UConn vs. Gonzaga (Who wins???) | The Boneyard

UConn vs. Gonzaga (Who wins???)

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Potential showdown in Atlantis.

UConn Starting Five:

Brimah (Jr) C
Miller (GS) F
Hamilton (Soph) F
Purvis (RS Jr) G
Gibbs (GS) G

Key Reserves:

Adams (Fr) G
Facey (Jr) F
Calhoun (Sr) G

Nolan (Sr) C
Cassel Jr. (Jr) G
Enoch (Fr) F/C

Gonzaga Starting Five:

Karnowski (Sr) C
Sabonis (Soph) F
Wiltjer (RS Sr) F
Dranginis (RS Sr) G
Perkins (Soph) G

Key Reserves:

McClellan (RS Sr) G
Melson (Soph) G

Alberts (RS Fr) F/C
Ryan Edwards (RS Fr)

Gonzaga is getting HYPED again as a pre season Top 10 team. We may play them in Atlantis. Who has the edge and why on a neutral court? Thanks...have a good 1!
 
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Zaga should be very good next year mainly because the Wiltjer Sabonis combos will be one of the best in the country. The game will come down to three major factors...

1. Can we match up with Wiltjer (I would assume Miller gets the assignment).
2. Keep Sabonis off the glass
3. Dominate the guard matchups

Unless I missed someone looking at the roster we should have a major upper hand in guard play as Pangos Bell and Wesley all graduated. That leaves them with little to no returning guards. Overall it should be a great game and I hope we get to see it. From a Vegas perspective I'd do Gonzaga -3/4 because they are getting a ton of hype, and I would be taking the points with our boys.
 
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Hard one to call and for one solid reason. Does AB mature vs big time players on big time teams? Can he stay in the game and be an impact? Other than that this game would be a beauty. They are big, we are fast. They like to run and I believe we will too. I believe with a Miller we can guard either Sabonis or Wiltjer away from the hoop as well as DHam who will improve defensively. Great match up tough to call.

Once Feb/March comes though it's UConn by a lot.
 
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Wait do wiltjer, sabonis, and karnowski all start? because that'd be a huge front line

Monster front line. A tough match up but in turn a tough match up down the other end also. Although Sabonis is a real nice athlete for his size. Nonetheless they will have a tough time guarding us but the rebounding factor of an improved AB would be a must.
 

huskyharry

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The Zags would have a huge size and bulk advantage inside. whether this will be an advantage would be determined by how quickly UConn can gel as a team, on both offense and defense. UConn will have a significant quickness advantage at most positions.
 
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Gonz. will be the favorite. They went 35-3 last yr and return their starting front line. The key to their success will be their guard play. They return two guards that ave. 20 and 17 mpg but we're their 4 and 5th guard. They were second in the nation in effective FG rating at 57+%.

We need to keep in check their front court and dominate their back court. Would be a great early season matchup.
 

UConnSwag11

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only problem i see is brimah and karnowski, maybe miller can be on him for a bit or enoch to save brimahs fouls... other than that i think miller can guard wiltjer/sabonis and hamilton/enoch can guard wiltjer/sabonis... i think we have the advantage with our guards and wings... i think (hope) we have more fans than them and most of the teams in the tourney(maybe cuse)... fun talking about it now but ill be anxious when the game is on...
 

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Our guard play absolutely dominates theirs. Stick Miller on Wiltjer, and roll with the punches down low because we are overmatched down there. I think our guards give us the edge though.

They won't be able to keep up with us in transition well at all.
 
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damn, that gonzaga starting five is scary...

it's nice knowing that we have a good amount depth in the frontcourt when the opponent has so much size & experience there. i would definitely hope that our guards would be shooting around theirs all day, though!
 

UConnSwag11

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i think we have one of the best 1-3 in the nation, especially if you throw in adams
 
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that big gigantic would honey bbq chicken brimah down low, would be a close game due to uconns superior guard play. gibbs and adams
 
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I watched Gonzaga play a ton last season, so I think I have a decent handle on the type of team they should be.

I think the kid people are sleeping on is Perkins. I'm sure most of us around here remember him - five star recruit who played well at the beginning of the season for Gonzaga before missing the rest of the year with a broken jaw.

I suspect Wiltjer and Sabonis will be two of the best players in the country next year. We'll probably be able to limit one of them and be forced to live with the other making some plays. Sabonis is 6'10, 230 but he plays bigger than that - he'll catch the ball real deep in the post and he knows how to use his body to gain territory. He's one of those kids where you can tell his dad played. Rebounding rate and scoring efficiency off the chart for a frosh - he was essentially a poor man's Jahlil Okafor last season and by next year he might be the real thing.

For as good as Miller is, he's giving up a lot of size to Sabonis. In Wiltjer, you've got a fifth year senior with the entire catalog of driveway moves - he'll upfake, back you down, get you off balance, shoot over you...he's a nightmare guard, but if Miller's as good as advertised, you have to think he matches up about as well as anybody.

My guess is Ollie will send a hard double at Sabonis if he torches us early, as reacting out of the traps was one of the areas he had trouble last season. The other big man, Karnowski, won't let you do that - he can pass, and honestly, assuming Brimah picks up some early fouls - which he probably will - this will be one of those games where Phil is useful. He can at least give some fouls and make Karnowski, a bad free throw shooter, earn his points at the line.

I don't think Ollie lets post touches beat him in this game, at least not with Gonzaga trotting out as many unproven shooters - sans Wiltjer - as they are. Him and the coaching staff are masters at disguising coverages, and despite being outmanned up front for most of his tenure, you can never really say we've lost a game exclusively because of post points.

Gonzaga could have some trouble guarding us - they obviously are conceding some quickness with their ultra-big lineups, and none of their big men are particularly great shot blockers, but they're so big that we'll have to be precise with out passes and cuts to beat them.

I think UConn and Gonzaga are both preseason top five teams (of course, they will not be ranked that way by the media). Good thread topic. Would be an awesome game if it happens (and if it doesn't, maybe it will in the big tournament).
 
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