Wichita State Postgame thread

[Dokey]

Games like tonight will assure Uconn that they wont be #1 going into the tournament.

I assume you mean that they can’t slack off against Baylor, SC, or Oregon.

 

[Florida Fan]

Some thoughts on the Wichita State game:

• The post-holiday rust was evident for just about everyone. It seems there is a game like this just about every year after the holiday break.
• I like that Wichita State plays an aggressive man defense, which should be good preparation for some of the challenges ahead on UConn’s schedule. UConn made several lazy passes and they paid a price for it.
• I have this unshakable feeling that there will be a game, hopefully very soon, when Christyn will find her stroke, shoot lights out and go off for 30 or so. Right now, she doesn’t appear to be shooting in rhythm.
• Geno is experimenting with various lineups and, while I hate to say it, the 5th starter is still something of a question mark imo.
• Oh well, UConn is 11-0 and on to SMU.

It was the holidaze. Geno was off even longer. I was ready for Aubrey to come in earlier to add speed and height to offset the Shocker's defensive quickness.

 

[HuskyNan]

I agree. 21 points is what any top Div one player would like to accomplish any night. Megan, I think was looking to foul out. Was it give Aubrey more time? Or was she banging W.St players for rough play??? She did hang on until the last couple of minutes.

Sorry, but that makes no sense at all

 

[oldude]

Games like tonight will not beat Baylor SC or Oregon. 2nd halves against DePaul will not win those games either.

Unless they changed the rules, every game starts 0-0. This game will have no impact on the Baylor, SC or Oregon games other than to be a teaching tool to get better.

 

[HuskyNan]

Games like tonight will not beat Baylor SC or Oregon. 2nd halves against DePaul will not win those games either.

You do realize that’s not how sports really work, right?

 

[Dokey]

I agree, but I'd feel a whole lot better if Christyn played like "me time" begins at the start of the game.

In this game the whole team gave Shockers “their time” for first few minutes.

 

[Centerstream]

Games like tonight will assure Uconn that they wont be #1 going into the tournament.

Yeah, winning games by 28 will certainly prevent that from happening

 

[Centerstream]

Games like tonight will not beat Baylor SC or Oregon. 2nd halves against DePaul will not win those games either.

But winning games by 28 do! And btw, so won't winning games by 1 point.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Games like tonight will not beat Baylor SC or Oregon. 2nd halves against DePaul will not win those games either.

OK but I never hear anyone say these things about any of those other teams. It's only UConn that has to win every game 100-48. Seems to be an unfair standard here.

 

[Bretski]

The one ref really wanted to be involved for like ten minutes in the third quarter. The drunk guy next to me has lots of thoughts on him

 

[Kaizen]

This is actual a great game, win 28 pts and win every Q.
The only complain I have is Megan was fouled out which I blame the bad refs ...

 

[Centerstream]

OK but I never hear anyone say these things about any of those other teams. It's only UConn that has to win every game 100-48. Seems to be an unfair standard here.

True!!! But luckily, we only hear this "stuff" from the same posters game after game. AND if we do happen to lose a game, no matter the opponent, I think that we should expect them to post twice as much.

 

[Centerstream]

Ditto

That last charge on Anna might crack the top 10 worst calls of the year. Inexplicable.

Totally agree

Me too

Agreed, inexplicable Is the only appropriate word.

I thought that the 5th foul on Megan was a "she's near the shooter, so she must have fouled her" call.

 

[Littlemin]

She played very well. When Walker went out, Christyn seemed to say, Ok, me time.

As another poster noted, I think Williams was focused and involved all game, but she certainly became ultra aggressive the 5-7 possessions after Walker fouled out. Good signs to me, her focus on all aspects, defense, rebounding, assisting, and searching out shots. She is coming around.

 

[Centerstream]

So Kyla started, Anna came off the bench along with Molly, Aubrey and Evelyn.

Are all the fans of the non starters happy?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

When Megan fouled out & W State was getting uncomfortably close, I said to spouse OK we need Chrystyn to step up on offense right now. She scored about 10 points or so in the next few minutes.

Okay, so who do we thank...you or your spouse?

 

[JoePgh]

Games like tonight will not beat Baylor SC or Oregon. 2nd halves against DePaul will not win those games either.

Are all of those teams totally consistent? Never a bad half, a bad start, or any sign of rust?

I haven't watched every minute of every one of their games, but I would seriously doubt that is the case.

 

[BostonBay]

Tonight was Anna's breakout game. She deserves to be the 5th starter - plain-and-simple. Cant afford to get off to slow stars like tonight against good teams.

 

[JoePgh]

Watching the game in person, I have a few thoughts that haven't yet been mentioned:

1. Christyn (whatever her problems with her shot or her focus) is a rebounding guard of the first order. I noticed that in this game and in most of her games this season. At both ends of the court, she positions herself aggressively for rebounds, has great hops, and seems to have upper body strength to haul down rebounds that are contested. I think she just about earns her minutes with her rebounding (on a team that really needs that), regardless of what she does in the rest of her game.

2. I didn't quite understand what Geno was doing with Aubrey's minutes in this particular game. She got into the game in the second quarter (later than I would have expected) and only played a few minutes before coming out. Then she didn't play again until Megan fouled out (at which point, with only a 10-point lead and over 6 minutes left in the game, a good performance from her was really needed). I don't get why Geno didn't find more minutes for her earlier in the game.

3. Olivia had zero fouls at halftime (excellent!), but got 3 rather quickly in the second half. However, none of them were the result of a bad block attempt or a bad contest of a rebound, so I still think she is getting much better at avoiding "dumb" fouls. But this game shows that she is likely to get enough fouls otherwise that keeping her in the game will always be a concern in competitive games. I think that is why Geno limited her minutes throughout the game -- he is trying to get the team accustomed to playing without her, which requires a totally different style of play at both ends that what they use when she is in the game.

4. I still think Molly is playing well enough that she can ease the minutes of Crystal and Christyn more than Geno is allowing her to do. He doesn't seem willing to use her until the team has a very comfortable lead.

 

[Centerstream]

Tonight was Anna's breakout game. She deserves to be the 5th starter - plain-and-simple. Cant afford to get off to slow stars like tonight against good teams.

The fifth starter, IMO, had nothing to do with our slow start, it had more to do with the first 6 or 7 or 8 shots just not falling in. All were normal, uncontested shots that just didn't drop. The exact opposite happened for WS. Once our shots started going in, WS was stuck on 12 points for quite a long time and we raced right by them.
Plain and simple, I think Geno knows what he is doing...

 

[hoopsfan22]

Christyn:

 

[Centerstream]

@JoePgh I think Geno removed Aubrey in the second quarter because she put herself in his doghouse with a couple bad plays in succession. He did one of his turn around, talk to CD and Shea, then send someone to the scorers table right after that. At least that is what appeared to happen as I watched the game from my easy chair.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Crystal:

 

[Bama fan]

Agreed, inexplicable Is the only appropriate word.

I said another word or three when I saw it, but inexplicable is a fine and more suitable word for sure.

 

[Bama fan]

???? You need to explain what you mean. How does a 28 point mid-season win assure UConn won't be #1 Tournament time?

It must be very complicated. No one seems to comprehend the comment. Therefore it must be deep! Or perhaps I am very shallow.