OK, ETT: Thoughts on Baylor vs. UConn

[trb123]

Great summary of the issue: it's really not clear how UConn will play against 2 reasonably talented bigs; for sure, UConn will play in foul trouble;
and a great reference to a fabulous book (and series)! brings back wonderful memories of a year reading through the series.

I have expressed my dissatisfaction with UConn recruitment of post players. We lack height. Boneyarders jumped on me for that.
Baylor may cause a lot of problems for us. I just hope they do not. We may not even encounter Baylor if they lose to MSST or SCAR or others.
Georgetown failed to win a championship with Mourning and Mutombo. Oklahoma with the Paris twins. Will history repeat with Cox and Brown?
I am visualizing this as a WWI battle between the French 75s and the heavy Krupps guns.

 

[JordyG]

Are we really talking about this? GUARD PLAY... GUARD PLAY... GUARD PLAY... That is how you beat UConn. They never learn. Brown & Cox.. who cares, they have to get the ball first! UConn has lost what 15 games in 10 years? Go back and watch them over the weekend 99% of the losses were because we could not effectively shut down the oppositions guards. Clog the paint and force them to shoot the 3. I'm not saying it would be easy but I like our chances.

What you've said bares repeating.

Guard play. It was UConn's downfall against McCowan and company last year, it was UConn issue late against Louisville, it was UConn's issue against Temple last year. On and on. Mulkey's issues against UConn are multiple.

1) Her teams are rarely if ever in optimum condition. UConn, if relatively healthy, would run them off the floor the first period.

2) Her teams are rarely if ever prepared to play long road trips outside of the state of Texas. Ultimately they fail mentally and physically during high pressure moments.

3) Mediocre PG guard play.

The only chance these two teams have in meeting is in the FF, and Mulkey just hasn't shown, to me, that her teams are prepared enough to win without a true transcendental player in her lineup.

 

[chrissaran]

Baylor will be a major challenge. Gabby has to hit the foul line jumper, Napheesa, Gabby and Z, along with the rest of the team, have to hit the boards, Napheesa has to play low and high and hit at least one three to keep the Baylor defense honest, Crystal can't got 1 for 7 from 3 or 2 from 10 overall, Kia has to play like she did against Durr, and Lou has to be Lou, running the floor on the break, backdoor cuts, pull up 2s, and an assortment of 3s. We know they can all pass, so that's a given. Also, Megan needs to find a way to contribute.

 

[bizarro aj]

Didn't uconn smoke Baylor last year with Dangerfield dropping 3pt bombs on them and winning the game for uconn?
Unless griner and sims comes back, baylor has no chance to beat uconn.

 

[chrissaran]

Kia will be on Wallace like a bear on honey.

 

[HuskylnSC]

You're welcome.

Scoop is a Dickie V protege

 

[Crossover]

Baylor will be a major challenge. Gabby has to hit the foul line jumper, Napheesa, Gabby and Z, along with the rest of the team, have to hit the boards, Napheesa has to play low and high and hit at least one three to keep the Baylor defense honest, Crystal can't got 1 for 7 from 3 or 2 from 10 overall, Kia has to play like she did against Durr, and Lou has to be Lou, running the floor on the break, backdoor cuts, pull up 2s, and an assortment of 3s. We know they can all pass, so that's a given. Also, Megan needs to find a way to contribute.

A lot to ask for. If all that happens at the same time , UCONN wins by 30. If UCONN is not running on all cylinders, we win by less.

 

[Centerstream]

A lot to ask for. If all that happens at the same time , UCONN wins by 30. If UCONN is not running on all cylinders, we win by less.

What (see bolded text)?????
I would have to think that the scenarios @chrissaran posted would equate to a sub par UConn game. A typical UConn game is certainly waaaay better than the scenarios @chrissaran posted, as I think you are alluding to. I just don't understand the "A lot to ask for." part. Especially when we are discussing something that can only most likely happen in late March, early April.

This is not sarcasm!

 

[Crossover]

You are right. I read too much into @chrissaran's requirements and overstated my point. Too much to ask for would saying that Kia needs to hit six threes in addition to safeguarding Kristy Wallace. I differ with you slightly in that I think @chrissaran described a typical UCONN game, assuming Crystals shooting percentage is 50% from 2 and 40% from 3.

 

[bballnut90]

Are we really talking about this? GUARD PLAY... GUARD PLAY... GUARD PLAY... That is how you beat UConn. They never learn. Brown & Cox.. who cares, they have to get the ball first! UConn has lost what 15 games in 10 years? Go back and watch them over the weekend 99% of the losses were because we could not effectively shut down the oppositions guards. Clog the paint and force them to shoot the 3. I'm not saying it would be easy but I like our chances.

Bingo. Good forwards and posts don't beat UCONN--guard play does. The only exception to that in the last decade has been a Griner anchored Baylor team, but Brown/Cox are no Griner.

UCONN's game plan would be simple: Nurse pressures the heck out of Wallace and play a sagging defense so you have a body in front of and behind Brown, give Cox daylight from 15+ feet out and sag on the other guards forcing them to make outside shots. Baylor as a team hits less than 5 triples per game. If they start taking perimeter shots, the height advantage they have is negated as long shots lead to long rebounds.

Last year Brown had a monster performance against UCLA and the next game was ineffective going up against 6-1 Collier and 5-11 Williams. While the year is different, I'd expect the outcome to be the same. Also worth noting--what kept Baylor in the game last year? Alexis Jones scoring 23 points and dishing out 6 assists. Guard play.

 

[cbraarj]

Instead of Uconn worrying about what Baylor is capable of doing. Baylor should be concerned with what the Huskies will do!

 

[CocoHusky]

Bingo. Good forwards and posts don't beat UCONN--guard play does. The only exception to that in the last decade has been a Griner anchored Baylor team, but Brown/Cox are no Griner.

UCONN's game plan would be simple: Nurse pressures the heck out of Wallace and play a sagging defense so you have a body in front of and behind Brown, give Cox daylight from 15+ feet out and sag on the other guards forcing them to make outside shots. Baylor as a team hits less than 5 triples per game. If they start taking perimeter shots, the height advantage they have is negated as long shots lead to long rebounds.

Last year Brown had a monster performance against UCLA and the next game was ineffective going up against 6-1 Collier and 5-11 Williams. While the year is different, I'd expect the outcome to be the same. Also worth noting--what kept Baylor in the game last year? Alexis Jones scoring 23 points and dishing out 6 assists. Guard play.

Also note worthy is that Baylor's tournament OT loss to Mississippi State was a game in which Guards Vivians dropped 24 and William dropped 41.

 

[DefenseBB]

Didn't uconn smoke Baylor last year with Dangerfield dropping 3pt bombs on them and winning the game for uconn?
Unless griner and sims comes back, baylor has no chance to beat uconn.

OMG!!!! NO, JUST NO...
The game was tied at 54-54 with 7 and half minutes to play AT UCONN. This was a great game and was decided on a 16-2 run. Final score was 72-61. This was not a "smoke".

Honestly, the amount of disrespect my fellow BYers show towards other programs is insulting. Louisville was regularly predicted to be 20-25 point blowout. Texas was predicted to be 15-20 point blowout. Now the vitriol is directed at a very good Baylor team, who by the way, have very good guard play with Kristy Wallace, the recently injure Chou, Alexis Morris and the energizer bunny aka Minnie Mouse-Didi Richards. This Baylor team is a legitimate NC contender and a worthy opponent.

How would we match up with them is interesting but Baylor also has great guards. Kalani Brown, while improved her conditioning is still prone to too many fouls and would not handle 40 minutes of up-pace basketball. That said, it wouldn't be 40 minutes at that pace.

I believe this UConn team, when all is said and done, will be one of the top 3 teams in its annals, however, they also face some pretty good opposition-unlike 2002 and 2016 teams. This game would be close and of course the possibility of a blowout by 15 could occur due to shots falling but more likely any range from 1 point to 12 points.

Just please be more respectful of the opponents and their skills. Last I checked, the WNBA does not have ONLY UCONN players but other wonderfully skilled players who played their college ball elsewhere.

 

[Centerstream]

Also note worthy is that Baylor's tournament OT loss to Mississippi State was a game in which Guards Vivians dropped 24 and William dropped 41.

Yup for whatever reason Baylor decided not to cover William. I would think that once she neared the 20 point area, you might want to try and stop her. BUT, on the other hand, UConn didn't stop her when it mattered either. (Not laying any blame here, I am just still mourning that the smallest player on the court made the "shot heard around the world".)

 

[trb123]

Instead of Uconn worrying about what Baylor is capable of doing. Baylor should be concerned with what the Huskies will do!

Never underestimate your opponents. I am sure Baylor is concerned about playing us and we should worry about playing them.
In 1984, John Thomson of the Georgetown Hoyas complained to the reporters (not an exact quote): I am wasting my time with you while Prairie View is busy practising.
My biggest worry is that the tournament committee will put Baylor in our half. MSST and Louisville on the other side.

 

[HuskyNan]

I have expressed my dissatisfaction with UConn recruitment of post players. We lack height. Boneyarders jumped on me for that.
Baylor may cause a lot of problems for us. I just hope they do not. We may not even encounter Baylor if they lose to MSST or SCAR or others.
Georgetown failed to win a championship with Mourning and Mutombo. Oklahoma with the Paris twins. Will history repeat with Cox and Brown?
I am visualizing this as a WWI battle between the French 75s and the heavy Krupps guns.

• Stanford played 5 players 6-2 or taller, 4 players were 6-3 or taller. They lost by 25.
• Cal played 5 players 6-2 or taller, 4 players were 6-3 or taller, including Wooden Award finalist (late season list) Kristine Anigwe. They lost by 35.
• ND's Jessica Shepard scored 10 points on 5-13 shooting in 36 minutes. But those fabulous guards kept ND in it to keep the margin of loss 9.
• Texas's vaunted scary frontline four scored 28 points among them and shot 12-26 and one person, Jatarie White, had 18 of those points, the other, um, not so much. Texas's guards had 43 points in the 4 point loss in Texas.
• South Carolina's All American A'ja Wilson shot 4-18 to score 14 points in a 25 point loss in South Carolina.

For all the stressing over opponents' heights, the huge teams haven't had a lot of success against UConn. Well, neither has anyone else but you get my drift. If a team relies on its bigs to lead them to victory, they could be out of luck unless they have fabulous guards that can challenge the Huskies (see ND and Texas). And it took them superwomen-type efforts to keep the loss under 10. Sure, UConn could lose but height isn't going to be the determining factor.

 

[JoePgh]

I can’t believe we haven’t heard from ETT on this thread!

 

[cbraarj]

Never underestimate your opponents. I am sure Baylor is concerned about playing us and we should worry about playing them.
In 1984, John Thomson of the Georgetown Hoyas complained to the reporters (not an exact quote): I am wasting my time with you while Prairie View is busy practising.
My biggest worry is that the tournament committee will put Baylor in our half. MSST and Louisville on the other side.

If Uconn plays their A game there is nobody in the country that will beat them!

 

[bballnut90]

OMG!!!! NO, JUST NO...
The game was tied at 54-54 with 7 and half minutes to play AT UCONN. This was a great game and was decided on a 16-2 run. Final score was 72-61. This was not a "smoke".

Honestly, the amount of disrespect my fellow BYers show towards other programs is insulting. Louisville was regularly predicted to be 20-25 point blowout. Texas was predicted to be 15-20 point blowout. Now the vitriol is directed at a very good Baylor team, who by the way, have very good guard play with Kristy Wallace, the recently injure Chou, Alexis Morris and the energizer bunny aka Minnie Mouse-Didi Richards. This Baylor team is a legitimate NC contender and a worthy opponent.

How would we match up with them is interesting but Baylor also has great guards. Kalani Brown, while improved her conditioning is still prone to too many fouls and would not handle 40 minutes of up-pace basketball. That said, it wouldn't be 40 minutes at that pace.

I believe this UConn team, when all is said and done, will be one of the top 3 teams in its annals, however, they also face some pretty good opposition-unlike 2002 and 2016 teams. This game would be close and of course the possibility of a blowout by 15 could occur due to shots falling but more likely any range from 1 point to 12 points.

Just please be more respectful of the opponents and their skills. Last I checked, the WNBA does not have ONLY UCONN players but other wonderfully skilled players who played their college ball elsewhere.

Well, in defense of UCONN fans it has been a while since Louisville kept a game within 20 points vs the Huskies, and the recent game was never in doubt after UCONN built an 18 point first half lead. The Huskies also blew out Texas the last three times they played prior to this year.

UCONN historically does a good job handling opposing forwards and posts (Baylor’s strength) so I understand and agree with the logic of a comfortable Connecticut win. If they play Notre Dame, or Mississippi State again, I think those will be tougher oppositions for Connecticut. They aren’t necessarily better teams, but they match up better than Baylor does.

 

[Canuck]

Great win today for the Golden Bears!

 

[JS]

I can’t believe we haven’t heard from ETT on this thread!

Tough last couple of days for him. Managed to annoy a number of people and got called out on and off the board.

Appears right now to be lying low, reading but not posting.

Wish he'd go ahead and post something objective, being he was named in the thread title. (There are other Baylor fans here, but no one quite so notorious prominent.)

Nothing stopping him -- unless it's a sulk or an abundance of caution as to what might lead to more trouble.

Go ahead, ETT, take a chance. An opinion or two, then run for cover before you get accused of pushing it too far and doing a trollomorphosis.

 

[Bronx23]

• Stanford played 5 players 6-2 or taller, 4 players were 6-3 or taller. They lost by 25.
• Cal played 5 players 6-2 or taller, 4 players were 6-3 or taller, including Wooden Award finalist (late season list) Kristine Anigwe. They lost by 35.
• ND's Jessica Shepard scored 10 points on 5-13 shooting in 36 minutes. But those fabulous guards kept ND in it to keep the margin of loss 9.
• Texas's vaunted scary frontline four scored 28 points among them and shot 12-26 and one person, Jatarie White, had 18 of those points, the other, um, not so much. Texas's guards had 43 points in the 4 point loss in Texas.
• South Carolina's All American A'ja Wilson shot 4-18 to score 14 points in a 25 point loss in South Carolina.

For all the stressing over opponents' heights, the huge teams haven't had a lot of success against UConn. Well, neither has anyone else but you get my drift. If a team relies on its bigs to lead them to victory, they could be out of luck unless they have fabulous guards that can challenge the Huskies (see ND and Texas). And it took them superwomen-type efforts to keep the loss under 10. Sure, UConn could lose but height isn't going to be the determining factor.

I think HuskyNans and a few others comments are very accurate and to the point. Bigs very rarely beat us unless they are of the quality of Griner. Even Wilson who so many think should be NPOY, couldn't come close to getting it done(and she's a very good big though hardly a great one).
It brings us to the philosophy about how one plays a strong inside, big presence. Yes a team helping defense on those bigs is very important but what caused the problems for SC was outside pressure on the guards making them unable to start their offense from their accustomed places. Pushing them further out and pressuring the guards works much better than collapsing and double and triple teaming. Interestingly enough this is what the current U Conn women's team is best able to do. In most cases this feeds right into who our team and players are. Quick cohesive strong pressure outside followed by our quickness to assist inside when the ball gets in there. This again disrupts the big teams offense and also takes time off their true control of the ball. It often makes them rushed in the shots they take. Actually this outside pressure (with the help of a big inside presence) is what MS brought against U Conn last year. They disrupted our offense and ball movement. I think it most negatively effected Pheesa and Kia. Pheasant had her worst game by far of the year because she was more pressured and then this led to her shots being off a bit and not falling in. If you let her and Kia do their things, generally watch out! Teams like ND generally do this better than teams with two bigs. In that game especially at the start but also on our last offensive possession pressure on the ball is what caused us problems and led to Saniya's poor choice of when and how to put up a shot, even when she was feet from the basket.
Yes it's wonderful to recruit and bring in some bigs, but except for a very few, out most successful bigs were very mobile, excellent passers with great movement and footwork. Stewie was so special because she had both being a big but quick as heck for that size.
I think once we lost to MS because they disrupted us and our style and game plan and we should have been disrupting them.
Bronx23

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Jennings and Haughton probably said it best, "It's not the BIG that eat the SMALL ... it's the FAST that eat the SLOW."

 

[DefenseBB]

Well, in defense of UCONN fans it has been a while since Louisville kept a game within 20 points vs the Huskies, and the recent game was never in doubt after UCONN built an 18 point first half lead. The Huskies also blew out Texas the last three times they played prior to this year.

UCONN historically does a good job handling opposing forwards and posts (Baylor’s strength) so I understand and agree with the logic of a comfortable Connecticut win. If they play Notre Dame, or Mississippi State again, I think those will be tougher oppositions for Connecticut. They aren’t necessarily better teams, but they match up better than Baylor does.

We must part ways here. MSU is not the same defensive team it was last year and with more offense this year, MSU will have a harder time. The only size they have is McCowan. Z, Pheesa and Gabby can constantly change guarding her. Kia on Vivian’s and Lou with on Blair or Johnson. When William is in, Crystal Dangerfield on her. ND has played us well in-season but my perspective is in a second Game in the NCAA, UConn will win easily especially with this depleted ND team. No disrespect to ND, they have been marvelous with their play. Baylor is my sole concern. Could that game be a blowout, of course, but to regularly predict it so out of hand and be dismissive is disheartening to me. We are more knowledgeable than that. It’s like people here haven’t played sports.

 

[Canuck]

Tough last couple of days for him. Managed to annoy a number of people and got called out on and off the board.

Appears right now to be lying low, reading but not posting.

Wish he'd go ahead and post something objective, being he was named in the thread title. (There are other Baylor fans here, but no one quite so notorious prominent.)

Nothing stopping him -- unless it's a sulk or an abundance of caution as to what might lead to more trouble.

Go ahead, ETT, take a chance. An opinion or two, then run for cover before you get accused of pushing it too far and doing a trollomorphosis.

He's sulking. We have mutual acquaintances who mentioned/agreed that he's good at poking the hornets nest but not at being poked back. But I agree with you, take a chance...if you get your feelings hurt on a forum then either remove yourself or deal with it.

 

[Nuyoika]

Bingo. Good forwards and posts don't beat UCONN--guard play does. The only exception to that in the last decade has been a Griner anchored Baylor team, but Brown/Cox are no Griner.

UCONN's game plan would be simple: Nurse pressures the heck out of Wallace and play a sagging defense so you have a body in front of and behind Brown, give Cox daylight from 15+ feet out and sag on the other guards forcing them to make outside shots. Baylor as a team hits less than 5 triples per game. If they start taking perimeter shots, the height advantage they have is negated as long shots lead to long rebounds.

Last year Brown had a monster performance against UCLA and the next game was ineffective going up against 6-1 Collier and 5-11 Williams. While the year is different, I'd expect the outcome to be the same. Also worth noting--what kept Baylor in the game last year? Alexis Jones scoring 23 points and dishing out 6 assists. Guard play.

I keep saying it but people don't listen. Height can be negated by versatility. UConn has proven that repeatedly.

 

[chrissaran]

Baylor has a chance. To say they don't is foolish.

 

[bballnut90]

We must part ways here. MSU is not the same defensive team it was last year and with more offense this year, MSU will have a harder time. The only size they have is McCowan. Z, Pheesa and Gabby can constantly change guarding her. Kia on Vivian’s and Lou with on Blair or Johnson. When William is in, Crystal Dangerfield on her. ND has played us well in-season but my perspective is in a second Game in the NCAA, UConn will win easily especially with this depleted ND team. No disrespect to ND, they have been marvelous with their play. Baylor is my sole concern. Could that game be a blowout, of course, but to regularly predict it so out of hand and be dismissive is disheartening to me. We are more knowledgeable than that. It’s like people here haven’t played sports.

Vivians is so good off the dribble and from deep, I don’t see Nurse shutting her down. Also don’t see KLS shutting down Johnson if she’s on, another player with great penetrating ability and range. Size wise, McCowan does a good job of avoiding fouls (sometimes at the cost of giving up layups) and can play long minutes without getting winded. Off the bench Bibby is a very physical scrappy forward who can bring good energy and provide relief. Vivians at 6-1 has a big frame and can defend forwards too. Size wise I think they are very comparable to Connecticut without any matchups that Connecticut can exploit like they can against Baylor.

Notre Dame nearly beat UCONN earlier in the season with the same roster sans Thompson. Mabrey (and Notre Dame for that matter) has a tendency to play very well against the Huskies, and Ogunbowale is capable of exploding too. Two very good scoring guards. They also have good weapons in Young and Shepard. Muffett does a great job of exploiting matchups, so I don’t see UCONN winning easily.

 

[Canuck]

He's sulking. We have mutual acquaintances who mentioned/agreed that he's good at poking the hornets nest but not at being poked back. But I agree with you, take a chance...if you get your feelings hurt on a forum then either remove yourself or deal with it.

For those who miss ETT he'll be back tomorrow due to the BU vs. TX game especially if BU wins. A BU win may provide a fresh source of discussion points to further validate their relevance as a top team (comparable to UConn) this season to those who are skeptical on this forum therefore look for him to awaken near game time.