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Forwards & centers

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The most urgent missing tool from the UCONN offensive kit is and remains a post player that is able to provide easy baskets and be more productive on the paint touches. This has been a 3 years struggle and without such a player the UCONN offense has been relying on almost perfect half court execution and getting streaky deep ball shooting. Aaliyah struggles last year were typical-after shooting an astounding 69% as a freshman her FG% dropped off by significantly (down to 52%) and keep in mind this is from a player that rarely ever shoots from deep. More productive paint touches can come in three flavors 1) Less turnovers form the post players AE and ONO were the team leaders in TO last season 2) Shooting a higher FG percentage at the basket (this needs to be expanded beyond the post Players). 3) Having a player at the basket put you in better offensive rebounding position as has already been mentioned and this floor balance does wonders for your defense efficiency as well. For example, it is harder for a team to start transition if they are starting by taking the ball out of the net versus grabbing a rebound that is above the foul line.

I'm hopeful that what I saw during the summer at GloblJam will carry over into this upcoming season. She looked a lot more comfortable taking outside shots. Best way to describe it was that she seems smoother. Once she got the pass, she didn't seem to have that pause like before.
 

CocoHusky

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Our half court offense seems to not have changed in many years, and I hate to admit it, but it really hasn't been that effective. The PG dribbles to the right, hands off to the wing who dribbles to the top of the key and passes to the left to the other wing. Then, back to the PG at the top of the Key. At that point, it goes to the high post for them to make a play. Unless its Paige out there, there is not a lot of confidence by me that a score is coming. We need to push the ball more, but all the players have to run up court, not just the PG. Sorry to be negative, but something new could energize this team, and us fans. BTW, I am energized all the time so if anyone wants to question me about that, that's my answer.
It has been the same offense and what I believe you are severely underestimating is both the time it would require to implemented a new scheme and the lack of fundamentals of the of the UCONN front court players over the past few years. Geno has tweaked the hell out and simplified the UCONN offense over the past three years but unfortunately those tweaks go unnoticed by most fans who tend to focus more on the bottom line of wins and losses and and the playing time of their favorite players vs what is actually happening on the floor from game to game and even quarter to quarter. Even Geno's most brilliant adjustments will never be enough to overcome the lack of fundaments. Since you mention that dribble handoff the reason it is not working for UCONN is because the defense doesn't have to honor that action. Many times the post player handing off the ball is not a credible threat to do anything besides hand off that ball, The UCONN post players lack the patience to let the play start with a proper ball screen and develop according to how the defense reacts. These are really fundamental things that are not going to get fix by moving to a different offensive scheme because those same fundamentals are required regardless of which scheme you decide to move to.
 
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An excellent observation Bone Dog!!! I agree completely. If Ice Brady matures by early February like I think she will, she may be able to keep Boston from having a big game against us by simply boxing her out on the defensive end. Keep her out of the paint. Keep her from getting offensive rebounds/put backs that she has become so adept at. Keep Boston off the glass and you have a good chance at beating them. Boston has become a double-double machine. Keep a body on Boston without fouling her. Not an easy assignment. Boston is relentless. Also not a bad idea to go right at her early in the game to try and get her in foul trouble. Disrupt her rhythm, timing and effectiveness and you have a good chance of beating the Gamecocks.

There's another strategy. I saw it work once against Jordan. Instead of trying to limit him, the other team forced him to do most of the scoring for 3 periods. Then, with Jordan fatigued, they doubled him in the 4th period. His team, after basically standing around on offense for 3 periods couldn't hit anything and Chicago got beat.

I wouldn't waste the effort to devise a defense to stop Boston. Just make her work hard for her points.
 

Carnac

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There's another strategy. I saw it work once against Jordan. Instead of trying to limit him, the other team forced him to do most of the scoring for 3 periods. Then, with Jordan fatigued, they doubled him in the 4th period. His team, after basically standing around on offense for 3 periods couldn't hit anything and Chicago got beat.

I wouldn't waste the effort to devise a defense to stop Boston. Just make her work hard for her points.
I like it. It's worth a try. What have we got to lose? :confused: Some players to tend to wilt in the 4th quarter. I like the idea of helping her wilt. The earlier the better. :D
 
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Save the condescending tone for a different board. It's possible to disagree with a tone of respect.

I recall Boston being pretty dominant as a freshman. I also recall Aaliyah Edwards being competitive with her as a freshman when Boston was a sophomore in their loss to UConn. Anything is possible as Kevin Garnett says.

I think dominant is too strong against teams like UConn in her first 2 years. She was effective, but only for her first 15-20 minutes. She tired. Evidence: six or seven missed bunnies at the end of the UConn and Stanford games as a sophomore.

Some players leave college with essentially the same body they had when they arrived. Boston made the change after her sophomore year. Dolson did it after her junior season. Many other players wait till they turn pro to get fitter/stronger.
 
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I think dominant is too strong against teams like UConn in her first 2 years. She was effective, but only for her first 15-20 minutes. She tired. Evidence: six or seven missed bunnies at the end of the UConn and Stanford games as a sophomore.

Some players leave college with essentially the same body they had when they arrived. Boston made the change after her sophomore year. Dolson did it after her junior season. Many other players wait till they turn pro to get fitter/stronger.
Fair, however my point was regarding her season in general. If we're looking specifically at certain games, like UConn, I see where you're coming from.
 
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I like it. It's worth a try. What have we got to lose? :confused: Some players to tend to wilt in the 4th quarter. I like the idea of helping her wilt. The earlier the better. :D

Fair, however my point was regarding her season in general. If we're looking specifically at certain games, like UConn, I see where you're coming from.
Games are won and lost by teams for the most part. Even great scorers rely on their teammates. However, I was very disappointed when Boston went to SC.
 

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I like it. It's worth a try. What have we got to lose? :confused: Some players to tend to wilt in the 4th quarter. I like the idea of helping her wilt. The earlier the better. :D
LOL, this may work against the guards and wings, but I doubt Boston will get tired by shooting lay-ups.
 

Carnac

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LOL, this may work against the guards and wings, but I doubt Boston will get tired by shooting lay-ups.
We can only hope. UConn needs to do something. To me, SC is the biggest game on our schedule. They were the team that kept UConn from winning #12. Dawn Staley has already said publically that her team has every intention of repeating. Basically, she has drawn a line in the sand.
 
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Lots of interesting points being made. My take is that for a number of years our bigs have scored more what I would call system points. By that I mean they often get the ball on the move with an angle and just need to finish. I am distinguishing that from a talented post-up player who can just post up close to the lane, and go to work on their own, with good moves in either direction and the strength to get and hold position.

We generally get pretty high percentage inside shots with that system partly because the defense is spread thin when we have good 3pt threats on the floor. IMO last year when Paige or Azzi were out (much of the year), defenses could pack it in. Nika, Christyn and Evina are ok from beyond the arc, but they don't strike fear in defenses that would rather protect the paint.

As a result for those stretches of the season, the good looks inside dried up somewhat, and we did not really have a go to post up scorer. Aaliyah in particular seemed to miss the extra room. While I think most of her disappointing season was due to the previous off-season, some of it was a lack of spacing. This season we expected a healthy Paige and Azzi, plus an Improved % from deep from Caroline and the addition of Lou who we knew was a very good outside shooter. That should open things up from the inside but then we lost Paige. Still even without her there is better 3pt shooting this year than last and that should help inside.

In addition Ice appears to be the kind of player you potentially could post up and just let her work. She looks like that kind of player. Ayanna might be with her physicality and lift, but I suspect she will need to refine her inside game beyond just overpowering players inside.
 
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I am distinguishing that from a talented post-up player who can just post up close to the lane, and go to work on their own, with good moves in either direction and the strength to get and hold position.
I completely agree with your remarks. I only quote this portion to highlight a feature of it. Even a good post up player needs space in the paint. I think of Cameron Brink, who had a very good season last year, but benefitted immensely from having a clean lane almost all the time. That’s what good perimeter shooters did for her. We lacked that last year, and Aaliyah and Olivia suffered for it. By contrast, Boston got her points in the paint even though her perimeter shooters weren't nearly as good as Stanford’s were. That’s the difference between a good post player and a great one.
 
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We can only hope. UConn needs to do something. To me, SC is the biggest game on our schedule. They were the team that kept UConn from winning #12. Dawn Staley has already said publically that her team has every intention of repeating. Basically, she has drawn a line in the sand.
Challenge taken! Bring it on and may the best team win. I believe we are 9 wins and 3 losses against SC. I will consider the 100th win game of our 111 win streak as the guide to our victory. We played at SC home court where Dawn Staley said UCONN will not win. We trounced them. I live only 50 miles from their home court and went on line tosee if I could get a ticket to the game. Only scalpers and the cheapest I could find was $750.00. They were sold out. The arena holds 18,000 seats and they sold 19,000 tickets. The fans were standing in the aisles. The Fire marshals were all concerned about safety, but it turned out in our favor. ONE OF OUR GREATEST GAMES.GO HUSKIES!!!
 

Bald Husky

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Challenge taken! Bring it on and may the best team win. I believe we are 9 wins and 3 losses against SC. I will consider the 100th win game of our 111 win streak as the guide to our victory. We played at SC home court where Dawn Staley said UCONN will not win. We trounced them. I live only 50 miles from their home court and went on line tosee if I could get a ticket to the game. Only scalpers and the cheapest I could find was $750.00. They were sold out. The arena holds 18,000 seats and they sold 19,000 tickets. The fans were standing in the aisles. The Fire marshals were all concerned about safety, but it turned out in our favor. ONE OF OUR GREATEST GAMES.GO HUSKIES!!!
I was there for that win and came home with multiple Geno Bucks. LOL
 
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We can only hope. UConn needs to do something. To me, SC is the biggest game on our schedule. They were the team that kept UConn from winning #12. Dawn Staley has already said publically that her team has every intention of repeating. Basically, she has drawn a line in the sand.
With line-up's Uconn has had lately stopping Boston's Lay ups hasn't worked well. It is not impossible. However, a good to great player shall always get some. I think the trick is to have speedy, quick guards that play tough defense much like Nika, Azzi, Caroline, Edwards (yes forward) to keep the ball from getting to Boston often.
Personally, I'd rather run the BE table, the NC run to the F4 and let Geno think how to handled Boston and SC. We worried about Griner 6 ft 7in and UC lost some to her. Geno handled her. In a match up with Griner and Boston, I like Griner. (Hypothetical)
Muffet and ND tooted their horn after beating UConn, that's to be expected when a lesser team beats the very best. So, goes SC, Dawn.
 
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Challenge taken! Bring it on and may the best team win. I believe we are 9 wins and 3 losses against SC. I will consider the 100th win game of our 111 win streak as the guide to our victory. We played at SC home court where Dawn Staley said UCONN will not win. We trounced them. I live only 50 miles from their home court and went on line tosee if I could get a ticket to the game. Only scalpers and the cheapest I could find was $750.00. They were sold out. The arena holds 18,000 seats and they sold 19,000 tickets. The fans were standing in the aisles. The Fire marshals were all concerned about safety, but it turned out in our favor. ONE OF OUR GREATEST GAMES.GO HUSKIES!!!
Why is that the guide to victory for you? That was in 2017, and none of those players are on either teams anymore
 
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Why is that the guide to victory for you? That was in 2017, and none of those players are on either teams anymore
Because they won! And I believe we have the players on this team to do it again. That's why.
 

CocoHusky

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Challenge taken! Bring it on and may the best team win. I believe we are 9 wins and 3 losses against SC. I will consider the 100th win game of our 111 win streak as the guide to our victory. We played at SC home court where Dawn Staley said UCONN will not win. We trounced them. I live only 50 miles from their home court and went on line tosee if I could get a ticket to the game. Only scalpers and the cheapest I could find was $750.00. They were sold out. The arena holds 18,000 seats and they sold 19,000 tickets. The fans were standing in the aisles. The Fire marshals were all concerned about safety, but it turned out in our favor. ONE OF OUR GREATEST GAMES.GO HUSKIES!!!
BAM.gif
 
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Yes.
But before I speculate;
Let’s see UCONN neutralize Morrow before we move on to Boston.

The idea is to win the game and I think UConn has done fairly well against DePaul. The Celtics were always ready to concede 35/20 to Wilt in a winning effort.
 
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I enjoy these takes, but as a visitor, I will remind everyone that not only was South Carolina the best rebounding team in the country, they were the best shot blocking team in the country and their defense is elite. Boston has already beat Uconn three times in her career and defensively SC has held Uconn to its worst three scoring quarters ever. They return 4 starters and bring back the majority of a team that plays defense as well anyone in the country. Not saying Uconn will not be a formidable opponent, but to think that a team that has now been with Dawn Staley 4 years together, will just be overtaken talent, strength or skill wise by the contributions of players coming off major injuries incoming freshmen navigating their first season of major college basketball is a stretch in my eyes, but as many have said before time will tell.

Who will replace Henderson? Two pg's with a total of one game of experience at PG for SCar? UConn has a pg who has started games in her 1st 2 years plus they have Fudd who has all the tools necessary for the position and a year at UConn. And yet the angst over our pg's is intense on this board while Scar fans don't seem at all concerned.
Last year Stanford was also bigger and taller than UConn and yet UConn won. What was Stanford missing last season? A pg.
 
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Who will replace Henderson? Two pg's with a total of one game of experience at PG for SCar? UConn has a pg who has started games in her 1st 2 years plus they have Fudd who has all the tools necessary for the position and a year at UConn. And yet the angst over our pg's is intense on this board while Scar fans don't seem at all concerned.
Last year Stanford was also bigger and taller than UConn and yet UConn won. What was Stanford missing last season? A pg.
The point I have been saying for weeks. Stanford had everything going for them on paper. UCONN did not pay attention to the numbers on paper and did their thing.WIN!! GO HUSKIES!!!
 
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I'm not concerned about Boston, if UConn's last matchup, it was down to guard play. If Louisville can beat a Baylor team with Britney Griner with no one over 6'2, UConn will be fine. it's a mentality. With Ice Brady and Ayanna, Boston will have to combat girth and quickness.
 
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Gotta agree that we are only as good as our rookies turn out to be. I love Ayanna but Ice is probably more college ready and can slot in pretty well in Ono's role as a quality sub for Dorka. The thing that killed us was rebounding and with enough big bodies now maybe we can equalize that some against SC. The thing that impresses me most about SC is how they use Boston. How many teams set picks and screens for their 5? They maximize Boston's performance and it works for them. Ice and Dorka may be the key to getting Boston out of the paint area more.
 
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The point I have been saying for weeks. Stanford had everything going for them on paper. UCONN did not pay attention to the numbers on paper and did their thing.WIN!! GO HUSKIES!!!
The Big difference is that Kierra Fletcher is a proven All ACC point guard for Insurance and Raven Johnson had worked her way into thel lineup as the incomimg high school Naismith Player of the Year. Both fill a need that Stanford did not address after their championship season. I think we are not examining is the great team defense South Carolina played. They shut down every team in the post season from a rebounding and defensive standpoint, and they have all those pieces back. It will be interesting, with their returning experience and talent.
 

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