Clue me in here please.

[Zorro]

Not being able to watch the game, but only follow the progress on gamecast, tell me; what kind of defense did UConn play? Did we indeed play a zone, and if so, what kind of zone and for what part of the game? Did we change up our defense in the second half? Would really be interested to know.

 

[vtcwbuff]

They started with a zone and MD was eating it up. In a post game interview Auriemma called himself the anti-Boheim.

 

[phil sampieri]

Not being able to watch the game, but only follow the progress on gamecast, tell me; what kind of defense did UConn play? Did we indeed play a zone, and if so, what kind of zone and for what part of the game? Did we change up our defense in the second half? Would really be interested to know.

We switched to man to man several times in the 2nd half. Geno said it himself they have the worst zone in the country.

 

[rford53]

First half UConn was in a 2/3 zone and was not able to shut Thomas down or stop their 5 3 pointers. In thew second half UConn went back into their man to man d and shut Maryland down, only 17 points allowed. Everyone played big on defense, 9 blocks, points in the paint 48 to 10........

 

[tomcat]

It was a not-very-effective zone. MD was able to bury threes in a way they had not previously been able to do. I'm not saying it was because of the UConn zone, but MD was a lot more accurate than their stats had led us to believe they would be. So maybe the UConn zone helped that along.

 

[John Glass]

some match up zone to stay out of foul trouble in the first half, then man to man in the second half. The second half was a slower pace, and every lose ball went to UConn.

 

[pap49cba]

I can't quarrel with the strategy. Zone in the 1st half to limit fouls and then turn up the pressure in the 2nd half with straight man-to-man.

 

[phil sampieri]

I can't quarrel with the strategy. Zone in the 1st half to limit fouls and then turn up the pressure in the 2nd half with straight man-to-man.

good call

 

[Zorro]

Thanks, y'all. I figured it must have been something like that. Who mostly had Thomas?

 

[ctkaiser]

Thomas was hot early and in my opinion got overconfident. Had her bringing the ball up. Doing too much. Her and Stewie cooled off in 2nd half points wise but Stewie very active on boards with tips and on D. Geno put smaller players on Thomas and she could not drive to the hoop. Very few Terp players stepped up. Uconn's speed and athleticism took over. Stef played great when she came back with 4 fouls and Moriah was a blur. Terps are still looking for her. UConn weak on off boards in first half but really battled in 2nd. In 2nd half Maryland looked like the team with the short bench.

 

[Scotter]

I can't quarrel with the strategy. Zone in the 1st half to limit fouls and then turn up the pressure in the 2nd half with straight man-to-man.

The strategy where you stop doing what isn't working well is usually a good one. I think Geno may have had too much free time this week and read the Boneyard for coaching suggestions.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Moriah was a blur. Terps are still looking for her

LOL good one!

 

[Zorro]

Perish forbid!!

 

[UConnCat]

The strategy where you stop doing what isn't working well is usually a good one. I think Geno may have had too much free time this week and read the Boneyard for coaching suggestions.

Well, yes. As he said, he's the anti-Boeheim. To say that zone in the first half was not working well is an understatement. Not surprisingly, the rebounding improved in the 2nd half as well.

 

[jsloanjr]

NEXT Penn State after of well deserved rest........

 

[Zorro]

Was Stokes on Thomas?

 

[UcMiami]

Bria had Thomas most of the second half and did a fantastic job - a lot of ball denial and keeping her from getting drives. In the first half it was a mixture of the bigs until the fouls mounted and then Banks and then ...

I thought the zone wasn't a bad idea in the first half - no player ended up with more than two fouls so it accomplished what it was meant to do. And part of the lower second half scoring by Maryland (and percentage shooting) had to do with:
1. Uconn taking the air out of the ball from about the 12 minute mark - using the full 30 on most trips.
2. Uconn winning the second half rebounding battle by about 15 having lost the first half by about 10.
3. Law of averages - Maryland started very hot hitting everything including a banked 3 pointer from the wing and cooled off throughout the first half and into the second half. They still had a number of wide open shots but start missing them as consistently as they had been making them.

 

[ctkaiser]

Was Stokes on Thomas?

Actually Thomas and Hartley were guarding each other quite a bit. Banks also guarded Thomas. Help defense was real good in 2nd half

 

[Zorro]

Thanks.

 

[Vowelguy]

Was Stokes on Thomas?

She was in part of the 1st half and early in the 2nd half. She got torched.

 

[ctkaiser]

Bria had Thomas most of the second half and did a fantastic job - a lot of ball denial and keeping her from getting drives. In the first half it was a mixture of the bigs until the fouls mounted and then Banks and then ...

I thought the zone wasn't a bad idea in the first half - no player ended up with more than two fouls so it accomplished what it was meant to do. And part of the lower second half scoring by Maryland (and percentage shooting) had to do with:
1. Uconn taking the air out of the ball from about the 12 minute mark - using the full 30 on most trips.
2. Uconn winning the second half rebounding battle by about 15 having lost the first half by about 10.
3. Law of averages - Maryland started very hot hitting everything including a banked 3 pointer from the wing and cooled off throughout the first half and into the second half. They still had a number of wide open shots but start missing them as consistently as they had been making them.

Nice summary and then Terps had bigs taking jumpers and just did not play smart when the game was still in reach. Then UConn was just gone with speed and smarts.

 

[Icebear]

We switched to man to man several times in the 2nd half. Geno said it himself they have the worst zone in the country.

It always makes Geno happy to have something to work on and the staff a purpose outside of recruiting.

 

[Zorro]

And there is always something about the team that is "the worst in the country".

 

[ursusminor]

One of the things I noticed is that MD did a decent job of driving and kicking the ball out when the defense packed inside to deny the layups. But they kept taking long twos. Sometimes very long twos; Thomas made two or three shots with one foot over the three-point line. They weren't bad shots and a fair number of them went in the bucket, but it was weird.

 

[semper]

"Anti-Boeheim"...such a riot. How does he think this stuff up so quickly? I wonder what Stewie thinks? She grew up, just as I did, watching Boeheim's zone.