Creighton Post Game thread (merged thread)

[EricLA]

Overall some very welcome sights. Muhl back with some terrific energy when she first came in and nice seeing Edwards going strong to the basket. Too many unforced turnovers by UCONN between lackadaisical passes and travels that stopped momentum or prevented baskets.

At halftime, Geno was pleased with the defense, but frustrated with the offense. “Our guard play sucked – there’s no other word for it”. Can’t argue with that.

I found it amazing in the first half how Creighton was able to shake the defender for nice bank shots off the backboard. It almost seemed like they were “lucky” shots, but so many went in that I can’t attribute it to that. On the other hand, Creighton packed it in knowing our 3-point shooting is suspect and really harassed anyone who got the ball near the hoop.

The announcers said the Creighton coach planned to wear UCONN down with their depth and our lack of depth and figured they could keep it close and make a run in the 4th quarter. Q’w 2 and 3 were close, but we built the lead up to 17 in Q4 and held on as Creighton made their run. 5 minute FG drought did not help.

Dorka – Continued her strong play. I wonder if the “boo-birds” who said early on “All B10 team? How is that possible?”. Love her aggressiveness, she’s athletic, and can cover the perimeter as well as the post.

Aaliyah – is it possible that the Aaliyah that we saw last season who showed so much promise is back? Very active on defense, and in spite of a few TO’s and missed shots, was really strong going to the basket. Loved her steal and drive to the basket in the 1st quarter.

Caroline – should not be taking 3 point shots from way out – when she’s closer in, better change of making the basket. Having said that, very little she did to complain about. Moves her feet well on defense, blocks without fouling, and can score from everywhere on the floor. Probably the best player on the floor today.

Olivia – not a lot of scoring, but really solid on the defense. She’s athletic and able to (for the most part) get out on the perimeter and cover Creighton – who does not have a lot of inside play, but has a lot of shooters.

Nika – unfortunately picked up 3 fouls in the 1st half, but here energy and ball control seemed better than the other 2 guards. I felt more comfortable watching her run the point than Evina or Christyn. Her energy seems to be back to where it was last season which helps me understand how her foot injury impacted her play early this season. So glad to see her back. Wish she had knocked down 1 of those 3’s, but 1st game back – happy to see!

Christyn – Another unsurprising sub-par game. As Geno said at halftime “our guard play sucks”. Poor decision making, poor passing, I fear that the CW that we saw the final month of last season is gone for good. The new hairdo did nothing to improve her game. Sadly with all the injuries, we have no other options. And I say that knowing full well she scored double figures and grabbed 5 rebounds. She did have that nice spurt in Q4. But she seems to drive to the basket and then contort her body to avoid being fouled. Not sure why she has never leaned into fouls like so many ND guards have done over the years.

Evina - not sure what is going on with her but even if Paige is playing, 1 shot in a game is not good. Lazy passes, failing to box out her player when she takes a shot, sort of mystifying play from a 5th year senior on a team that needs her to be "more".

 

[oldude]

Some thoughts on the Creighton game:

• For diehard UConn WBB fans, a 21-day absence of games in the middle of the season feels like an eternity. Any game, including this one, is an extremely welcome occasion for Husky players, coaches and fans.
• I absolutely expected turnovers and some ugly play at times by the Huskies after the long layoff. An ugly win is a still a beautiful thing, and I will take it any day of the week.
• UConn played 7 players and got contributions from all 7 players. But Caroline is fast becoming the “MONEY” player for this team. With Paige out, Caroline has stepped up as the player who makes big plays in the clutch at both ends of the court. Caroline is also the best shot blocker with her off hand that I've seen at UConn since Pheesa.
• Evina is struggling with the pg role. She appears to feel more pressure than any other Husky right now. Hoping that Nika can take some of the pressure off her in the near term.
• Christyn with a decent game. I'm sure it all had to do with the new "do."
• Good to see Nika back on the court, particularly after she flattened an opposing player trying to set a screen during her first minute in the game, although we really do need her to cut down on fouls in order to actually stay on the court.
• This season is going to be a real grind. Right now, nobody that UConn plays will be afraid of this team. The Huskies need to get a little better every game and hopefully reap the rewards of their effort in March.

 

[Kaizen]

My sweet Caroline is a new star.

 

[EricLA]

Post-game interview with Geno:

Geno thought the defense was good. Creighton has a lot of 3 point shooters - thought for our first game back in a long time it was really good. CD is a kid who makes plays. she takes advantage of what comes her way. Can't say enough about her. Thrilled with how she is playing. Now ewe need a few more like her (can't agree more!!).

Better than when we played UCLA. Hopefully keep improving every game.

 

[Stymie]

Starting guards:
9 turnovers
3 assists
And there the problem lies.

 

[FfldCountyC]

Our senior guard play has to get better. If that improves, with CD rising, Fudd Nika and Paige getting healthy, and our posts playing pretty well as a collective, we will be just fine and a Final Four and NC contender.

 

[CTrefugee]

I missed the game. How did Muhl look ?

 

[h2Oburyhuskyfan]

UConn lack of being able to get the ball into the paint to the bigs against a much smaller team and a point guard with 2 points and only 3 assists will result in several more losses…hopefully they’re healthy come March!

 

[Zarathustra]

Just good enough ! No field goals in last 5 minutes and 56 seconds???
I guess we ran out of gas in the 4 quarter = somewhat predictable.
We'll take the "W"!!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

Starting guards:
9 turnovers
3 assists
And there the problem lies.

They haven’t been able to practice much. They’ve had 5-6 available players and no practice players. There is a ton of rust

I’m recovering from Covid. The fatigue is unbelievable and it makes it difficult to focus. If the players were the same, I, personally, am giving them a pass.

 

[Happydad745]

I'm really frustrated by EW and CW....for many reasons. The sooner we get PG back, the better. I hope develops as quickly as CD.

 

[Dove]

They haven’t been able to practice much. They’ve had 5-6 available players and no practice players. There is a ton of rust

Tell that to @ucbart They were totally disgusted by the Huskies.

 

[Rb335]

• Caroline Ducharme! Couldn't be happier to see her continue to blossom on the court. I wasn't sure how the long layoff would affect the momentum she was building, but she came out and had an impact in so many different ways. She'll be a key player for us all season long.
• Williams had a so so effort, about what I expect from her. She's going to get points, not always super efficient from the floor or FT line, but she'll get points. Right now, that's something we need.
• Westbrook is just in a funk. It's hard when your leader is playing so tentatively, because I think that can rub off on other players. She's playing out of position and just looks out of sorts. But we'll need her to regain form soon. I am far from giving up on her.
• A nice game for Edwards, showed she still has that competitive fire. Needs to practice jump shooting though to really be effective
• Hot start for Juhasz, but cooled off after the opening minutes. I thought she had a lot of nice team defensive plays.
• Average game for ONO. Nothing bad, some good moments. Expected her to use her height advantage more, but Creighton played good team defense.
• Muhl had a lot of energy, and a lot of fouls. But it was so clear to see how we benefit from having a true PG on the floor. Glad she is back, and helping balance out the guard rotation.

Overall, not the best performance, but a win against the top in conference opponent is a good step. Not bad after such a long layoff. But it's still crazy to me how far this team drops off without Paige. She truly is one of the best players I've ever seen.

Above all else, so nice to be able to simply watch a game.

 

[Urshurak]

Forgot to add, good game by AE!

 

[BostonBay]

CD continues to impress! If Paige comes back, our backcourt changes 180-degrees, w/Paige controlling the ball movement and CD a scoring option on the wing. CW & EW could go back to their shooting-guard roles that they are more accustomed to. As Geno said, we essentially dont have a good guard play right now, and it shows.

 

[HuskyNan]

CD continues to impress! If Paige comes back, our backcourt changes 180-degrees, w/Paige controlling the ball movement and CD a scoring option on the wing. CW & EW could go back to their shooting-guard roles that they are more accustomed to. As Geno said, we essentially dont have a good guard play right now, and it shows.

There are several players in new positions or roles they need to adjust to. The lack of practice time doesn’t help

 

[Bigboote]

Ducharme is just a joy to watch. Her one-on-one defense isn’t great, but her team defense really is.

Glad to see Edwards getting her groove back.

I too loved Nika barreling through that screen. It might have been a dumb play, but it showed she still has that fire and she’s not giving in because she’s just back from an injury.

I hope Evina is able to get it together with Nika taking some of the PG responsibilities.

 

[UConn Homer]

Overall some very welcome sights. Muhl back with some terrific energy when she first came in and nice seeing Edwards going strong to the basket. Too many unforced turnovers by UCONN between lackadaisical passes and travels that stopped momentum or prevented baskets.

At halftime, Geno was pleased with the defense, but frustrated with the offense. “Our guard play sucked – there’s no other word for it”. Can’t argue with that.

Just to clarify, Geno said "our offense sucked". He did not specify guard play.

 

[eebmg]

Very disappointed in how we handled the press. Against a team with no team speed. That can't continue. Our signature since we bounced a ball was breaking a press.

 

[Discograd]

They haven’t been able to practice much. They’ve had 5-6 available players and no practice players. There is a ton of rust

I’m recovering from Covid. The fatigue is unbelievable and it makes it difficult to focus. If the players were the same, I, personally, am giving them a pass.

As we all know there are different levels of having covid. Having tested positive and asymptomatic I really never slowed down. Once you test positive you are stuck.

 

[Twolf]

Overall some very welcome sights. Muhl back with some terrific energy when she first came in and nice seeing Edwards going strong to the basket. Too many unforced turnovers by UCONN between lackadaisical passes and travels that stopped momentum or prevented baskets.

At halftime, Geno was pleased with the defense, but frustrated with the offense. “Our guard play sucked – there’s no other word for it”. Can’t argue with that.

I found it amazing in the first half how Creighton was able to shake the defender for nice bank shots off the backboard. It almost seemed like they were “lucky” shots, but so many went in that I can’t attribute it to that. On the other hand, Creighton packed it in knowing our 3-point shooting is suspect and really harassed anyone who got the ball near the hoop.

The announcers said the Creighton coach planned to wear UCONN down with their depth and our lack of depth and figured they could keep it close and make a run in the 4th quarter. Q’w 2 and 3 were close, but we built the lead up to 17 in Q4 and held on as Creighton made their run. 5 minute FG drought did not help.

Dorka – Continued her strong play. I wonder if the “boo-birds” who said early on “All B10 team? How is that possible?”. Love her aggressiveness, she’s athletic, and can cover the perimeter as well as the post.

Aaliyah – is it possible that the Aaliyah that we saw last season who showed so much promise is back? Very active on defense, and in spite of a few TO’s and missed shots, was really strong going to the basket. Loved her steal and drive to the basket in the 1st quarter.

Caroline – should not be taking 3 point shots from way out – when she’s closer in, better change of making the basket. Having said that, very little she did to complain about. Moves her feet well on defense, blocks without fouling, and can score from everywhere on the floor. Probably the best player on the floor today.

Olivia – not a lot of scoring, but really solid on the defense. She’s athletic and able to (for the most part) get out on the perimeter and cover Creighton – who does not have a lot of inside play, but has a lot of shooters.

Nika – unfortunately picked up 3 fouls in the 1st half, but here energy and ball control seemed better than the other 2 guards. I felt more comfortable watching her run the point than Evina or Christyn. Her energy seems to be back to where it was last season which helps me understand how her foot injury impacted her play early this season. So glad to see her back. Wish she had knocked down 1 of those 3’s, but 1st game back – happy to see!

Christyn – Another unsurprising sub-par game. As Geno said at halftime “our guard play sucks”. Poor decision making, poor passing, I fear that the CW that we saw the final month of last season is gone for good. The new hairdo did nothing to improve her game. Sadly with all the injuries, we have no other options. And I say that knowing full well she scored double figures and grabbed 5 rebounds. She did have that nice spurt in Q4. But she seems to drive to the basket and then contort her body to avoid being fouled. Not sure why she has never leaned into fouls like so many ND guards have done over the years.

Evina - not sure what is going on with her but even if Paige is playing, 1 shot in a game is not good. Lazy passes, failing to box out her player when she takes a shot, sort of mystifying play from a 5th year senior on a team that needs her to be "more".

Hard to disagree with your synopsis. I was very disappointed with both EW’s body language and game performance. It appeared at times she wasn’t engaged in the game, and some of the lazy passes had to have GA reaching for the Tums. When you only have eight your fifth year senior should be leading the parade. Lots of other positives with the play of AE, the energy NM brought, and the steady play of CD, DJ, CW, & ONO. It was great to see Nika back on the court, even with the rust she brings grittiness and positive energy anytime she is playing.

 

[huskeynut]

A win after three week layoff. I'll take it every time.

Creighton averages 70 points per game and we held them to 55. Very good.

Considering we are down to 7 players that can play, I don't care about all the negatives I read. This team will improve. Nika needs to start. She is the spark and energy the team feeds off of. There is still a learning curve with the new dynamics.

 

[Stymie]

They haven’t been able to practice much. They’ve had 5-6 available players and no practice players. There is a ton of rust

I’m recovering from Covid. The fatigue is unbelievable and it makes it difficult to focus. If the players were the same, I, personally, am giving them a pass.

I understand this.
Sorry for your illness.
Despite the situation, they are seniors.
300% more turnovers than assists?
Not acceptable from players that have been playing top tier basketball for maybe 8-9 years?
I can cut Momma some leeway, she’s not a point guard and playing on 2 bad knees.
But CW?
Spitting the bit.

 

[HuskyNan]

A win after three week layoff. I'll take it every time.

Creighton averages 70 points per game and we held them to 55. Very good.

Considering we are down to 7 players that can play, I don't care about all the negatives I read. This team will improve. Nika needs to start. She is the spark and energy the team feeds off of. There is still a learning curve with the new dynamics.

Nika is limited to 15 minutes a game until her rehabilitation is complete. The Huskies had 6.5 players today

 

[Husky fanatic]

Imagine if Caroline was shooting 40% from 3. Good job all around and she can still improve on defense. Thought Nika brought energy. “E” where are you? Aalyia looked better. If only she had a shot besides a layup. Dorka and Olivia did their jobs and if we could get it to them inside they’d have been better. Seems though there was a better distribution of minutes today although it didn’t help the partial 4th qtr meltdown. But we did score 14. A win is a win is a win