The Battle at Maples

[Tonyc]

There really isnt much to say about todays game. UConn has sent a message to WCBB. Much like other top 25 teams before them UConns defense devastated Stanford. In all their top 25 wins UConn has not been 100% . Key players injured, coming back from injury or sick. Today KML scored 19 pts with the flu or tummy virus, Stokes was out with an injury, Tuck was coming back from an injury and Mojeff was still sick from a virus. Still UConn found a way to win. Winning at UConn is a direct result of their defense. Stanford is a very very good team. UConn made them look inferior. Today UConn sent a message to WCBB that they are on top of WCBB. MD and Penn St two recent victims of UConns defense made it close with 15 pt losses. What many fail to realize is UConns double barrel shotguns KML and Bria Hartley werent 100%. If they had been youve got to wonder what the outcome wouldve been.

My concerns are MoJeff, Stokes and Tuck havent been on the court enough the past couple of weeks. Theyve been sick and injured. We need them to gain experience and most importantly confidence.

As this UConn team gets healthly you have to wonder how good they will be when March comes. Theyve been spotty and up and down due to injuries and sickness. What will they be like at 100% and a couple of more weeks experience? This is one well oiled baracuda that continues to grow and can put up points from every position and from 10 players from anywhere on the court.

Todays performance was a little rusty from the offensive side. Defensively I dont think throwing a net over the basket couldve been better. Saturday we have ND and I know many UConn fans cant wait. For me its not whether UConn will win or not its by how many. Then its the biggest game in WCBB in quite a few years. Baylor comes to UConn. Im picking UConn by double digets. I feel in another 7 weeks UConn will be primed and firing on all cylinders.

UConn fans we are looking at the makings of one of the greatest UConn teams in the history of this storied program. Next year it only gets better with more experience. We are watching history, and we are watching two of the greatest coachs in sports history in Geno and CD. They are a team within the UConn WCBB team. They are special and you cant have one without the other. Stay healthly and we may not lose a game for 2 years, maybe more. Hope to see you Saturday at 4 when the fighting Irish come to town.

 

[schmendrick]

I'm quite sure it was unintentional, tonyc, but the thread title struck me as, well, inappropriate, given Newtown. I'm with Geno; let's leave war--and, by extension, criminal terminology--out of sports. It's just a game.

 

[semper]

Yeah, can we change the title...

 

[Dove]

I'm quite sure it was unintentional, tonyc, but the thread title struck me as, well, inappropriate, given Newtown. I'm with Geno; let's leave war--and, by extension, criminal terminology--out of sports. It's just a game.

Sports is full of cliches. Can't escape that. When announcers stop using animal terminology about athletes then maybe game results can be softened to pillow fight-like lingo.

 

[Bestiarius]

There really isnt much to say about todays game. UConn has sent a message to WCBB.

What I'd like to say is, Isn't it great to be a fan of Uconn Women's basketball?

 

[huskyharry]

Coach V alluded to it just before half-time whe she said that Chiney had to trust her teammates more. Chiney was well-covered and just kept forcing up shots...this really led to UConn getting separation.

That being said, it was clear that there is a significant overall talent and athleticim gap between UConn and Stanford (despite the Stanford fans assertions that Kokenis is a superior athlete)

 

[EricLA]

I readily admit this game looked more like what I expected this year (as did the aTm and Purdue games) with UCONN demolishing everyone else out there not named Baylor. Having said that, UCONN just recently had 2 very tough games against very physical teams in Maryland and Penn State. I get that Bria wasn't 100%, but I'm not quite back on the bandwagon yet. However, I will be a heck of a lot closer if UCONN dismantles Notre Dame in similar fashion.

This is NOT to say the victory isn't impressive. It is and was. It really sets up a fascinating game vs. Baylor, ND, and Duke (as if those games weren't fascinating enough). But I do believe that if the team is 100% healthy, no one even has close to the depth we do.

I know there's been some discussion about the "athletic gap" potentially between the two teams. I didn't see any athletic gap, but I did see a talent gap. if you go back to DD's player by player breakdown, UCONN actually had the better players at every position...

I thought Doty was at least equal to Orrange. Hartley>Kokenis, Faris>Tinkle, KML>Ruef and Dolson>Ogwumike.

One thing I want to add is that the margin of victory was NOT this large because Stanford just missed shots they normally make. Ogwumike took 22 shots and Kokenis took 11. For the most part, the defense was all over those 2 so their shots were always contested. the players who were a bit more left open (generally speaking) were Ruef, Orrange and Tinkle who went a combined 1-15. Stanford only scored 35 points because our defense and game plan was just that good today.

 

[Plumber Luigi]

It wasn't as much of a (flaying around for a non-violent neutral sports metaphor and failing) dominating victory than one significant run plus an extra basket here and there until Stanford ran out of steam in the last 8 minutes.

Let's break the scoring down into chunks between timeouts. Time, UConn, Stanford

1st half
4:26 5 - 5
3:43 10 - 2 <-- run
1:55 7 - 0 <-- run
1:26 0 - 0
1:58 2 - 2
2:50 0 - 0
3:36 7 -4
0:06 0 - 0

2nd half
4:24 7 - 4
4:03 6 - 12 <-- counter punch
0:42 2 - 0
3:11 7 - 5
3:57 5 - 0 <-- run
2:30 3 - 0 <-- run
1:13 0 - 1 <-- run

So one run in the first half, 17 - 2, from 14:36 to 7:28 and one run in the 2nd, 8 - 1, from 7:20 to the end of the game. That's 22 points of our 26 point margin of victory.

The trick here is how you spin Stanford's scoring drought, UConn's defense, panic, bad luck, threw in the towel, tuckered out. Of course we favor the 1st reason and maybe be generous with the last.

I guess basketball is a game of runs.

Edit: Oh and PAYBACK BABY. YEAH! Streak broken. Go print that on a T-shirt.

 

[Kibitzer]

Given the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, two early shots may have been more ominous than they seemed at the time they were taken.

Kaleena calmly and confidently nailed a trey to get UConn started. And Kokenis (normally a superior free throw shooter) tossed up an air ball (well short of the rim) on her first free throw attempt. Thus, the tone of the game was established -- but even if we thought it, we didn't dare say it!

 

[msf22b]

Taking up Kib's point, there were some revealing statements by Stanford players pre-game (I didn't go back to look them up at 3:15) that indicated a general lack of confidence, going into the contest.

It's almost as if they were aware of Doggy's handicapping (or had independently come to the same conclusion) and knew that man for man (sic) they were toast.

They played scared all night and Tara's post-game remarks about finding out who the team is seemed to confirm that view (perhaps she had come to the same conclusions).

 

[Plumber Luigi]

Haven't seen any of the post game quotes other than the "highly disappointed" and "Connecticut was on a mission" ones from Tara and no pre-game quotes from any of the players. Could you kindly point me the way to them?

 

[Sonny44]

I'm quite sure it was unintentional, tonyc, but the thread title struck me as, well, inappropriate, given Newtown. I'm with Geno; let's leave war--and, by extension, criminal terminology--out of sports. It's just a game.

You gotta be kidding.

 

[HuskyNan]

You gotta be kidding.

It was changed.

 

[Tonyc]

Nan thank you for changing my thread. I am so sorry. Please accept my apologies. I woke up this morning and my wife and I were talking about the game and I told her what I posted and she said do you think that was appropriate considering the Sandy Hook incident. I ran down to change it and it was already changed. My lack of thought on the title is very embarrassing under the circumstances, again please accept my apologies.