Reflections on the OOC Season

[diggerfoot]

The Team - I was never concerned about perimeter defense from the Notre Dame and DePaul games, because those teams made three from downtown or hurried, contested threes, in Notre Dame's case at an obscene rate. I was a little more concerned about the Colgate threes, because they were made mainly by one player that should have been shut down, and the Maryland threes, as most of their threes came in the flow of their offense. Still, we always won by double digits even when a well coached and talented team was making threes within the flow of their offense. In the strive for perfection defending the threes are a concern, but the results so far are good news in the strive for a championship. Actually, I'm more concerned about our rebounding; more on that below.

Stewart - Most will agree on a Big Three of Taurasi, Moore and Stewart. Taurasi amazed me with her court vision and the ice in her veins; Moore amazed me with her desire and effort; Stewart amazes me with just how easy the game seems to be for her.

Jefferson - This year I'm starting to see a few of the passes that Bird and Taurasi routinely made, ie, no hesitation, thread the needle passes into the post. If Jefferson can routinely make those passes she just might elevate to Big Three level in my mind. On the other hand, I think being a senior with a mindset of "it's up to me" has led to more turnovers than she should have. Perhaps it will all straighten out by season's end.

Tuck - Auriemma loves to know what he is getting and Tuck must be his dream player in that regard. Love her passes into the low post; could be more in sync with passes out of the low post.

Nurse - I think she is doing just fine. Stats don't seem to fit a person who can carry her national team to championships, but she is just adapting to a roster of all stars. With her constant desire I'm quite sure she will make the right adjustments at the right time.

Williams - On an all star team such as this, seems best utilized as a spark off the bench. Her rebounding might warrant being a starter on a team that could do better with that, but there may be a better option.

Collier/Samuelson - I love how both are progressing as freshmen; neither leaves me with much to worry about. Ah, but there are those who will undoubtedly worry, as well as those who champion one freshman over the other. To that end here are my two cents. Collier and Samuelson are going through opposite adjustments IMHO. Collier seems determined to make her mark, to the "fault" of forcing some things she should not. I'm OK with that from a freshman, rather than one who is too tentative. After all, most plays she succeeds at leaving her mark, though she does need to adjust somewhat to all the players around her being so much better than she faced in high school. Samuelson seems determined to fit into the flow of the team. A poster made an astute observation that her only made three in the Maryland game was the most contested one. Otherwise, she seems to want to shoot only wide open threes in which there is the obvious expectation that she should shoot it in the flow of the offense ... and make it. I don't think game pressure gets to her; she seems to handle that better than Collier and Williams. The pressure to fit in the right way does seem to affect her shooting. Hopefully, that straightens out as the season progresses. I know there are folks who think one will outshine the other. To me, it's a real toss-up at this point.

Butler - Given that rebounding is my one concern so far, I'm hoping that Butler proves to be the best answer. Williams and Collier rebound well (Samuelson, too, to some extent), but can be controlled by big players who are fundamentally sound. A big like Butler will counter that. Does she also bring enough to the table to warrant being a starter over Williams or the freshmen? Like everyone else I am getting antsy to have that question answered.

Best wishes to all for the New Year. Be well.

 

[jcoton56]

The Team - I was never concerned about perimeter defense from the Notre Dame and DePaul games, because those teams made three from downtown or hurried, contested threes, in Notre Dame's case at an obscene rate. I was a little more concerned about the Colgate threes, because they were made mainly by one player that should have been shut down, and the Maryland threes, as most of their threes came in the flow of their offense. Still, we always won by double digits even when a well coached and talented team was making threes within the flow of their offense. In the strive for perfection defending the threes are a concern, but the results so far are good news in the strive for a championship. Actually, I'm more concerned about our rebounding; more on that below.

Stewart - Most will agree on a Big Three of Taurasi, Moore and Stewart. Taurasi amazed me with her court vision and the ice in her veins; Moore amazed me with her desire and effort; Stewart amazes me with just how easy the game seems to be for her.

Jefferson - This year I'm starting to see a few of the passes that Bird and Taurasi routinely made, ie, no hesitation, thread the needle passes into the post. If Jefferson can routinely make those passes she just might elevate to Big Three level in my mind. On the other hand, I think being a senior with a mindset of "it's up to me" has led to more turnovers than she should have. Perhaps it will all straighten out by season's end.

Tuck - Auriemma loves to know what he is getting and Tuck must be his dream player in that regard. Love her passes into the low post; could be more in sync with passes out of the low post.

Nurse - I think she is doing just fine. Stats don't seem to fit a person who can carry her national team to championships, but she is just adapting to a roster of all stars. With her constant desire I'm quite sure she will make the right adjustments at the right time.

Williams - On an all star team such as this, seems best utilized as a spark off the bench. Her rebounding might warrant being a starter on a team that could do better with that, but there may be a better option.

Collier/Samuelson - I love how both are progressing as freshmen; neither leaves me with much to worry about. Ah, but there are those who will undoubtedly worry, as well as those who champion one freshman over the other. To that end here are my two cents. Collier and Samuelson are going through opposite adjustments IMHO. Collier seems determined to make her mark, to the "fault" of forcing some things she should not. I'm OK with that from a freshman, rather than one who is too tentative. After all, most plays she succeeds at leaving her mark, though she does need to adjust somewhat to all the players around her being so much better than she faced in high school. Samuelson seems determined to fit into the flow of the team. A poster made an astute observation that her only made three in the Maryland game was the most contested one. Otherwise, she seems to want to shoot only wide open threes in which there is the obvious expectation that she should shoot it in the flow of the offense ... and make it. I don't think game pressure gets to her; she seems to handle that better than Collier and Williams. The pressure to fit in the right way does seem to affect her shooting. Hopefully, that straightens out as the season progresses. I know there are folks who think one will outshine the other. To me, it's a real toss-up at this point.

Butler - Given that rebounding is my one concern so far, I'm hoping that Butler proves to be the best answer. Williams and Collier rebound well (Samuelson, too, to some extent), but can be controlled by big players who are fundamentally sound. A big like Butler will counter that. Does she also bring enough to the table to warrant being a starter over Williams or the freshmen? Like everyone else I am getting antsy to have that question answered.

Best wishes to all for the New Year. Be well.

Agree with your points, but I also think that Ek and Chong have contributions to make, esp. vs conference foes. Go Huskies!

 

[UcMiami]

Digger - nice post!
It has been an interesting OOC. A few points:
1. It is the toughest OOC Uconn has played in my memory. 3 top ten teams, 2 more in the top 25, two more in the top 50, one decent mid-major, and only two really weak teams.
2. They have played two 'neutral site' games, four road games, and four home games with only one of those on campus.
3. The schedule has also been random - two games in the first three weeks of the season, followed by 5 games in twelve days three of which were road games and one at a neutral site, followed by two games spaced over 17 days with exams and Christmas. No rhythm at all.

Because of the schedule I think the development of the team has been a little slow, especially for the freshman. And even the upperclass players have struggled with the exception of Stewart - Morgan only recently has started to shoot at her normal percentages, Moriah has 30 turnovers in ten games vs. last year where she had a total of 62 for the season and has yet to find her shooting touch. Add in the strength of the schedule and all of the stats are worse than last year.

And while the conference schedule is not 'daunting' I think we will find that most of the teams are better than last year - the results in W/L aren't much different, but the quality of play and competitiveness seems to have improved. I suspect last year's stunning MOV and steamrolling of the conference is unlikely to recur, even as the team improves.

 

[EricLA]

Nice post Dig, and I totally agree with UcMiami and touch on the American. It's being bandied around that the B10 might be thinking of expanding again and whether or not UCONN finds itself on the outside looking in, perhaps landing in the AAC, for the immediate future we are in the American and have to make the best of it.

Outside of USF, we know there isn't another team right now who is top 25. Preseason I thought Tulane and Temple had the best shot at making the NCAA's along with UCONN and USF. But Temple has stumbled - losses to Rutgers and Florida State are nothing to be ashamed of, and a nice win over Florida was a great start to the season. But losses to Quinnipiac and St Joes (2 and 3 point losses) are really games they needed to win if they really wanted to be in the NCAA's.

Tulane only lost to FSU by 6 but was slaughtered by Rutgers. Their other loss came against Green Bay, but with wins over Virginia and Mississippi, they are acquitting themselves nicely.

Having said that, even the bottom dwellers have turned in some surprising performances - SMU losing by only 2 to top 10 Miss State, and they played a crazy schedule. Close losses to Arizona STate, TCU, and aTm and wins over Kansas and Arizona - I'd say SMU is a team on the rise.

Memphis has wins over Georgetown and Illinois but also some pretty "bad" losses. Again, though, seems to be a team on the rise...

ECU actually gave Northwestern and Chattanooga good games (lost by under 10 to both teams). Not a great, or even really good, team at this point, but again, seems to be a program on the rise.

Like all UCONN fans, I want out of the conference ASAP. But while we are here, we might as well look for signs of life from other teams in the conference and hope they continue to rise up and make the conference more than just UCONN...