Villanova Postgame Thread

[Littlemin]

Well, a win is a win and this was a good win that positions UConn to move into the BE Tournament with a positive record. In this game, the only thing worse than UConn's shooting was Villanova. The UConn turnovers were just like they UConn wanted Nova to win. They gave Nova extra opportunities score. And the fouling, the play acting and referee calls made wife jump out of her chair and walk up the TV and scream language that I could not post on this board at the refs. And this is usually a very calm women.

When are they going to control the turnovers? Maybe the next game. Someday, someone is really going to eat UConn's shorts with these turnovers and it will all stop there for the rest of the season.

Funny thing is, Uconn is averaging virtually exactly the same TOs per game in their 4 losses as their 24 wins. Interestingly enough, the fewest amount of TOs in the 4 losses was against SC.

 

[jaydee602]

Disagree that Villanova is a good team. Nova is Siegrist and a bunch of others. They might be lucky to have won 5 or 6 BE games without her. In addition to 2 injured players on the bench who can dominate a game like #20, UCONN starts 5 players who individually are better than their match-up on Villanova.

Villanova is a well coached, top tier team. Lost in their defeat was their ability to hold UCONN under 60 points. They just faced a team that played better defense. And it was only a 2 point game with 4 minutes left.

 

[JoePgh]

From the box score on the UConn web site (not the ESPN box score), there were some notable and somewhat concerning stats:

• Most importantly, Villanova had 13 more field goal attempts than UConn. The turnover margin (as others have noted) was -13 (i.e., in favor of Villanova), but the offensive rebounding margin was +7 in favor of UConn. So those two stats would explain a margin of -6 (in favor of Villanova) in FGA's. But the actual margin is -13, which is hard to explain. Nonetheless, allowing an opponent 13 more FGA's in a game is something that Geno has to be concerned about. It resulted in both teams having the same number of made field goals (20) despite UConn's much higher shooting percentage.
• For all the complaints about the referees (most of which I agree with), Villanova still committed 23 fouls to UConn's 16. That resulted in UConn taking 26 free throws to Villanova's 12, and UConn's margin of +12 made free throws was really the only reason that the Huskies won. Granted, many of those Villanova calls occurred near the end of the game and were intentional, to stop the clock.
• I expected to hear a lot more moaning and groaning in this thread about whether Caroline re-injured herself and will need more time off, whether she should have been playing in the first place, and whether she should have been permitted to re-enter the game after the head hit. I hope someone other than her and the coaches (e.g., Janelle Francisco) gave a thumbs-up on the re-entry decision, but she appeared to play alertly and effectively after that. Now the question is whether she will have symptoms tomorrow -- hope not, obviously.
• Maddy Siegrist's uncharacteristic shooting slump in the second half (including a couple missed free throws) was a gift to UConn, without which UConn probably would have lost this game. She was wide open for several shots that she missed.
• Aaliyah continued to miss close-in shots, as well as 15-footers, that she has made for most of the season. But I'm inclined to give her a pass on that, given the amount of energy that she expended guarding Siegrist, and the fact that she had to play 37 minutes. I hope she gets more rest from here until the NCAA tournament starts.

 

[JoePgh]

LOL....fans who don't follow UCONNmust think Geno hates Nika because he screams at her the whole game. They don't realize that Geno yelling at her is the only language Nika understands. She seems to embrace it!

You don't think Nika understands Croatian?

 

[jaydee602]

No because that would have been Nika’s fifth.

They called the foul on Aubrey Griffin. Like I said, just a baffling call!

 

[HuskyNan]

Grinded?

 

[fomalhaut]

Dalce had a subpar game with only 1 point (6 points below her average) and only 4 rebounds (4 below her average).

Probably above her foul average, though.

 

[OldSchooler]

Both teams came to play defense today, and in that respect both succeeded. Yeah, we had too many TOs, but I credit a lot of them to Villanova's swarming D. On our side, we held their two best players, Siegrist and Olsen, to 34 points on 14/36 (2/9 from 3).

This was a lot closer game than the final score would indicate. The lead was padded in the final minute because of all the fouls Villanova had to commit.

I know Nan hates when we beat a dead horse, but two of the calls were among the worst I have ever seen: 1) where Olsen shoved Nika back into Maddy, resulting in a foul against Nika and sending Maddy to the line; 2) the scrum under Villanova's basket late in the game, where the ball rolled away and was picked up by Aubrey. Ref right on the spot called a jump ball. I looked at that play again. AT NO TIME DID TWO PLAYERS FROM OPPOSING TEAMS EVER TOUCH THAT BALL SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Offensive play of the game -- Lou's last FG, that high-arcing jumper while heavily guarded.

Let's put this one in the bank and get out of town. Hopefully we'll meet them again in the BE finals, with a little help from our bench.

 

[GoUconn7961]

We won!

The End.

 

[Crossover]

They would probably start the bar fight

Since when does a travel give the other team foul shots?

The travel comment was meant to be, and was, humerous.

 

[HuskyNan]

I think Fox has got to be loving UConn.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[fomalhaut]

Most importantly, Villanova had 13 more field goal attempts than UConn. The turnover margin (as others have noted) was -13 (i.e., in favor of Villanova), but the offensive rebounding margin was +7 in favor of UConn. So those two stats would explain a margin of -6 (in favor of Villanova) in FGA's. But the actual margin is -13, which is hard to explain.

You explained it in the next paragraph: Connecticut took 14 more free throws, which is about 7 possessions (unless there was a three-point play).

• For all the complaints about the referees (most of which I agree with), Villanova still committed 23 fouls to UConn's 16. That resulted in UConn taking 26 free throws to Villanova's 12,

 

[jaydee602]

You don't think Nika understands Croatian?

LOL...I know that Geno doesn't understand Croation! The only way he can communicate with Nika is by screaming at her. That usually gets her attention. And she makes steady eye contact with him during his outburst.

 

[Kaizen]

I know Nan hates when we beat a dead horse, but two of the calls were among the worst I have ever seen: 1) where Olsen shoved Nika back into Maddy, resulting in a foul against Nika and sending Maddy to the line; 2) the scrum under Villanova's basket late in the game, where the ball rolled away and was picked up by Aubrey. Ref right on the spot called a jump ball. I looked at that play again. AT NO TIME DID TWO PLAYERS FROM OPPOSING TEAMS EVER TOUCH THAT BALL SIMULTANEOUSLY.

I think at 2), the refs gave Aubrey a foul.

 

[Carnac]

Lou! Top scorer two games in a row now. She's got game.

.....and to think during the entire summer, the "skeptics" here (including yours truly) in the yard were questioning if Lou could (coming in from mid-major Fairfield) could adapt and play at THIS level. Heh heh.....as I look back on our skepticism now, it's laughable. How could we have known? Some fans have commented that they wish we could have had Lou for 4 years. UConn could have recruited her when she was available, but it didn't. She was a diamond in the rough that was not on UConn's radar.

Enter Fairfield. We must remember that over the last 4 years, Lou developed into the player she is now because the program and coach allowed her to. No FF expectations, national championship expectations, or 25-season game-win expectations. Fairfield (13-12) is currently ranked #230. Last year, every play was run for Lou.

The expectations at Fairfield were nowhere close to those of UConn. She was allowed to play a lot of minutes every game during the course of her development. That would not have happened at UConn. Lou came to UConn at just the right time. We didn't NEED her last year, and won't next year, but.....WE NEED HER NOW!,!! She is coming through for us! She's a warrior and a gamer. That rainbow jumper late in the 4th quarter was magnificent and very timely. We have had her for only 1 year, but boy what a "gift."

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Carnac]

Credit to UConn's defense on Siegrist this time or did Villanova again not look to get the ball to their best player?

Lou scored 22 points on 12 shots and Siegrist scored 21 points on 22 shots. I love Siegrist btw.

The kindest thing I can say about the officiating in this game is that it was horrendous.

Very good win.

I wonder how many points Lou would have had if SHE had 22 shots?

 

[Ralph]

It looked like three refs made three different calls. one ref called nothing since there was no possession. One ref inexplicably called a jump ball despite neither team having possession. The 3rd ref came charging in from midcourt & incorrectly called a foul on UCONN. For some reason, they deferred to the foul call.
This was a synoposis for the whole game with three refs calling the game differently and players trying to adjust to the disparity.

So how could Fox not show us a replay of what happened? Terrible for a call that could have changed the game if she made the free throws.

 

[Carnac]

Grinded?

The best thing about UConn's win today is that the sellout crowd at today's game went home unhappy and unfulfilled.

 

[Beemer]

Well my girl Nika had a very tough game today- shot 0 fer from the floor, had 7 turnovers and basically had the snot beaten out of her. Also after her second foul she lost her composure & mouthed off to the referee who promptly called her for a third as soon as possible.

On the other hand after that she calmed down and stayed in the game picking up just one more foul & ending with 8 assists.

I think having to play so many minutes finally caught up to her although I know she'd rather die than admit it.

Advice to Nika- next time the ref calls a stupid foul on you, borrow a trick from Sue Bird & pull your jersey over your mouth while you cuss him/her out!

 

[hookshot]

Disagree that Villanova is a good team. Nova is Siegrist and a bunch of others. They might be lucky to have won 5 or 6 BE games without her. In addition to 2 injured players on the bench who can dominate a game like #20, UCONN starts 5 players who individually are better than their match-up on Villanova.

Villanova is a good team because they are well coached and play hard, and also have a legit all-american, and a very decent PG in Olson (who arguably outplayed Muhl today) the other starters are role players and they have no bench (even less than Uconn). But those first few things will take you a long way, particularly in the Big East.

 

[Ralph]

From the box score on the UConn web site (not the ESPN box score), there were some notable and somewhat concerning stats:

• Most importantly, Villanova had 13 more field goal attempts than UConn. The turnover margin (as others have noted) was -13 (i.e., in favor of Villanova), but the offensive rebounding margin was +7 in favor of UConn. So those two stats would explain a margin of -6 (in favor of Villanova) in FGA's. But the actual margin is -13, which is hard to explain. Nonetheless, allowing an opponent 13 more FGA's in a game is something that Geno has to be concerned about. It resulted in both teams having the same number of made field goals (20) despite UConn's much higher shooting percentage.
• For all the complaints about the referees (most of which I agree with), Villanova still committed 23 fouls to UConn's 16. That resulted in UConn taking 26 free throws to Villanova's 12, and UConn's margin of +12 made free throws was really the only reason that the Huskies won. Granted, many of those Villanova calls occurred near the end of the game and were intentional, to stop the clock.
• I expected to hear a lot more moaning and groaning in this thread about whether Caroline re-injured herself and will need more time off, whether she should have been playing in the first place, and whether she should have been permitted to re-enter the game after the head hit. I hope someone other than her and the coaches (e.g., Janelle Francisco) gave a thumbs-up on the re-entry decision, but she appeared to play alertly and effectively after that. Now the question is whether she will have symptoms tomorrow -- hope not, obviously.
• Maddy Siegrist's uncharacteristic shooting slump in the second half (including a couple missed free throws) was a gift to UConn, without which UConn probably would have lost this game. She was wide open for several shots that she missed.
• Aaliyah continued to miss close-in shots, as well as 15-footers, that she has made for most of the season. But I'm inclined to give her a pass on that, given the amount of energy that she expended guarding Siegrist, and the fact that she had to play 37 minutes. I hope she gets more rest from here until the NCAA tournament starts.

It looked like she had the ice on her neck, not her head, so hopefully it was the neck that hurt, not the head, but neither is good. At least the neck is just pain, I think. concussion can throw everything off. Neck issue has been around for a while, does not seem to be getting better.

 

[JellyBean]

Like others have stated, this team never quits! We got frigging six players and one of those players is courageous as heck! They all are showing levels of toughness but Caroline. OMG!! That young lady is one tough rascal.

Great win. Lou is unreal! So many programs have transfer players. Some are working out and some that are not working out. I am just glad that Lou is working out very well for our beloved UConn. She is tough and very low key. Just goes about her business without all of the extra stuff.

Nika. Our little vocal floor general. I do not care what anyone says about her and her "silly" turnovers. She is the walking definition of "Fail Fast and Move On". She does not dwell on silly mistakes. On to the next play. I love her confidence and I love that she understands the game so much. She read the game beautifully today despite the naysayers out there. Well done, Nika.

Dorka, Aaliyah, and Aubrey. Dorka was efficient today. Aaliyah continues to display the heart, toughness, and muscle out there. Aubrey, like Lou, just goes about the game in her usual manner. Not a lot of scoring but she was, like Aaliyah, very active on defense and that is all that you can ask a player. If the shots aren't falling, there are other ways to help the team and Aubrey does that every game.

Gritty game. Next up, St. John's.