Xavier Post-game Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Xavier Post-game Thread

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Some highlights for me were
Caroline's Paige like long passes after a good defensive play to Evina for a layup and to Christyn who missed her right hand layup but the passes were great.
Nika's pull up at the foul line
Evina continues to be a turn around player off the bench with steals and great defense and 3 point shots.
Aaliyah working hard and hitting the bunnies
Azzi and Caroline looking more settled with their footwork on their 3 point shots
Christyn for her defense and offensive production
The team for allowing our bench bigs come in and take over the 4th quarter
The coach for great substitution patterns
 
JellyBean said:
This is the kind of game you want to see, total team effort & balanced scoring. Loved seeing Piath and Amari getting some minutes and they had that High-Low game going to perfection! Proud of Nika, 3/3 and 2/2 with the long ball and zero turnovers in 24 minutes!! Well done, Nika. Just a solid game. With so many options, this is what makes this team so dangerous, when everyone is healthy. We can take advantage of post mismatches. Aaliyah has been on a rampage lately. Loving it! She has just been assertive in the paint. Great game by everyone.
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Piath is very effective setting herself up for a pass. She might work on a stronger finish along with Dorka, i.e. finish with a foul. We have great depth. We also have three bigs or four smalls and any combination in between. A coaches dream. One minor concern is playing against a packed zone which would need Dorka or another big to float outside and hit some threes.
The zone we played showed another defensive side of our game. It also resulted in better defensive rebounding which was missing during the opening minutes. I would like to see our bigs work the heavy ball to improve their hand strength and eye hand coordination.

Overall, an entertaining game with lots of player combinations. Even the team seemed to enjoy the romp, see what they had worked on in practice that was actually effective during game time. Good for them! They were all ears listening to Geno during huddles. He has their complete attention and see their roles going forward. This game was perfect timing approaching March.
 
freshler40 said:
Piath is very effective setting herself up for a pass. She might work on a stronger finish along with Dorka, i.e. finish with a foul. We have great depth. We also have three bigs or four smalls and any combination in between. A coaches dream. One minor concern is playing against a packed zone which would need Dorka or another big to float outside and hit some threes.
The zone we played showed another defensive side of our game. It also resulted in better defensive rebounding which was missing during the opening minutes. I would like to see our bigs work the heavy ball to improve their hand strength and eye hand coordination.

Overall, an entertaining game with lots of player combinations. Even the team seemed to enjoy the romp, see what they had worked on in practice that was actually effective during game time. Good for them! They were all ears listening to Geno during huddles. He has their complete attention and see their roles going forward. This game was perfect timing approaching March.
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One thing I noticed last night was that Aaliyah was catching entry passes in the low post and immediately turning to put up the shot. One of her problems has been that she takes too much time deciding what to do with the ball, sometimes getting tangled up with her footwork, getting double-teamed and having nowhere to go.

I suspect that Jamelle has been spending a good deal of time with Aaliyah on doing the work before the ball comes in and then catching the ball and quickly turning to shoot.
 
The four things I took from this game are as follows:

1. At the 6:06 mark of the 2nd quarter, Christyn Williams had our 8th turnover of the game. For the next 25:54, we committed 5 total turnovers. When were "going through hell," that game would've ended as a 12-15 point win in a grind it out slug fest and we would've finished with 21 turnovers......against this same Xavier team.

2. Alliyah......maybe has turned the corner.

3. Just having Azzi on the floor makes the rest of the team better shooters. I haven't read this entire thread, but has anyone figured out what our 3 point FG% is in games with her vs. without her?

4. Not if, but when it clicks for Amari, we have something special in the high post.
 
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HuskylnSC said:
Although I enjoyed so much of what happened, I think I'm going to chill the accolades for a bit. It was a great practice game for a team trying to integrate a lot of moving parts. We played a poor team in disarray after losing their 2 top scorers.
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Xavier was the perfect team to play at the perfect time. Giving the many new line ups time to jell and providing Paith and DeBerry 7-8 minutes of playing time summarized my wishes for this game.
 
It would have been easy, reasonable for Caroline to have been a bit hesitant;
new combinations of players, the emergence of Azzi, a bit of uncertainty about her role...

Nah, this kid is something, didn't miss a beat; an absolute winner.
Maybe she surprises Geno, the fans and the esteemed membership
of this board....

But you, know...she knew it, tried to tell us all summer with that talk of a chip.

It will be a delight watching her for four years.
 
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freshler40 said:
Piath is very effective setting herself up for a pass. She might work on a stronger finish along with Dorka, i.e. finish with a foul. We have great depth. We also have three bigs or four smalls and any combination in between. A coaches dream. One minor concern is playing against a packed zone which would need Dorka or another big to float outside and hit some threes.
The zone we played showed another defensive side of our game. It also resulted in better defensive rebounding which was missing during the opening minutes. I would like to see our bigs work the heavy ball to improve their hand strength and eye hand coordination.

Overall, an entertaining game with lots of player combinations. Even the team seemed to enjoy the romp, see what they had worked on in practice that was actually effective during game time. Good for them! They were all ears listening to Geno during huddles. He has their complete attention and see their roles going forward. This game was perfect timing approaching March.
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Yes, the very quick high-low pass from Amari to Piath was impressive. I realize that Xavier was over matched, but would like to see that from Liv and Dorka. I have said this a few times before and will say it again; Dorka sets up quickly down low, and is open - but the ball doesn't get to her on time!
 
Barkin Out said:
Piath had 4 points and 1 rebound after 20 seconds ;-)
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Hasn't Gabriel earned meaningful minutes? She is 6'5", strong, and has no qualms about banging inside and putting up quick shots under the basket. She's developed a great deal from freshman year. And isn't this the type of player we need to create that inside game that has been lacking this year?

Coach Geno's comments were a bit mystifying after the game. He mentioned that Gabriel was "limited" to playing under the basket. Isn't that what real posts are supposed to do?

Hope that Piath gets real minutes over the last four games of the season. She's really showed us something.
 
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Zinethar said:
I felt a bit bad for Amari. Her second 3 attempt was almost all the way down before it spun out. Would have made her 3-3 with 8pts!
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Is this the player she is? A huge post player who stands outside and jacks up three's? She's not supposed to go inside? Don't get it...
 
Fairfield Fan said:
Is this the player she is? A huge post player who stands outside and jacks up three's?
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Hardly. Amari will be a fixture at the high post in the years ahead (think of Steph). Yesterday she had 3 beautiful assists to Piath in the low post for baskets. But the best thing Amari did, was the 4th time she caught the ball in the high post, her defender quickly dropped to double Piath. Without any hesitation, Amari smoothly knocked down a midrange jumper. Also of note, Amari easily swatted away a baseline drive by one of Xavier’s forwards.
 
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JordyG said:
You are absolutely no good...and I'm tellin'.:)i
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Fairfield Fan said:
Hasn't Gabriel earned meaningful minutes? She is 6'5", strong, and has no qualms about banging inside and putting up quick shots under the basket. She's developed a great deal from freshman year. And isn't this the type of player we need to create that inside game that has been lacking this year?

Coach Geno's comments were a bit mystifying after the game. He mentioned that Gabriel was "limited" to playing under the basket. Isn't that what real posts are supposed to do?

Hope that Piath gets real minutes over the last four games of the season. She's really showed us something.
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Every Boneyard fan should know: ONLY GENO determines playing time.
For nearly as long as Geno has been coach some fans, including me, have moaned for one kid or another to get "MORE PT".
Geno likes both kids, he likes their game. He has said so on video. Bigs take a much longer time to evolve into "effective" post players. one or 2 like Boston-Dolson, come NEARLY prepared to fight and win.
 
oldude said:
Hardly. Amari will be a fixture at the high post in the years ahead (think of Steph). Yesterday she had 3 beautiful assists to Piath in the low post for baskets. But the best thing Amari did, was the 4th time she caught the ball in the high post, her defender quickly dropped to double Piath. Without any hesitation, Amari quickly knocked down a midrange jumper. Also of note, Amari easily swatted away a baseline drive by one of Xavier’s forwards.
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Think of the one or 2 passes she made that were easily picked off. I scream "stupid". Until I remember my tunnel vision passing to teammates and ignoring the defenders. We all did it.
 
Huskie78 said:
Answer: UCONN at SMU
02-24-2018

In their last regular-season road game, UConn played Southern Methodist University. The Mustangs outscored the Huskies in the fourth quarter, and most of the first quarter. UConn did not take the first lead until just over a minute remained in the first quarter. However, following the first media timeout at which SMU led 12–6, the Huskies scored 43 consecutive points.
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Where were you able to see a replay of that game?
 
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Of course, minutes have to be earned but there's also an element of waiting your turn. I'm pretty sure the kids know this before they arrive. Sometimes that means next year. Geno talked in the post-game about the potential to add players to the mix to the point where it becomes disruptive to rhythm on offense and defense. Some of the historians here will straighten me out but I can't remember him going into a tournament with nine players getting regular minutes. I think it's usually been seven and occasionally eight. This year might end up being an exception to his historical norms, but I can't imagine him going past nine.
 
Xavier kept making the same mistake by attempting to pass inside instead of taking a midrange shot.
And too often they couldn't beat the shot clock.

The play of the game for me was when Evina faked a pass and then put the ball to the floor splitting 2 defenders.
It didn't result in a basket but it showed her desire to attack the basket.
She's getting more aggressive just as Dorka has started doing more of lately.
It must be because it's getting close to March.

I also liked that Liv made somewhat of a hook or side shot right in front of the basket.
She wanted to score the points so badly that she improvised a shot which was the 1st time that I've ever seen Liv do that move.
I think that the UConn players are picking up tips from watching video of each other and incorporating it into their own games.
The bench bigs also showed the veteran bigs a thing or two, their assists and baskets came with such ease.
They're fun to watch when there's not much pressure on them.
 
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Liked this game a lot regardless of the opponent being overmatched. Thrilled that so many/everyone contributed.

Thrilled with Caroline. Thrilled.

Loved Edwards 1st half.
Ecstatic how the game was so easy for Evina. Thrilled. I thought she played one helluva game.
How about them Husky Dogs Amari and Piath puttin' on a show?
 
topogigio said:
Yes, the very quick high-low pass from Amari to Piath was impressive. I realize that Xavier was over matched, but would like to see that from Liv and Dorka. I have said this a few times before and will say it again; Dorka sets up quickly down low, and is open - but the ball doesn't get to her on time!
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Let's keep in mind that Liv and Dorka play against starters, often players their size and often against double teams. Against Xavier, Piath was getting her layups going one on one against short, relatively slow subs. I remain on the Piath band wagon and hope she gets more time so we can see what she can do against better talent.
 
SVCBeercats said:
When Paige returns then they will be able to play like this against top 25 teams but not necessarily with the same margin of victory. Paige, the catalyst, is still needed.
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I met Admiral Grace Murry Hopper a long time ago. She was very instrumental in advocating the development of technology that would identify enemy troop and supply movement. I was a very young man and deployed that technology in Viet Nam.
 
These "post game" threads appear to be the most popular on this forum. Over 8,000 views and 117 (and counting) comments. I wish more of those 8,000 viewers would post a comment. There's only one reason to read the comments posted here. To find out what other UConn fans are thinking. You don't have to agree with their thoughts, but it is interesting to see what they're thinking. That's why I like being in the chatroom during games. Lots of "raw" and unabashed thoughts and observations are posted there. And they are all unfiltered. :cool:
 
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