kara lawson with a nice analysis of Uconn D

[UcMiami]

In the preview for big Monday Uconn/Louisville Kara does a nice breakdown of Uconn defense against Louisville:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/
Down the page a bit

 

[UConnCat]

Bria Smith is back but I actually think her presence makes it easier to defend Louisville as there is no need to defend her on the perimeter (she has taken zero 3-pt shots this season). It's generally true that defenses can't stop everything and in the last game Geno decided to give up the short jumper to Asia Taylor rather than have her dribble drive against Stef/Stewie and pick up fouls. To Taylor's credit she made the shots but those shots alone weren't going to lead L'ville to a win.

 

[Phil]

In the preview for big Monday Uconn/Louisville Kara does a nice breakdown of Uconn defense against Louisville:
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/
Down the page a bit

Yeah, I caught that this morning. Typical Kara, very good.

 

[Rayvin56]

Kara's analysis is spot on, as usual--LV will have to figure out how to score frequently against our half court defense to stand a chance. Huskies by 20+...

 

[DobbsRover2]

It's the Swin vs. Angel showdown coming up. That should be good, though I think Swin has a lot more ammo to fire. Interesting that Kara said that Baylor is "notoriously stingy" on defense when they are not among the top 60 defensive-scoring teams and gave up 89 against OK in their previous game. But yesterday the Bears were very stingy on FT defense.

Kara dissects the tough challenge for Louisville, assuming UConn uses the same strategy on defense. MoJeff is simply quicker than Shoni, so the Cardinals options are not great.

 

[Icebear]

It was a fantastic review accompanied by excellent video and highlights of the movement and accents of UCONN D. You saw MoJet harassing Shoni. You saw defensive spread. You saw defensive swaps. And you saw very little opportunity for LVille to find open shots.

 

[Tonyc]

UConnCat great observation . Bria Smith does not score from outside 15ft. That will be a problem for LVille because last game Taylor I think it was put up some nice numbers from the outside. I expect LVillle to come out all hyped up and the crowd to explode however UConns defense to be absolutely suffocating and will change the mood before half time. This is where the discipline comes in for UConn. This is where non fouls come in. Expect Lville to play ruff and be frustrated with UConns D. Expect UConn to play under control and take there time. Because of that I dont expect a very high scoring game. UConn by 20+.

 

[ChicagoGG]

UConnCat great observation . Bria Smith does not score from outside 15ft. That will be a problem for LVille because last game Taylor I think it was put up some nice numbers from the outside. I expect LVillle to come out all hyped up and the crowd to explode however UConns defense to be absolutely suffocating and will change the mood before half time. This is where the discipline comes in for UConn. This is where non fouls come in. Expect Lville to play ruff and be frustrated with UConns D. Expect UConn to play under control and take there time. Because of that I dont expect a very high scoring game. UConn by 20+.

Mojo alert - CD says whenever we say "oh, so-and-so never/rarely/can't hit a three", they go off on us. Hopefully, not tonight.

 

[chrissaran]

Kara has it right. Their D is tough because they play as a team. Stewie is great because she doesn't need time or space to score; she can just go right up over people. If the bracketologists don't have UConn and Notre Dame where they could meet in the finals, something is wrong. How epic would it be if two undefeated teams met in the finals. It has never happened, and I would bet it will never happen again.

 

[UConnCat]

Mojo alert - CD says whenever we say "oh, so-and-so never/rarely/can't hit a three", they go off on us. Hopefully, not tonight.

But those players had at least taken some 3s. Smith hasn't even taken a 3-pointer this year. Last year she took 7 threes all season and made none.