Disturbing tendencies

[EricLA]

I, 100% agree.
Gabby Williams brought it up in her post game interview.
"We are a team that turns it on and off" That's why we lost last year to Miss St" Coach is working with us to keep it on"
The starters remain in because he wants to see them turn the focus, effort and execution back on.
Our bench is non existent, as they play like "deer in the headlights" and do more kicking the ball around then a soccer team.

One thing I meant to add to my original post is that I think it's too critical to say the bench is non existent as they play like "deer in the headlights". The freshmen are playing like... well... freshmen. That's because they are. Kyla and Molly are doing the absolute best they can and contribute to the best of their abilities, including being great teammates and mentors to the younger kids. UCONN has pretty much played a murder's row schedule thus far (Nevada was the only unranked team thus far - I thought MSU was ranked at the time we played them)... That's a brutal schedule against really good quality so it's not surprising the bench/freshmen saw limited time... I fully expect to see much more of them as the season progresses... giving them a chance to shine and our main players a chance to rest.

 

[Orangutan]

Mr. Rodgers??? I think you meant Frankie.

Frankie has been usurped

 

[meyers7]

From Geno's show or might have been All Access. Something like: "We are running the offense differently this year" During the game when Geno's calling out the set it's 4 fingers out-universal for 4 out or 41.
4 out is not new to UCONN is new for this team. Last year the majority of sets started with Gabby and Pheesa both inside the 3 point line. This year at the start at least 4 players are outside the three point line.

They've been running the 4-1 and 3-2 for many years. If they went to a 5-0, that would be different.

He makes a lot of variations to it (adds in wrinkles) but it's pretty much the same offense they've been running for years.

 

[ASweet3781]

I have to agree. After the Mississippi State loss I was expecting a team coming back with a chip on their shoulders ala 2002 when they came back after the 2001 ND loss. But right now I feel we are winning because of our overwhelming talent not because of great play.

I thought of the reason this could be and I think it's because right now we have 3 separate teams trying to play as one. We have the 5 players who are used to playing with one another (Gabby, Kia, Napheesa, Lou, and Crystal). 2 talented players trying to mesh with them (Azura and Megan). And 5 other players who are getting thrown into this dynamic during the later stages of the 2nd and 3rd quarters of games (Kyla, Molly, Hunter, Coombs, Lexi). Each group is not on the same page and skill level which leads to disjointed play which leads to some of the shocking stretches we are seeing. The good news? Our talent and depth may be so strong it may not matter. But hopefully the gap between the 3 factions starts to diminish.

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn WBB does have an undeniable problem, and with each successful season the problem gets worse and worse.

In the words of Walter Kelly, one of my all time favorite cartoonists (Pogo), “We have met the enemy and he is us.”

Hopefully, someone with better technical ability will post the actual cartoon from Pogo.

Yes, after all, the team only has four out of the last five national championships. Horrors!

In the lack of real drama, UConn fans never fail to manufacture some. It's NOVEMBER people; get a grip.

 

[msf22b]

Yes, after all, the team only has four out of the last five national championships. Horrors!

In the lack of real drama, UConn fans never fail to manufacture some. It's NOVEMBER people; get a grip.

I'm (relatively) sure that Geno would hold a contrary view.

 

[Stinger92860]

Imagine someone telling Geno that!

I was thinking the same thing

 

[Sven18]

Yes, after all, the team only has four out of the last five national championships. Horrors!

In the lack of real drama, UConn fans never fail to manufacture some. It's NOVEMBER people; get a grip.

Geno surely doesn't share your complacency. The slight worry is that 3 starters had to play 34 to 36 minutes(Z played 31 b/c of fouls) against a team like Nevada. Geno currently has little belief in his bench. Walker came in and was defensively poor and was at fault on several lay ups. Irwin is the only big on the bench currently available thus was in early. Bent again in her minutes had some absolutely shake your head turnovers and seems to not have progressed at all. Frosh to Soph is suppose o be the jump year, as we are seeing it with Dangerfield now and in many others in the past.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno surely doesn't share your complacency. The slight worry is that 3 starters had to play 34 to 36 minutes(Z played 31 b/c of fouls) against a team like Nevada. Geno currently has little belief in his bench. Walker came in and was defensively poor and was at fault on several lay ups. Irwin is the only big on the bench currently available thus was in early. Bent again in her minutes had some absolutely shake your head turnovers and seems to not have progressed at all. Frosh to Soph is suppose o be the jump year, as we are seeing it with Dangerfield now and in many others in the past.

Complacency? I see what others see, just the way I’ve seen it every early season for the last 20-some years.

Please tell me this near hysteria isn’t going to last all season. If it is, I’m running out for some Xanax

 

[bags27]

I just don't understand how people know so well what Geno's thinking. Most of the time, I don't even know what I'm thinking. Sure, Geno might have been pissed and kept the starters in as "punishment," or because of some irrational uncertainty about the score, or because he has little "faith" in his bench, or because he knows they don't play again until Sunday and wanted to give them all the playing time he could, or because he was thinking of something else and lost track of time (that does happen to Geno, actually, and CD does prompt him). Try as I might, I just can't read minds, that's why I prefer to talk basketball.

 

[trisailin]

I might recommend that people refer to the first few games of any WNBA team each season. Those first several games are NOT pretty basketball by any stretch of the imagination. And while those players are arguably a group of 12 out of the top 200 players in the WORLD, it still takes time to get pretty basketball. And I'd suggest, it takes longer with college kids than it does with Professionals.

 

[chrissaran]

If decisions are made on practice performance, then why can't Molly perform during the game? We know Andra can. Where are you Katie Lou? Napheesa, you need to get your mojo back.

 

[JoePgh]

Geno surely doesn't share your complacency. The slight worry is that 3 starters had to play 34 to 36 minutes(Z played 31 b/c of fouls) against a team like Nevada.

"Had to play"??? UConn won the game by 31 points, after all. I think it would be more accurate to say that Geno chose to play his starters for that length of time because he expected that they would have to play that much against Notre Dame, and because he wanted to see for himself how they would do under that level of fatigue. And the answer was that their play did deteriorate in the second half. Now, not only does he know that, but so do they. So that will have to be worked on, and it will be.

Before long (though maybe not by the time of the ND game), KLS and Batouly will be available, and the depth problem will diminish markedly. So what we saw last night (and what we may see on Sunday) is a "stress test", which revealed that stress had some negative effects that are undeniable.

I saw some uncharacteristic mistakes from the core players against Nevada, but I also saw some really good plays. And I saw Kia Nurse stepping up when the going was tough and hitting an amazing number of shots. She may not do that on Sunday, but probably someone else (Napheesa?) will be the hero of that game. I also saw Azura playing her position the way UConn needs her to play it, not flawlessly but well enough so that Muffitt is probably sweating about how to stop her.

 

[Sven18]

"Had to play"??? UConn won the game by 31 points, after all. I think it would be more accurate to say that Geno chose to play his starters for that length of time because he expected that they would have to play that much against Notre Dame, and because he wanted to see for himself how they would do under that level of fatigue. And the answer was that their play did deteriorate in the second half. Now, not only does he know that, but so do they. So that will have to be worked on, and it will be.

Before long (though maybe not be the time of the ND game), KLS and Batouly will be available, and the depth problem will diminish markedly. So what we saw last night (and what we may see on Sunday) is a "stress test", which revealed that stress had some negative effects that are undeniable.

I saw some uncharacteristic mistakes from the core players against Nevada, but I also saw some really good plays. And I saw Kia Nurse stepping up when the going was tough and hitting an amazing number of shots. She may not do that on Sunday, but probably someone else (Napheesa?) will be the hero of that game. I also saw Azura playing her position the way UConn needs her to play it, not flawlessly but well enough so that Muffitt is probably sweating about how to stop her.

The game was hovering around 20 most of the 2nd half playing the starters. They won the half by just 4 points. Geno's look most of the game was not good, he looked disgusted on them not doing things right and he knows his bench will do it worse. If Geno played the bench significant minutes the lead would have gone done rapidly. The notion it was a test of fatigue or stress test is just bizarre. Geno had all of them but Z last year and he knows how they play when tired b/c they did it last year. It's part of why they lost to Miss St. If Geno had confidence in the bench he would not have played the starters 34-36 minutes on the end of a long trip. He does not have belief in the bench and they are doing nothing really to change that.

 

[bags27]

• Geno chose to play his starters for that length of time because he expected that they would have to play that much against Notre Dame, and because he wanted to see for himself how they would do under that level of fatigue.
• I also saw Azura playing her position the way UConn needs her to play it, not flawlessly but well enough so that Muffitt is probably sweating about how to stop her.

+1

 

[oldude]

Lots of speculation on why Geno did what he did during the Nevada game, and I certainly don't have any greater insight into Geno's mindset than anyone else, but quite frankly, he looked tired last night. I don't know about everyone else, but if I was traveling around to multiple locations over 10 days, sleeping in hotel beds, trying to prepare for games on the fly, etc., I would be down right exhausted. Dare I say that Geno might not have been quite as sharp last night because he's 63 and he was fatigued?

 

[Golden Husky]

I 100% concur with many of the sentiments heretofore expressed on this thread. Being a fan of UConn WBB is even beginning to exact a toll on my personal life. For example, for the first 54 years of my marriage, my wife and I never had so much as an argument...not one! Now, with all this sloppy second half play, though she usually dozes off at halftime with another victory long-since secured, whenever I jostle her awake to express my justifiable frustration that the lead has slipped to under thirty, she, uncharacteristically, snaps at me. I mainly blame Megan Walker for this, though there are others who bear culpability. This must be cleaned up, and pronto!!

What's wrong with you? The Marriage Manual clearly states not to awaken your wife until the lead shrinks to under 20 and to do so, not with a jostle but with an offer to refill her wine glass. What's more, I warned you not to buy a TV.

 

[Blueballer]

More and more chicken littles show up every season it seems.

 

[my2cents]

One thing I meant to add to my original post is that I think it's too critical to say the bench is non existent as they play like "deer in the headlights". The freshmen are playing like... well... freshmen. That's because they are. Kyla and Molly are doing the absolute best they can and contribute to the best of their abilities, including being great teammates and mentors to the younger kids. UCONN has pretty much played a murder's row schedule thus far (Nevada was the only unranked team thus far - I thought MSU was ranked at the time we played them)... That's a brutal schedule against really good quality so it's not surprising the bench/freshmen saw limited time... I fully expect to see much more of them as the season progresses... giving them a chance to shine and our main players a chance to rest.

Lets be honest here. This team will go the final four for the 19th time. We really are only talking about whether we win our 12th national title.
Any observations about where we can improve, are met with negativity coming back at you.
So when Nevada's bench outscores us 16-5, its my observation that Geno will not be pleased with his bench players. I do not name any names as that is not fair to these young student athletes. However, lack of development by the bench could put numero 12 at risk with starters' foul trouble or God forbid injuries.

 

[paisan]

This team has not played 4 solid quarters yet. The bench play has been awful. No improvement from Molly n Kyla ...not much from freshmen..I believe all u have to do is look at Geno s patterns of players to see his displeasure with the team. Also I do not see the fire and grit and toughness from pheesa and gabby..I am shocked to be saying that about those two? I hope that they can find it???

 

[Blueballer]

This team has not played 4 solid quarters yet. The bench play has been awful. No improvement from Molly n Kyla ...not much from freshmen..I believe all u have to do is look at Geno s patterns of players to see his displeasure with the team. Also I do not see the fire and grit and toughness from pheesa and gabby..I am shocked to be saying that about those two? I hope that they can find it???

We ARE really terrible aren't we

 

[bags27]

Is this entire thread one giant troll? Or maybe it's a very bad and early April Fools joke? In every poll, UConn is the unanimous #1 team in the country. If you look on other boards, posters believe (rightly or wrongly) that the season is effectively over. No other top team's board expresses anything close to this anguish. They are hopeful for their team, while resigned to UConn's dominance. Only Boneyarders are in such despair over their own team. Are we just so bored by excellence; is that it? Or is it that some posters just don't really know how hard this game is to play, day in and night out at such a high level of expected excellence? Actually, as I think on it, I do just think there are trolls here, because no one can be that ignorant of the challenges of basketball.

 

[Stinger92860]

This team has not played 4 solid quarters yet. The bench play has been awful. No improvement from Molly n Kyla ...not much from freshmen..I believe all u have to do is look at Geno s patterns of players to see his displeasure with the team. Also I do not see the fire and grit and toughness from pheesa and gabby..I am shocked to be saying that about those two? I hope that they can find it???

We are doomed! No grit and fire from Gabby? Which game are you talking about?

 

[huskeynut]

I hate to say it, but this tread is the result of spoiled fans.

We can't wait for the "perfection" to set in. We don't want a work in progress. We want it all - right now. Last year we started out with a nail biter and just beat FSU. But that was ok. Look at who we graduated. Then another close one. Fans predicted we could lose maybe 5 or 6 games. After 6 games the train was rolling! We were so good, the offense was clicking, the defense was smothering. The talk of loosing games disappeared.

This team will be fine. The offense will not operate smoothly until Lou is back in full form and the rotation of 6 to 7 to 8 players is established. And the talk of Geno being / looking disinterested. REALLY!!!!!!!!

 

[JavaMan]

What @JRRRJ said in another thread. And said well as far as I'm concerned.

...
When I left the arena last nite, I was pretty unsettled. I go to see the women create beautiful basketball and I'm rarely disappointed. But, running through the game in my head as I was falling asleep, I saw some things I missed at the game because I was looking for the ad hoc choreography we'll no doubt see later in the year.

To wit:

• Geno had the team in zone for a lot of the game, which doesn't happen often. And the ladies' discomfort with that was evident, as was their friquent miscues.
• Geno had the team walk the ball up to the offensive end most of the time. Also not their usual style.
• There was a new offense in evidence, with the perimeter players not always certain about where the interior players were going to be.
• It also seemed that Napheesa was under orders to take more perimeter shots.
  
• Gabby was not herself. I watched in wonder as -- twice -- she was the last one back on defense. Obviously under the weather.

I did not miss that UNR played tenacious, unrelenting defense and ran their offense most of the time.

So, it was obvious that Geno was using this game to try things with the team. It's deep but unseasoned except for the starters and it seems he's looking to see what they can produce in different configurations. Don't forget, Geno doesn't consider it a crisis if the team loses a non-tournament game -- as many fans do -- he's pointing toward the post-season.

Originally, I thought that Kia was my player of the game because her points were most of the MOV and I was amazed at her confidence in the 3s, but, looking at the stats as I entered them, I realized she'd have to share with Azura, who really filled up her stat line and was the reason the team's A/TO ration was greater than 1.

Happy that Kyla got some tough game time, a rebound and an assist in the first 90 seconds on the floor played pretty good defense, passed well, and ended up with 5 points on unforced shots. With Batouly needing time to get into the swing of game play, it's good to have another forward available who's contributing.