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Tonite

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Replicant said:
She's the popular girl. ;) All kidding aside, I still don't understand how she gets away with continually using her extended forearm to shield/fend off defenders?
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A violation that gets called all the time but for which the whistles go silent for Diggins.
 
McBride is ND's "X" factor...she has been playing very well of late. There two major non-human things that worry me in tonights game...1. Foul Trouble 2. Turnovers.

On the human side of things...Novosel is the glue that keeps this team rolling. Everyone says it is Diggins and Skylar is a great point guard and deserving of all the accolades she gets...she definitely does a lot of things for ND. And, while Skylar Diggins is ND's All American...there is little doubt that Novosel will be joining Diggins as a first team All American. Her ability to create off the dribble, finish and get to the line in my mind is indicative of who ND is this year. If we can stop and / or limit Novosel it will take ND out of its rhythm. Diggins will be forced to step it up and she is capable so. Peters contributes the most as an offensive rebounder and put-back machine. She is frustrating because she gets good position and gets at least 3 to 4 put backs per game we need to cut the heads of the triple headed snake that ND is.

McBride and Mallory by themselves are not game changers...
Either one of them can really hurt you especially when the big three are on...so keeping them in check is important but, limiting them to their average in my opinion would be sufficient.

Because Notre Dame can score, rebound and pass from all five positions makes them very difficult. I do not think their bench is that much of a threat and they are not that deep a team... Foul trouble for ND would be huge...unfortunately, they are a veteran team and they usually don't get in foul trouble.

This is why beating ND this year is very difficult. Let's hope our guys play the "A" game, let's hope ND is in a charitable mood, our crowd is on their "A" game and the referees swallow their whistles and don't put our players in foul trouble... This should be one heck of a game...national championship feel to it. This is what women's college basketball is about in the post season. Yeah baby!
 
Sonny44 said:
I wish it wwere that simple Tony. Not to mention good outside shooters like seniors Novasel and Mallory last time even McBride killed us from the outside with several key baskets.
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Duh. Same thing in the NCAA's last year. ND kept making threes and drained all hope of a UConn comeback.
.
 
Replicant said:
Kiah is a tremendous man2man defender...literally a shut-down defender! :) She intimidates everyone she guards because she's so long, has superb anticipation and moves her feet laterally (staying perfectly square) as well as any big I think I've ever seen. She rarely buys into head, shoulder or step-thru fakes because she's so confident in her cat like reaction time and closing speed to keep her in position to defend her man's counter-move.
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she also does well at the top of the press
 
DaddyChoc said:
she also does well at the top of the press
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Yes Sir and Geno had her rotate to the point of the 1-2-2 zone they ran a few times that I thought was very cool and effective! Geno can run so much stuff through Kiah because she's versatile and instinctive.
 
My guess is that Geno will play Kiah and Caroline about the same 15-18 minutes he did against St Johns. Stef, Bria, Kelly and KLM will get the major minutes.
That assumes they all play as hard as they did against St. John's. If they do it will be a great game. At that level of intensity UConn is competitive with anyone.
 
The key to our loss against ND on 2/27 was rebounding, with their advantage of 36 to 25. Even worse was their offensive boards (14) and 2nd chance points. They only shot 38.5% for the game, making so many of their points off the bunny put-backs that broke our backs. Their advantage in boards triggered their transition game and our lack of boards stymied ours. We must win the rebound battle tonight and that means Kiah's minutes need to increase considerably.
 
Replicant said:
The key to our loss against ND on 2/27 was rebounding, with their advantage of 36 to 25. Even worse was their offensive boards (14) and 2nd chance points. They only shot 38.5% for the game, making so many of their points off the bunny put-backs that broke our backs. Their advantage in boards triggered their transition game and our lack of boards stymied ours. We must win the rebound battle tonight and that means Kiah's minutes need to increase considerably.
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It was stunning to see how ND dominated the boards. I'm thinking that is more of an anomoly and UCOnn will compete on the boards.
 
In the last ND game Dolson was great in the first half. She got very tired in the second half. I would like to see her get a little rest in the first half so she will have something left nearing the end of the game. I would give Banks a little time too. I thought she played well against St. John's.
 
doggydaddy said:
It was stunning to see how ND dominated the boards. I'm thinking that is more of an anomoly and UCOnn will compete on the boards.
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Stunning for sure. I'd like to think it was an anomaly as well, but I'm not sure. Some nights everything bounces your way, or you out-hustle the other guys, or get the calls, or all the above. But tonight is too important and we need to win the boards from the opening tip to get our transition game cranking and to limit their 2nd chances ops. I've stayed away from conversations all year about personnel, minutes, etc.. I'm crazy about every single member of our team (including our bench) and appreciate each one's contributions to the marathon that is an entire season. But tonight is all that matters now and I'm praying Kiah sees 20 mins minimum.
 
ericsandiego said:
Geno played Stef and Kiah for long stretches tonite and i can see why Kiah has been earning so much PT lately. clearly she didnt' have Stef's scoring prowess, but she was a beast on defense and disruptive to what SJU was trying to do defensively while we were running offense. it was great to see.
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I love the potential of Kiah now and certainly in future years! I think she is going to become more of a beast defensively and is going to cont to develop offensively. I also think she has tremendous potential offensively down the road!
 
Replicant said:
Stunning for sure. I'd like to think it was an anomaly as well, but I'm not sure.
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In the first game, it was 43-43 in rebounds.

I just checked the season stats and it's incredibly equal as both have played 32 games.

Rebounds - UConn 1323, ND 1317.

ND does have the edge in offensive rebounds, 482-432. Less than 2 per game difference.
 
doggydaddy said:
In the first game, it was 43-43 in rebounds.

I just checked the season stats and it's incredibly equal as both have played 32 games.

Rebounds - UConn 1323, ND 1317.

ND does have the edge in offensive rebounds, 482-432. Less than 2 per game difference.
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Thanks for doing the research...makes me feel better!
 
Sonny44 said:
Yes, that is what I meant. Get Peters frustrated and she will commit fouls. I don't mean anything dirty, just hard nosed.
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I didn't think you meant anything dirty.

I just think that Buck is not the player to get done what you are talking about. How will she frustrate Peters?
 
doggydaddy said:
I just think that Buck is not the player to get done what you are talking about. How will she frustrate Peters?
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Could we suit up Stan Jonathan tonight? ;) Maybe get into Peter's head a little. :eek:
 
I don't know if the stats will support this, but it seemed to me that up until the middle of last season, Peters didn't show up for the big games and that was something UConn exploited. She shows up now.
 
Tonight is for all the marbles and a sellout crowd will bring this home.......UCONN 77- ND 63
 
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