UConn/Cincinnati II Post Game Report

UConn-Cincinnati Post game report 

(pictures from the Hartford Courant, UConnhuskies.com, Danny K)

For more DannyK pictures, click on the link Geno's 900th Win They are worth it!
 

It didn't take long for this game to be one long coronation for King Geno. After Cincinnati jumped out to a 5-0 lead, UConn put the clamps on the Cinci offense with the usual pressure defense. By the end of the first half UConn had held the Bearcats to 18% shooting. Once Gabby Williams came in the game, the defense cranked it up even more closing on a 22-0 run. Last time UConn played Cincinnati, they scored the first 22 points of the half. Weird.

Geno did his best to keep the score down. He even put in Lawler with 9 minutes left in the second half. But the subs did not cooperate. Especially Williams, who was just unbelievable in this game. The entire bench looked like it had great chemistry. You could see them executing plays and lo and behold, actually succeeding ending in a basket. It was great to see.

The celebration after the game was great. It was real. A lot of love between Geno, the coaches the players and the fans. I wish I was able to get to the game tonight. It looked very special.   

 

Game Quotes

Geno - "Whenever you reach a certain level of success, you think back on all the people that were there and made it: possible. Sometimes, when you're going along this path, you get caught up in what you're doing, what you have to do next, and as a result you forget where you come from, how it all started, and who was there along the way. That's the big thing for me, is the chance to reflect on it. There's no what does it mean or what does it do for you personally. I tell my players during the NCAA Tournament that when I wake up tomorrow morning, my life won't change that much. But having the opportunity to see how it impacted others, that's pretty cool"
 

Jamelle Elliott - “Well I don’t think any team wants to be that team that they play for a milestone like this, but obviously this is a special circumstance. The best part of tonight was the fact that I got the chance to spend some time with him, congratulating him on his milestone. I talk to him most of the time not about basketball stuff, just talking about enjoyment. He never enjoys any of this stuff. He never takes a break and just sits back and realizes the accomplishments. I just find myself constantly reminding him of that. If people didn’t do that, he would never acknowledge those types of things. The best part was that I was able to be here and spend this moment with him.”

 

Jamelle Elliott On UConn as a team - “I’ve been around a lot of his championship teams as a coach and as a competitor now. I think this team is more of a team this year based on their scoring output. It’s not just that one guy. Obviously Stewie  is that guy, but this year she’s doing other things. She’s sharing the ball, she’s playing better defense. As for the best team, I think my team is the best team. Overall I think that sharing the ball, not having one main star, they do a good job of gelling.”

 

Junior Guard Moriah Jefferson - “I think you have to try to come into every game with the same mindset. Sometimes when you’re in these situations, there’s so much that’s expected of you, and it’s easy to look past what you’re doing. For the most part, it’s not about pressure, but making it fun and going out there to play as hard as you can.” 

Here are the coach and player evaluations -

Coach Geno Auriemma

 

I'm sure Geno is glad this game is over for two reasons. The first is that he is done playing against his former coaches/player in Elliott and Cardoza. For some reason, it seemed tougher for him this year. He can now move on and not worry about holding back his players and he can work on what he needs to work on. The other is the 900 win milestone. You can see how uncomfortable he is with the entire process.

Specific to this game he was able to get a nice flow again with the bench being integrated with the starters. And what you can see happening from this substitution patter is the growing confidence in Stokes, Chong and Williams. In this game, when you have those three playing with Ekmark and Lawler for 6 minutes you see a lot better flow. You can see them running the same plays the starters run and you can see more success. This bodes well for the game against South Carolina and in the NCAA tournament. We will see for sure when UConn plays SC on Monday if he trusts Chong and Williams with serious minutes. I believe he will play them solid minutes in that game.       

 

Player of the Game

Gabby Williams

 

What can I say about this young woman. ASGR had her rated No. 1 in her class before her last knee injury and still had her as the second best player in her class. I'm sure many UConn fans were wondering why. She was athletic, but didn't really stand out in the early game. Well, wow...has she ever improved by leaps and bounds from week to week.

I loved Geno's comments after the game about Williams:

 

"Watching Gabby Williams play tonight, that makes the process really
enjoyable, watching someone get that good right in front of your eyes.
That makes the process really cool. I could coach a long time if I could
get to watch what I’m seeing in her every week, every week, every
week.”
  

EVERY week. She just keeps getting better. Her athletic ability is every bit what we saw from Maya Moore. But now it's much more than she can jump through the roof. I don't think I have ever seen a player with the ability to consistently hit bank shots like she can. In women's college basketball, you are more likely to see the ball clang off the rim on shots like that than go through the basket. But Williams just has that knack. Amazing.   

 

What a stat line!!!! 18 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 0 turnovers.     

 

 

   

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis

 

After a slow start, Kaleena got hot quickly and had a terrific game. She scored 16 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. A nice total game for her. Of course, I expect her to take plenty and hit many of the three point shots. But she is coming hard off screens to catch and shoot mid range jumpers and she is posting up hard looking for the ball.  

 

Moriah Jefferson
 

 There must be something about Cincinnati that brings out the misses in Moriah.  In the first game she was 2-6 from the field and 0-1 on three's. In this game she was 1-6 from the field and 1-2 on three's. If my math is correct, she was 3-12 and 1-3 against Cincinnati. This is terrible for a player that is shooting over 58% in all the other games. But she was a pest on defense, driving the Cincinnati guards crazy. She handled the ball as well as she usually does. There were at least 2-3 plays where she tricky dribbled through the defense and just couldn't finish. I'm sure Geno was happy with her 5 assists and 0 turnovers.  

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan Tuck   

Morgan's hands were everywhere in the passing lane. I hadn't seen her play like that on defense all year long. Looks like defense was contagious in this game. She only took one three point shot. Cincinnati didn't challenge her to shoot like Temple did. I love how she took what the defense gave her, going 5-6 on the rest of her shots. In only 20 minutes she managed 10 points, 4 rebounds and a team high 4 steals.

Breanna Stewart 

I love the picture of Stewart taking the ball to the basket and Jamelle in the backround with a resigned look on her face. Stewie was definitely a better offensive rebounder in this game than any dead person I've even seen play. I think she took Geno to heart with her five offensive rebounds including a lovely put back after a UConn miss. She missed some inside shots you never see her miss, but it was just one of those games. She still managed 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.
 

  

 

Kia Nurse

 

It was not the best shooting effort for Nurse. But boy, was she terrific in every other aspect of the game. Her early defensive work set the tone for the Huskies for the rest of the game. And her passing was spot on. In the two games against Cincinnati she had 11 assists and zero turnovers. I was watching the game with my wife and her first comment after seeing Nurse on the foul line was "wow, look at her neck, she seems so powerful". And she is. A interesting stat line of 10 points, 5 assists, 1 steal. And ZERO rebounds??? I'm sure Geno would say she rebounded like a dead person.     

 

 

Kiah Stokes
 

Not the biggest stat production for Stokes, but she impacted the game as she always does, with her defense. She had 5 blocks and countless shot impacts where they Cinci player had to shoot too quickly with Stokes looming. I'm sure Geno will take a game like this every time from Stokes. Six  points, five rebounds, five assists.
  

Saniya Chong

 

Saniya's season is proof that dismissing someone being able to contribute based on early season performance is a disservice to the player. We all know that Chong lost her starting position to Nurse, mostly due to her defense. Did you see her pressuring the Cincinnati guards? She was all over them. It looked like she had 4 arms. What I loved was watching her lead the team from the point. I know, I said she wasn't a point guard, but she certainly played like one in this game. It was great to see her play so instinctually. The fast break where Jefferson found Chong on the wing for an open three pointer was just what I wanted to see. Saniya didn't hesitate for a second. She caught the ball and then shot the ball. Confidence is everything and she has a lot of it right now.

 

She had nice game with 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. But the big new was her 4-5 from the field and 3-3 on three point shots. Her shooting percentages are up to 47.2% and 39.3%. Way higher than anyone was expecting.       

 

 

Courtney Ekmark

 

Courtney was really good in this game. The last 3 minutes, when Chong was out, Ekmark actually ran the point and did a nice job. What I likes was how she knew the plays so well, she played with confidence and she hit a three!!! Her numbers will continually improve as the season continues.   

 

Gotta love the 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 0 TO's in her 12 minutes. 

  

*******************************************************************************

Next game is against the Memphis Tigers on Saturday at 3:30. Sometimes teams look past a game like this with the big game against South Carolina coming up two days later. It's doubtful with this team. My guess is they will work on where they have been struggling, rebounding for one. And then the bench will get a good run again. That won't stop ME from looking past this game. I can't wait until Monday!!!