Uconn is too quick

[Tonyc]

Uconn is not playing out of control but they are very very quick. When you play teams that are not as quick, dont move the ball quickly, dont hustle and play to much one on one theyre in for a long nite against UConn. I saw some of that against Depaul. UConn came out on fire and they were intimidating. Depaul didnt get back moved the ball very slow and a lot of that had to do with UConns defense and just didnt hustle. Alot of that had to do with UConns overall quickness.

Alot of fans are concerned about opponents height. Height without agility is almost useless. Height is a good intimidation factor but if your not in the position it does no good. The reason UConns defense has been so good is they are so quick. They are all over you in a split second. The second half of the Chatty game and almost the entire DePaul game you saw UConn everywhere. It seemed as if they were playing with more then 5 players.

Texas and ND are not quick. Both have good bigs which could give UConn some problems. With that said I am confident that Geno will run plays to get those opponents bigs to have to play defense and that could create problems. Having the opposing bigs have to come out and guard UConn opens up the middle and imo those bigs can not get back fast enough thus leaving the middle open for a dribble drive or kick out to an open player if they double down or allowing UConn and open shot inside the line.
It is going to be very difficult for those opponents to guard UConn. I am not really concerned about opponents getting the ball down low. UConn will defend most of those passes and make it tuff. I see some big surprises over the next 2 games. Alot will be told and weaknesses will be exposed on both sides.

Uconn will come in with a game plan and they will be focused and will run it with adjustments throughout the game. Our opponents will have their hands full. Again UConns quickness should prevail and it will be their quickness on defense that will set the tempo. I dont see either team keeping up with UConn. The only thing that can slow UConn down is foul trouble.

One last thing on height and this is for those who are concerned about opponents height. Big and slow does no good except to intimidate you. If you do what your fear and continue to what you fear you will win out. Meaning take the ball right at them. Force them to use their height to stop your quickness and see what happens. I like UConn in both of these games. At ND my only concern is when Uconn takes the ball to the hoop and there is contact will it be a charge on Uconn or a foul on ND?

 

[S1836]

Uconn is not playing out of control but they are very very quick. When you play teams that are not as quick, dont move the ball quickly, dont hustle and play to much one on one theyre in for a long nite against UConn. I saw some of that against Depaul. UConn came out on fire and they were intimidating. Depaul didnt get back moved the ball very slow and a lot of that had to do with UConns defense and just didnt hustle. Alot of that had to do with UConns overall quickness.

Alot of fans are concerned about opponents height. Height without agility is almost useless. Height is a good intimidation factor but if your not in the position it does no good. The reason UConns defense has been so good is they are so quick. They are all over you in a split second. The second half of the Chatty game and almost the entire DePaul game you saw UConn everywhere. It seemed as if they were playing with more then 5 players.

Texas and ND are not quick. Both have good bigs which could give UConn some problems. With that said I am confident that Geno will run plays to get those opponents bigs to have to play defense and that could create problems. Having the opposing bigs have to come out and guard UConn opens up the middle and imo those bigs can not get back fast enough thus leaving the middle open for a dribble drive or kick out to an open player if they double down or allowing UConn and open shot inside the line.
It is going to be very difficult for those opponents to guard UConn. I am not really concerned about opponents getting the ball down low. UConn will defend most of those passes and make it tuff. I see some big surprises over the next 2 games. Alot will be told and weaknesses will be exposed on both sides.

Uconn will come in with a game plan and they will be focused and will run it with adjustments throughout the game. Our opponents will have their hands full. Again UConns quickness should prevail and it will be their quickness on defense that will set the tempo. I dont see either team keeping up with UConn. The only thing that can slow UConn down is foul trouble.

One last thing on height and this is for those who are concerned about opponents height. Big and slow does no good except to intimidate you. If you do what your fear and continue to what you fear you will win out. Meaning take the ball right at them. Force them to use their height to stop your quickness and see what happens. I like UConn in both of these games. At ND my only concern is when Uconn takes the ball to the hoop and there is contact will it be a charge on Uconn or a foul on ND?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Right on the right target. "Height without agility is almost useless," is as true as it gets. I was struck by this also in the Baylor game & my first look at Dangerfield's 5'5'' (maybe) flicking here/flicking there & getting 19 points in the process! Amen & Hallelujah!!

 

[magic]

Uconn is not playing out of control but they are very very quick. When you play teams that are not as quick, dont move the ball quickly, dont hustle and play to much one on one theyre in for a long nite against UConn. I saw some of that against Depaul. UConn came out on fire and they were intimidating. Depaul didnt get back moved the ball very slow and a lot of that had to do with UConns defense and just didnt hustle. Alot of that had to do with UConns overall quickness.

Alot of fans are concerned about opponents height. Height without agility is almost useless. Height is a good intimidation factor but if your not in the position it does no good. The reason UConns defense has been so good is they are so quick. They are all over you in a split second. The second half of the Chatty game and almost the entire DePaul game you saw UConn everywhere. It seemed as if they were playing with more then 5 players.

Texas and ND are not quick. Both have good bigs which could give UConn some problems. With that said I am confident that Geno will run plays to get those opponents bigs to have to play defense and that could create problems. Having the opposing bigs have to come out and guard UConn opens up the middle and imo those bigs can not get back fast enough thus leaving the middle open for a dribble drive or kick out to an open player if they double down or allowing UConn and open shot inside the line.
It is going to be very difficult for those opponents to guard UConn. I am not really concerned about opponents getting the ball down low. UConn will defend most of those passes and make it tuff. I see some big surprises over the next 2 games. Alot will be told and weaknesses will be exposed on both sides.

Uconn will come in with a game plan and they will be focused and will run it with adjustments throughout the game. Our opponents will have their hands full. Again UConns quickness should prevail and it will be their quickness on defense that will set the tempo. I dont see either team keeping up with UConn. The only thing that can slow UConn down is foul trouble.

One last thing on height and this is for those who are concerned about opponents height. Big and slow does no good except to intimidate you. If you do what your fear and continue to what you fear you will win out. Meaning take the ball right at them. Force them to use their height to stop your quickness and see what happens. I like UConn in both of these games. At ND my only concern is when Uconn takes the ball to the hoop and there is contact will it be a charge on Uconn or a foul on ND?

I couldn't agree with you more !

 

[CocoHusky]

Well said @Tonyc. The only thing I would like to add is in addition to the perfect technique. UCONN plays defense with Perfect Technique.
I stealing one of @dannykuconn pictures to illustrate the point. In this picture you see 4 different UCONN players executing 4 different "perfect" defensive technique.
Napheesa is on the ball heavy on the the ball handler right hand.
Kia (a guard) is in over play splitting both the offensive (post) players legs and arms that ball is not getting in easily.
KLS is one pass away ready to shoot the gap left hand extended.
Gabby is dropping down to take away the baseline cut and be in rebounding position.
All UCONN eyes are on the ball but the relationship to the offensive player is also mantained.
Perfect in every sense of the word and when you execute with the quickness UCONN has you become virtually unbeatable.

 

[TitleTown]

Texas and ND are not quick. Both have good bigs which could give UConn some problems. With that said I am confident that Geno will run plays to get those opponents bigs to have to play defense and that could create problems.

You do realize that Texas and ND are 2 of the most athletic teams in the country right?

 

[todbo]

We're quick AND we play position. One of my clearest memories of the DePaul game is Kia, away from the ball, butt-nudging a DePaul player into the end line, creating open space in the lane for Kia's teammates to wreak havoc.

 

[rugbymate]

We're quick AND we play position. One of my clearest memories of the DePaul game is Kia, away from the ball, butt-nudging a DePaul player into the end line, creating open space in the lane for Kia's teammates to wreak havoc.

that was one of the best box outs we will ever see...just another reason she plays so many minutes

 

[magic]

Westbeltd and Mabrey are not really quick or athletic. I'm sure the huskies can put pressure on the ball, and keep the ball out of Ogunbawale ( sorry about spelling) hands for easy shots. Now, what I'm really interested in seeing is how the Irish are going to defend KLS and Collier. Someone is going to have a mismatch with Westbeltd all night long. Do the Irish want Turner chasing KLS around all night? I doubt it !

 

[rugbymate]

One of the things that we learned from the DePaul game is that this team most definitely is capable of winning the NC. There are some things they are doing much better than NC teams from the past, such as 3pt shooting % differential, which to date is + .182 vs last year +.082. Also, the team imo that is closet in experience and make up is the 2012-13 team which had a differential of .092.
There are some things that we don't do as well as past NC teams and they relate to TONYc 's post and is a potential concern. We are taking on average 4.8 shots per game less than our opponents. That compares to + 5.0 to the 2012-13 team and even more unfavorable to last years team. The shot differential helps explain the lower margin of victory difference this year. The question is why.
Having played college basketball we always reviewed stats afterwards and two of the things we looked at were steal differential and rebounding differential at both ends. We are currently -.6 in steal differential compared to + 4 to + 6 from most of our NC teams. Its probably a combination of quickness and not pressing due to bench depth and foul avoidance. As to rebounding, and as Geno has said " you can't teach height", we are getting a lot less offensive rebounds on our end and giving our opponents a much higher offensive rebound rate at their end. For example, we are getting 36.5 % of rebounds on our offensive end but giving opponents 34.7 % on their end. The numbers for 2012-2013 are 41.3 vs 31.4. That probably explains most of the shot differential.
Any way, no we are not doomed and we are definitely in the hunt for the NC but there are some things we need to improve on , particularly against the larger teams with a quick backcourt.

 

[Kibitzer]

Uconn is not playing out of control but they are very very quick. When you play teams that are not as quick, dont move the ball quickly, dont hustle and play to much one on one theyre in for a long nite against UConn. I saw some of that against Depaul. UConn came out on fire and they were intimidating. Depaul didnt get back moved the ball very slow and a lot of that had to do with UConns defense and just didnt hustle. Alot of that had to do with UConns overall quickness.

Alot of fans are concerned about opponents height. Height without agility is almost useless. Height is a good intimidation factor but if your not in the position it does no good. The reason UConns defense has been so good is they are so quick. They are all over you in a split second. The second half of the Chatty game and almost the entire DePaul game you saw UConn everywhere. It seemed as if they were playing with more then 5 players.

Texas and ND are not quick. Both have good bigs which could give UConn some problems. With that said I am confident that Geno will run plays to get those opponents bigs to have to play defense and that could create problems. Having the opposing bigs have to come out and guard UConn opens up the middle and imo those bigs can not get back fast enough thus leaving the middle open for a dribble drive or kick out to an open player if they double down or allowing UConn and open shot inside the line.
It is going to be very difficult for those opponents to guard UConn. I am not really concerned about opponents getting the ball down low. UConn will defend most of those passes and make it tuff. I see some big surprises over the next 2 games. Alot will be told and weaknesses will be exposed on both sides.

Uconn will come in with a game plan and they will be focused and will run it with adjustments throughout the game. Our opponents will have their hands full. Again UConns quickness should prevail and it will be their quickness on defense that will set the tempo. I dont see either team keeping up with UConn. The only thing that can slow UConn down is foul trouble.

One last thing on height and this is for those who are concerned about opponents height. Big and slow does no good except to intimidate you. If you do what your fear and continue to what you fear you will win out. Meaning take the ball right at them. Force them to use their height to stop your quickness and see what happens. I like UConn in both of these games. At ND my only concern is when Uconn takes the ball to the hoop and there is contact will it be a charge on Uconn or a foul on ND?

@Tonyc. Love your optimism and enthusiasm. Now, please ask Santa to put a new apostrophe key in your stocking or on your keyboard.

 

[wallman]

From watching a few ND games they have players who are not athletic but offensive minded, then players who are not offensive but defensive minded. That is a difficult combination as you have to pick your poison. It will work against lesser talented teams but I am not sure it will work against a team that have both.

 

[UcMiami]

Well said @Tonyc. The only thing I would like to add is in addition to the perfect technique. UCONN plays defense with Perfect Technique.
I stealing one of @dannykuconn pictures to illustrate the point. In this picture you see 4 different UCONN players executing 4 different "perfect" defensive technique.
Napheesa is on the ball heavy on the the ball handler right hand.
Kia (a guard) is in over play splitting both the offensive (post) players legs and arms that ball is not getting in easily.
KLS is one pass away ready to shoot the gap left hand extended.
Gabby is dropping down to take away the baseline cut and be in rebounding position.
All UCONN eyes are on the ball but the relationship to the offensive player is also mantained.
Perfect in every sense of the word and when you execute with the quickness UCONN has you become virtually unbeatable.

Geat photo and analysis - Gabby is not just dropping down, but is positioned completely between her player and the ball as well as anticipating a 'back door' move/positioning for boxing out.

I would add to Tony's excellent post that not only is Uconn quick, but also, though they are not tall they are long - Napheesa and Lou both have longer arms than 'average' and can elevate, and Gabby whose limbs are pretty proportional has way above average elevation. That length and elevation can compensate quite a bit for height.

(NB - the DePaul game was the first instance where I noticed that Crystal's height was exploited a bit, whether by design or just chance I don't know. She does not have Moriah's length nor elevation which helped her compensate for her stature. Be interesting to see over the years if teams figure out ways to expose Crystal in this area, and how Geno and she work to hide this 'weakness'. We see the opposite issue with Natalie - how do you hide/compensate for her lack of quickness, while using her height to advanatage. Coaching is chess in three dimensions.)

 

[UcMiami]

One of the things that we learned from the DePaul game is that this team most definitely is capable of winning the NC. There are some things they are doing much better than NC teams from the past, such as 3pt shooting % differential, which to date is + .182 vs last year +.082. Also, the team imo that is closet in experience and make up is the 2012-13 team which had a differential of .092.
There are some things that we don't do as well as past NC teams and they relate to TONYc 's post and is a potential concern. We are taking on average 4.8 shots per game less than our opponents. That compares to + 5.0 to the 2012-13 team and even more unfavorable to last years team. The shot differential helps explain the lower margin of victory difference this year. The question is why.
Having played college basketball we always reviewed stats afterwards and two of the things we looked at were steal differential and rebounding differential at both ends. We are currently -.6 in steal differential compared to + 4 to + 6 from most of our NC teams. Its probably a combination of quickness and not pressing due to bench depth and foul avoidance. As to rebounding, and as Geno has said " you can't teach height", we are getting a lot less offensive rebounds on our end and giving our opponents a much higher offensive rebound rate at their end. For example, we are getting 36.5 % of rebounds on our offensive end but giving opponents 34.7 % on their end. The numbers for 2012-2013 are 41.3 vs 31.4. That probably explains most of the shot differential.
Any way, no we are not doomed and we are definitely in the hunt for the NC but there are some things we need to improve on , particularly against the larger teams with a quick backcourt.

The other factor in shot differential is free throws as they replace shots on an offensive possession (except for +1 fouls.) And Uconn this year is actually averaging a few more free throws than last. The TO/Steal issues are also one of the areas that tend to change quite a bit with Uconn teams over the course of a year as Geno tightens up both ends of the court. They and rebounding are also very dependent on specific opponents faced and that changes significantly YTY and from OOC to IC. Six games in is early to make projections vs. previous full seasons, but is still instructive.

FYI - Six games into the season last year I believe Moriah had an A/TO ratio of about 1.5 and finished the year at 2.8

 

[NewCorn]

Geat photo and analysis - Gabby is not just dropping down, but is positioned completely between her player and the ball as well as anticipating a 'back door' move/positioning for boxing out.

I would add to Tony's excellent post that not only is Uconn quick, but also, though they are not tall they are long - Napheesa and Lou both have longer arms than 'average' and can elevate, and Gabby whose limbs are pretty proportional has way above average elevation. That length and elevation can compensate quite a bit for height.

(NB - the DePaul game was the first instance where I noticed that Crystal's height was exploited a bit, whether by design or just chance I don't know. She does not have Moriah's length nor elevation which helped her compensate for her stature. Be interesting to see over the years if teams figure out ways to expose Crystal in this area, and how Geno and she work to hide this 'weakness'. We see the opposite issue with Natalie - how do you hide/compensate for her lack of quickness, while using her height to advanatage. Coaching is chess in three dimensions.)

Yes! Moriah had serious ups as well as speed for the opposing team to deal with. Least we forget, here are some highlights.

 

[JordyG]

Uconn is not playing out of control but they are very very quick. When you play teams that are not as quick, dont move the ball quickly, dont hustle and play to much one on one theyre in for a long nite against UConn. I saw some of that against Depaul. UConn came out on fire and they were intimidating. Depaul didnt get back moved the ball very slow and a lot of that had to do with UConns defense and just didnt hustle. Alot of that had to do with UConns overall quickness.

Alot of fans are concerned about opponents height. Height without agility is almost useless. Height is a good intimidation factor but if your not in the position it does no good. The reason UConns defense has been so good is they are so quick. They are all over you in a split second. The second half of the Chatty game and almost the entire DePaul game you saw UConn everywhere. It seemed as if they were playing with more then 5 players.

Texas and ND are not quick. Both have good bigs which could give UConn some problems. With that said I am confident that Geno will run plays to get those opponents bigs to have to play defense and that could create problems. Having the opposing bigs have to come out and guard UConn opens up the middle and imo those bigs can not get back fast enough thus leaving the middle open for a dribble drive or kick out to an open player if they double down or allowing UConn and open shot inside the line.
It is going to be very difficult for those opponents to guard UConn. I am not really concerned about opponents getting the ball down low. UConn will defend most of those passes and make it tuff. I see some big surprises over the next 2 games. Alot will be told and weaknesses will be exposed on both sides.

Uconn will come in with a game plan and they will be focused and will run it with adjustments throughout the game. Our opponents will have their hands full. Again UConns quickness should prevail and it will be their quickness on defense that will set the tempo. I dont see either team keeping up with UConn. The only thing that can slow UConn down is foul trouble.

One last thing on height and this is for those who are concerned about opponents height. Big and slow does no good except to intimidate you. If you do what your fear and continue to what you fear you will win out. Meaning take the ball right at them. Force them to use their height to stop your quickness and see what happens. I like UConn in both of these games. At ND my only concern is when Uconn takes the ball to the hoop and there is contact will it be a charge on Uconn or a foul on ND?

I'm also concerned about ND's guard play because they are fast, quick, and excellent ball handlers. But yeah, if UConn plays all these teams with an equivalent amount of intensity, emotion and execution, I don't see a threat from any of these remaining teams. Right now UConn's biggest enemies are themselves, Can they maintain this level of play and can they remain injury free.

 

[oldude]

Really excellent discussion by all on the quick vs big question. Geno has been placing a premium on quickness for several years now and it shows at both ends of the court. On offense, once they get the motion offense running, with back cuts, open spot ups for 3's, etc., they create numerous mismatches: big vs small, quick vs slow, etc. On defense, UConn switches all over the court which creates all kinds of problems for other teams trying to run their offense. Depaul had as much trouble as any team I have ever seen. Finally, there is defense to offense, turnovers leading to fast break baskets. When UConn starts turning other teams over, its usually lights out for the opponent.

 

[hoophuskee]

Westbeltd and Mabrey are not really quick or athletic. I'm sure the huskies can put pressure on the ball, and keep the ball out of Ogunbawale ( sorry about spelling) hands for easy shots. Now, what I'm really interested in seeing is how the Irish are going to defend KLS and Collier. Someone is going to have a mismatch with Westbeltd all night long. Do the Irish want Turner chasing KLS around all night? I doubt it !

I don't believe Turner is going to guard Lou. Mabrey and Young will guard Lou. Turner will guard either Gabby or Collier.

I don't believe UCONN can put any pressure on the ball that would really matter. Allen is an all-american type of pg (maybe when she is out?) and Arike has a good handle and is a guard and is very quick. The more you pressure the ball - ofc depends on where you pressure it- the more you open up the floor for a player like Arike. Plus it is near impossible to deny a guard as quick as her the ball. You can deny spots on the floor but that's about it.

Sure someone may have "a mismatch" but ND also feels they have mismatches. And this is wcbb, not the men's NBA where isolation rules the day. Westbeld and others aren't so incompetent that they can't compete well enough. After all they received scholarships too. And while for example we may have a mismatch, if the mismatch can't get UCONN open looks enough for Lou and others vs the rate as to which the other team is scoring, then the mismatch won't be as relevant. I don't believe ND thinks that Westbeld can't compete vs Collier or Gabby. Collier and Gabby are not Maya Moore.

 

[UcMiami]

Yes! Moriah had serious ups as well as speed for the opposing team to deal with. Least we forget, here are some highlights.

Oh my - love the highlights, love that player!
Just disappointed because I was hoping to see my favorite block perhaps of all time where her man lost her through screens and traffic and took a supposedly wide open 10' only to have Moriah reappear from amongst all the traffic and send it away. I think it was her junior year.

 

[Waquoit]

You do realize that Texas and ND are 2 of the most athletic teams in the country right?

Who on those teams is more athletic than Gabby Douglas? I'm asking.

 

[oldude]

ND is certainly talented, but imo, the Irish have had the weakest schedule of any of the top teams so far this season. The only ranked team they played is Washington, who also has not played another ranked team.

When ND faces UConn next week, it will be their 1st real test against a team that will play tough, in-your-face defense, all over the court; also a team where they don't have a decided physical advantage.

We'll see how they do.

 

[CocoHusky]

Oh my - love the highlights, love that player!
Just disappointed because I was hoping to see my favorite block perhaps of all time where her man lost her through screens and traffic and took a supposedly wide open 10' only to have Moriah reappear from amongst all the traffic and send it away. I think it was her junior year.

The Mo Jefferson block I remember was from her sophomore year against Odyssey Sims at Baylor.

 

[CocoHusky]

Who on those teams is more athletic than Gabby Douglas? I'm asking.

No one on either team is more athletic than Gabby Douglas!

 

[NewCorn]

Who on those teams is more athletic than Gabby Douglas? I'm asking.

Nobody, I'm sure. Unfortunately Douglas doesn't play basketball. We'll have to settle for Williams who is an extremely athletic basketball player, but probably lousy on the floor exercise.

 

[wallman]

I have to disagree with HH. Westbeld had major trouble with Stanford last year and so did NDs guards. The speed is on the bench., i.e. Johnson and Young. Allen is a pass first PG so she would have to take it on her shoulders, which is possible but not if you lay off her and make her shoot 3s. The other guards I don't see with speed, they both like to put up shots but if you watched the Stanford game, their scout was pretty good on them as they have definite tendencies. Ogunbowale could shoot them out of the game if she is not on. Plus I don't consider Stanfords D anywhere as good as Uconns. ND has struggled because of a lack of team play, just look at McGraws face and it tells the story.

 

[JordyG]

No one on either team is more athletic than Gabby Douglas!

I've said it before, but she'd take that half time trampoline dunk to a new level.