Ok Lets move on what does it take to beat Stanford

[bballnut90]

Our guards are in for a tall task against Stanford's. Stanford has the size, but if Cameron Brink finds herself in foul trouble, Liv and Aaliyah will be battling an undersized Fran Belibi, and Ashten Prechtel who isn't a traditional post-player. This game can honestly go either way and I'm excited nonetheless.

Belibi is a handful inside despite being undersized--she's extremely strong and athletic. ONO/Edwards need to finish looks inside when Brink is out (she only plays 22 minutes per game) but I think the vast majority of UCONN's scoring will be from Bueckers/Fudd/Williams.

 

[NU2BY]

1 .Does Paige still have her cape ready.
2. Will we adjust to Stanford playing I Big and 4 guards with the same and Keep one of our bigs ready for foul trouble. Or will they adjust to us playing 2 bigs.
3. Will Geno play more Caroline in our 4 guard offense or Evina. I guess it depends who plays well?
4. Who will Nika pester when she get in the game Hailey Jones, Anna Wilson
5. How does Liv match up against Brink?
6. Who guards Lacey Hull
7. Can we outscore them in a run a gun battle or can we out defense them?
8 Will will still count on our guards for most our offense?
9.What type of defense do we play to beat them?
10. Any other topics please jump in

3. Unless Geno changes, Caroline won't play more than 5 minutes if at all.
4. Haley Jones is the straw that stirs Stanford's drink.
6. It's Lexie Hull, not twin Lacie, who is the offensive threat.
8. Seriously, who else?

 

[Surly1]

Stanford is sooo tough. However, They have games when they can't hit outside shots and Haley Jones has games where she struggles a lot offensively. I'm a huge fan but she's not a scorer per se, even though she's their go to player. But they are a really good team. Liv would seemingly match up well with Brink, an inch taller, a bit longer arms, just as fiery. But Brink just seems to find ways to score randomly.
I do think Paige can have a similar performance to last night. She's been hooping for about a month now, so it kind of make sense she's starting to find a rthym. I was super impressed with Azzi last night and her ability to get to the basket. I wonder if they will put Anna Wilson on her.
Id love to see more CD, just cause of her versatility. Obviously, EW came back because of unfinished business so I'd love for her to have some big moments on Friday as well.
In any event the keys to me r defending the three point line, getting Azzi good looks, and then defending Haley Jones during crunch time. She has a Candace Parker I can do anything and get anywhere on the court type vibe that I'm not exactly thrilled that we're matched up against. I think Stanford is super confident

The thing about Haley Jones is that she plays like a combination of Emily Engstler & Paige in the sense that she contributes in so many ways that impact & don’t impact the boxscore, and like Paige, she’s not concerned with personal stats, but rises to the occasion, as well as to the level of competition.

There is the regular season versions of Haley Jones & Lexie Hull and then there is the post season versions. Lexie Hull has really upped her game in the tourney, and she, Jones and Brink are matchup problems due to their size and length.

A lot factors on whether Brink stays out of foul trouble and if Stanford hits their outside shots. Stanford can be sloppy with the ball and it would behoove UConn to get into their transition game, particularly springing Christyn Williams into the open floor and freeing Azzi for open looks.

With Dorka out, UConn looses the luxury of an extra big. In order to come out with a win over a talented & confident Stanford squad, UConn needs contributions down the line. It will be hard to match the NC St game in terms of drama and intensity, but this one will go to the wire.

 

[FairView]

I concur. Scoring more points than Stanford will absolutely do it. Even one more point.

Only in the Boneyard do you encounter such Basketball Genius!

 

[Zarathustra]

I'm hoping that Piath will come to Minnesota with the team, as we may need her if we get in a desperate situation with our Bigs. Just having that extra body to fill in if they get into foul trouble will help immensely, if just to be in the way to block the hoop. With no Dorka, we need another body.

Would be nice to have Amari or Piath ready, willing, and able to
contain the CARDINAL Bigs. Even if just to absorb some fouls
and give Aaliyah and ONO some rest. Will someone please
contain Cameron Brink!

 

[StanFan]

Y’all are rising on how we can match up with Stanford. But how they match up with us? I can see the bigs, but how they stop Paige, Azzi and Christyn? I see a big match up advantage here.

On defense I would guess than Anna Wilson guards Azzi - and as a Stanford fan, hope that Anna can do something similar to what she did to Katie Benzan of Maryland (hold a 45% 3 point shooter averaging 10+ points a game to an 0-5 night). Paige and Christyn probably get the Hulls, and Paige in particular will have an opportunity since recently Stanford has struggled to contain players like Rori Harmon who like to drive and then elevate for the midrange.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I don't care what anyone says, Caroline IS in the dog house. Geno only sees the bad right now. For example, when Paige threw her that high pass that went out of bounds when she was wide open, that probably was interpreted as Caroline's fault. Caroline needs some time to get in the flow of the game. We've seen it over and over. She should be playing over 20 minutes vs Stanford but I wouldn't be surprised if she gets 6-8 minutes at best. My sense is that Geno is by nature a conservative. He goes with the tried and secure approach rather than the approach which might be a bit more risky but make the difference in a win. He should have Caroline spell the bigs some, especially in a 2 big lineup. They struggled in the small lineup against NC State but maybe that is because Caroline wasn't in the lineup.

 

[jaydee602]

The opening line in Vegas: Stanford (-1) over UCONN. The over/ under is 128.5 total points.
By those numbers, they are forecasting a 65- 64 final. That's basically an even game.

 

[Zarathustra]

Belibi is a handful inside despite being undersized--she's extremely strong and athletic. ONO/Edwards need to finish looks inside when Brink is out (she only plays 22 minutes per game) but I think the vast majority of UCONN's scoring will be from Bueckers/Fudd/Williams.

I do recall the dunk by Ms. Belibi. A very athletic Stanford team. We
need to hold our own inside ( ONO, Aaliyah, with some help?? from
Amari or Piath, if necessary ), and spread the wealth of outside
guard play offensive production = Everyone Eats. Continue
the offensive rebounds Aaliyah!! Christyn , Azzi, and Paige will
come through, but again, a full team effort is essential. Win another
one for DORKA! Z ? some sort of minor break out for Caroline??

 

[TeamFirst!]

Stanford doesn't always have Brink and Belibi in at the same time. That enables us to play a small lineup more than what sometimes might be possible against many teams. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Kiki Iriafen a little more than normal in this game. She is a force athletically.

 

[Bball244]

Cameron Brink has a tendency to foul a lot. Maybe UConn will get a pinch of luck with her in foul trouble early

 

[Jmsdawg]

1 .Does Paige still have her cape ready.
2. Will we adjust to Stanford playing I Big and 4 guards with the same and Keep one of our bigs ready for foul trouble. Or will they adjust to us playing 2 bigs.
3. Will Geno play more Caroline in our 4 guard offense or Evina. I guess it depends who plays well?
4. Who will Nika pester when she get in the game Hailey Jones, Anna Wilson
5. How does Liv match up against Brink?
6. Who guards Lacey Hull
7. Can we outscore them in a run a gun battle or can we out defense them?
8 Will will still count on our guards for most our offense?
9.What type of defense do we play to beat them?
10. Any other topics please jump in

I know most WCBB fan believe Hailey Jones is the key player for Stanford but from what I saw Brink is the player that cause opponents real problems. Final Four games will be tough for all involved but IF Paige can be Paige I believe UConn will be NC!

 

[tchalla1]

I hate to say it but after watching Stanford play the other night, its hard to imagine anyone beating them. Hope I am wrong

Not to worry--you are indeed wrong.... There's no team that's unbeatable.. I see a lot of opportunity for UConn against Stanford, especially at the guard play,,,

 

[UConnCat]

Team leaving for Minny today. Makes sense. Would be a day off from practice so might as well travel.

 

[Conndog]

For example, when Paige threw her that high pass that went out of bounds when she was wide open, that probably was interpreted as Caroline's fault.

That's ridiculous, Caroline was open and remained open for several seconds, the pass to her was very high, Caroline was lucky to get her fingertips on it. And as far as playing Evina over Caroline, all the shots that Evina missed in 2nd half or decided not to take even though she was open, how I wished it was Caroline firing away. One thing Caroline doesn't do is hesitate when shooting! She is too good to not play more, I'm not the coach, but I just don't understand why the strategy that made UConn so potent late in season (everyone eats) is now feed the starting five and serve leftover scraps to everyone else.

 

[Forego]

1 .Does Paige still have her cape ready.
2. Will we adjust to Stanford playing I Big and 4 guards with the same and Keep one of our bigs ready for foul trouble. Or will they adjust to us playing 2 bigs.
3. Will Geno play more Caroline in our 4 guard offense or Evina. I guess it depends who plays well?
4. Who will Nika pester when she get in the game Hailey Jones, Anna Wilson
5. How does Liv match up against Brink?
6. Who guards Lacey Hull
7. Can we outscore them in a run a gun battle or can we out defense them?
8 Will will still count on our guards for most our offense?
9.What type of defense do we play to beat them?
10. Any other topics please jump in

Move on? Move on from the post game thread for one of the best games UConn ever played. Hey some of us were up late
last night and we are slow readers.

 

[SLY63]

Funny you mention illegal screens, as I would imagine this isn't the hardest thing to fix.

 

[Pinhead]

AE and ONO simply have to stay out of foul trouble. If they have to sit for an extended period of time then Brink will take over.

Brink seems quite prone to sitting for the same.

 

[JJTB]

I like the way our guards are playing. To me, as long as the bigs play even, we win.

 

[asuwish]

Last night Paige did a great job of getting Liv set before using the screen. Our post have to just stay in place. If a screen doesn't work it's the ball handlers fault.

 

[Conndog]

Liv needs to be cautious when helping far from basket- nothing infuriates me more than to see our center foul someone 30 feet from the basket. And if she gets beat and opponent is going in to the basket, just concede the two points. That first foul when Cunane got the ball inside and turned to make a layup, Liv swiped at the ball but got called for foul, and 3 point play resulted. Once she got 2nd foul called on her, she had to sit rest of the half.

I hope the outside shooting is there, which is one of our strengths. Brink is great defender against people bringing it to the hoop, so shooting is the counter. Best shooters are Paige, Azzi, Christyn and Caroline. These four need a lot of minutes to beat Stanford.

 

[Urshurak]

3 pointers and free throws need to be massively improved to best Stanford. We can’t leave 7-8 points on the table and expect to win.

Also, I think some parts of the defense need to be better. We lost a couple players with easy layups against Nc State. Stanford will feast.

I think UConn can win, but it will be a tall (no pun intended) task and a lot needs to go our way.

 

[nastynatty]

I hate to say it but after watching Stanford play the other night, its hard to imagine anyone beating them. Hope I am wrong

I watched the Stanford/Texas game as well & while they looked really good and came out with a win, they definitely didn’t play a perfect game and showed some weaknesses. They struggled a bit with Texas’ press so I think UConn’s full court pressure will have to be an emphasis for the next week. Brink has a tendency to commit cheap fouls so I say feed Liv the ball at the start and go at her. She’s a good shot blocker but she’s gonna have a hard time blocking Liv who is an inch taller and built very similarly (aka long). I’d match up defensively with Paige on Wilson, Azzi on Lacie, Christyn on Lexie, Aaliyah on Jones, and Liv on Brink. Lexie and Jones are the biggest offensive threats they have and Christyn and Aaliyah have consistently proven that they are worthy of drawing the most difficult defensive assignments. I think Aaliyah can similarly bother Jones like she did Maddy Siegrist in the BET final. Plus, Jones might have a hard time having to guard Aaliyah all the way down in the post with AE’s physicality. Overall, should be a great game with some interesting matchups.

 

[eebmg]

Just a quick quote from Tara

VanDerveer said she watched UConn’s double overtime win over NC State on Monday night.

“I thought they played really well last night,” she said. “Obviously, the game could have gone either way. Free throws down the stretch maybe were the difference. It’s very sad they had the injuries they have and having the injury last night, too, you never want to see a player go down. They’re playing very well, and we’ll have to play very well to beat them.”