cferraro04
Sensei
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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Well, it was a heartbreaking week. Losing two games in a row and breaking a 30 year streak of not losing two in a row. To begin with and putting that in perspective one has to realize that what UConn did was quite remarkable...keeping that streak alive for 30 years? Are you kidding me? That's the stuff legends are made of! Then coming off the emotional and hard fought game with So. Carolina and going into Marquette's home court with Marquette looking to make a statement, and having to face that with only five overworked, mentally and physically exhausted players was a recipe for disaster...it was the perfect storm. You could say that if finally caught up with UConn. I remember Geno saying that he was surprised that it took this long to happen (again a testament to the toughness and the resiliency of this team. Alas...it happened UConn took a loss from an unranked team...but, let's not forget how many seniors are on Marquette's team...they are a senior laden, well coached team who play tough defense and who believed that they could win that ball game and they did...kudos to them. Going forward it is going to be important that the current cadre of UConn players stays healthy. That Caroline and Azzi find their way back to active play. If we are going to have a chance to get to the final four we are going to need Caroline and Azzi. We are going to need these five players to stay healthy and hungry.
So, here we are again facing Georgetown for the second time this year and we are playing them in Washington D. C. in an away game. Will we get a repeat of what happened in Marquette? I would say yes and no... Yes, we will struggle to put points on the board and I believe that it will be a low scoring game...however, I would also say no...we will not lose three in a row. Georgetown is not Marquette they are not as disciplined and talented as Marquette. Georgetown struggles to put points on the board only averaging 61 points per game. They are not a great three point shooting team averaging 4.9 threes per game. They have decent size but not as big as UConn. Georgetown will start Kelsey Ransom 5'9" Junior; Kennedy Fauntleroy 5'7" Freshman; Kristina Moore 6'1" Graduate; Graceann Bennett 6'3" Senior and Jana Claude 6'0" Junior. They will bring Brianna Scott 6'4" Sophomore and Ariel Jenkins 6'3" Sophomore off the bench. Brianna Scott coming off the bench was Georgetown's top scorer in our January match-up. The last match-up resulted in a 15 point unremarkable UConn win. It was a "grind it out" kind of game with it ending up a low-scoring game 65 - 50.
I expect UConn to be anxious to put the past two games behind them and to get back on track as they head towards the Big East Tournament. Our lack of three point shooting has hurt us because teams can pack the middle, focus on weak-side help and double teams in the paint...while UConn struggles from three. Also teams have figured out that if they take away our transition game that it exposes some of our weaknesses like taking care of the basketball and standing around in the half-court game. We will need to get out and run and try to get some transition baskets. Our inside game has been our strength Dorka and Edwards have done a herculean job in the paint...I don't expect that to change in this game.
Dorka Juhasz vs Graceann Bennett - Graceann at 6'3" is Georgetown's tallest starter. She is only a freshman and while she has done well this first year averaging 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds she will have her hands full trying to contain Dorka... I think Dorka will have a really good game on Saturday. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Aaliyah Edwards vs Jada Claude - Aaliyah was flat against Marquette...her energy was low and she didn't look like herself in that game. I fully expect her to have a bounce back game and unfortunately for Jada...she is the one standing in Aaliyah's way. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Aubrey Griffin vs Kristina Moore - Kristina is a good size (6'1") graduate guard who averages 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game... Again Aubrey will be looking to get back on track. I expect she will continue to slash the basket, drive to the hole when possible and use her athleticism to dominate at this position. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Lou Lopez-Senechal vs Kelsey Ransome - Well "skip, skip to my Lou" has also been missing a beat of late...I expect her to find her three point shot again. And, to play tough defense on Kelsey (unless they give that job to Nika but I just can't see Lou getting 5'7" Kennedy as her assignment). Kelsey is Georgetown's best player...she is a savvy junior who averages 13.4 points and 7 rebounds per game. We were able to hold her to only 3 points in our January meeting with Georgetown. She also is the engine for Georgetown she is the team's leader in assists and in steals. Let's hope the UConn can take care of the basketball and limit its turn overs. Georgetown likes to force turnovers and is pretty good scoring points off of turnovers. Lou should be too good for Kelsey at this positioin. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Nika Muhl vs Kennedy Fauntleroy - Fauntleroy is Georgetown's second best producer. She averages 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Kennedy was able to score 9 points against UConn in our last meeting. At 5'7 she is a quick guard who can shoot the three. Nika will be a tough assignment for Kennedy should she be the one defending Nika. Fauntleroy is only a freshman and Nika should have her way with her. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Intangibles - Here we go again...an away game, with a depleted team, coming off an emotional week. However, UConn is still in my opinion a final four team and they know how to come back from adversity and tough loses...I don't thing the intangibles will have a deleterious effect on UConn. I think they overcome whatever intangibles there are in this game and come away with the win. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Bench - Georgetown will bring 6'4 Brianna Scott and 6'3" Ariel Jenkins off the bench...they average 9.5 points and 7 rebounds between them. UConn will bring 6'2" Ayanna Patterson, 6'5" Amari DeBerry and 5'9" Ines Bettencourt off the bench they average 6.5 points and 5 rebounds between them. If Caroline is ready to play limited minutes then I would have no problem giving UConn the advantage however, if we do not have Caroline then it is a different outcome from the bench. ADVANTAGE - EVEN
Coaching - Howard and staff are no match...for the Hall of Fame head coach and associate coaching duo of Geno and Chris. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
UConn - 78
Georgetown - 55
MOV = 23
So, here we are again facing Georgetown for the second time this year and we are playing them in Washington D. C. in an away game. Will we get a repeat of what happened in Marquette? I would say yes and no... Yes, we will struggle to put points on the board and I believe that it will be a low scoring game...however, I would also say no...we will not lose three in a row. Georgetown is not Marquette they are not as disciplined and talented as Marquette. Georgetown struggles to put points on the board only averaging 61 points per game. They are not a great three point shooting team averaging 4.9 threes per game. They have decent size but not as big as UConn. Georgetown will start Kelsey Ransom 5'9" Junior; Kennedy Fauntleroy 5'7" Freshman; Kristina Moore 6'1" Graduate; Graceann Bennett 6'3" Senior and Jana Claude 6'0" Junior. They will bring Brianna Scott 6'4" Sophomore and Ariel Jenkins 6'3" Sophomore off the bench. Brianna Scott coming off the bench was Georgetown's top scorer in our January match-up. The last match-up resulted in a 15 point unremarkable UConn win. It was a "grind it out" kind of game with it ending up a low-scoring game 65 - 50.
I expect UConn to be anxious to put the past two games behind them and to get back on track as they head towards the Big East Tournament. Our lack of three point shooting has hurt us because teams can pack the middle, focus on weak-side help and double teams in the paint...while UConn struggles from three. Also teams have figured out that if they take away our transition game that it exposes some of our weaknesses like taking care of the basketball and standing around in the half-court game. We will need to get out and run and try to get some transition baskets. Our inside game has been our strength Dorka and Edwards have done a herculean job in the paint...I don't expect that to change in this game.
Dorka Juhasz vs Graceann Bennett - Graceann at 6'3" is Georgetown's tallest starter. She is only a freshman and while she has done well this first year averaging 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds she will have her hands full trying to contain Dorka... I think Dorka will have a really good game on Saturday. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Aaliyah Edwards vs Jada Claude - Aaliyah was flat against Marquette...her energy was low and she didn't look like herself in that game. I fully expect her to have a bounce back game and unfortunately for Jada...she is the one standing in Aaliyah's way. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Aubrey Griffin vs Kristina Moore - Kristina is a good size (6'1") graduate guard who averages 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game... Again Aubrey will be looking to get back on track. I expect she will continue to slash the basket, drive to the hole when possible and use her athleticism to dominate at this position. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Lou Lopez-Senechal vs Kelsey Ransome - Well "skip, skip to my Lou" has also been missing a beat of late...I expect her to find her three point shot again. And, to play tough defense on Kelsey (unless they give that job to Nika but I just can't see Lou getting 5'7" Kennedy as her assignment). Kelsey is Georgetown's best player...she is a savvy junior who averages 13.4 points and 7 rebounds per game. We were able to hold her to only 3 points in our January meeting with Georgetown. She also is the engine for Georgetown she is the team's leader in assists and in steals. Let's hope the UConn can take care of the basketball and limit its turn overs. Georgetown likes to force turnovers and is pretty good scoring points off of turnovers. Lou should be too good for Kelsey at this positioin. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Nika Muhl vs Kennedy Fauntleroy - Fauntleroy is Georgetown's second best producer. She averages 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Kennedy was able to score 9 points against UConn in our last meeting. At 5'7 she is a quick guard who can shoot the three. Nika will be a tough assignment for Kennedy should she be the one defending Nika. Fauntleroy is only a freshman and Nika should have her way with her. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Intangibles - Here we go again...an away game, with a depleted team, coming off an emotional week. However, UConn is still in my opinion a final four team and they know how to come back from adversity and tough loses...I don't thing the intangibles will have a deleterious effect on UConn. I think they overcome whatever intangibles there are in this game and come away with the win. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
Bench - Georgetown will bring 6'4 Brianna Scott and 6'3" Ariel Jenkins off the bench...they average 9.5 points and 7 rebounds between them. UConn will bring 6'2" Ayanna Patterson, 6'5" Amari DeBerry and 5'9" Ines Bettencourt off the bench they average 6.5 points and 5 rebounds between them. If Caroline is ready to play limited minutes then I would have no problem giving UConn the advantage however, if we do not have Caroline then it is a different outcome from the bench. ADVANTAGE - EVEN
Coaching - Howard and staff are no match...for the Hall of Fame head coach and associate coaching duo of Geno and Chris. ADVANTAGE - UCONN
UConn - 78
Georgetown - 55
MOV = 23
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