Guarding Caitlin | The Boneyard

Guarding Caitlin

Bald Husky

Bald Husky

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There are all kinds of scenarios regarding Caitlin Clark. Before we dive into that, lets remember the other players on the team are decent college players and have to be seriously dealt with. Assuming everyone will be healthy and will play, who is better equipped to deal with Caitlin. First option, Nika. As much as I admire how Nika plays, I don't believe she is quick enough to stay in front of her. Let her guard the other guard in this game. Second option is Christyn who I think would do a pretty good job on her. The problem here is she will only do this for half of the first quarter. She has been in foul trouble both games so far, and we need her offense in this game. The best option to start the game is Evina. She is quick and smart, and although you can't completely shut her down, she will make life a little harder for Caitlin. Next up Aubrey. This is a game that can make Aubrey a household name if she can do what we all know she can do. She is quick on her feet with good hands that can be a nightmare for any guard. Any other strategy of course will come from Geno, but IMHO these players are the way to go.
 
I'm not sure anybody on UCONN can guard Caitlin one on one.. You are not going to shut her down completely. She is just to good for that to happen. A better strategy may be to limit her touches. If she doesn't have the ball in her hands she can't score.
 
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Given the defense UConn has been playing, I would expect to see Nika, Christyn, E, Paige and maybe Aubrey guarding Caitlin.

No one person is going to stop her. You are not going to shut her out. You need to limit her touches, harass her, and make her work very hard to get off shots. This will also make it more difficult to dish off to her teammates.

Let's all remember this is a team game. Its UConn versus Iowa. Not to disrespect Iowa, but UConn has better athletes and players at each position. And we have The Big G. He's done this for a lot of years. He has options. He knows how to deal with a Caitlin Clark.

Iowa has 9 losses. They were not ranked at any time this season. Iowa's defense is one of the poorest in D1 level. If I was Iowa's coach, I would be worrying about how do I stop UConn. Don't get caught up in the ESPN hype.
 
Our defense is good. I would play them straight up and rotate fresh players on Caitlin. Let Caitlin score 30 or even 40, but keep the team in the low 70's. Given what other top 20 have scored against them, we should be able to put up at least 85.
 
The more I watch Clark the more impressed I get. Lot quicker than I thought, goes to her left really well, and has the type of body that can absorb physical play. Iowa reminds me of Loyola Marymount under Paul Westhead. Should be a fun watch. I expect AG to play her a lot.
 
Clark is a supreme D stretcher, seemingly comfortable shooting from 25'-28' out. That's tough to guard. If Nika, E or Paige are in her jersey out that far and she gets around them, the next level of the D has a long close out. If you are a serious threat that far out, you really warp the D and it can be exploited. BUT as indicated above, UConn plays pretty good team D. It will be interesting.
 
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If Caitlin is so good, how she was not rated the Number 1 high school player? Everyone keeps saying no one can guard her.
 
Does anyone recall the Notre Dame game when Moriah was assigned to cover McBride all over the court? She was so intent on her assignment that she tried to prevent Kayla from getting the ball from a ref to inbound it on the baseline. Moriah and the ref were amused, McBride not so much. You could always count on Moriah being a disruptive force on the D.
 
One thing no one has mentioned is the environment in which this game will take place in. There is hyper overindulgence in the Caitlin vs Paige angle. This will have an effect on the players. How they handle it, I have no idea but it will have an effect. If Caitlin starts off 0-4, will Iowa start pressing a bit ? If Iowa goes up 15 how will UConn react ? I'm really looking forward to the matchup between Iowa and UConn, not soo much about Paige vs Caitlin.
 
psconn said:
Does anyone recall the Notre Dame game when Moriah was assigned to cover McBride all over the court? She was so intent on her assignment that she tried to prevent Kayla from getting the ball from a ref to inbound it on the baseline. Moriah and the ref were amused, McBride not so much. You could always count on Moriah being a disruptive force on the D.
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lol ... I remember that.
 
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She brings the ball up much of the time, so alternate meeting her at half court with one or two defenders. Forces her to pass, then mark her as well as you can, so they can't get the ball back to her.
Don't let her drive into the front court, where she has several options and can shot well, quickly, from anywhere.
 
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Some reason this game reminds me of the Baylor UConn game in 2013-2014 season. Odyssey sims was the only significant player returning and she was leading the nation in scoring at 28 points per game. Odyssey had a horrible game because she was trying to do too much and didn’t get anyone on the team involved until it was too late. Hopefully Caitlin and Iowa will put on a show.
 
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Bald Huskie said:
There are all kinds of scenarios regarding Caitlin Clark. Before we dive into that, lets remember the other players on the team are decent college players and have to be seriously dealt with. Assuming everyone will be healthy and will play, who is better equipped to deal with Caitlin. First option, Nika. As much as I admire how Nika plays, I don't believe she is quick enough to stay in front of her. Let her guard the other guard in this game. Second option is Christyn who I think would do a pretty good job on her. The problem here is she will only do this for half of the first quarter. She has been in foul trouble both games so far, and we need her offense in this game. The best option to start the game is Evina. She is quick and smart, and although you can't completely shut her down, she will make life a little harder for Caitlin. Next up Aubrey. This is a game that can make Aubrey a household name if she can do what we all know she can do. She is quick on her feet with good hands that can be a nightmare for any guard. Any other strategy of course will come from Geno, but IMHO these players are the way to go.
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Start by going over screens not under. Whoever hedges out on screens stays on her til her man is totally back on her. Hedge her one way only to so the help knows where shes going. Don't use Christyn. You need her offense and out of foul trouble. Look for 1 big at a time not 2. We need a faster line-up to chase and they are not big up front.
 
Nika should pick Caitlin up at half court and bug the hell out of her. Closer to the basket, the switching defense will come into play.

Trying to absolutely shut her down may be counterproductive. As the saying goes, there’s a fine line between perfection and crap.
 
This could be quite a track meet...with both teams playing their game...transition basketball
 
Whether the decision has been made by the staff or not it seemed in the press conference Williams certainly expected to start on Clark and was looking forward to the assignment. As I said elsewhere, I would be very surprised if that didn’t happen.
 
Bigboote said:
Nika should pick Caitlin up at half court and bug the hell out of her. Closer to the basket, the switching defense will come into play.

Trying to absolutely shut her down may be counterproductive. As the saying goes, there’s a fine line between perfection and crap.
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Nika will likely factor into Geno's plans but having two bigs in game most of time gives UConn the ability to keep one up high on defense. Iowa will get their points but will be difficult for them to keep Edwards off offensive boards and outscore the Huskies.
 
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