UCLA Postgame Thread | Page 7 | The Boneyard

UCLA Postgame Thread

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So you think Geno lifted his game plan from Coach Hurley? :)
Hurley lifted it from Calhoun :)

on Edit - found this in Instagram just now. This was the game that Calhoun used the “one big to one big” defense and shut down everyone else

 
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I think they both lifted it from Red Auerbach. This was the way they played Jordan in his first few years in the league -- let him have his 50 and shut everyone else down. This worked until Michael elevated his game to become an incredible passer.
Just to clarify. When MJ first came into the NBA, KC Jones was the HC of the Celtics, and smoking cigars was no longer permitted in the Boston Garden. ;)
 
Some thoughts on the UCLA game:
  • UConn has now conquered the City of Los Angeles with back-to-back victories over USC & UCLA. Just one more mountain to climb on Sunday for the Huskies to earn an unprecedented 12th national championship.
  • OK, who in hell had UConn with a 34-point MOV in Sarge's pool????
  • The game within the game was the war in the low blocks defending Betts. With her parents in attendance, Jana’s defensive effort against Betts was downright heroic. Maybe Geno should make sure that Jana’s parents come to every UConn game. :) When Jana picked up a couple fouls, Ice took her turn on Betts and came up BIG. At times, UConn's guards dived down to harass Betts. She got her points, but she had to work extremely hard for every last one.
  • Azzi didn’t wait around tonight for the 4th qtr to find her shot. She came out on fire, exploding for 19 pts in the 1st half.
  • In the 2nd half, Sarah assumed the scoring load and essentially put the game out of reach.
  • Paige had an uncharacteristically average shooting night, but she was flying around the court on defense like Rodan ;)
  • Some of the dimes UConn dropped tonight were unconscious. Kaitlyn had a couple of beauties and Paige’s incredible “slap pass” to Kaitlyn on the fast break was something I had only seen done before by Larry Bird. :eek:
  • Once again UConn’s defense was suffocating, holding UCLA to only 51 points while forcing 19 turnovers.
  • Against the much bigger Bruins, the Huskies more than held their own on the boards outrebounding Betts and her teammates 34 to 29.
  • UConn now faces SC on Sunday for the national championship. Should UConn win, they would become the first team in history to beat 3 x #1 seeds in route to a championship. I guess there’s a 1st time for everything, :cool: GO HUSKIES!!!
In 1997, we were living in Belgium. My father sent a video cassette of the NCAA Tournament. I watched it over and over... which is why I remember Arizona (Miles Simon) beat 3 #1s on their way to winning it all.
 
Going to miss Paige's quick and occasionally sharp wit. In the presser a reporter asked her about Geno saying it was such an excellent game they humbled him. Her comeback was so perfect: "We haven't looked at film yet."
 
Geno Auriemma putting on another coaching masterclass with his game plan tonight

The only player on UCLA that did their job was BETTS. But I really can't blame any of the other players because they ran up against the BEST defensive team in the country. Uconn Out performed UCLA in every statistical Category except fouls. WE had more. From the very beginning Uconn had control of the game and increased our lead in every quarter. This was a Beat Down. S Carolina must be shaking in their boots after this performance GO HUSKIES!!!!!! NO.12 is here!
Looking for your post Next 12, wanted some of your luck to rub off on our Huskies. Wow never expected a blowout, but it was so fun to watch our team live up to all you have written this year. Here's to our fav team, may they get this one and after that the next 12.
 
W
Why do I recognize the name Gina Cross….

Hopefully this crew lets the kids decide the game if it comes downtime I the final seconds. Do you think Edward’s will text Jana a reminder to keep set during a screen?
Why text her when she can tell her in person, she's in Tampa watching the team.
 
Hurley lifted it from Calhoun :)

on Edit - found this in Instagram just now. This was the game that Calhoun used the “one big to one big” defense and shut down everyone else



Calhoun started scouting Duke in November. There's another story somewhere about his one big to one big with help on Elton Brand but google is not cooperating today.
 
That team was not prepared
Maybe, or maybe they were prepared for what they thought it would be, and not the reality. Close may have been picked as COA as a result of the team's success up to the tournament. There is a different level of coaching that goes on in the tourney as the team progresses. It's one thing to win the Elite 8 game, however now that you are at the final four, there is another layer of expectations. For coaches and teams that have never been there, there's so much that they don't know. UConn, on the other hand, knows what this weekend is like, the potential pitfalls, the media demands, and at this point, they are probably managing more of the non-basketball stuff. The scouting reports are what they are, and the players know what they need to do to execute them.
 
When you have the most talented roster and you play great defense you have a chance to win every night. Betts did score her points but she was really a non factor on defense and the boards. The speed that UConn played at tonight makes it almost impossible for bigger players to either keep up or not get so fatigued they are resting going up and down the floor.

Watching Texas and SC play was just the opposite. It looked like two teams that were very lucky to get to the FF with the level of talent they had on the floor. Defense is their hallmark and neither team really locked down the other and I think it will take a total meltdown by UCOnn for SC to even stay in the game.

Best of all it make Creme look like the fool he is in picking 4 teams not named UConn as 1 seeds in this tournament. I think UConn took that as an insult and I fully expect them to finish the statement on Sunday in historic fashion.
You do realize Creme didn’t set up the seedings ,just offered his opinion for chat room fodder
 
Maybe, or maybe they were prepared for what they thought it would be, and not the reality.
Good point. Now you've got me wondering what Dawn is thinking about tomorrow's game. She knows as much as Geno does about this game. What did she see in yesterday's game?
 
She might have seen that UConn actually played defense better than they did against SC in Feb.
She definitely will have noticed that. I have a feeling she's also marveling at the intensity Geno has gotten his kids to play with at this time of year. She knows how hard it is to build that sort of team culture and commitment. Is she confident her kids are just as ready put out that much intensity?
 
Great team win. UCONN is right back where they belong. My take away from this game is simple. DEFENSE!!!!

The most amazing thing about UCONN right now is their defense. Big lineup or small, It doesn't matter, They have been 94 feet of in your face defense. Azzi, Paige and KK have been lights out defense. No team in the country helps and recover like UCONN does. They switch playerS effortlessly. They follow up their great defensive effort by actually rebounding and limiting 2nd and 3rd chances.
You are forgetting a big part of that defense and rebounding (and tying up for jump balls)----------Ashlynn. As I focus on her defense this year it is tremendous, including the switches she makes
 
She definitely will have noticed that. I have a feeling she's also marveling at the intensity Geno has gotten his kids to play with at this time of year. She knows how hard it is to build that sort of team culture and commitment. Is she confident her kids are just as ready put out that much intensity?
There seems to be a general consensus that tomorrow’s game will be much closer than the 29 point blowout in Columbia. But no one in their wildest imagination believed that UConn would beat the #1 overall seed by 34 pts last night.

Dawn and the SC team are going to prepare thoroughly and they will say all the right things. But they are not going to erase the memory of that loss to UConn in Columbia.

Where that comes into play is if and when UConn goes on a run during the game tomorrow. Do the SC players dig deep and respond, or do they start looking at each other while thinking, “Here we go again.”
 
There seems to be a general consensus that tomorrow’s game will be much closer than the 29 point blowout in Columbia. But no one in their wildest imagination believed that UConn would beat the #1 overall seed by 34 pts last night.

Dawn and the SC team are going to prepare thoroughly and they will say all the right things. But they are not going to erase the memory of that loss to UConn in Columbia.

Where that comes into play is if and when UConn goes on a run during the game tomorrow. Do the SC players dig deep and respond, or do they start looking at each other while thinking, “Here we go again.”
And revenge games are a crapshoot. It's like in soccer when a player gets a red card. Does the team with 11 play better than the 10? Not necessarily.
 
Going to miss Paige's quick and occasionally sharp wit. In the presser a reporter asked her about Geno saying it was such an excellent game they humbled him. Her comeback was so perfect: "We haven't looked at film yet."
i mostly enjoyed geno losing it with every sarah strong curt non-answer :D
 
She definitely will have noticed that. I have a feeling she's also marveling at the intensity Geno has gotten his kids to play with at this time of year. She knows how hard it is to build that sort of team culture and commitment. Is she confident her kids are just as ready put out that much intensity?
if Staley has faults, "lack of confidence" isn't one of them.
 
I felt SC took the Huskies lightly going into that early game and could not turn it up in game. Presumably they won't do that again. If the Huskies are cold it will be very tough, but if 2 out of 3 of our killers are killing it we'll have the joy of 12.
 
One last thought: UConn appears to be peaking right now. SC may not be.

I thought SC peaked earlier in the season, maybe 20 games in. Their rout of OU looked like a peak. They were sharp and relentless. Then they had a few closer, grind it out games, like against Tennessee and Texas. The loss to UConn was a stunner. It looked like the low point for them and was a wake up call for Dawn. The question is whether they've been able to recover that midseason peak again. The subsequent wins were comfortable with a few blowouts of weaker teams. But not all their wins were entirely dominating, and to be fair the SEC opponents had evolved a bit too. The most recent Texas game was encouraging and SC won largely on the strength of a really strong 3rd quarter. That quarter looked good but was not crushing in the way one almost expects to see from SC. Also they seemed to coast for stretches in the first half and had way too many turnovers.

By contrast, UConn won 3 quarters decisively and held off UCLA's 3rd quarter run well and expanded their lead in the 4th even after the starters left the game for the last 4 minutes. This was a much more compelling win. I'd say the same about the earlier rounds, too. They dominated USC except for a good 3rd quarter run, but then responded with a crushing 4th quarter. And the OU game went in roughly similar fashion -- a run by OU challenged them and then UConn responded with a dominating 2nd half. In each case, UConn took the best punch a solid team could give and then responded much more devastatingly. This is not what SC showed us in their wins over MD and Duke.

What I'm coming to see is that SC needs to make this game a grind. They probably can't win a track meet against UConn. The question is whether UConn can win a grind it out game, if they have to. Only the event itself will tell us.
 
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