What's your biggest concern with this team? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

What's your biggest concern with this team?

seniors not consistent allthough Olivia has for the most part, anytime a game is close nobody wants to take the gw shot aside Caroline. Too many defensive lapses to be consistent vs national title contenders.
 
No Aubrey and a tentative, distracted looking Edwards.
Aubrey was our boost, like nitrous oxide in the intake of a drag racer. She could come in and turn a game inside out and upside down for a few critical minutes. She was a run starter.
AE was BE Sixth Woman of the Year in 2020-2021 for a reason. She was relentless on the glass and wasn't afraid to mix it up and go after every loose ball and/or pass in her reach.She ran the floor FAST. When she was on the floor everybody on the other team knew she could turn up anywhere and disrupt everything.She was living rent free between their ears.
Now, she seems to be walking on egg shells most of the time. Confused and looking for something to do. Out on the perimeter and lost in space. Was she told that she MUST take outside shots? Was she told to tone it down to keep out of foul trouble?
I really loved watching her last year and know what she's capable of. Don't want to be a snide,critical jerk.
Want her to find herself and contribute what no one else on the roster can.
 
Inthepaint said:
No Aubrey and a tentative, distracted looking Edwards.
Aubrey was our boost, like nitrous oxide in the intake of a drag racer. She could come in and turn a game inside out and upside down for a few critical minutes. She was a run starter.
AE was BE Sixth Woman of the Year in 2020-2021 for a reason. She was relentless on the glass and wasn't afraid to mix it up and go after every loose ball and/or pass in her reach.She ran the floor FAST. When she was on the floor everybody on the other team knew she could turn up anywhere and disrupt everything.She was living rent free between their ears.
Now, she seems to be walking on egg shells most of the time. Confused and looking for something to do. Out on the perimeter and lost in space. Was she told that she MUST take outside shots? Was she told to tone it down to keep out of foul trouble?
I really loved watching her last year and know what she's capable of. Don't want to be a snide,critical jerk.
Want her to find herself and contribute what no one else on the roster can.
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I think the staying out of foul trouble is a strong possibility. All out aggression made her effective last year while the fouls cost her PT. The problem I see is she’s had no one show her how to use her body and fundamentals properly to avoid fouling. She uses hands and arms fighting for position instead of her feet to beat kids to the spot. And while rebounding and/or trying to get shots off inside, she plays straight legged and stretches and reaches instead of bending them and getting off the floor. It’s not lack of effort, it looks like confusion because she doesn’t have the good habits to fall back on.
 
Inthepaint said:
No Aubrey and a tentative, distracted looking Edwards.
Aubrey was our boost, like nitrous oxide in the intake of a drag racer. She could come in and turn a game inside out and upside down for a few critical minutes. She was a run starter.
AE was BE Sixth Woman of the Year in 2020-2021 for a reason. She was relentless on the glass and wasn't afraid to mix it up and go after every loose ball and/or pass in her reach.She ran the floor FAST. When she was on the floor everybody on the other team knew she could turn up anywhere and disrupt everything.She was living rent free between their ears.
Now, she seems to be walking on egg shells most of the time. Confused and looking for something to do. Out on the perimeter and lost in space. Was she told that she MUST take outside shots? Was she told to tone it down to keep out of foul trouble?
I really loved watching her last year and know what she's capable of. Don't want to be a snide,critical jerk.
Want her to find herself and contribute what no one else on the roster can.
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She address the issues throughout this interview from Nov. 2021.
The last question was about working with Dorka and AE said that they've been working on being a presence on the inside and by being a threat from the outside.
She has become more of a defensive player and does a good job with rebounding and steals.
She'll make it back because she works out hard and has the desire.

 
The biggest problems are bad passes and not getting the ball to the open player- The only solution to that, as has been said, is Paige. All she has to do are those things because she has great players to get the ball to.

And they will have a really good bench.
 
Not getting the turnover rate down. It seems to be a continuing problem. We will not win consistently until we get the turnover rate down.
 
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There was a movie with Bruce Willis as a psychiatrist ( Six Sense) where the viewer finds out at the end that he was killed in the beginning and was just one of the Ghosts that the young man could see. The entire movie was a ruse.
Thats the feeling I get when I read these posts, most of which go into some pretty good detail about the issues they see.
However , it's a ruse, the team that's being analyzed now will not exist 2/3 weeks from now.
When we get back to full strength, most of the issues will be gone.
Players that are turning the ball over, missing layups, not playing defense, will not be in the game. We will have players that will go in to replace them. When you have only 6 players, 2 guards...the coach is stuck with whatever he is getting from them that day. Not going forward......Nika will not be playing 40 minutes, E may get 6-8, AE may get less....unless they produce vs someone else.
Based on what I saw the other night, Fudd may as good or better than her hype...she may be the best freshman in the country.
Also, we all know how good Paige is. We really don't need to dissect this team and its issues, its a mirage.
 
I agree with a lot of folks here. My biggest concern for this team aside from injuries, turnovers and inconsistent post play, is 4th quarter production.

This specific team has shown that in the 4th quarter they just cannot close the lid on teams. If you look at every loss, close game, they let teams sneak back in the game in the 4th quarter. If it weren't for Ducharme's heroics against Depaul I don't know what would have happened. But this team has show that in the fourth quarter, they cannot keep it together. That's concerning heading into tournament play because you letting a lesser talented or worse, more talented team sneak back in, could prove fatal.

I want to see this team put in reserves for a chance at the end of the game
 
My biggest concern is that Geno and the whole team will
have enough time to "jell" as a cohesive unit in the final
games before the Big East Tournament and Big Dance.
In other words... once Paige is healthy enough to play
that there is enough time to get the timing down, the
passes synchronized, and the best balance of inside
vs outside scoring and ....... getting the best players
in the new rotation to to make team 'Click". There is
no " I " in team, but I do concede that "Team"is
spelled with letter a letter "P"!!! Go UCONN! Z
 
UConn has enough raw talent to be a top ten but they won't make it to the final four on raw talent.
ONO is talented but too often she relies on her height and long arms to bail her out for a lack of positioning.
Dorka makes excellent use of her talents but she has had the occasional off game. Defense is a strength but not in transition. Offensively they just haven't found the magic yet. They are talented and have the ability to score but, In the words of Dennis Hopper, too often they get caught watching the paint dry.

I am hopeful they put it all together soon.
 
Littlemin said:
Morrow, for all she has been criticized here, did what the refs allowed her to do, that’s what good, smart players do. She was very well coached because in getting position, she primarily used her lower body to push, not her arms or shoulders. The swinging of her arms, as has been talked about, I did not notice, that certainly doesn’t mean I am saying it didn’t happen.
As for the Uconn bigs, they are not physical players, they are what they are. Edwards would seem to be capable but for whatever reasons, she obviously has taken a pretty big step backward this year.
Auriemna has them play where they play and for the great game Morrow had, I believe Uconn had more points in the paint than DePaul; they just were scored in different ways, by having open lanes to drive and from pushing the ball.
Uconn, IMO, commits too many ”silly” fouls; both of Muhl’s early in the game were unnecessary and right out in the open where the refs could see them and IMO, took away a large degree of her aggressiveness. Auriemma obviously wants her on the floor, regardless of the opinions of many on this board.
Dorka and Ducharme each had fouls where they had played the DePaul player into tough shots but swatted down to try and block the shot, again, those plays are clearly visible. One of my great pet peeves in the way basketball has evolved is the idea that blocked shots and steals are the goal in playing defense. IMO, they are more often than not “fool’s gold”; the goal should be to make your opponent uncomfortable, make them take intelligently contested shots out of their natural rhythm.
As for the team, I think they can compete for the NC as constituted; obviously more so if Bueckers comes back. They are not going to change style of play or have one of their players morph into something they are not. Stay the course, improve within the system individually and as a team, and throw the balls up and play.
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You are right: No Uconn player plays very long doing what Geno doesn't like. The post for Uconn don't have bulk or much muscle unlike Morrow. Morrow, was favored by the refs, i.e. what ever she did was not seen by them as Fouling. However, I saw a lot of her pushing, moving players around as a foul. Yet, I saw a foul on a Depaul player, a charge that she had established her position. IMO, only, these were not the greatest refs we've seen all season.
Caroline, Fudd (even in her limited time, ONO, Dorka, will all play when Paige comes back. Nika and Evina will come off the bench. Paige, won't return playing 40 minutes a game. Nor will Azzi. The team we saw at DePaul is the best team we've seen from Uconn this year. Offense won this game because DePauls offense is a high scoring offense and it was close.
 
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Consistent scoring from good offensive flow. These multiple minute stretches where we don't score is my biggest concern.
 
Zarathustra said:
My biggest concern is that Geno and the whole team will
have enough time to "jell" as a cohesive unit in the final
games before the Big East Tournament and Big Dance.
In other words... once Paige is healthy enough to play
that there is enough time to get the timing down, the
passes synchronized, and the best balance of inside
vs outside scoring and ....... getting the best players
in the new rotation to to make team 'Click". There is
no " I " in team, but I do concede that "Team"is
spelled with letter a letter "P"!!! Go UCONN! Z
Expand ...
ONO is what she is, and what she is is pretty good. No one is going to change ONO from now to the end of her Uconn Career. We accept it because there is no changing what hasn't been changed much in 4 years. This horse is deader than dead.
 
If I could change just one thing, it would be all the players focusing their attention better, reducing the silly fouls, the lazy turnovers, and the lack of attention to detail. Example, Morrow beat the entire team down the court twice for easy lay-ups-- they just weren't paying attention.
 
Over passing, passing without seeing the defense (picked off passes). Taking too long to get into the offense.
Well coached teams gives the Uconn defense a difficult time. Few if any steals, few if any bad passes, reduced rebounding. This means Uconn must score well and often. (thanks for ( and Caroline).
 
oldude said:
It’s tricky stuff to compare year over year numbers. I would start with the fact that UConn as a team is scoring 10 ppg less this season, so individual scoring averages are likely to be down, particularly if you consider that Caroline, a player who was in HS last year, is UConn’s leading scorer.

As for individual numbers you really have to be more precise in evaluating year over year. Liv is a case in point. Her ppg numbers are down. But in just about every other statistical category Liv’s stats are up substantially this season: shooting percentage, FT percentage, rebounds pg, assists pg, A/TO ratio, blocks & steals. With the exception of the DePaul game vs Morrow, Liv has generally avoided foul trouble and, as a result, is averaging 3 more mpg.

Liv has been the rock for this team. I would also strongly suggest that UConn is getting exactly what the team needs, and Geno expects from Christyn, Dorka & Nika. After that, yes Evina & Aaliyah have been somewhat disappointing this season. I still believe there’s time for both to step up and finish the season strong.

My last point, which I and many others have made. Paige makes everyone around her better. You just can’t remove the NPOY from your lineup and expect everyone else to perform at the same level.
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We have seen skills, moves, physicality from ONO we have not seen before. Is she a match for Boston? That depends the category you are speaking about. Her scoring is better. She is more aggressive, Depaul pointed that out. I think ONO/LIV is making a case for the WNBA. She'll make a case for playing on many teams. On the right team I see a star.
 
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ucbart said:
If all the things go right and we get Paige back and blah blah blah, the one thing that concerns me the most is the FT shooting of Christyn, ONO, and Dorka. They seem to be the players that get to the FT line the most and frankly, they're not good FT shooters. Those players cost us points when they get to the line.
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Free throw shooting, in order of number of attempted FT shots:

Evina, 72.5%, 29-40
Liv, 60.5%, 23-38
Christyn, 67.6%, 25-37
Dorka, 52.8%, 19-36
Caroline, 83.3%, 20-24
Paige, 76.9%, 10-13
Aaliyah, 81.8%, 9-11
Piath & Amari, 50.0%, 2-4 each
Azzi, no attempts

Aaliyah should go aggressively to the basket and draw a foul. Not only will the opponent’s posts get into foul trouble, Aaliyah will get some free points and perhaps bolster her confidence
 
Our bigs do not always set up on the perimeter when they do it creates open lanes for guard penetration and to move bigs defenders outside.Depends on the play call
 
Love this thread. I can worry with the best of them. jk. I agree with a lot of the points that have been given.

My number 1 concern is health. I remember early on in the season, many people were concerned with the over-reliance on Paige and whether we would be a top 20 team without her. Of course she's not the only one that went down this season and we did sustain losses to most of the ranked teams that we faced on our schedule thus far. That being said, I think the team we saw earlier this week vs DePaul can be a very good team, for sure a top 20 team in the nation. However, I think it would be really hard to be a top 8 team or a final 4 team without Paige. We are now less than two months away from the start of the tourney. I see her pretty active and mobile on the sidelines, but of course she still has a brace. Then again Ayoka Lee dropped 60 in a brace so looks can be deceiving jk.
A close second concern which is related to the first (I saw nicely it put in an earlier post) is confidence and continuity. I live close to Boston, and I feel like Bill Belichick and Doc Rivers constantly championed being a star in your role. But with the way this season's been, everyone's role has constantly changing. So the injuries put players in roles that they may not have been ready for but were forced to embrace. And on the flip side, with everyone getting back healthy, how do you keep players confident and feeling important when their role is being diminished.
I remember Geno saying that they had no depth earlier in the season, perhaps after the road Seton Hall game, and making it clear that players needed to prove themselves to get on the floor. Then I remember him saying after the UCLA game that Dorka should be aiming to get a double double every game (which sounds extreme but she averaged it last season, and if she got more shots she'd probably be close to it). Now does she see less time with everyone healthy, and trying to play more 4 guard lineups. And if she misses a couple shots, or misses a box out does she still get the minutes and remain confident.
I remember prior to the season CW had a video, and talked a bit about making this last year count, almost as if she felt that in her previous 3 she did not live up to expectations. EW also had a video, which discussed her decision to come back, at the expense of being a projected lottery pick. Inevitably, if the team ends up getting to where they want to go, I'm sure both will play a major role. But in a close game with 3 minutes left with everyone healthy, does Geno have either on the court, and how does that feel for them.
I remember also prior to the season starting, Geno and other coaches were praising CD. But when the season started she was mostly on the bench and pulled super quick. Over the past month she's shown she's one of the best players on the team and has evolved as the player you want with the ball in crucial moments. But before the final 4 minutes Wednesday, she had ~ 8 shots with 4 minutes left to go in the game. And this is without Paige. So what happens when PB gets back.
That's the dichotomy, gift and curse of having a really talented team.The curse being that you're sort of tailoring players roles to fit the team. You are not letting an individual go crazy and reach for the stars, you're making calculations from the perspective of 'what is going to be best for the team'. Like AE is a prime example. I'm not sure she was put in position to go from 11 and 8 last year to like 16 and 8 this year. It's always been sort of an interesting thing to me. The sacrifice everyone always praises never really is scrutinized when it results in the detriment to the team.
Lastly, I think this sort of came up last year, and you can probably say it every year, but I worry about fast, athletic, defensive teams. Arizona shut down UConn last year. I know some players were even injured last year, but when I look AZ's team they have a bunch of really strong, athletic, defensive players. I think a team like Texas is very similar. Obviously Georgia Tech caused a lot of issues in their game with us this season. I think we will have to get through one of those type of teams in the post season and I'm not looking forward to it. Geno's press conference last year talked about the te. am needing to mature, and even this season, when they get jumped on, them needing to be able to respond. Will they have the mental toughness to outlast a team like that, when they have not been able to really establish any much continuity thus far.
 
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phil sampieri said:
Our bigs do not always set up on the perimeter when they do it creates open lanes for guard penetration and to move bigs defenders outside.Depends on the play call
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If you look at where our bigs were on CD’s drive that was called.
 
Alot of very good points from a variety of posters, but one of my concerns would actually be the chemistry among our guards and small forwards. Right now, I believe Caroline gets the green light whenever she is open, and I believe Azzi will also get the same message from Geno. Now the question is, when Paige gets back, a player who has had the green light since the first time she stepped on the floor, how will they all react if they are on the floor together? Will Azzi, will Caroline, both freshmen, be reluctant to shoot, passing over good shots to allow Paige to do her thing?

This is why the sooner Paige gets back the better, not because we need her scoring, but we need her to showcase her passing skills to feed these very talented shooters. We need them to work together, play together, leard about each other's game. If they hesitate to shoot, unlike they are doing now, it will find us in the same position that we were in at the beginning of the year. Caroline, Azzi, and Christyn will be our main offensive weapons going forward from the perimeter, with Paige doing the facilitating. Obviously, her shooting will be a huge factor, but if teams focus on her, then her PG skills will be more valuable. The Bigs will be fine, they have had enough time together to gel. We can be very powerful outside, but these young players just need time to develop a good relationship on the floor for us to become a dangerous team.
 
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Figurehead said:
Off topic here, sorry.

Hey UCONN fans, Commend Geno for playing games when you were down several players and sticking it out. Oregon had several out early but not to the point that you were at.

Just found out at 10 PM PST tonite (Friday) that the Pac-12 office has officially announced a forfeit against UCLA for not playing Oregon due to injuries not related to COVID. I think they had 6 or 7 players available and did not even make the trip to Oregon. Likely more to come out on how many players they had available.
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6-7 players are really enough to play the game if the coach wants to do so. To hit the minimum requirement, they can dressed one of their injured players with no plans of playing them at all.
 
The most glaring fault that this team has is "picking up their dribble". It's a cardinal sin even down in 4th grade CYO. This 'no-no' was very evident in the DePaul game if you watched closely and cost us at least ten points from resultant turnovers! Our point guards were the main culprits, eh?
 
1. Paige 2. Paige 3. Paige ... n. Paige
Paige makes everyone better.
dogpause said:
Mine is that our bigs too frequently play small. Offensively, they tend to want to camp out on the perimeter too much. Their interior defense also seems more like what was played in the 80's -- arms up, stationary, try to avoid fouls, rather than allowing some space and timing blocked shots, or taking an occasional charge when opposing bigs, or smaller players like Morrow, use a battering ram move. Blocking out also appears to lacking, or worse.
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Too often I see the offense, in a semi circle around the 3 point line, with their hands extended, waiting to get a pass. Nobody cutting the lane, setting screens, etc. It's very frustrating to see someone stop their dribble, and nobody moves to help.
 
The biggest concern, says Cap't. Obvious, remains PB's health/return/effectiveness.

Assuming she fully recovers this season, then I hope her 3-pt shooting returns to prior levels. It was only 31% when injured. Also, I hope CD's long-ball shooting improves as well. It currently is 30%.

I mention these two things because these changes are more likely to occur than the fixing of the team's oft-discussed deficiencies. Proficient 3-pt shooting can overcome quite a bit.. Geno has often said a good shooting night makes everyone think the team played a good game.

In the post-season, you don't get style points. If Paige, Azzi, and Caroline are nailing 3s, we'll make the FF, imo.
 
I am actually more hopeful than concerned at this point. I believe that with Azzi's return we have a real chance to build towards the team we expected to see preseason. We now have three offensive threats in the guard positions (if we include Caroline in that group) Christyn, Caroline and Azzi, all of which bring something different in how they can score. We have two solids posts (Liv and Dorka) and hopefully a resurgence by Edwards before its all done. We have a point guard (Nika) who can get the ball up the court fast and pressure the opposing PG to slow them into beginning their offense.

What we really need, and which I expect to see improve each game is chemistry and resultant better flow on both offense and defense. We have, even with all the changes in personnel this season generally played pretty decent defense. But I think with a more consistent lineup game after game that will continue to improve.

Many have mentioned turnovers as an issue, which I agree with. Many of these have been errant passes to a spot where perhaps a player was expected to be or a picked up dribble with no outlet. As this group works together I believe players will know where to move on the offense and know where each other likes to get the ball. I expect each game to show improvements in terms of offensive pace and movement, including picks set and following shots to pick up O boards.

We now have the consistent pieces (assuming no more injuries, please) to make the return to UCONN style basketball, where the offense fluidly moves the ball around and finds the open shot and creates turnovers on the other end that result in easy buckets. This style of play is what the returning players were accustom to the second half of last season and which I believe Dorka, Azzi and Caroline will be very comfortable playing in. When Paige returns I see her seamlessly sliding into the mix and taking a now established rhythm and style of play to an even higher level. So, more TonyC than concerned for me.
 
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