Saw the UL game, we have our work cut out

[mrmojack]

We have #5, they don't.

 

[CardsWBBfan]

Louisville fan here.
We have yet to put together full 4 Q’s of ball.
There are a lot of new pieces, a lot of freshman, and I believe they are really still working on chemistry while the freshmen are getting their sea legs.

We really should have beaten KY and Oklahoma. The foul situation was terrible last night. The refs took over the game the second half and we never got into a rhythm. I’m not blaming the refs for the loss, we still had plenty opportunities to close this one out, but they def affected the flow of the game.

I’d be shocked if we even keep it close. I hope we do. But there is so much youth on this team. I’m hopeful all these ranked teams we’ve played will help prepare these freshman for March. We’ll be better for it late season. At least that’s my hope.

 

[BBallF]

They are athletic. And they forced a lot of turnovers (that was an Oklahoma problem last year too though tbh). They will be desperate. A win over UConn would make up for the Oklahoma loss.

I don't know what to expect from the crowd in New York. Theoretically, it would be a pro UConn crowd. But if there are a lot of Tennessee and Iowa fans there; it could be fans teaming up to root against UConn.

I will be there with my a portion of my fanatical UCONN crew. We will drown out everyone else.

 

[cabbie191]

We know from the OK game that the Cardinal's best player (big) can get in foul trouble.

Perhaps, and IF the same crew is assigned to referee our game.

 

[packwrap]

Louisville fan here.
On

We really should have beaten KY and Oklahoma. The foul situation was terrible last night. The refs took over the game the second half and we never got into a rhythm. I’m not blaming the refs for the loss, we still had plenty opportunities to close this one out, but they def affected the flow of the game.

Looked like # of fouls there might have been a record.

If the new UConn post trio can just battle to a draw in the front court, the guards should be able to get the win.

Looking forward. I'm a big fan of Jeff.

 

[Centerstream]

Perhaps, and IF the same crew is assigned to referee our game.

Well I hope with them having called 50+ fouls that we don't ever see either of them
Tiffany Bird
Denise Brooks
Saif Esho

I know Denise Brooks has officiated UConn games, I would not consider her to be "foul happy".

 

[Ozimoto]

In any case, if this number of fouls are going to be called this season, the Huskies need to upgrade their free throw shooting to at least 75%. Otherwise, opponents may stick around in games when they have no business doing so. Don't want to lose a close game at the foul line.

 

[EricLA]

To say I'm not worried would be silly, but this is a Louisville team who was beaten handily by Kentucky (10 points), and Kentucky was slaughtered by 19 by UNC. I know that's sort of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, and anything is possible, but I don't see them being able to slow down Paige, Sarah, AND Azzi.

And if they spend too much time on that, we have a bunch of other scorers named Ice, Kaitlyn, Morgan, and Jana. Add in Ash and KK - I think Geno probably only goes 8 deep, but 9 seems reasonable for this team.

I'd be surprised if we win by less than 15.

 

[oldude]

To say I'm not worried would be silly, but this is a Louisville team who was beaten handily by Kentucky (10 points), and Kentucky was slaughtered by 19 by UNC. I know that's sort of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, and anything is possible, but I don't see them being able to slow down Paige, Sarah, AND Azzi.

And if they spend too much time on that, we have a bunch of other scorers named Ice, Kaitlyn, Morgan, and Jana. Add in Ash and KK - I think Geno probably only goes 8 deep, but 9 seems reasonable for this team.

I'd be surprised if we win by less than 15.

So by adding the 11 points that we beat UNC to UNC’s MOV over KY and KY’s MOV over Louisville, we should all expect UConn to beat Louisville by 40 pts.

 

[Zinethar]

South Florida should have beaten Louisville and led right to the end.I know that match ups matter and I think UConn has players that LV can't cover. Geno is friends with Jeff so it won't get run up. UConn should win by about 20.

 

[MSGRET]

So by adding the 11 points that we beat UNC to UNC’s MOV over KY and KY’s MOV over Louisville, we should all expect UConn to beat Louisville by 40 pts.

25 is okay with me, that way I finally get on the board in the Prognosticator's Predictions.

 

[Gus Mahler]

I'm not worried about L'ville. They're even more immature than UConn.

I am, however, worried about ND. I don't know how they lost two games. And they're doing what they do without Maddy W. and Liza Karlen.

 

[DrummerDee]

I'm not worried about L'ville. They're even more immature than UConn.

I am, however, worried about ND. I don't know how they lost two games. And they're doing what they do without Maddy W. and Liza Karlen.

And I fully expect both of them to be back for our match up. I'd be shocked if they weren't

 

[oldude]

And I fully expect both of them to be back for our match up. I'd be shocked if they weren't

I suppose anything is possible. But neither Westbeld or Karlen played yesterday and there is no indication from ND of when they will be back. They do have an ACC matchup vs Syracuse on Sunday, which would be a nice tuneup for Westbeld & Karlen if they planned to play against UConn 4 days later. I’m not sure that Coach Ivey would want to throw either player into the heat of a UConn-ND game without at least some actual game time ahead of the Big game. I guess we’ll see.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Take care of the ball and rebound and UCONN should win by at least 10. Louisville hasn't quite meshed yet and they are young.

 

[YKCornelius]

I have a little bit different take on today's game than most of my fellow 'yarders. Given Louisville's relatively young squad, I think the game could very well be a low scoring affair. But not just due to the Cardinals' inexperience.

Since Azzi has been back in the line-up, UConn has used a LOT of different combinations on the floor, ostensibly evaluating chemistry while employing different offensive and defensive schemes. In fact, working backward from the last game (HC) to FDU, Geno has tried 18, 11, 20, and 15 different floor combinations.

So, I think Geno's plan is to move away from evaluating combos starting tonight. Treat this evening as though it is against Sweet Sixteen opponent. I think the focus will be on containing Louisville's super quick guards defensively, especially Jada Curry who possesses Hidalgo-like quickness.

Regardless of whether UConn wins by single digits or by 30, I will be watching to see if the Huskies's experienced guard corps can keep the Cardinals below 60 points. IMO, that is tonight's game within the game.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'd say that the subject line didn't age well.

We won by 33, led by over 40, and could have won by 50.

 

[Blueconn]

Louisville fan here.
We have yet to put together full 4 Q’s of ball.
There are a lot of new pieces, a lot of freshman, and I believe they are really still working on chemistry while the freshmen are getting their sea legs.

We really should have beaten KY and Oklahoma. The foul situation was terrible last night. The refs took over the game the second half and we never got into a rhythm. I’m not blaming the refs for the loss, we still had plenty opportunities to close this one out, but they def affected the flow of the game.

I’d be shocked if we even keep it close. I hope we do. But there is so much youth on this team. I’m hopeful all these ranked teams we’ve played will help prepare these freshman for March. We’ll be better for it late season. At least that’s my hope.

Jeff knows what’s in store…the players ? Not a clue.

 

[Blueconn]

I'm not worried about L'ville. They're even more immature than UConn.

I am, however, worried about ND. I don't know how they lost two games. And they're doing what they do without Maddy W. and Liza Karlen.

Spot on…always a spoiler lurking.

 

[Blueconn]

Relax. UConn is built for these nights, these places, these times. Perfect if LV and Iowa experience what we do and they have great fans. This is our year and Huskies love the City.I’m as old as the Field House. We are going to run the table this year. Enjoy every moment.

 

[DefenseBB]

Jeff knows what’s in store…the players ? Not a clue.

So, I was at the game last night and after the handshake line, the teams have to turn around and exit by their benches to the locker room. Jeff just kept going and exited through the UConn exit. Both his coaches and security staff tried to tell him to turn around but he didn't care and just kept going. He was thoroughly embarrassed, frustrated and irritable to lose as badly as they did. We know Geno has a nice relationship with Jeff (they chatted before the game for 4-5 min) and they spoke directly after for a full minute, but Jeff is competitive and he was not happy.

The Question-Either Louisville is not a top 25 team or we really have a juggernaut evolving. I think the answer is somewhere in between. Thursday at ND (our first true road game) will go a long way to deciding the answer to that question.

 

[MSGRET]

What I liked about the game is that it showed even with Paige having a very bad shooting night the rest of the team made up for that. The defense by all was on point and if they play like that for the rest of the season I see #12 happening. Two things that I didn't like is that the officials let Louisville get away with too much fouling and were very call happy on both Ice and Jana.

 

[oldude]

So, I was at the game last night and after the handshake line, the teams have to turn around and exit by their benches to the locker room. Jeff just kept going and exited through the UConn exit. Both his coaches and security staff tried to tell him to turn around but he didn't care and just kept going. He was thoroughly embarrassed, frustrated and irritable to lose as badly as they did. We know Geno has a nice relationship with Jeff (they chatted before the game for 4-5 min) and they spoke directly after for a full minute, but Jeff is competitive and he was not happy.

The Question-Either Louisville is not a top 25 team or we really have a juggernaut evolving. I think the answer is somewhere in between. Thursday at ND (our first true road game) will go a long way to deciding the answer to that question.

There are a lot of teams out there with a big ?. Iowa answered their question last night and it was, “They were overrated.” TN might have gotten themselves into the top 25 last night, but they also have a ?. LSU, TCU, AL, ND, USC and a bunch of other teams are all struggling to prove that they belong in the top echelon of WBB.

Right now it looks like UCLA, UConn & SC are the cream of the crop. But even these teams have faced, or will face, bumps in the road. It should make for an interesting season.

 

[CL82]

I don’t expect Lville to score much more than 60 pts.