alexrgct
RIP, Alex
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 10,091
- Reaction Score
- 15,648
The current top five-ranked teams do indeed "feel" legitimately like the clear-cut five best teams. UConn is one of the five, and after tonight, the Huskies will have played each of the other four. That is TERRIFIC experience heading into the post-season, espcially considering how much complaining as there was regarding some of the cupcakes on UConn's schedule early in the season.
Unlike the Stanford, Baylor, and ND games, this one doesn't have quite the same big-game feel...but it should.
I understand that Baylor is the #1 team and has a once in a blue moon kind of headliner, that Notre Dame is a Big East rival and the team who ousted UConn from last year's NCAA tourney, and that Stanford ended UConn's 90-game win streak and has been a team UConn faced in three consecutive Final Fours prior to that. Conversely, I understand that the previous four games with Duke haven't been very competitive. But history aside, this particular UConn team, at this moment, needs this game badly. And if Duke wants to get all the way back to where they were in the middle part of the previous decade, they need this game badly too.
I am reasonably confident that UConn will come ready to play and look much better than in the previous two games. As much as Geno preaches playing to a standard and not to an opponent/score, there will be peaks in valleys in terms of effort/focus. Both Syracuse and USF had game plans, did a solid job executing them, and UConn, as a team, didn't look completely locked in. I expect a different look tonight. The question is whether Duke will come ready to play. Not only is this incarnation a very young team, but the Blue Devils just haven't looked at all convinced they can beat UConn in recent years.
Since this is an opportunity to showcase WBB at a time slot when there are no marquee MCBB games, I hope Duke plays its best brand of basketball. And I hope UConn's best is good enough to beat a top-five team on the road. If UConn wants to be playing in Denver instead of watching the games on TV with the rest of us, it needs to be.
Unlike the Stanford, Baylor, and ND games, this one doesn't have quite the same big-game feel...but it should.
I understand that Baylor is the #1 team and has a once in a blue moon kind of headliner, that Notre Dame is a Big East rival and the team who ousted UConn from last year's NCAA tourney, and that Stanford ended UConn's 90-game win streak and has been a team UConn faced in three consecutive Final Fours prior to that. Conversely, I understand that the previous four games with Duke haven't been very competitive. But history aside, this particular UConn team, at this moment, needs this game badly. And if Duke wants to get all the way back to where they were in the middle part of the previous decade, they need this game badly too.
I am reasonably confident that UConn will come ready to play and look much better than in the previous two games. As much as Geno preaches playing to a standard and not to an opponent/score, there will be peaks in valleys in terms of effort/focus. Both Syracuse and USF had game plans, did a solid job executing them, and UConn, as a team, didn't look completely locked in. I expect a different look tonight. The question is whether Duke will come ready to play. Not only is this incarnation a very young team, but the Blue Devils just haven't looked at all convinced they can beat UConn in recent years.
Since this is an opportunity to showcase WBB at a time slot when there are no marquee MCBB games, I hope Duke plays its best brand of basketball. And I hope UConn's best is good enough to beat a top-five team on the road. If UConn wants to be playing in Denver instead of watching the games on TV with the rest of us, it needs to be.
