Why no press?

[vtcwbuff]

Saving legs for Monday? Wanting to show something different?

I think one of the reasons USF scored as much as they did was because UConn played much of their defense in the half court. Gone was the press that confounded Syracuse. The other reason was some unconscious outside shooting from Orakhova and Rowe. Credit on them. Not only did they get open shots - they made them. The two biggest players on USC shot 50% from outside. By the time Auriemma finally convinced Faris that maybe she shouldn't cheat off Orakhova it was too late.

 

[VAMike23]

Well I commented during the game thread a few times that I thought USF's guards were very surehanded and aggressive/confident with the ball - it may not have been the type of squad that Geno thought would be a good candidate to press. We did press a little here and there, but not very much

 

[wire chief]

Well, if you want to save legs and not press, why not make more use of Kiah and Brianna beyond several seconds.
I know, I know...bad practices, not trying hard, showing up with nail polish. Just when we read they are ready to contribute, they get almost no time. Ah, the mystery that is Geno.

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn did press early in the game to no effect. The only result was WIDE OPEN three point shots which USF was hitting with alarming regularity.

 

[vtcwbuff]

Well, if you want to save legs and not press, why not make more use of Kiah and Brianna beyond several seconds.
I know, I know...bad practices, not trying hard, showing up with nail polish. Just when we read they are ready to contribute, they get almost no time. Ah, the mystery that is Geno.

Banks and Stokes were in early and quickly yanked. I don't know why, but I'm sure Auriemma had his reasons.

WC - I'm jonesing here - I need a GKT fix.

 

[UcMiami]

The few times they did press early, USF blew past them and ended up driving 2 on 1 at Stef - I think their speed and ability to quickly break past the pressure was more the cause than any desire to 'save legs' for Monday.

 

[HuskyNan]

Banks and Stokes were in early and quickly yanked. I don't know why, but I'm sure Auriemma had his reasons.

Brianna was flustered and got burned badly on defense. Geno also needed another offensive threat on the floor and Brianna's not there yet. As for Kiah, I'm not sureunless he felt she couldn't handle her assignment defensively since all of the USF players were happy to shoot (and make) threes. It's hard for a post to defend the perimeter. Stef gave up some threes but she kwas doing lots of other good stuff so Geno must have decided he could live with it.

 

[NCorBust]

Banks and Stokes were in early and quickly yanked. I don't know why, but I'm sure Auriemma had his reasons.

WC - I'm jonesing here - I need a GKT fix.

Left on!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dairyair]

I just got home from the game...I wondered, too, where our press was today. Nan says they pressed some early on, but frankly I don't remember it. Of course, USF was making a game out of it early. Orekhova is a good shooter, but she was pushed around by CD or Kelly, whoever was guarding her at the time. She needs to bulk up some. Her and the Aussie Cain were both more than happy to shoot from the outside, and hit lots of shots.
Stef had a great game today, as did Tiff. The rest of the team seemed disinterested to me. You know we're struggling when Geno calls a time out to rip Kelly a new one on a blown assignment, easily heard on the opposite side of the arena. Fun game, though, glad I went!

 

[pap49cba]

I have to believe Kelly is going to be on a mission Monday night.

 

[RoyDodger]

I just got home from the game...I wondered, too, where our press was today. Nan says they pressed some early on, but frankly I don't remember it. Of course, USF was making a game out of it early. Orekhova is a good shooter, but she was pushed around by CD or Kelly, whoever was guarding her at the time. She needs to bulk up some. Her and the Aussie Cain were both more than happy to shoot from the outside, and hit lots of shots.
Stef had a great game today, as did Tiff. The rest of the team seemed disinterested to me. You know we're struggling when Geno calls a time out to rip Kelly a new one on a blown assignment, easily heard on the opposite side of the arena. Fun game, though, glad I went!

With Tiffany and Stefanie combining for a total of 55 of the team's 77 points, it reminded me a little of the rely-on-Maya days.

 

[willtalk]

I have to believe Kelly is going to be on a mission Monday night.

If she is going to miss an important game for that kind of reason perhaps she should have just commited and gone to BYU.

 

[JoePgh]

I thought that Kiah played quite well in the few minutes that she was on the court. I did not notice any bad plays (not that that proves anything), and she got several contested rebounds and at least 2 blocks. For a brief period, she was on the floor with Stef, but the twin towers approach did not endure this afternoon.

I think the main reason that she did not play more was that Stef was having such an outstanding game, and USF had no answer for her. From Geno's standpoint, why mess with success in a game that could never be taken for granted?

He might have played Kiah more minutes with Stef than he did, but it was quite a fast game, and UConn was easily winning the rebounding battle with the smaller line-up they were using.

If Bria and Kaleena had contributed a normal amount of scoring (for them), this would have been a 30-point blowout. It was a rather close game because they and Caroline were all shooting bricks on the same day. I think Geno may have been hoping that they would get untracked before the end of the game, but that didn't happen.

 

[KGHoops]

If she is going to miss an important game for that kind of reason perhaps she should have just commited and gone to BYU.

+++Hahahaha!!

 

[pap49cba]

Geno in his press conference said he called off the press because they were too quick and had too many good ball handlers.