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Notre Dame Discussion

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Jaml said:
I find it funny that an article on ESPN.com stated that Notre Dame is short-handed, while UConn is at full strength. We all know that UConn is most certainly not at full strength. They are like us last year, basically playing just seven players and the starters have to play big minutes.

Many of you are worried about HH's scoring, but she is a volume shooter and puts up a ton of shots, so rebounding is key. Koval is averaging 8.3 boards, King 11, and all 3 starting guards are averaging over 6 rebounds a game.
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Our guards have block out their guards and also hunt long rebounds.
 
As I think about this game, I feel that each one of these teams could win by a margin of 10 or 15 points.
After reading all of the posts on this topic, I feel more strongly about it It should be a great game to watch, and maybe the winner will win by 1 point. A game like this provides great anticipation. I only hope that there are no serious injuries. It will be a hard fought game.
 
ND could prevail at home. I highly doubt it will.

it would require hildalgo, miles and citron to ALL bring their A games.

citron i would expect to be solid, but she wouldn't be a difference maker on her own. miles could be outstanding, but she's been erratic and can make too many mistakes. hildalgo can be amazing but also screws up plenty. if she's not hot, she could be a disaster vs. uconn.

then King must good too. and koval -- i'd be shocked if she could deal with uconn and even if she does, without the trio's A games it wouldn't mean anything.

if westbeld and/or the BE transfer can play it would help reduce uconn's MOV, but that's all barring A games from all 3 ND stars.

ND has slim hopes for success. But that why they play the game.
 
Excellent analysis from Australian Podcaster. I don't know how much he aligns with comments already made in this thread. As always, you can feel free to disagree with him. It's all good. He picks UConn, but he is not sure if Azzi plays or not. If she does play, will she be agressive or tentative?

 
Bone Dog said:
I've watched a lot of minutes on Hidalgo. She is quick -- maybe as quick as anyone in D1 -- and resourceful, and fearless in driving against taller players. She appears to have the OK to go free-range on defense from Niele, and this has served ND very well. My two takeaways from all these videos:
  1. The scout -- she is a dominant righty and needs to be guarded this way at both levels. She can still get past a perimeter defender by going left and then often goes right against a big in the paint who doesn't know the scout as well. She does this so often it's almost laughable. Everyone on the floor has to play her according to the scout, not just the guards.
  2. She is a poacher and preys on guards who dribble too much, and bigs who bring the ball down or dribble unnecessarily. It doesn't even matter if a guard gets past her, if they don't make a play right away, because she will come around the other side and steal the ball. She gets a lot of steals in just this way. It's not enough to get past Hannah, if you don't immediately take a shot or pass the ball. She almost prefers to let guards get past her in order to do just this.
Geno teaches a quick passing offense. We can't afford to waste time dribbling on the perimeter -- I'm looking at you, Kaitlyn. As Geno says, there's three things you can do with the ball when you get it: shoot, pass, drive. What you can't do is waste time with fakes and indecision. Against ND, we need to live this philosophy. Play crisply and pass quickly.
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Agreed 100%. We need PB or KK taking that ball in every lineup Chen is in.
 
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Imho the key to beating ND is to play well
Offensively/ you’re not gonna be able to keep them from scoring their points

Based on the Texas game, there’s a strong likelihood that Notre Dame will play zone
This accomplishes two things for them
Generally, it keeps you are a foultrouble which is important with their nonexistent bench
And secondly, it slows the pace of the game down
And allows them to “rest “ on defense
Quite confident, Uconn will get good shots pretty easily if they make a good percentage, they’ll be in great shape

In any case, it should be a good game and I think Coach GA learn a lot about his team
 
Another thing to note is that we have 4 capable players who know how this team functions. Paige, KK, and Ash all probably got their butts handed to them by Geno last year after this game, certainly they've learned a lot from their mistakes. Ice I think was given a few minutes, but not too many since she wasn't great last year until the very end.
 
Zonepress said:
Imho the key to beating ND is to play well
Offensively/ you’re not gonna be able to keep them from scoring their points

Based on the Texas game, there’s a strong likelihood that Notre Dame will play zone
This accomplishes two things for them
Generally, it keeps you are a foultrouble which is important with their nonexistent bench
And secondly, it slows the pace of the game down
And allows them to “rest “ on defense
Quite confident, Uconn will get good shots pretty easily if they make a good percentage, they’ll be in great shape

In any case, it should be a good game and I think Coach GA learn a lot about his team
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It only works on Texas because they can't shoot 3's and were very post dominant. We can.
 
freshler40 said:
If we get beat a lot with our man to man, isn't it possible that Geno would go to a 1/3/1 zone or similar? The big threat from ND is their penetrating guards.
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It’s possible you might see a few minutes of zone from Coach GA and find out how well they shoot the three
Hidalgo strong shooter Citron is as well
Miles not as much
Last year while Hidalgo scored seemingly at will
It was the high screen and the step back jump shots from westbeld on the assist from Hidalgo that really hurt
Coach Ivey imho game plans very well, and it will be interesting to see what her approaches both offensively and defensively
 
ScottCT said:
We have to much talent to say we only win if Azzi plays. You are vastly overrating Notre Dame.
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Not so sure. Those two guards ( Miles and Hidalgo) are as good as they get. And Citron is much better than given credit for. Their bigs know their jobs and they are "trees." This will be a super test for ICE and Jana. But what can defeat the Irish is a stream of three point shooters. So if Paige, AZZI and Sarah ( also ASH when in the game ) can hit their open looks , we can win. It will require crisp "in and out' ( paint to arc ) passing to create the open looks. They won't be there otherwise. This will be a wonderful match.
 
yhun89 said:
Another thing to note is that we have 4 capable players who know how this team functions. Paige, KK, and Ash all probably got their butts handed to them by Geno last year after this game, certainly they've learned a lot from their mistakes. Ice I think was given a few minutes, but not too many since she wasn't great last year until the very end.
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that was last year, and it was the alumni game, which royally screwed the huskies up. not very relevant to thursday.
 
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PacoSwede said:
that was last year, and it was the alumni game, which royally screwed the huskies up. not very relevant to thursday.
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what I’m saying is we have 3 players who have experience against pressure and ND’s defensive and offensive schemes.

Of course this goes for ND as well. But they’re in our position that we were in last year, where if they have foul trouble, they have zero depth to make up for it.


Experience is good. KK and Ash will be better equipped to handle ND. Paige knows what to expect from Sonia (note that last year, it was the first time she’d played ND in 2 years because of her ACL injury in 2022.) and hopefully PB can find a way to break free of Sonia’s defense.
 
Lots of great analysis here. Assuming Azzi plays, I don’t believe the Irish can hang with us for 4 quarters. The depth we have this year will allow us to really crank down the defense on Hidalgo and Miles without worrying about foul trouble. Like most teams in the country, the Irish will not have an answer for Sarah and don’t have enough offensive weapons to keep up with us. I’m expecting (hoping) a double digit win for our Huskies. Also hoping this game is one where Sarah shows that she should be in All-American discussions
 
Skeets said:
UConn has to take the refs out of this game.
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Stop them in the parking lot I say!
Smash Hold Up GIF
 
UConn has the guards to cover Hidalgo and Miles, without even using Paige for that. She'll be prowling the court, making steals, getting rebounds, blocking shots, doling out assists, and getting her points--her usual superstar stuff. They have no answer to the Huskies' front court players, and this team's depth. I'm looking forward to this game.
 
For me, I think Sarah is really the key to this game along with Ice/Jana as well as posting Paige up and utilize those front court skills she developed last year.

King and Prosper really have no chance against Sarah so just keep feeding her the ball. Sarah alone could get the whole ND front court in foul trouble.

I'd also post up Paige and pull Citron out of her defensive comfort zone on the perimeter.
 
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With Azzi out:

Sarah, Jana, and Ice MUST have good games and no foul trouble.

Paige has to somehow break out of Citron's defense. With Azzi out, she is susceptible to the double team, which also means Ash and Chen need to light it up from the perimeter to give us a chance to suspend the double teams for the game.
 
To me, the questions surrounding UCon are much greater than with ND. With ND we know exactly what we are going to get. Is UConn going to be a big 2 or is Paige going to continue her streak of mediority? Can Chen even begin to stay with either Miles or Hidalgo? That is a matchup that has disaster written all over it. Can we finally get some consistent play out of Ashlynn and KK? UConn's only clear cut advantage without Azzi is Sarah.
 
Stagnant said:
I think ash has to have a good game.

Jana and Ice need to outplay Koval. That matchup can’t be a draw for UConn.
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I think we can outplay Koval.

Ice so far hasn't been nearly as foul prone as she used to be. She's even got a few nice post moves and good offensive positioning, in fact, her positioning draws fouls rather than give herself one. If Ice can take Koval out, we have a good chance at controlling the boards. In high pressure situations, Jana was great at getting the rebounds, like vs Ole Miss.

Unless ND wants to use Citron on Sarah (they won't) , they have no answer for her. King isn't big enough to do anything but maybe try and outrebound her.
 
My two pennies:

Playing in front of a hostile crowd is really hard for the newbies and ND is about as hostile as you can get. If they can weather that we have a good chance of winning.

I think ND will throw a zone defense at UConn just to see if they can hit the outside shots. If they're falling, they'll go back to man-to-man.

Defense is going to win this game.
 
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Well, Azzi being likely out changes things. I’d already thought we’d see more of KK than in recent games, but that might be bumped up even more.

Ashlynn will be the primary defender on Miles, but I think we might see some of Morgan marking Citron and Paige sliding onto Miles, especiallyy if Miles starts going off.

UConn should have a huge advantage in the front court. Koval is big and strong, but not quick, and King is more of a guard than a forward. UConn could go with three guards plus Morgan and Sarah, and Sarah could eat Koval for lunch. Then there’s the possibility of Jana/Ice and Sarah up front, leaving King to guard Sarah.

This game could have a lot of shifting lineups and strategies, and I think Geno is better equipped for that than Niele. But Notre Dame just sometimes has UConn’s number.
 
GoUconn7961 said:
My two pennies:

Playing in front of a hostile crowd is really hard for the newbies and ND is about as hostile as you can get. If they can weather that we have a good chance of winning.

I think ND will throw a zone defense at UConn just to see if they can hit the outside shots. If they're falling, they'll go back to man-to-man.

Defense is going to win this game.
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I think we have an advantage in that, Ash (likely starting for Azzi) and KK have played against hostile crowds like SC last year as primary players. I think they could get used to ND. Rivalry and all, but SC was pretty hostile as well. Chen played against the Gampel crowd 2 years ago as well.
 
First of all I dont see Koval being a big scoring threat. That makes it 4 on 5. I believe ND has to play alot of zone due to their lack of depth. UConn has the shooters and their dribble drive pullup jumpers will be key. I dont see Hannah and Oliva sharing the ball much in this game unless they are forced to. They are each others options and will look to Citron when necessary. That makes me believe UConn will overplay them and force them to go to their left and when they do, double them up on their drives and force them to give up the ball or take a bad shot.

I dont think you will see ND overplaying Paige this year. Last year they could because of UConns lack of scorers. UConn has too many scorers for them to play like that this year. ND cant wear UConn down this year either because we are too deep and they arent. The last thing ND wants to do is go to their bench.

UConn moved the ball crisply their last few games. I expect that again which will eliminate turnovers. Jana and Ice will be key and I expect plays designed for them to take it at Koval. Im also looking for someone to step up like Ash did against LVille. I expect Ash to step up again and maybe Chen.

I dont think ND has anybody who can defend Sarah. NDs defense can not double up on Paige so I dont see NDs defense being as effective against UConn. The Cuse missed alot of open shots and alot of bunnies and it took ND a while to get their big lead. Against Texas ND really didnt put Texas away and Texas didnt shoot well. For those 2 reasons I expect UConn to win.

One fear is I hope the refs dont let the game get really physical. This is a game where the stars shine. UConn will execute their offense unselfishly and thats what makes them so good.
 
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OldSchooler said:
Win the TO battle. These are two high-percentage shooting teams. Have to disrupt BEFORE they get the shot off.

Do better at the FT line than we've been doing. That's how you win close games.
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FT line is huge, I don't know about you, but it should be unacceptable for a Top 5 team to shoot that poorly on a free shot with no defense.
 
Tonyc said:
First of all I dont see Koval being a big scoring threat. That makes it 4 on 5. I believe ND has to play alot of zone due to their lack of depth. UConn has the shooters and their dribble drive pullup jumpers will be key. I dont see Hannah and Oliva sharing the ball much in this game unless they are forced to. They are each others options and will look to Citron when necessary. That makes me believe UConn will overplay them and force them to go to their left and when they do, double them up on their drives and force them to give up the ball or take a bad shot.

I dont think you will see ND overplaying Paige this year. Last year they could because of UConns lack of scorers. UConn has too many scorers for them to play like that this year. ND cant wear UConn down this year either because we are too deep and they arent. The last thing ND wants to do is go to their bench.

UConn moved the ball crisply their last few games. I expect that again which will eliminate turnovers. Jana and Ice will be key and I expect plays designed for them to take it at Koval. Im also looking for someone to step up like Ash did against LVille. I expect Ash to step up again and maybe Chen.

I dont think ND has anybody who can defend Sarah. NDs defense can not double up on Paige so I dont see NDs defense being as effective against UConn. The Cuse missed alot of open shots and alot of bunnies and it took ND a while to get their big lead. Against Texas ND really didnt put Texas away and Texas didnt shoot well. For those 2 reasons I expect UConn to win by double digits.

One fear is I hope the refs dont let the game get really physical. This is a game where the stars shine. UConn will execute their offense unselfishly and thats what makes them so good.
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Fair points. I can see Koval being a rebounding threat, but that's all.

More worried about TOs bringing the ball up. Chen is too slow and Hannah will feast. So that means KK or Paige have to bring it up, they are faster. Azzi is also capable of this, which makes her injury even more impactful.
 
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