Anybody see any possible trip wire ahead?

[Intpseeker]

I believe we would have to lose, because I haven't seen a team that can beat us. We lost the game to Stanford because our play rather than their play, allowed them to be in a position to win, and it won't happen again this year.

If there was a combination of a collective off-night, or worse reffing than usual, or injuries, then you might see us lose, but there are answers on this team for questions that haven't been asked yet.

You can choose the ledge, but there is solid ground right here.

 

[Striper69]

Stripe.....Kiah Stokes only played 11 minutes on Feb. 9th with 1 block and Uconn won by 25.

But SC didn't really utilize their bigs well...

 

[Striper69]

The key question is "If not UConn, who?" The other top seeds are South Carolina, Maryland, and Notre Dame. The thing is, UConn already beat ND and South Carolina decisively, and I question Maryland. The Terps have done well to sweep through their new conference, but that same conference has typically been exposed as soft against UConn. The only time a B1G team won a NC while in that league was Purdue in 1999 (and thus Rutgers's 1982 AIAW and Maryland 2006 don't count). I think Maryland is a deserving #1 seed, but I seriously doubt they could beat UConn.

When UConn lost to Stanford, the team simply didn't have an identity yet. On December 5 in South Bend, that issue was clearly resolved. Unlike the infamous Louisville upset of Baylor in 2013, UConn has a very balanced team where you can't focus on one player like with Brittney Griner's Bears.

In short, if the question is who else besides UConn is going to win the NC, the answer isn't jumping out at me.

South Carolina played them at Gampel so that advantage won't be there. Aja needs to step up her game and make UCONN pay for concentrating on Mitchell. SC's bigs need to make UCONN foul them and if they get in foul trouble then Mitchell will get more looks etc.

It will be interesting to see how ND will do with Turner playing. UCONN won't be able to shut off Loyd and not worry about the rest of the team.

Maryland matches up with UCONN better than any other team in the country. Like UCONN they have quality players with size at every position. Walker-Kimbrough is a Jewell Loyd-like player who isn't afraid to drive to the middle and can finish. Mincy is their go-to scorer. Lexie Brown is the solid point guard. They have two bigs in the middle who give them the size to match up with UCONN (and everybody else).

And then there's Princeton...

 

[CTFIRERETIRED]

The key question is "If not UConn, who?" The other top seeds are South Carolina, Maryland, and Notre Dame. The thing is, UConn already beat ND and South Carolina decisively, and I question Maryland. The Terps have done well to sweep through their new conference, but that same conference has typically been exposed as soft against UConn. The only time a B1G team won a NC while in that league was Purdue in 1999 (and thus Rutgers's 1982 AIAW and Maryland 2006 don't count). I think Maryland is a deserving #1 seed, but I seriously doubt they could beat UConn.

When UConn lost to Stanford, the team simply didn't have an identity yet. On December 5 in South Bend, that issue was clearly resolved. Unlike the infamous Louisville upset of Baylor in 2013, UConn has a very balanced team where you can't focus on one player like with Brittney Griner's Bears.

In short, if the question is who else besides UConn is going to win the NC, the answer isn't jumping out at me.

The team that peaks at the right time. Using that age old quote, any team on a given night can beat any other team. Big problem is there are just too many bullets in UC's gun. Just make sure that Guv Malloy does not take all those bullets out of the magazine....................LOL

 

[Orangutan]

ND reminds me a lot of South Carolina
A great shooting guard, pretty immobile bigs with serious deficiencies on D
a guardable 3-point specialist.

Reviewing the earlier victory at South Bend: we had perhaps a below average game and still won handily.

We can only beat ourselves
I never thought I would say this:

But I would appreciate 6 games in which we were never tested

Turner and Westbeld are anything but immobile. I mean, Westbeld is 6'1, so that's a weakness, but mobility isn't. Heck, even Reimer has been know to take it up court on the odd fast break.

ND is much better now then they were against UConn. The defense has gotten much better. Turner is back and is improving as the season goes along. Reimer looks like a totally different player since her brief absence.

That said, I'm sure UConn is better, too. Earlier this season I thought there was basically no chance ND could beat UConn, now I think there is a slim one. Some combination of foul trouble for UConn and getting ungodly hot from 3-point range. They could equally get blown off the court again. The quality of play is highly variable for ND. They looked awful against Duke but looked great against FSU (before they let off the gas in the 2nd half)

I still think the game comes a year too early for ND's young players. Tough to expect Turner and Westbeld to go toe-to-toe with UConn's bigs as true freshmen. So if a rematch happens I still expect UConn by double digits. I do think ND has the best shot, though - but maybe that's the homer in me talking.

 

[ocoandasoc]

An "A" game by ND or South Carolina combined with a "D" game by UConn... maybe some foul trouble and/or injuries. That's about the only trap I see. South Carolina is playing a bit better than they did at UConn and ND is, well, ND is ND. Both of these teams are well-coached and will come out inspired. Fortunately, UConn will probably only have to play one of them... or perhaps neither. (Hey, maybe Louisville will wind up in the final again if they're not in UConn's bracket!)

If I was Geno, I'd make the team watch that Baylor-Louisville game just as a reminder. And he should take heed, as well. A key reason for the Baylor loss was Kim's decision not to make radical adjustments to her initial game plan. At the half she told her team that Louisville could not/would not continue to make the 3's the way they had been. The rest is history.

 

[geneticrex]

Little Miss Muffett has proven she knows how to beat UConn, and ND will be at full strength. Also, UConn, believe it or not, does not have a good record in close games. Soooooooo.....

Sooooooo........they will forced to wax ND by 20+, just like the last few times they've banged heads.

It appears that Muffet's "knowledge" of how to beat UConn has taken a double digit detour since the flopfest has lost some of it's luster.