I watched the UConn WBB exhibition against Trevecca Nazarene which was live streamed for free tonight on UConnHuskies.com. TN is one of 4 schools from Tennessee UConn will play this year, the others being Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Memphis.
The first half went pretty good and UConn led 74-29 at half. TN tried to press UConn and this appeared to be a mistake as UConn got repeated easy transition baskets throughout the first quarter. The second half of the game was a different story, as Trevecca Nazarene won the 3rd quarter 17-14 and played UConn even for the second half, with the final score UConn winning by 99-54. UConn scored 74 in the first half and only 25 in the second half.
Megan Walker had a game high 28 points, and also had 28 in the other exhibition. She and Nelson-Ododa played very well, while almost everyone else was up and down. Anna Makurat started, and although she did not shoot the ball well, she really helped on the boards and with her passing. She looked like she was playing some power forward and is a big girl. Bigger than Irwin. She came down on the break one time with one defender to beat and I was really surprised that when the defender set up to take the charge, she bulled right into her and looked surprised. For most players it was an easy Eurostep around the defender, but she was apparently surprised by the defender or else does not have that move in her arsenal and instead favors the Jerome Dyson, "go hard to the hole no matter who is in the way" approach.
Aubrey Griffin came off the bench and was fantastic in the first half, but in the second half she had some bad TOs and could not get it going. I was surprised Evelyn Adebayo did not play more. They are using her as a backup center, primarily. She has a big body, wide and strong, and rebounded the ball well. The one time the whole game they fed her the ball down low, she made an excellent, fluid post move and scored through traffic. They have to do a better job with post entry passes to her as I see some real potential there.
Kyla Irwin made some contributions off the bench and made 5 3s in the 2 exhibitions, which I think may have led the team. Molly Bent does some good things but also missed a wide open breakaway layup (which cannot happen) and had some bad TOs, one on a crosscourt, 40 foot bounce pass that was easily intercepted by a defender. It looked like she was still in high school with that pass, but she is now a senior and really should know better. That TO drove Geno bananas, and I think this girl is a net negative although she does some good things at times and can run the pick and roll and make solid entry passes.
Most concerning was that UConn did not really shoot that well from outside. Walker might be the most reliable shooter and scorer that UConn has at the moment. Once TN stopped the UConn transition attack and took care of the ball, which they mostly did in the second half, UConn struggled on offense and Walker looked like the only reliable offensive option. They will need to do better than this once they start the season and start facing better opposition.
One sad piece of news: for those who are wondering about Batouly Camara, her knee had to be scoped again and she is out 6-8 weeks and it's not clear how good her knees will be when she returns. She has had virtual nonstop knee issues ever since she got to UConn and before she arrived.
The first half went pretty good and UConn led 74-29 at half. TN tried to press UConn and this appeared to be a mistake as UConn got repeated easy transition baskets throughout the first quarter. The second half of the game was a different story, as Trevecca Nazarene won the 3rd quarter 17-14 and played UConn even for the second half, with the final score UConn winning by 99-54. UConn scored 74 in the first half and only 25 in the second half.
Megan Walker had a game high 28 points, and also had 28 in the other exhibition. She and Nelson-Ododa played very well, while almost everyone else was up and down. Anna Makurat started, and although she did not shoot the ball well, she really helped on the boards and with her passing. She looked like she was playing some power forward and is a big girl. Bigger than Irwin. She came down on the break one time with one defender to beat and I was really surprised that when the defender set up to take the charge, she bulled right into her and looked surprised. For most players it was an easy Eurostep around the defender, but she was apparently surprised by the defender or else does not have that move in her arsenal and instead favors the Jerome Dyson, "go hard to the hole no matter who is in the way" approach.
Aubrey Griffin came off the bench and was fantastic in the first half, but in the second half she had some bad TOs and could not get it going. I was surprised Evelyn Adebayo did not play more. They are using her as a backup center, primarily. She has a big body, wide and strong, and rebounded the ball well. The one time the whole game they fed her the ball down low, she made an excellent, fluid post move and scored through traffic. They have to do a better job with post entry passes to her as I see some real potential there.
Kyla Irwin made some contributions off the bench and made 5 3s in the 2 exhibitions, which I think may have led the team. Molly Bent does some good things but also missed a wide open breakaway layup (which cannot happen) and had some bad TOs, one on a crosscourt, 40 foot bounce pass that was easily intercepted by a defender. It looked like she was still in high school with that pass, but she is now a senior and really should know better. That TO drove Geno bananas, and I think this girl is a net negative although she does some good things at times and can run the pick and roll and make solid entry passes.
Most concerning was that UConn did not really shoot that well from outside. Walker might be the most reliable shooter and scorer that UConn has at the moment. Once TN stopped the UConn transition attack and took care of the ball, which they mostly did in the second half, UConn struggled on offense and Walker looked like the only reliable offensive option. They will need to do better than this once they start the season and start facing better opposition.
One sad piece of news: for those who are wondering about Batouly Camara, her knee had to be scoped again and she is out 6-8 weeks and it's not clear how good her knees will be when she returns. She has had virtual nonstop knee issues ever since she got to UConn and before she arrived.
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