How good is UConn

[Tonyc]

.

Many UConn fans are concerned when UConn wins by less than 20 pts. Like against Nova winning by 14 or trailing to Tenn and then winning by 30. Yeah, we may have let up and got a little careless. I don't see that happening now. This is the post season, and UConn is built for the post season. This team knows how to execute and they play with confidence. A confidence that hasn't been broken even trailing in a few games. The team responds, and with resilience. At UConn a close game is a 10-16 pt win in most cases. Take a look at the games over the past few days. How many games were won by top teams by over 20 pts? How many points did those top teams give up? Many of those teams are trying to win while UConn has pretty much had the game in bag by the 4th qtr.

UConn's defense averages approximately 38 pts a game. Now some of you are thinking well the BE is weak. Well, take a look at other tops teams playing and see how many points they're giving up? I'm thinking it's not how many points you can score it more about how many points you're giving up and IMO that's how you win in the post season. The thing with UConn is they do it consistently.

Now look at how many games UConn won by over 20 pts with their starters on the bench. That impresses me that the defense continues to execute and the offense continues to score. What about the starter's averages, and playing less minutes? Very impressive. The scary thing is this is the time of season to turn it up and UConn will turn it up and not let up. UConn has two AAs. Both can score in many different ways. They have other players that can step up. I see Blanca's parents are here. That should put a spark in her.

One thing to consider going into the post season. What if UConn is in a close game maybe less than a double-digit lead. Well UConn has some terrific foul shooters. We have Azzi at 95% Sarah at 88% and 5 others at over 70%. That gives me a lot of confidence if the game is on the line. So how good is UConn?

 

[IndyMark]

Great post and right on point. I am looking forward to UConn winning the Big East and hopefully winning the National Championship. Go Huskies!

 

[Bone Dog]

I share your sentiments, @Tonyc if not every bit of your analysis. I think the team is in a very good position to make a run at another NC. I can picture how they could defeat each of their main competitors, and it’s largely (not entirely) modeled on how they did it last season. I wish I could guarantee it will go that way again, but not all wishes are granted in this world. Yes, there was a bit of a swoon last month. But I’m not worried about that. Right now, I’m focused on Blanca as the key and the primary indicator of the team’s greatness. Here’s what I see when I try to take a broader view.

Blanca was the pleasant surprise last fall and quickly turned into the third pillar of the team. Last summer, most of us were super confident about this season mainly on the basis of our hopes for Serah and didn’t know what to expect from Blanca this season. But Serah turned out not to be a dominant center in Geno’s scheme. She’s more of a good role player. Blanca on the other hand turned out to dazzle as bright as any star, so much so that many spoke of her as a potential FoY candidate. And then her shoulder injury flared up and she missed 8 games. 8 games! That’s a month! Yikes!!!

Here’s what that fact indicates to me. Over that month, the team swooned a bit, but didn’t miss a beat. They rolled over Tennessee by 30 even though that was a game Blanca was tailor-made for. They won every game handily even if they weren’t blowouts from beginning to end. Their third star — probably a superstar next season — sat for a month of games and they won handily without her. Sarah and Azzi didn’t miss a beat and are playing even better than last season. More importantly (perhaps) the rest of the role players upped their games, especially Kayleigh and Allie. A team that can do that is almost by definition a great team.

Blanca could be key in the tournament because she is the unaccountable element on a stacked team. She’s a matchup nightmare almost as much as Sarah is. Last fall, she was brilliant and unpolished, scoring in double figures and at the same time a turnover machine. She adjusted and brought the turnovers under control. Her perimeter shooting was initially dazzling, though her numbers have come back to earth since. And her defense only got better and better. She made a great full court press into a terrifying defense.

If Blanca can regain her midseason form, she’ll be key against the teams likely to be the main challengers this time around: UCLA SC Texas and LSU. The platoon of Serah and Jana appear ready to hold down the center as well as Jana and Ice did last season, if not a little better. KK and Ash are playing as well or better than last season. Kayleigh has taken up the slack left by Kaitlyn’s departure, and Allie has upped her game remarkably and brings a fifth scorer to the table. And above all, Blanca is a matchup nightmare for teams struggling to figure out how to deal with Sarah. She brings the same combination of length, strength and mobility as Sarah plus a good deal more speed and quickness. She may not be as heady a player as Sarah (yet) but she at least as dynamic.

Mix a fully game ready Blanca into the already awesome UConn chemistry and great things will happen. Who on UCLA will matchup against her? Kneepkens? Jaquez? Dugalic? Who on SC will it be? Makeer? McDowell? This is where they really miss a player like Watkins. On Texas, it would have to be Booker or Carlton or Lee, and whoever it is will cost Texas a lot. And on LSU it would be Williams unless Zakiyah or Amiya or Grace can keep up with her, and I doubt they can.

 

[Stagnant]

It’s a mystery.

I have talked about this. UConn did not test themselves in the non conference the way they typically do. And a lot of this comes down to bad luck. McMahon left Ohio State. Juju Watkins was injured for the season. Latson departed Florida State. The south Florida coach left before the season started. Ivey didn’t do a good job building a Notre dame team that could compete this season. Everything that could have gone wrong basically went wrong. And I think we really don’t know. I am definitely not on board with the “this year’s team is better than last year’s team” chatter.

 

[BRS24]

A few regular season status to nosh on:

• average of 4 players in double figures
• average of 37.8 pt MOV
• opponent avg score of 50.7
• team avg score of 88.5
• most points scored non con 100 (OSU)
• most pts scored against 69 (Michigan)
• avg pts scored in key non con games 88
• avg pts agains in key non con games 60

 

[hoopsfan22]

I think Geno recently said this year's team isn't better than last year's team simply because Paige is gone, and he's probably right.

 

[JellyBean]

This team is

 

[Next 12]

I am not long winded and my posts are usually to the point. My point now on how good is Uconn is two words SCARY GOOD!!!! Uconn has scary offense and scary defense and the BEST COACH in Basketball!!!! To reiterate my previous posts , Uconn will be 40-0 and win NO 13th N.C. GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!!

 

[BBallF]

.

Many UConn fans are concerned when UConn wins by less than 20 pts. Like against Nova winning by 14 or trailing to Tenn and then winning by 30. Yeah, we may have let up and got a little careless. I don't see that happening now. This is the post season, and UConn is built for the post season. This team knows how to execute and they play with confidence. A confidence that hasn't been broken even trailing in a few games. The team responds, and with resilience. At UConn a close game is a 10-16 pt win in most cases. Take a look at the games over the past few days. How many games were won by top teams by over 20 pts? How many points did those top teams give up? Many of those teams are trying to win while UConn has pretty much had the game in bag by the 4th qtr.

UConn's defense averages approximately 38 pts a game. Now some of you are thinking well the BE is weak. Well, take a look at other tops teams playing and see how many points they're giving up? I'm thinking it's not how many points you can score it more about how many points you're giving up and IMO that's how you win in the post season. The thing with UConn is they do it consistently.

Now look at how many games UConn won by over 20 pts with their starters on the bench. That impresses me that the defense continues to execute and the offense continues to score. What about the starter's averages, and playing less minutes? Very impressive. The scary thing is this is the time of season to turn it up and UConn will turn it up and not let up. UConn has two AAs. Both can score in many different ways. They have other players that can step up. I see Blanca's parents are here. That should put a spark in her.

One thing to consider going into the post season. What if UConn is in a close game maybe less than a double-digit lead. Well UConn has some terrific foul shooters. We have Azzi at 95% Sarah at 88% and 5 others at over 70%. That gives me a lot of confidence if the game is on the line. So how good is UConn?

We will find out the last week of the season. One thing we do have is the ability to play two very distinct ways in the same game. One with Serah or Jana and one without where Blanca becomes an interior player but the problem she poses for an opponent is her speed, versatility on offense, and athleticism. So you have a very, very fast team with KK,Ash, Azzi, Sarah, and Blanca or then K9 for anyone except Sarah.

 

[msf22b]

I note that Geno has said more than once that we’re not as good as we look…again today
Should that be a concern?

Above my pay grade and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn
the other night in Boston (for the Blomstedt concert …
age 98 ).

But to my eyes (still not failing) UConn’s D is the most comprehensive that I can recall…in the half-court as well as trapping and that will take the team pretty far.

I think that Geno himself is curious how they will respond to more skilled and spirited competition.

We’ll just have to wait a bit to find out.

 

[Bills Fan]

I think we have a better than 50% chance of winning the NC , but with a fair number of things standing in our way. 1st; the competition--UCLA, SC, TX and LSU; that's it. No one else, so our seeding and bracket can have an impact, either positive or negative, along with upsets to any of them. I believe UCLA will get the overall number 1 with UCONN 's weak Big East schedule finally catching up with us, but with the 5 mentioned teams so much better than the rest of the field it really won't matter. 2nd ; our teams current performance. IF we play our best, we WIN ! However, we are not playing our best recently. With a few obvious exceptions, our 2 AA's are not playing at the level as during last years' NC run---they are VERY GOOD but not consistently at last years' Final Four, truly outstanding level.. 3rd; this years 3rd piece of the puzzle. No one is at the PB level but in her best moments, BQ gives us a lot of great performances-not Paige but a real contributor. The problem is her out of control TO's. When she enter the game during the next 10 minutes we can expect 8 good to great minutes where she has a tremendous impact . However, the other 2 minutes are filled with TO's that she should have corrected at this point. How many times can one talented player charge into an opponent or try to make an impossible pass, game after game? 4th; Inconsistent shooting from our guards- Ash and K9 in particular. We need the Ash shooting from the past few years. This year we never know what to expect, even from one half to the other.

In spite of the above paragraph, all of them have the ability to play above those issues. And we have a new gun available in Allie and a solid, if somewhat inconsistent, 2nd PG in K9. Plus we have that outstanding defense led by the Masked Wonder, which is hard to quantify.

If we can pull it together we can be as good as Tonyc believes and bring home the 2026 NC. We just need to start clicking on all cylinders.

 

[Suebird10fan]

My take: Azzi is as good as any player we will face and as good as she is Sarah is significantly better. Our point guard is IMO as good as any or at least very close. We have depth. And if Blanca cuts down on TOs we have a game changer on the bench. So we have to be considered the clear favorites.

All that said, we haven’t faced anyone as good as the teams we’ll likely face in the F4, so there is a lot we don’t know, especially how the team will handle a tight game. I do take some comfort in the poise Azzi has shown all year and we have Sarah and they don’t. So I think #13 is more likely than not. But I expect a scare or two along the way. And I would be very disappointed but six in a row ain’t easy and I will only be mildly surprised if it doesn’t happen.

 

[CL82]

So how good is UConn?

Pretty damn good.

 

[sun]

The fate of the Huskies is in Geno's hands and how he ends up managing the team for each critical game.
Of course the players also need to respond in kind, and if they don't then it's Geno's job to help get them on track.
It's always possible that no matter what Geno does & how hard the players try that another team will have all of the wind in their sails.
But that's what makes watching the games so exciting, that the outcome is never in the bag no matter how confident or superior a team seems to be on paper.
We should all know how finicky the Wilson ball can bounce and how referees can take control over a game.
I think a crucial decision for Geno will be whether he chooses to shorten the bench or continue with his current substitution pattern.
UConn may be able to win #13 either way, or perhaps not win using either method.
We need to admit that it's possible that another team may end up being just as unstoppable as we'd like to think that UConn is.
Once the NC game starts being played the NCAA trophy is up for grabs.
Anything can happen between now & the final buzzer.

 

[Charliebball]

UConn is good enough to win their thirteenth NC but not good enough to have that be taken for granted.....

 

[ERWUC65]

Looking forward to another great day of WBB, especially SEC. My take so far is that these teams are playing so hard in their conference championship efforts as to actually show fatigue and some disorientation in the later stage of these games. Consequently the teams with depth (such as SC) should prevail and be more ready for the NC than others. Uconn, with their ability to play 8 or 9 and have an easier conference schedule seems also well positioned to go far in the NC.

 

[Bills Fan]

The fate of the Huskies is in Geno's hands and how he ends up managing the team for each critical game.
Of course the players also need to respond in kind, and if they don't then it's Geno's job to help get them on track.
It's always possible that no matter what Geno does & how hard the players try that another team will have all of the wind in their sails.
But that's what makes watching the games so exciting, that the outcome is never in the bag no matter how confident or superior a team seems to be on paper.
We should all know how finicky the Wilson ball can bounce and how referees can take control over a game.
I think a crucial decision for Geno will be whether he chooses to shorten the bench or continue with his current substitution pattern.
UConn may be able to win #13 either way, or perhaps not win using either method.
We need to admit that it's possible that another team may end up being just as unstoppable as we'd like to think that UConn is.
Once the NC game starts being played the NCAA trophy is up for grabs.
Anything can happen between now & the final buzzer.

With regard to your comment about Geno's sub pattern, I don't think there is any doubt. In games 1 and 2 in the NCAA, he will sub the end of the bench during the 4th Qtr. From that point on we will see the 5 starters, plus BQ, K9, AZ and Jana. Only if one of those games gets out of hand, or in the last minute of the Championship game if we are up 10+ points, will we see CD, Yanna, or Kelis

 

[ABCDFE]

South Carolina is my biggest concern. They have all the components to beat us if we’re slightly off in a one and done scenario. Then I would say UCLA, Texas, LSU. In that order.

 

[EricSD]

This is bad mojo. Let's talk about potentially how great we are after the NC game.

 

[Stagnant]

South Carolina is my biggest concern. They have all the components to beat us if we’re slightly off in a one and done scenario. Then I would say UCLA, Texas, LSU. In that order.

I think Okot is a problem for UConn. Especially if she is stretching the floor.

 

[Husky fanatic]

I think Okot is a problem for UConn. Especially if she is stretching the floor.

She misses more bunnies than Jana!

 

[Bone Dog]

How good is UConn? You mean this season? I’d say we’re pretty durn good. Good enough that everyone else should fear us more than we fear them.

But next year we’ll be even more fearsome. I watched the way Ayanna moved in her few minutes yesterday and she looked really good, moving better than she ever has since coming to Storrs. Think of it, a really mobile Ayanna supporting the bigs in the post and getting out in transition. If she can put together a full healthy season, I think she could be a substantial contributor to an already loaded team. And if Morgan can regain her early form, that makes for a very quick big team. The great SC teams of the past decade have been bigger and quicker than their opponents, and that’s what are this season and will be the next few as well.

I know this is all optimism, but on a thread started by @Tonyc optimism is only appropriate. We all should take a lesson from @Tonyc from last season for never doubting and getting everything right.

 

[Woof]

Wrong question. A better question is, how good are the other teams in the Top 8? Even better, how good is UConn relative to the next 7? I refer you to the nightmare that was the 2017-2018 season. We were the best, by far. But not good enough to overcome ND's striped players.

 

[fomalhaut]

UCLA is the only other team in Division I which shouldn't be terrified at the prospect of playing Connecticut.

 

[Skeets]

Years ago there was discussion if UConn had any chance of winning the men's NC. I thought to myself will there be anyone on the court better than Rip Hamilton? There wasn't and UConn won. I'm in the same position now. Will there be anyone on the court better than Sarah? Add in Azzi, KK, Blanca, et.al. I'm all good with our chances.