Who is better than us?

[Iluvsuebird]

Duke played 8 guys against Kentucky and the bench scored 6 points. Kansas is this years Purdue. Their center will score 30 but you stop the rest and we win by 20. Gonzaga is nice, nothing more. Baylor is athletic but I don’t know one area they are better than us. Michigan state could have built a pretty home with all the bricks they threw out last night. I have not seen Houston, or Ak. So far, I haven’t seen anyone better than us.

 

[my2cents]

I watched both games last night. Kansas was not impressive at all. Cooper Flagg is really , really good but not perfect. Two Turnovers in the last 30 seconds cost them the game.

 

[freescooter]

Not UNH or Sacred Heart but we won’t know how good we really are until December.

I am a little concerned that we only seem able to score 92. What happens if we play someone who scores 93? ( it’s a joke, superjohn. Don’t get all exercised).

 

[Kitaman]

I think the question is "who can hang with us?".

We usually only need to show concern for Conference opponents who on any given night can hang with us. They scout us better, know our tendencies and have time to develop game plans. Of course we would need to have an off night, which will happen.

Non conference opponents don't matter especially come March/April (. . . . . duh!).

 

[bluestreak]

We are going to need that defensive stopper to put against their best scorer, like we had in Steph and AJax when we get into the heart of the season.
I'm not sure who that's going to be.

 

[auggie22]

I can hear the Simpson’s parody of lethal weapon playing all over this thread, “I got a baaad feeling about this”.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Right now, Auburn would beat us in a best-of-five series.

Two-deep in every position. The Tigers lacked guard production last year, but the additions of Miles Kelly (GT) and freshman Tahaad Pettiford adds volume-scoring potential to the backcourt.

 

[navery12]

I think it's a small list, but let's see this UConn team play someone ranked above 300 first

 

[Sphinx]

on Duke played 8 guys against Kentucky and the bench scored 6 points. Kansas is this years Purdue. Their center will score 30 but you stop the rest and we win by 20. Gonzaga is nice, nothing more. Baylor is athletic but I don’t know one area they are better than us. Michigan state could have built a pretty home with all the bricks they threw out last night. I have not seen Houston, or Ak. So far, I haven’t seen anyone better than us.

I have no doubt that Duke will the major roadblock to a UConn 3-peat. They have three freshman starters who by March will likely be the three best players on any floor they step on. Flagg is every bit as advertised; Knueppel is Cam Spencer with added size; and their 7-2 center Maluach is already doing things at both ends that our centers can only imagine. These three will be scary good by tournament time. If Hurley had these guys, he would waltz to a 3-peat. Scheyer is another story. He was missing in action at the end of last night's game, twice relying on hero-ball from Flagg, fully anticipated by UK and resulting in two turnovers. Scheyer is our best hope.

 

[Palatine]

There are few teams that can beat us. Most teams will need our help to beat us. At our best we are as good as anyone in the country. But we are not always at our best. And sometimes, the other team will get all the bounces.

We have made winning the NC look easy. IT IS NOT. Lots of things have to go right. Don't be fooled by the illusion. What we are trying to do is extremely difficult.

 

[jibsey]

Duke had multiple players cramping up in their games. We tend to pull away big in second halves. Conditioning is rarely mentioned by media but Hurley and the players always stress how it’s such a big factor for us. Our team just prepares better.

 

[NewBlood]

Winning Maui, then beating Gonzaga and Baylor. That's the goal before conference play. We do that? We are top dogs heading into conference play

 

[NewBlood]

We are going to need that defensive stopper to put against their best scorer, like we had in Steph and AJax when we get into the heart of the season.
I'm not sure who that's going to be.

His name is Jayden Ross. Danny sees it, which is why I feel he is ready to sacrifice some ball handling to get this kid and his length + fire on the court more. That length is an eraser on the 3 point line which is where KY, Bama, Kansas will want to be.

 

[gtcam]

Give UConn an established big and nobody touches the team - again
There will be some nights when UConn, like the Celtics, will get crushed on the boards and the outcome may be painful.
UConn is a top 5 team, no doubt.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Right now, Auburn would beat us in a best-of-five series.

Two-deep in every position. The Tigers lacked guard production last year, but the additions of Miles Kelly (GT) and freshman Tahaad Pettiford adds volume-scoring potential to the backcourt.

Actually think a best of 5 vs anyone would favor UConn bc of Hurley and staff's ability to adjust

 

[RuffRuff]

Impossible to evaluate based on us playing St Mary’s for the Blind caliber talent. I didn’t walk away from that NH game feeling confident on any level. It was sloppy and we beat them up late on depth. Will know better after Maui when you have to execute possession to possession. I don’t see us better or worse than anyone in the top 11 or so right now, just part of the pack. It’s not like we’ve looked flawless - we just beat up on undermanned teams.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It's all way too early. We haven't played anybody even remotely good. Let's see how this team looks against quality opponents. Way too soon to judge anybody else either.

As for Kansas, I was concerned about the shooting going cold last night, but they still beat a good team for the second time. I suspect they'll look very good against cupcakes.

Lots of quality teams out there, every team is still figuring things out at this point.

 

[nomar]

I think it's a small list, but let's see this UConn team play someone ranked above 300 first

If we play the first half against any good team the way we played the first half against UNH, we'll know who can beat us.

We lost games last season and the season before. Any team can lose. What matters is how we're playing in March and April. Needless to say, I'll take our staff, its schemes and its ability to adapt over anybody else's.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

I have no doubt that Duke will the major roadblock to a UConn 3-peat. They have three freshman starters who by March will likely be the three best players on any floor they step on. Flagg is every bit as advertised; Knueppel is Cam Spencer with added size; and their 7-2 center Maluach is already doing things at both ends that our centers can only imagine. These three will be scary good by tournament time. If Hurley had these guys, he would waltz to a 3-peat. Scheyer is another story. He was missing in action at the end of last night's game, twice relying on hero-ball from Flagg, fully anticipated by UK and resulting in two turnovers. Scheyer is our best hope.

Will they be the best three players if they ever play us? Flagg will definitely be but who among Duke's starters would start for us by the time February rolls around. We will have to see.

 

[Lambeau]

Maui only two weeks away!
Auburn (#4 Coaches' Poll) has an interesting 3-day gauntlet: Iowa State (#7), North Carolina (#11), then presumably UConn (#3).
It's awfully early for us--Aidan and Tarris and defense will be better by March.
But we'll learn a whole lot.

 

[DRBackup]

Impossible to evaluate based on us playing St Mary’s for the Blind caliber talent. I didn’t walk away from that NH game feeling confident on any level. It was sloppy and we beat them up late on depth. Will know better after Maui when you have to execute possession to possession. I don’t see us better or worse than anyone in the top 11 or so right now, just part of the pack. It’s not like we’ve looked flawless - we just beat up on undermanned teams.

UNH wasn't much better last year than this year. And the dominating, 2 time national champs beat them by 20 in game 7. This team beat them by nearly 40 in game 2.

 

[bendm]

Right now, Auburn would beat us in a best-of-five series.

Two-deep in every position. The Tigers lacked guard production last year, but the additions of Miles Kelly (GT) and freshman Tahaad Pettiford adds volume-scoring potential to the backcourt.

Agree on Auburn. Broom might be our biggest matchup nightmare. foul trouble for reed and samson could mean a lot of 5-out with AK at C. cant go cold from 3 when we have to go small.

Gonzaga has also impressed. i havent seen Zona play yet.

 

[bendm]

Duke had multiple players cramping up in their games. We tend to pull away big in second halves. Conditioning is rarely mentioned by media but Hurley and the players always stress how it’s such a big factor for us. Our team just prepares better.

Scheyer: Duke's continued cramping 'concerning'

After another one of his star freshmen dealt with cramping issues, Duke Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said after Tuesday's 77-72 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats the recurring issue was "concerning," adding that the program has to "take a hard look at it."

www.espn.com

 

[RuffRuff]

UNH wasn't much better last year than this year. And the dominating, 2 time national champs beat them by 20 in game 7. This team beat them by nearly 40 in game 2.

This same NH team lost to Umass in game one by 30. They’re not good. Umass was up by 18 at the half vs our 11. There is really nothing to prove in either direction against these types of teams this early when understanding how they’ll look against other top teams.

 

[CL82]

I think it's a small list, but let's see this UConn team play someone ranked above 300 first

Gonzaga isn't that far off. That's game a I will be very interested in seeing.