UCONN vs NOTRE DAME Future hook-up?

[RSHERMVIKES]

Back when the season started I thought of UCONN and Notre Dame matching up in the Final 4. I had UCONN with their full roster winning by 20+ points, but now if they were to meet in the Finals it becomes a scarier match-up! Here are their current rosters:
UCONN
Brianna Banks G
Saniya Chong G
Stef Dolson C
Bria Hartley G
Moriah Jefferson G
Tierney Lawlor G
Briana Polido G
Breanna Stewart F
Kiah Stokes C

NOTRE DAME
Natalie Achonwa F
Lindsay Allen G
Ariel Braker F
Madison Cable G
Whitney Holloway G
Hannah Huffman G
Jewell Loyd G
Kayla McBride G
Kristina Nelson F
Taya Reimer F
Diamond Thompson C
Markisha Wright F

Since UCONN lost Morgan Tuck and K. M-Lewis it makes Cable, Holloway, Huffman, Nelson, Reimer, Thompson, & Wright very valuable pieces indeed!
Muffett can throw the above players in with each having 5 fouls or 35 fouls total, to give and just bang away at our 7 main players. With the referees being as incompetent as they are, even if ND made the contact, (think back to the first 3 meetings of last season) fouls will be called on CT and we can't afford to have any players get two or 3 fouls in the first half! ND would win a war of attrition!
It is now possible that we could lose to ND even if we're the better team!
But we still have Geno and the best coaching staff in Div. I WBB who have never lost a Finals game! But it gripes me that for no other reason that we have had more than our share of injuries and illnesses UCONN could be denied their 9th title!
Then again it would be sweeter if we were to pull it out to spite the numbers!

 

[UcMiami]

What I find interesting is that their has never been an NC game with two undefeated teams. And there have only been 7 undefeated teams in the 31 year history of the NCAA and only three not named Uconn. There are a fair number of games to play before the NCAA and ND has a harder path to get there, but if both Uconn and ND get into the NCAAs undefeated, then I think the pressure on both teams will become pretty intense. And I think Uconn is slightly better prepared for that pressure. There is no question in my mind that they are the two best teams this year, but I will not be surprised if one of them does not make it to that NC game.

 

[blkkirk]

The teams that have players that have been there before have the advantage. A seasoned point guard is also critical.

 

[uconnfan68]

Muffett can throw the above players in with each having 5 fouls or 35 fouls total, to give and just bang away at our 7 main players. With the referees being as incompetent as they are, even if ND made the contact, (think back to the first 3 meetings of last season) fouls will be called on CT and we can't afford to have any players get two or 3 fouls in the first half! ND would win a war of attrition!

My greatest fear. I would definitely expect ND to be as physical as possible, and then a little bit more. Not saying they play dirty, but the scratch marks on Stef from a few years ago left a mark on my unconscious mind.

 

[Tonyc]

UConn has not struggled all season in any game with or without their KML or Tuck or both. ND has had a few hiccups and still won. Breanna is playing at a level that no other player has played at and she is the difference. You can talk about how good UConns defense is and how it will hinder ND and it will. You can talk about McBride and shes good. Bottom line we've got Breanna and she can score at will.

I don't think UConn gets in early foul trouble. I do think ND will. My reasoning is simple UConn hasn't fouled out of a game all season. IF ND makes it far enough to face UConn I pick UConn by 10 plus and if KML is back it wont be close. UConn is a much better team then last season with better balanced scoring. I am not going back to UConns 3 close losses to ND when UConn was fighting injuries. If you think that matters then go to the FF game where UConn beat ND pretty handedly.

We can debate this all we want but Breanna will not let us lose this game and I am very confident about that. When ND is playing from behind it is going to be very difficult because they don't have an Breanna.

 

[Zorro]

Yup, especially if that seasoned point guard happens to be brilliant. It also doesn't hurt to have the best player in wcbb, the best center in wcbb, a well-seasoned and brilliant sg, and 3 demon shot-blockers (including, of course, Kiah). As to the short bench, if Geno had 12 schollie players, he would only use six or seven. Even without KML we have one highly capable backcourt sub and one highly capable big. And the odds are good that KML will be back at least for the final four. Don't worry, be happy.

 

[hoophuskee]

Back when the season started I thought of UCONN and Notre Dame matching up in the Final 4. I had UCONN with their full roster winning by 20+ points, but now if they were to meet in the Finals it becomes a scarier match-up! Here are their current rosters:
UCONN
Brianna Banks G
Saniya Chong G
Stef Dolson C
Bria Hartley G
Moriah Jefferson G
Tierney Lawlor G
Briana Polido G
Breanna Stewart F
Kiah Stokes C

NOTRE DAME
Natalie Achonwa F
Lindsay Allen G
Ariel Braker F
Madison Cable G
Whitney Holloway G
Hannah Huffman G
Jewell Loyd G
Kayla McBride G
Kristina Nelson F
Taya Reimer F
Diamond Thompson C
Markisha Wright F


I haven;t seen a lot of ND but looking over their stats they play 8 players above 10 minutes. Thus I have to beleive Nelson, Wright, Holloway, Huffman, are a big dropoff. Big.

Secondly, if Braker or Anchonwa get into foul trouble first, either Stewie or Dolson will have an even bigger advantage. Maybe a move like have Lloyd, Cable or McBride guard Stewie or have their inexperienced players guard Dolson if either --- not saying they can't- but -----good luck.

For this year being in our league-- there may be a posisitve. If we were in Big East we'd probably play them 4 times.

Anyways. while I like Muffet, I dislike the University's arrogance so much hopefully we win it all and they don't even see us.

 

[Sonny44]

Our gals are the least penalized team in the country. We won't fall for that and hopefully the referees will not either.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Think back to the 5 or so games we lost to ND in a row and in every game ND went to the free throw line approximately 30xs and UCONN went like 8 to 10. All I'm saying as inconsistent as the refs have been it gives them to turn the game one way or the other!
Two ref instances come to mind:
1. ND & UCONN Big East finals, NO moving screen calls were called all game, then Dennis DiMaio called Stef for her 4th foul on a moving screen with less than 2 minutes left in the close game. Geno went ballistic ND winds up winning right at the end!
2. Baylor vs TN Regional Finals tied 3 seconds left TN has the ball under the basket and what should have been a no call go to overtime became a foul vs Baylor and Butts sank 2 free throws with 1 sec. on the clock. TN goes to FF Baylor goes home, wins NCAA's next season!

 

[DobbsRover2]

These "or so's" are really piling up in BY posts. Most games UConn has lost to ND in a row was 4 before UConn snapped it in the semis. So no need to go throwing out those 5 numbers.

UConn reacted much better to ND's foul-invoking strategies last year after getting caught off guard in 2011-12 when ND averaged 22.0 FTAs to UConn's 14.75 in the four games. Last year ND's margin was down to 20.25 to 16.75, and UConn actually took more FTs than ND in the last two games, and in three of eight games in the last two years. Also, the two really huge FTA games for ND were their home games in those two years, when they averaged 30 FTAs. Don't think UConn could be forced to eat any of the crappy Irish home cooking this year.

Other encouraging trends this year is that UConn is committing fouls this year at a historically low rate, well down from the last two years. And ND without Diggins is not getting to the line quite as much as previously as they are at about 21.5 FTA/g and they were up around 23 with the help of last year's FT-eating AA. And their FT% has dropped to 74% after shooting 80% and 76% the previous two years, so it's not as strong a weapon for them anymore.

So while both teams just breeze through the rest of their games to that 100% nailed-down NC matchup, there is at least a faint possibility that the 11.9 PF/g Huskies might not get all their players fouled out and somehow survive the inevitably horrible reffing.

 

[hoophuskee]

Think back to the 5 or so games we lost to ND in a row and in every game ND went to the free throw line approximately 30xs and UCONN went like 8 to 10. All I'm saying as inconsistent as the refs have been it gives them to turn the game one way or the other!
Two ref instances come to mind:
1. ND & UCONN Big East finals, NO moving screen calls were called all game, then Dennis DiMaio called Stef for her 4th foul on a moving screen with less than 2 minutes left in the close game. Geno went ballistic ND winds up winning right at the end!
2. Baylor vs TN Regional Finals tied 3 seconds left TN has the ball under the basket and what should have been a no call go to overtime became a foul vs Baylor and Butts sank 2 free throws with 1 sec. on the clock. TN goes to FF Baylor goes home, wins NCAA's next season!

I do believe refs can have an enormous impact. The game you cite with ND is a classic point. That call was pathetic.

With that said--- you are overstating things imo with 4-5 players above (not the 1st two- they're good) regarding ND's bench. They play them less than 10 minutes per game. Maybe Wright you can say but there is a reason why they play so few minutes. You put them in- you're not as effective. You are taking a big risk - for example you blow a few assignments with Stewie it could be for example 9 points. Secondly, Notre dame wants to run, right? In this one game - when you may be undefeated- you're going to play players you rarely played and then try to slow the game down by playing extra-physical combined with taking away from your talent you stuck with the entire year?

A positive thing about no longer being in the Big East for this specific season. Playing ND four times and expect 4 wins - tough task they probably couldn't do. ND ripping Duke now.