Who Guards Aari McDonald or What Defense does Geno Come Up With. | Page 2 | The Boneyard

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

Sakibomb25 said:
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
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COVID protocol. It’s been happening all season.
 
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.
 
Wilderness said:
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.
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Hayven said:
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.
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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.
 
Arizona has two players who are offensive threats. Sounds like every Big East team not named UConn.
 
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I think Aari will get hers. Focusing on Reese, Thomas, and Pueyo off the bench is key.

tucson.com

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 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."
 
Sakibomb25 said:
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
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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.
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
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lebronfan23 said:
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.
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you mean like in the Arkansas game?..............it's not always so easy.......
 
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......
 
Fossil said:
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
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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.
 
Sakibomb25 said:
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
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No... covid protocols somewhat in place.
 
Sakibomb25 said:
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
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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 .
 
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cabbie191 said:
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.
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👍 She was fairly complimentary of UCONN and their toughness, she was right and I was shocked.
 
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.
 
Urshurak said:
Other than Baptiste and McDonald, that's where the threats end. If UConn plays their normally great defense, this shouldn't be close.
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While I don't really expect it to be close, Baptiste is not the only threat. While no one compares to Aari, the truth of the matter from someone who has seen Arizona every national TV game - and last year frequently live - Thomas, Puello and especially Reese are capable of being threats. One of the reasons that Arizona was a 3 seed is that they are not consistent and rarely firing on all cylinders. Aari is not consistent, either.

But those 3 can all hit unexpected timely shots.
 
KnightBridgeAZ said:
While I don't really expect it to be close, Baptiste is not the only threat. While no one compares to Aari, the truth of the matter from someone who has seen Arizona every national TV game - and last year frequently live - Thomas, Puello and especially Reese are capable of being threats. One of the reasons that Arizona was a 3 seed is that they are not consistent and rarely firing on all cylinders. Aari is not consistent, either.

But those 3 can all hit unexpected timely shots.
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Pellington has had a few good games as well.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Pellington has had a few good games as well.
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Yes, but at least in the games I have seen she seemed less than advertised. Because I don't get the PAC network it was hard to follow this season, because I am not a box score or game article reader - I'll glance and move on.
 
Carnac said:
If UConn wins the NC, the tournament officials should have antonelli and peck present the trophy to Geno. That would be a Kodak moment. Then the next week, Geno could send both of them an autographed photo of that moment. They both would probably laugh when they received it, then put it in their birdcage. 😀
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Like Goddel giving trophies to Belichek, Brady or Kraft
 
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Wbbfan1 said:
It will be Arizona vs UConn at the Final Four. Who Guards or how does UConn defend Aari McDonald?
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See the Iowa Sweet Sixteen game for how UCONN guarded Caitlin Clark, the best guard in women's college basketball after Paige Bueckers of course. The real question might be is McDonald a better defender than Didi Richards? Second important question is McDonald's nicknamed AariD similar to her cousin, MickeyD? :rolleyes:
 
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Wbbfan1 said:
It will be Arizona vs UConn at the Final Four. Who Guards or how does UConn defend Aari McDonald? She's the go to player for Arizona and UConn doesn't have the quickness to cover her. Will we have a similar result on how Morgan Williams of Miss St beat UConn? Arizona is not a team to overlook. How many balls has Aari stolen tonight because the Indiana players wasn't paying attention to where Aari was.
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Think Iowa
 
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