Uconn vs Lubbock exhibiton - Post Game report

 

 

Well, here we go gang! Another season of UConn women's basketball and DoggyDaddy's insight to another championship run. And the first for my new Grandson, Logan. He is drooling in anticipation!   

 

Doesn't he look great in his UConn PJ's??? 

 

 

 

UConn 95 Lubbock 39

 

Post Game report

 

I did get to the game against Lubbock Monday evening along with 6000+ of my closest friends. While the game was a typically sloppy first game, it was great to see the returning players along with the newcomers.

 

Sadly, a few players had to sit out. Chong sat out with a leg injury, Boykin with an Achilles issue and of course Butler with her recent surgery on her thumb ligament. Even with these three sitting, you can see how much deeper this team as the Huskies went 8 deep even without these three players.

 

Huskie Nation was all abuzz with guesses on who would be the fifth starter to take the court along with Jefferson, Nurse, Stewart and Tuck. With the Butler injury, speculation was that it would come down to Williams, Samuelson or Collier. So, who was the 5th starter in this game? None other than the freshman Katie Lou Samuelson. And to my surprise, she played a team high 34 minutes. 

 

The game started out pretty slow for UConn offensively.  They shot 1-5 at the start and were only 2-9 from the field. Everyone not named Stewart was 0-7. UConn was down 2-0 and 3-2 after 4 minutes of play. I'm sure there were a few UConn fans who's head were exploding.

 

But that was only a short reprieve for a game Lubbock team. UConn continued to play their great defense and finally started to hit some shots. They went on a 16-0 run before taking an 18-5 lead after one quarter (I know, it's weird to have quarters). They really found their offense in the 2nd quarter, scoring 25 points in the 10 minutes. Stewart ended the scoring with a three point exclamation point with 2 ticks on the clock. UConn ended the half making 9-12 of their last shots and went into the locker room leading 43-16.

UConn was more efficient in the second half, shooting a much better percentage. After going 2-11 from beyond the arc (Stewart made the only two long range shots), UConn shot a much better 6-14. Their turnovers were down as well. After 6 in the first half (4 by Stewart) they only had 4 in the second half. Led by a couple of three's by Nurse, UConn jumped to a 70-38 lead after three quarters.   

 

In the last quarter, Geno played plenty of the youth with Samuelson, Collier, Williams, and Ekmark seeing lots of minutes. They played fairly well, as Williams showed how much she has grown since last year. I go into more detail in the player breakdown. The final score was 95-39, pretty much what you would expect in this matchup.   

 

UConn held Lubbock to 23% shooting. They forced them into shooting 3-22 on three's. Lubbock also had 24 TO's. Just a typical UConn defensive effort against an overmatched performance.

 

UConn was able to barely shoot over 50% from the field and did improve their 3 point shooting to finish at 32%. That will improve. The rust also showed in their passing as they only had 17 assists on 37 baskets.   

 

Overall, a decent start for a team that will just keep getting better and better.   

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 Game Quotes From Geno

 

 

 "It was kind of a typical exhibition game. We're playing for the first time. We were probably a little nervous. I thought the first seven to eight minutes were choppy. I thought the third quarter we played really well. We have a long way to go. You can see how we're just not quite there yet, which is good. You don't want to look like you're there in the first exhibition game."

 

"I've seen it all in exhibition games. It’s the first time you're actually out there playing. I thought our effort was pretty good. What we've been working on looked pretty good. Gabby (Williams) came in and played great. She's a completely different player than she was this time last year. That was really encouraging. And Kia Nurse. That's exactly how Kia practices. I'd say that those two, for sure, brought what they've been doing on the practice court to the game."

 

"You never know what you are going to get when you play in an exhibition game. They came a long way. They played the other night and scored a lot of points. They played with a disregard for who they were playing, they just played, and that was great. Their fans were great. That's a long way for them to travel and they did. It was way better than a lot of exhibitions games we've had."

 

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Player Evaluations 

Moriah Jefferson

 

If you liked Jefferson last year, you will love her even more this year. In 27 minutes she was 7-12 from the field, 1-2 on three's, 6 assists and only 1 TO. She had multiple shake and bakes through the Lubbock defenders that made it seem like they were frozen in time and Moriah just did what she wanted with the ball. She seemed to hold back in shooting from the outside just to make sure there was more ball movement. Watching her and Stewart on the fast break is just a thing of beauty. Loved her look-away pass.    

 

"This was good for us. We did a lot of good things tonight and a lot of bad things. Now we go back to practice and clean them all up. It's good to get it out of the way now."

 

 

 

Breanna Stewart

 

 As usual, Stewart filled up the scoreboard. 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and 4 turnovers. Quite the ugly start for Stewie. The 4 turnovers were all in the first 4 minutes. Just a case of trying to make the perfect pass when it really wasn't available. But I certainly won't dwell on that. She looked a little bigger and stronger, finishing well with contact. And her 3 point shot looks much better. Better form and better rotation. 10-12 from the field, 3-3 on three's and 2-2 from the line. Great start for her quest for another NPOY.   

  

 

 

 Morgan Tuck

 Morgan was brace-less, and it was great to see her start the game like that. But I wouldn't be surprised of she is wearing it on Sunday in the second exhibition game. When she complained that she felt some soreness in the knee at the half, UConn held her out for the rest of the game. The good news is Geno was quoted as saying that she is fine, it was just a precaution.

 

Morgan did manage 4 points and 6 rebounds in only 12 minutes. She was just a little off. I expect better results in her next effort.       

 

 

Kia Nurse

Kia brought her Canadian National team game back to UConn. She looks stronger, more confident and more comfortable in the offense. In 28 minutes she scored 18 points on 8-11 shooting and 2-4 on threes. I just loved her bank shots. She took and hit three of them. Just an old school player. She still showed her hustle with a few dives after look balls. From this small sample, I expect a big sophomore leap for her this season.    

 

 

Katie Lou Samuelson

 

If you had told me Lou was going to start and play a team high 34 minutes I would have been surprised. And if you told me she would miss her first 6 three point shots I would have said no way. But it all happened. The good news is she was 2-3 on three's in the second half. She certainly wasn't shy in putting up 11 shots and 9 three's. But I doubt Geno will tell her to stop shooting. I thought that most of the shots were good ones. And just watching her shoot, you know she will hit a high percentage when she calms down.  

 

 

"Hopefully, I got a lot of the nerves out of the way," 

 

      

 

  Gabby Williams

 

It's probably silly to use this game to describe how much Williams has improved this year. But it's hard not to get excited from what I saw from her in this game. First of all, she was 7-8 from the FT line. It wasn't that she was making them, it was how she shot them. Her form was so much better. The ball had excellent backspin and just floated through the net. With her skills around the basket, she will be spending plenty of time shooting foul shots. She also looks stronger. No one defender is going to stop her when she has the ball in the paint. Adding strength to her great leaping ability will just make her impossible to guard once she gets the ball. If she can really hit the face up jumper, UConn has one more weapon on offense. She was also a terror in the passing lanes.

 

16 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. We will see a lot of box score lines like this for Gabby.  

“I definitely feel more comfortable just because I know what the expectations are. It is nice to know that I am able to get what we need done. I know what Coach (Auriemma) wants when he puts me in. I am not lost anymore. I know our offense, I know what kind of basketball we can play. I know what pace I have to go at most importantly, so that helps a lot."
“It is mostly what can I expand with my game? What can I do more of? It is harder to make those shots when people are forcing you to play at a faster pace, even if you are going hard at practice, you are still getting wide open shots so when somebody has a hand in your face or you have to run a little faster, it definitely helps when it goes in.”

 

 

 

 Napheesha Collier 

Collier also had a slow start, but I just marvel how physical she plays. She has REALLY long arms and will be a nightmare for opponents on the defensive end. While she didn't score much, she does fill up the box score. In 23 minutes she had 5 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Not a bad start. She is going to be a factor this year.    

 

 

Courtney Ekmark

 

Yeah, I know. She didn't hit a field goal. She missed all four of her three pointers. BUT....I thought she was very good on defense and was aggressive on offense. No hesitation in her game and she WILL hit three's. She also looked slimmer, fitter, and quicker. She won't be the first off the bench, but I believe she will get solid minutes.  

 

 

 

  

Tierney Lawlor, Brianna Pulido

 



I just enjoy watching these two wonderful teammates get into the game. I love how intense they play from the minute they get in until the final buzzer. Lawlor is a shooter. And Pulido is a shark on defense.

 

Final Thoughts

 

 

- I hated the new scoreboard at the XL center. They only showed the stats for each player a couple at a time and only listed their number and not their name. Not good.

- The loud music was awful. They played it at EVERY break in play. It was so loud you couldn't hear the person next to you. On top of that, they had the band mic'd into the PA system so they were extra loud. REALLY not good.

 

- Lubbock was great. Great fans. Over 100 traveled in for this game and the prior game they had in Boston. They were loud and supportive. 

 

- Loved the Lubbock players attitude as well. They just played their game, and the bench players were great. Every nice play one of their players made was greeted with a loud howl. They were awesome.