The Arkansas St game should be a lot of fun

[oldude]

I did a little scouting, watching the Arkansas St Red Wolves upset James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game for their first ever trip to the Big Dance. They press all game and shoot a bunch of 3’s. Sound familiar?

In fact, the Red Wolves lead the nation in 3-pt shots with 1007, roughly 32 per game. They do turn the ball over a lot and they breakdown frequently on defense, allowing backdoor cuts and easy baskets. But I have no doubt that the game in Storrs on Saturday will be exciting and lots of fun to watch.

 

[Jaml]

In fact, the Red Wolves lead the nation in 3-pt shots with 1007, roughly 32 per game. They do turn the ball over a lot and they breakdown frequently on defense, allowing backdoor cuts and easy baskets. But I have no doubt that the game in Storrs on Saturday will be exciting and lots of fun to watch.

Holy smokes, 32 turnovers a game...and that is against teams not named UConn. Have they ever faced a team that can force turnovers like our girls? Of course we don't necessarily need defensive breakdowns to score. Perhaps there is a reason the point spread went up even higher. Additionally, of course I know that point spreads go up and down based on how the betting is going.

 

[oldude]

Holy smokes, 32 turnovers a game...and that is against teams not named UConn. Have they ever faced a team that can force turnovers like our girls? Of course we don't necessarily need defensive breakdowns to score. Perhaps there is a reason the point spread went up even higher. Additionally, of course I know that point spreads go up and down based on how the betting is going.

That’s 32 shots per game. The Red Wolves average 16+ turnovers per game, which is still a lot.

 

[Jaml]

Ok, sorry I misread that...32 three point attempts per game.

As great as UConn's defense has been, the one criticism has been their defense on 3 pointers. How much better would the perimeter defense had been with a healthy Aubrey and Caroline?

 

[packwrap]

Maybe we set a goal of 32 turnovers!

Oh to be at Gampel this weekend for the last shows of Paige's Eras tour. What an amazing atmosphere it will be.

 

[Bone Dog]

In another thread we were discussing this game and Ark St. they don’t press the entire game, in part I suspect because they are vulnerable to easy buckets on the back end. But they do play a frantic halfcourt defense which the coach also calls a press.

I suspect Geno has too many ball handlers for them to sustain a full court press for long. Sarah in particular may be the death of that press. If Geno has 3 guards on the floor, that’s already a lot for Ark St to cope with. But Sarah is effectively a 4th outlet for breaking the press.

 

[Jaml]

In another thread we were discussing this game and Ark St. they don’t press the entire game, in part I suspect because they are vulnerable to easy buckets on the back end. But they do play a frantic halfcourt defense which the coach also calls a press.

I suspect Geno has too many ball handlers for them to sustain a full court press for long. Sarah in particular may be the death of that press. If Geno has 3 guards on the floor, that’s already a lot for Ark St to cope with. But Sarah is effectively a 4th outlet for breaking the press.

Please, please press us!

 

[FormerCTrez]

Holy smokes, 32 turnovers a game...and that is against teams not named UConn. Have they ever faced a team that can force turnovers like our girls? Of course we don't necessarily need defensive breakdowns to score. Perhaps there is a reason the point spread went up even higher. Additionally, of course I know that point spreads go up and down based on how the betting is going.

I think this should be interpreted as “32 treys per game.

 

[huskeynut]

Arkansas State is coming into Storrs to play one of the best programs in the last 40 years. Others teams have come to Storrs for the first round and attempted to press and run with UConn. It has not gone well for those teams.

Arkansas State doesn't have the height to stay with UConn. Their tallest player is 6' 1". UConn has 6' 1", 6' 2", 6' 3" and 6' 5'. on the front line. There is no way they stop us down low. They are going to run and do the line shift. UConn has seen that and I'm sure they are ready.

The big question for them is can they stay with UConn when UConn is on the offense. I doubt it.

This will not end well for Arkansas State.

 

[heavyhusky]

Arkansas State is coming into Storrs to play one of the best programs in the last 40 years. Others teams have come to Storrs for the first round and attempted to press and run with UConn. It has not gone well for those teams.

Arkansas State doesn't have the height to stay with UConn. Their tallest player is 6' 1". UConn has 6' 1", 6' 2", 6' 3" and 6' 5'. on the front line. There is no way they stop us down low. They are going to run and do the line shift. UConn has seen that and I'm sure they are ready.

The big question for them is can they stay with UConn when UConn is on the offense. I doubt it.

This will not end well for Arkansas State.

They have a 6'4" forward who is part of their 10 person rotation.

 

[huskeynut]

They have a 6'4" forward who is part of their 10 person rotation.

Your right. I missed her.

 

[ctfjr]

another 20+ point win for UConn

 

[jaydee602]

another 20+ point win for UConn

Actually, UCONN is favored by 44 points!!

 

[The deacon]

Lots of fun for the Huskies, Oldude, right? My question would be, 'at what point in the third period will UConn have the 46 1/2 point spread covered?'

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I wouldn't mind a Robert Morris being the sportsman that I am.

 

[jaydee602]

Lots of fun for the Huskies, Oldude, right? My question would be, 'at what point in the third period will UConn have the 46 1/2 point spread covered?'

That's the problem with being a hopeless gambler. While UCONN fans are celebrating the Huskies' 50 point lead, I will be sweating that the subs don't give up easy baskets to the Red Wolves.
Winning by 40 points will satisfy Geno, but not UCONN bettors who gave 45 points!

 

[DEFCONN1]

I just watched the lengthened higlights of Arkansas St./JMU game and the replay of their win over Arizona St. Here are some observations. The Red Wolves guards are small and fast and they love hoisting up three’s. They press constantly, after a made shot or miss. They are susceptible to a well designed press breaker for easy layups. They are basically a smaller version of Tennessee
and substitute frequently. If our offense is sharp, the back door play is open all day. The only player with any length is a 6’4 bench player who looked slow of foot. They are prone to turnovers. That being said, State has never faced a D like ours and as long as we don’t give their 3 pt. Shooters any breathing room, we should be in good shape. One last observation, besides their press, the Wolves defense is less than stellar. Hopefully all this being said, and we play our game, I see a big victory on the horizon. GO HUSKIES!

 

[PJCLaw]

I did a little scouting, watching the Arkansas St Red Wolves upset James Madison in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game for their first ever trip to the Big Dance. They press all game and shoot a bunch of 3’s. Sound familiar?

In fact, the Red Wolves lead the nation in 3-pt shots with 1007, roughly 32 per game. They do turn the ball over a lot and they breakdown frequently on defense, allowing backdoor cuts and easy baskets. But I have no doubt that the game in Storrs on Saturday will be exciting and lots of fun to watch.

I watched it too and I noticed that Arkansas St. has very athletic players who are quick and run downhill to the rim. They have a full repertoire of floaters, step back shots, runners, mid ranges and, of course, the 3 pt shot. We have had problems with very athletic teams, so we will need to switch a lot and have great team defense. That said, they simply do not have enough offense to beat UConn, but they have the athletes to stay within the spread. If Geno treats them like its a rematch with Tennessee with its hockey style substitutions and athletic players, we should win going away.

 

[Tonyc]

I would expect Ark St to be completely overwhelmed. This game should be over very quickly. When UConn gets the big lead they will work on preparing for Monday nights game as well as working on other things the team needs to improve on. I would like to see the Jana and Ice I saw in video clips when Geno was talking about how good they both were. Its there it just hasnt shown up yet in the games. I hoping for the light to go on and they both play up to the abilities Geno saw

 

[and one]

Probable blowout. But you never know - Harvard 71 - Stanford 67.