Is UConn Unbeatable in the Final 4? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Is UConn Unbeatable in the Final 4?

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uconnever said:
Not unbeatable. We blow Maryland out. Beat ND by 15. Also just wanted to say that I know we will be good next year, but I have heard people say we will be better.....I don't think so. I think we blow people out because of KML really hitting her threes and putting on fast points. Next year that will be gone. We replace Stokes with The transfer.....her name escapes me at the moment and Boykin so were good there but KLS won't hit threes like KML because it just takes time to adjust. Therefore the pull away ability won't be as devastating.
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Natalie Butler is the fore mentioned transfer.
 
UCONN has the enforcers behind the guarding the basket........Plus, misses leave UCONN off and running......Lets see what the score is at 10 minutes into the game.........MD is a fun team to watch when the other team plays no defense........Tenn ran out of gas on Monday and they had no answer for #42 of MD in the post........UCONN has a trio of stoppers, plus #42 will have to run and chase the UCONN bigs.........I like Gabby to have a huge game and impact.
 
Kurebeach5 said:
Admittedly I am the eternal pessimist, but Maryland plays three guards that can all penetrate and I'm having trouble figuring out who KML is going to guard. Although our team defense is much better now I still have visions of the Stanford game messing with my mind. So, NO, no one is unbeatable if the stars are mis-aligned.
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Maryland's guards will have to deal with the enforcer - Kiah. Most teams know when she is in the game, the lane is closed off to any who dare enter.
 
There ain't no hoss that's never been rode and there ain't no cowboy that's never been throwed. Nothing is certain but death and taxes but Vegas has UConn 23.5 over the turtles. (ND is 3.5 over the chickens.
 
huskeynut said:
Maryland's guards will have to deal with the enforcer - Kiah. Most teams know when she is in the game, the lane is closed off to any who dare enter.
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That is, of course, if she gets into the game. After Dayton, one has to wonder.
 
ericsandiego said:
No. They are not unbeatable. Honestly I do think we beat Maryland, and I don't think it will be by single digits. The reason is that MD is one of those teams that can be offensively challenged. Against Tennessee they only scored 58 points in a dreadfully ugly game. Against Duke they scored 65.

Having said that, Maryland is a high scoring team who is capable of putting up big offensive numbers BUT against teams who traditionally play tough defense, or a team like Duke with size, they become a bit scoring challenged. I think UCONN's defense is far superior to Tennessee's and while I'm not ready to say we keep MD in the 40's, I have a hard time seeing them score over 60 vs. UCONN.

Which brings me to SC vs. ND. Honestly, I think SC has been very underwhelming in the tourney. 2 point win over UNC, 8 point win over FSU. BUT they've played UCONN already once this year and I think more than ND, who has faced UCONN many times, that beatdown we put on them taught them more about us than it did us about them.

I'm not saying I think they would beat UCONN in a NC game, but I do think more than any of the 3 other teams, they have learned the most about how to play UCONN. Having said that we also learned how to play them. I was talking to my dad the other day and said I'd rather face ND in the NC game than SC. Why? At this time I think we match up better with ND. They don't have any big strengths that we would struggle with compared to the size of SC. Not saying ND would be easy, as we'd have to figure out how to contain their guards, but it's not like they could throw a bunch of 6'4"+ kids at us...
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I don't agree. USC can't score enough. ND has shot makers and a legit offense and ball movement. Size is overrated if you don't have the necessary skill. USC has some skill - but ball movement is shaky. I'd much prefer to play USC. And the more cracks ND has at us - the better chance they can pull off a huge surprise (I'm talking about next year too.).
 
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Striper69 said:
Dayton should've lost to Louisville.


As Laettner said "Any team can be beaten on any given night"...
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Sure Dayton should have lost. If a few of Dayton's starters caught the flu Louisville would have had a good chance.
 
uconnever said:
Not unbeatable. We blow Maryland out. Beat ND by 15. Also just wanted to say that I know we will be good next year, but I have heard people say we will be better.....I don't think so. I think we blow people out because of KML really hitting her threes and putting on fast points. Next year that will be gone. We replace Stokes with The transfer.....her name escapes me at the moment and Boykin so were good there but KLS won't hit threes like KML because it just takes time to adjust. Therefore the pull away ability won't be as devastating.
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I agree with this-

not regarding the blowouts but that our competition will have a better ability to play a "once-in-lifetime game." The only team I can see do that now in this ff is ND.
 
Kurebeach5 said:
Admittedly I am the eternal pessimist, but Maryland plays three guards that can all penetrate and I'm having trouble figuring out who KML is going to guard. Although our team defense is much better now I still have visions of the Stanford game messing with my mind. So, NO, no one is unbeatable if the stars are mis-aligned.
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Those three guards aren't Diana Taurasi.
 
NewCorn said:
Well, he didn't say what year he was talking about. Certainly not this year.
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I was talking about this year. It was a sarcastic reply to Ericsandiego's post when he said he would rather play ND than SC because ND has good guard play but can't throw a lot of big 6'3 and larger players against us.
 
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Nobody is unbeatable. Geno and his staff know it, which is why UConn will be prepared for any opponent. However, that does not guarantee victory. If the Huskies play their best, they should win. It doesn't mean they will.
 
chrissaran said:
Nobody is unbeatable. Geno and his staff know it, which is why UConn will be prepared for any opponent. However, that does not guarantee victory. If the Huskies play their best, they should win. It doesn't mean they will.
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This. Exactly.
 
uconnever, Natalie Butler is already a better all-around player than Kiah Stokes. She averaged 13 and 13 at Georgetown. She is obviously not afraid to shoot. Also, Napheesa Collier is the most ready to play next year, and she will be a monster. Then you have Breanna and Moriah as seniors, Morgan the most underrated player in women's college basketball, Kia and Gabby with another year of experience, and Lou and De'Janae along with Saniya and Courtney. By tournament time the Huskies will be better. Greater depth at all positions.
 
chrissaran said:
uconnever, Natalie Butler is already a better all-around player than Kiah Stokes. She averaged 13 and 13 at Georgetown. She is obviously not afraid to shoot. Also, Napheesa Collier is the most ready to play next year, and she will be a monster. Then you have Breanna and Moriah as seniors, Morgan the most underrated player in women's college basketball, Kia and Gabby with another year of experience, and Lou and De'Janae along with Saniya and Courtney. By tournament time the Huskies will be better. Greater depth at all positions.
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Why is depth important when last year we didn't have any and in our biggest game in the tourney so far we really didn't use it?

Notre Dame, Baylor, Tenn - I'm sure many others are saying they will be better too. Then last year for example if someone spoke of UCONN having no depth we could easily reply you can only play 5 at one time. Having a lot of depth isn't that big of a deal.

Though next year we certainly are a beast.
 
Kurebeach5 said:
Admittedly I am the eternal pessimist, but Maryland plays three guards that can all penetrate and I'm having trouble figuring out who KML is going to guard. Although our team defense is much better now I still have visions of the Stanford game messing with my mind. So, NO, no one is unbeatable if the stars are mis-aligned.
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Eternal pessimist for sure but claiming to be a fan you do not have to become a optimist but wake up and slide a little closer to a realist. Anyone including yourself that keeps mentioning the Stanford loss must remember the first time the binkie fell out of their mouth add trauma.
No team at this time of the year is the same as they were that early in the season. We do not even have the same starting lineup. As for who KML is going to guard it does not matter, she will more than held her own on D as she has all season. That and out score who is supposed to try and cover her.
I am not saying UCONN is unbeatable but the loss to Stanford will have nothing to do with it and neither will KML's defense.;)
 
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hoophuskee said:
??? Huh?

Allen is better than Jefferson?
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Mo is better than Allen, but not by as much as Loyd is better than Kia. Loyd as a junior NPOY candidate is miles ahead of Kia. Allen and Loyd, in my opinion, are the best guard tandem.
 
HoopsFan21 said:
Mo is better than Allen, but not by as much as Loyd is better than Kia. Loyd as a junior NPOY candidate is miles ahead of Kia. Allen and Loyd, in my opinion, are the best guard tandem.
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So they have one guard better than us while we have one guard better than them while the other 3 positions we're superior too. So somehow we're supposed to fear ND big time because what Stanford did to us in November?
 
hoophuskee said:
So they have one guard better than us while we have one guard better than them while the other 3 positions we're superior too. So somehow we're supposed to fear ND big time because what Stanford did to us in November?
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Yes I do not think others can match us on paper..... I am a big Moriah fan..... she eats spinach every morning for breakfast!!!! The mighty mite..... cannot be matched..... and I have full confidence.... and to go against ....say.... Notre Dame...... we will slap that defense on them again that smothered Jewel..... cause she represents main threat of ND...... Having said that..... I think they are the top threat to us in general..... Muffet knows her stuff and i think she is an excellent tactical coach..... and looking at SC, they may have size on the roster sheet.... but they definitely didn't want to run with us in February..... and they looked bad..... just squeaking by Duke (ya Duke) earlier in year..... and should have lost to UNC in tournament.... UNC was terrible down the stretch.....

Stanford was an aberration..... we lost that game.... due to bad defense and allowing insane penetration..... coaches corrected.... and it has not been a problem since.....
 
Things to think about for the Final FOUR:

Sunday vs MD: Brenda Frese coaches MD, 'nough said! Jeff Walz has the only title MD has won! Her laughable pregame and 1/2 time speech doesn't score any points! She can't match Geno coaching! NO-ONE plays defense like UCONN! NO-ONE sells out for 40 minutes like UCONN! MD has 1 big, Jones, and 2 guards Mincy and the hyphen that score consistently, MoJeff, Nurse, Chong, will handle them! They cannot stop Stewie, and KML and Tuck and Williams and Stokes with Jones!
UCONN wins 84-59!

Tuesday vs ND: The guards are a wash! They have Turner as only good big! We will dominate them inside as we did Dec. 6th! See above vs MD for Defensive plan! Cable and Mabrey will not go off with 3's vs UCONN defense! The Muffett will be driven to tears screaming no one respects me! UCONN wins 88-58!

Tuesday vs SoCar: Feb. 9th Final score: UCONN 87 SoCar 62! UCONN won by 25! Where does SoCar pick up 18 points to get to 80 because they must score at least 80 to beat UCONN! What players can contribute 18 more points for SoCar? They can't! Sessions can't score over 6! Coates and Wilson will not score much vs UCONN defense! SoCar must hold UCONN UNDER 70 points to win! How? They're defense isn't good enough to hold Stewie, KML, Tuck, MoJeff, Chong, Williams, Nurse, Stokes, under 70 points! UCONN wins 85-59!

Yes, No-one is unbeatable! But vs MD, ND, &/or SoCar they don't have enough bullets in their guns to win this game!
IF UCONN IS HEALTHY THEY WIN Championship #10! There's a reason Geno is 9-0 in the Championship game! He's a better coach than anyone else!
 
There is a difference between losing and being beat. UConn can not be beat however they can lose.
 
Baylor was unbeatable 3 years ago as well...Maryland has the guards that can give us fits, and the bigs inside to negate our rebounding advantage. I like our chances, but nobody is unbeatable. Hopefully, we learned a lot in the 2nd half against Dayton.
 
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hoophuskee said:
So they have one guard better than us while we have one guard better than them while the other 3 positions we're superior too. So somehow we're supposed to fear ND big time because what Stanford did to us in November?
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We tend to be vulnerable to teams with good guards, and ND has the best, that's the only reason I brought it up. Obviously KML is better than Mabrey/Cable, and ND can't contend with Tuck/Stewie. Last year we had great senior leadership with Stef and Bria who set the tone for the title game last year. We don't have that this year. The intensity of the second half of the Dayton game is how they need to come out Sunday and Tuesday night.
 
Regarding the Dayton game. Dayton was not known for shooting a lot of treys. I would think UConns game plan was to not guard the perimeter as tightly as they did in the second half because of that. Dayton came out hot and Geno made the adjustments. Geno knows MD SC and ND we've played them. I don't think either of those games will be close at the end.
 
Tonyc said:
Regarding the Dayton game. Dayton was not known for shooting a lot of treys. I would think UConns game plan was to not guard the perimeter as tightly as they did in the second half because of that. Dayton came out hot and Geno made the adjustments. Geno knows MD SC and ND we've played them. I don't think either of those games will be close at the end.
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Dayton was 8th in the country at shooting the 3 (just behind us). It was no surprise that they came out firing. I was just hoping our defense would come out and defend the perimeter a little better knowing that, but it took until the second half before the defensive clamp was applied.
 
Shenandoah said:
Baylor was unbeatable 3 years ago as well...Maryland has the guards that can give us fits, and the bigs inside to negate our rebounding advantage. I like our chances, but nobody is unbeatable. Hopefully, we learned a lot in the 2nd half against Dayton.
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Baylor was not unbeatable...they lost to Stanford earlier that year. That Baylor team was different than the one that went 40-0. It was clear they had some chemistry issues.
 
It's difficult to win in march/april without a player you can count on to score the basketball. UConn, ND, and SC all have at least one player who can be counted on to score. Maryland has a score by committee approach. I don't see them being able to create their own shots and get easy buckets vs UConn. I think Maryland will struggle to score vs UConn. The huskies defense can be overpowering at times as we've seen. If UConn can hold their opponents in the low 60's or better, we're awfully tough to beat. SC has size and can play defense, but I don't think they're a dominant offensive team. ND has Loyd, but I think we have a big rebounding advantage over them (even with Turner). I think they'll make more 3's than they did in the first matchup, but we won't turn the ball over 24 times and MoJeff won't be held scoreless either. The big surprise to America in this final four (but not to UConn fans) will be the play of Morgan Tuck. I see her giving Stewie a run for her money on the most outstanding player award. She's got some serious post moves, a lot of confidence, and finds ways to get easy buckets.
 
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