Xavier Postgame Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Xavier Postgame Thread

And as for Azzi's off nights, she's spent her entire life being brilliant at the game, so having a little slump is nothing to worry about. You don't just "lose it" for very long. But the rest of the show last night? Wow...loved Allie obviously, and Ash, and K9... and the list goes on. We're well situated for a star to have "one of those games" and still go on as business as usual.
 
So many great comments about the game as we all get amped up for TN!

To me this was the quintessential Shade game. So many comments over the season about her shooting and scoring, but she does so many other things that contribute to the teams success. Nine steals?! Did I see that right?! Plus the rebounds, plus the assists. Her shot may have been off in the first half but the second half she was in a groove. Love this!

I want Allie to deposit yesterday’s game into her confidence bank and pull it out when she needs it. Her and Azzi shooting three’s with Sarah. Magical.

Continue to be less than not worried at all about Azzi and her ups and downs shooting.

I am hoping Blanca, Sarah and Caroline were out last night more so to be close to 100% for TN than any multi game type issues.

My wife and I may start a drinking game where every time Heckel hits the floor you take a drink. We may be unconscious by halftime, lol.

On to the next!
 
It’s not typical that KK gets overlooked because of the outstanding play of 3 other UConn guards. But in what was an. “Under the Radar” game for the masked Avenger, KK played her usual ferocious defensive game, chalking up a couple steals, while improving her position as one of the nation’s leaders in A/TO ratio with 6 assists and 0 turnovers.
 
I'll expand a little on my thoughts because I think there was so much to be excited about from this game

Sarah - Completely broke the zone. I think the team has struggled with zone, and overpassed, but today was different. There were moments she was wide open, which was insane. I've been waiting for a Sarah takeover game, and we got a Sarah takeover half. Everything she did was cool, calm, under control. She was completely unguardable. She looked for her shot more than she passed, exciting!!! Definitely looking to see more of this Sarah in the run up to March.

Allie - Love to see the joy she played with when she was locked in. Shooters shoot and she shot tonight! She's been shooting well all season but she also looked really steady on defense as well.

Ash - Just wow. I've been so impressed the last few games with how she's stepped up on the defensive end. The rebounds, the assists, the steals!!! Her entire game has elevated lately.

K9 - She might be the highlight for me. Her drive and kick is so good, it reminds me of Paige some times. She sees the floor incredibly well and is so good at cutting when need be. Just a special player and great to see her thrive. She may need to stay wearing that chest pad tho, the way she stays on the floor

3 of these players mentioned are Sophomores. The team is in good hands!
 
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What can you say about this team? They continue to amaze. Jut tan utter juggernaut and with an elite bench. And the team is just showing amazing hustle.
 
WBBZen said:
I'll expand a little on my thoughts because I think there was so much to be excited about from this game

Sarah - Completely broke the zone. I think the team has struggled with zone, and overpassed, but today was different. There were moments she was wide open, which was insane. I've been waiting for a Sarah takeover game, and we got a Sarah takeover half. Everything she did was cool, calm, under control. She was completely unguardable. She looked for her shot more than she passed, exciting!!! Definitely looking to see more of this Sarah in the run up to March.

Allie - Love to see the joy she played with when she was locked in. Shooters shoot and she shot tonight! She's been shooting well all season but she also looked really steady on defense as well.

Ash - Just wow. I've been so impressed the last few games with how she's stepped up on the defensive end. The rebounds, the assists, the steals!!! Her entire game has elevated lately.

K9 - She might be the highlight for me. Her drive and kick is so good, it reminds me of Paige some times. She sees the floor incredibly well and is so good at cutting when need be. Just a special player and great to see her thrive. She may need to stay wearing that chest pad tho, the way she stays on the floor

3 of these players mentioned are Sophomores. The team is in good hands!
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I just wanted to add one observation. Sarah was spectacular on offense last night, but the way she did it was a little different than her norm. She usually has either scored close to the basket or at the 3 point line, with a couple of mid-range shots thrown into the mix. Last night, she was an utter assassin from mid-range, and I feel that by emphatically re-establishing that as a major part of her game, it will give opponents much more to be concerned with and open up things even more for Sarah and her teammates going forward.
 
Bigboote said:
Just a couple of remarks. There was some talk in the off-season about how UConn might have a down year because they lost Paige. If there's any talk this summer about losing Azzi, all we need to do is think back on Allie's game last night.

Ashlynn had herself quite a game last night. The last time I remember a game like that was 2013. UConn was playing Maryland and were down I wanna say about 10 points at halftime. The second half was the Kelly Faris show. She didn't score much, but Maryland couldn't do anything if Kelly was anywhere near the ball. She wound up with something like 10 points 8 rebounds 8 assists and 7 steals, but the big thing was she just wouldn't let the opponent do anything. Ashlynn and to a great extent Kayleigh were that last night.

It looks to me like three different players had the best games of their UConn careers last night.
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Kelly Feris has come to mind a lot lately...
 
Basingstoke said:
I just wanted to add one observation. Sarah was spectacular on offense last night, but the way she did it was a little different than her norm. She usually has either scored close to the basket or at the 3 point line, with a couple of mid-range shots thrown into the mix. Last night, she was an utter assassin from mid-range, and I feel that by emphatically re-establishing that as a major part of her game, it will give opponents much more to be concerned with and open up things even more for Sarah and her teammates going forward.
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I have to think they've been working a lot on zone busting in practice since now everyone thinks that is their only hope... Sarah's scoring last night was text book front court zone busting. I'd venture to say her short middies freed up the 3 pt line so the guards had just a little more time to get their shots off and they started falling.
 
Before the Peacock game broadcast began they had the video and audio feed on and it included the 1000th point basketball presentation for Sarah. That was followed by the starting lineup introduction for the Xavier team. The introduction for UConn was started but at 8PM sharp, the feed changed to the announcers and their usual pregame chattering.
As far as the game went, another weird quarter, the first, but then the Twilight Zone ended and all was good, and in Allie's case, UNBELIEVABLE.
I'm going to watch the replay but during the game, another officiating gripe came. After KK was flagrantly elbowed in the nose, she was bringing the ball up court along the sideline. The defender was trying to body up against her the entire way. No foul. Then UConn went on defense and KK bodied up against the back of the player who she was guarding while she was dribbling near the lane. Whistle on KK. Unbelievable.
That's just one instance of where Xavier could get physical but UConn was getting whistles. But by game's end, the whistles evened out.
 
The thing that stood out to me on Allie's 10 was the quality of the passes 6 by Kayleigh, but the other 4 as well - they were dead center on her body and right in her 'pocket'. It is a little commented on aspect of passes, but not just finding the open player, but delivering the ball perfectly in that 'pocket' increases shooting percentages a lot - great shooters can shoot regardless, but getting a great pass always helps.
 
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I was surprised by how many of Allie's shots were uncontested. You'd think after she made, oh 4 or 5 threes, somebody would have gotten a body on her all the time. Maybe their coach isn't good at adapting in-game. I'm sure Allie wasn't on their radar.
 
ucmiami2 said:
The thing that stood out to me on Allie's 10 was the quality of the passes 6 by Kayleigh, but the other 4 as well - they were dead center on her body and right in her 'pocket'. It is a little commented on aspect of passes, but not just finding the open player, but delivering the ball perfectly in that 'pocket' increases shooting percentages a lot - great shooters can shoot regardless, but getting a great pass always helps.
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Paige is the best I have ever seen at delivering a pass “in the pocket” of a shooter. Azzi, KK, Sarah, Ash & Kayleigh are all pretty good at it as well.
 
Rewatching the game I noticed one of the analysts, Meghan McKeown, observed that one effect of unselfish basketball is that it makes the opposing defense frantic. Every extra pass forces another rotation.

She’s absolutely right about this. Some of us complain about how too many passes sometimes costs the team other open looks — and this is fair. But that’s only looking at it from the point of view of the scoreboard. Meghan’s point is that it has a an impact beyond scoring by wearing out the defense. It’s sort of like in football when a team keeps running the ball even if they don’t get a breakout run. Part of the point is to wear out the defensive lineman and this typically pays off in the 4th quarter.
 
Bone Dog said:
Rewatching the game I noticed one of the analysts, Meghan McKeown, observed that one effect of unselfish basketball is that it makes the opposing defense frantic. Every extra pass forces another rotation.

She’s absolutely right about this. Some of us complain about how too many passes sometimes costs the team other open looks — and this is fair. But that’s only looking at it from the point of view of the scoreboard. Meghan’s point is that it has a an impact beyond scoring by wearing out the defense. It’s sort of like in football when a team keeps running the ball even if they don’t get a breakout run. Part of the point is to wear out the defensive lineman and this typically pays off in the 4th quarter.
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I think most of the complaints about 'over-passing' relate to players making really high-difficulty pass attempts that have a high likelihood of not being completed. Passing around the court from a semi-open player to a more open player (or a better/hotter shooter) is not a problem for most unless the shot clock is winding down. This team, more than previous years, has had more of the head-scratching variety of thread a needle passes early in the shot clock. Blanca is the obvious culprit, but everyone has had their moments including both Azzi and Sarah.

But your/the announcer's point is very true - the more the ball moves the harder the defense has to work and the more often they lose a player. And part of the beauty of Uconn basketball over the ages is how little they rely on dribbling (slow movement) vs passing (fast movement.) Any time you see a Uconn player dribbling in place you know the offense is stalling and in trouble.

Side Note:
I think this is the best Uconn defensive team in terms of off ball defenders dropping down to harass an opponent with the ball - and not part of planned double teams, nor just in the paint, but all over the front court while keeping themselves between the ball and their assigned player. Lots of steals on those moves, not just on anticipated passes or poke-checks (which they are also very good at!)
 
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