UCONN NC Teams Semi Final #1 2002 vs 2000

[meyers7]

2002 Team - Bird, Williams, Cash, Jones (Sr), Taurasi, Conlon, MValley (So), Battle, Moore, AValley, Marron (Fr) - Battle and Moore were R/S. Johnson had Xfrd out and Walters was injured.

2000 Team - Sauer, Hansmeyer (Sr), Ralph, Abrosimova, Schumaker, Czel, Rigby (Jr), Bird, Williams, Cash, Jones (So), Johnson (Fr), - Walters inj.

Give it a couple days to vote.

 

[rocky rococo]

2002 - Taurasi (So.)

2000 - We're counting Shea and Sveta as available? It makes a difference in my pick. (Ooops, nevermind it was 2001 they went down, duh.)

 

[meyers7]

2002 - Taurasi (So.)

Oops, yea fixed it. Thanks.

 

[bballnut90]

Interesting matchup:
PG: 2000 Bird vs. 2002 Bird, edge 2002 Bird. More experienced/seasoned.
SG: 2000 Ralph vs. 2002 Taurasi, edge 2000 Ralph. Ralph was more efficienct and a much better defender than Taurasi.
SF: 2000 Abrosimova vs. 2002 Cash, draw. Abrosimova would get the edge in all around game offensively, but Cash is a better defender/rebounder.
PF: 2000 Cash vs. 2002 Tamika Williams. Edge 2002 Williams. Better rebounder and defender than Cash was as a sophomore.
C: 2000 Schumacher vs. 2002 Asjha Jones. Edge Asjha Jones. Schumacher was an anchor in the paint and a better shot blocker, but Jones was much, much stronger offensively.

Bench: 2002: Conlon/Moore/Battle vs. 2000: Jones/Williams/Sauer/Johnson. Edge 2000. Better quality post depth and a strong backup point guard in Johnson.


Overall you have to give the edge to 2002 because they were older/seasoned/more experienced. 2000 had Ralph and Abrosimova along with great depth, but the backcourt of Bird/Taurasi was phenomenal, plus they had three strong forwards who could all battle in the paint, with Jones/Cash able to hit shots from the perimeter.

I think a more interesting battle would be 2009 UCONN vs. 2000 UCONN. Bird/Ralph/Abrosimova vs. Moore/Montgomery/Charles.

 

[meyers7]

Keep them votes coming.

 

[UcMiami]

Really tough choice because the core of the two teams is the same separated by only two years of development. I ended up voting 2000. My reason ...
Shea Ralph - this was her prime year. I think people forget just how bloody minded she was in pursuit of victory. She was DT before DT, and the 2000 version of Shea was superior to the 2002 version of DT who was just scratching the surface.
Abrosimova - an incredible player who by herself makes up the difference between 2000 vs 2002 TASS force and tips the balance to 2000.
The rest of the teams were secondary but the balance goes to 2000 as well.

 

[Wally East]

The 2000 team was a single bucket from taking a quantum leap in level of respect.

I still remember (laughing about) how annoyed the Tennessee fans were that the Lady Vols won at Gampel but UConn was still ranked #1.

 

[hoophuskee]

This is a terrible matchup for the 2000 team. They were more of a keep even in the paint or slightly ahead and then crush you with guards and the sf. Problem is, 2002 is better at both guard positions and the best defender on 2002, Tamika, would guard Sveta. At the other end, DT and 2002 Sue Bird are the 2 best players on the court. As Summit once said to paraphrase "there are four seniors and 1 graduate student."

Actually, I believe the 2010 team could give the 2002 team the toughest matchup. Tina would be a huge problem.