ND Postgame Thread

[ktuck911]

I didn't see the game, but I truly hope DeBerry gets a lot more playing time going fwd. She needs to play.

 

[gold2323]

If we stay injury free we will be good in March.
But same issues ….offensive rebounding and inside defense….
And let’s face it without Paige greatness winning it all more up in the air.

 

[ballerfan]

This week, I posted a comment warning the forum to beware of Notre Dame because of their talent & motivation. I couldn't believe that I received a dozen "dislikes", more than the total I have received the past three seasons!
I wanted to say, "I told you so", but I honestly feel that Azzi's injury prevented UCONN from proving me wrong. Can you imagine Notre Dame playing this game without Olivia Miles??

I’m not sure if Azzi would have changed the outcome. Notre Dame defended her well and played a great game. Painful to watch, but Notre Dame won the game without an asterisk.

On the bright side, losing a game like this can be helpful in preparing for the tournament.

 

[maple]

Can't disagree with most of your post except it was not an awful loss. All things considered, not awful.

Fair enough. It at least feels awful to me!

 

[jdote33]

Overall I'm not too concerned. It's a tall task to beat a top ten team down ur best player and ur biggest player. I thought they played hard. My only concern was/is with Caroline Ducharme. Not the travels or missing shots. I actually don't think she's moving all that well. I know she's never been a crazy athlete but she's not really running the wing on offense and even defensively she's a step behind. In fairness maybe the hip injury is a part of it, but to play the wing effectively, you really have to be able to run.

Also, Notre Dame played really well. If they play like they did today, they can win the ACC.

 

[fomalhaut]

Muhl got hurt on the flagrant foul too: she stayed in the rest of the game but was in obvious pain. I can never ever respect a team that plays the way Notre Dame does (or Baylor in their heyday). One of the reasons I've always respected Stanford.

 

[CTBballfan243]

What happened with Caroline?

Caroline is still way out of shape. You can really see her struggling to get back on defense. Not being able to work out and practice in the off season has really hurt her development. She has a lot of work to do in practice before she can be expected to contribute any meaning full minutes.

 

[my2cents]

Well, that sucked. It was a team loss although some people certainly played better than others. Might have had a shot if they hadn't dug themselves such a huge hole in the 1st half -- and then they blew a potential comeback in the 3Q.

Credit to ND, they shot exceptionally well and played how they wanted to play. I won't sit here and say "well we had this or that player out, so" because I find that a pointless exercise. You can only play with the players you have and I think the game became winnable when it got close in 3Q, but a lack of execution and some terrible shooting from people I expect at least a LITTLE more from.

Awful loss, hopefully they take this as a humbling learning experience and come back stronger.

Lala post, you don't think it matters when you lose your best player and leading scorer??? Please send me some of the stuff you're are smoking...

 

[HuskyNan]

Can't disagree with most of your post except it was not an awful loss. All things considered, not awful.

It was to ND.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Muhl got hurt on the flagrant foul too: she stayed in the rest of the game but was in obvious pain. I can never ever respect a team that plays the way Notre Dame does (or Baylor in their heyday). One of the reasons I've always respected Stanford.

Come on, this is just ridiculous. ND was not playing dirty.

 

[AmeriConn]

There’s always something positive. Amari.

Coach needs to play her more going forward.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

I’m not sure if Azzi would have changed the outcome. Notre Dame defended her well and played a great game. Painful to watch, but Notre Dame won the game without an asterisk.

On the bright side, losing a game like this can be helpful in preparing for the tournament.

This is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. Azzi went down in the first quarter. She frequently plays better in the second half than the first. And the psychological impact of knowing Azzi was out the rest of the game is going to impact the rest of the team.

 

[maple]

Lala post, you don't think it matters when you lose your best player and leading scorer??? Please send me some of the stuff you're are smoking...

Of course it MATTERS. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying it's important to be like, look, in an alternate reality things might be different but this is the reality we have. Can you win with the players you DO have? Even today? And the truth is, YES, I think in the 3Q UConn was showing they COULD.

The game was winnable, even without key players. That's my point.

 

[Puppy Love]

I’m just so depressed.

 

[Kaizen]

Just pray Azzi is OK and back for next game.

 

[UConnCat]

It was to ND.

How one feels about it is different than whether it's objectively an awful loss for the team. It feels awful to fans because Notre Dame is awful; it was not an awful loss for the team though they probably feel awful at the moment.

 

[wingsfan055]

Amari's length alone could help. At the very least, the opposition will have to adjust.

 

[uconnever]

Yeah they let us have it. Nika was off running the offense, I felt she got discouraged at times but continued to fight. They couldn’t miss and we couldn’t hit anything. Aubrey’s shot is better but not good enough. Nika has a tough time when being attacked by a quick athletic guard. She is caught out of position and ends up fouling. She was on her heels a lot and gave up layups because she needs to back up so much with her foot speed, or they will blow by her. Hopefully with our team healthy we win, but it looks like they may be a bad matchup for us this year.

 

[jaydee602]

I’m not sure if Azzi would have changed the outcome. Notre Dame defended her well and played a great game. Painful to watch, but Notre Dame won the game without an asterisk.

On the bright side, losing a game like this can be helpful in preparing for the tournament.

When UCONN got the game to single digits, a feww AZZI baskets could have turned the tide. Iowa defended her well too...for one half.

 

[Kaizen]

 

[jaydee602]

Come on, this is just ridiculous. ND was not playing dirty.

LOL.,,.How about when Aubrey went up to block a shot & annihilated the shooter because of a pump fake. It's part of the game with two ultimate competitive teams.

 

[HuskyNan]

When UCONN got the game to single digits, a feww AZZI baskets could have turned the tide. Iowa defended her well too...for one half.

Azzi played 13 minutes and had zero points. The defense was in her shorts. Having her out made the ND defense adjust.

Kudos to Lou for finding some spots to shoot from.

 

[Littlemin]

Some thoughts on the ND game:

• A big game on the biggest stage, ND in front of a packed house in South Bend along with a national tv audience. Geno acknowledged yesterday that he would learn a lot about his team by how they responded to this environment.
• The last time UConn won at Purcell was 2018 when freshman Christyn Williams went off for 28pts. Since that victory, not a single current Husky has played a game in South Bend.
• Clearly, the Huskies were not up to the challenge today. Miles was outstanding with her ability to attack the basket and run the offense, and the rest of the ND lineup chipped in.
• In the 2nd half, with Azzi out, UConn went with their best defensive 5, subbing Ayanna for Azzi, and that started to turn the tide somewhat.
• With that said, UConn struggled to score without Azzi on the court.
• I would love to believe that Amari could drop shots from the arc when it really matters. Time will tell.
• The good news is that it’s the first week of December. Plenty of time for UConn to fix things and get everyone healthy.
• Time to lick our wounds and get ready for Princeton.

Uconn struggled to score when Fudd was in the game; in fact, Fudd had trouble even shaking Citron enough to get a pass thrown to her. Sorry but that is what happened, just like Miles taking the ball to Muhl from jump street set the tempo for the game. ND was the better team today, plain and simple, and every Uconn player, including Fudd, while she played was part of that fact. It happens and sometimes opponents win games, and IMO this was one of those games. Uconn shot poorly but that happens and ND’s defense had something to do with that.
Was Uconn hurt that Fudd couldn’t return? Of course they were, she is a terrific player, but she struggled as much as anyone when she played.

 

[CTBballfan243]

I’m just so depressed.

Don’t fret , the sun will rise tomorrow and UConn will get to play another basketball game in the near future. Also, since UConn is in the Big East and not the ACC, it is high likely that UConn will win all of their conference games. You should have many happy days ahead.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Can't wait to hear the post-game presser. That resembled a bad practice. Or was he was sending to the team. Post Fudd injury, the lineup combinations felt like experimentation or a random pickup squad.