Notre Dame Discussion

[Bone Dog]

More to the point, there is no option....Cass Prosper is a 6'2" wing and Liatu King a 6'0" smallish forward. While Prosper is rangy and King, athletic, they're still not imposing, height-wise.

That's the reason why Koval has to show the discipline she did against Syracuse in the 2nd half and throughout most of the USC and Texas games. She is good at going straight up on blocking shots, while getting into trouble reaching in on drivers and moving on screens (very frosh things).

Hence, it's why I think you'll see a mix and match of man-to-man and zone in attempts to keep Koval from getting into foul trouble and/or reset the defense when she's out of the game. It's really critical to keep her in the game for reasons that don't even appear in the boxscore: for instance, Koval does a very good job of keeping opposition players from areas where the missed shot may come down, allowing other Irish to grab the rebound. Like a zone-blocking offensive lineman..

Excellent assessment. If Koval weren’t so exposed by the current injury situation, I imagine she’d be difficult to matchup against. She’s bigger than 6’5” and she’s good at the positioning game. Against a slightly smaller Jana, I think she’s further along the learning curve. The only advantage Jana might have, and Ice too, is that they’re rather more mobile than Kate is right now.

 

[Longtime fan]

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.

Agree. Not even Paige is an advantage vs. Hidalgo. AZZI was an advantage and her loss, likely, means we can't win this one. Sarah can be great but they will do everything to make certain she isn't. ASH isn't ready to be great against this ND team. She will be fine, but not great. And neither ICE nor Jana are going to have a major step-up in this game. They are making slow and steady progress. And Chen will be tested , for sure. Not enough for tonight.

 

[VA Huskie]

Last time we played this team, HH single-handedly destroyed us! Yes, we were shorthanded but she was basically unstoppable and sliced and diced us like coleslaw! Now, the teams are completely different, we now have depth, some decent post play (and depth) and we have at least one, perhaps two major difference makers in Sarah and (hopefully) Azzi. It is possible of course, that even if Azzi is OK they may decide to hold her out for precautionary reasons! Even so, we now have the best freshman in the country, and a player they have no answer for!

Unfortunately, they too have a “new” player that was not available last year in Olivia Miles. She is not a freshman! She came back with a triple double in her first game and is playing exceptionally well! She is also shooting 46.2%on threes, Hidalgo is shooting 39.5%, and Citron is at 34.9! This is where imo our greatest danger lies. We have not been good at defending the three. We are ranked 161 in three point defense while ND is at 81! Make no mistake, this is going to be very tough! How well we are able to defend the three, will imo likely determine the outcome of this game!

Apparently, Maddy Westbeld could possibly play in this game as well. She has been injured and could be either a complete non factor or the straw that broke the camel’s back! She is a good player and is 6’3” to boot.

Geno will have this team ready to play. I have no doubt about that. Even so however, I believe we’re going to need an exceptional game from Paige (and probably Sarah and/or Azzi) in order to win what I believe is the second toughest game on our schedule! Go Huskies!

Nice analysis. I agree with all you say. I think Paige has to have a “Clark” type of game for us to win!

 

[DefenseBB]

…..
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.

Huh? Hannah is NOT a volume shooter at all. She is 46.2% from the floor and 39.5% from 3 pt arc.Georgia Amoore from KY is a volume shooter with 35.7 FG% and an abysmal 22.2% from the arc. Hannah’s weakness is turnovers. She has 30 assists to 29 turnovers which is more “front court-like” than that of an elite guard. Turnovers are key given that ND averages 16 assists and 16 turnovers per game(150-146 in 9 games). UConn by comparison has 178 assists to 88 turnovers in 8 games.

 

[Bone Dog]

Nice analysis. I agree with all you say. I think Paige has to have a “Clark” type of game for us to win!

By “Clark” type game, do you mean she should chuck up 20 or 25 shots and miss more than half of them? ‘Cause that’s not likely to happen.

 

[Steelerone]

We have to much talent to say we only win if Azzi plays. You are vastly overrating Notre Dame.

I just wish that were true. They have great guards, some decent size, and have played a much tougher schedule than we have so far. Don't make the mistake of underestimating them.

 

[bayern7]

I’d like to see Geno go to a big lineup, Sarah Strong is so guard-like let’s use it and see if it throws ND off. I’d throw a lot of pic and roll/screening action at them with those first three coming off the action. Even Ash coming off screens in the midrange from Ice/Jana….maybe even double screening actions. Okay I know I sound like a lunatic but I would try this if I were facing NDs back court. With Azzi out and KK not offering a lot offensively to this point I don’t think we can play them straight up 1-5 and unlike last year, size is a strength. Could also throw Morgan in at the 2/3/4 move Paige to the 1 for spurts. The height might also help us break presses. Im not saying to start this way but it might throw off NDs game planning if we have….

5’9” Chen
6’0” Bueckers
6’2” Strong
6’3” Brady
6’5” El Alfy

 

[Jewels]

Agree. Not even Paige is an advantage vs. Hidalgo. AZZI was an advantage and her loss, likely, means we can't win this one. Sarah can be great but they will do everything to make certain she isn't. ASH isn't ready to be great against this ND team. She will be fine, but not great. And neither ICE nor Jana are going to have a major step-up in this game. They are making slow and steady progress. And Chen will be tested , for sure. Not enough for tonight.

Just wondering why ND lost to Utah?

 

[Cornell Lt]

If ND gets in foul trouble, it will be a UConn blowout win

 

[VA Huskie]

By “Clark” type game, do you mean she should chuck up 20 or 25 shots and miss more than half of them? ‘Cause that’s not likely to happen.

Not at all. But I do mean be as aggressive offensively as we need her to be… and certainly more so that she usually is. I don’t know how many shots that means.

 

[Bald Husky]

Not at all. But I do mean be as aggressive offensively as we need her to be… and certainly more so that she usually is. I don’t know how many shots that means.

Paige needs to get at least 30 if we want to win easily, and after the last two games, you can bet she will do that. She will be aggressive from the start.

 

[The deacon]

By “Clark” type game, do you mean she should chuck up 20 or 25 shots and miss more than half of them? ‘Cause that’s not likely to happen.

Not at all. But I do mean be as aggressive offensively as we need her to be… and certainly more so that she usually is. I don’t know how many shots that means.

You should well know, Bone Dog, what Va Huskies means, and he/she is right... Clark had many ''Clark-type" games the past two seasons in Big Ten and NCAA competition against top teams that led the Hawkeyes to victory.

As wonderful as Paige can be, especially in spurts, she just hasn't sustained to it score 30 to 40 points.. What's wrong if she 'chucks up' 25 shots, makes even just 11 of them, including four or five threes, makes a few free throws, and assists eight or nine teammate basketballs? I'm pretty sure Geno would love to see Paige do that. That would be a "Clark-type" game.

So many here on the Boneyard feel Paige could score 30 (or more) points per game 'if she wants to'. Well, in four Final Four games, she has yet to score 20 points, and is averaging just 15.8. There are all kinds of reasons why, but IMO it's because Paige has yet to reveal that "Clark-type" quality.

Bring it on, Paige, I'd love to see it, and I truly think it would carry the Huskies to the heights!

 

[VA Huskie]

Shut down Paige and it's all over.

That didn’t work for Louisville.

 

[VA Huskie]

Not a lot of comments about Ice. I don’t think it’s inconceivable that she performs like she did in last year’s BE Tournament. Not likely, but possible. Wouldn’t that be great to see?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Not a lot of comments about Ice. I don’t think it’s inconceivable that she performs like she did in last year’s BE Tournament. Not likely, but possible. Wouldn’t that be great to see?

She has me utterly perplexed. Catching fire and staying hot would be oh so nice.

 

[Cuango]

Agree. Not even Paige is an advantage vs. Hidalgo. AZZI was an advantage and her loss, likely, means we can't win this one. Sarah can be great but they will do everything to make certain she isn't. ASH isn't ready to be great against this ND team. She will be fine, but not great. And neither ICE nor Jana are going to have a major step-up in this game. They are making slow and steady progress. And Chen will be tested , for sure. Not enough for tonight.

Not sure what you mean, Azzi is an advantage but Paige is not?

 

[Cuango]

I think people are putting way too much stock in HH as she pertains to this game. Yes, she is very good, imo a top five player in the country. However, I don’t see her being the reason for our losing, if we were to lose. I think Miles is likely the key to whether we win or not. HH is almost certainly going to get 20-30 points. We can handle that if Miles and/or Citron don’t go off as well. If we can make HH have to work hard to get her 25 and hold Miles and Citron to an average or below game, I think we win this game for sure. That is assuming we don’t lay an egg offensively, of course. It would help us substantially if Koval gets in foul trouble too. I’m looking for Ice/Jana to step up in this game as well.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Has Paige ever scored 40?

 

[Bone Dog]

As wonderful as Paige can be, especially in spurts, she just hasn't sustained to it score 30 to 40 points.. What's wrong if she 'chucks up' 25 shots, makes even just 11 of them, including four or five threes, makes a few free throws, and assists eight or nine teammate basketballs? I'm pretty sure Geno would love to see Paige do that. That would be a "Clark-type" game.

Huh? Paige has scored 30+ points On several occasions. She hasn’t averaged 30ppg. Here’s your assignment: Explain why no UConn player has ever averaged more than 23ppg. 50 words or less.

Of course, Paige isn’t far off this mark for her career at 19.7ppg, and but for her injury-plagued 21-22 season in which she averaged only 14.6, she’d probably be even closer to Maya’s record.

 

[tomcat]

Notre Dame is going to be very good. Citron has the capability of making those "daggers-to-the-heart" plays. I worry that UConn has not played the quality of schedule that ND has and without Azzi, could have a backcourt deficiency, even with Paige operating on more cylinders than she did last game.

I love these analyses that say UConn will win big and then list a seris of "ifs." If this ND player doesn't go off for 25. If that ND player gets in foul trouble. Let's face iut, folks: ND is a damn good team, probably underranked at this point. It will be a close, tough game.

 

[The deacon]

Huh? Paige has scored 30+ points On several occasions. She hasn’t averaged 30ppg. Here’s your assignment: Explain why no UConn player has ever averaged more than 23ppg. 50 words or less.

Of course, Paige isn’t far off this mark for her career at 19.7ppg, and but for her injury-plagued 21-22 season in which she averaged only 14.6, she’d probably be even closer to Maya’s record.

No, Bone Dog, but thanks for your kind offer. I gave up doing 'assignments' when I retired, but feel free to illuminate us all.

Of course Paige has scored 30 points in a game. That wasn't my point, and I believe you knew it. If not, now you do.

Thanks for the dialogue.

Go, Huskies!

 

[Dillon77]

Last-Minute Update for All UConn Fans:

Liza Karlen, the transfer from Marquette, is in uniform and warming up according to Benchers who are at the Joyce Center. This was not expected. While having a 6'2" All Big-East performer helps, she hasn't played all season.

That said, here's to a great game.