Is UCONN's defense REALLY that good?

[cabbie191]

The answer is: Your practices have to approximate your games. It it one thing to go in an empty gym, and take repetitive shots. It is a whole other ball game to shoot while under pressure.

I am wondering if there is not more than one kind of pressure working to Connecticut's advantage.

First, there's the physical pressure of having UConn players in your face. The Huskies play very tight defense, and even when an opponent gets open for a moment, almost always someone is going to be closing in on her very quickly. So perhaps other team's players are rushing their open shots just a bit.

Second and tied into the last sentence of the first point, there has to be a lot of psychological pressure on most teams we play. Virtually every announcer, whether they are our SNY homies or the national ones, says at one time or another that most teams are defeated as soon as they see the UConn name on the jersey - they are just that intimidated. I've never really bought into that hype but perhaps there is something to it. If you're nervous playing UConn, you're likely to hurry your shots. Hence, so many bricks.

Plus as others have pointed out, good scouting by the staff leads to letting opponents shoot from areas of the floor that are out of their comfort zones.

 

[Shenandoah]

First of all I want to say emphatically that yes it is. But something occurred to me while watching ECU that I've not seen addressed before, at least not in the same conversation as "good defense".

I noticed that a good number of times vs. ECU that they actually ran really good offense and did get an open shot. I'm not referring to the block party that Kiah (mostly) and Breanna were part of, but open mid range jumpers. Even some drives to the basket when Kiah was not close enough to block.

The problem is that none of these kids could put the ball in the basket. Open shots don't mean squadoosh if you can't get the ball to go thru the hoop... and that brings me to my point.

Geno said, several years ago at least, that he likes to recruit kids who know how to put the ball in the basket. That's why it's called "basketball". His point being that he likes to recruit kids who really know how to score. One of the reasons UCONN scores so many points every game (besides the fact that they really do run terrific offense) is because all the players are really good at scoring from wherever their comfort zone is.

Contrast that to teams like Kentucky or Duke (or Tennessee) who even often struggle to even make layups. And look at ECU last night - they did actually get open shots. Their players simply could not get the ball to go in.

I know there are exceptions to my main point. UCONN is not the only team who has players who can score. ND has Loyd for example. Kentucky has O'Neill. There are scorers on almost every team. The problem is none of those teams can put 5 on the court at the same time...

I also think that part of the ECU problem with putting the ball in the basket WAS our defense. Even when the shot isn't blocked, the shooter knows that Kiah or Breanna are lurking somewhere. That little hesitation can cause the shooter to change their shot just enough to miss.

 

[Bill In Georgia]

Is UConn defense that good ..Yes!!

It’s so good it stands alone in the top 25. At the press of a button UConn can take the opposition totally out of their game…

The “Light” press, slows the offense down to the point they don’t have enough time to get set. So the shot is rushed, but most of all it gets into the opposition minds.
Coupled with the speed and “never let up” attitude it sets the offense back another mental step.

When the heavy press is instituted, your can take the above and multiply it by 5 …

But where it could be weak is when UConn’s mind set isn’t 100%, and the arms slack up…three/four times last night the offense penetrated the lane because one gal was sleeping and missed her switch. Don't need that against SC.

The only way in the world SC will beat UConn is to drive and penetrate and get Stewart in trouble. SC will beat her up and try to get into her mind …

The other two concerns is UConn has really not had their back again the wall…. A couple or three times OK … But how will they handle down 12 with 7 minutes to go??
The last; with the weakness of the competition the starters or top 7 may not have the conditioning to go a full 40 wide open. But on the other side of the coin, nobody is beat up and tired, they will be the freshest tourney team in the brackets.…

But both concerns are coaching problems and the UConn staff knows how to handle it….

A big blessing was the early loss, thereby taking the pressure off the team, I have never since the early 90ies seen a UConn team so loose…

Keep The Flag Flying and the Powder Dry
Bill in Georgia

 

[xHunt3r]

...SC will beat her up and try to get into her mind …

That has been the perceived weakness in Breanna's game for the last 3 years. Two Championships and a Player of Year award later, umm... ya, good luck with that. SC better come up with something better then just trying to be physical with Breanna.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Drawing inferences from games in this horrible conference is questionable. These teams are bad. It's like playing Providence every night.

Didn't know the teams in the conference were all rated #210. Like in the BEast some are, but I could have sworn there were some teams in the top 20 to 50.

Guess I was wrong, since you have so informed us again (x1000) about the true situation. But back in 2009-10 UConn won its conference games by an average 35 points margin in a conference that sent 7 teams to the Tournament. So now in a developing conference they're winning by about 45 points a game. Is that enough of a difference to constantly be spreading the drek about "they play nothing but Providences"? Whatever.

As to the conditioning of UConn players for upcoming tough games, the much more tough practices has always taken care of that. The conditioning keeps building with the coaching staff hoping to make it peak in March without pushing anything excessively in January, when nothing is settled except I guess the status of teams for Creme's Bracketology.

And yeah, I also hope USCar tries to push Stewie around, because she always responds by making them pay double.

 

[Geno-ista]

In Gabby's case, it seems like they actually moved the line in on her, because all of her misses are a little long.

True - Gd pt DR!

 

[Geno-ista]

I am wondering if there is not more than one kind of pressure working to Connecticut's advantage.

First, there's the physical pressure of having UConn players in your face. The Huskies play very tight defense, and even when an opponent gets open for a moment, almost always someone is going to be closing in on her very quickly. So perhaps other team's players are rushing their open shots just a bit.

Second and tied into the last sentence of the first point, there has to be a lot of psychological pressure on most teams we play. Virtually every announcer, whether they are our SNY homies or the national ones, says at one time or another that most teams are defeated as soon as they see the UConn name on the jersey - they are just that intimidated. I've never really bought into that hype but perhaps there is something to it. If you're nervous playing UConn, you're likely to hurry your shots. Hence, so many bricks.

Plus as others have pointed out, good scouting by the staff leads to letting opponents shoot from areas of the floor that are out of their comfort zones.

In addition to your great post- UC is a powder keg u r always trying to keep the lid on with their patented runs. Most teams never recover from them.