Louisville Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the Louisville game:

• This was always going to be a really tough game today. A shorthanded UConn team played hard against a very good Louisville team. To paraphrase a quote attributed to Samuel Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain), “Reports of UConn WBB’s death are greatly exaggerated.”
• The more I see of Caroline, the more I love everything she brings to this team. She kept the Huskies in the game today.
• Geno threw a 2-3 zone at Louisville to start and then switched back and forth between zone and man during the 1st half. That gave Louisville some trouble at first, but once the Cardinals started knocking down 3’s, they forced the Huskies out of the zone.
• It’s extremely difficult to play with only 3 guards on your active roster. There’s no rest for anyone and it greatly limits the adjustments UConn could make at both ends of the court.
• On paper UConn had an advantage in the paint. But Louisville did a really good job of denying easy entry passes to UConn’s post players.
• Hopefully, UConn will get some of the walking wounded back after Christmas.
• Everyone, hang in there.

 

[HuskyNan]

I’m not a fan of moral victories but given the loss of two point guards, I’ll take it.

Caroline and Dorka have shown consistent effort the last two games. The seniors, not so much.

 

[Vowelguy]

I said if we played like UCLA game we lose by double digits. Pleased to see we've improved from that and so playing the #6 tight is progress.

That said, still lacking the toughness to close games. We had that 52-51 lead, got a O reb and had the ball, then EW's to and it was never the same. Thosw back2back van Lith 3s were killers.

CD was fabulous. Fabulous fabulous fabulous. Not just her scoring but her AGGRESSIVENESS. That woman was fearless. She wanted the ball and she was going to find a way to get off a shot. Truly impressive.

Juhasz had a good game again.

 

[CTBballfan243]

UConn overall play well today against the 6th ranked team in the country. I liked the effort.

 

[luminosity]

If there is such thing as a great loss, this would be it. Played the #6 team as tough as possible and Caroline Ducharme showed up. It took key shots by Smith and Hailey Van Lith to beat UCONN without their best player. That is very encouraging for the tourney once the team hits full strength.

On the other hand, the seniors were just flat out bad. No excuses for CW.

 

[SLY63]

I was pretty tough on them after the GTech game, but I thought the team performed OK today. Our obvious weakness is outside shooting and we have 2 of the best shooters in the country coming back in 2022.

Not a great day for CW, EW
ONO was OK
I thought AE showed good energy
Dorka played well
And CD was outstanding

By tournament time the minutes CD and DJ are getting will pay off big time.

 

[Topsail]

Without CD this would have been a drubbing… she just hustles so much love this kid

 

[veryolddog]

I am disappointed that they lost. However, there were some really good upside to this game for UConn. Ducharme, Dorka, foul shooting, ....well you watched the game. I think that they did good against Louisville. Little better defense like in he first half might have helped. All in all good progress for these folks and look to see more improvement as time goes by. Happy Christmas to all before the next game.

 

[bob15]

CW looked lost out there again. I think Geno needs to have another heart-to-heart talk with her.....

 

[my2cents]

We found another piece in the puzzle with Caroline's play today. Its getting pretty obvious that our seniors are not getting it done against top competition.
As difficult as it may be, they are the ones that may need to sit, when the walking wounded get back.
( We also need to "tie" Paige down when she is on the bench, no jumping up and down on good plays)

 

[Sam.the.Man]

Maybe this TEAM will start getting an idea that their best offensive player on the court is Caroline. She went 2.5 quarters today basically without seeing the ball. That's ridiculous!

 

[Zorro]

Taking the long view, the emergence of CD as a clutch, gutsy player is much more important than a close loss by a shorthanded squad and terrible games by CW and EW. When Paige and Azzi and Nika return, CD may just be the additional spark we need to go all the way.

 

[Wbbfan1]

I'm Tired of Sub Par Performances by the Big Three. Westbrook(6), Williams(10) and Nelson-Ododa(5). They combined for 21 points. Williams disappeared on offense from midway 2nd Quarter to less then a minute to go in the game. This has happened too frequently in UConn's big game over the last three years. If they get their average, UConn wins by Double Digits. Prior to Paige's injury team relied on Paige, now it looks like Geno is going to have to rely on Caroline Ducharme for points. This was a game for the taking if the Experienced Seniors Showed up in the 2nd Half..

 

[UC77]

The Edwards/Nelson/Dorka/Williams/Ducharme combo worked well. Westbrook was lost .. Williams is a sad Husky. She never really developed into a force ...

 

[HuskyNan]

I said if we played like UCLA game we lose by double digits. Pleased to see we've improved from that and so playing the #6 tight is progress.

That said, still lacking the toughness to close games. We had that 52-51 lead, got a O reb and had the ball, then EW's to and it was never the same. Thosw back2back van Lith 3s were killers.

CD was fabulous. Fabulous fabulous fabulous. Not just her scoring but her AGGRESSIVENESS. That woman was fearless. She wanted the ball and she was going to find a way to get off a shot. Truly impressive.

Juhasz had a good game again.

I thought the team looked gassed in the 4th quarter.

 

[CL82]

I’m not a fan of moral victories but given the loss of two point guards, I’ll take it.

Caroline and Dorka have shown consistent effort the last two games. The seniors, not so much.

Neutral court laws against a top 10 team while being dramatically understaffed? I can’t be that upset about this loss. Caroline is growing before our eyes. When we’re back to full strength we will be a tough team to beat.

 

[BostonCanuck]

Not as optimistic as some, unfortunately. This is a game we could and should have won, playing at home and having the lead for most of the game, including parts of the fourth quarter. But the inability to run any coherent offence against elite-level defense has been the bugaboo of this program not just today, but really since 2017. Props to Geno for at least trying to develop an inside game, but you have to have some level of outside shooting to open that up. And our seniors were not good again today. Except for defensively, which is the one bright spot with this team right now.

 

[oldude]

I have a pet peeve. I absolutely hate two 3-pt lines on a court, and I think the players do as well. The inside line has no purpose other than creating confusion. Every arena that hosts college basketball games needs to invest a few dollars and redo their court with the new 3-pt line only.

 

[Happydad745]

EW worked hard to keep the team on track...CD and DJ really played well and considering we only have 2 guards, we did pretty good. CW really has trouble generating a shot when she is guarded, definitely her weakest trait. Hopefully UConn will have some more players available after the Christmas break.

 

[GoCardinal]

Hate to be the one to say it, but I’m starting to believe UConn will be much better once Williams and Westbrook graduate. From the inconsistencies from the perimeter to disappearing for long stretches, it’s just too unreliable. These are the sort of things you expect to see out of underclassmen.

 

[oldude]

Neutral court laws against a top 10 team while being dramatically understaffed? I can’t be that upset about this loss. Caroline is growing before our eyes. When we’re back to full strength we will be a tough team to beat.

Hardly a neutral court. but I generally agree.

 

[Flyegirl]

I thought the team looked gassed in the 4th quarter.

I think they look gassed every game in the 4th quarter, even before all the injuries. Not sure what is up with that.

 

[BostonBay]

Not going to win against good teams with this senior "leadership" CW, EW, ONO a combined 9 for 28, 9 turnovers. Good god. No improvement whatsoever.

CD is becoming the "star" that I thought she would be. Great wing player already.

Dorka had a good game.

AE a complete no-show, in a game where she is needed. Clearly something is wrong.

IF Paige, Azzi, AG & Muhl come back healthy by March, this team still has a puncher's chance of winning a title.

 

[Urshurak]

There was improvement. CD and Dorka? Yes please. EW and CW? No thanks. No leadership and lack of three’s spelled it out today. This team CANNOT win in a close game without Paige. Proof is in the pudding and we had a whole snack pack today. Oh, AE is a complete bust this year.

 

[Huskie02]

I’m not a fan of moral victories but given the loss of two point guards, I’ll take it.

Caroline and Dorka have shown consistent effort the last two games. The seniors, not so much.

Agree if rest of the team played the way they did today, we would have won. When was the last time a UConn team lost 3 games this early in the season. injuries are part of the game and all teams go through them. very disappointed with Westbrook’s play today 6pts along with 5 turnovers.