UConn is Very Dangerous

[hard2please]

even tonyc in his exuberance has underestimated exactly how good we will be

 

[Dogstar]

again it's not about offense, it's about DEFENSE. Stanford defense is the reason they won the ntl title. They couldn't hit anything vs SC until Haley Jones took over. Anna Wilson returns for her 6th year, Lexie Hull is a sr, Haley Jones is a jr. These guards are experienced and most importantly they are CHAMPIONS. To say that they can just be glossed over seems disrespectful. Can they score like Uconn's backcourt? No, can they defend them tho? yes

I agree, not one bit worried about the offense , it's the defense tht has me wondering, and I suspect tht Geno may be wondering too.

 

[hoophuskee]

IMO of the three teams UCONN, SC and Stanford, UCONN has the highest ceiling but the lowest floor.

 

[huskyd]

Precisely. The UCONN season pretty much ended with the same weakness -lack of a game changing perimeter defender. UCONN second game of the season Park-Lane torched UCONN for 29 and the last game of the season Ari McDonald torched UCONN for 26. In between the Seton Hall 1st game and the Arizona final game UCONN also failed to effectively contain these perimeter players as well: Dungee got 37: Ramirez got 22 in the same game. Rogers of Depaul got 20 , Correrea of St Johns got 33, Parker from Butler got 18, Carda from Creighton got 24, Clark* and Warnock from Iowa got 21 and 20 ( same game), Carrington from Baylor got 22.
* Christyn Williams did an outstanding job of containing Clark in the second half.

Why am I bringing up BE games some of which UCONN won by 40 points or more? For me it is about the mindset. If UCONN had a capable defender it would have been great practice to employ that defender during BE games in preparation for bigger moments. I also remember reading an article about the Arizona game for which Jamelle did the scout and Aari Mcdonald was compared to Allen Iverson. The comparison was bothersome because it was almost a concession-as in we aren't going to be able to stop her. I just don't think that is the right mindset to have.
Last year's team had plenty of fire power & this years team has more. Getting to the next level and winning a championship IMO is not going to come down to a shootout or who has the most fire power. It will come down to who has the ability and the tools to damped the other team's firepower the most efficiently in stretches =DEFENSE.

Very thoughtful, Coco--but wrong (sorry).
In the first place, UConn almost always tamps down the opponent's best scorer. But just stopping one doesn't mean stopping all. It's possible for a secondary player (or anyone) to have a good night. The proper way to evaluate a defense is by the points allowed over an entire season. No major program allowed fewer points that the Huskies. [2022 Women's College Basketball Team Statistics - ESPN]
If you examine the ESPN list, you'll find UConn @52.6/PA, Stanford @53.7; Baylor @55.3; Arizona @55.3; and Arkansas not in the top 50 among all teams. On offense, the Huskies were 5/6--tied with Baylor--(among 50) with almost/81.9 PA and Arkansas 82.3. On average, UConn outscored its opponents by almost 30 ppg.
I suppose one question to ask is: Would the Huskies have won the 2 games they lost with better perimeter defense? OR Did UConn's offense let them down in those games? I'd vote for lack of offensive production, while acknowledging that Arizona's defense was excellent.
The Huskies are renown for their D. In combination with their firepower, they almost always win. AND this year brings even more firepower. It's reasonable to expect UConn to outscore everyone.

 

[Alydar]

I'm certain that UConn will be playing outstanding defense by midseason. Four seniors and depth at every position will ensure it. Defense is mostly a matter of time and effort so unless all their talk is BS this team is making the effort.
There will be standing ovations for the defense this season.

 

[jchusky]

Very thoughtful, Coco--but wrong (sorry).
In the first place, UConn almost always tamps down the opponent's best scorer. But just stopping one doesn't mean stopping all. It's possible for a secondary player (or anyone) to have a good night. The proper way to evaluate a defense is by the points allowed over an entire season. No major program allowed fewer points that the Huskies. [2022 Women's College Basketball Team Statistics - ESPN]
If you examine the ESPN list, you'll find UConn @52.6/PA, Stanford @53.7; Baylor @55.3; Arizona @55.3; and Arkansas not in the top 50 among all teams. On offense, the Huskies were 5/6--tied with Baylor--(among 50) with almost/81.9 PA and Arkansas 82.3. On average, UConn outscored its opponents by almost 30 ppg.
I suppose one question to ask is: Would the Huskies have won the 2 games they lost with better perimeter defense? OR Did UConn's offense let them down in those games? I'd vote for lack of offensive production, while acknowledging that Arizona's defense was excellent.
The Huskies are renown for their D. In combination with their firepower, they almost always win. AND this year brings even more firepower. It's reasonable to expect UConn to outscore everyone.

Stanford Baylor Arizona play in a real conference. Marquette who made the big east final, would they even be ranked top 50?

 

[jabstep]

again it's not about offense, it's about DEFENSE. Stanford defense is the reason they won the ntl title. They couldn't hit anything vs SC until Haley Jones took over. Anna Wilson returns for her 6th year, Lexie Hull is a sr, Haley Jones is a jr. These guards are experienced and most importantly they are CHAMPIONS. To say that they can just be glossed over seems disrespectful. Can they score like Uconn's backcourt? No, can they defend them tho? yes

Hopefully, we will find out in the final. I imagine they put Jones on Paige and Wilson on Azzi or CW. Brink is a very good defender but tended to be foul-prone last year but maybe this year maybe they coach her up on that aspect. I will save some popcorn for that matchup.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

As always, Tony, an inspiring post. And a wonderful moniker: P&A. I'm going to suggest you make a slight modification in honor of our soon-to-be back court and what was once the largest retailer in the U.S., The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company or, more informally, the A&P.

Paige and Azzi aren't just P&A, they are (hopefully) the Great P&A.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

You're absolutely right. I sit wondering if the glass is half-full or half-empty. The I read a "tonypost" and think I'm gonna need a bigger glass.

 

[Inthepaint]

The thing I'm going to be looking for is can they take contact and still score. I think the beat them up strategy is going to be on this year due to all the things that have been said in this string..it's the only option opponents will have. I think I should start a poll on how many black eyes and drawed blood will happen this year because I think the KLS treatment will be just the beginning.

The youngsters had trouble with being beat up last year, I think because they were freshman and playing 30+ minutes every game.

As Geno says, his players love for the beauty of the game can make them susceptible to over reacting to being mugged rather than expecting it and drawing fouls.. I hope being stronget will help them play through contact because its coming...

i remember watching a UCONN-UCF game a couple of years ago.
Huskies were leading by 20 and getting way the better of the Knights. However, they were also being pretty roughly handled under the baskets.
At half-time Geno was asked about the physicality of the game.
He replied, referring to UCF's strategy, "Hey, if you can't beat 'em, beat' em up"
Although the Non-conference games will, no doubt, be more competitive and intriguing, let's not assume that the BE players and coaches have already conceded the games or conference championship/ tournament. I will not be surprised if some of these games might get quite ugly at garbage time, when the Huskies start pulling away. Frustration and resentment might lead to some acts of thuggery, especially if we are embarrassing somebody in their own building, in front of their own partisans.
Here in the BY we might view the whole BE schedule as some sort of pre-NCAA Tournament appetizer, and UCONN will probably be a prohibitive odds-on favorite to clean up. But at places like St.John's, Xavier, Creighton, Georgetown,etc., the games against UCONN will be as close to a Final Four as they will get. Don't figure them to go down without trying to put a bit of hurt on the Storrs Gang.
"Rocky 1"
Apollo Creed's trainer to his fighter in between rounds:
"This fool don't know it's a show!! He thinks it's a fight!!"

 

[eebmg]

Nice article in the Athletic about the deep UConn team with some nice BE coach quotes. Of course, they are probably crying while giving the quotes

UConn has had its share of national champions. How does this season’s team measure up? – The Athletic

“He’s always going to have really good players, but now he has tremendous depth and he’s such a brilliant coach, his ability to change matchups is going to really be difficult to go against,” Bozzella said.

“It’s hard to forget any Stewie team because she just brought such greatness to the program, but this was a very competitive UConn team last year and now they’ve got another year of experience,” DePaul coach Doug Bruno said.


“They’re competitive every time you face them,” Tartamella said. “It doesn’t matter who they’re playing and what the score is. They’re playing as hard as they possibly can, and that’s the beauty of what they do and how he coaches them and how he’s able to get them to that point.”

 

[Performance]

How about instead of trying to figure who is the better team (as they are all great) and not just the top three there are quite a few really good teams after them. I think we should just look forward to watching our team play as the season is almost upon us!! As the saying goes sit back and enjoy the ride, I know I will!!! Go UCONN!!!

 

[visitingcock]