Disturbing tendencies | The Boneyard

Disturbing tendencies

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I'm going to get killed for posting this, but here goes:

Yes, I know it's early.
Yes, I know the team is tired after a loooong road trip.
Yes, I know the players are just getting used to each other. But,

Unlike past UConn teams, this is not a team that is searching for perfection. Its performance is so far from perfect that you might say that during the second half of games, it is searching for above average.

They seem to use their first team to destroy the opposition in the first quarter and a half. As soon as they get to that point, with or without starters, the quality of play lags considerably. They rely less on the extra pass and more on kicking it out to the three-point shooter, who may or may not be on target. If it's Kia, no problemo. Otherwise, the results are not very pretty. Their defense gets sloppy and forget about pinpoint passes.

Is it a chemistry thing? Well, it's hard to say how much the insertion of Azura has changed the way the rest of the starters do things, but it does seem that this starting five can more easily be thrown off-stride than the previous starting five. We'll know more when KLS comes back and plays herself into form.

Meanwhile, IMHO, it seems the coaching staff has not come up with a go-to way of getting the team back on track. That's fine now, but against Notre Dame and other such teams, it may not be. Especially come tournament time a few months down the road.

Does this mean UConn will lose games? Probably not. They are bigger, stronger, in better shape and better coached than almost everyone else. And yes, they are a work in progress. It's just that they offer us something we don't see very often --an obvious need for lots of progress. I have as much faith in the coaching staff as the next guy does, but this team does worry me. And somehow it's just not as fun winning games because your players and bigger and taller and longer and higher-rated (which means the folks who complain, 'UConn gets all the good players' appear to be right, even when, factually, they are not.)

It's much more fun winning because your team outplays the other guys. And right now, this team spends a lot of time getting by on talent -- who they are, rather than how they play.
 

oldude

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A little perspective. Last year through 6 games, UConn was 6-0, against a schedule that included: FSU, Baylor, LSU, Dayton, Chattanooga & DePaul, with an average MOV of 25 pts.

This year, against an arguably tougher schedule: Stanford, Cal, MD, UCLA, MSU & Nev, including 3 games in 5 days and a 10 day road trip, UConn is 6-0, with an average MOV of 28 pts after losing one of their very best players 16 minutes into the 2nd game of the season.

I suggest everyone relax. Geno, CD and company will have UConn firing on all cylinders soon, and we can all contemplate with great anticipation the day when a 12th banner is raised at Gampel.
 
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Clearly the team and coaches are still trying to figure things out. And missing a First Team AA that averaged 20ppg last year is having it's effect as well. But I think they are well ahead of where they were last year at this time... having easily handled the 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th ranked teams thus far.
 

msf22b

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I've noticed some of the same things as Tom but was reluctant to start such a thread with my (hopefully) previous reputation as sometime naysayer.

But I think there were mitigating circumstances last night.

There were some indications of experimentation on defense; more pressing for example (which wasn't particularly effective) and the increasing use of the zone; which was also only moderately successful.

I can't quantify the effects of a long road trip...it seemed that they would have had enough rest after the last game...but I always found the effect of jet lag and traveling to be greater rather later on.

Something must be happening in practice to account for the unsettled substitution patterns and the relative lack of reliability of the sophomore group. Molly (again) had a pretty unfortunate opening.

And of course, we all take it on faith that when we lose (perhaps) our best player someone will step up and no difference will be detected...doesn't always work like that; didn't last night.

Pheesa doesn't seem to be enjoying herself as much as last season...foot bothering her; the staff?

I'm anticipating a more complete effort next weekend.
 
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Nevada played like Notre Dame, but Notre Dame is more talented, and has more height. The Connecticut-Notre Dame could be the game of the regular season.

The outcome is not predetermined.
 

Tonyc

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My only concern is 18 turnovers and 15 fouls. To many however it was a long trip and all that traveling may have something to do with it. We will see what happens at the ND game Saturday. No doubt in my mind Geno will clean up the turnovers and fouls and other ups and downs and UConn will be ready and back home should have something to do with it.
 
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there's no question that this year's team is still a work in progress.............early season injuries to KLS and Camara haven't helped the situation and Azura is still clearly not totally comfortable with her role.................still it's sure great to be play at perhaps 70%-75% of their capability and still manage to win by an average of almost 30 points...................last night's game was a great lesson in the sense that no team should be taken lightly and I'd also give a lot of credit to Nevada for playing some of the best defense UConn has faced in a long time...........
 

vtcwbuff

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What puzzled me is why so many minutes for the starters in a game against a cupcake. The bench only played 28 minutes. I was also curious why no AEH after her good outing in the last game.

I agree that the UConn defense is not yet up to speed. It looks like Stevens has a long way to go on defense.
 

CocoHusky

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I guess I must have missed the part where this team was: " thrown off-stride" , "off track" and began "searching for above average".
What I see is a superior talented "TEAM" working very hard to master a new offense and incorporate some new players.
The mastery of this new offense (4 out) will take some more time and ironically all the things you are anxious about speak to the weakness of this offense.
Here is a great article about the 4 out offense and note that the primary weakness of the offense is that it is difficult to learn.
4-Out 1-In Motion Offense - Complete Coaching Guide
Defensively I do not share your anxiety for this team. To score a basket against this team in the half court set requires almost perfect execution and I actually see more perimeter activity (deflections and steals) and rim protection that I did from last years team.
Lastly, please have a little more faith in this coaching staff-they have earned it.
 
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I remain amused by these types of threads. As far as I know - there is ONLY one goal with this program: A National Championship. Everything is subservient to this goal. How ANY particular game "looks" relative to this goal is irrelevant. (might be relevant to us fans, but not to the team).
 

the Q

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I guess I must have missed the part where this team was: " thrown off-stride" , "off track" and began "searching for above average".
What I see is a superior talented "TEAM" working very hard to master a new offense and incorporate some new players.
The mastery of this new offense (4 out) will take some more time and ironically all the things you are anxious about speak to the weakness of this offense.
Here is a great article about the 4 out offense and note that the primary weakness of the offense is that it is difficult to learn.
4-Out 1-In Motion Offense - Complete Coaching Guide
Defensively I do not share your anxiety for this team. To score a basket against this team in the half court set requires almost perfect execution and I actually see more perimeter activity (deflections and steals) and rim protection that I did from last years team.
Lastly, please have a little more faith in this coaching staff-they have earned it.

Agreed. My really only gripe is again the turnovers. Maybe it just seems like they're turning the ball over more, or maybe they're just more egregiously bad than in previous years, but they really stick out with this team. Sometimes the ball just gets away from you, so I have little issue with some of those high low passes that are just a physically error. But the mental errors are more frustrating. Just passes that should not be thrown or dribbling into trouble at times.
 
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When they're on, they're about as good a team as I could hope for. The two main problems I see are long stretches of inconsistency, and a severe drop-off in defensive skill/ability once you get beyond the starting lineup that includes Lou. These issues should recede as the season moves along. But will they?
 
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A little perspective. Last year through 6 games, UConn was 6-0, against a schedule that included: FSU, Baylor, LSU, Dayton, Chattanooga & DePaul, with an average MOV of 25 pts.

This year, against an arguably tougher schedule: Stanford, Cal, MD, UCLA, MSU & Nev, including 3 games in 5 days and a 10 day road trip, UConn is 6-0, with an average MOV of 28 pts after losing one of their very best players 16 minutes into the 2nd game of the season.

I suggest everyone relax. Geno, CD and company will have UConn firing on all cylinders soon, and we can all contemplate with great anticipation the day when a 12th banner is raised at Gampel.

An intelligent voice ---in a darkened room. I'd say you missed, but you know better than I, Geno has 4 players that MUST incorporate in the mix, not 1 player but Danger, Z, Walker, (maybe) Touly, AEH---and possibly IRwin, Mykala, Gordon, Molly.\
All this mixing and matching while getting ready for each new game as each seems only hours away, ON THE ROAD.
And yes fixing defensive lapses, and converting Z from perimeter to post player. Heck it's easy--anyone can do i
The most glaring situation of the Nevada game was how minutes the starters played--hmm?
 

CocoHusky

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What puzzled me is why so many minutes for the starters in a game against a cupcake. The bench only played 28 minutes. I was also curious why no AEH after her good outing in the last game. I agree that the UConn defense is not yet up to speed. It looks like Stevens has a long way to go on defense.
Wasn't it "us" who designated Nevada a cupcake? Had any of "us" actually seen them play before designating them as cupcakes?
 
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When they're on, they're about as good a team as I could hope for. The two main problems I see are long stretches of inconsistency, and a severe drop-off in defensive skill/ability once you get beyond the starting lineup that includes Lou.
After the 5--adding Z, a needed post, and then Walker, AEH ---the chemistry developed last year--requires Geno to fill the vials from different beakers. With Katie Lou out --the defensive and offensive --mix loses it's typical characteristics and the adjustments adds confusion factors the team needs time to get into the Chemistry.
Z while mobile, isn't as athletic as KLS or as Familiar with the lob or catching a pass on the run, it's coming.
 
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Personally, what I see is a deep team and a coaching staff that is trying to see what they have. Last year the team had little real depth and were forced to play the same 7 players for most of the game. The starting five got to know each other and as a result played much better than most of us expected. With this year's addition, you are going to see a lot more subbing and a lot more adjusting. By the end of the year, you will see a typical Uconn team maybe 8 or 9 deep with some players getting very little time. Somehow I don't feel like I am suffering watching them.
 
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One of the problems with being a UCONN fan is that we tend to expect pursuit of perfection and when it is not achieved then our expectations are not met and some people fret. . IMO, the defense is playing great for 3 quarters and the transition offense is spectacular. The half court offense is good, particularly considering that they are trying to figure out how to use Z most effectively and for the reasons CoCo mentioned. Clearly the offense will get better and I'm not sure there is a better defensive team of starters in WCB. Zero worries on my end.
 
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What puzzled me is why so many minutes for the starters in a game against a cupcake. The bench only played 28 minutes. I was also curious why no AEH after her good outing in the last game.

I agree that the UConn defense is not yet up to speed. It looks like Stevens has a long way to go on defense.

didn't puzzle me.............the starters weren't playing particularly well so they were going to stay in until they worked it out plus the fact that Nevada was scoring against the first team..............if the subs were put in they might have won by single digits.........
 

oldude

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Wasn't it "us" who designated Nevada a cupcake? Had any of "us" actually seen them play before designating them as cupcakes?
I was one of those misguided soles that felt Nevada might be a cupcake, but they got my attention after beating SMU. While the Mustangs are middle of the pack in the AAC, under Travis Mays they’re building a competitive program that’s on an upward trajectory. I would not be surprised to see Nevada in the Big Dance this year.
 
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What would have to happen, every game, for threads like this not to pop up periodically ?
Would the Huskies have to duplicate their first half margin (currently about 24 points per game against a very tough schedule) in the second half ?
That would result in 50 point wins against top 20 teams.
Would that do it ?
 

CocoHusky

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One of the problems with being a UCONN fan is that we tend to expect pursuit of perfection and when it is not achieved then our expectations are not met and some people fret. Zero worries on my end.
This seems to be a yearly BY outcry regardless of how well the team is playing. Remember (post Stanford) when UCONN's "Achilles heal" was quick penetrating guards? Remember when Mabrey lit us up for a half & UCONN's "Achilles heal" changed to not being able to defend 3 point line. Remember just this past summer where Geno can't win a close game or recruit a good post player? The beat goes on.....
 
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donalddoowop

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Must have been a very stale cupcake---Uconn had a tough time devouring them.
Uconn had a tough time in beating a team by 30? There was some sloppy play at times, but the game was never in doudt. Some are concerned about Notre Dame. I think UCLA is just as good as Notre Dame and UCONN beat them at their place. The Notre Dame game is a UCONN home game. Some are complaining about the defense and that has been a strong point this season. A lot of opinions on this board are formed after things that happened in one game. Some are asking why AEH did not play. I thought decisions on who plays are made at practice. Well, it's tough being UCONN fan.
 

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