cferraro04
Sensei
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 2,087
- Reaction Score
- 9,572
Okay...first and foremost Happy New Year one and all!!!! This will be a great game to help UConn gets its sea legs back under her. Wow, you say! After all UConn won its last two games before the New Year...true but, UConn looked extremely tired during the Marquette game...and they were. Of course, you have to credit the Marquette cadre of upper classmen whose experience is difficult to measure on a stat sheet. Watching Megan Duffy patrol the side-lines like a lioness reminded me of her tenacity as a point guard for Muffin McGraw. Megan has successfully transferred some of her competitiveness to her players.
Next up Butler... Butler like UConn has a couple of their best players down with knee injuries and are listed injured indefinitely...their freshman sensation Jessica Carrothers who has twice won Big East Freshman of the week is listed out with a knee injury. Jessica is Butlers third best player averaging 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2.1 assists per game. Ana Mortag Butler's fourth best player is also out with a knee injury...this junior forward averages 8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Of course, UConn is no stranger to injury bug...as it is rare that UConn can ever play a game with its full compliment of players. Not have Jessica and Ana in the line-up poses a big problem for Butler who already has difficulty putting up points on the board. At the same time, I don't expect Geno to run the score up either as he will look to get his bench players some playing time as well as try to get Azzi Fudd some minutes in order to get her ready for when she will be needed. UConn will have a huge talent and size advantage which should translate to a rebounding advantage both defensively and offensively. Butler averages 34.8 rebounds per game to UConn's 41.5. When you look for a silver lining in this game you don't have to look much farther than turnovers category...for the first time in a while the opposition does not have a sizeable advantage in turnovers. UConn averages 17.4 while Butler averages 17.1. UConn will need to learn how to take better care of the basketball if they plan to go deep into the post season.
Match-ups: I believe Butler will start 5'6", 5'7", 5'10", 6'0" and 6'3" while UConn will go with 6'5", 6'3", 6'2", 6'1", 5'10". This will be another pound it into the middle and let the bigs carry the team type of game.
6'5" Dorka Jurasz vs 6'3" Sydney Jaynes - Sydney is Butler's best front court player. She averages 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds for Butler. At 6'5" Dorka should have her way with Sydney and Dorka has been playing well of late averaging a double - double with 12.7 points and 11.3 rebounds. Nika and the rest of the team will make sure that Dorka gets plenty of touches. ADVANTAGE UCONN
6'3" Aaliyah Edwards vs 6'0" Tenley Dowell - Terry Dowell may get the start but she will have her hands full with Edwards and I wouldn't be surprised to see 6'2" Kelsey Taylor substituted in in order to try and stop the bleeding which I suspect will be substantial. Together Terry and Tenley average 10 points and 7.5 rebounds... Even when take collectively they still come up short against our future All American Candidate. Edwards is averaging 17.2 points and 9.8 rebounds. I would look for Edwards to again score over 20 points and to get 12 or more rebounds. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
6'2" Caroline Ducharme vs 5'10" Rachel McLimore - It was great to see Caroline have such a good game against Marquette she almost looked like her old self...hitting threes, grabbing rebounds and driving to the basket contributing 19 points, 7 rebounds and hitting 3 threes. Rachel is Butlers best player averaging 11.8 points, 1.5 three pointers, 1.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game however, if Caroline can string another game like the last one together her impact on the game will eclipse that of Rachel's. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
6'1" Lou Lopez-Senechal vs 5'11" Caroline Strande - Lou has been a God-send to our team. I am so glad that we picked her up in "the portal" this past summer. We didn't know how lucky we were...as no one knew what to expect with her jumping from the MAAC to the Big East. But, what a pleasant surprise. Lou is averaging 17.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 three pointers 1.5 assists per game her impact has been consistent and much needed given all of UConn's injuries. Caroline Strande is a well rounded player averaging 7.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1 three pointer and 1.3 assists per game...but, she will not be able to statistically keep up with Lou. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
5'10 Nika Muhl vs 5'7" Shay Frederick - Shay does a little of everything...she scores 4.4 points per game, gets 2.5 rebounds per game, hits 1.5 three pointers, gets 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. But, Nika is the energizer bunny who just keeps going and is relentless. Nika may only score 5.8 points per game but her 9.8 assists account for 20 of her teams points. She grabs 4.6 rebounds, averages 1 three pointer and gets 1.5 steals a game. She is an absolute pest on defense. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Bench: - It depends on who UConn or Butler gets back from the IR list. If either Azzi or Aubrey and if either Jessica or Anna return then the bench can swing one way or the other. But, given the low productivity off of UConn's bench this season, but, the considerable height advantage that Amari and Ayanna gives UConn I do not see one team's bench over-shadowing the others. ADVANTAGE - EVEN
Intangibles: - Even though this game is being played in Indianapolis it really won't make much of a difference, with the potential of UConn getting either Azzi Fudd or Aubrey Griffin or both back is a much greater intangible than if Butler were to get either or both Jessica Carrothers or Anna Mortag back. Talent, Size and speed favor UConn. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Coaching: 12 years of experience coaching IUPUI and being their winningest coach in IUPUI history is impressive...but, Geno, Chris, Jamelle and Morgan have the much better resume and experience. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
UConn 94 - Butler 49 (Palindrome victory)
MOV - 45
Next up Butler... Butler like UConn has a couple of their best players down with knee injuries and are listed injured indefinitely...their freshman sensation Jessica Carrothers who has twice won Big East Freshman of the week is listed out with a knee injury. Jessica is Butlers third best player averaging 9.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2.1 assists per game. Ana Mortag Butler's fourth best player is also out with a knee injury...this junior forward averages 8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Of course, UConn is no stranger to injury bug...as it is rare that UConn can ever play a game with its full compliment of players. Not have Jessica and Ana in the line-up poses a big problem for Butler who already has difficulty putting up points on the board. At the same time, I don't expect Geno to run the score up either as he will look to get his bench players some playing time as well as try to get Azzi Fudd some minutes in order to get her ready for when she will be needed. UConn will have a huge talent and size advantage which should translate to a rebounding advantage both defensively and offensively. Butler averages 34.8 rebounds per game to UConn's 41.5. When you look for a silver lining in this game you don't have to look much farther than turnovers category...for the first time in a while the opposition does not have a sizeable advantage in turnovers. UConn averages 17.4 while Butler averages 17.1. UConn will need to learn how to take better care of the basketball if they plan to go deep into the post season.
Match-ups: I believe Butler will start 5'6", 5'7", 5'10", 6'0" and 6'3" while UConn will go with 6'5", 6'3", 6'2", 6'1", 5'10". This will be another pound it into the middle and let the bigs carry the team type of game.
6'5" Dorka Jurasz vs 6'3" Sydney Jaynes - Sydney is Butler's best front court player. She averages 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds for Butler. At 6'5" Dorka should have her way with Sydney and Dorka has been playing well of late averaging a double - double with 12.7 points and 11.3 rebounds. Nika and the rest of the team will make sure that Dorka gets plenty of touches. ADVANTAGE UCONN
6'3" Aaliyah Edwards vs 6'0" Tenley Dowell - Terry Dowell may get the start but she will have her hands full with Edwards and I wouldn't be surprised to see 6'2" Kelsey Taylor substituted in in order to try and stop the bleeding which I suspect will be substantial. Together Terry and Tenley average 10 points and 7.5 rebounds... Even when take collectively they still come up short against our future All American Candidate. Edwards is averaging 17.2 points and 9.8 rebounds. I would look for Edwards to again score over 20 points and to get 12 or more rebounds. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
6'2" Caroline Ducharme vs 5'10" Rachel McLimore - It was great to see Caroline have such a good game against Marquette she almost looked like her old self...hitting threes, grabbing rebounds and driving to the basket contributing 19 points, 7 rebounds and hitting 3 threes. Rachel is Butlers best player averaging 11.8 points, 1.5 three pointers, 1.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game however, if Caroline can string another game like the last one together her impact on the game will eclipse that of Rachel's. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
6'1" Lou Lopez-Senechal vs 5'11" Caroline Strande - Lou has been a God-send to our team. I am so glad that we picked her up in "the portal" this past summer. We didn't know how lucky we were...as no one knew what to expect with her jumping from the MAAC to the Big East. But, what a pleasant surprise. Lou is averaging 17.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.7 three pointers 1.5 assists per game her impact has been consistent and much needed given all of UConn's injuries. Caroline Strande is a well rounded player averaging 7.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1 three pointer and 1.3 assists per game...but, she will not be able to statistically keep up with Lou. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
5'10 Nika Muhl vs 5'7" Shay Frederick - Shay does a little of everything...she scores 4.4 points per game, gets 2.5 rebounds per game, hits 1.5 three pointers, gets 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. But, Nika is the energizer bunny who just keeps going and is relentless. Nika may only score 5.8 points per game but her 9.8 assists account for 20 of her teams points. She grabs 4.6 rebounds, averages 1 three pointer and gets 1.5 steals a game. She is an absolute pest on defense. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Bench: - It depends on who UConn or Butler gets back from the IR list. If either Azzi or Aubrey and if either Jessica or Anna return then the bench can swing one way or the other. But, given the low productivity off of UConn's bench this season, but, the considerable height advantage that Amari and Ayanna gives UConn I do not see one team's bench over-shadowing the others. ADVANTAGE - EVEN
Intangibles: - Even though this game is being played in Indianapolis it really won't make much of a difference, with the potential of UConn getting either Azzi Fudd or Aubrey Griffin or both back is a much greater intangible than if Butler were to get either or both Jessica Carrothers or Anna Mortag back. Talent, Size and speed favor UConn. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Coaching: 12 years of experience coaching IUPUI and being their winningest coach in IUPUI history is impressive...but, Geno, Chris, Jamelle and Morgan have the much better resume and experience. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
UConn 94 - Butler 49 (Palindrome victory)
MOV - 45
