HuskyNan
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You wanna press the Huskies?
- Thread starter HuskyNan
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If only this carries over to GAMES! With Paige, Arizona,did a more than good job of controlling the game. And they had a "step back" scoring ace Uconn couldn't control. They looked like 7 players they double teamed so quickly.
Without Paige A Florida team took them out of sync. Baylor, physical, got into UC heads. There is a lot of work to be done on handling presses, pressure, physical teams for Geno.
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Had Muhl stuck in the revolving door. Bueckers can push the pace whenever and as fast as she wants. Just needs an outlet pass and four kids that can run the floor with her.
EricLA
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The game plan for breaking the press vs. tOSU seemed to be for the guards to pass the ball back and forth in the backcourt until they turned it over, or had it stolen. Also, tOSU brought more than one defender to full court press us. I was shocked the coaches didn't have a plan B, or according to Geno, they did, but the team didn't do what they were told. All in all - shocking on many levels.
Side note - great to see Paige looking so smooth, athletic and in control.
Side note - great to see Paige looking so smooth, athletic and in control.
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Geez, did anyone watch the Ohio State game? The Huskies couldn't get the ball over half court. If Paige can fix that problem they'll be on their way.
I do think Paige will help a lot with the press but I'm hoping Azzi has worked on her ball handling and is relishing being put in that situation again. She's an elite guard and should be more than capable of making quick decisions and breaking through. The weird or head scratching thing is Dorka seems like the perfect big to combat a press. I need to rewatch the game to see what happened .Also Jana would've/will be great at it as well.
Lastly, probably one of the more important things, I think KK will be a one woman press break as well. Like Georgia Amoore pretty much did it herself against OSU, and I know she was an upperclassmen but I think KK will be great against it.
Lastly, probably one of the more important things, I think KK will be a one woman press break as well. Like Georgia Amoore pretty much did it herself against OSU, and I know she was an upperclassmen but I think KK will be great against it.
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Carnac
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When we played against a player that we couldn't stop (and UConn will encounter some), my coach told us:........." then don't let him touch the ball." DENY them the ball. Stay between them and the ball, and switch on defense. That's easier said than done. Players can't score if they can't get the ball.
This is what I was referring to in another thread when I said that when you play against another team that has an "elite" scorer, you want/need somebody (your best defensive player, i.e., a Nika or an Aubrey) you can put on that player one-on-one that can shut her down, and almost make her disappear.
I remember a game against Villanova in December of 2020 (I believe) when their best scorer Madison "Maddie" Siegrist was held to 2 points (a jumper at the 9:38 minute mark in the 3rd quarter per the game flow chart. Siegrist did not score again in the 2nd half).
I can't recall who guarded her, I think it was Christyn Williams, but whoever it was, got the job done. Siegrist disappeared in the 2nd half and finished with 15 points, far below her usual average. [Box score]
And zero attacking the basket when they did break it. Edwards being in foul trouble the whole game didn't help either.
Bald Husky
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As good as she is, against a good press even she can't do it alone. What we saw in that video was one on one.
Ohio State didn't have the personnel to press a good passing team but UCONN last year has a lot of players that couldn't catch a pass and it was worse than usual in the one game. I don't see anyone really challenging them when they have Paige, Azzi and Nika all on the floor along with Edwards and another shooter. Even in the Ohio State game they had about 5 chances in the first quarter to blow that game wide open and missed every one of the shots, and they were wide open threes.
I would also throw KK in the mix if a team wants to press. She is extremely quick and a good ball handler too which would free Azzi up to sit in the corner and hit some threes.
I would also throw KK in the mix if a team wants to press. She is extremely quick and a good ball handler too which would free Azzi up to sit in the corner and hit some threes.
HuskyNan
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The Huskies had 2 true ball handlers vs OSU, now there are 5 (Nika, Paige, Azzi, sophomore Ines, KK). If someone is struggling against the press, Geno can try a different guard which is a luxury he didn’t have last year
It does carry over to games. The example of Arizona is more complicated than breaking a press, and Paige can’t win by herself.
Carnac
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I'm betting that Geno would pay coaches to press this year.
I really liked that UConn team that lost to AZ but i feel like they struggled a lot offensively in that game. Not necessarily with the press but more so just defensive pressure. That AZ team had a bunch of standout defenders who were all upperclassmen. Thinking about that uconn roster, only PB and CW were explosive offensively and if I recall correctly CW got into foul trouble. I think this years team has a bit more offensive firepower. Like Azzi , PB, AE can all go for 20. I'm fairly confident CD should be put in that category. Then Ice and Aubrey r definitely double figure threats as well.
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If? Getting it over half court? It's nice that UConn fans are cautious but UConn will easily have the best backcourt in he country. UConn had two guards most of last season, Muhl and Bettencourt. Fudd was <100% in the NCAA's. By the NCAA's Muhl was playing on fumes with a chronic ankle/foot issue. Senechal was playing on a knee that needed surgery. That, more than anything, was why to's were high and why tOSU won.
UConn will have between 6 and 8 guards and 5 potential pg's.
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OSU was playing a box press. 4 players form a box and double team whoever gets the ball first while the other 2 cover the passing lanes. At first we kept trying to pass the ball and it got stolen a lot. Then Nika decided to just GO with the ball and that worked out better. She got it over the half court but even when we got it across we couldnt hit a shot to save us.
Nika panicked during the OSU press bigtime. She must have had close to 8 turnovers. Frankly, if a team playing the Huskies wants to press, I'd substitute for Nika with KK. She's nervy, confident, and is far more offensive minded and she played acceptably decent defense according to her HS You Tubes. KK will unnerve players who have never faced those quick, darting moves. Give KK her baptism by fire early on in the season and you'll have somebody ready to play the tougher games. Being idle on the bench is no way to prepare KK for the bigtime.
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I've said it before, and see that it needs to be said again. The team was mentally and emotionally spent before the tOSU game. This is why even when they beat the press they missed so may open shots. Exhaustion made them vulnerable to a press. It wasn't Nika's fault, or any individual player's fault.
I expect the end of March to be a very different story this season.
I expect the end of March to be a very different story this season.
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Thank you Blond D. I finally understand why we had so much trouble with the press - OSU was playing with 6 players !
CL82
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We definitely have the resources to handle the press. We struggled with it after having players who were burdened with extra minutes for a whole season.
We also are going to have phenomenal three-point shooting which means that defenders will have to come out to the arc to guard people. That means that the paint is going to be opened up. That should make it much easier for Edwards to score. As we swing the ball from side to side with that great UConn ball movement, defenders are going to be forced to adjust. If they make a mistake and leave Paige, or Azzi, or Caroline open they're very likely to knock down those threes. If they try to over play the three point shot any one of those players can drive by them. In the meantime chasing them around is going to be exhausting.
We have the pieces to be a very dangerous team this season. Of course, we are doomed nonetheless.
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2 of the players in the box press was covering the girl who had the ball and the other two were watching the lanes....smarty-pants lol
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The good thing that worked in our favor last year, no team applied fullcourt pressure until we ran into Ohio State. I thought Texas would press us in that matchup, which was nice plus they were lacking a few key players last year. Then when we got down to 6-7 players. I thought for sure teams would use their depth to try press us but none did.