Rebecca says "Don't sleep on UCONN"

[cuzinvinny]

I hope she is right!


Rebecca "Don't sleep on UCONN"

 

[jdote33]

Geno says sleep on UConn. Jk.

 

[Rowdy831]

I don't think the objective was to go deep in the playoffs. Geno coached to win the Big East and they won the regular season and they will easily win the BE Tournament. The NCAA will come down to the luck of the matchup for UConn but if they get lucky there then they will make a good run. Hopefully other teams will help them out and take out the teams where they don't match up.

The kiss of death from my view would be if they were with Stanford or South Carolina and had to play UCLA or Oregon State to get to the 1 seed. The good is Paige is taking the last couple games on her shoulders early and that will be a key for UConn.

 

[my2cents]

People other than Paige and AE need to hit their open three's to go far. Guards need to start rebounding too.

 

[Bill In Georgia]

Ever hear of the Cinderella Team ….we could be that team if..if..if...80% of what we throw up goes in...that the defense now know as “The Busy Bee’s .. an shuts the opposing offense at half court…

Wish I could go back and pick one game for each player, and put that package together and WOW ….

So with the correct adrenal flow, it can be done!!

Just Watch….

 

[FormerCTrez]

Geno says sleep on UConn. Jk.

He’s correct, and he’s being honest.

 

[VaConnFan11]

It's all about the matchups.

If UConn can avoid teams with a dominate guard with quick, athletic players around her, UConn will have a better than average chance.

 

[Veteran]

He's right. It's a big challenge ahead. But the most satisfying wins are the ones that nobody thought possible. None of the so-called experts give UConn much of a chance so this will be a team that will enter the tourney with a chip on its shoulder and nothing to lose. And every once in a while, seemingly miraculous things really do happen. That's powerful stuff. Does anyone really want to face UConn in the tourney?

I can't wait.

 

[BRS24]

I posted this on the General Board in the thread regarding yesterday's injuries (Kitley/VA Tech, Holmes/IN, Davis/IA) that depending on the severity, this could open up the tourney a bit more, however it's still 13 days to Selection Sunday and 16 days to the start of the tourney.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Just last year LSU should have lost in the Elite 8 but the Utah (if I'm not mistaken) player missed 2 free throws with less then 5 seconds on the clock to give LSU a final 4 berth!
They also were basically injury free all season!
So they emerged from the scrap heap to the Championship!
In past years the Dodgers beating Oakland in the WS, The Mets winning WS in 1969, Valvano led NoCar St beat Houston, The Giants beating the unbeaten Patriots in the Super Bowl, UConn WBB beating TN on MLK Day in 1995, Mississippi St beating UConn in Semi's of the FF, et al!
UConn has as much chance if they play to their peak performances as any other Division I team!
YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!

 

[AmeriConn]

Geno says sleep on UConn. Jk.

Come on man! You know that's Geno's way of getting the troops motivated.

 

[Floridadog]

Let's go full steam ahead and win it all so Jonathan XIV can retire as the Top Dog in Women's College Basketball!!

 

[Bone Dog]

Come on man! You know that's Geno's way of getting the troops motivated.

nothing a coach says publicly should be taken at face value. There's always several agendas, and Geno is particularly crafty about managing the various audiences for his remarks, especially this time of year.

 

[BobbyJ]

nothing a coach says publicly should be taken at face value. There's always several agendas, and Geno is particularly crafty about managing the various audiences for his remarks, especially this time of year.

Unless he's telling you what he really thinks. In this case he's right.

 

[DefenseBB]

In reviewing the teams 2-20 on the AP Poll, any 3 of them could make a huge NCAAT run and I would not be surprised. Just look at the revolving door of #2-4 in the AP poll all year. The good news for UConn is we have no "bad" losses as all 5 have been to top 14 teams. The bad news is we have ZERO top 20 wins (3 wins over Creighton/Louisville).

Besides SC, only Texas has 0 losses (like UConn) outside the top 19. Every other top 25 team has at least one loss outside of the Top 25.
Stanford to Arizona,
Iowa to Nebraska,
tOSU to Michigan,
USC to Washington,
UCLA to WSU,
LSU to both MSU and Auburn,
NC State has 3-Miami, UNC and Duke,
Va Tech has 3 to FSU, Duke and Virginia
Indiana to Illinois
Oregon State to Washington
ND to UNC
Gonzaga to WSU
Kansas State has 3-ISU twice, Kansas
Baylor has 3-Kan, ISU, BYU
Colorado to WSU
Oklahoma has 6 (which explains the voters low ranking) to Princeton, Tenn, UNC, Southern, WVU, Kansas
Syracuse has 3-MD, UNC, Duke
Creighton has 2-Green Bay, Marquette
Utah has just 2 of 9 losses to unranked-Az and Wash
UNLV has 2-Seton Hall, New Mexico

So as the phrase goes, "on any given day" with the 1 caveat I would caution ALL UCONN fans about is, this team does not have a quality win on their resume so please be practical in your prognosticating and give reasons why they can overcome this big deficiency.

 

[Bone Dog]

... give reasons why they can overcome this big deficiency.

"Give reasons..."? Fan forums are not famous for giving reasons. Irrational optimism is the order of the day, and then the inevitable tears. It's what we do, and we're damn good at it.

 

[Urshurak]

He's right. It's a big challenge ahead. But the most satisfying wins are the ones that nobody thought possible. None of the so-called experts give UConn much of a chance so this will be a team that will enter the tourney with a chip on its shoulder and nothing to lose. And every once in a while, seemingly miraculous things really do happen. That's powerful stuff. Does anyone really want to face UConn in the tourney?

I can't wait.

Yes, Any of the top 10 teams would have no issue going up against UConn. UConn really is not a threat this year. PB and AE can only take them so far and I guarantee you the top 10 teams know that. Geno is right. Will take extreme luck to get past the sweet 16. I hope it happens but reality dictates otherwise.

 

[DefenseBB]

Ironic coming from a guy who said Jana is part Stewie or Svet based on no evidence whatsoever....

 

[jdote33]

In reviewing the teams 2-20 on the AP Poll, any 3 of them could make a huge NCAAT run and I would not be surprised. Just look at the revolving door of #2-4 in the AP poll all year. The good news for UConn is we have no "bad" losses as all 5 have been to top 14 teams. The bad news is we have ZERO top 20 wins (3 wins over Creighton/Louisville).

Besides SC, only Texas has 0 losses (like UConn) outside the top 19. Every other top 25 team has at least one loss outside of the Top 25.
Stanford to Arizona,
Iowa to Nebraska,
tOSU to Michigan,
USC to Washington,
UCLA to WSU,
LSU to both MSU and Auburn,
NC State has 3-Miami, UNC and Duke,
Va Tech has 3 to FSU, Duke and Virginia
Indiana to Illinois
Oregon State to Washington
ND to UNC
Gonzaga to WSU
Kansas State has 3-ISU twice, Kansas
Baylor has 3-Kan, ISU, BYU
Colorado to WSU
Oklahoma has 6 (which explains the voters low ranking) to Princeton, Tenn, UNC, Southern, WVU, Kansas
Syracuse has 3-MD, UNC, Duke
Creighton has 2-Green Bay, Marquette
Utah has just 2 of 9 losses to unranked-Az and Wash
UNLV has 2-Seton Hall, New Mexico

So as the phrase goes, "on any given day" with the 1 caveat I would caution ALL UCONN fans about is, this team does not have a quality win on their resume so please be practical in your prognosticating and give reasons why they can overcome this big deficiency.

Thanks for the post.

My reason for optimism is that after starting 4-3, the team has gone 22-2. I just looked at the box score from the NC State loss, and Caroline and Azzi started (miss them both!). In the Texas game, Ice started and Ashlyn played limited minutes. So just the minute distribution and overall look of the team is totally different from early on in the season. It was after the Texas game that Geno committed to the 4 guard lineup and basically put Paige at the 4. Before this change they were kind of a team searching for an identity. So I'm not saying to throw the early losses out the window, but I do think they don't give that great of insight on the current team.

So the 2 losses in the 24 game stretch were against SC and ND. Although they kinda feel successive, they were two weeks apart. The ND game is the one that still kinda bugs. It ended up being a 15 point loss but the team was only down 3 heading into the 4th. Nonetheless we were outplayed, and Paige probably had her worst game of the season (I like Sonia Citron a lot but I just don't believe she can limit Paige like she did again). At the end of the day, there are only a couple of players that could play like Hannah Hidalgo played that game. Additionally, I don't think Paige has another game like that in the tournament (I know it's a lot of pressure on her).

The South Carolina game was never really close. But Paopao (who I really like as well) played out of her mind that game. I just remember she hit a crazy step back on the baseline, and I thought this is just her night. They did not have Cardoso, but in that particular game it may have been a good thing as Watkins and Kitts played great together. SC is pretty scary, can't say I want to be in their bracket. But they have not been as dominant in the past couple weeks. They struggled a bit yesterday vs Tennessee.

I've watched a lot of wcbb this year (wayyy to much to be honest), and like your post laid out, every team is flawed. Similar to us though, some teams lost games with key players out, and also some teams are playing much better than they were earlier on in the season. In a nutshell, I think it would be hard to beat LSU (rebounding and overall talent), and SC (rebounding and depth). But there aren't too many teams that I would expect to lose to. Iowa is really good but I wouldn't be surprised if Nika was able to slow down Clark and we'd win. Similar scenario with Juju (I saw Oregon State give her fits). Ohio State is better than last year, and they knocked us out, but we should be better at handling the press this year and I don't think they have a great matchup for Paige or AE tbh. We may end up needing some luck in some games, but heading into most matchups, I'd think we probably have 2 of the top 3 players on the floor, and the better point guard, so I'm feeling good.

 

[fomalhaut]

Connecticut always has a chance if they shoot well.

 

[ConnMotors]

If UConn wins the upcoming Big East Tournament I honestly believe that they will move up to the third #2 Seed. Bob Joyce today said on the radio that UConn will be a three seed. Sadly some key players suffered injuries this past week. Will that help UConn in NCAA seedings.

 

[Bone Dog]

Ironic coming from a guy who said Jana is part Stewie or Svet based on no evidence whatsoever....

I think we need to clarify the meaning of ironic. That’s totally of a piece with the rest of my usual irrational exuberance.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

I hope she is right!


Rebecca "Don't sleep on UCONN"

The way Paige is playing lately, I think she might be right. My hunch is the rest of the team might peak just at the right time too.

 

[Jokerman619]

Just last year LSU should have lost in the Elite 8 but the Utah (if I'm not mistaken) player missed 2 free throws with less then 5 seconds on the clock to give LSU a final 4 berth!
They also were basically injury free all season!
So they emerged from the scrap heap to the Championship!
In past years the Dodgers beating Oakland in the WS, The Mets winning WS in 1969, Valvano led NoCar St beat Houston, The Giants beating the unbeaten Patriots in the Super Bowl, UConn WBB beating TN on MLK Day in 1995, Mississippi St beating UConn in Semi's of the FF, et al!
UConn has as much chance if they play to their peak performances as any other Division I team!
YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!

Agree