Save Us From Sabrina Ionescu

[Kaizen]

In their last five games, Oregon has beaten #11 Washington, #23 Temple, #9 Duke, and #3 Maryland. Those are national rankings, not seeds. UConn would be wise to take Oregon seriously.

100% agree, but we have Napheesa and they don't ....

 

[msf22b]

When we are scared by a team not even in both AP and Coach top 25 polls?

Polls are polls
but toughness and hard wins are what count now.
Maryland may have been an overrated team (not by the NCAA)
But they're gone, replaced by a tough, young squad that shows no fear.

Re-watching yesterday's the first half confirms many of UC's conclusions.
It was a tight game with a dangerous opponent; a few more of UCLA's first half shots go in and its a real nail-biter. Not our best on either end of the court, but a pretty tight D in the 2nd quarter; wonderful play by Gabby, Napheesa and Saniya late settled it.

There really is increasing parity bur next season we take a talent and depth jump into unknown realms.

Still, there is a lot of good BB and better coaching about and the era of 40-point wins may be finally coming to a close, to be replaced by good, hard-nosed BB.

 

[Hamms30]

Oregon deliberately slowed the pace against Maryland because the Terps are much more dangerous in a full court game.

I did think that Oregon dribbled too much. Gabby could set a record for steals if the Ducks do that anywhere near her.

That's what I'm thinking. If you get Dangerfield on the ball to be a pest like she can do, I think Oregon will at 10 seconds on the shot clock before they even get to try to set up their offense. Kia or Gabby can do the same thing.

 

[GoUconn7961]

Oregon reminded me of when we played Villanova..they'd use up the shot clock and then hit a 3.

 

[mrmojack]

To put things in perspective, Uconn is a 24 point favorite over Oregon. We were a 20 point favorite over UCLA.
If we lose to a 24 point underdog, we did not deserve to be National Champions. We have tournament and Final
Four experience, we are playing in the state of Connecticut with a house full of Uconn fans. We have the best
basketball coach in Women's history. We have the best defense. We have Collier, Nurse, Samuelson, Williams
and Chong, some pretty decent young players I'd say.

Sabrina is a terrific player and will only get better. A freshman dominated team like Oregon, has a great future
ahead of them. They play in a great league with a lot of balance. I doubt this Freshman dominated team has
experienced the defense they will see tomorrow evening.

As the great philosopher Mike Tyson once said, "Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face".

Go Huskies!!!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

To put things in perspective, Uconn is a 24 point favorite over Oregon. We were a 20 point favorite over UCLA.
If we lose to a 24 point underdog, we did not deserve to be National Champions.

Regarding odds, the oddsmakers are predicting how the betting will go, not how the game will go. They set odds that they believe will have half the bettors putting money on a UConn win and the other half betting on a UConn loss. I wouldn't get too invested in the odds as a predictor of the game's outcome.

 

[Ellie]

IMO The final eight game is the toughest game. In many respects tougher than the Final Four. Oregon and the PAC 12 have "comported" themselves well and the shift of women's basketball prowess to the West coast has begun. Uconn will play this game as "serious" as if they were playing Norte Dame, Baylor or South Carolina because Geno knows the "pretenders" have left the building with only contenders still standing. Sabrina is the Bill Bradley/Larry Bird of her generation and will thrill the fans with her basketball IQ and savvy awareness. Her legend will grow and prosper and like Bill and Larry will go down in defeat....

 

[donalddoowop]

Making reference to Oregon's prior losses has no relevance. As their coach said in their post game presser, they have improved tremendously over the year and defense is the key for them....it is the area where they have improved the most. Oregon is long and they will be a tough rebounding team. Our saving grace is they have never played us and have never been at this stage of the tournament. We will need our A game and stay out of foul trouble to win. I have every confidence we will prevail, but it will be a challenge. Assuming we do win, it will be a good tune up for us as we look down the barrel at Baylor.

Baylor has to get by MS first. MS has as big a front line as Baylor.

 

[BobbyJ]

That and the curious lack of energy or sense of urgency. They simply didn't seem to know what they were doing. Against UCONN early in the season, they looked like the 3rd best team in the nation (behind UCONN and Baylor). As the season wore on, not sure what happened. People can point to soft schedule, but I don't believe that's it.

Brenda is not a good X's and O's coach. And her team failed on that account (TO's, low BBIQ). She's more the cheerleader/motivator. Sadly, her team failed on that account too.

Having said that, Oregon is a decent team. However, the style they play, and their inability to do much as a team (Ionescu is a terrific scorer, facilitator, leader, etc). Take her out of the game even in a small way and this is a 20+ point win. Do what UCONN does best, and we win by closer to 40. Unless Geno brings in the bench with 8 minutes left in the 4th...

By "style they play", I mean they do not have the ability to play a cohesive team brand of basketball. They do a little passing, but they were most successful when Sabrina would have the ball in her hands creating offense. UCONN excels at taking the opposing team's best player out of her comfort zone. I simply don't see this being close...

Good points. I think a good matchup would be to let Williams clamp onto Ionescu whenever possible. The quickness and strength advantage of Williams could really mess her up.

 

[Huskee11]

A few random observations from being at the Oregon-Maryland game:

Kept waiting for a run from Maryland that never came. Flat doesn`t begin to describe how they played. It looked like they tried to turn the energy up briefly midway through the fourth quarter, but too little too late.

We remember Slocum as the player who lit us up big time in the fourth quarter in December. How does that player only shoot one three pointer in 38 minutes? Team as a whole 0-6 from three? Makes no sense.

Frese played right into their hands when for some reason she went 2-3 zone for the third quarter. Who does that against a team that is trying to slow the game down? More importantly, it also got Lexi Bando in the game. Against man to man, she was totally ineffective and only got one shot off in the first half, I think. She is not especially quick and does not play off the dribble, so tight man to man is a problem for her. But a great long distance shooter and the zone allowed her to get open and hit three threes, also missed some other open ones. Great strategy, Maryland.

I am really impressed with Ionesco. She is a step slow and their offense has too much dribbling, but she can really pass, is a very good shooter, and a fearless competitor. No one is talking, though, about Maite Cazoria, who played 40 minutes with 15 points and only one turnover. She was particularly effective early, as she was then the primary ballhandler and took it to the basket a couple of times. From Spain, plays kind of like the USF players but she is quicker and better.

The arena was rooting for Oregon. Obviously, in major part rooting against Maryland but also a recognition of a solid, young, well coached team that is easy to root for. They earned a lot of respect yesterday.

We will win on Monday but we better come out hard from the opening tap. If we let them hang around, that means they are setting the tempo and there could be some seat squirming. If we get way up early, they will not have the luxury of playing slow.

 

[uconnever]

I believe Kia needs to focus on Sabrina. She's the engine. Then the other two guards are really good too. I think if we shut them down, it's an easy win. I like their bigs but I think we eat them up by our bigs driving by them. I think we win by at least 25. Them slowing the game down and then hitting shots would be the only way they win.

 

[hoophuskee]

She is a revelation. She is a coach on the floor, very athletic and nimble, she's got Larry Bird eyes, she can shoot and she isn't afraid to set her teammates straight when she's not happy with what they're doing.

When I turned the volume up at the end of the game, I discovered she's a FRESHMAN!

I am 100, well 99.9 percent, sure Geno, CD, Marissa and Shea are cooking up a plan for her, but unless it involves an abduction I'm afraid we're all in for a long night Monday.

This is a joke, right?

 

[hoophuskee]

Do not underestimate either the PAC 12 or Sabrina Ionescu. For what's it worth, the PAC 12 has the best conference RPI rating. I have watched several PAC 12 games this winter (more thru inadvertence than intention) and have been impressed by the quality of play and the coaching. Ionescu is indeed "Bird" like. If she is not tightly controlled, she will cause Uconn agita. That having been said, if Uconn brings its "A" game, lights out.

The PAC 12 is awesome this year. Awesome.

 

[rugbymate]

In their last five games, Oregon has beaten #11 Washington, #23 Temple, #9 Duke, and #3 Maryland. Those are national rankings, not seeds. UConn would be wise to take Oregon seriously.

The good news is that unlike some posters, Geno, staff and players will take this game seriously.

 

[tomcat]

For a brief period, Ionescu was on UConn's recruiting radar, so they know at least a little about her. That plus the fact that Geno knows and respects the OUY coach's style and knowledge and it'd seem to me that UConn can come up with a game plan. Then it's just a matter of the players coming through. Add to that the fact that both Geno and the players say they did not play their game against UCLA, and I think UConn can win by at least 15-20 against Oregon.

 

[CocoHusky]

Canada is a tremendous " playground " player.

I saw another post after the UCONN Syracuse game saying A. Peterson & Syracuse play "street ball". Canada and Peterson were both brilliant for their teams against UCONN. Just wish we could evolve to the point where we can give another team's players credit for playing well.

 

[chrissaran]

As great as Sabrina played, and as over hyped - she never makes the wrong move - as the announcers have made her, she is fallible. She made mistakes yesterday, and she will make mistakes on Monday. We can't have two halves like the second half against UCLA. As Andy Landers pointed out, Oregon size will be a detriment when trying to guard Gabby and Napheesa. They won't be mobile enough. UConn 82-65.

 

[SVCBeercats]

They have 13 losses don't they, and play in the pac 10, right? I'm not losing sleep over this one.

I suspect your PAC 10 reference reveals the amount of attention you may have recently paid to the PAC 12. Five PAC 12 teams were in Sweet 16. More than any other conference. Now only two teams in the Elite 8. However, no conference has more (ACC 2, SEC 2, AAC 1, BIG12 1). As for the 13 losses Tennessee won the NCAA championship in 1997 with 10 losses. It could happen. However, I'm thinking happy REMs for you and me. Oregon/Temple 71-70 UCONN/Temple 97-69, 90-45

 

[Buzzyboy]

I'm kind of off-base a little, but boy, that PAC 10 conference sure seems to have attracted some excellent coaches, some excellent players and from what I've seen of the four (!) of their teams in the tournament, they come in battle hardened and ready to play. Glad UConn will be seeing more of them. Good for everyone.

Geno has shown for years that he's always been for the growth of women's basketball and that's why he has always had a willingness to bring in opposing coaches to watch his practices and has been so helpful to other programs in so many ways. Whenever he's been asked about whether UConn is good for women's basketball, he's always suggested he wants other teams to catch up and not for UConn to take their foot off the pedal and play down to their opponents.

 

[magic]

IMO The final eight game is the toughest game. In many respects tougher than the Final Four. Oregon and the PAC 12 have "comported" themselves well and the shift of women's basketball prowess to the West coast has begun. Uconn will play this game as "serious" as if they were playing Norte Dame, Baylor or South Carolina because Geno knows the "pretenders" have left the building with only contenders still standing. Sabrina is the Bill Bradley/Larry Bird of her generation and will thrill the fans with her basketball IQ and savvy awareness. Her legend will grow and prosper and like Bill and Larry will go down in defeat....

Give me a break !

 

[Buzzyboy]

IMO The final eight game is the toughest game. In many respects tougher than the Final Four. Oregon and the PAC 12 have "comported" themselves well and the shift of women's basketball prowess to the West coast has begun. Uconn will play this game as "serious" as if they were playing Norte Dame, Baylor or South Carolina because Geno knows the "pretenders" have left the building with only contenders still standing. Sabrina is the Bill Bradley/Larry Bird of her generation and will thrill the fans with her basketball IQ and savvy awareness. Her legend will grow and prosper and like Bill and Larry will go down in defeat....

I get the impression that yesterdays Oregon game is the first time most of the people on the Boneyard have seen the Oregon team and yet there's a lot of people using that one game to formulate an opinion on how good or great Ionescu (sp) is and how good Oregon is. How many times has Geno and his staff gone to see a potential recruit before he decided to offer someone a scholarship. Multiple times, at least, right? That suggests that once is NOT nearly enough to be absolutely certain how good a player is and yet there are people that use that ONE TIME to decide that this player or team is the best thing ever. I'm reading now that the west coast suddenly is the place for the best recruits and that there's starting to be a MAJOR shift in where the best teams are starting to come from. Washington was really good last year and pretty good this year and most of it was on the back of one player, Plum. Does anyone thing that they'll be a top 10 team next year? I think I'd wait a while before I'd be certain of that major shifting. The Pac 10 seems to be a balanced league with some talent but a couple of runs by a few teams doesn't automatically suggest any radical shifting, as of yet. Are we to assume that Quinnipiac is on the verge of being THE PLACE to play or a program that is now ELITE? Just saying some of this talk may be a little premature.

 

[Buzzyboy]

As great as Sabrina played, and as over hyped - she never makes the wrong move - as the announcers have made her, she is fallible. She made mistakes yesterday, and she will make mistakes on Monday. We can't have two halves like the second half against UCLA. As Andy Landers pointed out, Oregon size will be a detriment when trying to guard Gabby and Napheesa. They won't be mobile enough. UConn 82-65.

I agree wholeheartedly though I would changed your remark that "we can't have two halves" to "won't have two halves" because Geno will not allow that to happen. My final score is a bit different, 85-63 and then we'll be on our way to what I think (?) is our 9th consecutive Final Four. Go, Huskies!

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Agreed. Maryland players looked almost disinterested and unprepared . I was shocked !

I think they were already looking ahead and got gut-punched.

 

[DefenseBB]

She is a revelation. She is a coach on the floor, very athletic and nimble, she's got Larry Bird eyes, she can shoot and she isn't afraid to set her teammates straight when she's not happy with what they're doing.

Brenda Frese will have nightmares about her for the foreseeable future, I'm sure.

I had the volume down during most of the Oregon v. Maryland game and, frankly, wouldn't have watched very much of it if Maryland hadn't been losing for almost the entire game. I kept expecting Brionna Jones, et al to right the ship and step (figuratively, of course) on Oregon's neck. Never happened. Every time Maryland seemed to gather itself for a run, Sabrina found someone for an open shot, penetrated and scored or got fouled.

When I turned the volume up at the end of the game, I discovered she's a FRESHMAN!

I am 100, well 99.9 percent, sure Geno, CD, Marissa and Shea are cooking up a plan for her, but unless it involves an abduction I'm afraid we're all in for a long night Monday.

Umm yes, she is good but let's not anoint her the second coming of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Breanna Stewart! My goodness, I worry you may need more meds or stronger glasses to take a longer look at her season stats. Again they are good but your over exuberance on her is perplexing.

 

[my2cents]

Most of these comments are about how we adjust to them.
The impossible task is how they adjust to us. The answer is they don't.
We easily have the fastest, smartest, hardest working womens CBB.....easy win