Next up Murders Row

[Tonyc]

Well we are getting ready for the tuffest part of our schedule. There will be nothing easy about the upcoming games. UConn will be tested at a very high level. UConn will grow from this simply because this is a time when the stars shine. And we have the stars. I am not to concerned about UConn winning. I expect we will. We have the horses. We have depth. We have 2 Bigs. Opponents will have their hands full with Paige Sarah and Azzi. All 3 can create their own shots and most importantly finish and score. There are alot of players that can create their own shot but fail to finish.

In games like this the Big will carry UConn. Defenses will key on them. They are to much to handle. I expect UConns focus on execution coupled with their energy level will be at its highest. We saw that last season during the tournament with lesser experience and a lesser depth. My only concern is foul trouble because most of the games coming up are on the road. To answer that we have depth at every position and we have the Big 3. The Big 3 are the answers to everything we face. Opponents dont have 3 answers.

As a team we will mature and grow from this stretch of games. Playing under this kind of pressure in these environments does that to you. This is why we have our stars. The adrenaline will be flowing. Playing in games like this is where everything that that you practiced comes to light without having to think, only to react. This is why you practice hard so that when the situation presents itself you react and dont hesitate. This is Geno's execution at its finest. This is what Geno builds in his players. He has taught them how to play the game and not just play the a game. This is what separates Geno and UConn. I truly believe that we are headed in the direction where we may have lost some of our stigma of intimidating teams. Because of our injuries we may have lost that in the eyes of many fans. We were thought of as invincible. I think we are headed back to that level. We arent there yet but I believe we are headed in that direction again.

This next couple of weeks will tell us alot about our team. Where we are, what we need to improve on, and where are opponents are in comparison to us. We have 3 almost impossible players to stop. If you stop one they can defer to a team mate. I know many fans may disagree with me. Some fans have doubts and concerns. Understand this is gonna be the Paige Azzi and Sarah show and its a travelling show on display for the entire country and all of WCBB to see. There will be bumps but nothing I dont think we cant rise to the occasion and handle. We have the Big 3 and they answer alot of questions. Im expecting we will have the emergence of a couple of more players who will step up and surprise us all. Thats what happens in stretches like this.

Sit back and relax. Everything we have been waiting for is about to happen. One thing Ive been waiting for is the Paige and Azzi show. Now its the Paige Azzi and Sarah show so look out.

 

[PacoSwede]

it should be a fun stretch. i think it will be very successful, but i sure would like to see a major uptick in making the open perimeter shots. many beyond paige should be consistently swishing them. at least paige hasn't been infected by the 'missed again' bug ... which can destroy confidence and thus perpetuates itself.

 

[Next 12]

Well we are getting ready for the tuffest part of our schedule. There will be nothing easy about the upcoming games. UConn will be tested at a very high level. UConn will grow from this simply because this is a time when the stars shine. And we have the stars. I am not to concerned about UConn winning. I expect we will. We have the horses. We have depth. We have 2 Bigs. Opponents will have their hands full with Paige Sarah and Azzi. All 3 can create their own shots and most importantly finish and score. There are alot of players that can create their own shot but fail to finish.

In games like this the Big will carry UConn. Defenses will key on them. They are to much to handle. I expect UConns focus on execution coupled with their energy level will be at its highest. We saw that last season during the tournament with lesser experience and a lesser depth. My only concern is foul trouble because most of the games coming up are on the road. To answer that we have depth at every position and we have the Big 3. The Big 3 are the answers to everything we face. Opponents dont have 3 answers.

As a team we will mature and grow from this stretch of games. Playing under this kind of pressure in these environments does that to you. This is why we have our stars. The adrenaline will be flowing. Playing in games like this is where everything that that you practiced comes to light without having to think, only to react. This is why you practice hard so that when the situation presents itself you react and dont hesitate. This is Geno's execution at its finest. This is what Geno builds in his players. He has taught them how to play the game and not just play the a game. This is what separates Geno and UConn. I truly believe that we are headed in the direction where we may have lost some of our stigma of intimidating teams. Because of our injuries we may have lost that in the eyes of many fans. We were thought of as invincible. I think we are headed back to that level. We arent there yet but I believe we are headed in that direction again.

This next couple of weeks will tell us alot about our team. Where we are, what we need to improve on, and where are opponents are in comparison to us. We have 3 almost impossible players to stop. If you stop one they can defer to a team mate. I know many fans may disagree with me. Some fans have doubts and concerns. Understand this is gonna be the Paige Azzi and Sarah show and its a travelling show on display for the entire country and all of WCBB to see. There will be bumps but nothing I dont think we cant rise to the occasion and handle. We have the Big 3 and they answer alot of questions. Im expecting we will have the emergence of a couple of more players who will step up and surprise us all. Thats what happens in stretches like this.

Sit back and relax. Everything we have been waiting for is about to happen. One thing Ive been waiting for is the Paige and Azzi show. Now its the Paige Azzi and Sarah show so look out.

Bravo Tony7c, you are spot on again. The up coming schedule will be formidable , but we now have the team to handle it. UCONN's biggest trait is it's defense. To me the scoring is a given with all the shooters we have on the team. Our play making is out standing,except for a glitch here and there, but that will pass as we play more games.Our now " BIG THREE " and our Bench that we did not have last year, Is the BIG difference. Again I say it is possible we can win the whole gauntlet of games ahead of us. I believe it can happen. Especially with this team. GO FRESHMEN!!!! GO SOPHOMORES!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!

 

[DEpup]

I have to say based on the game happening right now between UNC and Kentucky, the UNC win keeps looking better and better.

 

[JellyBean]

We will be okay over the next few games. Like Coach said the other day at the half of the Holy Cross game, if we come out with a sense of maturity, a sense of focus, a sense of effort and pride, the score will take care of itself. As long as nobody tries to be a hero and go out there and take 20-30 shots, we should be fine. Effort and Energy. That is what we control.

 

[BBallF]

We will be okay over the next few games. Like Coach said the other day at the half of the Holy Cross game, if we come out with a sense of maturity, a sense of focus, a sense of effort and pride, the score will take care of itself. As long as nobody tries to be a hero and go out there and take 20-30 shots, we should be fine. Effort and Energy. That is what we control.

Very true and I will add that no one is taking 20-30 shots but if Paige does by some quirk of fate, we should all be good with that. At a 60% clip (current FG%) that means she makes 12 of 20 with at least 2 or 3 of those being made 3s. One out of every 3 shots for Paige is a 3 and her rate is 46% which is stupidly efficient. That gives her 27 points without free throws.

We are still a work in progress, and even though Paige and Azzi are best friends they are not best teammates on the basis of longevity and it still is a matter of timing, muscle memory, anticipation etc. This is about the long game, it's why this schedule stretch is meant to be so tough and it will show the coaching staff, the players and us, what we need to work on, tweet, alter or delete for April.

You would expect that they will definitely be up for playing Louisville in front of a huge crowd in NYC so the effort and energy will be there. My worry is a too good first half and a third quarter nap. Hopefully, they "aged" in the Ole Miss game.
.

 

[broooce]

As a NY baseball fan the famous term is "Murderers' Row," as in the 1927 Yankees lineup.

Perhaps a more apropos way to describe the tough stretch in our upcoming schedule is that UConn will be running through a gauntlet of four ranked teams in our next five games.

I'd like to think that our very own UConn WBB team might itself be considered a Murderers' Row with three #1 recruits in its starting lineup (as compared to any other WBB team). So our opponents will be the ones facing a Murderers' Row of Huskies!

 

[Boreifs]

I have to say based on the game happening right now between UNC and Kentucky, the UNC win keeps looking better and better.

Either that or Kentucky OOC schedule looks worse and worse. Perhaps both are true.

 

[Alydar]

In April there will be 4 games in 10 days. they are playing 5 in 18 days so it's a good dress rehearsal. Geno often schedules 2 games with a day off to train for the mental aspects of the tournament.

After watching the games tonight I'd say that in comparison UConn is a swiss watch. UConn is filling their depth chart while some of the others haven't found 5 starters yet. NDame played a 6 man rotation and played a lot of zone. LSU is short of outside shooters.

 

[Ozimoto]

What I am seeing so far this season is that all of the top teams have flaws. At the moment, there is no "complete" team. How the season pans out will reflect how those teams adjust to address the deficiencies moving forward.

 

[Bills Fan]

Tony, one minor comment on your concern about foul trouble because most of the upcoming games against ranked teams are 'on the road.'

Actually, only one, @ND, is a true road game. Two are at neutral sites and one of those two could almost be considered a home game - the Ia St game and one is at home USC. So not to worry, plus we have lots of fouls to give with our depth.

 

[MooseJaw]

Well we are getting ready for the tuffest part of our schedule. There will be nothing easy about the upcoming games. UConn will be tested at a very high level. UConn will grow from this simply because this is a time when the stars shine. And we have the stars. I am not to concerned about UConn winning. I expect we will. We have the horses. We have depth. We have 2 Bigs. Opponents will have their hands full with Paige Sarah and Azzi. All 3 can create their own shots and most importantly finish and score. There are alot of players that can create their own shot but fail to finish.

In games like this the Big will carry UConn. Defenses will key on them. They are to much to handle. I expect UConns focus on execution coupled with their energy level will be at its highest. We saw that last season during the tournament with lesser experience and a lesser depth. My only concern is foul trouble because most of the games coming up are on the road. To answer that we have depth at every position and we have the Big 3. The Big 3 are the answers to everything we face. Opponents dont have 3 answers.

As a team we will mature and grow from this stretch of games. Playing under this kind of pressure in these environments does that to you. This is why we have our stars. The adrenaline will be flowing. Playing in games like this is where everything that that you practiced comes to light without having to think, only to react. This is why you practice hard so that when the situation presents itself you react and dont hesitate. This is Geno's execution at its finest. This is what Geno builds in his players. He has taught them how to play the game and not just play the a game. This is what separates Geno and UConn. I truly believe that we are headed in the direction where we may have lost some of our stigma of intimidating teams. Because of our injuries we may have lost that in the eyes of many fans. We were thought of as invincible. I think we are headed back to that level. We arent there yet but I believe we are headed in that direction again.

This next couple of weeks will tell us alot about our team. Where we are, what we need to improve on, and where are opponents are in comparison to us. We have 3 almost impossible players to stop. If you stop one they can defer to a team mate. I know many fans may disagree with me. Some fans have doubts and concerns. Understand this is gonna be the Paige Azzi and Sarah show and its a travelling show on display for the entire country and all of WCBB to see. There will be bumps but nothing I dont think we cant rise to the occasion and handle. We have the Big 3 and they answer alot of questions. Im expecting we will have the emergence of a couple of more players who will step up and surprise us all. Thats what happens in stretches like this.

Sit back and relax. Everything we have been waiting for is about to happen. One thing Ive been waiting for is the Paige and Azzi show. Now its the Paige Azzi and Sarah show so look out.

Tonyc, I love this, it could very well be a chapter in a book you have already written on the BY. I truly enjoy your posts very much. There are a few times I disagree with what you have written, but not many. So happy we have a number of seasons of Tony enthusiasm, insight and expertise.

 

[HuskyNan]

For the record, the games are:

12/7/24 #22 Louisville (neutral - Brooklyn NY)
12/12/24 #10 Notre Dame (road)
12/15/24 Georgetown (home)
12/17/24 #20 Iowa State ("neutral" Mohegan Sun)
12/21/24 #6 USC (home)

Four ranked teams in two weeks.