Connecticut Preview and Game Thread

[Viking131]

Hate to see the Season come to an end. We gave it our all. Hey, we led Uconn for one quarter : ).

That being said:::::

I dont know if it's a pride issue, or what. I seriously hope that CB brings someone in that can Coach offense. WE NEED HELP! Defensively, we're good. As a matter of, we're borderline really good. The problem is the offense. This game could have been so much closer if we had a steady offense. That is all I have from Atlanta, GA, USA!

Go #heels

 

[23UNC]

Hopefully Harping can be that guard that can handle pressure. We had no one of the roster that was comfortable with the pressure tonight.

 

[Viking131]

Hopefully Harping can be that guard that can handle pressure. We had no one of the roster that was comfortable with the pressure tonight.

Not 1

 

[Bucwild88]

Hate to see the Season come to an end. We gave it our all. Hey, we led Uconn for one quarter : ).

That being said:::::

I dont know if it's a pride issue, or what. I seriously hope that CB brings someone in that can Coach offense. WE NEED HELP! Defensively, we're good. As a matter of, we're borderline really good. The problem is the offense. This game could have been so much closer if we had a steady offense. That is all I have from Atlanta, GA, USA!

Go #heels

41, 38, and 42. I know you what these three numbers are.

 

[FanaticHeel]

We have 4 starting caliber guards on the roster for next year. Not sure adding another is a good use of resources

And history has shown that NONE of them can hand pressure on the dribble. Just stating facts. Go back and look

 

[3397char]

Hopefully Harping can be that guard that can handle pressure. We had no one of the roster that was comfortable with the pressure tonight.

agreed,. But Kelly handled pressure great when healthy. we certainly could have used that tonight.

It is clear that we preferred Nivar over Aarnisalo in the press after Kelly went out for the season. And Grant is completely held out of the press break. It is an area of need. But hopefully Harpring has that in her bag and Kelly gets back to game form.

With that said, UConn leads the nation in turnover margin. This one particular game should not be over-emphasized in terms of assessing team needs.

 

[uman1]

Nice effort team. The last 2 minutes of the second quarter and the entire 3rd killed any hope. UConn is truly a historically good team this year.

Hopefully we will get a bit closer to being an elite team next year.

 

[Redwall06]

Composure. We were right there minute before the half. We turn the ball over and lose our minds.
Rather than running some sets and getting ( or attempting to get) to the foul line, we go even more uptempo and start chucking 3’s.
When the other guy is a superior force, you want fewer- not more- possessions.

 

[uman1]

This team has shrunk when the light are brightest and can't say I'm surprised because we have seen performances like this before. I don't know that we have ever seen the amount of fouls that have keep us from scoring but we have definitely seen this type of performance. We seen the missed layups, poor shooting and stupid TOs.

They are just a much better team. Historically good. There is a reason they have won 53 games in a row. Last game they had a 67-12 lead on a pretty good team,

 

[rogah]

Lopsided score but a lot to be happy about imo.
- covered against one of the statistical best teams of all time
- back to back sweet 16s
- have the NPOTY joining the team next year

On the lopsided score, I was sort of hoping we had learned that lesson after South Carolina beat us to absolute death in the NCAA tournament, but apparently we needed a reminder.

 

[6string]

Thanks Nivar, I appreciate your efforts and best of luck going forward.

 

[Jriv23]

There is nothing to be ashamed of. Our players played hard. IN was the only one who showed up today. UCONN, Texas, UCLA, and SC are the standard. Our team played all four this season. If I was CB and Staff, I would take some time to look at all four games that we played those teams and look at the areas that we got exposed or they showed our weakness. As I think about it, my assessment would be when we played all four of those teams, we hung with them in the first and second quarter. The third quarter is when things went south for us. Our guard play was not there. We had too many turnovers which means there is a need for another true PG. We need an elite 5. We missed too many layups all year. FanaticHeel stated that IN missed a lot of layups but if you go back and watch the film. A lot of other players missed a lot of layups: Overall, they had a great season and they should be proud of themselves.

 

[3397char]

Composure. We were right there minute before the half. We turn the ball over and lose our minds.
Rather than running some sets and getting ( or attempting to get) to the foul line, we go even more uptempo and start chucking 3’s.
When the other guy is a superior force, you want fewer- not more- possessions.

I think we did alright in limiting UConn. We held them to 38 points below their 89.1 pt season scoring average and 10 points below their previous lowest scoring game of the year. the last time UConn only scored 61 points or less was 3 years ago. (A game they still won by 33 points)

UNC's issues were turnovers. making 3 pt shots, making open layups, (and getting fouled.) They had 17 points off turnovers and if we would have 15 more points if we scored our normal 3pt percentage on the 22 attempts we took.

 

[ZinfanHeel]

We did exactly what we could not do: have a bad quarter against this team. Take away that, and the game was at least somewhat competitive. UConn is an awesome team: McDonald's AAs and International veterans at every position. Hopefully someday we will figure out how to get the Sarah Strong types to come to the Hill.

 

[3397char]

We did exactly what we could not do: have a bad quarter against this team. Take away that, and the game was at least somewhat competitive. UConn is an awesome team: McDonald's AAs and International veterans at every position. Hopefully someday we will figure out how to get the Sarah Strong types to come to the Hill.

yeah we get maybe 1 McD A-A on average a season and have to hope they pan out. They get 3 a year, two of which are high in the top 10. They then see who pans out and the others move on or sit on the bench.

 

[kjcooper]

The future is bright, let's watch the next week or so and see if there are any of the ladies who may decide to enter the portal. At this time it does not seem probable, but you never know for sure.

 

[kjcooper]

Truly believe that all the number one seeds will be in the final four, the disparity is that great from them and the rest of the remaining field.

 

[Kleizaster]

An expected result..i liked the fight. Don't hang your head ladies.

The thing is..UNC CAN get the Sarah Strong type players. The program has done it in the past. In her pre game press conference CB mentioned that UNC was really lose to landing Sarah Strong. They are constantly in these recruiting battles against elite programs. That alone says alot.

Not to mention UNC currently has the number 1 player in the 2027 class coming in next year. So let's stop acting like top recruits are a foreign concept to this program. You just have to continue to build by stacking great recruiting classes.

As players leave, you replace them with other players with a little more talent. repeat that a few time and you have the UCONNS and SCs and UCLAs and Texas of the world.

UNC hasn't been able to do that consistently enough. Need more offensive firepower. Defense has always been strong. The program is stuck right on the periphery of the elite club. They are hovering though. Future looks bright. CB has to do everything she can to keep the core together.

 

[PonsterM]

Truly believe that all the number one seeds will be in the final four, the disparity is that great from them and the rest of the remaining field.

A perennial problem in women's college basketball. The best programs hoard all the talent, and there's not enough elite talent to go around. Here's hoping Harpring is a sign of things to come for us.

 

[4theHeels19]

Nivar deserves so much credit. Beyond her defense, I don’t think it’s talked about enough how much she did as a facilitator/play maker for this team. I think she averaged about double the assists per game as our PG’s (Kelly, Grant, and Aarnisalo). She showed out vs UCONN twice (also stuffed the stat sheet last time we played them). She stepped up tonight and we’re going to miss her. Really going to miss Harris too. She was solid all season and gave us that physical presence and intensity on both sides of the ball that we needed- didn’t really have anyone else who brought that night in and out.

Lanie and Elina were big down the stretch but struggled tonight. They need to work on their handle vs pressure in the off-season; need to improve in that area not only for college ball, but if they hope to play at the next level. They’re gym rats and I expect they’ll be better next season. Toomey, Brooks, and Henderson can all be very good if they put the work in. And we have some other pieces that hopefully will really help next year too (Harpring, Hull, TQ, Thomas). We need a dynamic 4 to replace Harris and hope we can find her in the portal.

Tough loss but a lot to be proud of this season. Kudos to Banghart, staff, and every contributor to this program.

 

[6string]

I know. I am in the minority here but I think a little bit of roster turnover thru the portal wouldn’t be bad. Add some athleticism at guard, some size and strength down low, call it 4 or 5 or whatever. Ball handling is an issue. We’re close.

 

[UNCH]

Role players can only take you so far, you need a star to win go further.

SS didn't want to help win a national title; she wanted the easy team to get it.

That is why this sport has no parity. A super star from NC picked Uconn over UNC/NCstate/Duke.

 

[Bucwild88]

Hate to see the Season come to an end. We gave it our all. Hey, we led Uconn for one quarter : ).

That being said:::::

I dont know if it's a pride issue, or what. I seriously hope that CB brings someone in that can Coach offense. WE NEED HELP! Defensively, we're good. As a matter of, we're borderline really good. The problem is the offense. This game could have been so much closer if we had a steady offense. That is all I have from Atlanta, GA, USA!

Go #heels

A team has to be able to score consistently against the elite teams in addition to playing defense. Going small and playing stall ball doesn't work against the better teams.

 

[DSPHeel]

I'm a big fan of CT but it down right criminal for a player of her status to be completely shut down and see damn near no fight in a game like this.

She hasn’t had a “good” game in a month or so. Her play just fell off a cliff suddenly!

 

[tarboy]

I think she looks tired. She does not have the energy she had early in the season. Still in her defense
she had 6 reb's and 6 or 7 points in 23 min's playing time.

 

[3397char]

She hasn’t had a “good” game in a month or so. Her play just fell off a cliff suddenly!

It is worth noting that she appeared on the injury report for two consecutive games right when her play and her minutes dropped off. Could be a coincidence or she could be managing a nagging injury.

(reported on the Carmichael Radio podcast, I did not see the reports so I do not know what they indicated)

 

[HeadsCarolina]

Really proud of this team and the consistent, winning culture CB is establishing. B2B sweet 16's is another step. With Harpring and the right roster moves, we're an elite big away from being elite. Feels like we're set for a few yeaars of Carolina and Duke running the league. Devils have had their time in the sun...here come the Heels!