What would it take to beat us? | Page 3 | The Boneyard

What would it take to beat us?

A team gets hot from 3. If watched the Nova game and Geno mentioned it at halftime they had a lot of open look 3s - they just didn't hit them. We've seen this in the past. Burying 3s means a lot less rebounds which leads to UConn scoring in transition.
 
Big Fan said:
A team gets hot from 3. If watched the Nova game and Geno mentioned it at halftime they had a lot of open look 3s - they just didn't hit them. We've seen this in the past. Burying 3s means a lot less rebounds which leads to UConn scoring in transition.
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There are a lot of potential risks for UConn in the tournament. But in 41 years Geno & CD have seen all of them, and they know exactly how to react.

Let’s take the situation you mention that Nova got a bunch of open 3’s. One of the reasons for those open shots is that UConn was doubling the ball whenever possible, attempting to speed up Nova resulting in turnovers and rushed shots.

If Nova started to knock down a bunch of open 3’s, Geno probably would have shifted to straight man pressure without double teaming the ball.

Geno knows every trick in the book and he has a group of really smart and talented players who can quickly react to anything and everything they face. That is particularly true in March.
 
DaddyChoc said:
I think UConn players may be saying something to the ball handler like... "I like Corn Flakes, give me your Corn Flakes" and it throws the dribbler off! I'm sure K.K. is saying something
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Let's hope Leger-Walker isn't saying to KK, "I like Vegemite, give me your Vegemite," making KK have to go to the nearest trash can to hurl. Although, with any luck, that would be brief and KK would pull a Lou and come back with a bunch of threes.
 
joea said:
If UConn plays its game, they can not be beaten, except... in 1985 unranked Villanova beat #1 Georgetown in the National Championship by going 80% from the field, and had 27 free throws to 8 for G'Town.
Villanova won by 2 points.
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I was living in DC at the time, and naturally rooting for G’Town. Thompson coached a defense-first style reminiscent of what Geno does. And he put together a great team out of utility players who were committed to fierce defense and one superstar. Who remembers David Wingate these days? Or Michael Jackson? Or Bill Martin? Or Horace Broadnax?

The reffing killed the Hoyas. Whistles favored Villanova to the tune of 22-12, and 4 Hoyas finished with 4 fouls each. Sure, Gary McLain admitted to being on speed for much of the tournament, and they shot 80% against the toughest defense in D1 (“Nothing to see here.”), but those refs…

As you can see, I’m still smarting over that one.

The main threat to a defense-dominant team is poor reffing. Not just one or two bad calls. A flurry of them. I don’t expect to see that in this tournament. Reffing is better these days, what with all the video reviews. Aside from that, defense wins championships because it doesn’t have an off day. It doesn’t have a cold shooting night. It travels well.
 
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Refs can determine the outcome in a close game. See 2018 final four vs. ND.
 
CTrefugee said:
1. Two guards who can handle the backcourt pressure.
2. Our frontcourt pressure D is giving up open threes. Top teams will capitalize.
There were at least 10 instances against Villanova. That's why Geno pointed it out at half time

I am loving the season, but I believe Geno, who just said: "We aren't as good as we look."

March madness will be tight, but I still like our chances.

Turnovers are so very big.
I think of it this way (roughly): Forcing one turnover on average, reduces the other team's point total by 40% of 2 or 3 and
and increases our total by 40% of 2 or 3...........That translates to a differential of about 2 points/turnover.
Opponents that can handle the pressure (somewhat) will not allow the super wins we have been seeing.
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A cudgel.
 
My main concern is just the pressure that is on these young women. Us, the media, well, everyone, is under the impression that if they don't repeat, it's a bust. No matter what happens, they, and we, should be proud of the year they have had. I know most of you agree, it's just that looking at it through media, it's crazy.

I said it earlier, no team is unbeatable. Any given day. UConn is not an exception to that. That being said, I think UConn would have to have a pretty bad game to lose. I guess we'll find out soon.
 
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What’s Sarah strong’s career high? Make her score 40. Put all of your defensive resources on Azzi. Azzi is the one you want to contain.

Geno’s focus on attempting to stop Aliyah Boston in the national championship game. I always thought it was a mistake. We weren’t capable of stopping her anyway. We should have let her get hers and worried about stopping all the other players. Players like Henderson.
 
Bone Dog said:
I was living in DC at the time, and naturally rooting for G’Town. Thompson coached a defense-first style reminiscent of what Geno does. And he put together a great team out of utility players who were committed to fierce defense and one superstar. Who remembers David Wingate these days? Or Michael Jackson? Or Bill Martin? Or Horace Broadnax?

The reffing killed the Hoyas. Whistles favored Villanova to the tune of 22-12, and 4 Hoyas finished with 4 fouls each. Sure, Gary McLain admitted to being on speed for much of the tournament, and they shot 80% against the toughest defense in D1 (“Nothing to see here.”), but those refs…

As you can see, I’m still smarting over that one.

The main threat to a defense-dominant team is poor reffing. Not just one or two bad calls. A flurry of them. I don’t expect to see that in this tournament. Reffing is better these days, what with all the video reviews. Aside from that, defense wins championships because it doesn’t have an off day. It doesn’t have a cold shooting night. It travels well.
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I agree with most of what you’re saying and love the reference to the legendary Hoya upset by Nova as I remember that game well and you are spot on. However while UConn is a great defensive team, perhaps historically so but for their somewhat deficient shot blocking, they are not really defense dominant or offensively inadequate. They are the most efficient offense in the country (leading the nation in shooting percentage and 3 point shooting percentage and assists and assist to turnover ratio and margin of victory)and one of the most prolific scoring teams even though they never run up the score and sit their starters most 4th quarters.
 
H Dog said:
I agree with most of what you’re saying and love the reference to the legendary Hoya upset by Nova as I remember that game well and you are spot on. However while UConn is a great defensive team, perhaps historically so but for their somewhat deficient shot blocking, they are not really defense dominant or offensively inadequate. They are the most efficient offense in the country (leading the nation in shooting percentage and 3 point shooting percentage and assists and assist to turnover ratio and margin of victory)and one of the most prolific scoring teams even though they never run up the score and sit their starters most 4th quarters.
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I didn’t mean to suggest that UConn is offensively inadequate. You are right to emphasize the team’s great efficiency. I was merely responding to the thread question, and tried to imagine how we could lose. A cold shooting night won’t be enough, in part because of the role of transition buckets in our efficiency.

But I can imagine a cold shooting stretch in a game leaving an opponent an opening. In the Michigan game, for example, which some teams could try to take as a model, Azzi was cold for the first half. Despite this we built a lead and then lost it. Our defense was good that day, but not yet as good as it is now, and though Syla was on fire in the 4th quarter, she did also get open looks from 3. Azzi came roaring back in the second half to hold the lead and her own hot streak also bolstered the confidence of her teammates. Could that strategy work against us again?

Could another team scrap their way to a victory in a similar way? The Tennessee game is instructive in this regard. Hot shooting and scrambling defense let them take a lead going into the third quarter. But the defense was much better by this point in the season. It adjusted and choked off Tennessee’s entire effort from the middle of the third quarter on… and they didn’t have the team culture to recover emotionally from being dismantled so completely.

That same formula — hot shooting and scrambling defense — also worked briefly for Villanova (and Marquette iirc) allowing them to play us close for a stretch. But in the end, defensive intensity could not be denied and they lacked the stamina to sustain their effort for an entire game. I think it’s probably demoralizing for a team to play us close in the first half and then watch it all slip away as our defense clamps down and their fatigue sets in.

The main reason I don’t fear a cold shooting night is the emergence of other shooters besides Azzi. Early in the season, Ash had an extended cold shooting stretch. In the absence of Paige, many of us expected her to step up even more than she had last season. Geno also encouraged KK and Kayleigh to take more 3s early on, though they were inconsistent. But Allie stepped up in a big way, and Kayleigh has improved to 34% for the season. Naturally Sarah has always been reliable. Kayleigh has also stepped up her midrange shooting, as has Ash. And Ash’s perimeter shooting has improved noticeably in the second half of the season. And I have a feeling Blanca is on the verge of recovering her early season form.

So no, I don’t fear a cold shooting night. I share your confidence. But I also don’t fear an opponent’s hot shooting night given where our defense is now. To beat us, an opponent would need both elements, and our defense isn’t going away. That’s a lesson a team like Vandy could learn quite decisively. But even teams like UCLA or Texas with their great size and depth are likely to run afoul of it too. It’s not just about height. Stamina also matters and Geno knows how to make them run with us. The defense forces teams to play at our pace, and I’m not sure there are any who can. The only ones to try, and the ones who have the athleticism to attempt it, tOSU and Tennessee, failed miserably.
 
It wont be Tennessee who beats us.

So much for that whole conversation about whether they should be in or out...They got beat pretty bad in the first round.

The only thing/team that can beat Uconn is Uconn...
 
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