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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 3916244, member: 1131"] A few days ago I made a post on the "Syracuse Postgame" thread about a game against Ohio State a few years ago where UConn had the problem of guarding a backcourt star. I have since checked for that game on the uconnhuskygames.com site and, to my alarm, I realized that I had many specific facts wrong even though the general principle was right. The Ohio State guard being defended was not Kelsey Griffin, as I stated, but rather Kelsey Mitchell. The game was not in the 2016-17 season but in the 2015-16 season (Stewie's senior year) -- it was UConn's season opener that year. And the UConn defenders at the start of the game were Kia Nurse, Gabby Williams (got those two right), and Moriah Jefferson. But UConn did start in a 3-2 zone as I stated, although they switched to a man-to-man in the second quarter. Those two defenses didn't look much different from each other -- they each resembled the "1.5 defenders" concept that Rebecca mentioned during halftime of yesterday's games. Whatever it was, it worked. Mitchell got (I believe) one driving layup and no jump shots during the entire first half. It helped that she got two early fouls and was on the bench for a long time. That may be part of the defense against Caitlin Clark as well: make her work hard on defense and get her in foul trouble. I don't think she is the most agile defender in the world, and players such as Christyn / Paige / Evina / Aubrey may be able to exploit her at the defensive end -- and certainly they can make her burn calories at that end. Ohio State got a few paint points against that defense, but nothing to match the explosion that UConn was causing at the other end. I can foresee a similar game on Saturday, and I would expect the final margin of victory to be in the 15-20 point range, possibly higher. [/QUOTE]

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