Rich: Hartley struggling as showdown vs. ND looms

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[OneTrickPony]

Good to hear Geno weigh in with such confidence...

 

[vtcwbuff]

Auriemma's comments don't seem to be a whole lot different from what some here have been saying. The team has two consistent players but other than that "who knows"

 

[blackbird]

Geno's comments about Bria, in general, have been funny. And are exactly why I suspect her situation is more than just mental.

 

[Fiftyish]

He summed it up pretty clearly......KML and SD continue to produce like they have all year and one of the remaining 3 goes off for double digit points and we win.

 

[Artifact]

What Geno is saying indirectly is, ' Pray'!

 

[VAMike23]

On a side note, per one of today's news links, Jewell Loyd was cleared to play tonight after sitting out much of last week with a concussion.

 

[OneTrickPony]

On a side note, per one of today's news links, Jewell Loyd was cleared to play tonight after sitting out much of last week with a concussion.

Glad she's doing well...she's got the toughest assignment in the WCBB tonight!

 

[alexrgct]

Uconn needs to play much better defense tonight. Offense wasn't the problem in January. You should be able to beat ND having scored 72 points.

 

[OneTrickPony]

What Geno is saying indirectly is, ' Pray'!

I was thinking more like...Prey...

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

It always mazes me as to how little confidence many fans have in such a fine UCONN team. Seems like a gloom and doom boom for at least some.

If nothing else, what fun is that?

 

[UConnCat]

Against UConn in the first match-up ND made 25 FGs on 66 FGAs, for 37.9%. Against Baylor, ND made 25 FGs on 74 FGAs, for 35.7%. The difference in the two games defensively were 3-pointers -- ND shot 6-12 against UConn and 4-15 against Baylor -- and, of course, FTs. ND got to the line 24 times against UConn and made 17, while it only got to the line 11 times against Baylor.

Mabrey made three 3s against UConn and has made 13 against everybody else, including shooting 7-30 since the UConn game. She was left wide open twice on defensive mistakes and that can not happen again. I'm at a loss for what to say about the FTs other than don't foul.

 

[gibhunter]

Uconn always seems to get into foul trouble vs Notre Dame. This team simply doesn't have a quality point guard this year. We get Brea from last season and UConn is undefeated.

 

[doggydaddy]

Uconn always seems to get into foul trouble vs Notre Dame. This team simply doesn't have a quality point guard this year. We get Brea from last season and UConn is undefeated.

You got that right. That 3 pointer missed by Hartley with a few seconds left was a killer. And Hartley's defense on Griner was awful.

 

[VAMike23]

You got that right. That 3 pointer missed by Hartley with a few seconds left was a killer. And Hartley's defense on Griner was awful.

I'm sure there are more qualifiers than just KML's missed 3 against ND and Stef's (or the team's) defense on Griner that you can offer. Why stop there?

 

[doggydaddy]

I'm sure there are more qualifiers than just KML's missed 3 against ND and Stef's (or the team's) defense on Griner that you can offer. Why stop there?

It's a little harsh to blame those losses on Hartley, no? I'm sure I could come up with a lot of other reasons they lost.

 

[vtcwbuff]

I think it's obvious that McGraw will focus the ND defense on UConn's two scorers, taking a page from Auriemma's playbook. Tonight could be the game that either Tuck or Stewart makes a bit of UConn history.

 

[VAMike23]

It's a little harsh to blame those losses on Hartley, no? I'm sure I could come up with a lot of other reasons they lost.

Saying that "If we had last year's Bria this year, we'd be undefeated" is different than saying "Hartley's play is the sole reason we aren't still undefeated right now." Like you, I wouldn't personally agree with the second statement. It would be pinning the losses on her. But the first one is perfectly reasonable if not groundbreaking. Two different statements, no?

It's like what Geno's been saying this season. Has he thrown Bria under the bus and blamed her squarely for losses? Of course not. Has he said that our guard play has been a crucial weakness at times, especially against elite (read: top 5) competition? And that we need Bria to play better? Yes and yes. To me, it's not a big reach from this to someone saying "if we had last year's Bria this year we would be undefeated." You may think it is. Cool.

 

[doggydaddy]

Saying that "If we had last year's Bria this year, we'd be undefeated" is different than saying "Hartley's play is the sole reason we aren't still undefeated right now." Like you, I wouldn't personally agree with the second statement. It would be pinning the losses on her. But the first one is perfectly reasonable if not groundbreaking. Two different statements, no?

It's like what Geno's been saying this season. Has he thrown Bria under the bus and blamed her squarely for losses? Of course not. Has he said that our guard play has been a crucial weakness at times, especially against elite (read: top 5) competition? And that we need Bria to play better? Yes and yes. To me, it's not a big reach from this to someone saying "if we had last year's Bria this year we would be undefeated." You may think it is. Cool.

It's just too easy (as you said not groundbreaking) to say that. No one knows how games will play out. You can't just change someone's stats and say, well, if they played like last year, UConn would have won. Too many variables. Do others play the same? Worse? Better? You just don't know.

Would it be great to have last years Hartley? Of course. But we have who she is. And they will have to win with that. If she plays really well, it's still not last year's Hartley, it's this years Hartley playing well.

 

[RadyLady]

It always mazes me as to how little confidence many fans have in such a fine UCONN team. Seems like a gloom and doom boom for at least some.

If nothing else, what fun is that?

Actually, this is quite unusual. Most of the times we have full threads predicting scores leaving the opposition in the dust including IIRC, the last game at home against Notre Dame

 

[RadyLady]

If only, if only.....well, in a few hours we will know.

I am going to put myself firmly in the yes we can column. I am not going to predict the score, but I am going to root hard for this team in which I believe so thoroughly, and add the following:

Bria - gotcher back, man. Go get 'em!!!

 

[easttexastrash]

Glad she's doing well...she's got the toughest assignment in the WCBB tonight!

OTP, I watched the Texas Class 5A championship game and got to see SMU commit KP Perry. WOW!!! What a player!! That girl can JUMP! I have no idea how she was not listed as one of the top players in the nation. Duncanville is an incredible team with all of its starters Div I prospects.

Aerial Atkins is another Duncanville player that just blew me away and she has not committed yet. I hope Baylor can get her because she can flat out play the game.