Pressure D or lack thereof in the Texas Game

[vtcwbuff]

On defense I noticed they clearly helped far more on post entry's on Boyette than last year. Because of this they jumped the passing lanes less and had less steals early and late than last time. And many of those steals lead to layups in their win last year. There was little to no full court pressure which lead to an overall slower pace from UConn than we're use to. On offense the Husky's ran more plays in the half court than we're accustomed to seeing because they clearly minimized the transition game. Seeing the Husky's getting beat in transition was a consequence of the guards helping in the post. UConn did have trouble closing on the perimeter and they did get beaten off the dribble more than last year or at any other time during this years NCAA's.

When I watched the replay I noticed that a lot of the help came from Samuelson - she was often the 3rd defender in and that left her man unguarded. We can argue the defense from now until next November but the end result is the only thing that counts. UConn's defense was not exposed.

 

[bags27]

1. In an Elite Eight game (!) the team played a #2 seed opponent that had racked up over thirty wins coming into the contest. The game, quite literally from the opening tip to the final whistle was NEVER, at any time, even remotely in doubt
2.Yet, I've been reading on our forum that UConn, got "exposed" (what a joke!).
3. We've been lulled into an inability to recognize what a once-in-a-lifetime dream world we continue to inhabit.

1. Absolutely, getting done what's necessary, in what Geno says is the toughest game in the tournament (Elite 8). No, it was never in doubt, and TX was tough, but UConn had a number of times when they looked like they might/could/should get real separation and they couldn't quite manage that.
2. most of us agree that that thread was unfortunate: UConn was not exposed. But what I remember most are: 1. the times the team looked sluggish, including at least 2 shot clock violations (when does that ever happen?); 2. passes into the post that should never have been made and were tipped or intercepted (at one point, I actually screamed from the stands "don't pass it!", it was so obviously not going to work); 3. at least two TX uncontested fast breaks coming off UConn baskets/foul shots (when does that ever happen?).
3. I don't think folks are forgetting what an astonishing situation this has been. The cheers in the stadium Monday night really brought tears to our eyes. But the greatest compliment you can give a great team is an honest assessment. I am far from our most informed fan here, but what I saw was trench warfare: we ground them down. It may even have been the game plan. No one is/should be panicking because of it. But to me, at least, is was a tough game in which we made an uncharacteristically high number of mistakes (for us). If it were just a non-conference regular season game, it'd be a simple win and move on. But it's the gateway game to the Final Four and we have too much time on our hands.

 

[Henry]

With a short bench Geno probably did not want to tire out Moriah, not that she ever gets tired.