Huskies back on campus

[Alydar]

Re-read the post in which you will find the the words “when most needed”. Of course UCONN guards have held some guards below their averages since 2017. I gave you an example Park Lane after her first game against UCONN and another example is Caitlin Clark against Iowa. UCONN won the Iowa game by 20 and routinely beats Seton Hall by 20. That is not when the perimeter defense is “most” needed.

I always make the need for a UCONN perimeter defender know in the recruiting thread. I started biggin up Mikaylah Williams as the best defender in the ‘23 class before the rest of BY had even heard of her. She is headed to LSU but no worries. The trio of guards that UCONN has coming will improve the perimeter defense. Booker is the next best perimeter defender in the 23 class but all indications is she is headed to TN. Prosper is also a very good perimeter defender hopefully UCONN can get her.
As for ‘24 class and perimeter defenders I’m still looking but Kendall Dudley is a player whose defense is well ahead of her offense right now.

The stats you listed are interesting. UConn hasn't had a shutdown defender since Jefferson left and really haven't been dominated by any one player as much as Diggins dominated Hartley at both ends of the court. 6 out of 7 games?

One possible flaw that you brought up yourself:

That is not when the perimeter defense is “most” needed.

That's a great point but then you compared their stats vs UConn against their season averages. Wouldn't it be better just to compare only to other games in which Diggins et al "were needed? I'm just guessing but I'll wager even with you that she played more minutes against UConn than she did against say Seaton Hall or Providence. Maybe pts/minute played would be a better stat to use.

 

[CocoHusky]

The stats you listed are interesting. UConn hasn't had a shutdown defender since Jefferson left and really haven't been dominated by any one player as much as Diggins dominated Hartley at both ends of the court. 6 out of 7 games?

One possible flaw that you brought up yourself:
That's a great point but then you compared their stats vs UConn against their season averages. Wouldn't it be better just to compare only to other games in which Diggins et al "were needed? I'm just guessing but I'll wager even with you that she played more minutes against UConn than she did against say Seaton Hall or Providence. Maybe pts/minute played would be a better stat to use.

That first sentence is not correct. Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams would certainly qualify as shut down defenders for UCONN and both were named National Defensive player of the year. The issue with Kia Nurse is that UCONN could not secure another guard to add to the rotation to give Kia a few minutes of rest per game. Kia ended up averaging over 30 Minutes per game in her last two season. Her backcourt mate Crystal was a great effort defender but not enough defensive quickness or height to really impact the defensive end of the floor. Gabby of course was utilized as a post defender almost exclusively after the early departures Morgan Tuck, Natalie Butler and Azura Stevens.

Regarding Skylar Diggins and when it is most need I do you one better. Prior to that 2013 FF game ND had beaten UCONN three times in that season season.

Game 1 Diggins 19 Points
McBride 21 Points


Game 2. Diggins 29 Points
McBride 26 Points

Game 3. Diggins 12 Points
McBride 23 Points
Loyd 16 Points

So how did UCONN overcome this -KELLY FARIS and Freshman Morgan Tuck put on one of the greatest defensive games in the history of women's basketball.

 

[Alydar]

That first sentence is not correct. Kia Nurse and Gabby Williams would certainly qualify as shut down defenders for UCONN and both were named National Defensive player of the year. The issue with Kia Nurse is that UCONN could not secure another guard to add to the rotation to give Kia a few minutes of rest per game. Kia ended up averaging over 30 Minutes per game in her last two season. Her backcourt mate Crystal was a great effort defender but not enough defensive quickness or height to really impact the defensive end of the floor. Gabby of course was utilized as a post defender almost exclusively after the early departures Morgan Tuck, Natalie Butler and Azura Stevens.

Regarding Skylar Diggins and when it is most need I do you one better. Prior to that 2013 FF game ND had beaten UCONN three times in that season season.

Game 1 Diggins 19 Points
McBride 21 Points


Game 2. Diggins 29 Points
McBride 26 Points

Game 3. Diggins 12 Points
McBride 23 Points
Loyd 16 Points

So how did UCONN overcome this -KELLY FARIS and Freshman Morgan Tuck put on one of the greatest defensive games in the history of women's basketball.

I don't remember Williams being a shutdown defender, ever. A great defender? Yes. My only recollection is that she and Collier played the opponents' 4 and 5. Gabby was rarely assigned to defend a guard for a game. She was a disrupter and a great team defender. In fact my recollection of UConn's great defensive teams was that they played a switching defense, handing off opposing guards and rotating to another player. It's one reason why Geno likes positionless basketball.

My recollection of the 2013 NCAA win was that Dolson finally stopped inbounding the ball to Diggins. The best example of that was the conference championship where UConn had the ball with seconds left. Dolson inbounded from the baseline and as she always did in pressure situations she threw it in the direction of Hartley and Diggins. For the umteenth time stole Hartley's lunch money, went the other way and won the game. It wasn't poor defense that lost that game, it was Dolson.
Finally, in the FF, Dolson must have been told that under no circumstances was she to throw a pass to Hartley unless Diggens was far far away. You could see a few times after a made ND basket that Dolson stepped out of bounds and started to just throw it over to the left sideline where Hartley always went, only for once she actually looked and saw Diggins standing there, waiting. And for the whole game Dolson inbounded to the other side, away from Diggins as I sat in front of my TV screaming "FINALLY".

 

[Bone Dog]

Great defenders in HS are rare. Ashlynn is one. Qadence is another. But mostly kids focus on scoring in HS. Geno and CD teach them D. That’s the great challenge every year, making clear that playing time is a function defensive proficiency not scoring.

 

[Jingo]

UConn hasn't had a shutdown defender since Jefferson left

DPOY Nika Muhl doesn't count? What do all those people [who voted for Nika] know anyway?

 

[psconn]

With my [CT] Sun sinking slowly in the west, seeing our Husky squad is like tossing red meat to a lion. Great thing about being a WNBA fan is that it fills awful b-ball gap from April to September.

 

[CocoHusky]

I don't remember Williams being a shutdown defender, ever. A great defender? Yes. My only recollection is that she and Collier played the opponents' 4 and 5. Gabby was rarely assigned to defend a guard for a game. She was a disrupter and a great team defender. In fact my recollection of UConn's great defensive teams was that they played a switching defense, handing off opposing guards and rotating to another player. It's one reason why Geno likes positionless basketball.

My recollection of the 2013 NCAA win was that Dolson finally stopped inbounding the ball to Diggins. The best example of that was the conference championship where UConn had the ball with seconds left. Dolson inbounded from the baseline and as she always did in pressure situations she threw it in the direction of Hartley and Diggins. For the umteenth time stole Hartley's lunch money, went the other way and won the game. It wasn't poor defense that lost that game, it was Dolson.
Finally, in the FF, Dolson must have been told that under no circumstances was she to throw a pass to Hartley unless Diggens was far far away. You could see a few times after a made ND basket that Dolson stepped out of bounds and started to just throw it over to the left sideline where Hartley always went, only for once she actually looked and saw Diggins standing there, waiting. And for the whole game Dolson inbounded to the other side, away from Diggins as I sat in front of my TV screaming "FINALLY".

Gabby Williams was an absolutely fabulous perimeter defender. The 2015-16 started out with three of the best perimeter defender to ever occupy a backcourt in Kia, Moriah and Gabby as the starting 1,2,3 for UCONN. Go back and watch them destroy Ohio State on the road in the opening game of the season and holding Kelsey Mitchell to 8 points. I believe Mitchell led the nation in scoring that seasonm. As I siad what prevented Gabby from being utilized as a perimeter defender was the un planned departures of first Morgan Tuck followed by Natalie Butler followed by Azura Stevens. This basically relegated Gabby to being a post player.
Positionless basketball is an often misunderstood concept even more so when it applies to the defensive side of the ball. What enables switching are mobile bigs and players of similar size and mobility. Stewie and Morgan Tuck were two of the most mobile bigs that God has ever created. When they left UCONN their minutes were replaced by Saniya, Gabby, KLS, Napheesa Collier and Natalie Butler and
Crystal Dangerfield. Among this group of players only Gabby and Kia could effectively execute a perimeter switching because for that scheme to work you want the offensive player to switch on to an equal or better defender and Gabby and Kia had no equals as far as perimeter defender. This is the reason Geno rarely relied on switching schemes with those teams.

Dolson threw a few errant pass in that FF game one of which ended in a Diggins steal and layup, but she must be forgiven as she was playing with an injury and had 7 turnovers. She was magnificent otherwise.

 

[Alydar]

Gabby Williams was an absolutely fabulous perimeter defender. The 2015-16 started out with three of the best perimeter defender to ever occupy a backcourt in Kia, Moriah and Gabby as the starting 1,2,3 for UCONN. Go back and watch them destroy Ohio State on the road in the opening game of the season and holding Kelsey Mitchell to 8 points. I believe Mitchell led the nation in scoring that seasonm. As I siad what prevented Gabby from being utilized as a perimeter defender was the un planned departures of first Morgan Tuck followed by Natalie Butler followed by Azura Stevens. This basically relegated Gabby to being a post player.
Positionless basketball is an often misunderstood concept even more so when it applies to the defensive side of the ball. What enables switching are mobile bigs and players of similar size and mobility. Stewie and Morgan Tuck were two of the most mobile bigs that God has ever created. When they left UCONN their minutes were replaced by Saniya, Gabby, KLS, Napheesa Collier and Natalie Butler and
Crystal Dangerfield. Among this group of players only Gabby and Kia could effectively execute a perimeter switching because for that scheme to work you want the offensive player to switch on to an equal or better defender and Gabby and Kia had no equals as far as perimeter defender. This is the reason Geno rarely relied on switching schemes with those teams.

Dolson threw a few errant pass in that FF game one of which ended in a Diggins steal and layup, but she must be forgiven as she was playing with an injury and had 7 turnovers. She was magnificent otherwise.

The 2016 Gabby Williams. A joy to watch, I agree, but we were talking about the 2013 team. Gabby, talking about her 1st year is quoted as saying she was "disappointed that she didn't give the coaches more reasons to play her. And as you admit, after that year she played the post out of necessity. So while Gabby was my favorite when she played, she did the vast bulk of her defending in and around the paint from the foul line down to the hoop, not chasing opposing pgs on the perimeter. As good as she might have been on the perimeter, we'll never know.

As for Dolson/Hartley/Diggins, Dolson threw many errant passes to Diggins during their entire careers, except for the 2013 FF game. Diggins owned Hartley, still does. I watched a W game last season where Hartley was on a break away and Diggins ran her down and blocked her shot from behind with no whistle. I laughed because Diggins did that to her many times in school. Once twice in one game. I loved her though. Hartley to me was the player I always wanted to take a shot, but only in the last 4 minutes of a close game.