Brionna jones

[SCGamecock]

Nah. Jones played well against UConn as a sophomore in the Final Four. She was Maryland's leading scorer in that game. Coates just struggled against UConn in ways Jones did not. There are probably a few reasons but timing on the schedule is not one of them. It would seem South Carolina and Coates should have been working their way to March too, no?

I think the point is that during the regular season.. South Carolina and Maryland hardly ever played the same Connecticut team. Some teams elevate their play for tournaments as well, which helps explain why you see close games between teams that shouldn't be neck and neck. That environment encourages it.

Regardless of who the opponent is and how talented they may be, based on scheduling.. one team is playing a Connecticut team in tournament mode and the other is playing a Connecticut team still tinkering with it's roster essentially.

I gave my reasoning for why I think Coates struggled against Connecticut.. and it's mostly due to the makeup of South Carolina vs. Maryland, one team spreads you out and hits their shots while the other team likes to get it inside. Connecticut has less trouble defending teams with post-centric offenses, but with Maryland, you have Jones and 3-4 other perimeter threats to defend. With that said, I still think scheduling played a part as well, however small.

 

[UConnCat]

I think the point is that during the regular season.. South Carolina and Maryland hardly ever played the same Connecticut team. Some teams elevate their play for tournaments as well, which helps explain why you see close games between teams that shouldn't be neck and neck. That environment encourages it.

Regardless of who the opponent is and how talented they may be, based on scheduling.. one team is playing a Connecticut team in tournament mode and the other is playing a Connecticut team still tinkering with it's roster essentially.

I gave my reasoning for why I think Coates struggled against Connecticut.. and it's mostly due to the makeup of South Carolina vs. Maryland, one team spreads you out and hits their shots while the other team likes to get it inside. Connecticut has less trouble defending teams with post-centric offenses, but with Maryland, you have Jones and 3-4 other perimeter threats to defend. With that said, I still think scheduling played a part as well, however small.

Scheduling played no role unless, as you seem to suggest, the only variable is UConn. If UConn was in tournament mode than why wasn't South Carolina? Plus, when SC and UConn met in 2015 and 2016 it was #1 vs #2 and in 2017 UConn's 100-game winning streak was on the line. For both teams, the stage doesn't get much bigger than that.

I do think Maryland did a better job of isolating Jones in the lane against undersized defenders. I also think Coates was unable to meet the moment(s). It happens.

 

[SCGamecock]

Scheduling played no role unless, as you seem to suggest, the only variable is UConn. If UConn was in tournament mode than why wasn't South Carolina? Plus, when SC and UConn met in 2015 and 2016 it was #1 vs #2 and in 2017 UConn's 100-game winning streak was on the line. For both teams, the stage doesn't get much bigger than that.

I do think Maryland did a better job of isolating Jones in the lane against undersized defenders. I also think Coates was unable to meet the moment(s). It happens.

Scheduling played a role, but not the only role... when you play a team does matter, it's absurd to suggest it doesn't. You can ask any coach in America when they'd rather play UConn and I'm willing to bet almost all of them are going to say earlier in the year.

"If UConn was in tournament mode than why wasn't South Carolina? Plus, when SC and UConn met in 2015 and 2016 it was #1 vs #2 and in 2017 UConn's 100-game winning streak was on the line"

Perhaps SC was in tournament mode, but then it comes down to simple matchups and talent. Don't forget who UConn had on it's roster in 2015 or 2016. As good as SC was, the Gamecocks didn't match up to UConn talent wise in 2015 or 2016.. in fact, one could argue that the first year SC was even with UConn in talent was this year.. and SC still lost, so then you look at things like coaching decisions, game plans and home vs. away. So, aside from scheduling, UConn had the advantage there as well. Of course I'm speaking hypothetically, but I don't think SC loses that same game at home, not this year's.. I'm sure we disagree there. You may ask why I'm introducing all of these variables to the conversation, but it's simply to illustrate that so much more goes into how effective a player is versus a given team than the player themselves.

But I already explained the biggest reason IMO for Coates ineffectiveness vs. UConn, and it really had nothing to do with Coates at all.. mostly the people around her. It's really simple basketball, no reason to complicate it... Jones had better shooters around her to open up the inside, Coates did not. Jones operated in an offense that exposes UConn. This year, UConn had nobody on roster that could stop Coates or Wilson one-on-one, and they still lost.. why? A lot of that had to deal with the other 3-4 players around them. You said it yourself, "I do think Maryland did a better job of isolating Jones in the lane against undersized defenders."..

 

[baggerbob]

If time of year meant nothing, then why was the only loss in Stewie, Moriah, and Morgan's last 3 years, the 2nd game of their junior year. It was because Geno didn't have a set rotation against Stanford, because he didn't have enough games to work players into a proper rotation.

 

[UConnCat]

If time of year meant nothing, then why was the only loss in Stewie, Moriah, and Morgan's last 3 years, the 2nd game of their junior year. It was because Geno didn't have a set rotation against Stanford, because he didn't have enough games to work players into a proper rotation.

Why did this year's team lose on March 31 to a team with inferior talent? Thirty-six games in to the season there was no more tinkering with the roster, the proper rotation was set.

I was responding to the argument that Jones played better against UConn than Coates did because the Maryland games were in December and the SC games were in February. I didn't think that was a good reason inasmuch as Jones played well against UConn in March too. UConn just found Jones to be a tougher matchup than Coates and I don't think it mattered when they played.