UConn wins basketball GOLD at the Olympics...

[DavidinNaples]

Of course the five UConn players had seven other very talented team mates helping win the Gold. But just for fun, consider the stats of D.T., Maya, Sue, Tina and Stewie:

1. The five UConn players led the team in scoring, finishing 1st, 2nd and 4th. The 389 points scored by our five equals 47.6% of the team's total.
2. Taught by Geno to share the ball, UConn players finished 1st, 2nd and tied for 3rd in assists. The 126 total assists was 56.3% of the total. The five had an assist to turnover ratio of 2.57
3. From long distance, UConn made 48 of the teams 58 three point shots (82.7%).
4. Inside the arc, UConn went 98-164 for 59.7%. Stewie hit for an amazing 82.6% closer in.
5. Steals? UConn dominated there too... Maya led with 16 and the five totaled 41, 52% of the team total.
6. UConn had three players start all 8 games and Sue rallied to start 7 or 8. That's 31 of 40 available spots.
7. Stewie led the USA team with 18 made free throws. The UConn five shot 80.3% (49-61) from the charity stripe.

Non-UConn players had a great Olympics and without them, winning Gold would have been almost impossible. But, the UConn contribution was significant and fun to analyze.
Go USA...!!
Go UConn..!!

 

[JoePgh]

UConn players comprised 5/12 (41.7%) of the roster, so if they were "average" (by the standards of the Olympic team) they should have scored 42% in all of the categories mentioned above. So the fact that they were above that ratio in all of these categories (and well above in some, such as 3-point shooting) is definitely significant.

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the team's 3-point attempts were made by UConn players? Did they attempt a disproportionate share of the team's 3's?

 

[bags27]

Great post: thanks. And didn't you get the feeling that Stewie played fewer minutes than she deserved, at least partly because Geno was a little shy in promoting another UConn player (and partly because he knew she had 4 more Olympics in her....)? No one took greater advantage of her time on the court than did Stewie.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Highlights included:

Diana hitting from the arc seemingly at will. Game after game. Shot after shot.

Sue taking care of the ball and directing the team. A 31:4 A:TO ratio at the highest level is record-shattering.

Maya getting points, rebounds, assists, and steals. She WAS everywhere.

Tina using her incredible offensive repertoire and athleticism. One of the core going forward.

Stewie scoring almost a point per minute and using her length on defense to disrupt. She IS the future. And not too shabby as the present.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I love that photo. 11 players look happy and/or goofy. Diana looks like a Shakespearean actor.

 

[DavidinNaples]

UConn players comprised 5/12 (41.7%) of the roster, so if they were "average" (by the standards of the Olympic team) they should have scored 42% in all of the categories mentioned above. So the fact that they were above that ratio in all of these categories (and well above in some, such as 3-point shooting) is definitely significant.

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the team's 3-point attempts were made by UConn players? Did they attempt a disproportionate share of the team's 3's?

Joe,
Good additional info on the 42% average... In answer to your question, UConn players attempted 98 of the 128 3's. That is 76.5%. The difference is they made threes at a 48.9% rate vs the rest of the team going 10-30 or 33%.

 

[UcMiami]

Also - Uconn players while 42% of the team actually played 45.3% of the minutes so on a playing time basis 45% is the cut off from average to above average production.

 

[baggerbob]

Great post: thanks. And didn't you get the feeling that Stewie played fewer minutes than she deserved, at least partly because Geno was a little shy in promoting another UConn player (and partly because he knew she had 4 more Olympics in her....)? No one took greater advantage of her time on the court than did Stewie.

Geno made the comment, that having Stewie on the team was great, because she wouldn't complain about minutes.

 

[bellairehusky]

I love that photo. 11 players look happy and/or goofy. Diana looks like a Shakespearean actor.

Diana is doing the Bolt, tho not very well, lol.

 

[CTHUSKY74]

I can no longer find the link to the story, but someone tallied the medals for each NCAA school and on the strength of our five gold medal basketball Olympians UCONN was 8th best with 6 total medals. Stanford was the best with 22 total, but most schools including many top power 5 schools had no more than one. We really owe Geno and the ladies a tremendous debt of gratitude for the excellence they are continually projecting for our school. It's not just that they win, but they win in outstanding fashion with attractive team basketball featuring fluid offense and hard-nosed defense. Somehow even when dominating the opposition, they say all the right things to show respect for their opponents and put women's basketball in the best possible light. The team obviously was not just UCONN players and many of the other players made great contributions to each win, such as Griner, Delle Donne, Fowles, McCoughtry, Whalen, Augustus. But the UCONN players were extremely well represented in the team stats as stated above and just really put our school on a world pedestal for all to see. Although the interest in men's swimming with Phelps and men's track and field with Usain Bolt greatly over-shadowed most other competitors in the games, I think that the dialogue presented regarding Taurasi, and Bird and their most likely last Olympics had a similar feeling to what was being presented for these great men's competitor's because of their unusual dominance of the opposition during their entire Olympic careers. This was huge exposure for us at a time when we are fighting to remain in the upper echelon of NCAA sports programs.

 

[Eskapeesto]

Attention recruits:

 

[MilfordHusky]

Attention recruits:

In addition to the Gold Medals, the 5 players pictured won NPOY awards in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016. That's 9 years in a 15-year span.