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Message: [QUOTE="Dillon77, post: 4857396, member: 6620"] This has been an interesting thread to peruse from time to time. While the majority of comments have been about S Carolina, you do have a game against a team I know pretty well ;) on Saturday night. - Much has been posted about UConn basically going with Aaliyah Edwards and four guards, three of which are point guards. Spectacular pressure defense, adept/crisp passing and good to great shooting. Here are some things that come to mind about ND: - Like UConn, ND doesn't have much depth, but they do have some height. They'll start with 6'4" center Kylee Watson and bring in 6'5" front court sub Nat Marshall. Neither scores much but Watson is very adept to clogging the middle and doing dirty work. However, recently --- and this is where it gets interesting -- ND also been going with four guards and one big. - That big is 6'3" Maddy Westbeld, whom everyone on the Boneyard should know by now, much like we know Aaliyah Edwards. Maddy's averaging 9.5 rebounds per game and is doing her usual inside-outside (all the way past three) scoring. She's also an adept ball handler and passer. - This means that the ND has other guards to help inside against your "power point guard," Paige Bueckers. A lot that will be on Sonia "Soni" Citron, ND's 6'1" glue player and perhaps it's most adept all-around player. Soni does this big guard thing well: Coach Cori Close had her play the "4" on the U.S.A. National team with Azzi Fudd, Caitlin Clark and Lauren Betts and she was named to the all-tourney team. Expect to see 5'11" KK Bransford take a turn there, too. Strong defender who rebounds well. Also, expect ND's patented 2-3 zone and some match-up zone, as well. - One other aspect about Citron: she's doing that shoot better than 50% from the field (51%), better than 40% from 3-pt. land, and above 90% from the line. Paige has two of the three (just a bit short on the FT's). Bueckers is averaging just 20 ppg and Citron around 19. (Hidalgo is at 24 ppg). - KK Arnold and Hannah Hidalgo were frequently mentioned in the same sentences as top PG prospects when in high school/AAU and both have done very well as frosh, to say the least. Lot of similarities (quick feet and hands, attack the basket, obvious handles). You know KK: Hidalgo has an adept jump shot at all levels and her focused energy output is....wild to watch. I'm not saying better, fans, just wild. Enjoy it. The 5.5 steals per game is due to amazingly quick hands and reactions. She is the daughter of a coach, the sister of many hoop-playing brothers and an energy source that knows hoops. - ND won't try to dribble up-court now that Citron is back: they'll pass and dribble. Citron, Bransford, Westbeld and Anna DeWolfe don't fluster much. Hidalgo can dribble into corners so you can double her. But Citron and DeWolfe will talk to her. - My worries: ND tends to lose focus from time to time, gets sloppy with the ball (passing) and I can't think of a better team to take advantage of that then a Geno-coached team. Coach Ivey worries about it, too. - My worst thoughts for both teams: get Edwards or Westbeld in foul trouble. They both do so much it will incapacitate the others for awhile. Should be interesting and instructive. ND has its core 2023-24 group back and are winding into shape. UConn will let them know how that's doing going into the heart of the ACC schedule. And ND will help get the Huskies ready for playing against a talented team in mid-season prior to S. Carolina. Enjoy. [/QUOTE]

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