Debate: Can Anyone Stop UConn's 3 Peat?

[hoophuskee]

Might I remind my fellow UConn fans that we rode a freshman's back to the championship two years ago?

Yes and I have said it a couple of times. SHE was the only one. I'll reiterate that our THREE prior superstars - arguably among UCONN's 5 greatest players in history of course DT, Maya and Tina (Tina about 5- right?) they all struggled big time in one game either E8 or FF.

So -- I'll say again I specifically remember Geno stating Stewie was his most talented player he has EVER had before she played one game for us. Are you expecting Wilson to be Stewie? I don't know but I'd be highly skeptical "she is Stewie."" If DT/Maya and Tina struggled- you don't think probability is high that Wilson will struggle? Especially if she were to play against our "experienced" frontcourt?

 

[arty155]

 

[Sluconn Husky]

It was indiciative of her year when she came back- not the player she was. ANd imo especially not the bestHusky in the tourney this year.

Who do you think was better than KML throughout the whole of the tourney?

 

[hoophuskee]

Who do you think was better than KML throughout the whole of the tourney?

Both Stewart and Dolson. The defeneses keyed on them. their sats may not show it but as Muffitt said 2 years ago her focus was on Lewis. In the postgame this year she spoke of our size. Defenses keyed on our size.

If I was a defense at end of last year would i have kyed on Lewis or the big girls?
The year before I'm keying on Lewis and was just as surprised as Muffitt that Stewie smoked them.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Both Stewart and Dolson. The defeneses keyed on them. their sats may not show it but as Muffitt said 2 years ago her focus was on Lewis. In the postgame this year she spoke of our size. Defenses keyed on our size.

If I was a defense at end of last year would i have kyed on Lewis or the big girls?
The year before I'm keying on Lewis and was just as surprised as Muffitt that Stewie smoked them.

Well, I'd post the stats but you've kinda poo-pooed them, and I doubt either of us could prove who defenses focused on. Dolson and Stewart were the best players against Notre Dame and the Irish were missing Achonwa so for both those reasons McGraw focused her comments on the inside game that night. I'm not quite sure how one keys on size anyway other than to crash the boards or double-team. ND played a three-guard lineup and I don't believe any Husky was double-teamed in the tourney.

Regardless, even if you don't believe KML was their best player in the tourney she was clearly really, really good. Looked healthy, and was far more effective than she had been after returning from her first elbow injury earlier in the season.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Yes and I have said it a couple of times. SHE was the only one. I'll reiterate that our THREE prior superstars - arguably among UCONN's 5 greatest players in history of course DT, Maya and Tina (Tina about 5- right?) they all struggled big time in one game either E8 or FF.

So -- I'll say again I specifically remember Geno stating Stewie was his most talented player he has EVER had before she played one game for us. Are you expecting Wilson to be Stewie? I don't know but I'd be highly skeptical "she is Stewie."" If DT/Maya and Tina struggled- you don't think probability is high that Wilson will struggle? Especially if she were to play against our "experienced" frontcourt?

It's not beyond the realm of possibility. I've only seen A'ja play once and it was against inferior competition. Ask me again after we play at Duke on December 7th. I'll be taking the short jaunt up to Durham for the game.

 

[hoophuskee]

Well, I'd post the stats but you've kinda poo-pooed them, and I doubt either of us could prove who defenses focused on. Dolson and Stewart were the best players against Notre Dame and the Irish were missing Achonwa so for both those reasons McGraw focused her comments on the inside game that night. I'm not quite sure how one keys on size anyway other than to crash the boards or double-team. ND played a three-guard lineup and I don't believe any Husky was double-teamed in the tourney.

Regardless, even if you don't believe KML was their best player in the tourney she was clearly really, really good. Looked healthy, and was far more effective than she had been after returning from her first elbow injury earlier in the season.

We're going to have to agree to disagree here. Geno kind of talked the whole season how the offfense featured Dolson's passing. No reason to think anything changed in the tourney. And it was their defense that was stellar - I attribute that a lot to the big girls - of course MoJeff too. Anyhow - from the link below from huskygames website-- I just pulled up the Stanford game - part of their philosophy was to leave MoJeff open. thus Dolson and Stewie have no room. For bigs who can pass, and have the skill they have - the defense has to sag unless we have a sharp shooter - our bigs were super beucase of their size skill threat. Anyhow regarding sagging - this is a defense designed to slow down the bigs (and penetration) and that's hwy I said defnses look to stop Stef and Stewie where year before Muffitt was most concerned of KML. At the following marks you can see multiple Stanford players in the lane at 18:42, 18:32, 18:27, 17:49, 16:00, 14:22, all in the same set on this one play as the ball moves-- 13:09, 13:06, 13:01, 12:57 (this was one offensive set)--- then again at 12:47, 11:12, 10:02 and at 9:33. Then I stopped watching. So it's clear what the defenses are doing- collapse- and dare the guards/wing to beat us outside. Also- defeisvley what did Chiney do? It's our big girls that negated her- directly affected. What's Lloyd going to do diving in the paint vs our big girls? Was it all our guards defense? It was also indirect they (theBigs) affect the game for guards like Lloyd. Nothing easy for her inside.

http://uconnhuskygames.com/2013-2014-womens-basketball-replays/

And I thought KML was "good." But what does Geno say often? He says "what are you good at?" KML is the greatest shooter we've ever had. She is more than good. But not last year in NCAA's as teams collapsed. From S16 game ot Finals not once did she shoot at least 40% from 3. The year before two games she shot one game 5-8 another 3-6. This is indicative she was off. KML is a super player.

With MoJeff - MoJeff is a great defender. With Stef she was the focus with her passing/size and defense. With Stewie it's her size/long arms both ends. . With KML she is a good rebounder for her size. But what KML excels at is shooting. She didn't shoot well. Her assists weren't much - and I'm not goign to call her a lcok down defender or floor general like Hartley - so-- no-- last year I don't think she was "really, really good." Maybe in comaprsion vs other "good players" - but the year before KML was a beast and this year I expect her to far surpass last year.

I got to crash. Thanks for the talk I liked this.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

As I've stated many times here, the only thing that can slow down or stop UCONN is injuries and/or illness!
UCONN at Gampel if healthy will beat SoCar by 35+ points!
UCONN at ND if healthy will beat ND by 30+ points! Geno will come up with a way to stop Loyd and ND has no other stars!
1. ND has, but SoCar has never seen a defense that UCONN will put on the floor for the full 40 minutes!
2. ND & SoCar has to try and stop Stewart, Stokes, KML, MoJeff, Tuck, Chong, and at least 1 of the freshmen all capable of scoring in double figures!
3. Stewart, Tuck, KML, Stokes, & Gabby Williams will get double figure rebounds vs both ND & SoCar!
4. Geno can now go 11 deep in game rotation not 6 or 7 like last couple of years! Only the walk-ons are NOT in the rotation.
5. This years Huskies might wind up the most athletic CT team since 2002!

 

[Sluconn Husky]

And I thought KML was "good." But what does Geno say often? He says "what are you good at?" KML is the greatest shooter we've ever had. She is more than good. But not last year in NCAA's as teams collapsed. From S16 game ot Finals not once did she shoot at least 40% from 3. The year before two games she shot one game 5-8 another 3-6. This is indicative she was off. KML is a super player.

She had a couple off shooting games from three, but she made up for it with improved interior play. Compared to Stewart over the entire tournament KML had more rebounds and assists, shot the same 48%-49%, was better from three 39%-19%, and scored nearly as much, 17 pts - 17.7 pts.

With KML she is a good rebounder for her size. But what KML excels at is shooting. She didn't shoot well. Her assists weren't much - and I'm not goign to call her a lcok down defender or floor general like Hartley - so-- no-- last year I don't think she was "really, really good." Maybe in comaprsion vs other "good players" - but the year before KML was a beast and this year I expect her to far surpass last year.

Her 3-pt shooting in the tourney was down but again that's mostly due to a couple off nights. She was 13-33. Had she made just three of those misses she'd have been 16-33, or 48% which was her sophomore percentage. Her 2-pt% in the tourney was down just slightly from her sophomore year. She averaged 2 more rebounds and 1.5 more assists in the tourney than she did as a sophomore. So basically, if she had made those three missed 3-pointers, her numbers would've been better across the board compared to her Soph year*.


*When I say sophomore year I'm referring to the whole season.

 

[Icebear]

Might I remind my fellow UConn fans that we rode a freshman's back to the championship two years ago?

You mean a freshman with additional All Americans on the team who had previously won a NC.

 

[Icebear]

It's not beyond the realm of possibility. I've only seen A'ja play once and it was against inferior competition. Ask me again after we play at Duke on December 7th. I'll be taking the short jaunt up to Durham for the game.

Ask Alyssa Thomas or Elizabeth Williams about the first time they played against UCONN's defense and what it was like. Stokes and Stewart helped to set an amazing record for blocked shots along with Dolson. No one's D rotates better than UCONN's and the entire starting unit is experienced headed by two incredibly fast guards. Every shot will be challenged for 40 minutes. Every opponents' team says they have no other experience like it. And yes, wESPN has three of the top 11 players on UCONN. So objectively there is reason for confidence, plus Geno and staff won't let the team cheat its talent.

 

[connboy77]

Who would you consider to be threats to UConn? North Carolina and Baylor seem to be on the periphery. Louisville's down. Duke has a completely different team and is very young. Maryland looks short too. South Carolina may be unproven but with their talent on paper I think they have to considered the most dangerous along with Notre Dame.

Lets first see how they play against a good, but not great Tennessee team!

 

[wasolddog]

It's not beyond the realm of possibility. I've only seen A'ja play once and it was against inferior competition. Ask me again after we play at Duke on December 7th. I'll be taking the short jaunt up to Durham for the game.

Enjoy your posts "Leghorn". I both like and respect your team and am looking forward them "pole-axing" Tennessee this year. After your trip to Durham and our trip to "Domer Town" on the same weekend I think we'll all have a better picture of where we stand.

 

[connboy77]

Until somebody beats you, you are the champions, but the Gamecocks have both depth and experience this season. We may not beat you in Gampel, but we have a huge fan base and there will be lots of rooster boosters in Tampa next spring.

When was the last time USC played in the final four? UCONN is an experienced final four team, the game won't be close.

 

[Wally East]

Of course someone can -- upsets happen. It's just not likely.

 

[meyers7]

Of course someone can -- upsets happen. It's just not likely.

Exactly.

 

[meyers7]

As I've stated many times here, the only thing that can slow down or stop UCONN is injuries and/or illness!
UCONN at Gampel if healthy will beat SoCar by 35+ points!
UCONN at ND if healthy will beat ND by 30+ points! Geno will come up with a way to stop Loyd and ND has no other stars!

Ok, that's just too Tonyish. UCONN is not winning by 30 or 35 points in these games.

1. ND has, but SoCar has never seen a defense that UCONN will put on the floor for the full 40 minutes!
2. ND & SoCar has to try and stop Stewart, Stokes, KML, MoJeff, Tuck, Chong, and at least 1 of the freshmen all capable of scoring in double figures!

Both true.

3. Stewart, Tuck, KML, Stokes, & Gabby Williams will get double figure rebounds vs both ND & SoCar!

Ok that's just insane. We only had 50+ rebounds a handful of times last season. And never more than 2 players with 10+ rebounds.

4. Geno can now go 11 deep in game rotation not 6 or 7 like last couple of years! Only the walk-ons are NOT in the rotation.

Geno is not going with a 11 player rotation in ND and SC games. Unless of course we are in deep (real deep) foul trouble. And at that point we are screwed.

5. This years Huskies might wind up the most athletic CT team since 2002!

Not sure how'd you really measure that, but possibly.

 

[watanabe]

I don't think you want to admit how good SC is going to be.

SC IS good. But when they play UConn they will know what getting put in meat grinder feels like.
Good hype though. Keeps us on our toes. It'll be fun to watch and see how they measure up.
UConn may not always be this good, but they are now and will be for the foreseeable future.
I do however think SC is better than ND, no matter how the ND team thinks they have been shorted by the preseason poll.

 

[Tonyc]

Tony what exactly are you talking about? First off I am a UConn fan and graduate so I don't understand why you are referring to me as a South Carolina fan. Secondly, I am quite knowledgeable about the UConn team and College Women's Basketball in general. All I was doing was replying to UConnCat and stating that I thought the ONLY team that had the chance to beat UConn was South Carolina. Not that they would beat UConn at all, just that they HAD THE CHANCE. This does not mean I am a USC fan at all.

I clicked on the wrong post. Sorry and I cant delete mine.

 

[sawxfan23]

I clicked on the wrong post. Sorry and I cant delete mine.

I gotcha. No problem.

 

[Stewie Fan]

I love all the comments above, but lets face the facts here. With all of the returning talent and experience UCONN has and don't forget they had a great recruiting class as did SC I really don't see anyone in UCONN's class. A good example is Kia Nurse. What incoming frosh for SC has the experience she has Playing with Canadian National team puts her way above any incoming frosh than any other college has recruited. The experience of playing in two final fours also counts a lot. UCONN, barring any forseen circumstances will be a dynasty for a while and as the fans of Bre in Central NY say it's not 3 peat it's Bre-peat.

 

[UcMiami]

"Notre Dame -- which engaged UConn in a battle of undefeated teams in last spring's title game -- has junior guard Jewell Loyd and a habit of exceeding expectations after graduating its top players."

Does that habit refer simply to returning to the Final Four last year after Skylar graduated...or are there at least two instances in this habitual pattern?

It actually refers I think to the last two years as they lost two good seniors the previous year to losing Diggins and many thought that might drop them (too lazy to go back and get the names of the two.) Achonwa and McBride stepped up plus Loyd as freshman.
I do think there is a difference in that the cumulative effect of three years of losing important seniors means that you have fewer players that have contributed significant minutes for multiple years trying to fill in. McBride and Achonwa had been important for 3/4 years and so had the experience the last couple of years to help transition from the lost players. Loyd is sort of on an island this time (?)

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

As I've stated many times here, the only thing that can slow down or stop UCONN is injuries and/or illness!
UCONN at Gampel if healthy will beat SoCar by 35+ points!
UCONN at ND if healthy will beat ND by 30+ points! Geno will come up with a way to stop Loyd and ND has no other stars!
1. ND has, but SoCar has never seen a defense that UCONN will put on the floor for the full 40 minutes!
2. ND & SoCar has to try and stop Stewart, Stokes, KML, MoJeff, Tuck, Chong, and at least 1 of the freshmen all capable of scoring in double figures!
3. Stewart, Tuck, KML, Stokes, & Gabby Williams will get double figure rebounds vs both ND & SoCar!
4. Geno can now go 11 deep in game rotation not 6 or 7 like last couple of years! Only the walk-ons are NOT in the rotation.
5. This years Huskies might wind up the most athletic CT team since 2002!

I've put a reminder on my iCalendar for February to revisit this post.

 

[HuskiesU]

Both Stewart and Dolson. The defeneses keyed on them. their sats may not show it but as Muffitt said 2 years ago her focus was on Lewis. In the postgame this year she spoke of our size. Defenses keyed on our size.

If I was a defense at end of last year would i have kyed on Lewis or the big girls?
The year before I'm keying on Lewis and was just as surprised as Muffitt that Stewie smoked them.

Not true but stef should of won final four mvp that game aginst ND was won of her best but easily KML she hit every big 3 or shot rebounding better hustling and being aggressive for every loose balls. And her confidence was threw the roof and going into this year, she knows she's the best senior in WBB

 

[HuskiesU]

I love all the comments above, but lets face the facts here. With all of the returning talent and experience UCONN has and don't forget they had a great recruiting class as did SC I really don't see anyone in UCONN's class. A good example is Kia Nurse. What incoming frosh for SC has the experience she has Playing with Canadian National team puts her way above any incoming frosh than any other college has recruited. The experience of playing in two final fours also counts a lot. UCONN, barring any forseen circumstances will be a dynasty for a while and as the fans of Bre in Central NY say it's not 3 peat it's Bre-peat.

I still give the best chance to ND but its proven there not close to us. SC will be good but lack of experience and they tend to turn the ball over alot. Outside shooting will be a problem although they do have 2 good shooters. That being said (injuries) is the only thing that can stop us from 3 peating

 

[OneTrickPony]

View attachment 7419

Kudos brother, and perfect with a nice Cabernet...

 

[OneTrickPony]

Ok, that's just too Tonyish. UCONN is not winning by 30 or 35 points in these games.


Both true.


Ok that's just insane. We only had 50+ rebounds a handful of times last season. And never more than 2 players with 10+ rebounds.


Geno is not going with a 11 player rotation in ND and SC games. Unless of course we are in deep (real deep) foul trouble. And at that point we are screwed.


Not sure how'd you really measure that, but possibly.

This year Geno runs a reprise of two years ago where he let his freshman work win, lose or draw to the enduring angst of the UCONN faithful; but in the NC he had the Huskie women prepared for anything...

 

[Tonyc]

Have you noticed the top 3 teams have 3 of the top coaches.

 

[triaddukefan]

As I've stated many times here, the only thing that can slow down or stop UCONN is injuries and/or illness!
UCONN at Gampel if healthy will beat SoCar by 35+ points!
UCONN at ND if healthy will beat ND by 30+ points! Geno will come up with a way to stop Loyd and ND has no other stars!
1. ND has, but SoCar has never seen a defense that UCONN will put on the floor for the full 40 minutes!
2. ND & SoCar has to try and stop Stewart, Stokes, KML, MoJeff, Tuck, Chong, and at least 1 of the freshmen all capable of scoring in double figures!
3. Stewart, Tuck, KML, Stokes, & Gabby Williams will get double figure rebounds vs both ND & SoCar!
4. Geno can now go 11 deep in game rotation not 6 or 7 like last couple of years! Only the walk-ons are NOT in the rotation.
5. This years Huskies might wind up the most athletic CT team since 2002!

I'd be willing make a bet against that happening

When was the last time USC played in the final four? UCONN is an experienced final four team, the game won't be close.

I think 1986..... Cheryl Miller's Senior season.

 

[cabbie191]

You mean a freshman with additional All Americans on the team who had previously won a NC.

Don't mean to say SC is in our league, Ice, either by current talent or history/pedigree, but would you agree that based on their returning players, they are a solid team coming into this season? And if she's a transcendent player as a freshman, (which is yet to be proven, of course), why shouldn't Gamecock fans dream?