Providence Post Game Thread

[BostonBay]

Didnt like the defense today, especially against an opponent like Prov. who had a lot of open looks. What this team lacks, when compared to UConn teams that were winning Titles, is a swarming defense. There are a few players that have that aggressiveness & quickness, such as AG, but mostly the players seem to thinking a lot and making sure they are in position. But, not a lot of swarming defense or reacting well when players get beat.

 

[Twolf]

Can't wait for Wednesday's "AEH'o vs. Geno" match-up. (wonder what kind of defense Geno is going to draw up for his team to put in front of AEH? [although the primary concern has to be how to slow down Lauren Park-Lane]

ONO is a junior. Suspect she has already become whatever she's going to become.

You may be correct, but I hope you’re not. I feel the decisiveness and strength of her post moves continues to improve, along with her patience & passing when the double team comes. I understand she still misses some easy shots when she rushes, but that also has the potential for improvement. Some of this is just subjective until she plays against top notch post competition, but to me there is still considerable upside.

 

[donalddoowop]

Aubrey (***), Paige, Anna, EW played well
rest not so much

strange day for CW. her worst performance. I kinda hope she was sick.

Mir and Muhl played well.

 

[donalddoowop]

ONO is a junior. Suspect she has already become whatever she's going to become.

That was not true of Chong. She played much better as a senior than at any other time in her UConn career.

 

[Monte]

But she did get to coach for a few minutes.

I want to see a "PLAYER-COACH."

 

[Dokey]

Geno says this is a horrible 3 point shooting team. What it is is a team that doesn’t kick the ball out and has tunnel vision.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Man O man. After reading these posts, I was hesitant to say anything for fear of starting a firestorm of indignation. But then I realized it's pretty cold here in SC so a little fire would be beneficial:

1 - We proved once again that a quick water bug of a guard gives us real trouble. Geno had to try his best on ball defender on her and Aubrey spent many trips up court running along beside her to try and cut her off. It's a good thing dribbling slows people down.

2 - Ono had trouble with players her size. I was very happy when she realized she could dominate smaller posts. This girl is no where near the athlete Ono is and gave her fits for a while. Also, I did not see one run out for her.

3 - Aubrey stood out in this helter skelter rag tag game. Her athleticism and quick hands serve her well in these situations. However she is no where ready to play a significant role in the half court offense. She still doesn't know how to run the plays. On her cuts through the paint she will stop and stand instead of run through thereby clogging the middle for the next cutter. Other players have to tell her where to go and when to go. Also she doesn't look for the ball as she runs down court but runs to a spot. She almost blocked the pass from Paige to Aaliyah on an Aaliyah basket because with her back to the ball, she had no idea the pass was coming.

4 - Paige has to change her game this year and become the shooter. She is the most proficient 3 point shooter and her skill must by used to open the lane for the slashers.

5 - Glad to see E take charge for a short spell. Sad to see it was only for a short spell. I am beginning to wonder of she may be a bit gun shy about sticking her head out of a foxhole for more than a bit. She did get in a heck of allot of trouble before.

6 - The offense always runs better with Anna than anyone else at the 4. Even if she is not hitting her 3's the other players can trust her to be in the right spot and to make the right pass. Not the quickest of foot she is strong enough to physically dominate defensive position underneath. If today takes the lid off the rim for her then there is nothing but good news.

7 - So sad to see Christyn depressed on the bench. I am sure that will compound Geno's dissatisfaction with her performance today. She is expected to lead at all times.

8 - Glad to see Aaliyah get to experience starting a game. Early Jitters were obvious. I hope we don't have to start her again this year.

9 - It's been a while since I've seen Geno this up set in a 30 point win. Justified though. He may be wondering who he can count on down the road.

Well, that's probably enough tinder to get a fire started with some of my good friends on the board. Remember I'm just a poor redneck boy in South Carolina and my opinions reflect that. So go easy on me.

 

[cohenzone]

Mull might (or might not) be a better shooter than she’s shown. She’s been hurt, the practice and game schedule has been screwy, so she might not yet be adjusted to game speed. rushing her shots. She is a freshman after all. PBut it looks to me that she is very good creating passing angles, and passing is clearly her strong suit right now.

 

[BBallF]

The change to the starting lineup was a bigger reason for the slow start vs the long layoff IMO. Game changed when Aubrey was put in the game to start denying penetration. Before that EVERYONE was getting tortured. Evina was moving well in straight line but lateral was struggling with a noticeable gimp. Paige was really really really good. I see a lot of post for Aubrey for badass award. I could go with co award but if we are going to take these performances from Paige for granted count me out. 14 layups were missed at the basket from 6 different players. I am noticing it takes a while for Evina to get going, probably do to her injury I’m not sure what the solution is.

I totally agree that the lineup change had a negative impact on our offensive flow.Geno as much as admitted that in the post game TV interview. AE seemed uncertain as to where she was supposed to be and where to go on offense in the early going. Without AM also, you are losing a great secondary passer. I also agree 100% that the game changed when Aubrey full court pressed their PG. It stopped penetration but also slowed their offense from starting and neutralized her speed. As for Evina, maybe she needs a portion of the game to warm up her knee as you indicate or maybe it is intentional in that she wants to get everyone else shots early and wants to be a facilitator first. We have not seen the whole package yet from her which includes a sweet pull up J. She needs to take more shots in general IMO ( she is shooting 56% from the field exclusive of 3s and 51% inclusive of them) and to not pass up shots early in the game. Averaging 10 points a game with only 7 shots a game on average is a strong statistic.

 

[Boreifs]

Nice for them to get a chance to play a team with some size for a change.

No denying the rough first quarter.

The bench contributed. Offensive production was good after the first quarter. Defense seems to have picked up in intensity. The non starters made the most of the opportunities they were given.

I really want Nika to get a basket. She plays so well otherwise. I think once she gets her first points, she'll relax and improve her scoring.

Lots to like, but lots to work on too.

When was the last time a UConn player caused two five-second violations in the same game? I don’t remember that ever happening before.

 

[mdmiller6]

I think the B.A. award goes to Aubrey for her ability to help out where we need her especially on defense, she is ball hawk.

The constancy award goes to Paige; she is our MVP of every game.

Evina get the most improving every game award. She can shoot, pass, and drive to the basket at will when she wants.

Anna I think needed the wakeup call by coming off the bench; I think it woke her up.

Edwards is just like clay once we get her molded she will be hard to break or stop.

Mir & Nika just need minutes; they need to be on the court as much as possible to get a hang of the offense, and defense.

Ono was ok, but you could tell a bigger body on her gave her trouble.

C.W. just never made off the bus today, next game she will really have to show up.

 

[Cornell Lt]

The new 0 for America is now bestowed upon Nika

 

[Woof 101]

Can't wait for Wednesday's "AEH'o vs. Geno" match-up. (wonder what kind of defense Geno is going to draw up for his team to put in front of AEH? [although the primary concern has to be how to slow down Lauren Park-Lane]

Ahh lost the Christmas spirit already? No attack but she was wished well when she left and has only played two of their six games. Not someone Geno has to specifically game plan for.

stats21 (PDF) - Seton Hall University Athletics

stats21 (PDF)

shupirates.com

 

[Jingo]

First - a win is a win. And in this unpredictable season, that's good. We'll need all we can.

A long layoff and not starting Anna had a negative effect on the start of the game. There was no flow to the offense. Christyn and Liv didn't help with the poor start. The benching after 5 minutes was deserved. Message sent. Let's see if has been it has been received.

Paige continues to impress. Her deadliest weapon it that 15 foot pull up jumper. Their is no defense for that shot. Ask Rip Hamilton.

Aubrey was the beast today. Her back looks like its healthy. She is a dynamo out there. She knows a lot more about what she is doing out there and how to fit into the flow of the offense. If she can be consistent with the 15 footer - oh my!!!!!

I like Nika's play. She can drop the dimes like Paige. The scoring will come. And the girl can play defense.

Mir seems more engaged and that's very good. She still has a lot to learn but there is improvement.

And I saved the best for last - Evina. So smooth, so under control. She has great court vision, maybe better than Paige. She continues to impress with her play.

I like your analysis, spot on! but one thing, Evina needs to shoot with her left hand on layups from that side, it will be to her advantage, eh?

 

[Jingo]

The most notable thing [to me] in the Friar's matchup was the number of pick-n-rolls we initiated, more noticeable when Nika and Ania were in, but Paige and Evina have the knack too!
I love the pick-n-roll - beautiful team basketball, eh?

 

[donalddoowop]

Has anyone noticed that everywhere the letter (eye or aye) is typed, it shows Chief00? Have to type the word or it won't show. What causes that?

 

[MilfordHusky]

The new 0 for America is now bestowed upon Nika

These damn Europeans!

Though Nika missed 2 makable layups--1 a left-handed reverse and 1 from slightly too far under the basket--plus an open 3-pointer, I thought she played pretty well. She made some nice passes and caused Providence to commit two 5-second violations. She definitely added energy today. Once she scores, she will be more relaxed.

 

[EricLA]

These damn Europeans!

Though Nika missed 2 makable layups--1 a left-handed reverse and 1 from slightly too far under the basket--plus an open 3-pointer, I thought she played pretty well. She made some nice passes and caused Providence to commit two 5-second violations. She definitely added energy today. Once she scores, she will be more relaxed.

So will the fans! LOL

 

[jazz]

My 2 cents....


I'm not as down on this game as some. Defense looked good to me. Yes there were some drop-offs in concentration but it is damn hard to play full-on defense for a full game, with so many moving parts after 11 days off. Geno coaching his A** off on the defensive side.

First 4 minutes looked a bit disjointed…maybe the layoff or maybe the change in line-up. But, they did have 3 short layup chances in those 4 minutes and missed all of them with fouls called on Providence. Foul on Liv for illegal screen seemed very ticky tacky to me, turnover by CW going to the basket and poor entry pass by CW. I think they could have sticked with this line-up longer to see if they could iron on the mistakes. They could have easily had 6 points at a minimum during that time if they hit the bunnies.

Guard Play:
EW looking better. Starting to take advantage of her quickness, size and skills on offense. I hope she can keep this up against top competition. This will stress our opponent’s defensively and it may be their best offensive player (for example Jones at Stanford) who is guarding EW, so even better! Defensive consistency is still a struggle. She falls asleep sometimes. I don't think she is used to being expected to play good defense all the time.

PB starting to become a menace on defense/disruptive with her anticipation of passes. Getting better at stopping penetration as well. PB starting to hit that mid-range pull up. She is fast becoming a first team AA. She hasn’t quite had the huge game I think is coming, but she is getting close to it.

Only 10 shots and scored 23 points with 5 assists. If this was Cooke for example, she would need 18-20 shots to get the same results. What you saw PB do off the ball in the half court is what you would hope CW would do with PB at the point. This is really disappointing…maybe just a bad game for CW, but I didn’t think she had been terrific to this point anyway and was hoping for a little bit of a breakout from her.

NM – wow, this kid can play! Terrific facilitator of the BB – much like PB. Great option going forward to keep the offense moving if PB or CW need a break (or even start for CW). Using NM to play the point and get the offense started so we can run a quick screen for PB and post her up on 2 different possessions and also drain threes off screens. Also, she takes pressure off the ball handling from PB. I can't think of any team tht has an option like NM coming off the bench!

I wonder if CW is heading for more pine time with an emergence of NM at the point. She missed her shots again, but she did break down the defense on at least 6 occasions with penetration and passing. That is a lot of easy points for her teammates that the backup guard is creating. I get the feeling she is going to break out soon with her scoring.

Controlled her hand swiping better but still does it (did it twice). You can tell she is working on this, but it will take time as this is a deep-seeded habit of hers. It may rear its ugly head more when she plays extended minutes and gets a bit tired.

She was also the cause of at least 3 Providence TOs as well. Just an really impactful game all around except she can't find the bottom of the net.

I think we can safely say that her perceived lack of foot quickness was due primarily to her injury. Her lateral movement looked good to me.

 

[jazz]

My two cents...

Bigs:

AG - How many teams have the luxury of putting a long, rangy, quick defender on the opposing team’s point? Geno finding more roles for AG to impact the game. It is no fun for the opposing point to be harassed all the way up the court, expelling energy and having to make multiple decisions with the ball, time after time. This wears down players both mentally and physically. You saw this happen with the backcourt turnover AG forced. It also makes the opposing team run their offense more crisply since they will be starting their rotation with a good 8-10 seconds less on the clock. This also saves energy for one of our guards who now doesn’t need to mirror the opposition’s point guard. It is a win all around with big domino effects. AG also hit a 15 footer…if she can do that at a 45% clip, she is instant AA. Not sure they were in Zone, but having AG at the top of the Zone would be a great option as well.

On the other hand, it may be hard to play AG for extended minutes with all the energy she puts into playing full court defense. She never gets a rest on the court. I think this is why she missed a few bunnies.

When UCONN plays Stanford, it may be that AG will play more, but this time to stick to Jones like glue. I think she is the only player we have to counter Jones.

AM - Once AM started hitting threes, there was no way GA was taking her out. He wants her to shoot herself out of the funk she is in. I think she had a good start today, draining the first two with no hesitation on the ‘catch and shoot’.

By the way, AM’s defense was very good – beat once and only once, that I saw. I disagree with many posters who say she gets ‘torched’ or beat a lot off the dribble. She does get beat sometimes, but CW and EW get beat more often than AM. Also notice how AM brings out the other team’s big and then Geno can post up AG. AM makes a difference just by being out there with threat of the three.

The question is will AM be able to duplicate her good defense against top level teams? Well, I think she could because usually against these lower level teams, she has to effectively play a quicker, perimeter player who can shoot from the outside. Against higher-level teams, that player may be taller and stronger, but not as quick and will probably not have the perimeter movement skills that AM has to deal with now.

Liv continues to struggle finishing. She loses her balance too often and just isn’t quite strong enough to finish. I am becoming less optimistic that this will change much this year. I think she will be inconsistent as she has shown in finishing. But, she just needs 12 and 10 against Top level competition and be effective on defense and stay in the game. We have a chance if she can do that!

AE is very quick in the post. Knows how to post up. Needs to finish better. Big, strong body. Breakout game coming.

Mir – Didn’t look lost. She appears to be in the ‘I’ve memorised by steps in the offense now’ stage. It’s not second nature and she can’t deviate off her basic responsibilities, but I think she has it down, just needs to be a bit more crisp. I could be wrong but it’s like she can only remember the next step and then once she gets there, she remembers the next step, and so forth. Good energy and may be another option for full court harassment of the opposing point guard.

PG – You can tell she is being coached. Can she give us a few minutes down the road??

 

[my2cents]

-what we MIGHT think of Anna differs from Geno thinks. Anna must try to do everything Geno wants in practice.

-the open missed layups has been a multiple year problem

- as brilliant as Bueckers has been, the turnover number has to drop.

-ONO‘s minutes per game continues to be ahead scratcher.

- watching Aubrey play well is an absolute treat.

- the ease in which Paige posted up the shorter guard was scary.

- Chief00 am glad he pulled the starters early. Would he have done it against Baylor?

- it looks like the free throw issue was addressed and fixed.

-Mir’s body language has done a 180. Chief00 can’t believe how similar she is to Aubrey.

-the posts are too flat footed when receiving entry passes.

- Chief00 continue to believe Plath will be factor before her time is up.

Bueckers had 2 turnovers?

 

[jazz]

Has anyone noticed that everywhere the letter (eye or aye) is typed, it shows Chief00? Have to type the word or it won't show. What causes that?

yes I (eye) or will it be Chief00 noticed this.... Your not going crazy Donald but I thought I was until I read your message. Thanks for having the courage to ask about it.... I was too chickenS*** . Thought I was seeing things...

 

[jazz]

Man O man. After reading these posts, I was hesitant to say anything for fear of starting a firestorm of indignation. But then I realized it's pretty cold here in SC so a little fire would be beneficial:

1 - We proved once again that a quick water bug of a guard gives us real trouble. Geno had to try his best on ball defender on her and Aubrey spent many trips up court running along beside her to try and cut her off. It's a good thing dribbling slows people down.

2 - Ono had trouble with players her size. I was very happy when she realized she could dominate smaller posts. This girl is no where near the athlete Ono is and gave her fits for a while. Also, I did not see one run out for her.

3 - Aubrey stood out in this helter skelter rag tag game. Her athleticism and quick hands serve her well in these situations. However she is no where ready to play a significant role in the half court offense. She still doesn't know how to run the plays. On her cuts through the paint she will stop and stand instead of run through thereby clogging the middle for the next cutter. Other players have to tell her where to go and when to go. Also she doesn't look for the ball as she runs down court but runs to a spot. She almost blocked the pass from Paige to Aaliyah on an Aaliyah basket because with her back to the ball, she had no idea the pass was coming.

4 - Paige has to change her game this year and become the shooter. She is the most proficient 3 point shooter and her skill must by used to open the lane for the slashers.

5 - Glad to see E take charge for a short spell. Sad to see it was only for a short spell. I am beginning to wonder of she may be a bit gun shy about sticking her head out of a foxhole for more than a bit. She did get in a heck of allot of trouble before.

6 - The offense always runs better with Anna than anyone else at the 4. Even if she is not hitting her 3's the other players can trust her to be in the right spot and to make the right pass. Not the quickest of foot she is strong enough to physically dominate defensive position underneath. If today takes the lid off the rim for her then there is nothing but good news.

7 - So sad to see Christyn depressed on the bench. I am sure that will compound Geno's dissatisfaction with her performance today. She is expected to lead at all times.

8 - Glad to see Aaliyah get to experience starting a game. Early Jitters were obvious. I hope we don't have to start her again this year.

9 - It's been a while since I've seen Geno this up set in a 30 point win. Justified though. He may be wondering who he can count on down the road.

Well, that's probably enough tinder to get a fire started with some of my good friends on the board. Remember I'm just a poor redneck boy in South Carolina and my opinions reflect that. So go easy on me.

Hey Husky! I'm from SC too - Charleston to be exact.

I like most of what you said and will respond mostly to my disagreements if that is ok:
1. Didn't think we did a bad job against their guards but I do agree that smaller quicker guards could be a problem.
2. AG made a 15 foot jumper and that bodes well. If we run the offense and use her to post up or if she can sit at the foul-line extended and take her player to the hoop, then she can be good in the half court as well. It may not always be conventional, but can be effective nonetheless. Not sure if Geno will like the unconventional part though.
3. Agree on AM, Liv and the rest. AE is going to have a breakout game soon. Very quick in the low post with strong body to go with it.

 

[jazz]

Some thoughts on the Providence game:

• Raggedy start after 11 days without a game. The challenge for UConn will be to maintain continuity and continue to improve during a season of starts and stops.
• When UConn went to a small lineup, Aubrey & Mir’s energy immediately changed the tempo and complexion of the game.
• Evina was moving as well as I’ve seen her move all season. She showed some really explosive moves to the basket.
• Paige scored 23 points on 8 for 10 shooting. She still needs to take more shots. As Geno says, “The person who makes the most shots, needs to take the most shots.”
• While Aaliyah earned the start today, I was anxious to see how Anna reacted to coming off the bench. When Anna is knocking down 3’s, like today, the entire court opens up for UConn’s offense
• Aubrey was all over the court making plays today, defending 1 through 5 and even knocking down a 15 footer. Does she start next game?

I think you and I saw the same game oldude!

 

[jazz]

That was not true of Chong. She played much better as a senior than at any other time in her UConn career.

True but she still wasn't what you wanted from her, especially on the defensive end. I thought she had a chance to be big time coming off her freshman year....