You Have to Shoot

[FanHam]

OK, it's been a day or so and I'm healing. My take is you can lose to anyone if you shoot 29%. Period.

I thought they played well, put forth a good effort, yadda yadda, but their shooting left plenty to be desired. If they'd shot 50% they would have won by 10+.

The lousy shooting exposed the size differential because there were so many rebounds available after UConn shot attempts. But in the end, rebounds were even, so size is at best a poor excuse.

I thought they could have improved their shot selection by taking more pull-up jump shots.

We're ridiculously jaded by decades of UConn WCBB excellence, and no sane fan is seeing this loss as a trend.

Kudos to Baylor for sticking to their maximize-time-of-possession/minimize-UConn-offensive-sets plan of attack. In the end, that may have been the true deciding factor. A team shooting 29% needs LOTS of shot attempts.

Onward and upward. This loss will serve them well once the bruises heal.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

Agreed... If my QUICK math was right, I think if Lou, Pheesa and Danger hit just 25% of their missed shots and even if they were all 2s we win by 11... obviously more if there are some 3s in there. As outsized as they were, they did compete... but wont win often at 29% team shooting for a game.

 

[Plebe]

OK, it's been a day or so and I'm healing. My take is you can lose to anyone if you shoot 29%. Period.

True, but not anyone can hold UConn to 29% shooting. How much of the credit for that goes to Baylor? I'd say a lot. But for sure, this UConn offense is not the smooth-oiled machine we're accustomed to seeing.

 

[phil sampieri]

Collier-Lou-Crystal-Williams shot 17 for 52 I has handicapped the game as UC by12.. thinking they would not score more than 60 points and we for in the 70's. There are days you can't throw it in the ocean and this was that day. What concerns we however is our defense. We lost 2 of the best defenders on Nurse and Gabby and in MO that is what's missing this year. except for Lou and Kish the others have to up their game defensively and we go all the way.

 

[Eggman]

We passed up too many shots when we first had them, then took worse shots after 2 dribbles. We were hesitant. I thought we looked scared to shoot. It also hurt that Williams didn't shoot, thus upperclassmen were forced to shoot too much. No one to take over this year. Two questions: why doesn't KLS, our tallest player not guard taller players and, why don't we'r ever feint, get the defender out of position, then shoot, drawing a foul or getting an open shot?

 

[my2cents]

This was our first regular season loss in over 4+ years, a record that will never be beaten. A record that is even more remarkable because UConn plays everybody/everywhere.
Here is my "scout" on what happened.
When the opposing teams defense plays off our weakest (assumed) offensive players, it makes it harder for our top offensive players to score.
So when Baylor plays off MW, she has to shoot her open shots.
But, there is one more huge opportunity this team has that last years team didn't.
CW can score at will off her defender (see ND game).
Geno doeasn't isolate away from his All Americans, but isolate CW, and let her go to town.

 

[UConnCat]

We passed up too many shots when we first had them, then took worse shots after 2 dribbles. We were hesitant. I thought we looked scared to shoot. It also hurt that Williams didn't shoot, thus upperclassmen were forced to shoot too much. No one to take over this year.

Yes. I said many times watching the game: shoot the ball.

Here's what Geno said about that:

“During one timeout I said, ‘We’re trying to invent a way to score without shooting,’ ’’ Auriemma said. “I don’t know if we can do that. Before the next timeout, we’ll see if we can come up with something."