UConn VS Duke Analysis, Anyone?

[browns]

Looking for a relatively unbiased, evaluation of the matchup. I haven't seen Duke play a single minute this year. They have some mighty talented players, as usual. I'm not buying into the Azura vs Duke revenge storyline. If anything Z will be a bit nervous and will be playing against bigger players than she has lately... I'll be happy with any performance from her that is a net positive for the team. How do the usual key players, Pheesa, Lou and Gabby supported by Kia and Crystal (a.k.a. 24, 33, 15, 11 and 5 ) match up player for player?

Uconn by 25 with the starters sitting out the 4th quarter

 

[msf22b]

For some reason, I am worried about this game. Our kids lost in last year’s tourney to a team that never should have been with ten points of the Huskies.

That's usually my job...worried about this game...but I just don't see it.
Perhaps, maybe...Ms Lexi will get off to a fast start...she's a fine competitor...but, I just can't get overly concerned about this one, no matter how hard I try.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

 

[BigBird]

At the present time, Uconn is a 23.5 point favorite over Duke.

It will be closer than that. I just feel it in my old arthritic bones.

 

[Bama fan]

My wife and I went to a restaurant yesterday. The Duke grad waiting at our table pointed at the TV screen where the Georgia game was winding up and said, "We are serving notice today.".

ISWYDT

 

[Bama fan]

It will be closer than that. I just feel it in my old arthritic bones.

I have heard of "throwing the bones" for the purposes of divination, but not feeling the bones. That must be some sort of osteoarthritismancy.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Some basic analysis:

We have Geno.

Duke has ... well, Joanne.

 

[mhshuskies]

Great guard play for Duke, a rising freshman, really played sting and dominated Georgia. BUT, big advantage UCONN, you have Coach JPM and we don’t!

 

[BigBird]

I have heard of "throwing the bones" for the purposes of divination, but not feeling the bones. That must be some sort of osteoarthritismancy.

Or just one old man’s dysfunctional wig bubble.

 

[CMC'72]

For some reason, I am worried about this game..

 

[Tonyc]

With all due respect. This game could be over at half time. Mentally it cant be good for Duke. They have a few days which isnt good to think about UConn and what they need to do to stay in the game. UConn should be up over 25 and on cruise control by the end of the 3rd qtr. It doesnt change folks. It happens like this almost every game. UConn should win it all this year and every game should be by double figures. All this barring injuries and alot of foul trouble.

 

[oldude]

While Duke has a little bit of size, they are really a finesse team, which will not play well vs UConn.

They’ve been up and down all year, and can fall into sustained dry spells on offense, with a number of games where they’ve been held under 50 pts.

The Blue Devils have lost to UConn victims SC, Louisville & ND. They had some nice early season wins vs OSU & tOSU, but also had some questionable losses vs Nova, UNC, Miami & Cuse.

Duke should be credited for a solid win in Athens vs GA, but prior to that, they were beaten 51-45 by NC St in the ACC quarterfinals.

I have to believe the Blue Devils will wilt under UConn’s defensive pressure.

 

[scubadog]

I can't think of one matchup on the court that favors Duke. Starting with Kia shutting down Greenwell. Should we really go on ? This game could really get ugly.

 

[wes33]

Normally, when I tune in to see Duke, they seem to under-perform but I did catch their 79-66 game against FSU and Lexi Brown just had a monumental game, especially on the defensive end. She is a true ball hawk and gets into the passing lanes really well and Crystal will need to be on top of her game to deal with that. Greenwell never seems to have an impressive game when I watch so I do not see nearly enough weapons to give us a scare. NC State knocked them out of the ACC tournament 51-45 (enough said) 20+ pt win.

N C State may not meet your standards but they are peaking at years end nicely.

 

[Charliebball]

N C State may not meet your standards but they are peaking at years end nicely.

You're from Duke...............don't tell me they meet your standards?.................

 

[oldude]

I can't think of one matchup on the court that favors Duke. Starting with Kia shutting down Greenwell. Should we really go on ? This game could really get ugly.

Agreed. Kia has taken on every top backcourt scorer that UConn faced this year, including Asia Durr & Kitija Laksa, Greenwell is good, but she's not better than either one of those players.

 

[Oldbones]

Interesting stats from last game against Duke....Z had 3 rebounds in 30 minutes. What are the chances that if Geno was coaching her at Duke that she would have had 3 rebounds? Zero , Nada, Nil

The three starting guards for Duke shot a combined 1 for 14 scoring 9 points and committing 13 TOs. Of course Kia Nurse was a big factor in that performance and she outscored them all with 11 points and committed but 1 TO.

For a Sweet 16 game, this should be relatively uncompetitive.

Z had one rebound in 18 minutes vs. Quinnipiac. Irwin had 2 rebounds in 4 minutes.

 

[Jeff H]

For some reason, I am worried about this game. Our kids lost in last year’s tourney to a team that never should have been with ten points of the Huskies.

Try not to worry too much. Not now anyway. Yes UConn under performed last year against Mississipi State, but M state was a lot better team than I think most of us realized at the time. They're a lot better than Duke. UConn can beat Duke with just their B game.

 

[eebmg]

N C State may not meet your standards but they are peaking at years end nicely.

I did not try to belittle NC State but only point out the offensive limitations of duke. 45 pts is a poor number against any defense.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Coach P as she is so affectionately known (naw, not so much) lives and dies with the zone and will hope to rattle our 3 sharp shooters. Geno's recent admonition - essentially stop whining and try harder - tells you something about their warm and fuzzy relationship. P's point of view (maybe not really) here. Duke beats cold-shooting Georgia, to face UConn in regional

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Duke is given a 1% chance in this game. I may be repeating myself. I'm old and lazy.

 

[bags27]

My wife and I went to a restaurant yesterday. The Duke grad waiting at our table pointed at the TV screen where the Georgia game was winding up and said, "We are serving notice today.".

That's what a $1/4M education will get you.
(Just joking: absolutely nothing wrong with that work and it may be on the way to medical school or something. But Duke likes to tout its supposed academic superiority.)

 

[wes33]

I did not try to belittle NC State but only point out the offensive limitations of duke. 45 pts is a poor number against any defense.

State is a fun team to watch after you see coach P version of a offense. We will be hard pressed
to score 40 points Saturday. By the way State recruiting is improving and there coach is very
good should be a solid top 20 next year.

 

[oldude]

Coach P as she is so affectionately known (naw, not so much) lives and dies with the zone and will hope to rattle our 3 sharp shooters. Geno's recent admonition - essentially stop whining and try harder - tells you something about their warm and fuzzy relationship. P's point of view (maybe not really) here. Duke beats cold-shooting Georgia, to face UConn in regional

Duke's zone was largely effective vs GA because the Bulldogs are a very average 3pt shooting team, making 151-3's this season, while shooting less than 30%. UConn, on the other hand, has made 273-3's this season, while shooting almost 40%. UConn will run their offense through Gabby at the high post who will either shoot, drive to the basket, feed Pheesa or Z down low or kick it out to Lou, Kia or Crystal for a catch and shoot 3. Too many options for Duke to defend.

 

[Golden Husky]

I'm too exhausted from the first 2 games to think intelligently about the next one. 538 says Duke has a 2% shot of advancing over UConn. Massey says 4% in a 75-55 most likely game. Massey has been off as much as on this year, but anything can happen in the NCAAs. With USC the likely opponent if UConn beats Duke Geno will want to conserve gas, but still has the short bench issue- though I think that bench has gotten longer.

USC. This SoCal resident still thinks Trojans, not Gamecocks, when he reads that. Thankfully, Huskies stir images of UConn, not Washington, in this decaying brain.

 

[CajunHusky]

Coach P as she is so affectionately known (naw, not so much) lives and dies with the zone and will hope to rattle our 3 sharp shooters. Geno's recent admonition - essentially stop whining and try harder - tells you something about their warm and fuzzy relationship. P's point of view (maybe not really) here. Duke beats cold-shooting Georgia, to face UConn in regional

I'm confused I thought zone defense was vulnerable to the 3 point shooter. Zone shuts down the inside game. Of course if the team misses all those three's then you can get away with a zone.

"They live and die by their zone defense, and today they lived by it," said Georgia guard Haley Clark.

The Lady Bulldogs missed their first 13 3-pointers before Simone Costa sank a 3 midway through the final period.

"We had a game plan and we really stuck to it," said Duke guard Rebecca Greenwell, who had 11 points. "We wanted to keep the paint tight. We knew that was their tendency."

 

[RockyMTblue2]

USC. This SoCal resident still thinks Trojans, not Gamecocks, when he reads that. Thankfully, Huskies stir images of UConn, not Washington, in this decaying brain.

Me too on the USC thing, but I surrendered a couple of years ago to save the dreary Gamecock defense of their claim to it. Both can have it but it does give pause. They remind me of the Xerox legal team with their zealous copyright prosecution record making.

 

[Carnac]

For some reason, I am worried about this game. Our kids lost in last year’s tourney to a team that never should have been with ten points of the Huskies.

Don't be. UConn has 1 more "tune-up" game. The tournament begins in earnest with Monday's game, The great 8. That's were the rubber meets the road. As you know, that's the game teams get their ticket punched to the final four. Geno has said many times, that is the hardest game of the tournament to win.

All of the at large teams, bubble teams, and lower seeded teams should be gone. Only the cream of the crop, and a dark horse or two will be left. Geno and staff will have them focused and ready to play. They have some unfinished business they need to take care of. Duke finished 24-8. Four of those losses were to unranked teams. Should UConn get by Duke, they play the winner of South Carolina/Buffalo Monday night.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I'm confused I thought zone defense was vulnerable to the 3 point shooter. Zone shuts down the inside game. Of course if the team misses all those three's then you can get away with a zone.

"They live and die by their zone defense, and today they lived by it," said Georgia guard Haley Clark.

The Lady Bulldogs missed their first 13 3-pointers before Simone Costa sank a 3 midway through the final period.

"We had a game plan and we really stuck to it," said Duke guard Rebecca Greenwell, who had 11 points. "We wanted to keep the paint tight. We knew that was their tendency."

It's a spread zone, which makes them very vulnerable to a charge of our light brigade. I can't explain it, only report it. We have a history of ripping the Dookie team apart under P but apparently like St. Francis they only have one way to play.

Thank God we aren't Bulletin Board Material.

 

[Carnac]

You know something, I think Odom was a teammate of Lou's for one year at Mater Dei. Unless it is a different Odom.

You are correct, she's that same Leoanna Odom. Odom began her high school career at Los Alamitos, averaging 14.3 points and 8.8 rebounds. Then, Odom transferred to Mater Dei the following season and saw limited action for a team that got pummeled by Windward in the CIF-Southern Section Open Division final and by Long Beach Poly in the Regionals.

Odom decided to transfer again, this time to join her friend Valerie Higgins and transfer to Chaminade.
Two All-American talents on one court. Valerie Higgins committed to USC, then transferred to Pacific (Stockton, CA) after her freshman year. I saw them both play twice during their time at Chaminade.