How can we beat South Carolina

[shiverz45]

Bigs, take a charge, do not let Boston use you as a battering ram. One of the most important plays last night was when Alliyah took that charge from Brink. Stanford look deflated when that happened.

As Sean Connery said in The Untouchables, "If they beat you with layup, you beat them with a three." I think that's what he said.

Nothing wrong with taking charges, but UConn tends to flop sometimes. Hopefully the refs keep an eye on that. They ignored it in the Bahamas. Hopefully UConn remembers that and try and stay on their feet.

 

[Old Geezer]

As someone said, I hope for a breakout game for CD, but it’s all about the matchup. She only played about 8 minutes last night, but I think she just didn’t match up well with whomever Stanford had guarding Her. Hopefully Geno will give her some early playing time and see how it goes.

 

[NU2BY]

Don’t forget Caroline (even though Geno apparently has)

It pains me to say this, but Geno gave Caroline eight (8) consecutive minutes in the first half last night and she did basically nothing. One very nice assist, but absolutely nothing else. No shots, no steals, no turnovers, no fouls ... nothing! He doesn't need her for that.

 

[PacoSwede]

can anyone refresh my memory?

including the bahamas, the roosters have bested the dogs 3 times now, is it? and uconn has won 10?

or is my recall wrong?

i know BY was much afeared before some of those husky wins, which ended up as cakewalks.

i advise: be cool. sunday should be fun.

 

[UConnCat]

Nothing wrong with taking charges, but UConn tends to flop sometimes. Hopefully the refs keep an eye on that. They ignored it in the Bahamas. Hopefully UConn remembers that and try and stay on their feet.

LOL Actually, UConn doesn't tend to flop.

 

[fomalhaut]

can anyone refresh my memory?

including the bahamas, the roosters have bested the dogs 3 times now, is it? and uconn has won 10?

Connecticut is 9-2 against South Carolina after the loss this year.

 

[boontonbomber]

Would be nice to have the resident bigs on the bench absorb Boston for a couple of minutes. Oh, wait, they are just observers and cheerleaders.

 

[ucbart]

Boston has been called for 3 fouls this entire tournament.

Thinking she will be in any sort of foul trouble is laughable. She is absolutely pampered by the officials.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Boston has been called for 3 fouls this entire tournament.

Thinking she will be in any sort of foul trouble is laughable. She is absolutely pampered by the officials.

How is that possible? She may be the best player in the country, but 3 fouls in 5 games is a little sus.

 

[shiverz45]

LOL Actually, UConn doesn't tend to flop.

Are you serious? Edwards jumps back sometimes like she had been shot out of a cannon. I mean it is good strategy but kind of bush league. It worked for Missouri. If we had competent officials, I wish women would do what the men do. Excess a technical for flopping. I bet it would stop then.

 

[UConnCat]

Are you serious? Edwards jumps back sometimes like she has been shot out of a cannon. I mean it is good strategy but kind of bush league. It worked for Missouri.

Yes, quite serious.

You're at the make it up stage I see. Must be hanging out on Vol Boards.

 

[Conndog]

Souleymane Wane and Elton Brand, not Laettner. Laettner was 8 years earlier.

They double-teamed Brand on the very first possession, and intermittently throughout the game, and prevented Brand from dominating like he normally did. Nothing wrong with helping, pick your poison of who to leave open- but if double-team, getting the rebound should happen smoothly.

 

[Blue Ghost]

To beat SC we have to stop everyone else. Boston will get her points and rebounds. Liv cannot get into foul trouble against Boston. Also AE too. Azzi has to be a part of the offense. Too quiet and early foul trouble hurt. CW has to drive to the basket. her outside shooting is too streaky. Our guards have to shut down their guards period. SC hasn't been in many close games in the tournament. In the last couple of games we have been clutch making free throws late. That experience should really help. We will be the underdogs but this is a one game winner take all and anything can happen. Go Huskies!

 

[cferraro04]

Name min. pts rbs Asst 3pts 3pt avg. year

Christyn Williams 34.2 14.6 3.5 72/32 50 .345 Sr. 5’11”

Paige Bueckers 28.6 14.6 3.9 65/16 17 .354 So. 5’11”

Azzi Fudd 28.4 12.5 2.8 24/24 57 .429 Fr 5’11”

Caroline Ducharme 20.9 9.8 3.3 39/30 33 .287 Fr 6’2”

Olivia Nelson-Ododa 27.3 9.3 7.6 115/32 11 .273 Sr 6’5”

Evina Westbrook 27.7 9.0 3.7 111/35 38 .309 Sr. 6’0”

Aliyah Edwards 24.6 7.9 5. 2 4 9/35 2 .400 So 6’3”

Nika Muhl 21.8 3.9 3.1 84/32 24 .426 So 5’10:

Gabriel Piath 4.9 3.0 1.9 3/13 0 .000 So 6’5”

Amari DeBerry 5.3 1.7 0.7 12/15 3 .214 Fr 6’5”



Team

Pts. - 74.5 Opponents - 54.7 Margin - 19.8

FG/G 29.0 Opponents - 20.5

3pt/G 6.9 Opponents - 5.6

FT % .693 Opponents - .720

FT/G 9.5 Opponents - 8.1

RBS 39.0 Opponents - 31.7

Asst 18 Opponents - 10.6

TOs 14.0 Opponents - 16.1

STLs 9.1 Opponents - 5.9

Blks 4.6 Opponents - 2.4





Name Min. pts. Rbs. Assist. 3pts 3pt. avg . year

Aliyah Boston 28.4 17.0 12.4 72/36 14 .292 Jr. 6’5”

Destanni Henderson 30.9 11.1 3.2 129/33 52 .394 Sr 5’9”

Zia Cooke 27.2 10.7 2.0 60/35 45 .294 Jr. 5’9”

Laeticia Amihere 17.0 6.4 3.7 37/30 5 .455 Jr. 6’4”

Victaria Saxton 21.4 5.8 5.9 43/36 0 .000 Sr. 6’2”

Kamilla Cardoso 13.5 5.5 5.2 30/31 0 . 000 So. 6’7”

Brea Beal 23.9 5.1 5.1 46/36 15 .246 Jr. 6’1”

LeLe Grissett 12.5 3.4 2.0 14/24 1 1.000 Gr 6’2”

Bree Hall 9.1 2.7 1.4 1/35 14 .326 Fr 6’0”

Destiny Littleton 9.3 2.7 1.3 7/30 21 .344 Sr 5’9”

Eniya Russell 8.0 2.4 1.4 19/22 5 .417 So 6’1”

Saniya Rivers 13.2 2.3 1.7 38/26 1 .033 Fr 6’1”

Sania Feagin 4.4 1.9 1.5 6/30 0 .000 Fr 6’3”

Team

Pts. 71.1 Opponents 50.7 Margin 20.4

3pts. 4.9 Opponents 3.7 FT 13.3 / g Avg. .677 Opp. 7.8

Rbs 47.8 Opponents 30.4 Assts 14.1 Opponents 8.9

Stls 6.5 Opponents 6.3

Blks 7.5 Opponents 4.1

TOs 14.4 Opponents 13.6

3pts Avg. .309 Opponents .267

*While I expect UConn to play a lot of zone...player by player match-ups are for the purposes of comparisons to see where each team will have their advantages and disadvantages.

Aliyah Boston vs Ododa - Too much size for Ododa, Ododa needs to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor. In UConn's first match-up Boson had 22 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 fouls; Ododa's stats were 6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks, and she fouled out. Dorka gave us 2 points and 3 rebounds while Aliyah Edwards gave us 6 points, 3 rebounds and she also fouled out. As you can see...if UConn has an army of bigs it won't be enough to stop Boston. We need both Aliyah and Ododa to stay on the floor...I repeat they must not get into foul trouble. In any case: Huge Advantage - South Carolina

Destiny Henderson vs Christyn Williams - Christyn Williams did not play well in the first match-up. Being that this is her last game I don't expect a repeat performance. In the first match-up Christyn had 10 points was an 0fer from 3 point land. Henderson on the other had, while she fouled out of that game...still managed to have 15 points, 6 steals, 6 assists and was 1-5 from three. While I expect a better match-up from Christyn this time I still have to call it a Slight Advantage South Carolina

Zia Cooke vs Paige Bueckers - In the first match-up Paige had 19 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and was 1 for 3 on 3 pointers while Zia had 17 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound and went 1 for 4 on three pointers. Point wise they managed to cancelled each other out but Paige assisted on at least fourteen of UConn's other points to Zia assisting on only 2 of South Carolina's other points. Advantage UConn

Bree Beal vs Azzi Fudd - Here is where I think it gets interesting. Essentially Azzi Fudd was a no-show in the first match-up... Evina had a pretty good game scoring 14 points, 3 assists and going 2 for 2 for three pointers. Azzi is averaging 12.5 points, 1 assist and 2.2 three pointers / game. Geno can pick his poison here...I think he goes with Azzi Fudd and brings Evina off the bench. Geno loses nothing with either of them with this match-up. Beal had only 6 points and 4 rebounds in the first match-up which is just about at her average. I am going with a Sizeable Advantage for UConn here

Victoria Saxton vs Aliyah Edwards - In the first match-up Saxton had 2 points, 2 assists and 3 rebounds...she only averages 5 points and 5 rebounds per game. Aliyah in the first match-up had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. She averages 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, she is playing better of late. I am of course, concerned that Aliyah stay out of foul trouble and stays on the floor. If Aliyah can do that then I give a Slight Advantage to UCONN

Bench: South Carolina vs UConn - South Carolina could bring off the bench Laeticia Amihere, Kamilla Cardoso, LeLe Grissett, Bree Hall and Destiny Littleton who collectively average 20.7 points and 13.9 rebounds; UConn could bring and probably will bring in off the bench Evina Westbrook, Nika Muhl and Caroline Ducharme who collectively average 22.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. Bench - EVEN

Coaching: EVEN

Intangibles: Neutral Court, however...Bueckers grew up 10 miles away from the tournament site. While this makes for a good back story...it does nothing to create an advantage. EVEN

 

[sno-cat]

Will we be able to use a Wilson Ball. This could be key!

 

[nomdoux]

Dorka injury a real shame. Thought her loss would be deciding factor v Stanford & was happily wrong. Think same Sun night. Fingers crossed that I’m wrong again.

We must win foul trouble battle, hold our own on glass, make shots, defend for 40 mins without lapses, & not beat ourselves (TO’s, FT’s). Tall order but we can do it!

 

[Next 12]

Just another chapter in the drama UCONN is in this year.UCONN's record against NO. 1's AND NO.2's is exceptional in their history. They are not fazed by the fact of NO.1. They are confident in their abilities and take care of business. I predict a tight, tight ball game with UCONN prevailing 74-69. GO HUSKIES!!! NO.12

 

[MSGRET]

Nothing wrong with taking charges, but UConn tends to flop sometimes. Hopefully the refs keep an eye on that. They ignored it in the Bahamas. Hopefully UConn remembers that and try and stay on their feet.

While Boston seems to get away with at least a dozen no calls every game. So maybe the officials will keep an eye on that also.

 

[Redux]

Edwards jumps back sometimes like she had been shot out of a cannon

I'm not automatically discounting what you say.

Many times I have seen a smaller player get more movement from AE than I would have though physics would dictate. But in a bunch of cases I did a slow motion replay and there was almost always large-surface contact from the opponent, not just a point. For example, the whole of the outside forearm and the shoulder blade, not just the shoulder tip itself. Even a big person is going to move with that kind of impact. The movement also seemed dependent on whether AE was flat footed or on her toes, maybe partly an issue of balance.

So I'm a homer and looking for my player to be in the right, but I'm also something of a student of the game and like to know what's going on, and I honestly don't see any habitual flopping at all.

 

[Childhood]

Are you serious? Edwards jumps back sometimes like she had been shot out of a cannon. I mean it is good strategy but kind of bush league. It worked for Missouri. If we had competent officials, I wish women would do what the men do. Excess a technical for flopping. I bet it would stop then.

I just watched the highlight of LV and SC game last night. The YouTube comments are saying SC player flopped. LOL

 

[NU2BY]

Coaching: EVEN

Intangibles: Neutral Court, however...Bueckers grew up 10 miles away from the tournament site. While this makes for a good back story...it does nothing to create an advantage. EVEN

Except when we win tomorrow, coach Staley will blame it on Paige's familiarity with the area, State, and court.

 

[Twolf]

Front Boston then get her in foul trouble like arkansas did to Chet Holm green on the mens side

Fudd for sure and someone else needs to be bombing 3s with Paige

Gotta make sc beat you behind the arc

If you front Boston it’s almost an automatic offensive rebound when any of the other 4 players shoot the ball unless it bounces directly away from her. If SC’s perimeter players shoot great they are really hard to beat, but I think UConn has the advantage at the 3 perimeter positions. Foul trouble is the wild card in the game.
To win a championship game your best players have to look like your best players, and our stars will have to shine. If UConn wins it probably won’t be a pretty game, but in any contest they never ask you how, just how many.

JMO

 

[jabstep]

So far some interesting answers.
1. Watched the first game between these two teams and we were up on them early with most of our points coming on transition baskets
2. Their guards except for Beal are to small to guard Paige. Last year Beal could not keep up with Paige running screens and she always got open for the jumper
4. Make Boston go left is a good point she just spins right and lowers her shoulder and barrels in for a basket.
5. Pressure the guards and don't make it easy for entry passes. Front Boston
6. Keep switching defenses on them, Press, zone keep them guessing.
7. It is very hard to drive in our half court offense against Boston. We can get layups in transition and possible open three's for Azzi.
8. Wish we had Dorka and someone suggested Using some of our other bigs to be foul takers to some our starters for a few minutes here and there. I like this idea and I think if we used DeBerry at the high Post on offense and she hit a couple in a row it would open the middle up. I doubt Geno will do this but i like it.

 

[TC22]

Will we be able to use a Wilson Ball. This could be key!

 

[Nolefan]

Nothing wrong with taking charges, but UConn tends to flop sometimes. Hopefully the refs keep an eye on that. They ignored it in the Bahamas. Hopefully UConn remembers that and try and stay on their feet.

And Boston doesn’t walk and commit a offensive foul when she ducks her shoulder into the defender or shuffles her feet ?

Name min. pts rbs Asst 3pts 3pt avg. year

Christyn Williams 34.2 14.6 3.5 72/32 50 .345 Sr. 5’11”

Paige Bueckers 28.6 14.6 3.9 65/16 17 .354 So. 5’11”

Azzi Fudd 28.4 12.5 2.8 24/24 57 .429 Fr 5’11”

Caroline Ducharme 20.9 9.8 3.3 39/30 33 .287 Fr 6’2”

Olivia Nelson-Ododa 27.3 9.3 7.6 115/32 11 .273 Sr 6’5”

Evina Westbrook 27.7 9.0 3.7 111/35 38 .309 Sr. 6’0”

Aliyah Edwards 24.6 7.9 5. 2 4 9/35 2 .400 So 6’3”

Nika Muhl 21.8 3.9 3.1 84/32 24 .426 So 5’10:

Gabriel Piath 4.9 3.0 1.9 3/13 0 .000 So 6’5”

Amari DeBerry 5.3 1.7 0.7 12/15 3 .214 Fr 6’5”



Team

Pts. - 74.5 Opponents - 54.7 Margin - 19.8

FG/G 29.0 Opponents - 20.5

3pt/G 6.9 Opponents - 5.6

FT % .693 Opponents - .720

FT/G 9.5 Opponents - 8.1

RBS 39.0 Opponents - 31.7

Asst 18 Opponents - 10.6

TOs 14.0 Opponents - 16.1

STLs 9.1 Opponents - 5.9

Blks 4.6 Opponents - 2.4





Name Min. pts. Rbs. Assist. 3pts 3pt. avg . year

Aliyah Boston 28.4 17.0 12.4 72/36 14 .292 Jr. 6’5”

Destanni Henderson 30.9 11.1 3.2 129/33 52 .394 Sr 5’9”

Zia Cooke 27.2 10.7 2.0 60/35 45 .294 Jr. 5’9”

Laeticia Amihere 17.0 6.4 3.7 37/30 5 .455 Jr. 6’4”

Victaria Saxton 21.4 5.8 5.9 43/36 0 .000 Sr. 6’2”

Kamilla Cardoso 13.5 5.5 5.2 30/31 0 . 000 So. 6’7”

Brea Beal 23.9 5.1 5.1 46/36 15 .246 Jr. 6’1”

LeLe Grissett 12.5 3.4 2.0 14/24 1 1.000 Gr 6’2”

Bree Hall 9.1 2.7 1.4 1/35 14 .326 Fr 6’0”

Destiny Littleton 9.3 2.7 1.3 7/30 21 .344 Sr 5’9”

Eniya Russell 8.0 2.4 1.4 19/22 5 .417 So 6’1”

Saniya Rivers 13.2 2.3 1.7 38/26 1 .033 Fr 6’1”

Sania Feagin 4.4 1.9 1.5 6/30 0 .000 Fr 6’3”

Team

Pts. 71.1 Opponents 50.7 Margin 20.4

3pts. 4.9 Opponents 3.7 FT 13.3 / g Avg. .677 Opp. 7.8

Rbs 47.8 Opponents 30.4 Assts 14.1 Opponents 8.9

Stls 6.5 Opponents 6.3

Blks 7.5 Opponents 4.1

TOs 14.4 Opponents 13.6

3pts Avg. .309 Opponents .267

*While I expect UConn to play a lot of zone...player by player match-ups are for the purposes of comparisons to see where each team will have their advantages and disadvantages.

Aliyah Boston vs Ododa - Too much size for Ododa, Ododa needs to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor. In UConn's first match-up Boson had 22 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 fouls; Ododa's stats were 6 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks, and she fouled out. Dorka gave us 2 points and 3 rebounds while Aliyah Edwards gave us 6 points, 3 rebounds and she also fouled out. As you can see...if UConn has an army of bigs it won't be enough to stop Boston. We need both Aliyah and Ododa to stay on the floor...I repeat they must not get into foul trouble. In any case: Huge Advantage - South Carolina

Destiny Henderson vs Christyn Williams - Christyn Williams did not play well in the first match-up. Being that this is her last game I don't expect a repeat performance. In the first match-up Christyn had 10 points was an 0fer from 3 point land. Henderson on the other had, while she fouled out of that game...still managed to have 15 points, 6 steals, 6 assists and was 1-5 from three. While I expect a better match-up from Christyn this time I still have to call it a Slight Advantage South Carolina

Zia Cooke vs Paige Bueckers - In the first match-up Paige had 19 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and was 1 for 3 on 3 pointers while Zia had 17 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound and went 1 for 4 on three pointers. Point wise they managed to cancelled each other out but Paige assisted on at least fourteen of UConn's other points to Zia assisting on only 2 of South Carolina's other points. Advantage UConn

Bree Beal vs Azzi Fudd - Here is where I think it gets interesting. Essentially Azzi Fudd was a no-show in the first match-up... Evina had a pretty good game scoring 14 points, 3 assists and going 2 for 2 for three pointers. Azzi is averaging 12.5 points, 1 assist and 2.2 three pointers / game. Geno can pick his poison here...I think he goes with Azzi Fudd and brings Evina off the bench. Geno loses nothing with either of them with this match-up. Beal had only 6 points and 4 rebounds in the first match-up which is just about at her average. I am going with a Sizeable Advantage for UConn here

Victoria Saxton vs Aliyah Edwards - In the first match-up Saxton had 2 points, 2 assists and 3 rebounds...she only averages 5 points and 5 rebounds per game. Aliyah in the first match-up had 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. She averages 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Additionally, she is playing better of late. I am of course, concerned that Aliyah stay out of foul trouble and stays on the floor. If Aliyah can do that then I give a Slight Advantage to UCONN

Bench: South Carolina vs UConn - South Carolina could bring off the bench Laeticia Amihere, Kamilla Cardoso, LeLe Grissett, Bree Hall and Destiny Littleton who collectively average 20.7 points and 13.9 rebounds; UConn could bring and probably will bring in off the bench Evina Westbrook, Nika Muhl and Caroline Ducharme who collectively average 22.7 points and 9.1 rebounds. Bench - EVEN

Coaching: EVEN

Intangibles: Neutral Court, however...Bueckers grew up 10 miles away from the tournament site. While this makes for a good back story...it does nothing to create an advantage. EVEN

coaching even is that a complete joke ?