prime time. I know it's only one game, but neither of them look out of place. I wanted to see more of Dangerfield. She made a couple of real nice passes, and only 1 turnover.

It appears that Butler still needed to work on her game underneath the basket. She got a shot block by a player 5 inches shorter, She miss several easy baskets a foot out from the backboard. She needs to go up with power and authority when putting up shots from there.

Chong looked OK. Made some baskets. Didn't see any defense lapses. I still need to see more from her though. Lou looked great. First games jitters for everyone. The next game should be a lot smoother, with less fouls. Overall, they put up 111 points, albeit on a lesser opponent, that's still a lot of pints.

I got to "see" the game on Gametracker---I use Gametracker even with Full TV games--I turn off the bubble heads and read GT and know more than they said. Of course being near total in deafness adds to the Game Tracker (GT) experience.
Chong did well via stats and time played- her quick fouls hurt her--same with Collier -Gabby, obviously was up against smaller posts, 89 percent shooting --tells a lot. The question then is--if 6 ft (5-10) Gabby scores easily--and Kyla did well too--why then didn't Butler score more or defend better--I doubt she'll find easier "marks" than this team. Yes I'm critical--but mostly if she does not replicate her GT stats--Uconn will be playing 4 against 5. And Uconn will need that SiZE. Apparently she can do it--why not at Uconn//

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Kaizen]

 

[triaddukefan]

Nobody wigged out here... so far.

the night is still young

 

[Kaizen]

 

[Kaizen]

 

[OldAlum]

Just got home from the game.
Gabby looked fabulous! Kia played well, didn't try to do too much. I thought KLS pressed at the beginning and was taking shots too soon. Her long range wasn't great tonight but she showed she has been working on her drives to the basket. Saniya looked good, steady and hard-working. Napheesa was good, but she has been better. Butler had some good moments but still looks a bit tentative. She should have dominated in this game.

All the new kids looked good! Molly was steady and handled the ball well. Crystal showed that she is, in fact, quite different from Mo! She is not quite as quick (who is?) but she is more controlled at the same stage in her career. One of her assists was a beauty and a sign of things to come. Kyla probably surprised me the most. Very strong around the basket. She played more like we were hoping Butler would play. Lots to like about the newbies. Hopeful signs for the future!

 

[Huskee11]

Lots to like about tonight`s game, especially the defensive effort (save a few minute stretch in the first quarter).

Gabby is a joy to watch - incredibly athletic, great athleticism going to the hoop and in the open court.

Lou showed her versatility on a night when her outside game wasn`t really there. She can score in a lot of ways. Eye test says she is stronger than last year as well.

Fans are going to love Molly Bent. Will draw comparisons to Kelly Faris. Irwin also impressed, a more talented version of Stacy Hansmeyer.

Crystal made some sick passes and is obviously a talent. Interesting note, though, she didn`t come into the game until about 2 minutes to go in the first half, well after the other two freshman. We know how Geno doles out minutes. Let`s see where that goes.

Thought Butler played ok especially in the first half. She does commit some fouls that you cringe at, and I think we will have to live with the fact that she needs a lot of time to gather herself in the post. But she will contribute.

Seemed obvious to me that the starters all deserved to be out there as starters. They were the five best players for UConn.

I could go on and on but I`ll stop now. Fun night, reasons to be encouraged!

 

[JordyG]

1) That The UConn got through it without injury.

2) The team played as I thought they would. They played with a snarl. They were tough, relentless, fast paced, and played the half court well against the zone. In fact their high post half court game at times looked like a skinny post in the triangle.

3) I could record the stream.

 

[Kaizen]

1. Gabby. If Geno let her played 40 mins she will have 50 pts.
2. Kyla,. She doesn't look like a freshman.

 

[Carnac]

Now we've got 40 minutes of live game action to chew on until Sunday. I'll watch this game again, and look for different things this time. I expect the team to look as well if not better Sunday. We'll have a better feel for the team (individually and collectively) after Sunday's game. Then we can try and figure out what to expect from them when they travel down to the Florida panhandle to take on the Seminoles on Tuesday Nov 14.

 

[Shorty Dee]

This was an exhibition game, and the first game of the season. Overall, I like what I seen, but improvement is needed. Crystal; Molly and Kyla didn't disappoint me. I have to see more from Saniya, before I can say she is ready to be in the starting line-up. Natalie is playing too tentative for me. Natalie need to be more dominant, and forceful (like Kara Wolters and Stephanie Dolson). I just want to see Natalie play in beast mode, because she has the skills. Natalie, you are now playing for UConn, it's ok to let your inner beast out.

I also checked out Baylor vs Emporia State. The final score was 89-60. Lauren Cox was their leading scorer with 17 points. At halftime, Emporia State was down by single digits.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I appreciated...Kia? dang - short term memory... Katie? post game on the returned-from-Cleveland/Cubs radio feed when she talked about how they didn't have the offensive firepower from last year, so they really needed to focus on defense....

 

[MilfordHusky]

I appreciated...Kia? dang - short term memory... Katie? post game on the returned-from-Cleveland/Cubs radio feed when she talked about how they didn't have the offensive firepower from last year, so they really needed to focus on defense....

Yes, I think the announcer led her in that direction, but Lou did say they would have to rely on defense more this year.

Gabby Williams for DPOY!

 

[msf22b]

I just got back...longer drive to the "Village" in our (almost new) Honda

Observations:

Not yet mentioned was that Molly was the first off the bench and made a drive and pass off that had Geno on his feet applauding (and he didn't applaud much). I don't think it's of little consequence that Ms Molly was in so quickly...tenacious defender, good BB smarts, she's a keeper.

Longa, longa time 'till we got to see Ms Crystal...message here?

But when she finally arrived (about 3 minutes before half-time, she impressed with her speed, undeniable athleticism and uncanny and imaginative passing ability. She's clearly the point of the future.

I wouldn't be so impressed with the gaudy scoring if I were you...a great deal of it was easy transition buckets in the first half coming off steals of a very athletically challenged, overmatched team. And yes, in this milieu, Gabby dominated. If she can perform such magic against real opposition, we're in very good shape.

Because...Natalie, was her familiar self as was Saniya....Pheesa played a strong game on D and on the boards but was not a power house on "O."...a bit tentative. KLS took a lot of shots in the first quarter and only made a few...sort of preventing the half court offense from getting organized. Kia disappeared at times.
This team could easily wind up being lead by freshman guards.

The complicated Geno-esque D is coming along; Pheesa and Gabby blocked a bunch of shots as back-line generals...but of course this was a smallish team. Still the D is perhaps ahead of the O.

In the 2nd half Geno ordered his charges to omit transition from their vocabulary and scoring slowed down...half court sets were a bit iffy, the whole being helped more than a little by some fine three-point shooting by Lou, Saniya, and Kia.

To conclude: I wouldn't get too excited, just yet...the gang might very well be exposed by a real talented team..It's way too early to get a sense how they'll respond to real competition.

PS: I spoke with Morgan Tuck after the game; she... looking just radiant as ever and we chatted about how strange it is not to see her and her comrades out there...She was feeling the same sensation as well.

PPS: In an endearing touch, the Indiana starting five (instead of running out on the court) rather ran down the sideline to shake Geno's hand first. I've never seen that show of respect before; very moving.

 

[Boreifs]

All four of the core four played brilliantly, but what stood out for me was what I saw from the Freshmen, which no one so far has mentioned.

Molly Bent- It is incredibly rare to see a freshman guard move her feet on defense like Bent. That alone will earn her minutes, which will come from the one, two AND three. Geno is obviously going with a point, two wing set to take advantage of the unbelievable quickness on this team, particularly on defense.

Kyla Irwin- Her first college play as a 6'2" post was to put the ball on the floor and go to the hoop hard! Who ever sees that?! In the last quarter, she absolutely ruled in the post; she could give Natalie a clinic on how to seal a defender on the block and her movement without the ball and offensive rebounding was truly outstanding. I would not be at all surprised if she ended up getting more minutes this year than Natalie.

Crystal Dangerfield- I want to see her in a close game where she isn't walking the ball up the court, but her passing off the dribble is indeed a major, major tool. At first, I thought she might be injured, since she got into the game so late. It may have been a message that practice earns the minutes?

Overall- It seems obvious from watching this team live that they will be an unbelievably quick team on offense and defense. Whether they can zone up against a big team like SC should determine how far they get in the tournament, but if I was a coach of an opposing team, I certainly would NOT want to play this team. After just three weeks, they already run their offensive sets smoothly against either man or zone and switch with great facility on defense, particularly in guarding the three (one of the early weaknesses last season).

Just as an aside, if I were Megan Walker, I would really have to think about coming to UConn. Their best players play the two and three (Nurse, Samuelson, Williams, Collier) and there will be virtually no quality time open for a Freshman next season, even the Number one rated player. Based on one game, Irwin will be a player; having the two transfers next season solidifies the two post positions and enables this season's "core four" to dominate at the two and three. Particularly if Molly Bent keeps improving, next year's Freshman class may have to watch for a year. Nice position to be in, to be sure, barring serious injuries of course.

 

[BigBird]

"... as an aside, if I were Megan Walker, I would really have to think about coming to UConn. Their best players play the two and three (Nurse, Samuelson, Williams, Collier) and there will be virtually no quality time open for a Freshman next season, even the Number one rated player."

Wazzamaatta yooo? I am not a violent sort, but this statement made me throw a tic tac at my ipad. Boo hiss!

 

[MilfordHusky]

Those 2 will play together for 4 years. I like that thought!