Need a hand on the UConn/Baylor analysis

[Icebear]

Exactly, I am, also, receiving a Malware Warning about reading threads started by DD. Then Tom makes me more nervous by warning us that only the thread content dangerous to our minds. All is lost.

 

[Tonyc]

Im not nervous, cause in the mind of many fans Baylor is number 1 in the polls. My thoughts get Stef up top KML on the wing and Kiah or Breanna underneath and just shoot the ball. Guards need to penetrate and challange Griner and the big need to front her and go to the hoop strong. Sooner of later she will foul or just back off to stay out of foul trouble. We almost beat them last season at Baylor. IMO the difference was we didnt get to the foul line until about 6+ minutes left and we had had an 11 pt lead. We need to get to the line before the end of the game this season.

 

[SallyH]

I'm also interested in Baylor's bench. Is it as strong as ours?

 

[EricLA]

Im not nervous, cause in the mind of many fans Baylor is number 1 in the polls. My thoughts get Stef up top KML on the wing and Kiah or Breanna underneath and just shoot the ball. Guards need to penetrate and challange Griner and the big need to front her and go to the hoop strong. Sooner of later she will foul or just back off to stay out of foul trouble. We almost beat them last season at Baylor. IMO the difference was we didnt get to the foul line until about 6+ minutes left and we had had an 11 pt lead. We need to get to the line before the end of the game this season.

Griner's pretty good about not fouling. Just because a guard drives against a post player does not always mean a foul will ensue. In fact, I would argue that the ND guards are as good as anyone in the nation at driving and drawing fouls, and when Baylor played ND, Griner played 37 minutes, had 24 points, and 4 fouls. It was Achonwa for ND who fouled out.

From what I've seen of Griner, she plays defense athletically, moves her feet, and then because she's so tall, can basically stand straight up and it's extremely difficult to shoot over her. IIRC Tiffany tried that and had very little success. The key will be outside shooting (and i'm not just talking about the 3 pointer - the mid range game could be an effective weapon too if Griner stays home and Stef moves away from the hoop causing someone else to have to rotate over and guard her).

Even when you think Griner is out of position, she's so tall and long it's hard to score a layup from the side of the court you think is open. I think it's going to be a fun matchup. Lots of strategy for the coaches to figure out. Geno was brilliant in his game plan vs. Stanford. Not so much in the ND game though...

 

[Fiftyish]

Just in case your still in need of a hand......
http://assets0..com/images/GifGuide/clapping/joker.gif

 

[jplotinus]

First, I want to express best wishes for a full recovery for Brianna Banks. Second, the loss of BB is a factor to be reckoned with in the Baylor game; and that for two reasons.

1-her contribution in minutes played will be missed.
2-the team as a whole will not have had enough games without her to have fully regrouped by 2/18.

The question then is can UCONN beat Baylor without Banks?

The answer is 'yes' provided there are no further setbacks for us and assuming there will be no similar injury setbacks for Baylor between now and 2/18.

Both teams are in the midst of conference grudge matches, where anything the refs allow goes.

Is there any way to quantify toughness? That is a variable that needs to be factored in. As is good fortune and avoidance of injury and other bugs.