The 5 Things That We Need To Do And Will Do To Get #12

[BBallF]

With a little less than 2 months to go before March Madness, here are my thoughts looking forward and my 5 things we need for #12:

1) The Three Headed Monster, to quote Kara Wolters, to get better and better at their own offense and as a team offense and to take most of the team's shots in crunch time.

2) The continued improvement of Jana, Aubrey and Ice so that they are a strong defensive and rebounding presence in the middle with complementary high percentage scoring.

3) Press baby press with a war of attrition with our bench and with a ratcheted down classic March half court defense as well.

4) Beat Tennessee. They press all game, they are long and athletic and we need to press them right back. A win will keep us in the top 6-8 at least and position us for the perennial March Metamorphosis that Geno seems to bring forth every Spring.

5) We stay healthy and everyone, especially role players Ash, Morgan, Allie, and KK play like there is no tomorrow because soon there won't be. Our depth will be our greatest asset as we venture into the tourney weekends with travel.

If, or rather when, all of the above happens, it's only a matter of the bounce of the ball for #12.

 

[uconnfan68]

Actually, there are 6 things. Called games. Need to win all.

 

[Centerstream]

Actually, there are 6 things. Called games. Need to win all.

Exactamundo.

 

[Stagnant]

1. We need to get lucky. We got lucky last year. We had the right draw to get to the final four. We need to get lucky again. Not just with the draw; lucky in a variety of ways.
2. No injuries.
3. Improve defensively. Especially the 3 point defense.
4. Get to the line more.
5. Paige has to win the great player battles. Players like Hidalgo and Juju cannot have better games than Paige when we play head-to-head. That’s a recipe for defeat.

 

[msf22b]

1. We need to get lucky. We got lucky last year. We had the right draw to get to the final four. We need to get lucky again. Not just with the draw; lucky in a variety of ways.
2. No injuries.
3. Improve defensively. Especially the 3 point defense.
4. Get to the line more.
5. Paige has to win the great player battles. Players like Hidalgo and Juju cannot have better games than Paige when we play head-to-head. That’s a recipe for defeat.

I second that comment...but...also note that superior games from our other
two mainstays might compensate if required

 

[oldhusky]

I would just add settle on the big game rotation, and everybody get used to their role. With Aubrey back, I hope we know what that will be before the two big games, but if not certainly by tournament time.

 

[packwrap]

I would just add settle on the big game rotation, and everybody get used to their role. With Aubrey back, I hope we know what that will be before the two big games, but if not certainly by tournament time.

I don't think we will really be sure about rotation til even the Big East tournament.

Maybe not ideal, but too many ideas to try and so many good players to work with.

Also different strategies call for different players. If we press it takes 10 using all the guards, if we go tall that involves Ice and Jana, and small ball with Morgan and Aubrey.

We may even keep using all options, even in NCAA pending the matchups.

Not really since Stewie teams, and for sure not in the 'injury era', has there been this much choice.

So... bad for continuity, but good for variety.

 

[Bone Dog]

4) Beat Tennessee. They press all game, they are long and athletic and we need to press them right back.

This one is especially interesting. Pressing the opponent who presses is risky but could pay off. Running a press is a high energy gambit and if you don’t make them work hard on their offense when you can, it facilitates their press. But they’ve been running a press all game all season. They’re good at it, probably better than we are. Can we get better enough at the press in the next two weeks? Can we afford not to try?

A couple of side issues:
1) Even if our main lineup can beat their press and force them to discontinue it, they are sure to press the other lineups we put out there. Seton hall did this to some good effect in the 4th quarter. One solution is to run the main lineup longer which will require preparation, too, for stamina at least.
2) Running our half court offense, if we move the ball well, can be exhausting. It might be tempting to go for a quick score, especially if they retreat into a zone. But if they run a man-defense it may be useful to use the entire shot clock in order to tire them out.

In the end, I think pressing their press may be the best tactic. If it works, Tennessee will be forced to stop pressing and retreat to a less familiar form of game play. Another side of our game is transition offense that comes out of forcing turnovers from their half court offense. We are among the best in the country at this. Once we’ve broken their press, we need to force turnovers. They need to pay a price for their press and our transition offense is where we enforce it.

 

[visitingcock]

This one is especially interesting. Pressing the opponent who presses is risky but could pay off. Running a press is a high energy gambit and if you don’t make them work hard on their offense when you can, it facilitates their press. But they’ve been running a press all game all season. They’re good at it, probably better than we are. Can we get better enough at the press in the next two weeks? Can we afford not to try?

A couple of side issues:
1) Even if our main lineup can beat their press and force them to discontinue it, they are sure to press the other lineups we put out there. Seton hall did this to some good effect in the 4th quarter. One solution is to run the main lineup longer which will require preparation, too, for stamina at least.
2) Running our half court offense, if we move the ball well, can be exhausting. It might be tempting to go for a quick score, especially if they retreat into a zone. But if they run a man-defense it may be useful to use the entire shot clock in order to tire them out.

In the end, I think pressing their press may be the best tactic. If it works, Tennessee will be forced to stop pressing and retreat to a less familiar form of game play. Another side of our game is transition offense that comes out of forcing turnovers from their half court offense. We are among the best in the country at this. Once we’ve broken their press, we need to force turnovers. They need to pay a price for their press and our transition offense is where we enforce it.

Are your bigs ready to run 40 minutes? ( I have the same question about ours but depth gives me SOME confidence)

 

[Bone Dog]

Are your bigs ready to run 40 minutes? ( I have the same question about ours but depth gives me SOME confidence)

Sarah definitely is ready to run 30+ mins. Morgan too. Jana and Ice are ready to do 20 each. Are Tennessee’s bigs able to run 40 mins? I doubt it. Not Hollingshead for sure, and probably not Spearman and Puckett. In the loss to Vandy, Pucket and Hollingshead played 14 and 10 respectively and rarely play even 20 mins each. Spearman ran for 30 mins, which is above her season average and it showed toward the end. But presses are typically about smaller lineups anyway. They have a few tall guards and one little speedster in Spencer. That’s the usual formula.

By the way, I’m pretty sure Feagin and Edwards can run 30+ mins and that’s all you really need. But for the injury, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ashlyn could run for 60 mins. Sigh.

 

[ABCDFE]

I am terrified of South Carolina. They have no weaknesses and they have depth. The rest of wbcc needs them to have an off day and for their team to be shooting lights out. Its possible when it's one and done in the tournament, but man it will take some luck since Dawn's teams dont get worse come tournament time.

 

[Stagnant]

I don’t see how beating Tennessee gets us to #12.

Edit: and about South Carolina. I don’t think we can beat them. We need a repeat of two years ago imo. Someone else beats them for us.

 

[ConnMotors]

If we win out which is a big if as we have two rough road games against one competitive team and another against a competitive excellent team. If yes, UConn get a #1. If we split the two games I think we drop to. #2 seed. If we loose both then we can drop to a #3. Winning both would show that this team is above legit to win #12. Still have plenty of games to play. Looking forward to the LSU vs South Carolina game. And UCLA has not played USC yet.

 

[Alydar]

Actually, there are 6 things. Called games. Need to win all.

Only the last one.

 

[Bone Dog]

I don’t see how beating Tennessee gets us to #12.

Edit: and about South Carolina. I don’t think we can beat them. We need a repeat of two years ago imo. Someone else beats them for us.

Agree that beating Tennessee doesn’t get us where we need to go.

But if your example of getting past SC is what happened two seasons ago, as I recall that was the year we almost beat them in the regular season — without Paige or Azzi. We then went on to lose to tOSU in the Sweet 16. That was definitely a star-crossed team. That game against SC showed how close we really were to a run. I know there are folks here who don’t like to think about that game because we played a team with two ‘superbigs’ and were outrebounded 42-30 and still came close to winning. This violates the cherished beliefs of the cult of rebounding. It was a 3 pt game in the final minute, and could have been closer but for a blown call — a handoff on an inbounds play by SC should have been whistled and led to a change of possession.

I don’t mean to indulge in sour grapes about a bad call, etc. I just like to remember the kind of magic Nika could pull off with the help of Aaliyah, Dorka and Lou... and Aubrey, the woman of the current moment! Plus, it‘s a reminder of how teams win (and lose) in all kinds of ways.

Anything is possible with our current crew, though not all results are equally likely.

 

[Stagnant]

The team that lost in the sweet 16 was the best collection of talent we had during the Paige Bueckers era imo.