Looking Ahead to the Regionals

Uconn is essentially playing with five players now. Ice is nothing but a liability on the floor. She does not understand coming to the ball and catching it with strong hands. Yes, I believe she has physical skills. Another supposed top prospect who has turneed out to be a " project". Problem obviously between the ears. Apparently Q's season is over. I thought Q would be developed over the last couple months , but Geno wouldn't show the same patience he has given to Ice. Aaliyah played a less than stellar game against Syracuse in my opinion. Offensive part of her game still needs lots of work, and she needs to be moving to be effective. Still no reliable perimeter shot as we see many other bigs have. Paige is incredible, and Ashlynn is the next star in the making.

You are being dilusional claiming that it was just an off day for Ice. She is just panicked on the floor, period. How she was able to contribute last week and forgot how this week is incredible. You can fix physical , but this is mental. Paige has to be the leader and " babysitter " on the court. Handling the ball in the high post is a TO just waiting to happen. And Nika loosing her cool with Wooley who was playing her tight just like Nika does to everyone else was just immature. Being a huge Nika fan , I was dissappointed she learned nothing from the ND game. 

Actually, the opposite is true: when it's mental, it can be (maybe not, but can be) easily fixed. 

I agree that Ice was deeply disappointing. As I wrote in the game thread: if you bring the ball down, it will get stripped. But if you go right back up, it will get blocked, you will score, or you will get fouled. Far better odds of a positive play just to go right back up. Ice didn't do that last night, but she is more than capable of doing that (as we've seen). It's a mental thing and she'll get challenged during practice this week to fix that. She can. Will she? We'll find out.

As to Nika, I agree again. She made some really dumb plays at the end. But it was complete mental fatigue. She was exhausted from playing brilliantly for so long. It wasn't her fault, it was Geno's. When she got that 4th incredibly dumb foul (fouling Fair after Fair shot the 3), Geno should have immediately pulled her, have CD talk to her for 60 seconds about her favorite Croatian food or music, and then sent her back in. Instead, she stayed in and doubled down on her frustration. By this point, Geno knows her so well that it's on him.

With an All-American team sitting injured and out of uniform on the bench, these 6 carry a heavy burden that's more mental than physical. They now have the advantage: they're going out to Portland and away from their fans. They're playing with house money and they will be very, very dangerous.

Quite frankly, I wonder sometimes about whether or not you have any ability whatsoever when it comes to assessing talent and ability. Ice's stats speak for themselves . I think this performance is her norm , because it " has been " her norm. I ask you to prove me wrong, but you can't . Those are the facts. What she may do next year or the year after that , who cares. This is about NOW. Why would I as a long time Husky fan, much longer than you, want Ice to fail ? By the contrary, I keep pleading for Ice " to succeed ". But , I live in the world of reality. Maybe you should try it sometime. You always have an excuse for everything. Nika lost her cool. plain and simple. 

1) Muhl was no more mentally and physically exhausted than Bueckers, Shade, or Arnold were from chasing all around the perimeter. Fair is more skilled but no more active than the three kids they were chasing and banging with. Two of them are freshman and none of them made the bonehead mistakes Muhl did.
2) Just a slight exaggeration eh? I saw no AA team on the UConn bench. I saw one kid (Fudd) who may have had a shot at AA if she could have played a full season. But then only a shot. And four others who may have had a shot by now of being in a starting role. Hardly AAs.   
 

Of course it was Geno's fault for not taking Nika out. But then does Geno really make coaching mistakes ? Not according to anyone on this board, so I refrained. The facts are Uconn has 8 healthy players. Uconn is not the only team with this dilemna. Unfortunately the 3 on the bench are uncapable of contributing . One excuse after another all year long. So now, I guess since they get to travel away from the terrible Uconn fans like myself who look at BB realistically, and not thru rose colored glasses, all of the pressure will be off and I can expect great play from Ice and a trip to the FF. 

Ummm, just read it. 

I don't agree with that assessment (I'm not saying anything personal about you or anyone else: I disagree with the basketball point).

I think Ice and Q can contribute a lot. I don't understand why Q didn't play last night, but Geno knows the match-ups and the talent, so I simply am ignorant of the decision, not questioning it.

As to Ice, she's played essential and important minutes in the past. That she seemed somewhat lost on offense last night underneath the rim was frustrating to me. But she made some key plays. She had 4 ribbies and a steal in 17 minutes. She knocked a couple of balls away, keeping them alive for rebounds that she wasn't credited with, and overall her passing was effective. 

It was one of those highly intensive, high stakes games in which some players really thrive and some struggle. That's true for every team in every way. Paige had 4 turnovers. Really? I counted 2 turnovers and 2 uncalled muggings. Every time Ice or Aaliyah (5 turnovers!) touched the ball, they were immediately double teamed, especially underneath, as Cuse zoned them. 

Magic posted that a couple of hrs ago and then made a couple of posts that weren't personal.

Let's just move on, or we'll have to move the posts out...