Looking Ahead to the Next Two Games

[BfromCT]

UConn looked real good in the initial two games, first against a gutsy High Point and second against a big Syracuse team that played a tough zone until the Huskies figured out after one quarter. Ododa was particularly good playing against the Orange bigs (17 points and 8 rebounds) and Aailyah Edwards had a terrific game (19 points on 5-5 shooting and 9-12 free throws). If the two can duplicate these performances down the road, then UConn will be extremely tough to beat. Nice to see how well the two played together. Bueckers had an ordinary game for her, just 20 points on 5-13 shooting, but had a number of superb passes. Can’t believe she was only credited with 3 assists. Nice to see Anna hit an open 3. UConn looked good defensively. I am the type of person who generally sees the glass half full except where Huskies basketball is concerned and the next opponent and the one after that look extremely formidable.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the real deal. If she played for UConn, she would be POY. She tore up Kentucky with a magnificent stat line and scoring at will - 35 points, 13-21 from field and 6-12 from 3-point range, plus 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Her partner down low Czinano was no slouch either with 14 points and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. To win, the Huskies will have to control Clark by holding her down to around 20 points. It is essential that Nika Mühl be healthy to guard Clark for at least part of the game. Without her, I’m not sure if Williams and Griffin can do the job on their own. Control Clark and UConn wins by double digits.

Baylor has been the most impressive team in the tournament, has annihilated its first two opponents, and looks nigh well impossible to beat, although UConn will no doubt come up with a good plan, but the team will need top performances from the starters to hope to move on to another Final Four. Against Virginia Tech, Baylor played eleven and had four in double figures. It is a team that I have dreaded playing all season and it will be a mighty hurdle for UConn to overcome.

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

Nice Post @BfromCT ... excellent summaries of tonights game and the road ahead... BUT..."point of order"... a long standing "rule of thumb" for sports of any kind... never look ahead further than the NEXT game... Gotta win the Next one before you should think about the 2nd one...

GO HUSKIES!!

 

[eebmg]

UConn looked real good in the initial two games, first against a gutsy High Point and second against a big Syracuse team that played a tough zone until the Huskies figured out after one quarter. Ododa was particularly good playing against the Orange bigs (17 points and 8 rebounds) and Aailyah Edwards had a terrific game (19 points on 5-5 shooting and 9-12 free throws). If the two can duplicate these performances down the road, then UConn will be extremely tough to beat. Nice to see how well the two played together. Bueckers had an ordinary game for her, just 20 points on 5-13 shooting, but had a number of superb passes. Can’t believe she was only credited with 3 assists. Nice to see Anna hit an open 3. UConn looked good defensively. I am the type of person who generally sees the glass half full except where Huskies basketball is concerned and the next opponent and the one after that look extremely formidable.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the real deal. If she played for UConn, she would be POY. She tore up Kentucky with a magnificent stat line and scoring at will - 35 points, 13-21 from field and 6-12 from 3-point range, plus 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Her partner down low Czinano was no slouch either with 14 points and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. To win, the Huskies will have to control Clark by holding her down to around 20 points. It is essential that Nika Mühl be healthy to guard Clark for at least part of the game. Without her, I’m not sure if Williams and Griffin can do the job on their own. Control Clark and UConn wins by double digits.

Baylor has been the most impressive team in the tournament, has annihilated its first two opponents, and looks nigh well impossible to beat, although UConn will no doubt come up with a good plan, but the team will need top performances from the starters to hope to move on to another Final Four. Against Virginia Tech, Baylor played eleven and had four in double figures. It is a team that I have dreaded playing all season and it will be a mighty hurdle for UConn to overcome.

I think we will be able to make catlin work hard for her points and we usually know how to handle a team dominated by a few players.

Baylor is another story. Playing as well as anyone. This is like a NC game. Paige will need to be as aggressive as she has ever been. Hope Nika will be back

 

[Zonepress]

Couldn’t agree more about Baylor
Re Iowa UConn is simply a better team
And is a big favorite
Baylor has very good talent excellent coaching and physical type of team that
Will be a big challenge
Would expect a very close game

 

[Blueballer]

Baylor has been the most impressive team in the tournament, has annihilated its first two opponents, and looks nigh well impossible to beat

Not so sure. We both hit the century mark in the first game and Baylor won by 6 points more than we did tonight. And I think we played a better team. But let's think about IOWA. One at a time.

 

[jaydee602]

According to Massey, UCONN is 14 points over Iowa with an 85% chance of winning. I predict that the spread will increase before game time.

 

[chrissaran]

Iowa first. If we win, then Baylor. Don't get ahead of yourselves, or we won't be watching more than one more game.

 

[Blueballer]

According to Massey, UCONN is 14 points over Iowa with an 85% chance of winning. I predict that the spread will increase before game time.

Unless something really strange happens (And it could) , the performance of Iowa against us is likely to look a lot like the box score of their game against Maryland. Probably with a bit less scoring than that game.

 

[msf22b]

The problem with guarding Catlin is that her internal positioning gyroscope is such that she can hit shots while being quite off balance and being (reasonably) closely guarded.
She also has perfected the Maya Moore back and forth...make the defender dizzy, then hit the three. And range is not an issue

Her passes are spectacular but not quite as overall team oriented as Paige's
(Don't try to ask me to explain what I mean by that...not easy).
Monika Czinano, the slightly undersized center is another piece of work.
An amazingly confident shooter anywhere near the hoop...the key nay be neutralizing her...
If we can...and hope that the two other sometimes hot 3-point threats stay cool.

I'll be interested in seeing how Geno and the gang defend this bunch.

 

[Sonny44]

Kim loves to run up the score against the weaklings, no surprise there.

 

[mbr33ct]

Iowa first. If we win, then Baylor. Don't get ahead of yourselves, or we won't be watching more than one more game.

Aren't you getting ahead of yourself also..."then Baylor"?

 

[mhshuskies]

UConn looked real good in the initial two games, first against a gutsy High Point and second against a big Syracuse team that played a tough zone until the Huskies figured out after one quarter. Ododa was particularly good playing against the Orange bigs (17 points and 8 rebounds) and Aailyah Edwards had a terrific game (19 points on 5-5 shooting and 9-12 free throws). If the two can duplicate these performances down the road, then UConn will be extremely tough to beat. Nice to see how well the two played together. Bueckers had an ordinary game for her, just 20 points on 5-13 shooting, but had a number of superb passes. Can’t believe she was only credited with 3 assists. Nice to see Anna hit an open 3. UConn looked good defensively. I am the type of person who generally sees the glass half full except where Huskies basketball is concerned and the next opponent and the one after that look extremely formidable.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the real deal. If she played for UConn, she would be POY. She tore up Kentucky with a magnificent stat line and scoring at will - 35 points, 13-21 from field and 6-12 from 3-point range, plus 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Her partner down low Czinano was no slouch either with 14 points and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. To win, the Huskies will have to control Clark by holding her down to around 20 points. It is essential that Nika Mühl be healthy to guard Clark for at least part of the game. Without her, I’m not sure if Williams and Griffin can do the job on their own. Control Clark and UConn wins by double digits.

Baylor has been the most impressive team in the tournament, has annihilated its first two opponents, and looks nigh well impossible to beat, although UConn will no doubt come up with a good plan, but the team will need top performances from the starters to hope to move on to another Final Four. Against Virginia Tech, Baylor played eleven and had four in double figures. It is a team that I have dreaded playing all season and it will be a mighty hurdle for UConn to overcome.

Clark could go off for 40 and Iowa still would not have enough to beat UCONN.

 

[huskeynut]

One game at a time. Iowa is next. If we don't beat Iowa then Baylor or whoever doesn't really matter.

As to Iowa, no doubt Caitlin is very good. But she is only one player who is a shoot first guard. Her supporting cast is not nearly as good as Paige's cast. UConn is a much better team.

Defensively UConn is known to be able to limit a team's top scorer. That will be the case with Clark. She will have to deal with Nika, E and Christyn guarding her. UConn's defense will serverely limit Iowa's supporting case.

 

[bluedevil]

I think Liv and AE will be able to get their center into foul trouble..

 

[Rb335]

The Iowa game reminds me of playing Kelsey Mitchell and Ohio State a few years back. Having a player who can hit deep threes in a hurry makes the game always feel closer than it is. Overall, Uconn has too much talent and I foresee Iowa’s posts getting into some foul trouble.

Baylor is an interesting team. They really don’t have much of an outside game. I’d dare them to shoot from the outside. But the key will be our posts staying out of foul trouble and our guards knocking in shots from the midrange and beyond.

 

[CTBballfan243]

Let Clark score her average, hold the rest of the team to below their average, and UConn wins going away.

 

[mbr33ct]

6.77, that is the points differential between Paige and Caitlin scoring averages...what am I missing?

 

[Longtime fan]

UConn looked real good in the initial two games, first against a gutsy High Point and second against a big Syracuse team that played a tough zone until the Huskies figured out after one quarter. Ododa was particularly good playing against the Orange bigs (17 points and 8 rebounds) and Aailyah Edwards had a terrific game (19 points on 5-5 shooting and 9-12 free throws). If the two can duplicate these performances down the road, then UConn will be extremely tough to beat. Nice to see how well the two played together. Bueckers had an ordinary game for her, just 20 points on 5-13 shooting, but had a number of superb passes. Can’t believe she was only credited with 3 assists. Nice to see Anna hit an open 3. UConn looked good defensively. I am the type of person who generally sees the glass half full except where Huskies basketball is concerned and the next opponent and the one after that look extremely formidable.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the real deal. If she played for UConn, she would be POY. She tore up Kentucky with a magnificent stat line and scoring at will - 35 points, 13-21 from field and 6-12 from 3-point range, plus 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Her partner down low Czinano was no slouch either with 14 points and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. To win, the Huskies will have to control Clark by holding her down to around 20 points. It is essential that Nika Mühl be healthy to guard Clark for at least part of the game. Without her, I’m not sure if Williams and Griffin can do the job on their own. Control Clark and UConn wins by double digits.

Baylor has been the most impressive team in the tournament, has annihilated its first two opponents, and looks nigh well impossible to beat, although UConn will no doubt come up with a good plan, but the team will need top performances from the starters to hope to move on to another Final Four. Against Virginia Tech, Baylor played eleven and had four in double figures. It is a team that I have dreaded playing all season and it will be a mighty hurdle for UConn to overcome.

I think Baylor and Maryland are playing the best basketball at the moment. I do believe UCONN can beat anyone, if we play our best for forty minutes. Something we have not yet done. We have done it for individual quarters, so I know it is there. But Baylor is loaded and deep.

However, to be national champions, you have to beat the best. So we need to beat Iowa, Baylor and everyone else we see. This is much harder than we are used to, as the quality of the women's game is substantially elevated. What we always wanted.

Hopefully, we shall be at full strength.

 

[Urshurak]

Massey says:

UConn 85-71 over Iowa
Uconn 69-66 over Baylor

What does it all mean?

Absolutely ZERO (Massey also has Oregon ranked 7th, so the entire rest of it is in question to me.....)

Next up Iowa. Let's re-group Sunday (or NOT, depending on how Saturday goes.)

 

[baylorprof]

Patience. If "chalk holds" it should be a great game BU vs. UConn (what Covid denied us earlier this year), and regardless of outcome GREAT for wbb. Hope to see your guys in Elite 8 (though would have preferred the brackets steered us, if both successful, to a national title game).

 

[Baylor1994]

Kim loves to run up the score against the weaklings, no surprise there.

Umm UConn does the same thing! We played more bench than UConn did last night.

 

[Baylor1994]

The Iowa game reminds me of playing Kelsey Mitchell and Ohio State a few years back. Having a player who can hit deep threes in a hurry makes the game always feel closer than it is. Overall, Uconn has too much talent and I foresee Iowa’s posts getting into some foul trouble.

Baylor is an interesting team. They really don’t have much of an outside game. I’d dare them to shoot from the outside. But the key will be our posts staying out of foul trouble and our guards knocking in shots from the midrange and beyond.

Baylor is shooting 44 percent from 3 in the tournament! We don’t shoot a lot of 3’s but we are playing some of our best basketball! Moon and queen have been balling out lately! Can’t wait to see Baylor vs UConn in the elite 8 hopefully

 

[Stymie]

I believe Coach will formulate a plan and his players will execute.
Not mission impossible.
Iowa has dropped 9 games this year (so far).
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
That’s why the play the games.