Rank the 2014 Tournament Opponents

[nelsonmuntz]

Rank them in terms of how the opponent played on the day UConn played them.

6) Villanova - hit a few shots around the 1 minute mark to cut it to 5, but Villanova was not inside of 5 points the last 13 minutes. A lot of times when Villanova gets punched in the mouth, they stay punched.
5) Florida - UConn outplayed these guys everywhere but Patric Young. Wilbekin and Frazier looked like NEC players against Napier and Boat
4) Iowa State - despite their crazy shooting, they really missed Niang. I was not impressed by Kane. Uconn had a 5+ point working margin most of the second half.3) Kentucky - Backcourt was outmatched the whole game. Young and Randle kept it close, but the mismatches at guard made it feel unlikely they would come back. If Giffey doesn't miss a very makeable pull up and Daniels miss a wide open 3, there would have been no drama at all the last 2 minutes.
2) Michigan State - Ollie masterpiece. He turned their biggest mismatch inside into a deep 3 jump shooter. Despite all that, MSU can play some defense. This one could have gone either way until Bazz's 3 FT's around 30 seconds left.
1) St. Joe's - A good team played a perfect game against us and would have beat us if not for a put back 3 point play. If St. Joe's had 1 more decent reserve, they would have won the game.

 

[breezy]

I haven't re-watched any of the games yet (maybe this weekend), but I remember 'Nova looking very good for the first 15 minutes. Though I supposed Florida also looked great for the first two TV timeouts. I guess that's why a lot of us felt a bizzare calm heading into Kentucky. We had already seen our guys play their way back from ~10 point deficits multiple times. Such a great trucking tourny for us.

 

[UconnU]

Best coaching performance weve ever seen at uconn? Its got to be right?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

With both Florida and Nova, we came right back on them after getting down early and were close going into the half. Nova was a surprise for me, because I thought they matched up well but they are just soft mentally.

 

[champs99and04]

Based on how good I think they were:

6. Iowa State (minus Niang) - Losing Niang was just a devastating blow, they weren't getting further than the sweet sixteen without him.

5. St. Joe's - As well as they played against us, they were a team with some major defensive liabilities. The athleticism discrepancy in the back court was striking from the opening tip.

4. Kentucky - They were another very questionable defensive team, Dakari Johnson and Julius Randle couldn't guard pick and rolls and Andrew Harrison was real shaky at the point. I honestly have to give Cal a lot of credit for the job he did with this team in March.

3. Villanova - Their three and four guard sets were a nightmare to defend, when they dropped that 8-2 run on us (or whatever it was) at the beginning of the game, I thought we might be in for a long night. Say what you want about the Big East, when you lose only 4 games the entire year you're a damn good team.

2. Michigan State - There is a reason they ran right through the Big Ten Tournament and were everybody's pick heading into the dance. Payne, Dawson, and Harris were all terrific. If Appling was healthy, we might be having another conversation right now.

1. Florida - They won 30 games in a row, not much else needs to be said.

Based on how well they played against us:

6. Iowa State - even though they cut into the lead late, we were up 17 at one point in the second half. Of all the games, this was the one that felt most comfortable from start to finish.

5. Kentucky - they were lucky they didn't get blown out, many of our mistakes in that game were self-inflicted and Boatright + Daniels getting in foul trouble kept them within striking distance.

4. Florida - just couldn't throw it in the ocean.

3. Villanova - I actually didn't think they played that bad, unfortunately for them, they caught UConn during their best game of the tournament IMO - there's nothing you can do when Shabazz is pulling up from 25 feet late in the shot clock and knocking down threes. Nobody was beating us this day.

2. Michigan State - We're always going to remember St. Joe's as our "survive and advance" game, but Sparty had us on the ropes in this one. I really believe that MSG won us this game.

1. St. Joe's - They were a hot, confident team that played loose and executed their game plan to a tee. It didn't hurt them that Galloway was tossing in ridiculous makes and their point forward whose name escapes me was playing like Boris Diaw. In hindsight, they were a b*tch of a draw as a ten seed. Not only did they win the A-10 tournament, but they also beat the same Dayton team that made the elite eight three times.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

St Joe's was nails tough. Ollie kept up the pace which was smart and you could see them running out of gas at the end. I bet Martelli wanted a game in the 50's. If St. Joe's had one reserve that could have given their starters 15-20 minutes of rest, St. Joe's would have been fresher, Kanesevic would not have fouled out, and they probably would have won. They had no one on the bench.

I agree that Villanova is a good team, but Wright's teams just feel mentally soft sometimes.

 

[Pudge]

6. I totally disagree with this notion that Villanova was a good team. I saw them play earlier in the year versus Temple and they showed the same in March. Had several surprising 3point shooters that came off the bench; but, they lacked defensive intensity to keep up with Ollie's athletes. We scored easy; we defended them great. Their chance was to hit a very high percentage of 3s and it didn't happen. At the end, we were cruising. I reject the notion that the Big East was a tough conference. They have nothing like they used to.

5. Florida? Yes the number one seed; but, they just seemed totally bamboozled at the crucial moments of the game. Wilbekin was taken out of his comfort level by Boatright. They couldn't get their 3-4-5 options to hit anything or get any rhythm - particularly that kid Walker (who didn't play in Storrs; but supposedly is NBA talented). Only Patrick Young looked formidable and they didn't get him going. Florida, for the last 7 minutes, was ours.

4. Iowa State became scary and I don't know why. We were up 17. And then we let Hogue go to the hoop over & over. We hung on to a 5-8 point lead for the last 5 minutes and we looked less than confident. For the first 30 minutes of play, UConn had them beaten. Cyclones distinctly missed Niang and it's a different game & path if he wasn't injured.

3. St. Joe's was playing great. They had seniors. The A10 Conference Championship had these guys (5 really) confident and playing great. Galloway and Roberts had super games against us. Bembry the 6-6 soph was getting to the hoop and creating plays. When we got to the 5 minute mark, our depth showed and it seemed like it became a different game. The Big Unpronounceable fouled out and we won in OT going away.

2a. Give credit to Kentucky. Lots of good talented kids just making us work. But, ultimately, the point on their defensive ability on the pick&roll was right on ... they couldn't keep us from extending our lead. Napier and Boatright proved why great guards with experience can dominate in this tournament. We kept a margin and extinguished any momentum. The Harrisons, unlike their earlier games, had zip influence as our guards took it to them.

2b. Michigan State was taken out of their game. Great coaching by Ollie. They looked to have very weak guardplay and ours looked very formidable. Payne shooting many 20 footers was mindblowing. We never got tested inside - particularly after Hogue scored so easily for Iowa State. Game was close to the end. But, I think we had it comfortably.

St. Joe's was the most tense game. I think we got better after that. Always bet on the team with better guards.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Villanova beat Kansas on a neutral court and St. Joe's on the road, and only lost 4 games prior to ours. They didn't suck.

 

[RichZ]

Guards win championships, and based on guard play against our guards,

6) Ky. The twins looked confused the entire 2nd half.

5) Florida. I kept wondering what all the hype surrounding Wilbekin was about. He looked like a very ordinary player both times we played them.

4) MSU -- Yeah, I know. Appling wasn't 100%. How any times do we need to hear the same excuses. How about Appling isn't in Bazz's league?

3) Iowa State. Hogue . If he doesn't have a career game, we win this one by 20 to 25.

2) Nova. Yeah, I know we beat them pretty well, but their guards probably came as close to neutralizing our back court advantage as anyone.

1) St Joes. I guess point forwards can have the same effect as guards, and interfere with the guard on guard concept.

 

[donyell34]

Posted before but what an amazing run. Have it all on TiVo and love watching the game's over again. Agree st. Joe's was brutal tough , thrilled to win that one. Michigan state another one but they were broken at the end. Fla. and Kentucky was putting the cherry on top.

 

[BankShot]

The hype on Scotty Wilbekin??? Looks and tattoos

It must have been that because outside of that his game is average

 

[selles]

The hype on Scotty Wilbekin??? Looks and tattoos

It must have been that because outside of that his game is average

I watched a lot of Florida this year. Wilbekin was an excellent college point. He had a Bazz-like leadership/game control impact. He was lousy against us because we MADE him lousy.

 

[UChusky916]

I watched a lot of Florida this year. Wilbekin was an excellent college point. He had a Bazz-like leadership/game control impact. He was lousy against us because we MADE him lousy.

Agreed. The way people are talking about Wilbekin make it obvious they only really saw him play twice against us. He was terrific for Florida in the same role that Bazz played. He provided leadership/toughness for that team. He got in the lane more than Bazz and made more tough shots near the basket than Bazz. But they both took over when they had to.

Our guards were too quick and pesky for him and I think they got in his head a bit. Our guards we were a bad match-up for him. I think only Kilpatrick and Russ Smith got the best of Bazz in a game this past year, so there's no shame in getting outplayed by Bazz. Wilbekin got outplayed twice and you could argue he wasn't healthy if you want but I don't think it mattered much. We contolled the second game down the stretch.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Guards win championships, and based on guard play against our guards,

2) Nova. Yeah, I know we beat them pretty well, but their guards probably came as close to neutralizing our back court advantage as anyone.

Jay Wright does all the right X's and O's stuff and he has talent, so it is strange that here he is 13 years into his tenure at Nova and he has 1 Final Four and no NC's. There has always been something a little off about Wright's teams. The 2006 Villanova team was the only team in the country that I thought might be better than UConn that year. They lost to a good Florida team that year, but it wasn't close. He makes the Final Four in 2009, but then wastes the next two seasons on Cory Fisher acting like a . It seems like Wright has had a lot of teams over the years with bad chemistry.

This year's Villanova team was very good, and I agree that they matched up at guard as well as anyone in the tournament. But they are just a soft team mentally.