UConn vs Michigan (Championship)

[gsmooth]

Been thinking about it really think that the keys guys are going to be Silas and Malachi. If they can slow down michigans pg get him out of his flow like they have done to michigan st and Illinois pg. frustrating him forcing him to play out of his game not let him control the game we should be in good shape.

Also need AK to have a senior night refuse to lose Captain Connecticut kind of night.

Just like Illinois it has to be a team effort. That doesn’t necessarily mean scoring from the others though tha would be nice. We need the guys to play tough D (Michigan likes to run even off makes) it’s controlling the glass. It’s about not getting silly wasted fouls.

Court balance on offense will be important for UConn when they shoot. Silas has a good nose for the basketball and is a good rebounder, but he has to be judicious about when he goes in for the offensive rebound like a Tristen Newton. Silas usually is, but it will be more important for this game.

The other thing with Cadeau is maybe it's best for UConn to try to make him a scorer as opposed to a passer or driver. Yes, he can shoot 3s well now unlike last year when he played for North Carolina. But I think he is a lot more problematic when he is driving to the basket, especially off the pick and roll with Mara. How Hurley decides to stop this? I am not sure, but the hard hedge is most likely the way, but Tarris and Eric absolutely cannot pick up a single foul this way.

I know officially Cadeau had 10 assists against Arizona, or whatever it was, but he really got about 18-20 assists. People focused on his 2-15 shooting, but a lot of those missed shots were taken with the intention and purpose of giving Mara and Morez Johnson the opportunity to get the offensive rebound and put back. It was basically like hockey's dump and chase strategy.

 

[DogMania]

True, but a Zone can help with that quite a bit. We'll see what the staff comes out with. Im fine with giving them those swing 3 point attempts early on, especially if we rotate properly most will be contested even in a zone. They aren't an easy matchup for anyone. This will certainly be a battle.

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.

 

[ctbro1999]

When Eric comes in, he has to focus on Mara. Absolutely NO fouling a guard 20 feet from the basket. Frustrate Mara and get him into foul trouble.

Reibe had some horrendous foul where he bumped Wagler who was almost out of bounds with 7 seconds left on the shot clock. He can't make those kinds of bad decisions when he's in the game tonight. Just need some solid minutes from him to spell Reed.

 

[tzznandrew]

Not sure I agree with this - Smith and Ross have been critical in this run.

The entire 2nd unit would have pushed the lead up to 14 too Saturday if Reibe didn't miss that layup too.

Right. Illinois went on a run, but only after that miss. Hurley was sneaky in getting his starters a lot of rest in the second half at very minimal cost. We're going to be fresh.

Cadeau is the key, in my opinion. I know they have other initiators, but he's the engine with a hobbled Yaxel, and he's been good. But he is their weak link. He's fast and small, but if they rattle him, get him to turn it over (and he had 6 against Arizona), we can disrupt this offense.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[ctbro1999]

Right. Illinois went on a run, but only after that miss. Hurley was sneaky in getting his starters a lot of rest in the second half at very minimal cost. We're going to be fresh.

Cadeau is the key, in my opinion. I know they have other initiators, but he's the engine with a hobbled Yaxel, and he's been good. But he is their weak link. He's fast and small, but if they rattle him, get him to turn it over (and he had 6 against Arizona), we can disrupt this offense.

I have 100% confidence Silas can lock down on Cadeau. He's proven time and time again he can shut down the opposing team's PG.

 

[Ripper32]

B1G+

Purdue gave them fits. Kaufman-Renn thrashed them BOTH games and but in the title game win, both he and Cluff combined for 41 of their 80 points.

The natural inclination is to believe Michigan will contain Reed with their size, but it may be the opposite. They REALLY struggled with the girthy Purdue bigs, neither of which is as big or mobile as Reed.

Purdue played absolutely no defense whatsoever but had no issue at all scoring on them

There are matchup problems for Michigan nobody in media land is talking about.

We don't have a player like Kaufman-Renn on the roster though. He's very clever with pump fakes and deception.

 

[Kowalski]

B1G+

Purdue gave them fits. Kaufman-Renn thrashed them BOTH games and but in the title game win, both he and Cluff combined for 41 of their 80 points.

The natural inclination is to believe Michigan will contain Reed with their size, but it may be the opposite. They REALLY struggled with the girthy Purdue bigs, neither of which is as big or mobile as Reed.

Purdue played absolutely no defense whatsoever but had no issue at all scoring on them

There are matchup problems for Michigan nobody in media land is talking about.

Cluff had 21 point in 25 minutes. Looks like he was real effective at using quick pump fakes to freeze the Michigan bigs & score down low.

 

[gsmooth]

We don't have a player like Kaufman-Renn on the roster though. He's very clever with pump fakes and deception.

And he has that push shot from 10-15 ft range like Oso Iguadharo of Marquette had that is effective against the drop coverage that Mara plays and Kalkbrenner played. But I do think Reed's muscle can cause issues for Mara and Morez.

 

[RuffRuff]

That is not accurate at all! He was a consensus top 10 player coming out of high school. If he was allowed to enter the draft immediately he was projected to go between 8-14 (guess that’s not a top prospect) The main thing that held him back from being rated higher was his outside shooting. Coming out of High School the following is how he was viewed as having a NBA-ready frame, elite perimeter defender, high-IQ playmaker, and exceptional character,

He wouldn't have gone top ten in this draft - case closed. His shooting was a major concern. They took a shooter in front of him. Are you related? I love the kid, but am not delusioned to his rap coming out after his first year, and how this draft is perceived. His high school class was all time bad.

 

[RuffRuff]

Did we know Reibe is known as Big Chicken or Big Bird?

 

[NJHusky]

I have 100% confidence Silas can lock down on Cadeau. He's proven time and time again he can shut down the opposing team's PG.

Wonder if we see a fair amount of Mali and Silas together? Mal should be able to D up Cadeau and lets Silas use his strength against someone bigger

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Wonder if we see a fair amount of Mali and Silas together? Mal should be able to D up Cadeau and lets Silas use his strength against someone bigger

I like that combination - feels like letting Smith handle the ball with demary on the floor gives a little physical and mental reprieve from initiating the offense and conversely defending it.

 

[jorge34]

Cluff had 21 point in 25 minutes. Looks like he was real effective at using quick pump fakes to freeze the Michigan bigs & score down low.

Braden Smith created shots for both their bigs. They had no answer for him.

UConn can do the same with the motion offense.

They will get shots, especially from beyond the arc.

They have to shoot better than they have really the entire tournament. They need to rebound, with guards contributing (they’ve been pretty good in the tournament.)
The other huge key will be playing def without fouling nearly as much as they did against Illinois.
The mindset cannot be they are going to lockdown Michigan every possession. Not gonna happen, they are way too good a team, and will get their points. That means when you are beat…no reaching in. Limiting has to be the focus.

Predictions are hard with this team. Duke was a horrendous matchup for them, and they found a way.

Michigan is actually a better matchup, stylistically. But will not wilt like Duke did. They are an excellent team.

All the elements are there. They have what they need to win.

Now it’s time to take it to them.

UConn 79-76

 

[ctbro1999]

He wouldn't have gone top ten in this draft - case closed. His shooting was a major concern. They took a shooter in front of him. Are you related? I love the kid, but am not delusioned to his rap coming out after his first year, and how this draft is perceived. His high school class was all time bad.

Frankly I think it's pretty silly to be trying to rewrite history arguing about where Castle should have been drafted...I mean talk about a waste of oxygen (or pixels in this case). Fact is he's a stud right now and potentially can earn an All-NBA 3rd team nod in his 2nd season. Who cares what his skills were evaluated at coming out of HS or where he'd be drafted this year.

 

[ctbro1999]

He wouldn't have gone top ten in this draft - case closed. His shooting was a major concern. They took a shooter in front of him. Are you related? I love the kid, but am not delusioned to his rap coming out after his first year, and how this draft is perceived. His high school class was all time bad.

If his shooting was that big a concern, he wouldn't have gone top 10 2 years ago either.

 

[ctbro1999]

Wonder if we see a fair amount of Mali and Silas together? Mal should be able to D up Cadeau and lets Silas use his strength against someone bigger

Won't be surprised at all to see spurts where Smith and Silas are both in the game. But I don't think they can go too long with them both out there due to Michigan's size advantage.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

He wouldn't have gone top ten in this draft - case closed. His shooting was a major concern. They took a shooter in front of him. Are you related? I love the kid, but am not delusioned to his rap coming out after his first year, and how this draft is perceived. His high school class was all time bad.

Assuming you are correct (massive assumption), all that would mean would be that there would be more teams who would end up kicking themselves for picking g the desert with the prettiest icing over the one with the highest quality.

I think it is very safe to state that you believe Yaxel is the best player on Michigan. If you believe that a Steph-Yaxel comparison is putting each team's best player head to head, there is no need to continue this debate as only someone being intentionally disingenuous wiuld make that claim.

The 2023-2024 team would have crushed this Michigan team. The 2022-2023 team would have beaten them, and they very likely could have out run them in a game played in a manner similar to what Michigan and Arizona did.

Of greatest importance, styles make fights and I don’t see how Michigan can get this game to play out, in terms of style, much differently than our games against Michigan St and Illinois. I'll go so far as to say this game will play out somewhere between those two.

I can see us winning a game with a final score somewhere around 67-62. Michigan will need to get this game in the high 70's or better to win.

 

[businesslawyer]

He wouldn't have gone top ten in this draft - case closed. His shooting was a major concern. They took a shooter in front of him. Are you related? I love the kid, but am not delusioned to his rap coming out after his first year, and how this draft is perceived. His high school class was all time bad.

Well, as long as you add “case closed” to your opinion I guess there’s nothing to discuss then.

 

[Inyatkin]

Well, as long as you add “case closed” to your opinion I guess there’s nothing to discuss then.

You're a lawyer, isn't that how it works in the real world?

 

[jfreeds]

UConn shoots above average from 3
Mich shoots below average from 3
Mich foul trouble
Yaxel 50%

Give me 3 out of the 4 and I think we win. Give me 2 and we lose but cover. Give me none and we lose by 20 lol.

 

[HCCForever]

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.

 

[Mike Honcho]

I figured I'd chime in here. We've never been able to play our A game, never mind an A+ game any time this season. The second SJU game was probably the closest.

With that said, to beat UM, it won't necessarily take our A game. We need to play very good on the defense end of the floor, not giving up many easy shots or turning over the ball much ourselves. Hoping that, along with making them defend for 30+ minutes, results with them missing plenty of contested shots and some of their open looks. Limit the turnovers, thus limitting their transition baskets. Rebound on both ends at a high level, limiting their second chances and getting some of our own.

Hit double digit 3s and not on a high volume/low percentage of takes. We'll miss some of course. Drive it into the paint and try to dish to Reed or cutters. I.e. don't drive it into the trees and go right up with it, unless they are out of position where we can draw fouls if the refs are calling them. Feed Reed. Limit the missed bunnies and wide open 3s that can result in transition baskets on the other end.

We didn't need our A game to beat Dook. We will need a somewhat better performance, hoping our effort on both ends of the floor keeps them off balance enough to not shoot it as well as they normally do, just like they did against the Illini.

Also make life miserable for Cadeau and limit the allyoops. Stay close all night. This is a team you don't want to fall far behind and give them any more confidence than they already have. Play this game like the 99 game over Dook.

All this is possible and won't take an A game, though I would love to see that happen, where they execute close to flawless on both ends and our shooters are all connecting. We just haven't seen that happen.

UM is a very good team playing their best hoops now. But so was Dook in 99 and we all know what that outcome was.

The 2nd SJU game was absolutely an A game. We held them to 40 points and without a FG for 17.5 minutes.

 

[Tenspro2002]

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.

I think I'll defer to the championship coach whose methodical attack has squeezed the life out of opponents to the tune of an 18-1 record in the Tournament in the last 4 years, with the 1 loss by 2 points to the eventual champs, over a guy whose best championship run was snuffed out exactly by trying to run with an up-tempo team.

 

[noelle]

He wouldn't have gone top ten in this draft - case closed. His shooting was a major concern. They took a shooter in front of him. Are you related? I love the kid, but am not delusioned to his rap coming out after his first year, and how this draft is perceived. His high school class was all time bad.

at the top of the draft teams go for ceiling. teams have different evaluations of castle's offense but a few teams had all star ceiling evals including san antonio. this class is pretty guard rich so castle would be in the 2nd tier behind guys like peterson/acuff etc but on account of his two way ability, makeup and physicals he would still have a fairly high ceiling projection.

nba teams are pretty comfortable going on small sample size with a player if the guy has projectable physical ability. castle's got the small sample problem but he was dominant as a finisher and generating rim pressure in that sample and had elite physical attributes for the position.

also, shooting is seen as the skill most easy to improve upon up to a certain baseline level. the elite shooters are another matter but most players can improve to 35%ish which is good enough with castle's other elite attributes.

 

[noelle]

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.

i have to disagree. the point of running our full offense is not only to get good looks but also tire them out. they have to make michigan bigs and especially yaxel run around a ton. they were not very comfortable doing this vs duke so uconn's more complex sets would give them even more trouble.

dusty knows this is the plan but he can't exactly coach the experience into them in 48 hours.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Interesting outcome that, regardless of what happens tonight, our last 4 Tournament appearances have resulted in us either winning the championship or losing to the eventual champions.

I'm not sure anyone can match that, including 1996-1998 Kentucky.

 

[ctbro1999]

i have to disagree. the point of running our full offense is not only to get good looks but also tire them out. they have to make michigan bigs and especially yaxel run around a ton. they were not very comfortable doing this vs duke so uconn's more complex sets would give them even more trouble.

dusty knows this is the plan but he can't exactly coach the experience into them in 48 hours.

You think May deploys a zone (or at least experiments with one)? I really don't see how Yaxel can guard Karaban or any of our other shooters (and he can't guard Reed). Seems like he'd be a liability on defense.

 

[superjohn]

 

[uconngb]

I figured I'd chime in here. We've never been able to play our A game, never mind an A+ game any time this season. The second SJU game was probably the closest.

With that said, to beat UM, it won't necessarily take our A game. We need to play very good on the defense end of the floor, not giving up many easy shots or turning over the ball much ourselves. Hoping that, along with making them defend for 30+ minutes, results with them missing plenty of contested shots and some of their open looks. Limit the turnovers, thus limitting their transition baskets. Rebound on both ends at a high level, limiting their second chances and getting some of our own.

Hit double digit 3s and not on a high volume/low percentage of takes. We'll miss some of course. Drive it into the paint and try to dish to Reed or cutters. I.e. don't drive it into the trees and go right up with it, unless they are out of position where we can draw fouls if the refs are calling them. Feed Reed. Limit the missed bunnies and wide open 3s that can result in transition baskets on the other end.

We didn't need our A game to beat Dook. We will need a somewhat better performance, hoping our effort on both ends of the floor keeps them off balance enough to not shoot it as well as they normally do, just like they did against the Illini.

Also make life miserable for Cadeau and limit the allyoops. Stay close all night. This is a team you don't want to fall far behind and give them any more confidence than they already have. Play this game like the 99 game over Dook.

All this is possible and won't take an A game, though I would love to see that happen, where they execute close to flawless on both ends and our shooters are all connecting. We just haven't seen that happen.

UM is a very good team playing their best hoops now. But so was Dook in 99 and we all know what that outcome was.

Good analysis. I don't think we need our full A game either, but we need our A rebounding game and need to keep the game at our tempo. If we can do that and just shoot 33% from 3 I think we have a legit shot. The obvious key is keeping Reed out of foul trouble against that massive front line. If he can just hold his own, I think we have a very good change. Really need Silas to shut down Cadeau at the POA. !!!