Who Guards Aari McDonald or What Defense does Geno Come Up With.

[Hayven]

C will probably get the assignment, with Aubrey spelling her for a few. But Aari is quick, so C is going to have to be special Friday.

 

[jabstep]

When Ari comes driving down the lane she will find Liv and Aaliyah waiting. So we need to contain her at the 3 point line. Maybe a 3-2 zone man to man we don't have the quickness to stay with her.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Antonelli already getting ready to tout Aari over Paige.

Antonelli and Mowen are the 'B' team. Ruocco and Lobo are the 'A' team. UConn always gets thee "A" team.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Box and 1 all the way!!! Williams guards her..

ROFL 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

 

[HuskylnSC]

Please, everyone knows Arizona is going to get steamrolled and it's not even close.

Was anyone else disturbed by the fact that Indiana went straight into the lockerroom? No post-match handshake? Did Baylor do the same thing? Is that a thing now? Or am I just getting more crotchety with age? Lol

It's NCAA protocol. They are supposed to wave.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Nika.

 

[Boreifs]

Please, everyone knows Arizona is going to get steamrolled and it's not even close.

Was anyone else disturbed by the fact that Indiana went straight into the lockerroom? No post-match handshake? Did Baylor do the same thing? Is that a thing now? Or am I just getting more crotchety with age? Lol

COVID protocol. It’s been happening all season.

 

[oldhusky]

I think we are forgetting something here. She did sprain the ankle. True it looked like it didn't bother her at the end but it possibly will be a factor in the next game, with Aari possibly not being 100%.

Also we have pretty big guards with offensive skills, so we could try to post up Aari often with Paige, Evina, or Christyn. You have to be really really cautious with the ball against her, and obviously she can keep players in front of her as the defensive player of the year in her conference, but no matter who Aari guards we could post her up.

As for stopping her on the other side, all the strategies discussed so far seem to have some merit with no obvious best choice, so I will go with keeping her guessing. Guard her with multiple players, lots of switching, and mixing in a zone a little and see what is working best, with Aubrey as a designated stopper being an alternate game-plan.

 

[HopJim]

Call and raise. Who guards Paige? Who guards Aaliyah? Who guards Christyn? How in heck do they deal with Olivia? But agree - not a team to overlook & don't anticipate Geno will.

C will probably get the assignment, with Aubrey spelling her for a few. But Aari is quick, so C is going to have to be special Friday.

Geno will likely keep Edwards or ONO high on defense and double up, keeping AZ from driving. If UConn can keep getting burned on pick and rolls, the difference could be 20+. ONO to have her highest scoring game and Edwards likely to draw fouls.

 

[Boreifs]

Arizona has two players who are offensive threats. Sounds like every Big East team not named UConn.

 

[Dublin]

Is she the one said Baylor will win all the way to NC?

or was it the pre-game 'analysis' and prediction by Coach Carolyn Peck...

 

[azfan]

I think Aari will get hers. Focusing on Reese, Thomas, and Pueyo off the bench is key.

Aari McDonald, Arizona Wildcats soar to first-ever Final Four, top Indiana 66-53

The Arizona Wildcats are Final Four-bound for the first time in program history.

tucson.com

"Arizona’s game came down to McDonald, who — for the second time in as many games — was up for the task. Her 33 points are the most-ever scored by a Wildcat in an NCAA Tournament, surpassing … well, herself. She scored 31 in Saturday’s upset of Texas A&M."

 

[huskyd]

Please, everyone knows Arizona is going to get steamrolled and it's not even close.

Was anyone else disturbed by the fact that Indiana went straight into the lockerroom? No post-match handshake? Did Baylor do the same thing? Is that a thing now? Or am I just getting more crotchety with age? Lol

Kim and Geno met at midcourt after the game and congratulated each other. There's deserved respect between two of the best coaches in wcbb. Great game, outcome, sportsmanship.

 

[huskyd]

Carolyn Peck said Baylor would win the tournament. Now she’s saying, look to the other side of the bracket—ie, Stanford, Louisville, Texas or S Carolina. She doesn’t like UConn.

Another case of genius envy.

 

[Urshurak]

UConn should just foul the holy crap out of all their players. Evidently, they get away with it and that's why they beat Baylor, so should work on AZ easily. Maybe Geno can show them new ways to foul in practice?

Just going by the EXPERTS of Peck and Voepel. I'm sure useless Antonelli would agree.


IN all seriousness (as you can tell I am BEYOND sick and tired of this foul thing, BEYOND stupid.)

Other than Baptiste and McDonald, that's where the threats end. If UConn plays their normally great defense, this shouldn't be close.

 

[Fossil]

McDonald is left hand dominant she may start right then weave back to her left hand she goes that way almost all the time from what I saw in the last game if she meets up with strong defense she kicks it to the corner. She is incredibly sneaky and will hang around the inbound for a steel. She is more than capable of taking a deep three as well but prefers to drive eventually going to her left. So if our big comes to help someone needs to follow for the wraparound pass to their big as well. As for their other scorer she is good around the basket and can hit the three as well and not afraid to take it. They are A better team then Iowa and realistically we beat them by 12 to 15. This could be a bit tougher so hopefully they don’t take them lightly

 

[freshler40]

Our two bigs only played 50+ of the 80 minutes available to them in the Baylor game. Griffin played most of the rest, also the most for her this year. Even with that, we held our own with rebounds especially in the second half. It was rare that both bigs were on the floor at the same time but the ++++'s of that were meaningful.

 

[Charliebball]

UConn will shut her down like they always do to the team best player. 5 of 20 shooting seems about right. This will be a blow out. She’s good but UConn plays defense.

you mean like in the Arkansas game?..............it's not always so easy.......

 

[Charliebball]

Arizona is athletic and a streaky shooting team but UConn should have an advantage on the boards with ONO and AE..........if UConn is on it's game they should win fairly easily but McDonald is on a tear and if one or two of their other three point shooters is hot you just never know........they certainly shouldn't be taken lightly and I'm confident Geno won't allow that......

 

[Cuango]

McDonald is left hand dominant she may start right then weave back to her left hand she goes that way almost all the time from what I saw in the last game if she meets up with strong defense she kicks it to the corner. She is incredibly sneaky and will hang around the inbound for a steel. She is more than capable of taking a deep three as well but prefers to drive eventually going to her left. So if our big comes to help someone needs to follow for the wraparound pass to their big as well. As for their other scorer she is good around the basket and can hit the three as well and not afraid to take it. They are A better team then Iowa and realistically we beat them by 12 to 15. This could be a bit tougher so hopefully they don’t take them lightly

What! I completely disagree with that. Clark clearly is better than McDonald and I doubt Az would have an advantage at any other position either.

 

[uconnfan68]

Please, everyone knows Arizona is going to get steamrolled and it's not even close.

Was anyone else disturbed by the fact that Indiana went straight into the lockerroom? No post-match handshake? Did Baylor do the same thing? Is that a thing now? Or am I just getting more crotchety with age? Lol

No... covid protocols somewhat in place.

 

[Bama fan]

Please, everyone knows Arizona is going to get steamrolled and it's not even close.

Was anyone else disturbed by the fact that Indiana went straight into the lockerroom? No post-match handshake? Did Baylor do the same thing? Is that a thing now? Or am I just getting more crotchety with age? Lol

If I am not mistaken, there have been no "Post-match handshakes" during the Covid plagued season / tournament. In fact, I was surprised at the interaction between Geno and Clark given the restrictions. But I might have missed a few after game videos .

 

[bluedevil]

Carolyn Peck said Baylor would win the tournament. Now she’s saying, look to the other side of the bracket—ie, Stanford, Louisville, Texas or S Carolina. She doesn’t like UConn.

Well we don't like her.

 

[MooseJaw]

That’s not at all what she said when you take into context the previous conversation. First there was discussion about the fact that some we’re saying the UConn/Baylor game was the de facto championship. She was then asked whether anyone could stand in UConn’s way. That’s when she said look to the other side of the bracket, meaning she doesn’t expect Arizona to pose a threat to our reaching the Finals.

And she was the only broadcaster to point out that Baylor also got away with numerous uncalled fouls.

👍 She was fairly complimentary of UCONN and their toughness, she was right and I was shocked.

 

[FairView]

This thread is an example of some of the things that make The Boneyard the absolute best message board on women's college basketball. Humorous and off-topic posts aside, there is thoughtful analysis and discussion about an opponent, a game plan and what might happen. There may be some homerish stuff (after all, this is a UConn board), but there is interesting insight into the game itself. Posters are real students of the game - or they care enough to try to figure it out. Good stuff. Thanks to all who share, care and work to make us all aware. And the humorous and off-topic posts make it all the more interesting.