OT: - Princeton vs Villanova: Who Do UConn Fans Root For? | The Boneyard

OT: Princeton vs Villanova: Who Do UConn Fans Root For?

fireford

fireford

Joined
Feb 12, 2021
Messages
808
Reaction Score
6,592
Next Wednesday, Princeton and Villanova square off to tip of their respective seasons. I'm a little torn about this one as far as who to root for.

Princeton: Coached by Uconn alum and possible future coaching candidate (?) for Uconn Carla Berube. Always root for her teams to succeed for those reasons.

Villanova: Ranked 5 in Big East pre-season poll and potential national tournament team. A loss to an Ivy school (even if its a good one) is not a good look for UConn's conference and schedule strength.

So with that said, do we root for Carla out of loyalty or Villanova to protect the reputation of the conference and our schedule strength?
 
.-.
so I just did a check of the VU Wildcat schedule and kudo's to Denise Dillon as she has a pretty good OOC for her second year, Besides the Big 5 of Philly, she has Maryland, Oregon State and James Madison. If she can garner a couple of those wins, that will help her cause.
 
DefenseBB said:
so I just did a check of the VU Wildcat schedule and kudo's to Denise Dillon as she has a pretty good OOC for her second year, Besides the Big 5 of Philly, she has Maryland, Oregon State and James Madison. If she can garner a couple of those wins, that will help her cause.
Expand ...
Huge opportunity for them when they get Oregon State at home. Winning at Maryland will be a very tall order.

James Madison is a team they should beat if they want to be an NCAA at-large team. JMU was 9-6 in the Colonial last year, not nearly as good as in years prior.
 
.-.
fireford said:
Next Wednesday, Princeton and Villanova square off to tip of their respective seasons. I'm a little torn about this one as far as who to root for.

Princeton: Coached by Uconn alum and possible future coaching candidate (?) for Uconn Carla Berube. Always root for her teams to succeed for those reasons.

Villanova: Ranked 5 in Big East pre-season poll and potential national tournament team. A loss to an Ivy school (even if its a good one) is not a good look for UConn's conference and schedule strength.

So with that said, do we root for Carla out of loyalty or Villanova to protect the reputation of the conference and our schedule strength?
Expand ...
I don't think the reputation of the conference or SOS will mount to hill a of beans when it comes time to seed the teams for the tournament. Villanova winning or losing vs. Princeton will not have any bearing on a NC. UConn will either beat any of the top teams or they won't regardless.

I'd root for the former UConn player.
 
CL82 said:
That was my initial reaction as well, but I have to say I think I’m going to say we root for Berube.

#alwaysahusky
Expand ...
Agreed. The thing is for me, I don't think the strength of the Big East will have an effect on UConn's seeding at all. As long as UConn's teams are strong and their OOC is strong UConn will still get a top 4 seed, and that's for the next umpteen years. But that's thinking short term. Berube, Shea, and Marissa, they're the future. Geno isn't going to be the coach of UConn forever and when the time comes this team will need a coach to step right in and continue the UConn way. So go Carla!
 
.-.
DEpup said:
What happened to Villanova? Boxscore is ugly...
Expand ...
Princeton's defense is what happened to them. Two years ago Princeton was the #1 team scoring defense (47 ppg) by a wide margin. Berube can coach. I watched this game and I don't think Villanova isn't a bad team at all. Princeton was just better.

I believe Princeton has the longest win streak in the country. Tonight's result makes 23 straight wins, spanning their canceled 20-21 season and dating back to an overtime loss at Iowa in November 2019.
 
I hope Geno didn't give Carla the same invitation that he gave Shea. Princeton could be a problem for us.
 
I played twice against both Princeton and Villanova. Carla is the tiebreaker. Go Tigers!
 
Princeton's offense: What I call dribble drive- kick. Reminded me of last year's Arkansas game. Dungee and Slocum driving and kicking.
So hard to stop.
I wish Geno had it in his hip pocket for emergencies, when the passing game stalls. (Az) We have people that could break down the defenses.
 
I also want to give Kudos to Carla for being the 1st coach I have seen to go back to the pre-covid dress code for coaches-print top, slacks and heels. I am a little tired of EVERT coach wearing a school pullover, sweat pants and sneakers. I watched Ole Miss-Belmont last night and ye gads, that Ole Miss black/camo sweatshirt with the pockets in the front was gawd awful...You don't have to wear heels or shoes but please for the love of Pete, wear something that shows taste....
 
DefenseBB said:
I also want to give Kudos to Carla for being the 1st coach I have seen to go back to the pre-covid dress code for coaches-print top, slacks and heels. I am a little tired of EVERT coach wearing a school pullover, sweat pants and sneakers. I watched Ole Miss-Belmont last night and ye gads, that Ole Miss black/camo sweatshirt with the pockets in the front was gawd awful...You don't have to wear heels or shoes but please for the love of Pete, wear something that shows taste....
Expand ...
Major league managers have to wear the team uniforms.
What if WCCB coaches had to do the same. Extra credit for retro wear. Kim in floppy socks and Chuck Taylors.
 
.-.
DefenseBB said:
I also want to give Kudos to Carla for being the 1st coach I have seen to go back to the pre-covid dress code for coaches-print top, slacks and heels. I am a little tired of EVERT coach wearing a school pullover, sweat pants and sneakers. I watched Ole Miss-Belmont last night and ye gads, that Ole Miss black/camo sweatshirt with the pockets in the front was gawd awful...You don't have to wear heels or shoes but please for the love of Pete, wear something that shows taste....
Expand ...
I think some of it might be that a lot of these coaches put on "COVID pounds" that they never lost and would rather change the dress code than buy a new wardrobe. I remember Geno used to be one of the best dressed coaches in the game but doesn't look like he can fit into any of the suits he used to wear these days (sorry Geno) so he resorts to the "pullover look" instead. I remember going back to work after lockdown having to stretch the dress code for a while until I could fit into my business casuals again. I wasn't about to get a whole new wardrobe myself so thankfully I've been able to lose juuuust enough pounds (as Bob Euecker would say) to fit into them again.
 
MD#12Fan said:
Princeton's offense: What I call dribble drive- kick. Reminded me of last year's Arkansas game. Dungee and Slocum driving and kicking.
So hard to stop.
I wish Geno had it in his hip pocket for emergencies, when the passing game stalls. (Az) We have people that could break down the defenses.
Expand ...
UConn may be the only top team not to do lots dribble drive-kick. Been driving me crazy. Don't get it.
 
I guess i'm the only person that doesn't know what a "dribble drive kick" is - could someone please explain the term for me?
 
quavik said:
I guess i'm the only person that doesn't know what a "dribble drive kick" is - could someone please explain the term for me?
Expand ...
No worries because apparently Geno doesn't know what it is either :-).

It's basically someone drives to the basket and lures two defenders, which frees someone up on offense. The ball is then kicked to the free offensive player for an open jumper.

Examples:

 
You get the same effect by passing the ball into the post and then, if the post is doubled, kicking the ball out to the open shooter. Or by throwing the ball to the high post, who looks to find a cutter to the hoop, and if the cutter draws a defensive rotation, the high post player can kick it to the open shooter. Or the high post player can hand off the ball to a shooter who can take advantage of a ready-made screen.

All of these alternatives are speedier than putting the ball on the floor. So UConn guards typically don't drive to the basket unless they can see an open path to get all the way there. Otherwise, one of the above alternatives is preferred.

Having seen small guards like Ketia Swanier and Lorin Dixon drive into the paint, get surrounded by trees, and then say to themselves, "OK, now what do I do?", I think Geno decided that the alternatives are better. If nothing else, they put the passing decision in the hands of a post player who should have a better field of vision to see open shooters.
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,535
Messages
4,580,906
Members
10,491
Latest member
7774Forever


Top Bottom