UConn-South Carolina game

[visitingcock]

Nika has to behave herself. No foul trouble in the first half. Need a really good game from Ash and KK. Just Aaliyiah is not enough against their three bigs.

We run a three guard offense. We only have two bigs on the court except in unusual circumstances.

 

[ERWUC65]

This is not a good match up for us (or anyone really, but specifically for us). Our inability to stop quick guards, lack of rebounding and lack of depth, all play directly into SC's strengths.

With Cardoso out, SC's game plan with change drastically, I expect Dawn to from a half court to transition game and use their depth (all 10 players) to wear us down and try to get Aaliyah and Nika in foul trouble. Difficult as it may seem, Geno needs to watch the SC lineup as well as the ebb and flow of the game and put in Ice, Q and Ines (she's a better defender than the other 2) in those spots when we need a breather or a change of momentum.

 

[PacoSwede]

Nika has to behave herself. No foul trouble in the first half. Need a really good game from Ash and KK. Just Aaliyiah is not enough against their three bigs.

Nika? more like liya, kk, paige, ash and nika! not to mention ice, qadance and everyone else.

why, really, why single out nika? perhaps because she's so vital to the team? more than paige? good lord!

 

[Rowdy831]

Yep. It was a 4 point win with Boston, Cardoso, Saxton, and Johnson. A bad call occurred at the end of the game or the Huskies might have pulled it out. That’s playing only 6 players and Lou was basically playing on one leg by then

The biggest difference is last year UConn had a 6'3 and a 6'5 player on the court so they could compete on the boards. They are replacing 6'1 Lou with 6'0 Paige, 6'5 Dorka with 5'10 Ashlyn, and 6'2 Aubrey with 5'8 KK. It won't be the quality of the player but the size differential that will be the more insurmountable.

 

[Rowdy831]

This should be a good game, I may sound crazy (like I do most of the time) but, Johnson, Pao Pao and Bree Hall have me more concerned than the posts. Pao Pao torched us at Oregon and Bree Hall is their closer. She doesn't seem to let this team lose when it gets close. Johnson faceguarded Muhl in the last match-up and took her playmaking away. Losing Cardoso evens the playing field but having our Freshman guard their guards will be tough. Looking forward to a good game though, win or lose, it's not the NCAA tournament.

If UConn can't win the guard battle how do they have any shot in this game? People would say that Hidalgo beat UConn but to me the lack of a post defender allowed her to go off in that game. Any time she got a pick from the post at the free throw line she drove uncontested to the basket. If that defense is duplicated again against SC It will be a long game and an embarrassing loss for UConn.

 

[Chax]

I keep seeing references to how big South Carolina is so I thought I’d take a look at their roster and a few box scores to see how many of those players saw the court against ranked teams. Below shows the players grouped into Probable to Play Against the Huskies and Unlikely/If They Play The Huskies Were Blown Out. They don’t seem to be a team of terrifying giantesses.

Folks should go back and watch the last few losses to So Carolina. It wasn’t the big girls that beat UConn, it was the guards. Fulwiley is scarier than Feagin, IMO, not that they aren’t both terrific players. A UConn loss may very well happen, although a win is possible if the stars align, but it will most likely be decided by the guards rather than the big girls. I think the Huskies have pretty good guards

With all due respect, I have a completely alternative and differing opinion (which doesn't mean anyone is wrong or right). If one goes and looks at the box scores, players like Henderson and Cooke's point totals obviously jump out but that's one of many reasons why the point totals in the box scores don't ever tell the whole story. How many of their points were a result of a second, third, and/or fourth (etc.) offensive rebound by South Carolina's bigs? Like I said, we're all only voicing opinions here so no one is wrong. In this particular instance, I guess its just a matter of how you look at how the scoring opportunities for the guards came to be.

I hope everyone reading this has a great day! <3

 

[TB12]

I predict that Amari will see minutes in the first half, and many in the second half, we saw in the National championship game against Boston.

I wish Amari and Ines were better prepared.......

 

[connboy77]

I predict that Amari will see minutes in the first half, and many in the second half, we saw in the National championship game against Boston.

I wish Amari and Ines were better prepared.......

That is on Geno for not playing them more this year!

 

[Cornell Lt]

Don’t we have quick athletic guards too?

Not on par with SC's guards as far as quickness goes.

 

[Steelerone]

I keep seeing references to how big South Carolina is so I thought I’d take a look at their roster and a few box scores to see how many of those players saw the court against ranked teams. Below shows the players grouped into Probable to Play Against the Huskies and Unlikely/If They Play The Huskies Were Blown Out. They don’t seem to be a team of terrifying giantesses.

Folks should go back and watch the last few losses to So Carolina. It wasn’t the big girls that beat UConn, it was the guards. Fulwiley is scarier than Feagin, IMO, not that they aren’t both terrific players. A UConn loss may very well happen, although a win is possible if the stars align, but it will most likely be decided by the guards rather than the big girls. I think the Huskies have pretty good guards

View attachment 96128

Well researched, Nan

 

[hoopsnloops32]

We run a three guard offense. We only have two bigs on the court except in unusual circumstances.

Bree hall would play center for us so she counts as a big.

 

[ERWUC65]

I expect Geno will have someone (s) at the SC-Missouri game on Thursday (first game without Cardoso). In addition the coaches, players, etc., will be watching the game on whatever media is available and possibly viewing some tape after that. I expect Dawn to go to more of a transition game with much fewer half court sets with their post advantage gone. Missouri is not very good (11-11) so I expect her to use everybody to come up with a lineup to use against us on Sunday. It should be all telling, hard to replace that rebounding. If nothing else, Geno can look for lineups when we can use the bench (Ice, Q and Ines) to give our starters some rest.

 

[VA Huskie]

I will be there with my South Carolina grad wife and her parents. I'll be in full UCONN gear and expect to hear a lot from the SC fans when I'm at the game. Maybe I'll bring a little mojo for the women? I certainly hope so.

Enjoy the experience. You’ll be seeing the two best programs in women’s college basketball- over the past 10 years.

 

[VA Huskie]

That is on Geno for not playing them more this year!

No actually it’s on them. If they were better players they’d play more. Do you think he doesn’t want ALL of his best players on the floor?

 

[Jumper33]

I agree with the posters who are worried about their backcourt. South Carolina is always known for their frontcourt players but their current backcourt of Hall, PaoPao and Johnson is really good.

And agree with everyone who is saying Aubrey will be sorely missed. There are so many situations where a defender and athlete of her caliber would be a huge help. I’m just really sad about her being out.

I want to believe in the Huskies but South Carolina is darn scary. They have steamrolled many teams and they completely embarrassed a team that recently beat us. What Staley has going on down there is certainly impressive. I just don’t think UConn has enough depth to withstand them.

The St. John’s game made me a bit nervous with Aaliyah and Paige having to carry almost all the scoring load. I know they can always be counted on to score a lot but we need more offensive contributions from the freshmen, who are going through the ups and downs of being freshmen.

 

[HuskyNan]

I expect Geno will have someone (s) at the SC-Missouri game on Thursday (first game without Cardoso).

Believe it or not, that would be an NCAA violation. Coaches can’t scout in person. One of the UConn men’s alumni, now an assistant coach, was part of a team being honored at UConn and he needed special permission to attend the game being played that day.

 

[connboy77]

No actually it’s on them. If they were better players they’d play more. Do you think he doesn’t want ALL of his best players on the floor?

By not playing them he is wearing down the team. If UCONN is a tired team they might not even make it to the sweet 16!

 

[Husky fanatic]

That is on Geno for not playing them more this year!

It’s not a question of being prepared it’s their execution that isn’t there. They’ve been prepared.

 

[oldhusky]

I predict that Amari will see minutes in the first half, and many in the second half, we saw in the National championship game against Boston.

I wish Amari and Ines were better prepared.......

Amari playing in the second half of the championship game against South Carolina was not a strategic decision, but rather an act of desperation IMO. Lets remember a few things here. Going into the elite 8 we had a pretty good but shallow three big rotation with Liv AE, and Dorka.

We did not have a good 4th option upfront. Then Dorka was lost against NC State and we were in big trouble because we had no reliable backup big, and would face two great teams with outstanding bigs that outrebounded their opponents by huge margins.

That was the scenario against Stanford too, not just South Carolina, but Geno didn't look down the bench and think Amari could help in that game. We didn't know it at the time, but after the SC game we learned that Liv was injured with a groin injury and Azzi was sick. At the start of that game the backup big due to Dorka's injury was Evina, not Amari, and only when Liv was obviously not able to be effective was Amari used out of even more desperation.

In this game I think it would be similar, namely that Geno would play any of his top 7 against SC ahead of Amari. That is likely if either Aaliyah or Ice were unavailable. Then it would be one big and four guards, and only when you had your one big needing a blow do I think Amari gets considered and as soon as Ice or Aaliyah got a quick rest they would be back in.

Amari in the championship game was because Geno had no choice. Two of the three big rotation members were injured, and when the first was out he chose Evina instead of a true big, and only when Liv was also injured did amari get a few minutes. In some ways it was similar to using Ines last year at the end of the Princeton game and against Maryland. Geno had no other choices.

 

[boscolino]

I thought it was clear by now that Amari has some obvious difficuties to play at this level.

 

[Darwin]

Maybe Geno should start Q and Ice and bring Paige and Aaliyah off the bench

Sorry @HuskyNan , missed the humor there, I can be like that sometimes…

 

[Tonyc]

I am looking for UConn to fight hard with energy. We are what we are and have done really well since the Texas game. I look for us to be competitive and learn from this game. We will need everybody else to step up and score as well as execute and not stand around. Play our game and thats all we can expect. We are not the same team we would be if everybody was healthy and we know that. Im looking for an upset and will never doubt this team. We are UConn and even playing all those freshman we still have 3 really good seniors.

 

[Bald Husky]

South Carolina is South Carolina. Sure, it's a benefit that Cardosa will not play but Dawn always finds a way to beef up a position that may be weakened by any number of circumstances. I'm sure they will be tough, but if Aaliyah can hold her own down low it may become a 3 pt shooting contest. Generally speaking, their 3 pt shooting is much improved from years past, but if we can get Ashlynn and Paige going, we may have a chance. If our outside shooting is anything like it has been the last few games, we will lose. SC is a great all around team, so if we can shut down one area, we must play great in the other area. I have been impressed with Cloe Kitts since the under 19 tournament, as I thought she was the best player on the team. To win, we must play our best, which means we have to play better, defensively and offensively. What worries me is that it is a nationally televised game, and except for the Maryland game, we have been embarrassed every game we played. The committee will be watching, as will the other coaches and teams. If we want to be considered seriously for a top seed, this will be our last and only chance to impress the powers at be.

 

[LGITB]

I'm probably a naive (verging on dumb) fan, but I always have faith in the Huskie. I have faith in Geno and the coaching staff that they know what they're doing (despite the somewhat negative tone about that on the boneyard, for various reasons). I have faith that the players will rise up to the occasion, and even if we lost, even if we lose in double digits, well, it isn't March yet, is it?
And even if this season ends up being shorter than they and us would have liked - well, sucks to be them (more), sucks to be us (less), but that's all it is.