If Crystal doesn't play Sunday

[azfan]

It appears that Crystal's back spasms have prevented her from practicing since the last game. If Geno holds her out of the Seton Hall game and her back doesn't improve which prevents her from playing against Notre Dame who wins.

 

[bluedevil]

The team that scores the most points but if that is Uconn ..probably the refs will find a way to give the win to ND

 

[Carnac]

It appears that Crystal's back spasms have prevented her from practicing since the last game. If Geno holds her out of the Seton Hall game and her back doesn't improve which prevents her from playing against Notre Dame who wins.

Crystal. If she can't answer the bell, it means she needs more time to recover. The fact that she has not returned to practice as of yesterday is disheartening. It was hoped that over the last 5 days she would have rested and received treatment to relieve the back spasms, and be ready to go.

If UConn goes into these next two games without Dangerfield, of course they will be at a huge disadvantage, but the show must go on. Anytime you lose your floor general, you're at a disadvantage. That means Molly and the rest of the reserves will have to step up BIG time again. Molly has had 5 days to mentally prepare for this possibility, she should be ready.

Molly is not Crystal. She's not going to replicate the things (numbers) that Dangerfield does. If she can play solid defense, not turn the ball over, score 8 points (1 basket per quarter), and collect 5-6 assists, we should be OK. All we need from Molly is for her to stick her finger in the dyke until Crystal gets back.

If they can win these two games with 8 players, then it's a win-win for UConn. Think of the boost in confidence and morale it would give the team. If not, then Geno knows exactly what he has, and knows what adjustments he needs to make going forward. With the talent UConn has, even without Crystal, they should be able to come out on top against Seton Hall and a rebuilding 5-4 Notre Dame. Several posters here also believe that UConn will have little to no problem with Seton Hall or Notre Dame. I'll drink to that.

Massey has #4 UConn a 80-61 favorite over unranked Seton Hall, and a 77-67 winner over the unranked Irish on Sunday.

 

[FanHam]

Molly's chance is now. I hope she does well and thrives.

 

[Alydar]

I expect that MM has her team running flopping drills for an hour every practice.

 

[eebmg]

I expect that MM has her team running flopping drills for an hour every practice.

I don't know. With their injury situation, they cant risk any flop induced injury.

 

[Tonyc]

We will need the BIG MAK ATTACK. lol Ania will need to step up as will Griff. I have a feeling CD will play. We get a big lead and she will be rested because we will need her against Depaul and Tenn.

 

[Longtime fan]

We will need the BIG MAK ATTACK. lol Ania will need to step up as will Griff. I have a feeling CD will play. We get a big lead and she will be rested because we will need her against Depaul and Tenn.

I would far prefer that Dangerfield take all necessary time to fully recover. I still ( as the lead cynic in the fan base ) fear that it is a different injury, and that " back spasms" is the catch all description. I hope I am wrong here.

It really doesn't matter if we win or lose in December or January....except for those who obsess about our national ranking. The focus is to have this team playing as well as it can, and in maximum health, for March. Everyone knows that. So we should all relax. Maybe Molly will blossom.

 

[Mdoggie]

UConns switching defense and semi press will be too much for the domers. UConn 74- 57 and Sam B will try to do too much gunning the domers out of the game.

 

[Alydar]

I don't know. With their injury situation, they cant risk any flop induced injury.

That's what practice is for. You bring in a Judo coach to teach how to fall without injury and a Hollywood stunt man to teach how to fake contact. I'm not accusing anyone of that but it sure looks like some teams specialize in it.

 

[DaBball]

Then we only win by 30 instead of 50. They have absolutely no one to match Liv.

 

[boontonbomber]

the point guard thing is overdone. the 5 best players should get the most minutes. this is a great opportunity to get Aubrey Griffin additional minutes . she seems to impact the game immediately, and she's just not been playing enough. she offers a whole lot more than Bent. Makurat or Williams can bring the ball up, and get things started.

 

[EricLA]

I would far prefer that Dangerfield take all necessary time to fully recover. I still ( as the lead cynic in the fan base ) fear that it is a different injury, and that " back spasms" is the catch all description. I hope I am wrong here.

It really doesn't matter if we win or lose in December or January....except for those who obsess about our national ranking. The focus is to have this team playing as well as it can, and in maximum health, for March. Everyone knows that. So we should all relax. Maybe Molly will blossom.

Actually, it does matter. Losing to a team like ND, who could easily lose 10 games this year, would be considered a "bad" loss. UCONN is already considered a 2 seed. It would drop them to a 3 seed at least, and make it that much more difficult in the NCAA's.

Losing to Baylor or Oregon or SC, on the other hand, not a bad loss. But bad losses will affect seeding in the NCAA's. I know that you still need to win 6 games to win a NC, but if we ended up a 4 seed and have to go thru L'ville, SC, Oregon, etc. just to make the NC game, it's a much tougher road...

 

[EricLA]

UConns switching defense and semi press will be too much for the domers. UConn 74- 57 and Sam B will try to do too much gunning the domers out of the game.

Aside from winning, it would be nice to see Aubrey guard Brunelle and stuff her with numerous blocks!

 

[Mdoggie]

Aside from winning, it would be nice to see Aubrey guard Brunelle and stuff her with numerous blocks!

True.

 

[Alydar]

There really isn't much difference between a 2 and 3 seed. Those 2 would be slated to play in the S16 and likely face the 1 seed in the E8.
And the committee can set it up any way they want. In 2008 the final 1 seed was a tossup between someone I don't recollect and Rutgers. It was a coin flip and Rutgers lost. So then the committee sent them to overall No 1 seed UConn's regions thereby forcing UConn to play what was a legit 1 seed in the E-8, citing the "overall balance of the regions" as their rationale.
The committee follows "policies and procedures" but those rules that bind them are chosen in a dark room by anonymous persons.

 

[Plebe]

Actually, it does matter. Losing to a team like ND, who could easily lose 10 games this year, would be considered a "bad" loss. UCONN is already considered a 2 seed. It would drop them to a 3 seed at least, and make it that much more difficult in the NCAA's.

Losing to Baylor or Oregon or SC, on the other hand, not a bad loss. But bad losses will affect seeding in the NCAA's. I know that you still need to win 6 games to win a NC, but if we ended up a 4 seed and have to go thru L'ville, SC, Oregon, etc. just to make the NC game, it's a much tougher road...

A loss to Notre Dame wouldn't necessarily be costly, but it means UConn would need to cash in on in its games against Baylor, Oregon and South Carolina in order to land a 1 or 2 seed. Last year Notre Dame lost to North Carolina and Miami but still landed a 1 seed because they had a ton of high-caliber wins. Same thing with Louisville losing to Miami and Mississippi State losing to Missouri.

Losing to Baylor, Oregon or SC wouldn't be a bad loss, but it's the opportunity cost that would hurt because UConn's schedule this year (like last year's) doesn't provide many other opportunities for the quality wins that the committee tends to value so highly.

 

[MSGRET]

UConns switching defense and semi press will be too much for the domers. UConn 74- 57 and Sam B will try to do too much gunning the domers out of the game.

I haven't posted the Prognosticators Game 8 (ND) Predictions yet, but do you want me to put that in as your pick wait until after Seton Hall?

 

[Monte]

This is 2019!............Where is Notre Dame ranked?

 

[Huskee11]

Do we have any updates on 6'3" junior Mikayla Vaughn? She suffered a sprained knee in the ND opener in early November and the expected time out was 4-6 weeks.

That would put the UConn game on the early end of that timeframe.

ND takes on Minnesota tonight, worth checking the box score with this in mind. ND needs her help on the boards.

 

[Mdoggie]

I haven't posted the Prognosticators Game 8 (ND) Predictions yet, but do you want me to put that in as your pick wait until after Seton Hall?

Right. Lol. Too excited about the ND game.

 

[Carnac]

Molly's chance is now. I hope she does well and thrives.

I would say they need Molly the next 4 days more than ever. Until Crystal comes back, they're down to 8 players.

 

[Plebe]

Do we have any updates on 6'3" junior Mikayla Vaughn? She suffered a sprained knee in the ND opener in early November and the expected time out was 4-6 weeks.

That would put the UConn game on the early end of that timeframe.

ND takes on Minnesota tonight, worth checking the box score with this in mind. ND needs her help on the boards.

Article from yesterday:

"McGraw said she will continue to consider bringing Peoples off the bench, and that the possibility could grow even more once center Mikayla Vaughn returns from a sprained knee in an estimated two more weeks."

Of course, that doesn't mean she won't come back sooner, magically, just in time for Dec. 8. Lord knows Muffet likes to play fast and loose with the truth.

Notre Dame's Anaya Peoples in groove everywhere but free throw line

Earns Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Week honor

www.ndinsider.com

 

[CL82]

Backs are twitchy things. I'd rather take extra time to make sure sure that Dangerfield is 100% rather than risk re-injury. She's critical to our success in the long run.

 

[Charliebball]

I would say they need Molly the next 4 days more than ever.

I'm not so sure Geno is going to depend on Molly to take Crystal's spot......................I assume Anna and Christyn will share the load and we'll see Griffin and Irwin sharing time up front............