Whats Happening

[Tonyc]

Have we hit rock bottom yet??? We beat Cinn by 40+ and barely will yesterday. There is something wrong. The kids need to get back to basic fundamentals. Is it to late for that at this point in the season? Only Geno knows what wrong and we are all guessing from frustration. It is very apparent that UConn is depending to much on KLS ND and CD to carry them. Shooting under 40% 2 games in a row explains one big problem and nobody is picking the team up. Its like a team flu and everybody has it. The non starters are not exerting themselves as scoring options therefore no need to guard them so its 3 on 5. Our defense is not what we're accustomed to seeing from UConn. Everybody is not on the same page and thus we are not operating as the well oiled machine we are used to seeing in UConn.
We are in a terrible slump and its not going away. I cant see us playing much worse then yesterday.

The Bottom Line is we Cannot Score from the Outside. Its not one or two things its alot of things that are causing it and it almost seems that we are spirolling downwards. Its not getting better its getting worse. The good news is it can get much worse before it gets better. You can tell Geno is frustrated. He is the best and he's doing everything he can but this team for some reasons isnt hitting their outside shots. I dont see alot of smiling faces either .

As fans all we can do is support our team until they get back on track. We are going to have to accept them for what they are right now because there is nothing we can do to change where they are. Sometimes you have an off games. This is bigger then that and has been going on for to long. IMO only a great defense can change the direction we headed into and our defense is not what we've seen UConn play in the past. We are missing too many assignments and too many opponents are left wide open.

So we have to wait it out. Be patient and wait it out. We are too good too talent and coached to well for this to last much more.

 

[hjoerring]

Tonyc, I share your dx of the team's woes, and I particularly like the fact that you avoided (as always) falling into the black hole that so many are willing to offer themselves. It might be as you say a slump or, tired legs, playing half court bb which isn't suited for them (see the number of blocked shots suffered under the basket), lack of 3pt shooting, and a few players who are fundamentally uncomfortable with the offense. By the latter I am thinking that the offense-defense schemes are really too complex for some-- resulting in reaction time problems. I am also incline to say that Uconn's practice/strategy of carrying just a few players and thus relying on 5 starters is taking a beating. This goes beyond bench development. A lot of other teams have players who can come in to change the game, be it shooting, defense, etc, but we do not. And teams have gotten very athletic. It's useless to compare current and past teams. Our current team should be compared to teams playing today-- and they are just not as athletic, for whatever reasons.

I am thinking that we will see more of these performances until the core players get their legs/mojo back. I would not like to see (anyone) Pheesa's legs get tired out as we advance. And, while many here will disagree (contrarily as they have become) I am delighted at the progress ONO is making. Obviously, strength is her problem on offense.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Remember this is the same that beat Notre Dame on their floor. The same players. It's not like we have lost a starter to injuries. We are clearly better than how we are playing now, and this team has shown us what they are capable of - which is playing some very impressive basketball. The task before us is to get back to that level, or something approaching it, by the time the postseason gets here.

 

[Topsail]

We do have a lot of aforementioned issues but it is a matter if Geno can fix them in time for tourney?.. Let s hope he can. Also I feel other teams now feel we are in a slump and vulnerable. These teams will go even harder after us in order to get a win against UConn. This makes for closer games and less bench time. The starters then have to play more minutes during conference play when the norm has been for them to log less minutes. It use to be a huge advantage for us that a lot of other teams already were mentally beaten before the tip. The “ sharks “ are circling us

 

[Topsail]

It s like a good baseball hitter in a slump that is trying to break out of it. It can weigh on you mentally. Hopefully we get the right RX soon and right this ship.