Uconn Defense

[Sonny44]

Kelly took it upon herself; put scoring in the background. That's why she became our best D ever. Don't know if any other will do this, but as others have said the rest of the team will take care of the D together.

 

[chrissaran]

I have to agree with Bestiarius. Kelly cannot be replaced. Other than guarding the center, Kelly guarded the best offensive player on the other team. Who is going to guard Alyssa Thomas? Certainly not Brianna Banks. Too small, not strong enough. Stewie. Not strong enough. Her long arms could bother Alyssa, but she can't stay with her. It's going to have to be even more of a team effort. Fortunately, with Stef, Stewie and a hopefully inspired Kiah, it could be a block party all year ling.

 

[Icebear]

Read what has been written. Kelly will be replaced. Not by one person.

We have people who will match up well on the perimeter. We have Tuck who is capable of matching up with power players. No one player will cover the breath of players that Kelly did. Most often, however, Kelly matched up with perimeter players. MoJeff has already caused some very good guards headaches during the NCAAs.

We have had other great defensive stoppers before. Kalana and Ashley being just two. Geno will challenge someone to step up and just as Kelly did after Kalana and Kalana did after Ashley someone will accept the challenge. Kelly was able to do what she did because she played within he UCONN system. That system is not going away. KML has already shown substantial growth in focus and will and that is what it takes.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

-Boxer: Welcome to the ‘Yard. This is a great thread… I’ve already learned plenty from everyone’s insight here. Thanks a lot for taking the time to initiate it - great topic.


- Yes, Boxer, yes, that’s it, yes... Listen to DD,… Listen to DD…Listen to DD … Listen… Listen…Listen .. ...You notice your fur is losing its hideous, filthy patches of orange decay…. Ladies stop you, to admire, to touch, to caress the change to a dignified National Flag Blue… no more humiliating nightmares of Thompson Boling Arena –South Chattanooga,… no more idle reminiscing,... you’re finally among fans who still actually see thier team in Final Fours,... fans who cheer for actual current National Champions,… you begin to teach your puppies “U!… C!… O!…N!… N!"… ...You decide to change your Boneyard icon... View attachment 3720
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/boxer-dog-breed-blues-jo-lynch.html

Great to be here Artsy!!

You know I've watched UCONN play many times over the years and the one thing I always notice is their smothering team defense. I noticed this past season how players would feed off of Kelly Faris and I think she just made everyone else around her better, especially defensively. A good thread should spark a lot of discussion and UCONN is known for their stifling defense, so I can see why it's a popular topic..

Nice Boxer art!! Is that your work?? I broke down and bought a woodcarving of a boxer dog on Ebay that was hand crafted in Germany lol. So I def appreciate good art work, especially when it involves something close to my heart..

Shhhhh don't tell anyone, but at one time I did have a husky . Actually one of the most loyal dogs I ever raised...With that said, if Tennessee DOESN'T make it to the final four this season, I will change my avatar here to a UCONN husky lol..

 

[stwainfan]

Is it easier for a freshman guard to adjust to college than a post player?

 

[doggydaddy]

Is it easier for a freshman guard to adjust to college than a post player?

Well, this worked out well for Boxer, so here goes.

I believe your post should be in a new thread.

1. It's a good question
2. It had nothing to do with anything being said in this thread.

 

[Alydar]

Great to be here Artsy!!

You know I've watched UCONN play many times over the years and the one thing I always notice is their smothering team defense. I noticed this past season how players would feed off of Kelly Faris and I think she just made everyone else around her better, especially defensively. A good thread should spark a lot of discussion and UCONN is known for their stifling defense, so I can see why it's a popular topic..



if Tennessee DOESN'T make it to the final four this season, I will change my avatar here to a UCONN husky lol..

Actually UConn's switching man-to-man wasn't up to par until very late in the season. I chalk that up to 3 freshmen and 3 sophomores. But they at times looked unorganized. Faris was invaluable in that she took on the toughest assignment and covered up a lot of breakdowns.
This year there will hopefully be less need for Faris's versatility. I see Tuck and KML emerging as defensive stars.

I hope you realize your "vow" has been archived by several posters here.

 

[arty155]

...Nice Boxer art!! Is that your work?? ..

Hey Boxer – Unfortunately, my art experience has been limited to daughters covering me with finger-paints. But just below the picture is a link to the website where I found it, painted by an artist named Jo Lynch. That said, please don't commission her to draw an Husky morphing into orange – it just wouldn't be right.

- This thread's been particularly instructive to me. I'll finally stop worrying if any individual can become exactly as effective as Kelly. I guess, in keeping with the canine theme, these Huskies certainly form and fight like pack hunters, - never isolated as individuals. Its going to be fun instead, watching this pack strive to become just as effective, by developing and exploiting the unique strengths of the youngest,...
"...for the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack". Rudyard Kipling

 

[Kibitzer]

It is a real challenge to add to the many superb posts in this thread, but I can't resist giving it a shot (unblocked, I hope).

First, the adjective most heavily relied on by journalists and analysts to describe the UConn defense is "swarming." Which pretty well captures the essence of the relentless pressure, trapping, and the "in-your-face" attitude of Husky defenders.

Second, a technical point. When opponents have the ball out on the wing (vicinity sideline about even with imaginary extension of free throw line), UConn defenders always guard very closely and slightly overplay to one side to prohibit their opponent from dribbling toward the center of the court. That player may go toward the basket via the baseline, but our defender knows that Help Is On The Way from the weakside (Morgan, Stewie, etc.).

Third, UConn defenders have an uncanny knack for doing a "Gotcha now!" trap of any opponent who commits the *cardinal sin of picking up her dribble in one of the corners in the forecourt (sideline and either baseline or half-court line). That mistake = lights out!

Finally, that more recent wrinkle of having Stewie simulate a windmill on steroids as she harrasses the inbounds passer or, in their backcourt, those "itty-bitty guards" (thanks, Nan).

*not a reference to either Stanford or Louisville.

 

[Icebear]

I was rewatching the Maryland tournament game this morning to specifically focus on Kelly. I wanted to review her techniques when guarding an opponent both on ball and off ball.

Off ball Kelly makes tremendous use of her periphial vision and constantly swiveling her head to check the rest of the court. She is more aggressive in that than any other player on the court. She, also, does not cheat off her assignment very far at all because she is denying them both the ball and the comfort in their court position. With Alyssa Thomas she was regularly within an arm's length, an arm she had extended towards Thomas in case she made a sudden movement while Kelly stole peeks at the rest of the court. Kelly's position on Alyssa with the ball was to move about 2/3s of her body width towards the ball hand. Another key element of Kelly's focus is that it is intently and intensely on her assignment's waist and lower body, not on the ball. She mirrors strongly their lower body movement with her lower body. Beating them to where they want to go. There was a sequence of video during the game that showed close up Kelly's focus on the body of her opponent very, very well.

More observations later.

 

[msf22b]

Not to belabor the point re: Morgan's defensive prowess.

On re-watching the Notre Dame, final-4 game last night, she was effectively guarding Kayla McBride for significant stretches.

Alyssa Thomas seema a natural assignment.

Anything but the quickest of slight guards seems within her purview.

 

[Icebear]

Yes, Morgan will draw assignments like that, not the periphery players most of the time. Her chief liability is that she is not quick, not slow, but not quick.

 

[trisailin]

..... None of this will matter much against most opponents.

Ah - but for the coach, it will matter 100% of the time against every opponent.

 

[UcMiami]

Nice thread - do not want to slight Kelly as she was fabulous, but I always felt she got a little more credit than maybe she deserved at the expense of the team/scheme/scouting. Very seldom does Uconn play a non-switching defense on the perimeter - they switch on just about every screen. So while Kelly was responsible for not allowing her player to 'break her down' initially as soon as she was run through a screen someone else was responsible. Uconn has had top ranked defenses even between reigns of there various 'defensive stoppers' and that comes down to coaching and scheme.
I expect KML, Bria, MoJef, and BB to step up on the perimeter and hope that Chong will contribute in that regard as well.

 

[chrissaran]

Sorry UcMiami, but Kelly deserved every bit of credit she got.

 

[Bestiarius]

Also Uc, you're forgetting how often Kelly switched on D to help others. Notice how often she poked the ball away from someone else's responsibility while still covering her own assignment, or got into perfect rebounding position. Yes the entire team are great at defense, but Kelly was best of the best.

 

[meyers7]

Nice thread - do not want to slight Kelly as she was fabulous, but I always felt she got a little more credit than maybe she deserved at the expense of the team/scheme/scouting. Very seldom does Uconn play a non-switching defense on the perimeter - they switch on just about every screen. So while Kelly was responsible for not allowing her player to 'break her down' initially as soon as she was run through a screen someone else was responsible. Uconn has had top ranked defenses even between reigns of there various 'defensive stoppers' and that comes down to coaching and scheme.
I expect KML, Bria, MoJef, and BB to step up on the perimeter and hope that Chong will contribute in that regard as well.

Partly true. And I was hoping someone would bring this up. UCONN does a lot of switching on screens. They don't fight through that many of them. However, Faris was one who did on occasion, depending on who she was guarding, fight through screens. A lot of her defense was in denial as opposed to one on one after they got the ball.

 

[Icebear]

Exactly, Meyers, Kelly worked her butt off to deny others the ball or position.

 

[Tonyc]

What I'm waiting to see this season is MoJeff and BB defending on the court at the same time. Quickness Speed and quick hands. Their intimidation will be fun to watch if your a UConn player. As a team this season with our height, experience and with our quickness at the guard positions its going to be tuff to score against UConn.

 

[UcMiami]

Again LOVE Kelly and everything she brought to the team and especially her influence on KML.
On the denial I agree (and I actually thing MoJef excels at that aspect as well. Also - we often focus on the on-ball screens as we naturally watch the ball, but those probably represent only 25% of the actual screens occurring - especially for spot-up shooters, and for post players. So 'team' denial is also a very real aspect of the Uconn defense.
I think the coaching does not get enough credit is all I am trying to say. And the scouting is part of that so the players know tendencies and how to disrupt the offensive flow of each opponent - big advantage for ND over most other teams with the frequency of games the last five years in terms of defending Uconn by the way.

 

[DavidinNaples]

Exactly, Meyers, Kelly worked her butt off to deny others the ball or position.

Agree. Said so earlier in the thread.... "There is no stat for denying the player you're guarding the ball, but Kelly would have led the nation if kept. She had 96 steals, #1 on the team by far. Opposing teams sometimes just stopped trying to pass the ball to her player. And she only had 68 fouls in 1,160 minutes of play. That is only a foul every 17 minutes. Tight defense w/out fouling is a talent."

 

[chrissaran]

You can coach all you want; it doesn't mean the player is going to do it. Not everyone at UConn is a terrific defender. Some are terrific team defenders. Kelly was a terrific team defender and a tenacious individual defender.

 

[Icebear]

You can coach all you want; it doesn't mean the player is going to do it. Not everyone at UConn is a terrific defender. Some are terrific team defenders. Kelly was a terrific team defender and a tenacious individual defender.

So we're Ashley Battle and Kalana Greene.

 

[Geno-ista]

Boxer, Geno seems to regularly recruit or inspire players to take on the role of defensive stopper. Kelly was the most recent in a line that includes Kalana Greene and Ashley Battle. Add that to the strength of UCONN's team defense philosophies and I expect the team's defensive prowess to continue. MoJeff and Brianna Banks have great potential to become defensive stoppers on the perimeter. Possibly Saniya Chong will show that ability this year as we move forward. She has the tools but it will take time.

U don't miss a beat IB- two of their best prior lock-down defenders in history! I think Banks had/has that ability to possibly be in that class- depending on her recovery of course!

 

[Geno-ista]

Basketball's not a game I understand deeply, but I think if you want someone to appreciate the wonder that is UConn's defense, ask them to focus on a Husky who is not known as a key defender. They'll realize quickly that the rotations are amazing. UConn players shift and cover for each other so well it looks like they are playing an entirely different game from their opponents. (And it really sticks out when someone occasionally doesn't rotate, or goes the wrong way—which is fairly rare.)

U r right- bad possessions on both ends of the court jump off the page - amazing!