Championship Level Defense

[YearoftheHusky]

We just witnessed it. We’ve seen on-ball defense; we have seen lots of blocked shots. But I swear we haven’t seen a team swarm like this since 2014. Keep this up and I like our chances this tourney and the next.

 

[awfuldan]

Elite defense. The first half was suffocating, Jackson was everywhere. Every single shot they hit was contested and off the bounce. Held them to dreadful shooting percentages.

Great win.

 

[gtcam]

It was impressive no doubt
Whaley was unreal as was AJ
it was a total team effort on D
Nice to see

 

[superjohn]

Defense was incredible tonight. Andre set the tone with insane athleticism and pressure. Every basketball fan in the country will be watching tomorrow night.

 

[auror]

Jackson, Martin, and Whaley were all phenomenal. Cole, Sanogo, and Polley pretty good. Rebounding was great on both ends. Guys were first to the ground for loose balls all night, especially Cole and Jackson.

 

[kobebeanbryant]

suffocating defense, nauseating offense

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Reminded me of the NC shutdown of Butler.

 

[navery12]

Not sure they had an easy shot all night. The only open ones I can recall were 3's we were daring Yetna and Jackson to shoot

 

[Tenspro2002]

Terrific D.

Nova will test it at another level.

Need offense to be better tomorrow, particularly Sanogo.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

suffocating defense, nauseating offense

Meh. They executed well. The Hall also played good defense.

 

[housekeys]

True. Just hope officials see it as great defense the rest of the way as we do. We are so athletic.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Terrific D.

Nova will test it at another level.

Need offense to be better tomorrow, particularly Sanogo.

 

[spudzj6]

Agree. Even better...this defense was an adjustment. Go back and watch the first half of big East play. Teams spread the floor and took us 1-on-1, our individual defense was terrible, weak. Over the last 6-7 games they've been really really good individually on D

 

[YearoftheHusky]

True. Just hope officials see it as great defense the rest of the way as we do. We are so athletic.

Agree with this. We don’t foul, but refs could see it otherwise If they anticipate.

 

[UCTitleTown]

Great defense. Smothering.

 

[nadavtheman]

A noticeable difference. Good guys switched on ball screens much more than usual. Made a huge difference. We did not allow any straight-line drives fighting through screens which has been a weakness of late. Made them settle for contested jump shots.

 

[Ewekon]

Virginia won all D...No O

 

[UconnU]

It was impressive no doubt
Whaley was unreal as was AJ
it was a total team effort on D
Nice to see

Martin’s D was most impressive

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

suffocating defense, nauseating offense

One of the truly fitting avatars on the ‘yard.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Martin’s D was most impressive

Yikes take it easy.

 

[tykurez]

UConn plays an incredibly impressive defense. Man-to-man and they essentially allow 1 thru 4 to switch on every screen. Opposing team is just suffocated.

 

[mauconnfan]

Martin, Whaley and Jackson were all really good on D. Sanogos D was a bit underrated I think because his offense was so dreadful tonight. He moved his feet very well on D tonight!

And we won the 50/50 ball battles almost always. A few hard dives for loose balls including AJ and RJ.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

A noticeable difference. Good guys switched on ball screens much more than usual. Made a huge difference. We did not allow any straight-line drives fighting through screens which has been a weakness of late. Made them settle for contested jump shots.

So, Hurley can coach? The BY has told me otherwise.

 

[BGesus4]

Yikes take it easy.

I’m just glad someone on the boneyard took the initiative to get Martin relaxed after the league award snub

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Guys were first to the ground for loose balls all night, especially Cole and Jackson.

Best game of the year in this regard!

 

[YearoftheHusky]

I honestly think that everyone is giving Adama too hard of a time about his offense. Seton Hall obviously schemed to stop him and dared everyone else to beat them. Well, we did.

 

[karstenkibbe]

A noticeable difference. Good guys switched on ball screens much more than usual. Made a huge difference. We did not allow any straight-line drives fighting through screens which has been a weakness of late. Made them settle for contested jump shots.

This. All night long. So smooth, great communication. Switches happened without hesitation and none resulted in mismatches in Seton Hall’s favor. Such a great effort by the good guys.

 

[KembaSlice]

Well then he needs to facilitate and not go 1 v 3

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Virginia won all D...No O

True enough for me to add that Virginia did not rush, force, or take ill-chosen shots to the extent that this team does.

All games moving forward will be against competition that will exploit this tendency, so it's not simply looking for something to complain about after a great win.

The next game is about snagging a 4-seed, which would need a victory in the successor game.

Like tonight, Friday is a rubber match. The other side of the bracket is represented by the two teams we haven't beaten.

 

[husky429]

Effort was great as always. Looked to me like the difference was everyone seemed to know who to prioritize in scramble situations... high level stuff