cferraro04
Sensei
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 2,118
- Reaction Score
- 9,969
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Great to be back in the States. I have had time to catch up on the Holy Cross and the Louisville Games. I must say Sarah Strong is looking pretty good. And, Azzi is showing why we are better when she is on the floor. My heart stopped when I read that she went down holding her knee. I am really glad to hear that it is minor and it is one week off and then day to day. I was surprised at how well UConn handled Louisville.
Notre Dame is a horse of a different color. Those ND guards are tough. I hope Hildalgo has an off night and takes a lot of shots. My biggest fear in this game is that ND will jump on UConn early, force a lot of turnovers, and rattle them. If UConn can hang in there and adjust to ND's defensive intensity and match them on the defensive end we might see a classic case of a good defensive team being thrown off their rhythm by another team's defensive intensity. This could be wishful thinking, however, because Hildago, Miles, and Citron have been known to wreak havoc on their opponents. I am also somewhat leery of ND's big girl Kate Koval she is a blocking machine in the middle. I think UConn's bigs could get ND's bigs into some foul trouble if they take the ball to the hole but they have to be careful putting the ball on the floor because ND's thieves will be on the prowl.
I think we will see some switching on the defensive end for ND...I think they will primarily play man-to-man, especially with Azzi out but, I also expect them to switch to the zone in an attempt to keep UConn out of their rhythm. We need our three-point shooters to knock a few down this game or it will allow ND to sag, protect the middle, and cheat on defense. Finally, I am concerned as to how well our players will handle the hostile South Bend fans. The home crowd at South Bend will be loud and Hildago and crew will look to quench their fan's thirst.
As much as I see danger lurking in many areas for UConn in this one...I keep on thinking we are going to be a handful for them as well. We have a very talented starting line-up with Paige, Sarah, Ashlynn, Kaitlyn, and Ice...we also have a deeper bench. Notre Dame has 5 players that play 30 or more minutes with Cassandra being the only other player getting over 15 minutes. They play 6 players. I know that this is a lot to ask with the home-job reffing we usually see in South Bend...but, if we could any of them into foul trouble they have a very short bench.
PLAYER ANALYSIS:
Ice Brady, 6'3" - forward vs Kate Koval, 6'5" - forward - Kate is a blocking machine with 3.6 blocks per game. She averages 8.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists per game. She is prone to turning the ball over as she averages 3.9 turnovers per game. Ice averages 6.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Ice is also prone to turning the ball over, committing 2.4 turnovers per game. Koval will play roughly 30 minutes while Brady averages 21 minutes per game. Jana El-Alfy will pick up the remaining minutes in the post as will Cassandra Prosper for ND. On the straight-up match-up between Koval and Ice, I would give a SLIGHT ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME. However, when you bring in the substitutes and analyze the position as a whole... ADVANTAGE - EVEN
Sarah Strong, 6'2" - forward vs Liatu King, 6'0" - forward - This match-up is very interesting as Liatu averages 12.1 points per game and is a prolific rebounder, averaging 11 rebounds per game. She also is a pretty good thief as she averages 2.8 steals per game. She is somewhat turnover prone committing 2.6 per game. This is something that Sarah may be able to exploit as she has a good nose for the ball and averages 2.5 steals per game. Sarah is playing really good basketball at the moment. She is averaging 16.3 points, 2 three-pointers, 7.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. Sarah takes care of the basketball and only turns the ball over 1.4 times per game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Paige Bueckers, 6'0" - guard vs Sonia Citron, 6'1' - guard - Sonia is a cagy, solid basketball player and she will bring defensive intensity to Paige, she will also be a handful for Paige to handle as she is a very capable guard. Sonia averages 14.9 points with two three-pointers per game. She will also average 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Paige remembers quite well how Hildago embarrassed UConn last season as he was a one-woman wrecking ball so, I think Paige will look to score in this one, she will be somewhat more stingy and will score well above her average in this one. In any case, Paige averages 18.9 points while hitting 2.0 three-pointers per game. Paige also averages 5.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. Paige is also a master thief averaging 4.1 steals per game. This will be a great match-up, however, with Paige looking to make this a signature game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Kaitlyn Chen, 5'9" - guard vs Hannah Hildago, 5'6" - guard - Hannah is not going to be contained, she is going to get hers. I only hope it is not a repeat of last year. I hope there is some good switching on UConn's part and that UConn brings the weak-side help because I believe containing Hildago will need to be a team effort. UConn has to be very careful in how they switch because Hildago will find the open man. Hildago averages 24.6 points, 2 three-pointers, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists and is a very capable pick-pocket averaging 4.1 steals per game. Kaitlyn is going to have to play the defensive game of her life. If she can hold Hildago below her averages it could make the game difficult for ND. But, that may be easier said than done. Kaitlyn averages 7.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. I don't think Kaitlyn alone will get the job done against Hannah. I think we will see some KK in to defend against Hannah Hildago. It probably won't matter... ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME
Ashlynn Shade, 5'10" - guard vs Olivia Miles, 5'10" - guard - Olivia is the second piece of the guard assault that ND brings. Olivia averages 17.2 points, 2.0 three-pointers, 6.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.5 steals. Olivia makes everyone else better...she is the glue for this team. Ashlynn must be disruptive on defense and keep Olivia in front of her. It will be a tough assignment for Ashlynn. Ash averages 7.6 points, 1.4 three-pointers, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.6 steals. Ashlynn is very good at taking care of the basketball as she only averages .5 turnovers per game. I think that Ashlynn will make things interesting against Olivia but in the end, I believe it is: ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME
BENCH:
UConn will bring 17.8 points and 12.6 rebounds off the bench and Notre Dame will bring 12.8 points and 14.4 rebounds off the bench. I think some of our bench players may find themselves having a pretty good game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
INTANGIBLES:
Notre Dame has the home-court advantage, their fans will inspire them. UConn has a deeper bench. I think Notre Dames's stars Miles, Hildago and Citron have the potential to have big games: ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME
COACHING:
I think the two hall-of-fame coaches on the UConn side are a formidable team and they will be up to the task in a UConn vs ND match-up given the years of experience they have had in UConn vs Notre Dame match-ups. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
SCORE:
UCONN - 76
NOTRE DAME - 69
MOV - 7
Great to be back in the States. I have had time to catch up on the Holy Cross and the Louisville Games. I must say Sarah Strong is looking pretty good. And, Azzi is showing why we are better when she is on the floor. My heart stopped when I read that she went down holding her knee. I am really glad to hear that it is minor and it is one week off and then day to day. I was surprised at how well UConn handled Louisville.
Notre Dame is a horse of a different color. Those ND guards are tough. I hope Hildalgo has an off night and takes a lot of shots. My biggest fear in this game is that ND will jump on UConn early, force a lot of turnovers, and rattle them. If UConn can hang in there and adjust to ND's defensive intensity and match them on the defensive end we might see a classic case of a good defensive team being thrown off their rhythm by another team's defensive intensity. This could be wishful thinking, however, because Hildago, Miles, and Citron have been known to wreak havoc on their opponents. I am also somewhat leery of ND's big girl Kate Koval she is a blocking machine in the middle. I think UConn's bigs could get ND's bigs into some foul trouble if they take the ball to the hole but they have to be careful putting the ball on the floor because ND's thieves will be on the prowl.
I think we will see some switching on the defensive end for ND...I think they will primarily play man-to-man, especially with Azzi out but, I also expect them to switch to the zone in an attempt to keep UConn out of their rhythm. We need our three-point shooters to knock a few down this game or it will allow ND to sag, protect the middle, and cheat on defense. Finally, I am concerned as to how well our players will handle the hostile South Bend fans. The home crowd at South Bend will be loud and Hildago and crew will look to quench their fan's thirst.
As much as I see danger lurking in many areas for UConn in this one...I keep on thinking we are going to be a handful for them as well. We have a very talented starting line-up with Paige, Sarah, Ashlynn, Kaitlyn, and Ice...we also have a deeper bench. Notre Dame has 5 players that play 30 or more minutes with Cassandra being the only other player getting over 15 minutes. They play 6 players. I know that this is a lot to ask with the home-job reffing we usually see in South Bend...but, if we could any of them into foul trouble they have a very short bench.
PLAYER ANALYSIS:
Ice Brady, 6'3" - forward vs Kate Koval, 6'5" - forward - Kate is a blocking machine with 3.6 blocks per game. She averages 8.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists per game. She is prone to turning the ball over as she averages 3.9 turnovers per game. Ice averages 6.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Ice is also prone to turning the ball over, committing 2.4 turnovers per game. Koval will play roughly 30 minutes while Brady averages 21 minutes per game. Jana El-Alfy will pick up the remaining minutes in the post as will Cassandra Prosper for ND. On the straight-up match-up between Koval and Ice, I would give a SLIGHT ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME. However, when you bring in the substitutes and analyze the position as a whole... ADVANTAGE - EVEN
Sarah Strong, 6'2" - forward vs Liatu King, 6'0" - forward - This match-up is very interesting as Liatu averages 12.1 points per game and is a prolific rebounder, averaging 11 rebounds per game. She also is a pretty good thief as she averages 2.8 steals per game. She is somewhat turnover prone committing 2.6 per game. This is something that Sarah may be able to exploit as she has a good nose for the ball and averages 2.5 steals per game. Sarah is playing really good basketball at the moment. She is averaging 16.3 points, 2 three-pointers, 7.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. Sarah takes care of the basketball and only turns the ball over 1.4 times per game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Paige Bueckers, 6'0" - guard vs Sonia Citron, 6'1' - guard - Sonia is a cagy, solid basketball player and she will bring defensive intensity to Paige, she will also be a handful for Paige to handle as she is a very capable guard. Sonia averages 14.9 points with two three-pointers per game. She will also average 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.8 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Paige remembers quite well how Hildago embarrassed UConn last season as he was a one-woman wrecking ball so, I think Paige will look to score in this one, she will be somewhat more stingy and will score well above her average in this one. In any case, Paige averages 18.9 points while hitting 2.0 three-pointers per game. Paige also averages 5.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. Paige is also a master thief averaging 4.1 steals per game. This will be a great match-up, however, with Paige looking to make this a signature game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Kaitlyn Chen, 5'9" - guard vs Hannah Hildago, 5'6" - guard - Hannah is not going to be contained, she is going to get hers. I only hope it is not a repeat of last year. I hope there is some good switching on UConn's part and that UConn brings the weak-side help because I believe containing Hildago will need to be a team effort. UConn has to be very careful in how they switch because Hildago will find the open man. Hildago averages 24.6 points, 2 three-pointers, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists and is a very capable pick-pocket averaging 4.1 steals per game. Kaitlyn is going to have to play the defensive game of her life. If she can hold Hildago below her averages it could make the game difficult for ND. But, that may be easier said than done. Kaitlyn averages 7.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. I don't think Kaitlyn alone will get the job done against Hannah. I think we will see some KK in to defend against Hannah Hildago. It probably won't matter... ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME
Ashlynn Shade, 5'10" - guard vs Olivia Miles, 5'10" - guard - Olivia is the second piece of the guard assault that ND brings. Olivia averages 17.2 points, 2.0 three-pointers, 6.7 rebounds, 6.6 assists, and 1.5 steals. Olivia makes everyone else better...she is the glue for this team. Ashlynn must be disruptive on defense and keep Olivia in front of her. It will be a tough assignment for Ashlynn. Ash averages 7.6 points, 1.4 three-pointers, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 1.6 steals. Ashlynn is very good at taking care of the basketball as she only averages .5 turnovers per game. I think that Ashlynn will make things interesting against Olivia but in the end, I believe it is: ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME
BENCH:
UConn will bring 17.8 points and 12.6 rebounds off the bench and Notre Dame will bring 12.8 points and 14.4 rebounds off the bench. I think some of our bench players may find themselves having a pretty good game. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
INTANGIBLES:
Notre Dame has the home-court advantage, their fans will inspire them. UConn has a deeper bench. I think Notre Dames's stars Miles, Hildago and Citron have the potential to have big games: ADVANTAGE - NOTRE DAME
COACHING:
I think the two hall-of-fame coaches on the UConn side are a formidable team and they will be up to the task in a UConn vs ND match-up given the years of experience they have had in UConn vs Notre Dame match-ups. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
SCORE:
UCONN - 76
NOTRE DAME - 69
MOV - 7
