cferraro04
Sensei
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 2,167
- Reaction Score
- 10,467
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Like Geno said each team in the Big East is going to present a different look with different challenges. Marquette is a good defensive team with some reasonably good height in the frontcourt...6'3", 6'1", and 6'1". They bring a somewhat balanced approach to their scoring with each player capable of scoring double digits. The coaching staff has been playing around with the line-up in the first twelve games trying to settle on who the 5th player will be. I believe the 5th player will be Jaydynn Mason who has started the last 7 games. This line-up creates a sort of mismatch at the 5 spot in that Skylar Forbes is their best scorer and rebounder. This creates somewhat of a problem for Jana and Ice at the 5. I would probably prefer the small line-up in this one with Sarah, Paige, Ashlynn, Azzi and Kaitlyn but, I think Geno goes with his traditional starting five and plays Jana at the 5 and brings Ashlynn off the bench.
When you look at the team stats the teams look fairly close with Marquette averaging 72 points per game and holding opponents to 54.5 points. UConn averages 79.1 points and holds their opponents to 53.8 points per game. Marquette hits 8.6 three-pointers per game and UConn hits only 5.7 but that should change rapidly now that Azzi is back in the line-up. Marquette grabs 41.9 rebounds per game while UConn grabs 36.5 rebounds per game. Marquette is a fairly good passing team averaging 18.2 assists per game. UConn's passing continues to improve as they are averaging 21.2 assists per game. Both teams force 18.8 turnovers on their opponents but, UConn takes care of the basketball a little better than Marquette does. UConn turns the ball over 11 times per game while Marquette turns the ball over 15.8 times per game. Marquette has not faced a team like UConn this season. If UConn presses as they did against Providence and I see no reason why they won't I would expect UConn to force Marquette to turn the ball over much more than they average and with UConn's speed I would expect UConn to score a lot off their defense. Because of UConn's on ball defense with Paige, Kaitlynn, and now Chen trapping the ball and Strong pushing out into the passing lanes, UConn is getting quite a reputation for thievery as they steal the ball 11.2 times per game while Marquette is averaging 8.6 steals per game. And, unfortunately for Marquette, it doesn't get much easier for them when you have KK and Shade coming off the bench and disrupting the opponent's offense.
RPI / SOS:
Here is where the rubber meets the road I believe. Marquette has an extremely weak schedule to date. Marquette's SOS is 287 and their RPI is 123. UConn's SOS is 8 and their RPI IS 6. Marquette simply has not seen a team like UConn this year. They have traditionally given UConn a pretty good game in years past but, I am not expecting one this time around.
Marquette's opponent's RPIs - 49, 58, 158, 174, 175, 221, 236, 283, 304, 314, 345
UConn's opponent's RPIs - 10, 18, 23, 39, 47, 78, 96, 106, 110, 112, 135, 180, 212
Marquette's opponent's SOS - 35, 36, 63, 118, 133, 136, 179, 198, 212, 273, 278, 318.
UConn's opponent's SOS - 15, 17, 20, 24, 30, 37, 40, 48, 135, 148, 172, 294, 320.
PLAYER ANALYSIS:
Jana El-Alfy, 6'5", R-Freshman - Center vs Skylar Forbes, 6'3" Sophomore - Forward - with the smaller line-up I would have put Sarah Strong on Skylar and I believe that would have neutralized her however, in this case, Jana is going to have to step it up. Skylar averages 15.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and gets 1.8 blocks per game...she is a stat stuffer. She also averages 1.7 three-pointers per game. Jana and Ice together average 11 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1 block per game. To contain Skylar it may take a team effort...weak side help may be needed to contain Skylar. ADVANTAGE - MARQUETTE.
Paige Bueckers, 6'0" - RS Senior - Guard vs Lee Volker, 6'1" - Senior - Guard - Lee Voker is Marquette's second scoring threat, Lee averages 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and hits 1 three per game. With Paige looking to more aggressive earlier in the game I think Lee will have her hands full and will have a difficult time trying to contain Paige. Paige is averaging a team-best 20.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and hits 2 three-pointers per game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Sarah Strong, 6'2" - Freshmen - Forward vs Halle Vice, 6'1" - Sophomore - Guard - Halle is averaging 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, .8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game against what would appear weak competition. Sarah will show Halle why she is the number one freshman recruited out of high school. Sarah averages 17.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. She also averages 2 three-pointers per game as well. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Azzi Fudd, 5'11" - Graduate - Guard vs Olivia Porter, 5'8" - Junior - Guard - Olivia averages 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal, and averages 1 three-pointer per game. While Azzi is still returning from her injury she will get better each game. She is currently averaging 8.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, .7 steals, and averages 1.3 three-pointers per game. I think Azzi builds on her last outing against Providence and is able to prevail in this match-up. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Kaitlyn Chen, 5'9" - Graduate - Guard vs Jaedynn Mason 5'6" - Junior - Guard - Jaedynn is averaging 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. However, it should be noted that Jaedynn scored 16, 4, 17, 7, 6, 12 in her last 6 games. Kaitlynn averages 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and averages .7 three-pointers per game. I believe that Kaitlyn experience against tougher competition will give her an edge in this match-up. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
BENCH:
Marquette will bring 20 points and 14.6 rebounds off the bench. UConn will bring 26 points and 12.2 rebounds off the bench. With KK, Ashlynn, Ice, Morgan, Quadence and Ziebell coming off the bench...I don't see Marquette being able to match the talent. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
INTANGIBLES:
Marquette will be playing in front of their home crowd. UConn will be traveling for this one. UConn will be looking to establish themselves as "he Beast in the East" and I look for them to be rounding back into form after the Christmas break. Too much talent... ADVANTAGE - UCONN
COACHING:
Geno, Chris, and their cracker-jack coaching staff will have UConn ready for this. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
SCORE:
UCONN - 87
MARQUETTE - 59
MOV - 28
Like Geno said each team in the Big East is going to present a different look with different challenges. Marquette is a good defensive team with some reasonably good height in the frontcourt...6'3", 6'1", and 6'1". They bring a somewhat balanced approach to their scoring with each player capable of scoring double digits. The coaching staff has been playing around with the line-up in the first twelve games trying to settle on who the 5th player will be. I believe the 5th player will be Jaydynn Mason who has started the last 7 games. This line-up creates a sort of mismatch at the 5 spot in that Skylar Forbes is their best scorer and rebounder. This creates somewhat of a problem for Jana and Ice at the 5. I would probably prefer the small line-up in this one with Sarah, Paige, Ashlynn, Azzi and Kaitlyn but, I think Geno goes with his traditional starting five and plays Jana at the 5 and brings Ashlynn off the bench.
When you look at the team stats the teams look fairly close with Marquette averaging 72 points per game and holding opponents to 54.5 points. UConn averages 79.1 points and holds their opponents to 53.8 points per game. Marquette hits 8.6 three-pointers per game and UConn hits only 5.7 but that should change rapidly now that Azzi is back in the line-up. Marquette grabs 41.9 rebounds per game while UConn grabs 36.5 rebounds per game. Marquette is a fairly good passing team averaging 18.2 assists per game. UConn's passing continues to improve as they are averaging 21.2 assists per game. Both teams force 18.8 turnovers on their opponents but, UConn takes care of the basketball a little better than Marquette does. UConn turns the ball over 11 times per game while Marquette turns the ball over 15.8 times per game. Marquette has not faced a team like UConn this season. If UConn presses as they did against Providence and I see no reason why they won't I would expect UConn to force Marquette to turn the ball over much more than they average and with UConn's speed I would expect UConn to score a lot off their defense. Because of UConn's on ball defense with Paige, Kaitlynn, and now Chen trapping the ball and Strong pushing out into the passing lanes, UConn is getting quite a reputation for thievery as they steal the ball 11.2 times per game while Marquette is averaging 8.6 steals per game. And, unfortunately for Marquette, it doesn't get much easier for them when you have KK and Shade coming off the bench and disrupting the opponent's offense.
RPI / SOS:
Here is where the rubber meets the road I believe. Marquette has an extremely weak schedule to date. Marquette's SOS is 287 and their RPI is 123. UConn's SOS is 8 and their RPI IS 6. Marquette simply has not seen a team like UConn this year. They have traditionally given UConn a pretty good game in years past but, I am not expecting one this time around.
Marquette's opponent's RPIs - 49, 58, 158, 174, 175, 221, 236, 283, 304, 314, 345
UConn's opponent's RPIs - 10, 18, 23, 39, 47, 78, 96, 106, 110, 112, 135, 180, 212
Marquette's opponent's SOS - 35, 36, 63, 118, 133, 136, 179, 198, 212, 273, 278, 318.
UConn's opponent's SOS - 15, 17, 20, 24, 30, 37, 40, 48, 135, 148, 172, 294, 320.
PLAYER ANALYSIS:
Jana El-Alfy, 6'5", R-Freshman - Center vs Skylar Forbes, 6'3" Sophomore - Forward - with the smaller line-up I would have put Sarah Strong on Skylar and I believe that would have neutralized her however, in this case, Jana is going to have to step it up. Skylar averages 15.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and gets 1.8 blocks per game...she is a stat stuffer. She also averages 1.7 three-pointers per game. Jana and Ice together average 11 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1 block per game. To contain Skylar it may take a team effort...weak side help may be needed to contain Skylar. ADVANTAGE - MARQUETTE.
Paige Bueckers, 6'0" - RS Senior - Guard vs Lee Volker, 6'1" - Senior - Guard - Lee Voker is Marquette's second scoring threat, Lee averages 14.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and hits 1 three per game. With Paige looking to more aggressive earlier in the game I think Lee will have her hands full and will have a difficult time trying to contain Paige. Paige is averaging a team-best 20.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.0 steals and hits 2 three-pointers per game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Sarah Strong, 6'2" - Freshmen - Forward vs Halle Vice, 6'1" - Sophomore - Guard - Halle is averaging 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, .8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game against what would appear weak competition. Sarah will show Halle why she is the number one freshman recruited out of high school. Sarah averages 17.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. She also averages 2 three-pointers per game as well. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Azzi Fudd, 5'11" - Graduate - Guard vs Olivia Porter, 5'8" - Junior - Guard - Olivia averages 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1 steal, and averages 1 three-pointer per game. While Azzi is still returning from her injury she will get better each game. She is currently averaging 8.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, .7 steals, and averages 1.3 three-pointers per game. I think Azzi builds on her last outing against Providence and is able to prevail in this match-up. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Kaitlyn Chen, 5'9" - Graduate - Guard vs Jaedynn Mason 5'6" - Junior - Guard - Jaedynn is averaging 7.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. However, it should be noted that Jaedynn scored 16, 4, 17, 7, 6, 12 in her last 6 games. Kaitlynn averages 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and averages .7 three-pointers per game. I believe that Kaitlyn experience against tougher competition will give her an edge in this match-up. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
BENCH:
Marquette will bring 20 points and 14.6 rebounds off the bench. UConn will bring 26 points and 12.2 rebounds off the bench. With KK, Ashlynn, Ice, Morgan, Quadence and Ziebell coming off the bench...I don't see Marquette being able to match the talent. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
INTANGIBLES:
Marquette will be playing in front of their home crowd. UConn will be traveling for this one. UConn will be looking to establish themselves as "he Beast in the East" and I look for them to be rounding back into form after the Christmas break. Too much talent... ADVANTAGE - UCONN
COACHING:
Geno, Chris, and their cracker-jack coaching staff will have UConn ready for this. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
SCORE:
UCONN - 87
MARQUETTE - 59
MOV - 28
