Defense wins championships

[UcMiami]

So I just rewatched the game tonight and I noticed something amazing. Everyone including Geno says 'to hold ND to 20 points in the second half, WOW!' But the more impressive thing to me:
16 1/4 minutes into the second half Notre Dame had scored exactly 9 points.!!! That is just astonishing to me.
In that same time Uconn had scored 26 - not a fabulous offensive output - but enough with their stifling defense to put the game to bed.
In all Uconn held ND to 28 points below their season average and 15% below their season average in FG percentage
Great defense, great win!

 

[Fishy]

It does.

Or it at least allows championship teams to go off the rails offensively for a while without suffering any ill-effects.

After Mosqueda-Lewis hit a jumper to put UConn up 62-42, UConn's offense went just plain sideways for a solid ten minutes of playing time.

But between UConn's defense and their offensive rebounding limiting Notre Dame's chances, UConn came out of that stretch up by 22. (69-47.) They held Notre Dame without a point for about six minutes after Notre Dame hit their 42nd point.

Kayla McBridge hit a jumpshot at 15:30 to bring ND to within 55-42. Between that basket and a flurry of baskets ND scored in garbage time with less than four minutes to play, UConn allowed Notre Dame to convert on exactly one bucket. (They were something like 1-13 in that stretch with six turnovers.)

 

[snowkot]

The defensive move that was pure genius was to invert the zone personnel in the second half.

After the way the first half ended, clearly realizing that ND's inside threat was non-existent, UConn moved two of their taller post / wing defenders to the perimeter to guard against the ball screen 3's. The reasoning being Stewart's impossible reach, and Dolson's height would be much more effective in impacting the shooter's eye and motion.

An incredible adjustment - can't say I've ever seen it before.

No denying it worked to... PERFECTION!!!

 

[Sonny44]

I wish Kelly was there, to get some lessons.

 

[UcMiami]

The defensive move that was pure genius was to invert the zone personnel in the second half.

After the way the first half ended, clearly realizing that ND's inside threat was non-existent, UConn moved two of their taller post / wing defenders to the perimeter to guard against the ball screen 3's. The reasoning being Stewart's impossible reach, and Dolson's height would be much more effective in impacting the shooter's eye and motion.

An incredible adjustment - can't say I've ever seen it before.

No denying it worked to... PERFECTION!!!

I found defensive assignments all night to be very interesting: ND starts three guards on the floor and the tallest McBride was guarded by the shortest defender Jefferson. KML drew the weakest offensive threat Allen (or her sub) and Hartley drew the fastest, most athletic Loyd. When Hartley was on the bench, Stewart moved to Loyd.
There was some switching of assignments, but in man that was pretty much the way the defense shook out. I had assumed Geno would put Bria on McBride to try to match height and strength a little more closely and Jefferson on Loyd to match speed with speed. Instead it was Jeffersons speed on McBrides strength and while McBride could shoot over Jefferson, her speed and quickness really frustrated her all night. And Stewarts length was a problem for Loyd that her speed could not compensate for.

 

[Vowelguy]

I dunno, the key in the first half was UConn's offense. When UConn scored, it could set its defense and ND struggled. When UConn took bad shots, nd was able to get out on transition and get open 3s.

 

[phil sampieri]

The defensive move that was pure genius was to invert the zone personnel in the second half.

After the way the first half ended, clearly realizing that ND's inside threat was non-existent, UConn moved two of their taller post / wing defenders to the perimeter to guard against the ball screen 3's. The reasoning being Stewart's impossible reach, and Dolson's height would be much more effective in impacting the shooter's eye and motion.

An incredible adjustment - can't say I've ever seen it before.

No denying it worked to... PERFECTION!!!

Wow- another basketball mind on the BY !!- You are spot on.

 

[meyers7]

I found defensive assignments all night to be very interesting: ND starts three guards on the floor and the tallest McBride was guarded by the shortest defender Jefferson. KML drew the weakest offensive threat Allen (or her sub) and Hartley drew the fastest, most athletic Loyd. When Hartley was on the bench, Stewart moved to Loyd.
There was some switching of assignments, but in man that was pretty much the way the defense shook out. I had assumed Geno would put Bria on McBride to try to match height and strength a little more closely and Jefferson on Loyd to match speed with speed. Instead it was Jeffersons speed on McBrides strength and while McBride could shoot over Jefferson, her speed and quickness really frustrated her all night. And Stewarts length was a problem for Loyd that her speed could not compensate for.

Agreed. Loyd would probably have been able to elevate and shoot over Jefferson. Not as easy over Hartley and Stewart. Jefferson was able to lock down on McBride to prevent her from 1) getting the ball as often and 2) driving (Jefferson was better able to keep in front of her or funnel her to the shot blockers).
Allen wasn't going to hurt UCONN too much if someone just kept an eye on her. Didn't need a lock down defender.

 

[UcMiami]

Ok - so I fell into the same trap I complained about - 9 points in 16 minutes is a solid defensive effort, but there was a better milestone in there:

Uconn held Notre Dame to exactly 4 points - two baskets in the first TEN minutes of the second half!!! Now that was defense.
At 9:42 of the second half ND scored their third basket of the second half which heralded in a really bad two minutes of defense by Uconn - 5 points in 2 minutes! At 7:59 ND scored on two FT for their 8th and 9th point of the half and then did not score again until 3:38.
From 3:38 - the end of the game ND scored 11 points - winning the last 4 minutes 11-8 having lost the first 16 minutes 9-26