First of all, a couple of observations that may be of wide interest to Boneyarders:
1. Tennessee is playing Monday night (1/20) against Alabama at home. The game is televised on the SEC Network (7 pm EST). Most of us (including me) haven't seen Tennessee since it played Stanford, so this might be a good chance to observe them approximately as they will be on Thursday night.
2. Because Alabama is a conference game for Tennessee whose outcome actually means something to the Lady Vols (unlike the Thursday night game, whose outcome mostly doesn't matter to them), I don't think they will spend a minute preparing for UConn until at least Tuesday -- and since they have to have one off day per week, they might even wait until Wednesday to practice what they are going to do against UConn. Then they will have to travel to Storrs that same day. By contrast, UConn can have a day off on Monday, and then spend two full days (if they choose) to prepare for Tennessee. So UConn should have an advantage in preparation.
Based on what I saw in the TN-Stanford game, I think UConn's game plan against the LV's will be essentially the same as what they used against Baylor -- defend the paint and (if necessary) let them fire away from the 3-point line. But I don't think that the LV's have anyone who can hit 3's as well as Te'a Cooper was for Baylor when they played UConn. I also don't think that the Orange Ones pass as well as Baylor did. I think UConn's main challenge against TN will be to clear the boards against the LV's height, but that hasn't been a big problem for UConn so far this year (even against Baylor), so I think they will figure it out. I don't think TN has a chance to win unless they can get a ton of second-chance points.
If Tennessee plays a zone (which doesn't seem natural for them) and if UConn has trouble getting 3-point looks or if their 3's are dropping, that could also be a vulnerability for the Huskies. But I certainly don't expect TN to hold UConn to 29% shooting as Baylor did.
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