Ball St Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Geno rolls out his 6th different starting lineup in 8 games, inserting both KK and Ashlynn along with the 3 seniors. A couple thoughts.

• The small lineup that UConn went with today played with great energy to start the game. Clearly all 3 freshmen are under orders to be AGGRESSIVE on offense. I doubt Geno can go small against everybody. But against a good mid-major team, the small lineup worked well to start off the game.
• Aubrey has not been giving Geno the production he needs as a starter. The solution, have Aubrey come off the bench where she almost always provides instant energy. Aubrey was exceptionally productive tonight.
• OK, who had Hanna to outscore her big sister tonight?
• Geno used this game to do a lot of mixing and matching while giving all his young players PT. They are making plays, and they are making mistakes. But the most important thing is that they are gaining game experience that will hopefully pay big dividends down the road.

 

[maple]

A very good win.

I liked this starting 5 and I hope Geno sticks with it.

 

[CL82]

 

[Edward Sargent]

So where’s Nika?7

 

[hoopsfan22]

So where’s Nika?7

Probably in the locker room.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[CL82]

So where’s Nika?7

 

[Urshurak]

@oldude I absolutely had Hanna outscoring Nika.

Love the play of these freshman. Great job. Hopefully have some confidence going up against NC.

 

[pk1234]

Shade was terrific again, she must be shooting 70% on middies, if she ups her 3% to closer to 35-40% she is a legitimate offensive threat. No rebounds but every possession she's either boxing out (often freeing up rebounds for teams) or running the court if she know's she's not in position to get an offensive rebound.

Paige has no idea what her role is on this team right now, which is still a problem, but likely to be fixed. Still playing with a lot of new players. And she was very efficient in her minutes tonight.

Edwards was excellent, don't really care, she should be excellent against a team like that. Do it against Gakdeng and Ustby Sunday.

Samuels has her great moments, and then her horrible moments. 5 TOs and a few bricks, but when she's making shots it's a weapon and it's pretty. Need to work through some of her growing pains.

Similar with KK, too many turnovers, but she played great on-ball D and is a force going to the lane.

Ice showed flashes, just need to find a way to get her confident.

 

[Tonyc]

Alot of good things happened tonite and alot to work on but were lookin better. Shade and Q arent afraid to shoot and thats what we need. Griff off the bench is the formula. Ice looking good as is KK. KK needs to take some mid range shots to be effective. It will help her dribble drive. I saw alot of improvement 5 players in double figures.

 

[Happydad745]

Fun game watching Shade do her thing and UConn looking more like a team in the hunt....I'm a little concerned about Paige: She took 7 shots and played well, but if you compare her Freshman season to this one, you will see two different players. Could be she is still on her way back, we'll see. I would like to see Amari get big minutes against not so good teams to find out if she is able to be a good post player, too much height not to give it a try.

 

[EricLA]

The good - came out gangbusters. The freshmen are not afraid and will continue to get better.

The bad - mediocre performance after the first quarter. Can't imagine this was the complete game Geno was hoping for with L'ville and UNC coming up next.

 

[HuskyNan]

Shade was terrific again, she must be shooting 70% on middies, if she ups her 3% to closer to 35-40% she is a legitimate offensive threat. No rebounds but every possession she's either boxing out (often freeing up rebounds for teams) or running the court if she know's she's not in position to get an offensive rebound.

Paige has no idea what her role is on this team right now, which is still a problem, but likely to be fixed. Still playing with a lot of new players. And she was very efficient in her minutes tonight.

Edwards was excellent, don't really care, she should be excellent against a team like that. Do it against Gakdeng and Ustby Sunday.

Samuels has her great moments, and then her horrible moments. 5 TOs and a few bricks, but when she's making shots it's a weapon and it's pretty. Need to work through some of her growing pains.

Similar with KK, too many turnovers, but she played great on-ball D and is a force going to the lane.

Ice showed flashes, just need to find a way to get her confident.

Ashlynn is shooting 6-22 from three (27.3%) and 14-18 inside the arc (77.8%) and 20-40 overall (50%)

 

[HuskyNan]

Fun game watching Shade do her thing and UConn looking more like a team in the hunt....I'm a little concerned about Paige: She took 7 shots and played well, but if you compare her Freshman season to this one, you will see two different players. Could be she is still on her way back, we'll see. I would like to see Amari get big minutes against not so good teams to find out if she is able to be a good post player, too much height not to give it a try.

Geno said she’s still working her way back

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Redux]

Geno said [Paige is] still working her way back

Patience would be a wonderful characteristic mixed into the development of this hugely talented team. I have great confidence in Geno and I also think these players will keep it together during the struggle to come. My problem is me. Zero perspective, zero patience.

 

[huskeynut]

This team continues to be a work in progress. Geno continues to change things up to find that combination.

The freshmen can play. They will make their mistakes but let them play. Ash is something else. Seems her mid range jumper, a lost art in today's game, is really good.

Paige is working her way back.

They will get better. Tonight is proof of that.

 

[ThisJustIn]

All this reminds me of how frickin' amazing the 2003 championship was....

 

[augustaTC]

Ashlyn Shade, You Go Girl!

 

[Husky fanatic]

Shade fun to watch but needs to work on defense. Q needs a handle and plenty of work on defense. Overall everyone’s defense needs work. The eye test on North Carolina say they don’t scare me at all. But UConn does scare me.

 

[Bomber36]

Not for nothing, but I just watched Geno’s post game. He sounds a little nuts sometimes. I love him. But he sounds a little nuts. Talk me down. By the way, Kara’s response to some of his comments was priceless. I’d post it if I could find it. Look for it. It’s worth a watch. I‘ve always loved Kara, but the more I watch her the more I love her. She should be coaching, but I don’t blame her for choosing her path.

 

[cferraro04]

The substitution of Ashlynn Shade for Aubrey Griffin was unexpected. But, look at the results the freshman came up with 17 points...however, her freshman status showed up in the box score...uneventful with regards to assists, steals, and rebounds.

Meanwhile, Aubrey comes off the bench and has a very good game...14 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal.

Paige only played 21 minutes but, despite committing 2 fouls in the first 2 minutes of the game, she filled the stat sheet: 15 minutes; 2/3 from 3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block.

Aaliyah did not disappoint...she got a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Ice Brady...not bad: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.

KK...needs to take care of the basketball better...4 turnovers aren't horrific but if she is going to have the ball in her hands she needs to make good decisions.

I had this game at 96 to 52...I expected a better offensive output from UConn than what we have been seeing from them lately. 90 points is a good sign for the future...but, scoring 37 in the first quarter and only averaging 20 per quarter after that is an example that UConn has difficulty sustaining their energy and aggressiveness for the entire game. This is something we have to work on as we move towards March.

I did not expect Ball State to put up 63 an accomplishment that is even more impressive given their top scorer went down in the first half with a twisted ankle and did not return for the rest of the game.

Great story-line for the Muhl family to come to America to see their daughters play against each other...to have their niece join them for the game and to see all fans showing their support for Nika and Hana by waving Croatian Flags during the game.