Xavier Postgame Thread

[oldude]

I’m going to dust off an old nickname and give it to Evina. She is the new Swiss Army Knife. Just like Kelly Faris, she does whatever is necessary to help the team win games. Need a rebound, lock down defense, knock down a 3, set up a teammate with a perfect pass, Evina does whatever needs to be done.

At TN, Evina struggled at times to lead the Lady Vols in a disfunctional environment under HW. She will not put up the same numbers at UConn that she put up at TN, but she is so much more of an impactful player at UConn, and I am delighted she’s a Husky.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Four games into a season with no exhibitions and a lost month of practice, things are taking shape.
- This team is going to score. Figure PB, CW, and ONO are going to be close to 60 every night, another 20 from EW and AM, and something close to 20 from AG and AE. We should be able to absorb some off shooting nights with that kind of balance.
- Nika supposedly coming back after the holidays but she'll be behind. Still we'll need a third guard, I like AM better at the 4.
- Don't be impatient with Mir. She's an unguided missile right now, but they'll coach her up. I'll give Geno the benefit of the doubt here.
- I'm not expecting her to be particularly impactful but AC looks pretty darn comfortable for a freshman walk-on, no?

 

[BBallF]

That's a fact. Once again, complaining about referee's always seems to me like homer flailing. I saw Liv get away with a lot of arm smacking tonight with no calls. All of the travels called against UConn were so obvious it became a comedy. Don't call these and you may as well allow 3 and 4 steps to the hoop. Heck, isn't enough that Paige gets away with palming the ball on every possession?

On one of Paige's travel calls, when she came to the ball in the corner after inbounding it, you could read Gens's lips say "Dribble first".

 

[BBallF]

As near a perfect game as I have seen UConn play for some time. Near perfect defense and happy to see the entire team do well with 3 pointers

My only wishes for this game that didn't come true:
-No strong defender on ONO. Love that she is getting more aggressive but it would be great experience to have a tough, tall defender to shoot over. Her opposition this year were basically good high school level players. ONO doing as well as possible playing great against the "B-team."
-No strong back up point guard. Have not seen anyone this year who could take over for Paige. Hope this does not becomes a need but you never know.
Fun game to watch. As blow outs go, enjoyable to see the development UConn is showing.

It will be Evina or Nika playing the point when Paige isn't and you will see Paige sliding to the 2 as well. I think both are experienced point guards and are very capable regarding all aspects of that position. There is , however, only one Paige.

 

[Bigboote]

You guys with these starting lineup changes. NOT...GONNA...HAPPEN unless Anna or Evina go into a prolonged slump. Or unless they don't listen to Geno (ie. Geno has told Anna she needs to take more shots when the outcome of the game is undecided - she took and made 2 shots in 1).

I'm not sure why soe people are so obsessed with changing up the starting lineup. UCONN won the 1st quarter 38-7 with most of the starting 5 in there. I think he subbed someone in the last 3-4 minutes, and another towards the end of the Q. I get that people are super excited about how Aubrey and Aaliyah are playing, but to boot someone out of the starting lineup? Just no...

Each great sub brings something special off the bench. But Aubrey STILL doesn't know the offense and she's a sophomore. I see other players on the floor having to tell her where to go at times. Megan said the coaches had to simplify what they ask Aubrey to do on offense. But she and Edwards had a really good 21 or so minutes each. . .

I don't get the obsession with the starting lineup either. Over the years, Geno seems to have been comfortable with a set of starters, but that sometimes has little bearing on who got the most minutes. Later in Doty's tenure, she ALWAYS started, even on the worst days for her knees when she may have played two minutes at the beginning and fewer than ten for the game. Geno said he liked how she set the tone for the game.

Not UConn, but I think Kevin McHale averaged over 35 minutes a game as a sixth man one year. I'm sure there will be games when Aubrey or Aaliyah plays 30 minutes, either against a bigger team or if there's foul trouble.

I loved Geno's remark, "We play great defense when the other team is throwing the ball out of bounds."

 

[Bigboote]

I wasn't as thrilled with Westbrook coming to UConn as many on the board were. But I'm definitely warming to her. At UT she pretty much played a central role, but she really seems to be letting the game come to her at UConn. Also, she's a really good team defender. She seems so totally in control; that's especially important for a team loaded with freshmen.

This is the first game in which it seems to me that Nelson-Ododa is holding her ground underneath on offense. It may be coincidental, but I think this is the first team with any size they've played. I think the Xavier starting lineup had 6-4 and 6-2 up front.

It amazes me that if Paige misses a few shots, I think she's had a poor shooting game. She was 7-13 today, which I think just about any team would take from their primary point guard, but before I looked at the box score, I thought she had a lousy shooting game.

I can't imagine where Edwards will be in a couple of years.

 

[CTBballfan243]

What happened with Mir? Just five minutes' playing time? In a big blowout? That constitutes a severe rebuke from the head coach. Mir through the first three games was leading the team in points per minute. And even in this game, she came in and got a block and a rebound.

Very strange. Hope it passes......

Not strange at all. Once Mir figures out how to play defense and figures out the offense in practice she will earn more playing time. Geno said from day one that she and Piath weren’t ready to really contribute and will require significant practice.

 

[hoophuskee]

My point was their play today after the first quarter was lackluster. They were getting beat fairly consistently on defense, did not really pressure the outside shots, committed quite a few silly fouls. Offensive, they passed up too many open shots for a more "perfect shot" but ended up over passing, Now, it must be hard to keep motivated when you're up by 30 in the first quarter, but staying focused is the issue. When we play top 5 teams you have to bring it for 40 minutes - that was my focus. I am excited for every style of play, as long as it is solid. Life is good when we can complain in a blowout!

I agree that they didn't play as well. I don't look at it though as "lackluster."

For me one of the most exciting programs on the men's side was the old John Thompson Georgetown Hoyas. They played a soft schedule early then once they got into the Big East they were susceptible to get beat early in Big East season but as season went on-- you could start to see their domination. They really didn't sustain much early in the Big East but you could see how they were playing and what their plan of style of play was going to be. But it took a while before they got consistent. But it seemed every year - for around 5+ years straight- every year- his team was playing peak at tourney time.

Could be that this team is doing exactly that and just needs time. There are two brand new pg's and their two top leading scorers from last year are gone. And they are much different than last year on the defensive end too. I look at this as the type of team that won't play peak for a while. This team imo is just so different than last year or year before.

 

[JellyBean]

There were some good things and some bad things that I saw in this game.

Good:
Filling the lanes on the break.
The Big 3 doing what they do.
Role players playing within the scheme of the offense and not really forcing anything.
Ball Movement.
Spacing
High Bball IQ with reads on the S&R looks.


Bad:
We can not play zone---yet.
M2M Defensive Rotations were iffy but in time that will improve.

That is all I got. I figure in time, the team will get better on defense and that is the scary part. Offensively, we are good. Loving the spacing.

 

[JordyG]

There were some good things and some bad things that I saw in this game.

Good:
Filling the lanes on the break.
The Big 3 doing what they do.
Role players playing within the scheme of the offense and not really forcing anything.
Ball Movement.
Spacing
High Bball IQ with reads on the S&R looks.


Bad:
We can not play zone---yet.
M2M Defensive Rotations were iffy but in time that will improve.

That is all I got. I figure in time, the team will get better on defense and that is the scary part. Offensively, we are good. Loving the spacing.

One more thing. CW had a lot of issues keeping her mark in front of her. She was beaten 3 times on back door plays and consistently to both her left and right. Now I'm going to watch the game for a 2nd time.

 

[MD#12Fan]

I agree that they didn't play as well. I don't look at it though as "lackluster."

For me one of the most exciting programs on the men's side was the old John Thompson Georgetown Hoyas. They played a soft schedule early then once they got into the Big East they were susceptible to get beat early in Big East season but as season went on-- you could start to see their domination. They really didn't sustain much early in the Big East but you could see how they were playing and what their plan of style of play was going to be. But it took a while before they got consistent. But it seemed every year - for around 5+ years straight- every year- his team was playing peak at tourney time.

Could be that this team is doing exactly that and just needs time. There are two brand new pg's and their two top leading scorers from last year are gone. And they are much different than last year on the defensive end too. I look at this as the type of team that won't play peak for a while. This team imo is just so different than last year or year before.

I loved John Thompson too. Believe it or not his HS coach was my HS coach, Bob Dwyer. Legendary Wash DC team, Archbishop Carroll. You’re right, he used to play cupcakes early season. I remember St Leo’s from Florida. OMG But he played in arguably the best league in the history of college basketball. Wasn’t the Big East a 10 team league with nary a patsy. That means 18 games that the other team is trying to rip your face off. I’ve said this before here- best 30 for 30 ever, Requiem for the Big East. Syracuse twice, St John’s twice, Providence twice, UConn twice, Villanova twice, Boston College twice, Seton Hall twice, Pittsburgh twice. Have a tough year and lose 8-10 league games. 1985 3 of the 4 final four teams were from the Big East. Sick!
We ain’t got that. Wish we did. Gotta be a blast for the kids. We’re playing league games now and winning by 35, 40. Anyway, it is what it is! I love thinking back! ACC was similar in the 70’s.

 

[jazz]

I don't get the obsession with the starting lineup either. Over the years, Geno seems to have been comfortable with a set of starters, but that sometimes has little bearing on who got the most minutes. Later in Doty's tenure, she ALWAYS started, even on the worst days for her knees when she may have played two minutes at the beginning and fewer than ten for the game. Geno said he liked how she set the tone for the game.

Not UConn, but I think Kevin McHale averaged over 35 minutes a game as a sixth man one year. I'm sure there will be games when Aubrey or Aaliyah plays 30 minutes, either against a bigger team or if there's foul trouble.

I loved Geno's remark, "We play great defense when the other team is throwing the ball out of bounds."

Point well taken but I think that was Bill Walton.

 

[Littlemin]

In the 83-84 and 84-85 seasons McHale averaged over 30 mpg off the bench. He became a starter in 85-86 after coming off the bench for five years. That same year, Walton joined the Celtics and averaged 19 mpg off the bench, 11 the next; he went on injured reserve for a year or two and then retired.

 

[jazz]

In the 83-84 and 84-85 seasons McHale averaged over 30 mpg off the bench. He became a starter in 85-86 after coming off the bench for five years. That same year, Walton joined the Celtics and averaged 19 mpg off the bench, 11 the next; he went on injured reserve for a year or two and then retired.

Nice work Littlemin. So who was the starter in 83-84 and 84-85?

 

[jazz]

Just got done watching the game and here is my 2 cents worth. Tell me if you agree or not...

One of the things I tried to focus on during this game was defense against dribble penetration. It looks to me that UCONN needs some work in this area. Xavier is not a good team, but they had some success with this and more as the game wore on.

By my count- beaten by dribble penetration: CW-4, AM-3, PG-2, EW-4, MM-1.

In addition, CW was beaten by two backdoors and EW was beaten twice in succession by not fighting through the screen. PB did a better job fighting through screens. Not much fight by EW. EW doesn’t look to have much lateral quickness on defense. This is a worry to me. Hopefully she gets better..Geno is sure having patience with her on the defensive side!

This matters little against Xavier but if Xavier guards can do this to us, then how well can really good and quick guards on elite teams do against us? This will also get Liv in foul trouble having to cover for these defensive lapses.

EW and CW were both hitting their shots today which for me, means that Geno can sub in AE and AG more for AM. This gives Geno more options. I like the isolation plays with AG getting the ball down low, but that only works if you can spread the floor.

AE took a step forward in this game. She has a fantastic low post BB body to make things happen. She is quick too…hard to defend if she gets the ball down low. Too bad she missed on a nice, quick drive and an easy 10 footer. She didn’t look comfortable on the 10 footer. I think she gets better and better and makes a big difference once we get to the post season!

Geno didn’t use PB on that curl and foul line jumper until late in the game(once and she missed)…but she did play pretty well. She had 9 assists bc her teammates were hitting more shots when PB passed them the ball. But 6 TOs?? I didn’t see this but that is what the box score had. Did she really have 6 TOs????

AM went almost half the game without taking a shot. But her presence does open things up for others. She missed a couple easy ones.

Solid game by Liv but I still worry if she can do it against top competition. She just loses her balance too easily on contact. I do like her as the distributer to cutters and this will work as it did to EW if Liv is a threat to hit the jumper and brings out the low post defender.

Great block by MM and in getting down the floor. She has some bounce! She looks a little hesitant on where she should go on offense. She got there but after a bit of hesitation. Not sure why Geno took her out with 2 minutes to go. That seemed a bit counter-productive to me. I liked what she did in the 5 minutes she played.

 

[jazz]

Nice work Littlemin. So who was the starter in 83-84 and 84-85?

In the 83-84 and 84-85 seasons McHale averaged over 30 mpg off the bench. He became a starter in 85-86 after coming off the bench for five years. That same year, Walton joined the Celtics and averaged 19 mpg off the bench, 11 the next; he went on injured reserve for a year or two and then retired.

maxwell was the starter. in 84-5, KM took over for most of the last 25 games and into the playoffs.

 

[Littlemin]

Nice work Littlemin. So who was the starter in 83-84 and 84-85?

Cedric Maxwell who was part of the trade with the Clippers that brought Walton to the Celtics

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Replay link?

 

[DEpup]

Just got done watching the game and here is my 2 cents worth. Tell me if you agree or not...

One of the things I tried to focus on during this game was defense against dribble penetration. It looks to me that UCONN needs some work in this area. Xavier is not a good team, but they had some success with this and more as the game wore on.

By my count- beaten by dribble penetration: CW-4, AM-3, PG-2, EW-4, MM-1.

In addition, CW was beaten by two backdoors and EW was beaten twice in succession by not fighting through the screen. PB did a better job fighting through screens. Not much beat by EW. EW doesn’t look to have much lateral quickness on defense. This is a worry to me. Hopefully she gets better..Geno is sure having patience with her on the defensive side!

This matters little against Xavier but if Xavier guards can do this to us, then how well can really good and quick guards on elite teams do against us? This will also get Liv in foul trouble having to cover for these defensive lapses.

EW and CW were both hitting their shots today which for me, means that Geno can sub in AE and AG more for AM. This gives Geno more options. I like the isolation plays with AG getting the ball down low, but that only works if you can spread the floor.

AE took a step forward in this game. She has a fantastic low post BB body to make things happen. She is quick too…hard to defend if she gets the ball down low. Too bad she missed on a nice, quick drive and an easy 10 footer. She didn’t look comfortable on the 10 footer. I think she gets better and better and makes a big difference once we get to the post season!

Geno didn’t use PB on that curl and foul line jumper until late in the game(once and she missed)…but she did play pretty well. She had 9 assists bc her teammates were hitting more shots when PB passed them the ball. But 6 TOs?? I didn’t see this but that is what the box score had. Did she really have 6 TOs????

AM went almost half the game without taking a shot. But her presence does open things up for others. She missed a couple easy ones.

Solid game by Liv but I still worry if she can do it against top competition. She just loses her balance too easily on contact. I do like her as the distributer to cutters and this will work as it did to EW if Liv is a threat to hit the jumper and brings out the low post defender.

Great block by MM and in getting down the floor. She has some bounce! She looks a little hesitant on where she should go on offense. She got there but after a bit of hesitation. Not sure why Geno took her out with 2 minutes to go. That seemed a bit counter-productive to me. I liked what she did in the 5 minutes she played.

It's all the walks that make up most of those turnovers...

 

[jazz]

It's all the walks that make up most of those turnovers...

I just don't remember 6 TOs. Maybe 2-3 but not 6. I usually remember everything, especially if the PG has 6 TOs.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Not strange at all. Once Mir figures out how to play defense and figures out the offense in practice she will earn more playing time. Geno said from day one that she and Piath weren’t ready to really contribute and will require significant practice.

The problem is that Piath really isn't ready to "contribute." But Mir comes in and is a dynamo. To leave her out for virtually the entire blow-out game is disturbing. Yes, she's being sent a message. But it's an ominous one. Difficult to see what else she has to do to impress when she is explosive whenever she gets in. Perhaps Coach Geno has made a decision about her. But have never seen as productive a player sat like that before.

 

[pvdoggy]

I just don't remember 6 TOs. Maybe 2-3 but not 6. I usually remember everything, especially if the PG has 6 TOs.

A lot of Paige's TO were in the last 6-7 min when she was trying to force pass inside to get to 10 assists, whether she is aware of it or not.

 

[CocoHusky]

Worth noting that after taking a 38-7 lead in the 1st qtr, largely as a result of full court pressure, Geno went to a 2-3 zone in the second qtr, and never pressured Xavier again. Scary to think what the final score might have been had Geno not called off the dogs after 1 qtr.

Many people believed early on that this would be a full-court pressing, 40 minutes of hell type team. The rotation would be continuous, with fresh bodies changing shifts like hockey. This is the type of team I would love to see, and we got a glimpse of such the first quarter. Only problem is that Geno is not one to run-up a score and try to humiliate another team, so we are left with a half court, over passing, offense and a half assed defense. Gotta' find a way to keep these kids aggressive the entire 40 minutes. Side bar - Evina is finding her groove, and will prove to be invaluable.

That 1st quarter was not full court press. It was a diamond 3/4 press with Paige at the top. The objective was for Paige to take away the middle of the floor and force the Xavier to pick left (weak) side of the floor and to double on the first pass after half court. It was masterfully executed and here is what took it to the next level. Most teams fall out that press into a zone defense. UCONN came out of the diamond and matchup man to man, then the 1/2 court defense intensified. Love the back ground audio where you can hear Geno intensity and coaching. From Xavier's perspective it was kind of like finding yourself being carried by a tide in a direction you don't want to go, just when you think you can come up for air you find you are in deeper waters. 1/2 court defense of the Creighton game and 1/st quarter of Xavier were a dress rehearsal for Baylor.

 

[CocoHusky]

The problem is that Piath really isn't ready to "contribute." But Mir comes in and is a dynamo. To leave her out for virtually the entire blow-out game is disturbing. Yes, she's being sent a message. But it's an ominous one. Difficult to see what else she has to do to impress when she is explosive whenever she gets in. Perhaps Coach Geno has made a decision about her. But have never seen as productive a player sat like that before.

It not difficult at all. Here is the Rx for Mir: 1) Learn and execute the plays . There are no plays in the UCONN playbook where any player does as much standing around as Mir is doing when she gets in the game. 2) Understand that body language matters very much at UCONN (aka fix your face) leave some of the expressions you are displaying on the court at home in the DMV.

 

[donalddoowop]

As often as it has been stated on the BY, some people still don't understand.