UConn vs Michigan (Championship) | Page 11 | The Boneyard

UConn vs Michigan (Championship)

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BigErnMcCracken said:
This is still going?

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We're going for our third national championship in four seasons tonight and he's still doing this.

It's beyond weird.
 
IMO and maybe it's obvious, but this game has to be played in the 60's or low 70's for Uconn to have a chance.

We can't run up and down with Michigan. Duke beat this Michigan team 68-65. That should be the only gametape Uconn watches in prep for this game. How did Duke slow them down?
 
For the mojo:

I accidentally caught myself wearing Furman colors in Round 1 (honestly, I wasn't worried about mojo round 1 and was barely cognizant that Furman was purple). Reached for a light-blue hoodie the day of the UCLA game and decided to go with it.

Now I am stuck wearing "maize and blue" today (the only combo I have that can display both is a t-shirt and shorts) so it is going to be a chilly day out there today.
 
Couple of thoughts:

-The line in this game (Michigan -7.5) is pretty surprising to me...I have an extremely hard time believing that Yaxel is anywhere near 100% (best case maybe 60%?)
-Solo potentially being out/not playing a full workload might end up as a blessing. We don't need him clanking out-of-rythm 3's off the back iron and creating easy transition opportunities for Michigan. If we control the tempo, we can easily hang around.
-Reed needs to be extremely disciplined and stay out of foul trouble. Reibe will not be able to do anything against Mara or Johnson.
-We hit 10+ 3's and we'll have a chance to win.
-No long scoring droughts like in prior games.
 
Mets1432 said:
IMO and maybe it's obvious, but this game has to be played in the 60's or low 70's for Uconn to have a chance.

We can't run up and down with Michigan. Duke beat this Michigan team 68-65. That should be the only gametape Uconn watches in prep for this game. How did Duke slow them down?
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I think Iowa and Minnesota did a really good job as well. Both play at a slower pace like we do.
 
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HW611 said:
We should run the offense for whoever he is guarding. Wear his ass out defensively.
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they will try to play more zone to protect him. Thus, our shooters will be key even more than usual.
 
Hurleyman216 said:
Mara impacted so many shots last night it was ridiculous…the problem is UConn is going to put up 30-35 three pointers and he’s not a factor out beyond the arc. He could help neutralize Reed, but our game plan isn’t to “pound the paint” like Arizona. Our plan needs to be making them defend us for 20-25 seconds and getting a clean three and hitting 40% of them. We do that and we put up a lot of them and we win.
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Mara does not have the beef to neutralize Bear. He will block some shots, but he wont stop Bear.
 
DogMania said:
When have you seen UConn play any zone? Frankly I can't remember the last time they played any extended minutes of zone.

I doubt you'll see much if any zone D. Zones tend to give up offensive rebounds, which we don't want to do against Michigan.
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Just gave an easy answer to the statement posted and if we give up that many boards in the exact scenario I responded too with their bigs looking to go over the top and floating around the perimeter then we have issues.

I think back to the Xavier game in 2023.

Rough first half against a very similar style team. Went pretty much zone the entire 2nd half and dominated that half.

Xavier had two solid bigs in Nunge and Freemantle.

40ish% three point shooting.

Bigs that could step out and hit the 3.

And yes. We do use it sparingly.. no where did I say we had to play it or we would...

We are elite defensively. I trust the staff 100%. Just giving an answer to a statement and stating something we have indeed used in situations.
 
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Mets1432 said:
IMO and maybe it's obvious, but this game has to be played in the 60's or low 70's for Uconn to have a chance.

We can't run up and down with Michigan. Duke beat this Michigan team 68-65. That should be the only gametape Uconn watches in prep for this game. How did Duke slow them down?
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Duke played a 3/4 zone against them. Out rebounded them by 12-13 boards. Slowed the tempo. Gave them less possessions watched the after dark podcast on this game recently.
 
There was a reason for the comeback vs Duke and the game winning shot from Mullins. Its not to lose in the final. There is a higher power involved here.
 
Marat said:
There was a reason for the comeback vs Duke and the game winning shot from Mullins. Its not to lose in the final. There is a higher power involved here.
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I think about all the things that needed to break perfectly UConn's way in order for Mullins' shot to even happen. I'm not even gonna consider Duke's last possession right before the steal where they could have done a half dozen things to prevent us from winning. Foster getting called for an offensive foul as Duke was about to inbound the ball after a TO. Cam Boozer coughing up the ball in an unforced error which led to Solo getting the fast break layup (+1). Reed, a sub-60% FT shooter making all his FT's. Karaban hitting his only 3 of the game with just over a minute left.

I'd even wager if Silas had made both FTs (or made the 1st, missed the 2nd), we would have likely lost the game. But him missing the 1st, making the 2nd allowed us to set up the full court trap that led to the Mullins Miracle. I don't believe in God, but if there is a God, he must be a UConn fan.
 
HCCForever said:
Most people think that UConn needs to keep the game in the 60s. I just listened to Ray on the Dan Patrick show DP and he suggested that UConn should run some since that is the best time to take trailing threes before the defense sets up. And UConn cannot afford any scoring droughts against Michigan.
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With all do respect to Ray, 2 of Michigan's three losses were extremely slow games - Duke #287 in temp and Purdue #330. The other loss was against Wisconsin who is not slow #100 but they shot 45% from three that game.
 
To me, if we win tonight, this will be either the #2 or #3 greatest championship based on expectations for the team. I'd put Kemba's 2011 1st due to the sheer unlikelihood, and maybe 1999 2nd for beating what Coach K. said was his best Duke team.
 
bendm said:
I think we match up well minus Yaxel. I love Silas v Cadeau and Mullins v Nimari. Morez is going to be gasping for air chasing Karaban around. And I’m still taking Reed over Mara. He’s got the length but not the strength. As I said The only matchup problem that scares me is Yaxel but hopefully he’ll be gimpy. We also have Ross and Stew to throw at him. Maybe that means less time with Ball and Mullins on the floor together.

Similar to tonight We need to hit at least a dozen 3s. Can’t get out rebounded and can’t turn the ball over giving them transition opportunities. Slow the pace to a crawl. Run our offense and make them defend for 20 seconds every possession. On top of all that we can’t foul so much.
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Referees need to let the players play. Michigan is deeper and a tightly called game is an advantage to Michigan.
 
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Mike9904111 said:
Duke played a 3/4 zone against them. Out rebounded them by 12-13 boards. Slowed the tempo. Gave them less possessions watched the after dark podcast on this game recently.
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Interesting. I don't think Uconn has ever switched to a zone defense this year, I highly doubt Danny switches strategies now. Maybe he will throw it in for a possession or two.
 
jfreeds said:
With all do respect to Ray, 2 of Michigan's three losses were extremely slow games - Duke #287 in temp and Purdue #330. The other loss was against Wisconsin who is not slow #100 but they shot 45% from three that game.
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I was surprised by Ray's comments as well. He referenced the Indiana/UNLV game in 1987 FF semifinal. I don't remember that game but Alford was on the team and Indiana shot 62%. Final IU 97/UNLV 93. I can't imagine UConn going at that tempo
 
It's a little hard to believe, with as much history as both programs have, that we've never met in the NCAA Tournament.

Of prominent programs, we've had memorable encounters, often multiple ones, with:
  • Duke
  • Kentucky
  • Michigan State
  • UNC
  • Purdue
  • UCLA
  • Florida
  • Gonzaga
  • Kansas
  • Villanova
  • Texas
  • Illinois
  • Alabama
  • SDSU

It's just a weird coincidence that we and Michigan haven't often been good at the same time. They won in 89, made the title game in 92 and 93, when we hadn't yet arrived (except for the Dream Season), then again in 2013 (banned) and 2018 (Ollie). Our back-to-back was when they were digging out from Juwan Howard.

In fact, this might be our most significant first Tournament meeting in a while.
 
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jackanddanny8 said:
Am I the only one here who wonders who Yaxel can guard? Whoever he’s guarding is gonna run him through so many motions. Who can he keep up with in UConn’s offense? That leg didn’t feel better this morning. I don’t think they can play him, as he’d be too much of a defensive liability. It may take half the first half before they realize he’s hurting more than helping, but if he’s moving the same or worse than last night, AK, Mullins, Ross, Stewie and Ball (whoever he’s guarding) are going to be getting WIDE open 3’s. He’s gotta play defense against UConn. Hurley will challenge his mobility early and often, unlike Arizona post injury. If he’s all better I suppose we’ll see that right away too.
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Karaban and Mullins constantly running loops around Reed screens all night will be a handful.
 
caw said:
I’ve been thinking about this for awhile and I honestly don’t know how UConn defends that frontline to start the game. Let’s go big and sit Solo and start Reibe. I’m kidding but that would match their size and I’m not sure how else UConn does that.
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Problem is Reibe would foul out in the first half.
 
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