Can UConn win a Natty without scoring a point at the #5 position

[HuskieDawg]

Well we might find out, lol. I think it’s more important that Jana and Ice control the boards and limit second chance points against all else. We have enough people who can score, but we need them to be big on the boards.

 

[Twolf]

Hoy-ah! got it right about Azzi. Stop thinking and aiming. Just shoot. And stop shooting flat on pull ups. Use the glass.
Azzi needs more confidence!!!

I believe that Azzi has been playing “sped up” in the last couple of games. Do some of her shots not look rushed, which will flatten your natural arc and means the shot has to swish because you won’t get many kind bounces off the rim. This is not a criticism since anyone who has played the game competitively has had it happen to them-trying too hard to play a great game. Trying to get players to play with a free mind and loose, confident, and aggressive is many times a difficult task in really big games. JMO

 

[EricLA]

All these questions about scoring... I'm gonna ramble but here goes.

All season long, Paige spent time deferring shots and letting the rest of the team get involved. It was great for their development and confidence, but ultimately IMHO cost her NPOY. Fast forward to the NCAA tourney...

The Oklahoma game perfectly illustrates Paige's mindset. The first half - she gave the rest of the team plenty of chances to score and contribute. Result? 4 point half time deficit. She scored 7 points in the first half letting Sarah and Ash and Azzi take shots and keep it close. She scored 33 in the 2nd half. Both Sarah and Azzi shot 4-13, and aside from Ash's 5-8 (12 points), the other 2 of the trio were missing a LOT.

USC? When the lead was cut to 5, I know Geno ran a play for Azzi and she drained a 3, but again she shot only 3-14. But this game Sarah and Cait were on point and while Paige didn't have to shoulder it all, she still went out and got 31 points.

I think if Paige doesn't defer to Azzi, Sarah, Cait, and Ash all season, I'm not sure they have as much confidence as they do now. And by the way, Paige's scoring does not come in a vacuum. The amount of screens and picks that are set to get her open - it's constant movement on offense for Paige. Shout out to Jana who has been particularly effective with screens, even tho she's gotten limited minutes.

Getting back to the OP question - this team is not built around the strength of our 5's (Jana and Ice) as traditional 5's. UConn's best offense has come from small ball with Sarah at the 5. Is it easier when Jana scores 6 and Ice adds in 4? Absolutely. But those guys have shown very little in big games in the NCAA's offensively, so it's up to Paige, Sarah, Cait, Azzi, and Ash. There has not been a game this season where all 5 have gone off, but they don't need to in order to win.

Early on, Geno said Paige is the most unguardable player in WCBB. I kind of scoffed at that as she'd go thru several games scoring 12-13 points or so, and I just didn't see it. Now in the NCAA's, it's on full display and I see what Geno was going on about.

Do our big 5 scorers (yeah i'm including Ash and Cait) need to all have 10+ in order to win? ONLY if Paige's shot is off. I love Paige taking 20-25 shots cuz not a single one is a bad shot. She took only 18 to get 31 vs. USC. That's insane. She took 27 to get 40 vs. Oklahoma. Not as efficient.

Bottom line, IMHO if we play our A or A- game, no one can beat us. But we can't afford to have our scorers shooting 20% either...

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Think the OP was just trying to be considerate by not naming names.

 

[Bills Fan]

I fully expected, despite Geno's glowing eval of Jana's potential, that this would be tough year of learning and adjusting for her.
I gotta say, however, I had expected far more from Ice. I realize she's had to battle thru injuries and I give her credit for the hard recovery work she has reportedly put in. I also give her credit for her improved defense as well as the nice work she does in facilitating offense for others. But, now that she's supposedly recovered, she's gotta at least appear to be a scoring threat, even if it's only to keep defenses honest. Better rebounding would be nice too.

Maybe you and most BYers have not noticed the impact that ICE and Jana's injuries have had on their ability to jump. As I watch them be outrebounded by smaller players, it hit me that it has to be because of their serious injuries.. I hope by next year their ability to elevate will be much improved. Leg strength is so important and ASH is exhibit one to prove that. I would bet that her jumping ability excels anyone else on the team as we remember that her Dad was a trainer.

 

[UCONNRPh]

Against Betts, we’ll probably just be trading buckets.

She’ll get her offensive putbacks. Maybe we can limit the entry pass.

There’s no one on UCLA who can really guard Paige IMO. Smith was elite last night, yet Paige still dropped 30. UCLA doesn’t have a Smith like defender IMO.

We can’t stop Betts, they can't stop Bueckers.

However, we can try and run Betts ragged and capitalize off the non Betts minutes.

I know I am not a coach... but I have a hunch that we are going to let her be the Betts she is and treat her like we did to Edey last year. His statline numbers he got were crazy wild, but we were able to shut down EVERYONE else from what I recall. That prevented them from anyone else to harm us. (but then again, we were soooo solid that noone could come close to us).

I expect her to get very high stats but they do not have a specific 1-B that can take over next when she is out resting, etc or shot may be off. They step up as whoever is on or hot will get the ball. A true very Strong Plan B is needed (notice how I used the word Strong with a capital "S" )

But regardless of my two cents, I am 1000% sure that our coaches will have the correct gameplan to win. Can't wait til work is over this week and I can get on plane to Tampa Friday morning to watch games live !!

 

[Glenn]

As others have remarked, the question essentially goes against Geno's coaching philosophy: each player contributes what they are good at and doesn't try to do things that are not part of their skill set. We don't need points from the post, we need them from our big 3. From the post we need defense and boxing out--if they don't rebound it is ok if they are creating rebound opportunities for our guards.

 

[TAK]

I know I am not a coach... but I have a hunch that we are going to let her be the Betts she is and treat her like we did to Edey last year. His statline numbers he got were crazy wild, but we were able to shut down EVERYONE else from what I recall. That prevented them from anyone else to harm us. (but then again, we were soooo solid that noone could come close to us).

Yes, the strategy the UConn men used against 7’4” Zach Edey and Pudue in last year’s men’s tournament won the game. The defensive game plan was to NOT double team Edey in the post letting him get his points. Instead UConn focused on defending the other four Purdue players tightly forcing contested shots and difficult entry passes to Edy.

 

[my2cents]

I know I am not a coach... but I have a hunch that we are going to let her be the Betts she is and treat her like we did to Edey last year. His statline numbers he got were crazy wild, but we were able to shut down EVERYONE else from what I recall. That prevented them from anyone else to harm us. (but then again, we were soooo solid that noone could come close to us).

I expect her to get very high stats but they do not have a specific 1-B that can take over next when she is out resting, etc or shot may be off. They step up as whoever is on or hot will get the ball. A true very Strong Plan B is needed (notice how I used the word Strong with a capital "S" )

But regardless of my two cents, I am 1000% sure that our coaches will have the correct gameplan to win. Can't wait til work is over this week and I can get on plane to Tampa Friday morning to watch games live !!

Regardless of me?

 

[Conndog]

Yes, the strategy the UConn men used against 7’4” Zach Edey and Pudue in last year’s men’s tournament won the game. The defensive game plan was to NOT double team Edey in the post letting him get his points. Instead UConn focused on defending the other four Purdue players tightly forcing contested shots and difficult entry passes to Edy.

But occasional double-teaming was effective against Edey - and I think UConn would do well to use it a little, maybe in specific situations such as when shot clock is getting low and UCLA might dump it into Betts to make something happen down low.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

In the next game they will absolutely need Jana to step up her game to at least slow down Betts inside. At the same time they don't need her to score points for them to win. They have a bunch of players capable of putting the ball in the basket and if the ones counted on to do that are on point UConn will win.

Can they play like they did last night and win out? The short answer is no. I thought that KC came up big in a game that without her contribution could have gone the other way. Her value to the team to me is her patience against pressure and her offense and she needs to be good at those things. Sarah played outstanding in the post for most of the game so saying they got nothing from the 5 might also be a stretch.

KC = Kaitlyn Chen.

Otherwise good comments!

 

[housekeys]

If Jena or Brady can knock down some outside shots early in the game, it will do wonders for UConn's offense. It should pull Betts out and make for some easier points inside. UCLA will stop trying to "run UConn off the 3 point line", like they are likely planning to do now. That in turn will make it easy to get points outside. Should be interesting. Let's see what happens.

 

[Cuango]

I’d like to be able to bet on the chances that neither Jana nor Ice will score a point in the next one or two games! I think they will end that discussion against UCLA. However, if they don’t, it’s not as though we have relied on ether to be a “scorer”. Their job is defense and rebounding and if they can do even a little more than they’ve been doing in that respect, I’ll be happy. Having said that, I think their scoring drought will end on Friday night. It would be nice to get 6-12 points apiece from them though! The big thing is that they slow down Betts and (hopefully) draw some fouls on her. If that happens, I like our chances!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Sarah may play the 5 in which case my answer is No. But even if she does not I can see the Natie without points from the 5.

 

[Bone Dog]

IMHO ( H for humble), Jana needs to work in the weight room over the summer. She loses the ball too easily on rebounds or close in shots.

IKR! Betts needs some work in the weight room too. Did you see how often LSU tore the ball away from her down low or blocked her shot under the rim? And all those missed bunnies.

 

[Linart]

One 6'7" post does not make a championship team. Remember that Brittney Griner did not get to the Final Four her senior year.

 

[jcoton56]

I recall us doing fairly well with that scoring machine Stokes playing the 5 for us for a while. She also has a nice pro career going.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I recall us doing fairly well with that scoring machine Stokes playing the 5 for us for a while. She also has a nice pro career going.

She had plenty of other scorers around her and had seven other future WNBA players with her for most if not her entire career here. Saying that, her play would fit in very well here now.

 

[Blue Huskie]

UConn just won a Sweet 16 and an Elite 8 game without scoring a single point from the 5 position. No I am not counting Sarah in the small lineup, just true post players. Just wondering if this has ever been done before and how long it can continue against the very best teams in the game My guess is that it hasn’t happened, but if it has you could count those on one hand and have several fingers left. That fact is really irrelevant since at the end of any contest they never ask you how, just how many and to this point UConn has passed the how many test with flying colors. I don’t recall ever seeing this in the round of 16 and the round of 8 in either gender, but if isn’t broken please don’t try to fix it for just 2 more games. JMO

How about 2 points? That was IT and we won easily!! Asked and answered.

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

Yes