How good is UConn really

[Tonyc]

After yesterdays blow out it is becoming expected by some fans to blow out everybody, because UConn is playing at a different level. UConn is playing suffocating defense and enjoying it. UConn is playing with high energy, intensity and confidence and having fun doing it. Because theyre having fun they are relaxed confident and can operate and doing it. Alot of fans are saying the BE is weak. Well Creighton and Marquette are are ranked in the top 25 and we play them twice during the season, not once like some teams in other conferences. How many top conferences have teams at the bottom of their conference that are close in caliber to the bottom teams in the BE conference? Most do. I look at other conferences and see teams that arent very good just like the BE. I dont see the top teams in those conferences beating the bottom teams by 30+ let alone 40+ consistently. I look at UConn with 5 top players on the bench winning by 30+ pts against some pretty good teams and some not such pretty good teams and some of those teams are top teams in other conferences and UConn is doing this with 5 of their top players on the bench. Then I look at teams with one top player on the bench and they struggle and some have been loosing games to unranked teams.

UConn fans are excited about UConn again. We have a suffocating defense. We have alot of players who look to score and are not dependent on Paige and Aaliyah where most teams direct their attention. Have you noticed are balanced scoring in the past few games. Look at box scores of other teams. Look at UConns shooting percentages. Look at UConns starting 5-7 players and notice the decreased turnovers made and the increase in turnovers by opponents. We are reaching our stride.

We have games coming up that will be a real test. A much improved ND team that has gotten Westbeld and Citron back. ND too has suffered alot of injuries. How will they hold up against UConns defense. We have SC down the road. When we play these teams one thing will stand out. How well their ball handlers handle UConns defense. Alot of UConns success has been directly related to opponents not being able to handle UConns defense because they dont have the ball handlers and passing to release the pressure to operate their offense. I dont care how good a team is, trying to operate and run your offense under duress is very difficult and thats how UConn has been blowing teams out. Playing under duress affects the way you think and causes panic and panic causes you to speed up loosing your poise. Will opponenets down the road be able to make adjustments? We will see. ND now has some scorers and so does SC. These games will be a good test for UConn. Both teams have more height then UConn but the one thing imo they dont have is UConns defense

 

[Bone Dog]

I am not concerned by how weak the BE is. Other than the Pac 12, the rest of the power5 isn't much better -- they're better, but not worlds better. Mostly I think it's important for a team trying to replace what we've had to replace with freshmen to have a conference schedule like this to get into March form. We will be in form come March.

I think the ND game is really important for us, for the freshmen to see how they stack up to better teams. And it's important for them to find this out before we play SC, because we are likely to take a loss in that one. An upset is not impossible, but it will take a lot of Paige-magic and we may wish she'd save some of the magic for the tournament.

The freshmen are currently doing what we thought Azzi and Caroline would do, forcing teams to spread the floor. If they can continue to do this, we have a chance at a deep run in the tournament. And we'll need Ice to be up to tournament form by then to take full advantage of what KK Nika and Ash are doing. We caught a few glimpses of that form against SJU, and I really hope we see even more of it by the time we play ND. In the end, however, even though it will likely to be a team effort no matter how far we get in March, the team will only go as far as Paige can lead them.

I've also said elsewhere that I think Inês may turn out to be important to a tournament run. It's not that she's going to be the scoring leader or anything like that -- too much weight to put on her shoulders. But if she can give Geno good minutes in the middle of close games, and not just in the end of blowouts, it may help Paige and Nika and Ash play at full steam in the end of close games.

 

[Next 12]

Again I agree with you TonyC 100%. My last several posts has stressed our defense as unrelenting and dominate. We can score, that is a given, We can defend and that is a given. Put the two together and VIOLA! we win. Uconn has almost reached it's peak and with a few more games I say "bring on ND and SC! We are ready" Also Marquette and Creighton are no threat as we had their best and it wasn't good enough.ALL THE WAY HUSKIES!! GO FRESHMEN!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!

 

[huskeynut]

If I was a coach of the opposition, I would be very worried about our 4 guards. Their defense is relentless and they are enjoying playing this way. On offense, the four can hit the three, hit the jumper inside the arc with devastating accuracy. And they drive the lane and drop dimes to those that are open. Plus, these guards are fast, especially KK.

Many teams we play have 6' 2" or 6' 3" or 6' 4" post players or forwards. None have proven to be a match for Aaliyah and now Ice. Yes SC has Cardoso and UCLA has Betts. So we deal with it. Geno and company has dealt with this before. The knowledge is there to defend them and I believe we have the talent. And one never knows, Amari may yet prove to be a major factor.

 

[Bone Dog]

Last season, when we played SC, it was a super close game and Aaliyah played really well against Boston and Cardoso. She knows how to play against super-bigs and knows how to manage her fouls while forcing them into trouble. In that game, she had Dorka next to her, so I imagine in the SC game, or a rematch of the UCLA game, she'll need help from Ice. We also had Aubrey, who had a great game scoring 17 on 5-10, and Lou scored 19 on 7-15. It was an awesome team effort.

This time around, instead of Lou we'll have Paige, and even better perimeter shooting. On their side, they don't have Boston, but they also have much better perimeter shooting, which has been their main weakness in recent years. And they have a deep front court with several muscular 4s. In a few ways, this could shape up to be a similarly close game, hard fought until the end.

How awesome would it have been to play this game with Azzi Caroline Jana Ayanna and Aubrey? I think with that lineup, we'd have won in a walk.

Here's the boxscore from last year's game:

 

[Ozimoto]

Don't underestimate SC's defense. This is going to be a very difficult game.

 

[dtbtbtb]

if we can run the table in the Big East and have a convincing win against ND we should be good for a 2 seed, even if we lose to SC. To be honest, i don't see how we win against SC (i hope UConn will make me eat those words), they are bigger, faster (on the whole) and are the best 3 point shooting team in the country. it will take an A+ game from UConn to win this game while SC will need to play a B game.

 

[Blond D.]

The only thing I worry about when playing other teams is our fouls. If we can keep them from getting out of hand we can beat ANYBODY

 

[BobbyJ]

Don't underestimate SC's defense. This is going to be a very difficult game.

I agree. I doubt that SC is going to allow UConn to just run their offense like a practice walk-thru as these BE teams and Ball St. have been. I think they'll attack and double the high screens set for Bueckers, take away the soft, loose passes and force quick decisions. I can't see Staley allowing Bueckers to beat her, she'll make the other guards make shots while being guarded. And they better be good ones because it'll be mostly one and done, especially if Cardoso plays. UConn's best chance is if she doesn't. It's not so much what Cardoso does, it's what she allows everyone else to do.

 

[Bone Dog]

I agree. I doubt that SC is going to allow UConn to just run their offense like a practice walk-thru as these BE teams and Ball St. have been. I think they'll attack and double the high screens set for Bueckers, take away the soft, loose passes and force quick decisions. I can't see Staley allowing Bueckers to beat her, she'll make the other guards make shots while being guarded. And they better be good ones because it'll be mostly one and done, especially if Cardoso plays. UConn's best chance is if she doesn't. It's not so much what Cardoso does, it's what she allows everyone else to do.

This is my sense of things too. And I'm certainly not trying to say an upset is likely. But there is some tension between the two statements I've highlighted in your comment. If Dawn doubles the screens in order to stop Paige, she can't also make the other guards make shots while being guarded. She has to choose -- double Paige or guard all three of KK Ash and Nika. I think that means the pressure is on Ash especially to make her shots when Paige is doubled, and that's a lot to ask of a freshman on the biggest stage in D1 WCBB. If Ash (and the others) can't make those shots, then Dawn can double Paige all game long.

I have every confidence that if she's not smothered by SC's defense, Paige can make a lot of noise in this game. And this means the pressure is on the freshmen to force Dawn to spread the floor. And even if they succeed in this, they also have to win their defensive assignments. On the defensive end, I think the pressure will be on KK to contain Raven. This is all a very tall order for the youngsters. I expect a hard fought game, but I am not expecting an upset. Of course, anything is possible with Paige on the floor as we've seen so many times before.

 

[BobbyJ]

This is my sense of things too. And I'm certainly not trying to say an upset is likely. But there is some tension between the two statements I've highlighted in your comment. If Dawn doubles the screens in order to stop Paige, she can't also make the other guards make shots while being guarded. She has to choose -- double Paige or guard all three of KK Ash and Nika. I think that means the pressure is on Ash especially to make her shots when Paige is doubled, and that's a lot to ask of a freshman on the biggest stage in D1 WCBB. If Ash (and the others) can't make those shots, then Dawn can double Paige all game long.

I have every confidence that if she's not smothered by SC's defense, Paige can make a lot of noise in this game. And this means the pressure is on the freshmen to force Dawn to spread the floor. And even if they succeed in this, they also have to win their defensive assignments. On the defensive end, I think the pressure will be on KK to contain Raven. This is all a very tall order for the youngsters. I expect a hard fought game, but I am not expecting an upset. Of course, anything is possible with Paige on the floor as we've seen so many times before.

I wouldn’t double PB everywhere, just off the screens to make her give up the ball and eat into the shot clock. If she gets it back, by then you try to make her rush a shot.

 

[Bone Dog]

I wouldn’t double PB everywhere, just off the screens to make her give up the ball and eat into the shot clock. If she gets it back, by then you try to make her rush a shot.

That sounds reasonable. But it still means leaving at least one of the freshmen unguarded for that time. If Paige can find them -- I wouldn't bet against her -- and they can hit the open jumper, the tactic fails. But that's a lot of IFs. In games like this one is likely to be, there's always a lot of moving parts and much rides on who can get in sync better and sooner. I'd bet on SC for this game just because they're not so reliant on freshmen.

 

[RoadMaster]

Well, Shoot..

 

[Tonyc]

Bottom line is SC will have to defend 5 on 5 and Im not so sure their D is as good as UConns D

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Bottom line is SC will have to defend 5 on 5 and Im not so sure their D is as good as UConns D

They’ll have the biggest mismatch at the 4 spot I think on offense which is probably where they have the most athleticism and depth but not as much offensive fire power as the other positions. That could work in our favor or very much against us. Hard to say.

 

[Oldschoolbb]

Last season, when we played SC, it was a super close game and Aaliyah played really well against Boston and Cardoso. She knows how to play against super-bigs and knows how to manage her fouls while forcing them into trouble. In that game, she had Dorka next to her, so I imagine in the SC game, or a rematch of the UCLA game, she'll need help from Ice. We also had Aubrey, who had a great game scoring 17 on 5-10, and Lou scored 19 on 7-15. It was an awesome team effort.

This time around, instead of Lou we'll have Paige, and even better perimeter shooting. On their side, they don't have Boston, but they also have much better perimeter shooting, which has been their main weakness in recent years. And they have a deep front court with several muscular 4s. In a few ways, this could shape up to be a similarly close game, hard fought until the end.

How awesome would it have been to play this game with Azzi Caroline Jana Ayanna and Aubrey? I think with that lineup, we'd have won in a walk.

Here's the boxscore from last year's game:
View attachment 95151

Ummm. Edwards played 29 minutes because of foul trouble and had only 4 rebounds for the game. Boston had 26 and 11 and Cardoso had 17 and 11. Edwards did shoot well. But the rest was not so great. To be fair, Juhasz had a very subpar game. The two SC bigs had 43 points and 22 rebounds. Edwards and Juhasz had 30 and 11 combined.

 

[Pharos]

If I was a coach of the opposition, I would be very worried about our 4 guards. Their defense is relentless and they are enjoying playing this way. On offense, the four can hit the three, hit the jumper inside the arc with devastating accuracy. And they drive the lane and drop dimes to those that are open. Plus, these guards are fast, especially KK.

Many teams we play have 6' 2" or 6' 3" or 6' 4" post players or forwards. None have proven to be a match for Aaliyah and now Ice. Yes SC has Cardoso and UCLA has Betts. So we deal with it. Geno and company has dealt with this before. The knowledge is there to defend them and I believe we have the talent. And one never knows, Amari may yet prove to be a major factor.

Rebounding differential can be somewhere like -10, and we'll be ok... If create extra possessions in other ways -- steals, defensive stops, blocks, forcing turnovers.
Quickness can overcome height by moving slower defenders where they don't want to be.
Shooting will be key, and we're seeing UConn shoot better from behind the arc than we have for a while -- Paige, Nika, Ashlynn, KK, and I'll throw in Qadence and Ice for a couple, too.
Finally, another way we cope with taller players is with our shortest post player... Paige!

 

[HuskyNan]

UConn has the #1 toughest schedule to date, South Carolina is #29.

I’m not saying that means UConn will beat So Carolina; I’m just pointing out that I can cherry-pick stats, too

 

[Cuango]

G G G G G G G

Ummm. Edwards played 29 minutes because of foul trouble and had only 4 rebounds for the game. Boston had 26 and 11 and Cardoso had 17 and 11. Edwards did shoot well. But the rest was not so great. To be fair, Juhasz had a very subpar game. The two SC bigs had 43 points and 22 rebounds. Edwards and Juhasz had 30 and 11 combined.

This is a very simple situation. We are (rightfully) big underdogs to SC as things stand now. It’s really worse now than any of the recent games with them because Dawn has actually upgraded her shooting! Their big weakness traditionally has been the fact that their outside shooting was always suspect and on a given day could be the key to beating them. That has been addressed and they are now a much more formidable team.

Nevertheless, it’s not impossible that we could win, just unlikely. It’s difficult to project the effect of our new and improved defense on this game. That, foul trouble, and how our team holds up against the “big game” pressure (especially our freshmen) I believe will determine whether SC wins fairly easily or if we can stay close enough for Paige and/or Aaliyah to steal it at the end.

Regardless of the outcome of this particular game our team will benefit greatly imo, as it will give Geno a whole ton of information that he will then use to further our chances in the tournament. Really, the only way this game could be a negative, regardless of the result, is if we have injury/ies or if we get completely blown out! Those are the nightmare scenarios for me. However, I like to think that the blowout thing is pretty unlikely, and, as for the injury thing? That’s out of our hands anyway.

Finally, considering the game is in South Carolina, we have a seriously compromised roster, and they have both a massive size advantage and roster advantage (available players) we should have zero pressure on us while they will absolutely have the weight of the world on them! If we are close towards the end of the game, that could be the difference!

For me, the ND game is much more significant. That’s the game where we have some pressure on us! Virtually no one thinks we’re going to beat SC but a loss at home against a team I believe we should beat, would not be good. For the SC game, we basically have a free shot, while in ND’s case, we’re betting our money and losing it, will really hurt!

 

[AmeriConn]

Wow! Really?

 

[HuskyNan]

Wow! Really?

South Carolina allows 52.4 points per game, UConn allows 59.2, although that’s trending down

 

[Pharos]

How is that measured? Experienced observers... or stats? Curious...

 

[HuskyNan]

How is that measured? Experienced observers... or stats? Curious...

It’s average points opponents have scored over the season to date

 

[Cuango]

South Carolina allows 52.4 points per game, UConn allows 59.2, although that’s trending down

View attachment 95167

Over the last ten games SC has given up 542 points while we have given up 544! We’ve played 4 ranked teams in that stretch while SC has played 2. I’m guessing the defenses are a wash!