UConn Women's Basketball Postgame (Cal) - 11/10/19
- Thread starter Ian Bethune
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Not pretty, but I’m encouraged. Id be absolutely shocked if they don’t make the final four.
Megan started terribly, but she’s different this year and looking like a #1 overall recruit. Throw in Williams as her Robin and this going to be a legit team.
Replacing KLS and Collier won’t be easy, but they weren’t players that could create their own shot. Meg and CW can, as well as Crystal, who had an off game today.
They keep throwing dirt on UConn and we keep brushing it off. Now it’s time we finish.
Megan started terribly, but she’s different this year and looking like a #1 overall recruit. Throw in Williams as her Robin and this going to be a legit team.
Replacing KLS and Collier won’t be easy, but they weren’t players that could create their own shot. Meg and CW can, as well as Crystal, who had an off game today.
They keep throwing dirt on UConn and we keep brushing it off. Now it’s time we finish.
That was a less than inspiring win today. UConn got virtually nothing from Marukat and Griffin and Adebayo and Bent did not play.
Yup, Geno’s rotation is tighter than a drum. Can a man who’s had so much success still Learn from his recent failures?
There was no reason not to get Adebayo and Bent in. Sometimes you can lose a game in November or December, if it means you’re better in March. But Geno is hell bent on trying to be perfect. This is a year perfection shouldn’t matter, as long as they play their best basketball in the tourney.
There was no reason not to get Adebayo and Bent in. Sometimes you can lose a game in November or December, if it means you’re better in March. But Geno is hell bent on trying to be perfect. This is a year perfection shouldn’t matter, as long as they play their best basketball in the tourney.
Canolee: I hated what I saw....big time issues. This team is weak physically and showed a redshirt senior from china can get whatever rebound she stumbled into. Terrible but par for the course for the last 3 years.
Geno either proves girth doesnt matter or this team can easily be beat before the sweet 16.
Geno either proves girth doesnt matter or this team can easily be beat before the sweet 16.
Dom, I agree the margin for error is much smaller now. I just don’t see Crystal and ONO going 9-29 most nights. They’ll get better, they always do. And he has Adebayo’s girth on the bench, he just has to stop being so stubborn and find a way to play 8/9. If Evina gets her waiver appeal(unlikely), his head may explode.
Agree with you guys, this team is a little below Geno's standards. It seems they are going to live or die by the jump shot and they're physically smaller height wise besides ONO than most of his teams, so there will be no mismatches to take advantage of like in the past.
That he has Irwin starting( is Adebayo that challenged to play at this level ?) tells me everything I need to know since KI was an unranked 3 star, same with Bent, both who should be nothing but garbage time players and never in the rotation on any good UConn FF team. Geno usually has nothing but 5 star / top 25 players (or 4 at worst) fighting for PT. . This might not even be a top 10 team...and I wouldn't be surprised if they have more loses than any of Geno's teams since 15 years ago when they went 25-8, if you add in the OOC schedule he's torturing himself with .... I'd go as far as saying they could even lose a game or two in the AAC
.....so Geno's gonna earn his money.
PS... I think he knows he's challenged talent wise and he dropped the ball, when you look at the depth he's creating for himself in the future. He's recruiting 10-12 deep of 4-5 star level players for his 2021 team, now that he just added the top ranked / 5 star center to the list below. Something he said he wouldn't do in the past, because having to many stars players (5 or 6 ) is tough on their PT when you have that many "good guys" . Might be a little of Geno's mortality catching up to him too, since he'll be pushing 70 by the time they're college careers are at the back end.... so he's stackin' up for his last hurrah !
That he has Irwin starting( is Adebayo that challenged to play at this level ?) tells me everything I need to know since KI was an unranked 3 star, same with Bent, both who should be nothing but garbage time players and never in the rotation on any good UConn FF team. Geno usually has nothing but 5 star / top 25 players (or 4 at worst) fighting for PT. . This might not even be a top 10 team...and I wouldn't be surprised if they have more loses than any of Geno's teams since 15 years ago when they went 25-8, if you add in the OOC schedule he's torturing himself with .... I'd go as far as saying they could even lose a game or two in the AAC
.....so Geno's gonna earn his money.PS... I think he knows he's challenged talent wise and he dropped the ball, when you look at the depth he's creating for himself in the future. He's recruiting 10-12 deep of 4-5 star level players for his 2021 team, now that he just added the top ranked / 5 star center to the list below. Something he said he wouldn't do in the past, because having to many stars players (5 or 6 ) is tough on their PT when you have that many "good guys" . Might be a little of Geno's mortality catching up to him too, since he'll be pushing 70 by the time they're college careers are at the back end.... so he's stackin' up for his last hurrah !
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If you look at the stats UConn got virtually nothing outside of their top 4 players. Irwin, Makurat and Griffin did virtually nothing (Makurat had 0 boards, Irwin 1, and Griffin 2, and those 3 players combined for 2 points! So basically 2 points and 3 rebounds, combined, from your #5-7 players). So this is why it was 43-43 on the boards with Nelson Ododa and Walker basically doing all the tough board work. I have no idea why Adebayo didn't play but she grabbed 12 boards in only about 22 minutes in the 2 exhibitions. Why was she recruited if she can't even get into a game like this?
I have an idea why Bent did not play. She was a net negative on the floor at the end of the last exhibition against Trevecca Nazarene but towards the end of the game, while bringing the ball up, attempted a 40 foot bounce pass which was easily picked off by TN for a fastbreak going the other way. It looked like a high school pass by a hot dogging freshman and Geno went ballistic on the sidelines. Unfortunately Bent is just way too TO prone even against lower echelon teams.
Evie Westbrook is a point guard and she would not help the situation of looking very weak on the boards, but she would at least lengthen the rotation with a solid veteran D-1 player.
I have an idea why Bent did not play. She was a net negative on the floor at the end of the last exhibition against Trevecca Nazarene but towards the end of the game, while bringing the ball up, attempted a 40 foot bounce pass which was easily picked off by TN for a fastbreak going the other way. It looked like a high school pass by a hot dogging freshman and Geno went ballistic on the sidelines. Unfortunately Bent is just way too TO prone even against lower echelon teams.
Evie Westbrook is a point guard and she would not help the situation of looking very weak on the boards, but she would at least lengthen the rotation with a solid veteran D-1 player.
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Just caught this from the Courant's Mike Anthony, it sounds about right:
" Still, Sunday’s performance was alarmingly shaky and lacking support. It almost had the feeling of something incomplete. The Huskies didn’t look like a team that needed some refining. It looked like a team that needed more players....So much was missing, though. Not enough to lose to a Cal team that already had lost to Harvard, but enough for anyone to realize how razor thin UConn’s margin for error could be this season. "
" Still, Sunday’s performance was alarmingly shaky and lacking support. It almost had the feeling of something incomplete. The Huskies didn’t look like a team that needed some refining. It looked like a team that needed more players....So much was missing, though. Not enough to lose to a Cal team that already had lost to Harvard, but enough for anyone to realize how razor thin UConn’s margin for error could be this season. "
..... I said this before, Bent and Irwin should be playing for Jen Rizzotti, not being discussed regarding what they do for a top 25 program...talk about a massive fail and a desperate reach in recruiting...SMH !
Bent and Irwin are deep bench players which means that Griffin, Makurat and Adebayo really need to give UConn something. You can’t win playing 4 on 5 in basketball. I still think Adebayo could be a factor, although I don’t know why she didn’t play in this game. Note that Camara is out for 6-8 weeks with knee issues (again) and the PF position looked OK if both Adebayo and Camara are healthy. Right now unless they get something out of these two Walker is really the PF. Which is not what you want. She is really a big guard who can rebound but you don’t want her playing PF.
This is what the Courant wrote on Adebayo the other day:
“Adebayo struggled offensively on Sunday (1-for-7) and only took two shots on Wednesday. Though she collected six rebounds in each game, she had some slip ups on the defensive end and ultimately played the fewest minutes of any player in both contests.
Adebayo’s progression may be taking some time, but Auriemma made clear that the team will need to figure out how it can best utilize her so that she can become a more reliable option in the front court.
“When you’re only here one year, it’s like you’re a freshman, but you’re not because you should know some things because you’ve played in college for a long time, but where you played you played at a whole different pace than what we’re asking you to play," Auriemma said. "So, it’s a lot of watching film [with her] and a lot of, ‘Here’s where you can help us.' And we’re going to need her.”
https://www.courant.com/sports/ucon...0191107-fytwhapz6raszk3ym6k3vebn3a-story.html
I really think you just bite the bullet, play her and let her play through the mistakes. They will be better for it down the road. The one bucket she had in the last exhibition was on a big time move. She can play.
“Adebayo struggled offensively on Sunday (1-for-7) and only took two shots on Wednesday. Though she collected six rebounds in each game, she had some slip ups on the defensive end and ultimately played the fewest minutes of any player in both contests.
Adebayo’s progression may be taking some time, but Auriemma made clear that the team will need to figure out how it can best utilize her so that she can become a more reliable option in the front court.
“When you’re only here one year, it’s like you’re a freshman, but you’re not because you should know some things because you’ve played in college for a long time, but where you played you played at a whole different pace than what we’re asking you to play," Auriemma said. "So, it’s a lot of watching film [with her] and a lot of, ‘Here’s where you can help us.' And we’re going to need her.”
https://www.courant.com/sports/ucon...0191107-fytwhapz6raszk3ym6k3vebn3a-story.html
I really think you just bite the bullet, play her and let her play through the mistakes. They will be better for it down the road. The one bucket she had in the last exhibition was on a big time move. She can play.
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I watched Geno’s presser. His comment was they’ve played a lot better in openers, obviously. But they’ve also played worse before.
Keep in mind the field lost a lot of their best players too. And how many girls teams get contributions from 9-10 players? Katie Lou and Collier couldn’t isolate and use the bounce and create shots. Walker, CWill and Crystal can. And Ania can create buckets for others. Ono is an excellent passer as well and should have had 5/6 assists if not for a few missed bunnies.
Keep in mind the field lost a lot of their best players too. And how many girls teams get contributions from 9-10 players? Katie Lou and Collier couldn’t isolate and use the bounce and create shots. Walker, CWill and Crystal can. And Ania can create buckets for others. Ono is an excellent passer as well and should have had 5/6 assists if not for a few missed bunnies.
Canolee, I agree that this team could be an excellent passing team- they did have 25 assists in the second exhibition when Griffin and Marukat played a lot better. ONO is an intriguing post player, because of her passing ability which makes the back door cuts a real threat to the other team which has to be careful about double teaming her. But right now it looks like a 4 woman team out there and the depth needs to be developed!
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