Our three point shooting

[giddyup]

Huh? Illinois is pretty good, so is Purdue, it’s definitely close with the slight edge to Purdue

Purdue is 33-4. I would say they are much more formidable than Illinois and the top competitor to UConn by any measure. But, if we don’t mind our business with Alabama first, it’s a nonissue.

 

[dogpause]

Luckily we have Guards who are good rebounders. We've also been known to focus on guarding the 3-point shot against good shooting teams. Having Clingan under the basket also makes it easier to play up on shooters. Bama likes to run and take early shots from the perimeter, a combo that could work in to our advantage.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Nope

yup

 

[TheRealKBuks]

I'm not a conspiracy kind of Guy, stuff is happening on the Women's side:

NCAA under fire after three-point lines ‘not the same distance’ in women’s tournament

The NCAA has come under criticism after it was discovered that the three-point lines were different lengths from the hoop on the two sides of the court in Portland

www.theguardian.com

Hanlon's Razor

 

[ktuck911]

I predict we get back on track as a collective group from 3 next week... We do that, we're really hard to beat... I don't care who's left

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I predict we get back on track as a collective group from 3 next week... We do that, we're really hard to beat... I don't care who's left

Hopefully, now that the issue with the basketballs is being publicized, someone will make sure the F4 balls are inflated correctly.
If not, both sides will probably shoot poorly.

 

[tzznandrew]

yup

They're different teams, but Illinois played them close twice, once without Shannon.

Purdue is a step above Illinois. But, now that we have our full team playing, Purdue is closer to Illinois than they are to us. Doesn't mean we can't lose, but we're reasonably the favorites.

 

[jibsey]

Alabama had the same brand balls and shot good right? UConn defense is at a level that is unworldly and Hurley and his father are on the same page with this. One article said that Bob Sr. and wife was going to Disney World until Friday because his wife got the dates mixed up with Easter being so early but, he will phone for a very “long conversation” midweek before going out to Phoenix.
Luke and Kimani have the offensive and defensive schemes already worked out and I’m sure they have included both Purdue and NC State. Our staff and team are hyper focused and the players who celebrated last year have made it clear that if they too want to enjoy that there are no shortcuts.
Some of this is in the hands of the refs but effort wise we do not have to worry, then we’ll see.

 

[Drumguy]

I don't understand why leagues change balls as frequently as they do. It seems like the only sport that doesn't screw with the ball is the NFL

Hmmm.... Inflategate and the Patriots?

 

[Greathusky]

Balls are overinflated at many neutral sites. Causes 3s to go long.

My vote goes towards the extra adrenaline these boys are pumping during March Madness games.

 

[McLovin]

Illinios is as good as Purdue. At least close. Marquette too.

This is like the reverse Brad Underwood when he said "UConn isn't anything we haven't seen before in the B1G". Don't overlook them. Not saying we can't beat them, but they are an elite offensive team.

Purdue is in another class above Illinois and 2 above Marquette. Because of Edey's dominance in the post, their 3 point shooting often goes overlooked.

They shoot 40.6% from 3 as a team, and have 4 players with 50+ made 3's shooting at minimum 35.5%. We only have 3 guys who have made over 50 3's and only 2 (Karaban and Spencer) are over 35.5%.

I've seen a lot of UConn fans on Twitter overlooking this as well. If that ends up being the title game, it's going to be a close game throughout.

 

[jake14mw]

Are you guys serious with this overinflated balls thing? Overinflated balls causing bad shooting? LOL.

 

[JMick]

Hmmm.... Inflategate and the Patriots?

That's not the league changing the ball. It's irrelevant

 

[jake14mw]

I was thinking during the last game and our bad 3 point shooting, that it might be likely that we set an odd record of missing the most threes in tournament history!? I would think most teams that take a lot of threes and miss a lot of threes don't even make the final four. I did a quick Google, but couldn't find the record for most missed threes in an NCAA tournament.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Curious if the data suggests a bigger deviation at particular sights than others, or is it pretty much same across the board

I looked at it but I feel like the sample size is a bit too small to make any large inferences. So it's possible. I tried to look into a deviation from mean here too but it's too sensitive to one or two bad efforts (e.g. Marquette's 4/31 game really tanked the South Regional's %).

Collectively, the teams in the Midwest shoot the three (on the season) better than teams in the East, but I didn't adjust for volume of 3's attempted.

						3FG	3FGA	%
East Regional	Boston	UConn	Illinois	Iowa State	SDSU	39	130	30.00%
West Regional	LA	UNC	Arizona	Alabama	Clemson	60	173	34.68%
Midwest Regional	Detroit	Purdue	Gonzaga	Creighton	Tennessee	51	127	40.16%
South Regional	Dallas	Houston	Duke	NC State	Marquette	29	112	25.89%

 

[UCTitleTown]

Devil probably needs no advocate, and pretty likely wouldn't choose you.

Are you really seeking the job?

It's almost always a terrible framing.

And ignored. I thought you already were.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

When you're destroying teams the way we've been destroying teams, I just don't see any weakness

We're destroying teams, what more can we do?

Make 1 extra pass at the perimeter prior to shooting any 3-pointer (unless completely open at or en route to the basket) 5 times in a row after any instance of missing 3 consecutive 'open-enough' outside shots.

Shooting percentages from 2 and/or 3 will improve; defense will set up better; opponents will get rattled, tired, & demoralized; fans will be delighted; non-partisan media & observers will be wowed; and haters will still have their opportunity to hate hate hate.

It starts with defense, not self-forced offense.

Don't do the opponents' heavy-lifting for them. Don't gift them with something that looks and feels like a 'normal' high-level game. They already know they can do that well enough to get to the Final Four.

Points will naturally follow. In bunches. Highlight reel stuff. Raceways, throw down dunks, and alley oops. Even the distant daggers that are deferred until the opponent is dizzied and drained by the effort they've expended by having to guard so many different players in so many different ways.

We have already seen this enough to know it works. This is what flips the switch.

Viewers at every level of experience and knowledge deserve to see what UConn is & does.

Let those who are disrupted, delusional, or in denial go at their own pace, but not to the detriment of UConn pursuing its patient, persistent path.

I am enjoying the ride and want others too as well. A man who is disgruntled by a 30-0 run can find fellow travelers, even on this board. Past a certain, simple point, he cannot be my concern.

Go Huskies!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This is like the reverse Brad Underwood when he said "UConn isn't anything we haven't seen before in the B1G". Don't overlook them. Not saying we can't beat them, but they are an elite offensive team.

Purdue is in another class above Illinois and 2 above Marquette. Because of Edey's dominance in the post, their 3 point shooting often goes overlooked.

They shoot 40.6% from 3 as a team, and have 4 players with 50+ made 3's shooting at minimum 35.5%. We only have 3 guys who have made over 50 3's and only 2 (Karaban and Spencer) are over 35.5%.

I've seen a lot of UConn fans on Twitter overlooking this as well. If that ends up being the title game, it's going to be a close game throughout.

Too soon.
Bama is the only known game on the schedule.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

This is like the reverse Brad Underwood when he said "UConn isn't anything we haven't seen before in the B1G". Don't overlook them. Not saying we can't beat them, but they are an elite offensive team.

Purdue is in another class above Illinois and 2 above Marquette. Because of Edey's dominance in the post, their 3 point shooting often goes overlooked.

They shoot 40.6% from 3 as a team, and have 4 players with 50+ made 3's shooting at minimum 35.5%. We only have 3 guys who have made over 50 3's and only 2 (Karaban and Spencer) are over 35.5%.

I've seen a lot of UConn fans on Twitter overlooking this as well. If that ends up being the title game, it's going to be a close game throughout.

I know transitive property doesn't work, but sometimes it's all you have. We have a few common opponents, including Illinois (+6/+5), Marquette (+3), Indiana (+20/+21), Northwestern (-4/+9), Gonzaga(+10/+12) and Xavier (+12).

Or you can go by tourney results against similarly seeded teams:
+38, +39, +12, +6 (UC +39, +17, +30, +25)

This is really all we have to go by right now. Frankly i don't want to talk Purdue at all, i think we should all be focused on Bama, but it was brought up in post #2 in a way that i thought was way too absolute. The absolutes always get me. It's like when someone says something is "unacceptable". OK poster, if so, then what will be the punishment levied by you if it doesn't improve ?

I'm just as nervous as the most nervous person before the game starts, and until we are (hopefully) up comfortably enough to no longer worry about a loss. There isn't an ounce of overconfidence in me.

Outside of this response, i won't even think of PU again until we actually have them on the schedule.

 

[DRBackup]

Then what happened vs Creighton? What happens if we go 3/20 and Bama shoots 15/30? Our defense is awesome but sometimes teams get really hot from deep. (And what happens if DC and/or SC pick up 2 early fouls?) If we’re not making 3s, we need transition hoops, and for that we need long rebounds. Fewer Bama misses, fewer transition hoops.

I’m not saying that’s likely but 3-point shooting is, in fact, a weakness if we continue shooting this way. 28% is bad.

Creighton went nuts from three, for the most part. We led them 19-15 with about 10 minutes left in the first half and then they went on an 24-6 run, and 18 of those 24 points came on threes. At that point the led by 14 and that was the margin at the half and we never recovered. They shot 14-28 from three and five different guys made 2 or more.

 

[NickDanger]

Rumors (or possibly viral conspiracy theories) are that something has been done. over inflating balls, over tightening rims, whatever, to make it more difficult to hit threes in the tournament. Whether this is or is not the case, we willl continue to move forward.

Then how did Creighton and Tennessee combined shoot almost 50% on threes?

 

[DRBackup]

I saw an interview with Karaban. He said the NCAA tournament balls are tacky and overinflated.

Luckily, both teams have to play with the same ball.

 

[NickDanger]

I know transitive property doesn't work, but sometimes it's all you have. We have a few common opponents, including Illinois (+6/+5), Marquette (+3), Indiana (+20/+21), Northwestern (-4/+9), Gonzaga(+10/+12) and Xavier (+12).

Or you can go by tourney results against similarly seeded teams:
+38, +39, +12, +6 (UC +39, +17, +30, +25)

This is really all we have to go by right now. Frankly i don't want to talk Purdue at all, i think we should all be focused on Bama, but it was brought up in post #2 in a way that i thought was way too absolute. The absolutes always get me. It's like when someone says something is "unacceptable". OK poster, if so, then what will be the punishment levied by you if it doesn't improve ?

I'm just as nervous as the most nervous person before the game starts, and until we are (hopefully) up comfortably enough to no longer worry about a loss. There isn't an ounce of overconfidence in me.

Outside of this response, i won't even think of PU again until we actually have them on the schedule.

What “we” focus on makes absolutely no difference to how the team will play. We could be focused on the 2026 season and it won’t affect a thing except our own minds.

 

[NickDanger]

Huh? Illinois is pretty good, so is Purdue, it’s definitely close with the slight edge to Purdue

Purdue is MUCH stronger than Illinois

 

[NickDanger]

Odd comment. Perhaps the strange neutral courts and backgrounds have more to do with the many misses along with the intense defense being played by the desperate one and done games. Seems like most players are jacked up and out of sync.

Also, why would an overinflated ball tend to miss Long? Are they inflating them with helium?