Poll - Will offense or defense be more important in 2023?

[sun]

Will offense or defense prove to be more important for the Huskies to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in 2023?
Most fans will admit that they're both important, but when the chips are down, which is most effective when playing against other elite teams?
I'd like to believe that a great offense is the best defense because it's hard to stop an opponent's offense if it's elite.
So UConn's offense will always need to be better than its opponent's making offense more important.
But let's vote because there's always other ways of looking at it.

The votes are private and can be changed.

 

[DEpup]

As compared to last year where we at times struggled to score, I think it is offense.

 

[Blond D.]

Our defense usually turns into offense. Coach puts the priority on defense becuz everyone loves to play offense. I think UCONN has a history of great defenses and that will be what the focus will be on in the beginning of training camp.

 

[MooseJaw]

If healthy, our offense is almost a given. Defense is harder to maintain at a high level. However, try to be an elite team with only one facete. of the game and you may be fun to watch but you won't be a consistent winner.

 

[Charliebball]

Defense wins games...........especially big games..........if a healthy Paige, Azzi, Aaliyah etc can't put up enough points to win after a great defensive effort then they must have been playing a WNBA team.......

 

[meyers7]

I'm not sure which will be "more important", but I'm expecting this team to be a very high scoring team. Lot's of defensive pressure that turns into fast break points. Hopefully not a lot of slow half-court offense.

So I think the offense will be better than the defense. But I'm not sure "more important".

 

[Ozimoto]

Assuming that the team is healthy they should be able to score points. Game average should be in mid 80's. Defense will win the games where point production is below that average. It's vital to keep other teams below their averages to win games and defense is what makes that happen.

 

[Bone Dog]

It’s always defense, for the reasons mentioned above (defense turns into offense) but also because defense builds team culture. Defense is where kids learn to play for the team more than themselves.

 

[sun]

It’s always defense, for the reasons mentioned above (defense turns into offense) but also because defense builds team culture. Defense is where kids learn to play for the team more than themselves.

When both teams play equally good defense then offense would make the difference.
Turnovers on offense can also turn into points for the other team despite differences in defensive abilities.
Are some folks not considering how turnovers are a trait of a weak offense?
Defense can only partly make up for too many turnovers & missed shots by a weak offense.

Assists (which are offense) are also how players show selflessness, so team culture is not only shown on defense.

 

[Bigboote]

I voted for defense. I've heard Geno say several times something to the effect, we need to work on defense; the offense will take care of itself. Yes, he's remarked especially in the last couple of years, on the ball getting stuck leading to stagnant offense, but I remember him complaining much more about defense.

 

[Bone Dog]

When both teams play equally good defense then offense would make the difference.
Turnovers on offense can also turn into points for the other team despite differences in defensive abilities.
Are some folks not considering how turnovers are a trait of a weak offense?
Defense can only partly make up for too many turnovers & missed shots by a weak offense.

Assists (which are offense) are also how players show selflessness, so team culture is not only shown on defense.

You’re not wrong. But you’re offering a game by game analysis. I took your poll question to be about the season, not individual games. For the season taken as a whole, building a killer defense is always the top priority.

 

[oldhusky]

I say defense because of a couple of things. The offense (if healthy) I am far more certain of with more playing time from Paige, Azzi and Caroline. Two of the best defenders (Nika and Aubrey) could get less time this year, maybe not a huge decrease, but at least less than last year.

In addition our best hopes for the 5, Ice and Jana mat have more offensive than defensive upside, and neither is 6-5 or can be expected to be an eraser like say Liv was for example. I think KK, Ashlynn and Q will be good defenders in time, but don't see them getting much time this season.

So the uncertainty on the defensive side is greater, the changes in playing time should be increasing the time of more offensive players while decreasing some the minutes of two of our better defenders, and we don't appear to have the big time shot-blocker our teams frequently have.

 

[Rowdy831]

A great offense will struggle against a good defense. An average offense will do great against a team with no defense. Look no further than the NBA right now where every team seems to score over 120 points every night and people who were just okay in college are scoring lights out.

For UCONN to win the big games they will not be able to count on offense. The good news is Geno has always been a defense first kind of coach and I don't see that changing any time in the near future. Defense is my final answer.

 

[hoophuskee]

I went with Offense.

If Paige, Azzi, Caroline, and from what I hear from Brady - if they are all healthy, their offense with Edwards will carry them and force teams to play to UCONN's style.

 

[PacoSwede]

defense will always be there.

while offense can't be counted on, particularly in high-pressure circumstances.

all players can have an off-shooting night. ... we've all seen even the greatest scorers being unable to put it through the hoop when a funk comes a'calling ... and some normally great players simply don't have that vital 'clutch' gene.

these are rarely problems on the (team) defensive end.

 

[JellyBean]

Defense leads to offense. If we are locking players down and creating steals or deflections, this can generate offensive looks.

 

[Dogstar]

I've always said Defense wins game and offensive determines the M.O.V, but nowadays I tend to thk tht you need a strong mixture of both to be dominant.

 

[Woof 101]

I say both due to the fact you need both to win a game. No argument here with any others opinions. The officials also have to come into the equation on how the game is being called. If your big rim protector and main inside scorer is called for two early ticky tac fouls.
That means you need your guards / wings to pour in threes, which has become such a big part of the game at all levels.
The UConn D has always through steals or rebounds and outlet passes provided awe inspiring experiences. I don't see that changing in 2023.

 

[JellyBean]

Also, in the words of one of my all-time favorite UConn players, Stefanie Dolson back in 2012 on defense, “Our defense always sparks our offense. When we have games where we’re playing really good defense, usually, we’re going to score more and do better offensively because we can get out in transition, which is a big part of our game.”

 

[ucbart]

I'm going with defense and one part of defense, which I feel, UCONN guards have always struggled with....except when Moriah Jefferson was here. We do not defend well off dribble penetration. Now, is it a giant problem? No! But it certainly is one that can cause us trouble against a very good team with a very good guard who excels off the bounce(Olivia Miles). It's why we lost the 2018 FF game against ND, we couldn't get stop Young or Arike off the bounce. Basketball, especially in college, is a guards game, and in a one and done setting such as the NCAAT, that could really be cause for some concern.

The only game in the last 20 years where I thought the UCONN offense was the total reason for defeat, is the S16 debacle about two months ago. So, I will always go with defense in these types of circumstances.

 

[jabstep]

Both facets of the game are equally important.The last two years with Henderson lighting us up and Carson raining 3's on
Iowa show how a hot 3 point shooter can make a difference. If we have healthy two guards that can shoot possible 50% from three. Ice and now Aaliyah from her most recent video's can knock down three's. Caroline is a possiblity cause she can light it up when she gets hot. Aubrey is getting more confident on her 3's and with Shade and Samuels classified as good shooters
We now will also have a point guard that can break down defenses and lead to easy baskets for others. I know Nika Nika Nika but she is not Paige. KK also can be considered this type of point guard.
We don't know about Ice's defense or Jana on the bigs. We don't know the anything about the other freshmen yet.
So I think our 3 point shooting ability will be the difference this year and our defense will be tough as well.

 

[MSGRET]

I say defense, with the players that UConn has for the upcoming season, offense should be the least of their worries.

 

[southofnorth]

I’d say that specific parts of offense and defense will be the most important. Specifically, consistent perimeter shooting will be key and UConn has struggled with that over the past couple of seasons—outside of Paige and Azzi, who still both have their off days, which means others need to be reliable perimeter threats. I imagine Caroline’s health played a part in her shooting percentages, so hopefully that fixes itself as she gets healthy. Nika being more reliable from 3 and having Ice and/or Aaliyah be able to step out and hit a decent percentage will help UConn.

As for defense, defensive rebounding will be key. UConn’s defense was pretty good last season all things considered, but even great defense won’t be all that effective if they’re giving up offensive rebounds. Other title contenders are good at getting offensive rebounds (e.g., South Carolina and LSU), so keeping them off the glass after a good defensive possession will be key. Preventing the other team from scoring and securing the rebound also limits the ability of opposing teams to set up full court presses. Playing solid defense overall can lead to fast break opportunities and easier scoring opportunities in general.

 

[jabstep]

When I see the poll results and the highest percentage of people have voted so far for just defense. Yes defense and rebounding are important and are mostly effort and coaching driven. My response is as follows.
1. I say they are equally important because offense takes skill which is gained by effort and good coaching starting out very young. Dribbiling, passing and shooting need to start at a young age. When I watched Video of Paige in 8th grade she could shoot the lights out on 3 pointers. Same thing with Azzi, when I starting watching tape of Paige on the U16 Fiba teams I said to myself who is this other guard who seems to be even a better shooter then Paige. They also developed looking inside because they had a pretty good post player named Boston. Who could score at will.
2. Last year we lost a bunch of games many to lack of production on offense. When we lost Paige before the season we then found Lou who could score and create offense even better then I imagined. We had Azzi shooting lights out and Dorka and Aaliyah providing enough offense to supplement Lou and Azzi. We looked like a team that could win it all. When we lost Azzi our offense faltered we did not have an offense weapon to fill because Caroline kept getting bonked on the head and Aubrey would on occasion lack confidence in her offense.
3. Much take on last season is we didnt lack effort on defense but on offense was where we faltered. We looked like a 6th grade travel team that had never seen a press before. Nika had trouble all year with pressure from good defense guards. Aaliyah would bring the ball up against most teams that pressured us because the bigs on other teams didn't have the man on man skills to stay with her. OSU with their 3-1-1 press and quickness found our weakness.
4. If healthy this coming year we have all the pieces for offense and defense and we all know we can win it all!!!!!!