UConn stats.... Why play a game against such a mismatched opponent?

[DavidinNaples]

Two Loyola stats stand out from last night's game. First, the Ramblers had 9 baskets and 36 turnovers. That is a 4 to 1 ratio in the wrong direction. Second, the Loyola team scored 8 points in the 2nd and 3rd periods, combined..! I don't remember an opponent scoring only 3 points in a ten minute period before. Despite winning by 54 points, the Huskies even failed to cover the 57 point betting spread. Why play a game that was such an obvious mismatch from the day it was scheduled?

There are at least three great reasons to play this game. First, games are a reward for players for practicing hard. UConn has very, very hard practices. Games are the reward for all that effort day in and day out. Kelis and Ayanna each played 7 minutes last night. Is that going to happen in a tight scoring game against USC or Tennessee? Blanca suited up for her first official (non-exhibition) UConn game. Imagine her thrill to dress in game uniform and come out of the tunnel, into a sold out arena, to the thunder of applause and music. Any game is better than practice..!

The 2nd and 3rd reasons are that games are also a reward for fans and blowouts give Geno a chance to mix and match lineups. Fans watched Azzi swish two threes, 12 players score and Blanca play 14 exciting minutes. Watching a game live at Gampel is thrill regardless of the opponent or score. The student section was packed and rocking. Geno indicated after the game he is still working out optimum lineups. The Loyola game gave him plenty of minutes to experiment. And they still won by 54 points...

Relax and enjoy every game. Thoughts?
Go Huskies..!

 

[BBallF]

Two Loyola stats stand out from last night's game. First, the Ramblers had 9 baskets and 36 turnovers. That is a 4 to 1 ratio in the wrong direction. Second, the Loyola team scored 8 points in the 2nd and 3rd periods, combined..! I don't remember an opponent scoring only 3 points in a ten minute period before. Despite winning by 54 points, The Huskies even failed to cover the 57 point betting spread. Why play a game that was such an obvious mismatch from the day it was scheduled?

There are at least three great reasons to play this game. First, games are a reward for players for practicing hard. UConn has very, very hard practices. Games are the reward for all that effort day in and day out. Kelis and Ayanna each played 7 minutes last night. Is that going to happen in a tight scoring game against USC or Tennessee? Blanca suited up for her first official (non-exhibition) UConn game. Imagine her thrill to dress in game uniform and come out of the tunnel, in a sold out arena, to the thunder of applause and music. Any game is better than practice..!

The 2nd and 3rd reason are that games are a reward for fans and blowouts give Geno a chance to mix and match lineups. Fans watched Azzi swish two threes and Blanca play 14 minutes. Watching a game live at Gampel is thrill regardless of the opponent or score. The student section was packed and rocking. Geno indicated after the game he is still working out optimum lineups. The Loyola game gives him plenty of minutes to experiment. And they still won by 54 points...

Relax and enjoy every game. Thoughts?
Go Huskies..!

I think Geno had his reasons. Perhaps it was Sister Jean, perhaps the history, perhaps he needed a game, perhaps he wanted an easy game, who knows. I will tell you this. Our team is so good and so deep that when the second team and part of the third is on the floor, it is still very, very potent. The defense is still tight. Maybe not as tight but still good.

This was good for a lot of reasons. Good way to break Blanca in, for Ay and Kelis to play, for Ash to get her groove back, for Carol to play, to keep the bench happy and for the fans. Geno also gets to experiment and if you were watching carefully you saw some very interesting combos. How about Allie, Blanca, Jana, Carol and K9? I am very ok with the game.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Why play such a mismatched opponent? I don’t know, ask Kim. 😏

 

[my2cents]

Clemson only scored 2 points in the 4th qtr. against South Carolina on Tuesday. They only scored making 2 foul shots. They didn't make a basket in the last 13 minutes of the game. Talk about futility.

 

[Zanzman]

Since you brought it up what is iUConns record against the spread?

 

[MooseJaw]

Two Loyola stats stand out from last night's game. First, the Ramblers had 9 baskets and 36 turnovers. That is a 4 to 1 ratio in the wrong direction. Second, the Loyola team scored 8 points in the 2nd and 3rd periods, combined..! I don't remember an opponent scoring only 3 points in a ten minute period before. Despite winning by 54 points, the Huskies even failed to cover the 57 point betting spread. Why play a game that was such an obvious mismatch from the day it was scheduled?

There are at least three great reasons to play this game. First, games are a reward for players for practicing hard. UConn has very, very hard practices. Games are the reward for all that effort day in and day out. Kelis and Ayanna each played 7 minutes last night. Is that going to happen in a tight scoring game against USC or Tennessee? Blanca suited up for her first official (non-exhibition) UConn game. Imagine her thrill to dress in game uniform and come out of the tunnel, in a sold out arena, to the thunder of applause and music. Any game is better than practice..!

The 2nd and 3rd reasons are that games are a reward for fans and blowouts give Geno a chance to mix and match lineups. Fans watched Azzi swish two threes, 12 players score and Blanca play 14 exciting minutes. Watching a game live at Gampel is thrill regardless of the opponent or score. The student section was packed and rocking. Geno indicated after the game he is still working out optimum lineups. The Loyola game gave him plenty of minutes to experiment. And they still won by 54 points...

Relax and enjoy every game. Thoughts?
Go Huskies..!

try #4, we were a game short and no one else would take the game.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Love your stats David. Illuminating without blinding.

 

[Topdawg]

The Loyola coach was the head coach at Yale for 7 years. She probably knows Geno and a chance to be on National TV helps Loyola a lot. Geno has a tradition of mentioning coaches and helping them succeed. Just a thought…

 

[LwrcasefaN]

I think they're valuable for backups, especially newbies or those players returning from long rehabs. These seasons are long. Ease into them.

 

[Charliebball]

The game was a mess from the first minute........offensively, UConn played down to Loyola's level......I viewed it simply as a scrimmage with 10,000 spectators hanging out.......I'm expecting a better all-around performance against a pretty decent Ohio State team....

 

[Kaizen]

Loyola Chicago beat Milwaukee 59-55, and they are 2-0 entering the game.
Just to play the #1 team in the country is way too much ....

 

[uconnever]

I don’t mind some games like this, but it does bother me that UCLA played Oklahoma a couple of nights ago and play North Carolina tonight. They will be battle tested for sure. The one thing that calms me is that playing us is not like playing anyone else.

 

[fomalhaut]

Connecticut isn't playing the doormats some other schools are (cough*Notre Dame*cough); there's no harm in playing a middling team or two early in the season when they're trying to work in new players and bring others back from injury.

 

[oldhusky]

For most of the Power 4 programs the OOC schedule is more like an extended preseason before the real season for them begins, namely the conference schedule. They can give the whole roster playing time, try different combinations, define roles and get ready for the big games to come.

Personally I think that might be the preferred path for a coach but at Uconn it is not a realistic option. If we don't schedule a number of tough OOC games early in the season, we won't have enough games of interest, because the conference schedule is relatively easy.

That means we have to schedule some games we could easily lose while we are still getting used to new players, defining the rotation and roles, and developing chemistry. If a freshmen is going to make an impression and earn a spot in the rotation they need to almost do it in the preseason. The challenging games come fast and furious and if you are not in the rotation early, you don't get much of a chance to show you belong there until you can show it in mop up minutes in blowouts once the conference schedule starts.

Of course you can do it in practice, but I think Geno still wants to see it in games before making a big increase in playing time. It is what it is, but Uconn's situation is very different from the Power conferences and even from the best of the mid-majors, because they generally don't take on nearly as difficult an out of conference schedule as we do.

 

[Aluminny69]

I think Geno had his reasons. Perhaps it was Sister Jean, perhaps the history, perhaps he needed a game, perhaps he wanted an easy game, who knows. I will tell you this. Our team is so good and so deep that when the second team and part of the third is on the floor, it is still very, very potent. The defense is still tight. Maybe not as tight but still good.

Note: UConn lost the fourth quarter to L'Ville 26-18, and Fla St 19-16. Although they won the fourth quarter against Loyola 21-14, keep in mind Loyola only scored 17 points in the first three quarters.

Although players 8 thru 14 are good and fun to watch, let's not over estimate their abilities as a team.

 

[VaConnFan11]

I don’t mind some games like this, but it does bother me that UCLA played Oklahoma a couple of nights ago and play North Carolina tonight. They will be battle tested for sure. The one thing that calms me is that playing us is not like playing anyone else.

UCLA also plays Southern (#225), Cal Poly (#221) and Long Beach St (#272). Everyone puts "easy" games on their schedule to test things out and to give everyone playing time.

 

[BobbyJ]

I don’t mind some games like this, but it does bother me that UCLA played Oklahoma a couple of nights ago and play North Carolina tonight. They will be battle tested for sure. The one thing that calms me is that playing us is not like playing anyone else.

No need to worry. UCLA was battle tested last year too by playing 13 games against Top 25 teams prior to the NC tournament. And ultimately if UConn is good enough, it doesn't matter. UConn controls their own season no matter who they play.

 

[joea]

Who are the matched opponents? Not very many, the competitive separation in Womens basketball remains wide.
They could not schedule a competitive OOC schedule if they tried,

 

[Next 12]

UCONN's OOC schedule is only as good as teams willing to play UCONN. Our over-all record against OOC teams I do not know, but a statistic posted by a Boneyarder previously stated UCONN's record from 2000 to 2025 is 875 wins ans 46 losses. So I can see why only a hand full of teams are willing to play UCONN. The risk of losing is high. Congratulation to all the elite teams that will play UCONN, I will state that they are the top ten. GO HUSKIES!!!! GO THE BEAST OF THE EAST!!!!!!