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Potential turning into Expectations

Tonyc

Tonyc

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Looking at Sarah's numbers per another thread and knowing what Paige and Azzi can do, well to me it appears we could be unbeatable this season. We still have a few players ready to come back from injuries and our newbies who are progressing in the UConn system really well. I gotta tell ya Im excited just thinking about how good we are and how good we're going to be down the road. For the next few games I think we have the players who can carry us until everybody else is up to speed. This team is one of the most talented teams UConn has assembled. We only gonna get better as the season goes on.

Some big games coming up are ND Iowa St USC and SC. They are all on TV this weekend
Today Saturday at 4pm on NBC is NDUSC
Tomorrow Sunday at 3pm is Iowa St/Drake
Tomorrow Sunday at 4pm is SC/UCLA on FS1

We can get an early look and they are gonna be some great games.
 
Audi will be a good test for Sarah. A bully ball post player, who bodies most centers/forwards right out of her way.
 
Bone Dog said:
I think Audi will mainly be a test for Ice and Jana. Addy is the one who’ll have to deal with Sarah. I can see the confusion given how similar the names are.
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Oh is that her name? Whoops.
 
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Tonyc said:
Looking at Sarah's numbers per another thread and knowing what Paige and Azzi can do, well to me it appears we could be unbeatable this season. We still have a few players ready to come back from injuries and our newbies who are progressing in the UConn system really well. I gotta tell ya Im excited just thinking about how good we are and how good we're going to be down the road. For the next few games I think we have the players who can carry us until everybody else is up to speed. This team is one of the most talented teams UConn has assembled. We only gonna get better as the season goes on.

Some big games coming up are ND Iowa St USC and SC. They are all on TV this weekend
Today Saturday at 4pm on NBC is NDUSC
Tomorrow Sunday at 3pm is Iowa St/Drake
Tomorrow Sunday at 4pm is SC/UCLA on FS1

We can get an early look and they are gonna be some great games.
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There is no doubt we have a deep bench of talent this season. But we will be better , by far, come March than we are now. I think (I hope is actually the emotion) that we will improve exponentially, while the other top teams improve arithmetically. A loss now might be a good thing. So, if it happens....don't be concerned. For us to win it all; AZZZI has to come all the way back; Jana has to find her game, Ice needs to continue her improvement, Paige has to be Paige, and Sarah has to keep astounding everyone. Everyone else has to play their A games.
 
Gotta tell ya guys. I dont think UConn is going to have to many problems beating anybody this season, if we stay healthy. This is one of the best teams on both sides of the ball that Geno has every put together. Its gonna take a little time to and a few games to develop the chemistry but man do we look good.
 
yhun89 said:
Ice played Audi in HS. I saw some highlights. Ice was definitely the better player back then.
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I've seen highlights of that game -- it was a summer game -- and Ice didn't play defense on Audi. That was left to Kennedy Brown and she wasn't able to stop Audi, and Audi wasn't able to stop Ice.

I managed to find one complete game of Audi's from high school, against Hopkins HS. Her school lost, but she was very impressive.

MSGRET said:
If Iowa State plays like they did against Northern Iowa, UConn will have no problems beating them.
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ISU played zero defense against NIU, but they were able to score well themselves. I expect we'll defend them well because we can stop Addy and Emily Ryan. The question is whether Audi can stay on the floor for 30 mins. If not, Ica and Jana will have an easy time. The more time they spend grappling with Audi, the more fatigued they'll get. As for Addy, I suspect Sarah will find an interesting challenge defending her, but I don't think Addy will be able to keep up with her, especially on the perimeter. Emily Ryan is a good PG, but I think KK and KC are capable of containing her. And that isn't even taking Paige and Azzi and Ash into account.
 
Tonyc said:
Gotta tell ya guys. I dont think UConn is going to have to many problems beating anybody this season, if we stay healthy. This is one of the best teams on both sides of the ball that Geno has every put together. Its gonna take a little time to and a few games to develop the chemistry but man do we look good.
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I have a little voice in my head saying the same things Tony but I also hear "who have they played so far"?
I'm trying to put an arm lock on my exuberant optimism. I suspect that the inexperience of the 1st year players may factor into some of the December games, especially because only one of them will be at home.
 
I love some of the unbridled optimism here (no problems beating anybody, etc). Me, I'm more cautiously optimistic. I think our post players need to improve to deal with some of the very talented bigs on teams like both USC's, UCLA, etc. Ice is showing signs of progress, but I need to see more. And Jana has not yet lived up to all the hype -- but she's only 4 games into her college career, so there is hope. Getting a couple of our injured front court players back would be nice, but until and if we see them at full go, we won't know.
So, color me "cautiously optimistic" for NC #12.
 
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Tonyc said:
Gotta tell ya guys. I dont think UConn is going to have to many problems beating anybody this season, if we stay healthy. This is one of the best teams on both sides of the ball that Geno has every put together. Its gonna take a little time to and a few games to develop the chemistry but man do we look good.
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Tony, I've got to honestly say that, while I think this is a team capable of challenging for a final four berth, it does not begin to measure up to the teams during the years of Sue, Diana, Swin or Breanna. We still face a problem in rebounding and I think that will be proven when we begin to play teams like Notre Dame and South Carolina. I cringe every time I see Paige go down and we still don't know if Azzi is going to be back to her original talent. Lastly, I have not seen any of the complementary descriptions given to Jana. I hope you are one hundred per cent correct - but still.
 
Bigboote said:
If it was anybody but TonyC saying this, I'd be thinking "We're doomed." :D
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Tonyc is usually right on the money and I'm with him. This is the best looking team that UCONN has had since 2013 to 2019. The talent is there to go all the way and with GENO and CHRIS there to bring that talent to bloom to it's potential. I am not worried. I was watching the Notre Dame/USC game and its ND 35=29 at the half. To me both look beatable. We shall see. GO HUSKIES!!!!!
 
Longtime fan said:
.... For us to win it all; AZZZI has to come all the way back; Jana has to find her game, Ice needs to continue her improvement, Paige has to be Paige, and Sarah has to keep astounding everyone. Everyone else has to play their A games.
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boy-o-boy: talk about cautious!

should the huskies do as you request, they are definitely the NC winner ... they would even be a challenge for the liberty ... or aces or linx. bring 'em on.
 
Tonyc said:
Gotta tell ya guys. I dont think UConn is going to have to many problems beating anybody this season, if we stay healthy. This is one of the best teams on both sides of the ball that Geno has every put together. Its gonna take a little time to and a few games to develop the chemistry but man do we look good.
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ND looked pretty darn good v USC today. I hope we crib their game plan!
 
I thought the game was sloppy. A little out of control at times. NDs guards did most of the scoring and USCs defense just wasn’t there. Paige Azzi and Sarah should put UConn over the top.
 
I'm pretty much in sync with Tony at this point.

Based on what I saw today, it seems that JuJu is listening to her own publicity and trying to do it all...Not necessarily a recipe for team success.

But she'a handful as is Hidalgo...a player I really like

Both teams present interesting problems...We'll know more about our prospects fairly soon..
 
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The top 4 teams I can see right now are SC, UCLA, ND, and UConn. Until we are at Full Team, I can't say we are the best team.
It all starts with defense and the coaching. I will not predict who will win these games against each other. I can tell it will be fun watching.
ND defense is very good. Citron did a good job on Paige last year and she played Watkins tough today. As far as I can see, Hildalgo is a demon on defense the best in the game. The surprise for me was how good Koval was in the paint area protection. She also sets a mean pick for Miles and Hildalgo.
The UCLA vs SC should be a good one. Both teams are better than last year with UCLA getting much better and I think they will beat SC.
It is good for WCBB for the best teams to be playing each other this year.
 
Steelerone said:
Tony, I've got to honestly say that, while I think this is a team capable of challenging for a final four berth, it does not begin to measure up to the teams during the years of Sue, Diana, Swin or Breanna. We still face a problem in rebounding and I think that will be proven when we begin to play teams like Notre Dame and South Carolina. I cringe every time I see Paige go down and we still don't know if Azzi is going to be back to her original talent. Lastly, I have not seen any of the complementary descriptions given to Jana. I hope you are one hundred per cent correct - but still.
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While our bones are great, there is still some unproven talent in big games. The wild card is our ability to break presses now and have a solid switching game that was missing for USC yesterday. That allowed the great guards of ND to play at their will. Geno has also seen more of these games and that gives us a ghost 6th man.
 
Tonyc said:
Looking at Sarah's numbers per another thread and knowing what Paige and Azzi can do, well to me it appears we could be unbeatable this season. We still have a few players ready to come back from injuries and our newbies who are progressing in the UConn system really well. I gotta tell ya Im excited just thinking about how good we are and how good we're going to be down the road. For the next few games I think we have the players who can carry us until everybody else is up to speed. This team is one of the most talented teams UConn has assembled. We only gonna get better as the season goes on.

Some big games coming up are ND Iowa St USC and SC. They are all on TV this weekend
Today Saturday at 4pm on NBC is NDUSC
Tomorrow Sunday at 3pm is Iowa St/Drake
Tomorrow Sunday at 4pm is SC/UCLA on FS1

We can get an early look and they are gonna be some great games.
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And once again you jinx the Uconn girls by saying they could be unbeatable..I guess if you say it often enough one day it wll come true
 
I watched the ND game twice now and they definitely played better defense than USC did, though both offenses were a bit ragged.

Last season, Citron played good D against Paige last season. But I think that was made easier because there weren’t enough other scoring options yet. I doubt Paige will be as easy to guard if Azzi is available.

The current form of ND’s game is to hurry up opponents. They had USC running scared most of the game. I think we have better guard play than USC even now and won’t be so easily sped up. Sarah in particular is difficult to speed up.

And just thinking about breaking presses, Geno has enough good ball handlers to solve this. He likes using paired guards passing back and forth to cross midcourt. But he also likes stationing a big at midcourt — he did this with Aaliyah often and Sarah or Morgan would be perfect for this role.

The ND game is going to be a wonderful challenge, probably the high point of the early season.
 
I felt the game was sloppy on for both teams. USC seemed to be JuJu and everybody else. ND Hidalgo and Miles controlled the scoring with many ill advised shots. Not alot of poise or patience by JuJu Hidalgo or Miles. They were the offenses. Now ND didnt have Westbeld which is a huge loss and still won handily. That sez somethin. Against UConn? USC imo will loose. ND will have to defend 5 players not one (JuJu). That will make a difference. Citron and Hidalgo I would think would be guarding Paige Azzi or Sarah. Tuff task. UConn would have to limit Hildalgo and Miles which I believe they will do.

I dont believe USCs defense was there yesterday. I felt that ND rushed USC and depended to much on Juju and not enough on getting everybody else involved. USC's lack of defense made ND look better then they were for nothing more then inability to execute defense. IMO right now the top 4 teams are SC UConn ND and Texas.

The key to beating UConn is to being able to score against their defense and stop their offense which is still developing. Against USC ND stopped Juju. USC didnt control Hidalgo and Miles. Against UConn defenses will have to stop Paige Azzi and Sarah and everybody else arent slouches. Paige Azzi and Sarah are go to players that play unselfish and that could be the difference.
 
Against Notre Dame my primary (and just about only) concern is, can Chen take care of the ball vs Hidalgo? Of course, if that appears to be an issue, Arnold is available and might be a better option on both offense and defense.
 
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jabstep said:
The top 4 teams I can see right now are SC, UCLA, ND, and UConn. Until we are at Full Team, I can't say we are the best team.
It all starts with defense and the coaching. I will not predict who will win these games against each other. I can tell it will be fun watching.
ND defense is very good. Citron did a good job on Paige last year and she played Watkins tough today. As far as I can see, Hildalgo is a demon on defense the best in the game. The surprise for me was how good Koval was in the paint area protection. She also sets a mean pick for Miles and Hildalgo.
The UCLA vs SC should be a good one. Both teams are better than last year with UCLA getting much better and I think they will beat SC.
It is good for WCBB for the best teams to be playing each other this year.
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I certainly agree with three of those! I’m not quite sold on UCLA though. I guess we’ll have a better idea after today’s matchup! I think Texas is better than UCLA at present and don’t see that changing for the rest of this season. I think Booker is better than anyone on UCLA and I like Harmon over Rice as well! Of course, I am hoping to sit down to a hot plate of crow this evening after the SC vs UCLA game but I think it‘s much more likely to be a ham sandwich. Anyway, onwards and upwards! Go Huskies!
 
Tonyc said:
I thought the game was sloppy. A little out of control at times. NDs guards did most of the scoring and USCs defense just wasn’t there. Paige Azzi and Sarah should put UConn over the top.
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When you have the best combo of guards in the nation you would expect them to do most of the scoring
Uconn was embarrassed last year against ND by 15 and had no answer for Hildago..even Nika couldn't stay with her and that was without Miles..now they have Miles back and last year Citron held Paige in check..hopefully Westbeld will still be out otherwise I see a long night for Uconn playing at South Bend even with the addition of Sara
 
Here's the deal with Hidalgo. She's quicker than most opponents she encounters. This means she can guard up close with impunity. The usual formula is if you guard close, the opponent blows past, and if you protect against this by backing off, they shoot or pass over you. But Hannah doesn't care if you blow past her because she's quick enough to catch up and is actually in a better position (in the blind spot) to force a turnover.

Also, not that many steals occur directly by playing close. But the intimidation factor from guarding close often causes hasty passes that lead to steals by others. And of the players who are good at face-up steals (not coming from behind steals) Hannah is good, but so are Azzi and KK, and Sarah. And most of UConn's and ND's steals come from disrupting the passing lanes.

To play ND means protecting against Hannah's come-from-behind steals. This is her specialty, lagging off her assignment to get a steal on a double team. This means it's really important to anticipate the double team and pass to the player she's left open -- and this is not easy to do. It also means forcing an isolation with her on a bigger guard, like Paige or Azzi or Morgan. Hannah is vulnerable in those situations. You can see it in the USC game with TVO.

Finally, the entire team has to be up on the scout. Hannah and Olivia are right-hand dominant scorers. Kaitlyn and KK and Azzi and Paige and Ash have to make them go left. The same is also true of Juju, by the way. However, Hannah can beat the first line of defense going left and then go right to score against the post players -- she did this a few times against USC. Everyone has to know the scout, not just the guards.
 
Tonyc said:
I thought the game was sloppy. A little out of control at times. NDs guards did most of the scoring and USCs defense just wasn’t there. Paige Azzi and Sarah should put UConn over the top.
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I am glad the old, happy and positive TonyC is back but I completely disagree with this assessment of ND. While out-maneuvering Lindsay Gottlieb in tactics is not complicated, Niele Ivey has proven to be a "master tactician" in game planning. Let me say that again- Niele Ivey is a master tactician in game planning. We lost last year to ND 82-67 after having a 12 point lead in the 2nd quarter, in 2022-23 We lost 74-60 in another game not really that close.

Simply put, we have no one to keep up with Hannah Hidalgo. Frankly, this is where KK should be given the role simply to try to make Hannah work hard on both ends of the floor. Kaitlyn Chen was built to play against the mid-major type teams of FDU, BU and even USF but against the P4 competition, she's simply not fast enough nor a good enough outside shooter. As we saw yesterday, Citron played against Juju for most of the game and did a good job of containing her during the critical parts of the game. I expect to see Citron on Paige which means we need all the others to step up and hit big shots-that means Ash, Sarah, Ice, Jana, Azzi, KK and Kaitlyn. The difference with Citron guarding Paige vs. Juju is Paige can pass but we can't miss those open jumpers like we have been. They need to fall for us to compete.

I am optimistic as Ice has been better on Defense so she can help Sarah neutralize both Koval and King but we need offense from both and we need Azzi to contain Miles.

Do not take this ND squad lightly which is what I fear threads like this continue to do. Similarly to the over-exuberance of averaging 90 points per game, we need a dose (and a heavy dose) of reality that we will have to play up to our capabilities and far better than we have played to this point in the season. Geno and his staff also need check, double check and triple review their game plan for whatever contingencies are needed to counter Niele Ivey's plans. We are 0-2 the last two years vs. ND so....and don't give me the "we have been injured" as ND has had similar injury issues. Good teams find a way to compete, great teams find a way to win. Just don't lose by double digits like we have each of the past 2 years. Consider this a warning shot across the bow from a season ticket holder and an annual donor to the team (I am not some missive scribing token fan).
 
Cuango said:
I certainly agree with three of those! I’m not quite sold on UCLA though. I guess we’ll have a better idea after today’s matchup! I think Texas is better than UCLA at present and don’t see that changing for the rest of this season. I think Booker is better than anyone on UCLA and I like Harmon over Rice as well! Of course, I am hoping to sit down to a hot plate of crow this evening after the SC vs UCLA game but I think it‘s much more likely to be a ham sandwich. Anyway, onwards and upwards! Go Huskies!
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I made this comment yesterday during the game to two other BYers, "Ivey plays chess and Gottlieb doesn't even play checkers, more like tiddlywinks" and I would add in Close, Collen from Baylor and Coach Yo from Ole Miss into that category. They have recruited well, built talented programs (like Gottlieb has assembled) but when it comes to evolving the team from Nov to March and actually coaching x's and o's, I am not impressed. The lack of true success in either their conference tournaments of the NCAAT is my proof of this gap.

Booker had a great freshman year at Texas and she had the ball in her hands 90% of the time but this years squad will need her to make everyone better, can she do that-maybe, maybe not. Kiki Rice is a really good play and Betts if better than any post Texas can heap into the fray by far (yes Taylor Jones as a 5th year looks good but Betts is better). The issue as I noted is Vic knows how to scheme a game and Cori does not. Regarding today's game, I think SC wins against UCLA as they have physicality to intimidate the Bruins and their coaching staff (UCLA) will not be able to adjust on the fly as it were.
 
DefenseBB said:
I am glad the old, happy and positive TonyC is back but I completely disagree with this assessment of ND. While out-maneuvering Lindsay Gottlieb in tactics is not complicated, Niele Ivey has proven to be a "master tactician" in game planning. Let me say that again- Niele Ivey is a master tactician in game planning. We lost last year to ND 82-67 after having a 12 point lead in the 2nd quarter, in 2022-23 We lost 74-60 in another game not really that close.

Simply put, we have no one to keep up with Hannah Hidalgo. Frankly, this is where KK should be given the role simply to try to make Hannah work hard on both ends of the floor. Kaitlyn Chen was built to play against the mid-major type teams of FDU, BU and even USF but against the P4 competition, she's simply not fast enough nor a good enough outside shooter. As we saw yesterday, Citron played against Juju for most of the game and did a good job of containing her during the critical parts of the game. I expect to see Citron on Paige which means we need all the others to step up and hit big shots-that means Ash, Sarah, Ice, Jana, Azzi, KK and Kaitlyn. The difference with Citron guarding Paige vs. Juju is Paige can pass but we can't miss those open jumpers like we have been. They need to fall for us to compete.

I am optimistic as Ice has been better on Defense so she can help Sarah neutralize both Koval and King but we need offense from both and we need Azzi to contain Miles.

Do not take this ND squad lightly which is what I fear threads like this continue to do. Similarly to the over-exuberance of averaging 90 points per game, we need a dose (and a heavy dose) of reality that we will have to play up to our capabilities and far better than we have played to this point in the season. Geno and his staff also need check, double check and triple review their game plan for whatever contingencies are needed to counter Niele Ivey's plans. We are 0-2 the last two years vs. ND so....and don't give me the "we have been injured" as ND has had similar injury issues. Good teams find a way to compete, great teams find a way to win. Just don't lose by double digits like we have each of the past 2 years. Consider this a warning shot across the bow from a season ticket holder and an annual donor to the team (I am not some missive scribing token fan).
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No one who seriously follows Women's basketball would take ND lightly, but after watching the USC game they definitely need to be considered the team to beat this year. Now, it's just one game and it's early, but another take is that USC has some visible deficiencies (coaching, Juju iso), that make them reachable.
 
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