Is UConn Unbeatable in the Final 4?

[Tonyc]

Think about this. Dayton shot 45%+ from the floor, 56%+ from trey and 80% from the line and lost by 20+. Any UConn fans concerned before or during the next 2 games don't be. No team will match those numbers in the next 2 games and maybe not next season either. Kinda makes you realize how good this UConn team is and now if you really wanna dream big how good they will be next season...and that's no April Fools Joke. ala Eric in San Diego

 

[DobbsRover2]

I don't know Tony, you saw how Maryland lit things up from the start on Monday and just kept going on the way to 21 buckets. I'm scared shirtless.

The Terps guards accounted for 134 minutes and the posts for 66. Looks like UConn may be very active with the paint brushes.

 

[ctfjr]

Agreed, it is highly unlikely we will have a meltdown. Last year's no-production from the guards was more than made up for by the bigs. This year we are more balanced and I'd bet my wife that MoJeff has no meltdown. With her speed & scoring ability that will have to be strongly respected, there should be plenty of open opportunities in the post.

 

[xHunt3r]

Anyone is beatable... I mean this same team lost to a Stanford team that had a down year. I think it is highly unlikely given that Geno is one of the best ever at preparing a team for a big game. UConn has the better team and there is next to zero chance they come out flat and don't play up to their potential... but it is still possible.

 

[EricLA]

No. They are not unbeatable. Honestly I do think we beat Maryland, and I don't think it will be by single digits. The reason is that MD is one of those teams that can be offensively challenged. Against Tennessee they only scored 58 points in a dreadfully ugly game. Against Duke they scored 65.

Having said that, Maryland is a high scoring team who is capable of putting up big offensive numbers BUT against teams who traditionally play tough defense, or a team like Duke with size, they become a bit scoring challenged. I think UCONN's defense is far superior to Tennessee's and while I'm not ready to say we keep MD in the 40's, I have a hard time seeing them score over 60 vs. UCONN.

Which brings me to SC vs. ND. Honestly, I think SC has been very underwhelming in the tourney. 2 point win over UNC, 8 point win over FSU. BUT they've played UCONN already once this year and I think more than ND, who has faced UCONN many times, that beatdown we put on them taught them more about us than it did us about them.

I'm not saying I think they would beat UCONN in a NC game, but I do think more than any of the 3 other teams, they have learned the most about how to play UCONN. Having said that we also learned how to play them. I was talking to my dad the other day and said I'd rather face ND in the NC game than SC. Why? At this time I think we match up better with ND. They don't have any big strengths that we would struggle with compared to the size of SC. Not saying ND would be easy, as we'd have to figure out how to contain their guards, but it's not like they could throw a bunch of 6'4"+ kids at us...

 

[Blueballer]

No one is unbeatable. Let's just say UCONN is a tough "out"

 

[BlueDevils]

Uconn vs Notre Dame. Loyd walks off crying in anger. Uconn 79 Notre Dame 61

 

[PalPa]

No. They are not unbeatable. Honestly I do think we beat Maryland, and I don't think it will be by single digits. The reason is that MD is one of those teams that can be offensively challenged. Against Tennessee they only scored 58 points in a dreadfully ugly game. Against Duke they scored 65.

Having said that, Maryland is a high scoring team who is capable of putting up big offensive numbers BUT against teams who traditionally play tough defense, or a team like Duke with size, they become a bit scoring challenged. I think UCONN's defense is far superior to Tennessee's and while I'm not ready to say we keep MD in the 40's, I have a hard time seeing them score over 60 vs. UCONN.

Which brings me to SC vs. ND. Honestly, I think SC has been very underwhelming in the tourney. 2 point win over UNC, 8 point win over FSU. BUT they've played UCONN already once this year and I think more than ND, who has faced UCONN many times, that beatdown we put on them taught them more about us than it did us about them.

I'm not saying I think they would beat UCONN in a NC game, but I do think more than any of the 3 other teams, they have learned the most about how to play UCONN. Having said that we also learned how to play them. I was talking to my dad the other day and said I'd rather face ND in the NC game than SC. Why? At this time I think we match up better with ND. They don't have any big strengths that we would struggle with compared to the size of SC. Not saying ND would be easy, as we'd have to figure out how to contain their guards, but it's not like they could throw a bunch of 6'4"+ kids at us...

I agree, we have trouble with teams that have a lot of bigs, Duke, Texas, and SC. We do better against teams with good guards, Stanford, Dayton, South Florida.

 

[xHunt3r]

I agree, we have trouble with teams that have a lot of bigs, Duke, Texas, and SC. We do better against teams with good guards, Stanford, Dayton, South Florida.

Hard to tell if your serious...

 

[PalPa]

Hard to tell if your serious...

Why?

 

[DobbsRover2]

Hard to tell if your serious...

No it ain't.

Not looking past MD to the two teams on the other side of the bracket. MD does have four players scoring in double figures, so there always is a level of challenge in a team that spreads the ball around more. But their team stats are okay but nothing really stands out as being that great. They do score a lot usually (not in Regionals though) and have a solid margin on the boards. But their FG% defense is 136th overall, they have fair amount of turnovers, and don't hit many 3s per game, though they also defend very well against the 3 with their three guard lineup. Does not seem to have the weapons to hang with UConn even if the posts are solid and Mincey Brown, and Walker-Kimbrough should at least be entertaining to watch.

 

[geneticrex]

Hard to tell if your serious...

Not hard to tell.

 

[huskeynut]

The question becomes - can Maryland play enough defense to keep UCONN under 80? I don't think so.

Can UCONN keep Maryland under 60? Yes. Maryland's guards are streaky and I don't beleive they can keep it up the whole game. Besides, they have to chase MoJeff and Kia and Kaleena. They are going to be sucking wind.

 

[mrmojack]

Uconn is a 23.5 point favorite over Maryland

 

[Teacherdeb]

The 2010 NC game in San Antonio against Stanford looms in my memory- 53-47 I think- with Maya, Tina- just about everything went wrong- lousy game on both sides, but we won. Can't forget that whenever I read about being unbeatable

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The only thing that can beat UConn is the pressure of expectations for the 10th, the odds, etc. Geno et al are pretty good at managing that stuff. I'm thinking the bookies have Maryland game about right, if not light. Maryland was lucky to have Tenn as their opponent. Tenn had the "luck of the Irish" to get that far and their horrific offense finally caught up to them.

 

[alexrgct]

Here's my take:

• No one is unbeatable. Ever. There are any number of re-treads of shocking upsets that I won't revisit here, but history has certainly told us any team can lose in any given 40 minutes.
• I do think Maryland and South Carolina are living on borrowed time.
• If indeed there ends up being yet another UConn-ND showdown (ugh), the horrible stat lines exhibited by Moriah and Stewie from December 5 are quite heartening: 3-20 from the field, 0-6 from three-point land, four assists with seven turnovers. In short, UConn may have beaten ND by 18 points when ND was without Briana Turner, but you could make the argument that UConn beat ND by 18 points when the Huskies were without Moriah Jefferson and Breanna Stewart. Add in the change from road game to neutral court, and I really do like UConn's chances to get the W.

In conclusion, I'm excited about most of the above, and I'm excited about Geno's 75% winning percentage at national semis and finals (18-6 overall). And I'll still be on pins and needles come Sunday...and hopefully beyond on to Tuesday.

 

[Kurebeach5]

Admittedly I am the eternal pessimist, but Maryland plays three guards that can all penetrate and I'm having trouble figuring out who KML is going to guard. Although our team defense is much better now I still have visions of the Stanford game messing with my mind. So, NO, no one is unbeatable if the stars are mis-aligned.

 

[xHunt3r]

No it ain't.

Not looking past MD to the two teams on the other side of the bracket. MD does have four players scoring in double figures, so there always is a level of challenge in a team that spreads the ball around more. But their team stats are okay but nothing really stands out as being that great. They do score a lot usually (not in Regionals though) and have a solid margin on the boards. But their FG% defense is 136th overall, they have fair amount of turnovers, and don't hit many 3s per game, though they also defend very well against the 3 with their three guard lineup. Does not seem to have the weapons to hang with UConn even if the posts are solid and Mincey Brown, and Walker-Kimbrough should at least be entertaining to watch.

What yo goin on bout?

The post I quoted said we have trouble with teams that have lots of bigs... SC (up by 16 at half, won by 25), Duke (won by 31), Texas(won by 51)... 3 easy wins. But are better against teams with good guard play, USF (only won last game by 14), Dayton (losing at half time), and Sanford (lost in OT). PalPa's statement contradicts reality. The teams with good guard play have been more challenging then the teams with lots of bigs...

 

[Striper69]

Think about this. Dayton shot 45%+ from the floor, 56%+ from trey and 80% from the line and lost by 20+. Any UConn fans concerned before or during the next 2 games don't be. No team will match those numbers in the next 2 games and maybe not next season either. Kinda makes you realize how good this UConn team is and now if you really wanna dream big how good they will be next season...and that's no April Fools Joke. ala Eric in San Diego

Dayton should've lost to Louisville.


As Laettner said "Any team can be beaten on any given night"...

 

[DobbsRover2]

What yo goin on bout?

The post I quoted said we have trouble with teams that have lots of bigs... SC (up by 16 at half, won by 25), Duke (won by 31), Texas(won by 51)... 3 easy wins. But are better against teams with good guard play, USF (only won last game by 14), Dayton (losing at half time), and Sanford (lost in OT). PalPa's statement contradicts reality. The teams with good guard play have been more challenging then the teams with lots of bigs...

Um, okay, let's just say you got lost in a string of sarcasm, and everything you say is indeed pretty true (except maybe the Sanford and Sons loss). Yes at times I guess the big red SARCASM BUTTON is needed. Maryland has the three good guards but also two bigs with some size, so strictly speaking they may not be quite as extremely guard oriented as USF or Dayton.

 

[wasolddog]

Here's my take:

• No one is unbeatable. Ever. There are any number of re-treads of shocking upsets that I won't revisit here, but history has certainly told us any team can lose in any given 40 minutes.
• I do think Maryland and South Carolina are living on borrowed time.
• If indeed there ends up being yet another UConn-ND showdown (ugh), the horrible stat lines exhibited by Moriah and Stewie from December 5 are quite heartening: 3-20 from the field, 0-6 from three-point land, four assists with seven turnovers. In short, UConn may have beaten ND by 18 points when ND was without Briana Turner, but you could make the argument that UConn beat ND by 18 points when the Huskies were without Moriah Jefferson and Breanna Stewart. Add in the change from road game to neutral court, and I really do like UConn's chances to get the W.

In conclusion, I'm excited about most of the above, and I'm excited about Geno's 75% winning percentage at national semis and finals (18-6 overall). And I'll still be on pins and needles come Sunday...and hopefully beyond on to Tuesday.[/Q
This!

 

[Aluminny69]

I can't remember. Was UConn unbeatable in Maya Moore's senior year?

 

[UConnCat]

I can't remember. Was UConn unbeatable in Maya Moore's senior year?

Nope. Freshman point guard and freshman center. Anyone who thought that team was unbeatable was kidding themselves.

This year's team isn't unbeatable either.

 

[reno tony]

Only one team scored more than 70 points against UCONN... Stanford. And UCONN never scored less than 70 points. Figure out how some team is going to beat UCONN using those stats.