My recipe to beat Syracuse.....

[divots]

Just my 2-cents but points of emphasis that I'll be keeping an eye on...I'm sure that Geno & Company have everything well in-hand but it's Sunday morning with lots of time to kill between now and tip-off...please feel free to hammer away.....

* Knock their perceived disrespect chip off their shoulder early and decisively.
* Don't just break their press but make them pay dearly for applying it.
* When the quick and easy score doesn't appear then make them work long and hard on defense.
* Move the ball quickly to avoid traps.
* Own the paint on offense.
* Make them run their offense a step or two deeper than they would like.
* Contest each 3 attempt without fouling.
* Beware the deep rebound on missed 3's and eliminate any second scoring opportunities.
* Avoid fouls.
* Play smart not street.

 

[Sonny44]

My recipe - show up.

 

[BroadwayVa]

My recipe - show up.

Geno has the formulae----score more points. !!!!!

 

[my2cents]

Thought I heard my name....

 

[housekeys]

Limit turnovers + limit fouls = UConn win.

 

[MilfordHusky]

We attacked the press very nicely last year. Let's do it again.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Last year a seasoned PG ran the show for UConn... I got Syracuse tomorrow night

 

[Kmoney]

The way to beat Syracuse is to limit them to one shot and don't turn the ball over. Their goal is to take 20 more shots than the opponent. Even if Syracuse is taking low percentage shots, they feel the extra volume will make up for that.

The main problem against the syracuse defense is they press you into speeding up and then they fall back into a zone to slow you down. It takes smart ball handlers to know when to attack and when to pull it out. For UConn this could be troublesome due to so many different players handling the ball on the break.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Last year a seasoned PG ran the show for UConn... I got Syracuse tomorrow night

I agree about Mo, but not about tomorrow.

 

[Sonny44]

Geno has the formulae----score more points. !!!!!

Yes, that will work too.

 

[oldude]

One thing I would add is to get their bigs (Day & Slim) into foul trouble. They are both aggressive and will commit reach in fouls under the basket, and other than the 2nd Day sister, who is not as good, Syracuse has no depth whatsoever.

 

[huskeynut]

Syracuse - good backcourt and weak frontline. Two legit scorers then not much.

UConn - balanced offensee. 4 players average double digits. Fromidible front court and quality backcourt.

If the Cuse press, run them into the ground. Just like last year's final. Force the Cuse to run their offense with no quick shots. Control the boards at both ends.

 

[THEMAN/MAN]

Run them out of the gym!!! As Geno would say , "Act like you own the place"!!

 

[BobbyJ]

Relax. 10 teams that are nowhere near as good as UConn have beaten Syracuse this year. They're not exactly a juggernaut.

 

[meyers7]

Last year a seasoned PG ran the show for UConn... I got Syracuse tomorrow night

 

[JavaMan]

My recipe to beat Syracuse.....

We made not need a recipe. From The UConn Blog's Game Preview:

We bring in some help to learn about the Huskies’ second round opponent.
by Daniel Connolly Mar 20, 2017, 10:36 am EDT​

In order to learn more about the Orange, we exchanged pleasantries with John Cassillo of NunesMagician.com, SB Nation’s Syracuse blog.

• What was your reaction to not only being put in UConn's region but getting the 8-seed next to the Huskies?
  It felt like a punishment, honestly...
• Can you give us some insight into the feelings that come with having to go play UConn?
  Just kind of sucks. The disparity between UConn and everyone else is more overwhelming than anything you'll find in the men's game...
• If you slept through the game and woke up to find Syracuse won, what do you think happened for the upset?
  They had to have shot the lights out from three and managed to get UConn's forwards into some foul trouble. That's the only way this gets done. Syracuse isn't going to out-muscle Napheesa Collier or Gabby Williams on the inside. And Katie Lou Samuelson's too efficient of a shooter from outside to think that volume scoring is going to work to keep up with the Huskies...
• What do you actually expect to happen?
  Perhaps Syracuse starts hot from the floor (they did vs. Iowa State) and makes this one interesting for a half. But threes can't fall forever, and once SU starts missing, that should give UConn everything it needs to generate transition buckets (deadly for anyone, obviously, but especially a team going against the Huskies). The season ends on a sour note for the Orange...

Full Article [HERE]

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[HoopsFan21]

We have Big Game Gabby and they don't!!

 

[Jeff H]

They're only a .500 team away from the Carrier Dome. They can score, but Duke held them to 55 and 46. Even if they have a good three point shooting night I don't see them holding UConn under 80. Other than the usual foul trouble caveat, it's hard to see how UConn could lose to them at home.

 

[JavaMan]

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[iri10]

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Gah, must they go all 'orange crush' on this situation? Official account should know better.

 

[JoePgh]

I think that one way it could get close if it UConn has trouble breaking the press. UConn usually doesn't have trouble with that, but sometimes it does happen. In the NC game last year, UConn lost its mojo in the middle of the third quarter, and the result was a 16-0 Syracuse run that was only stopped when freshman Napheesa calmly scored two baskets at the end of the quarter. Before that, it looked like it might go on forever. In that game, Saniya came in as a third ball handler (in addition to Moriah and Kia) to help break the press, and she made two bad passes that resulted in two Syracuse scores. She quickly returned to the bench.

I see Lou as having a big role in the press break this evening. That is one of her unacknowledged skills -- she VERY rarely coughs up the ball under pressure, and she makes good passes under pressure. And she has the height to make and receive passes over Syracuse's guards. She was, of course, unavailable last year.

I assume that Geno's drills, yesterday and today, are focused on the press break. Keeping the ball in the middle of the court is essential -- Syracuse is very good at using the sideline as an additional defender if the ball handler gets very close to it. And of course Syracuse can't press at all when UConn gets a defensive rebound or a steal; hopefully that will happen a lot this evening.

 

[rugbymate]

The consensus two keys to a Cuse victory are 1) press UCONN. Really? We typically have 5 good ball handlers and 5 good passers on the floor and gifted athletes who are quick and fast. Make my day...press us.
2) fill the stat sheet with threes. Really? Cuse shoots 30.8% on threes but gives up 35.9% We shoot 39.9% and give up 26.7% . Make my day....shoot threes.

As an aside, our three point defense statistically is much better than last year.

 

[GiladKatzDeli]

Geno has said multiple times that UConn tries to force opponents into situations that they're not comfortable in and take away their strengths. Tonight, that means:

Denying touches to Sykes and Peterson and making somebody else beat you. Peterson accounts for half of the 'Cuse's assists and is a good distributor. You deny her touches and make someone else be the primary ball handler and you can potentially make things very difficult for them.

Anyone can get hot for a single game, but the rest of the 'Cuse players are not above average shooters statistically. In fact, Cooper and Slim (who each play 25-30 mins a game) are 30% shooters from the floor which means you can essentially sag/help off of them. If they aren't hitting open shots, it could be a long night.

UConn students will hopefully show up en masse since they can get in free. Will that play a role?