RebKell's Junkie Boards

[myrtle]

So they looked vulnerable last night. Do they lose again this season? Analysis of team?

My thoughts are that
A) they have the best player in the country with Stewie...but even she clearly got discombobulated with the double teams last night. Surprising really but she needs to learn how to deal with those double/triple teams because they will be there all year. All the more because:

B) the rest of the team appear to be role players. And UConn is not used to having only one superstar. Pretty good role players but it means each has her own flaws:

C) we've analyzed KML to death - the sweetest shooter in the country but not much else; Chong is also great offensively but can't defend; Stokes can block shots but not much else; MoJeff (and I love MoJeff) can defend and distribute and against most teams her extreme speed gives her layups, but she's offensively challenged.

So on offense, they pretty much have three weapons, which means the other two defenders sag and help on those weapons. This brings them back into the fold of more 'normal' teams.

Will they lose again? Geno will have them motivated, but it's unclear if that's enough. Looking at their schedule, I'm guessing UND will give them a good run for their money but otherwise it will be smooth sailing. So Carolina has the weapons to do so as well, but it's unclear if they will get their guard act together.

Other thoughts?

_________________
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman

[insidewinder]

I don't think they are or will be as good as they were last year. They really, really, really miss Dolson, for a variety of reasons - defense, passing, screening, etc., not just scoring. I am surprised that Stanford out rebounding them. Stanford played one post (one of the Johnsons, who are both really forwards) most of the second half/overtime. Bonnie Samuelson was at the 4 I believe. And it worked. Does UConn have a better inside game than they showed against Stanford?

Karlie Samuelson was able to shut down Lewis, and if she can do it, other teams will be able to do the same. And if Lewis is not a big factor, maybe even shut down by one defender, that is a whole lot of pressure on Stewart.

UConn has a lot of talent but it seems not multiple superstars, like they are used to having. That brings them closer to the level of the other teams. I'm sure they will fix a lot of the issues they had against Stanford, but I see them as much more vulnerable this year than last.

[Beemer]

Some of my fellow UConn fans were ready to jump off of the nearest bridge last night but I wasn't one of them. I know we are spoiled by UConn's success and I think losing like this every so often is in fact a good thing.

Stanford is always very good and they are led by a very good coach. They were the better team last night. I'd rather lose to Stanford by 2 in OT than by some unranked opponent in regulation.

The Cardinal did expose the Huskies' weaknesses but it remains to be seen if other teams can do the same while the Huskies are working over time to fix their shortcomings at the same time. Starting today.

I don't envy Creighton....

_________________
Go Huskies! Go Sun!

[Shades]

[summertime blues]

UConn is very good, but I don't think they're invincible. Stokes isn't Dolson and isn't likely to become her. Neither, I think, is Tuck. MoJeff and Stewart are excellent, but they can't do it by themselves. KML is streaky, Chong has no D. Nurse looks good but needs to rein herself in a bit, she seems a bit foul-prone. And of course the freshmen are freshmen and prone to doing freshman stuff, which usually means making mistakes, even at UConn. I think UConn will suffer from their conference, because playing a string of inferior teams doesn't do much to keep you sharp, even if it gives you a shiny record. Teams playing in tougher conferences are tested more often and may actually be better even if their records don't look as clean and shiny.

_________________
Don't take life so serious. It ain't nohows permanent.
It takes 3 years to build a team and 7 to build a program.--Conventional Wisdom

[Oldfandepot2]

[readyAIMfire53]

Kiah Stokes provides nothing. Can hardly believe how wide open they left her and she didn't look anywhere near the basket. Her defense may be above average, but not by much.

Morgan Tuck is a better all around player.

KML stunk it up.

Kia Nurse was the second most effective player.

The players weren't really moving "UConn style" out there. The ball wasn't being passed around smoothly, as evidenced by Stewie's THREE 3 sec calls. That happens when they haven't gotten the ball in when it's expected. When you're not moving the defense like they usually do, it's harder to get that gap for the pass in.

But I'm really aghast at the ease that Orrange and Thompson got into the paint and scored numerous times. That just never happens with a UConn team. And yet it did.

_________________
Follow your passion and your life will be true down to your core.

~rAf

[Brinx]

I think there is a 50/50 chance of them losing another game this season. They have some weaknesses that were exposed last night and their record will depend on how they react to that; will it motivate them, will a team leader emerge, will Stokes and KML move past a bad game, will the team bring more energy on D?

They play ND in 2 1/2 weeks, so that's not much time to get things worked out. I wouldn't want to be a UCONN player in practice or video session this week.

Things I noticed:

- They were indecisive about passing the ball into the post. When Stewie is posting up hard they need to get it to her quickly. On the flip side, Stewie needs to be mindful of how long she's in there.

- Stokes needs to be more aggressive. Post up hard, finish strong and go after rebounds.

- KML needs to look to score. There is going to be tough D all year long, she needs to be confident enough to create her own shot.

- Stewie needs to stay calm when the double and triple teams come.

- Everyone needs to work harder on D and help D needs to be there.

- Rebounding needs to improve. Dolson was tall and a huge body out there, this team will have to work harder to secure the rebounds.

[stever]

http://www.thehour.com/sports/john-nash-column-it-s-time-for-certain-huskies-to/article_7f52574c-77d1-5cd4-8321-d43478888342.html

_________________
Women's Basketball Daily
Celebrating the Women's Game Since 2005
WBBDaily Mobile Edition

[PUmatty]

I think it was Pilight who asked the question: Why would the losses of Dolson and Bria Hartley not affect the team?

[Shades]

[barryi22]

[quote="Brinx"]I think there is a 50/50 chance of them losing another game this season. They have some weaknesses that were exposed last night and their record will depend on how they react to that; will it motivate them, will a team leader emerge, will Stokes and KML move past a bad game, will the team bring more energy on D?

They play ND in 2 1/2 weeks, so that's not much time to get things worked out. I wouldn't want to be a UCONN player in practice or video session this week.

Things I noticed:

- They were indecisive about passing the ball into the post. When Stewie is posting up hard they need to get it to her quickly. On the flip side, Stewie needs to be mindful of how long she's in there.

- Stokes needs to be more aggressive. Post up hard, finish strong and go after rebounds.

- KML needs to look to score. There is going to be tough D all year long, she needs to be confident enough to create her own shot.

- Stewie needs to stay calm when the double and triple teams come.

- Everyone needs to work harder on D and help D needs to be there.

- Rebounding needs to improve. Dolson was tall and a huge body out there, this team will have to work harder to secure the rebounds.[/quote]


The Notre Dame game looms large for Connecticut. Stanford was able to penetrate the lane at will and had solid ball movement and perimeter shooters. Notre Dame is a similarly built team, except they have better players and athletes than Stanford. Allen and Loyd do a great job of getting into the lane, Mabrey is a great shooter from deep, Reimer is a physical post who will help body up Stewart, and Turner is extremely dynamic and will be a match up nightmare. Notre Dame will be out for blood after the last two meetings. If UCONN doesn't pick up their defense, it could be loss #2 for UCONN.

[Howee]

[bballjunkie]

[quote="readyAIMfire53"]Kiah Stokes provides nothing. Can hardly believe how wide open they left her and she didn't look anywhere near the basket. Her defense may be above average, but not by much.

Morgan Tuck is a better all around player.

KML stunk it up.

Kia Nurse was the second most effective player.

The players weren't really moving "UConn style" out there. The ball wasn't being passed around smoothly, as evidenced by Stewie's THREE 3 sec calls. That happens when they haven't gotten the ball in when it's expected. When you're not moving the defense like they usually do, it's harder to get that gap for the pass in.

But I'm really aghast at the ease that Orrange and Thompson got into the paint and scored numerous times. That just never happens with a UConn team. And yet it did.[/quote]

They got into the paint as the help D were out on the Samuelsons.

The game not only showed the weaknesses of Kiah at the high post but also who else is not a threat offensively. Give K Samuelson her due, she seemed to know Uconns offense better than some of their own players.

The game also showed how to defend Stanford. Their 2 guards don't like to pass as there were very few assists. They are both small. No need to get up on them, back off a little with a hand up and force them into shoot jumpers.

[ArtBest23]

They "weren't really moving "UConn style" out there" in large part because they lost Dolson as a distributor from the post, and with that lost their inside-out game. Among other things, that game is largely what freed up Lewis for wide open 3s. Ball went inside to Dolson, defense collapsed on the ball, ball ended up getting kicked outside and first or second pass ended up with Lewis in the corner for a wide open three. She's deadly when left alone (see Cal Davis which collapsed and left her wide open all game); has always been far less effective with a hand in her face.

But there is no one to fill that post role. Stokes is not a terribly effective distributor, and Stewart is a forward who, when she gets the ball in the paint, is primarily looking for her own shot, not to kick it outside. Dolson got a ton of assists from the high post; Stokes and Tuck combined for TWO assists in 45 minutes of play while Stewart had 3. The loss of Dolson is not only going to reduce scoring inside, it's likely to also reduce the wide open opportunities for Lewis.

If that game is representative of this year's team (which we don't know yet) it looks like this year's team may become even more perimeter oriented.

[TheWildJacko]

[bballjunkie]

I have watched

Orrange has always over dribbled and not passed early enough, she also dribbled toward the player she is passing to and takes her defender into their space, as does Thompson. If you watch the game they dribble so much I think Uconn looks dizzy. They had people open on the weak side but they can't make the pass. Orrange is also very left handed and Hartley would keep her on her right hand and frustrate her but Uconn seemed to forget that last night. None of their shots were challenged from the outside, even the 3 by Orrange as the defense were flying out at Samuelson but she read the defense perfectly and passed to a wide open Orrange.

The key is to give them a few feet as they hesitate and look to drive NOT pass and cut off their path, getting up too close was the problem. Last year the teams that sent a double created havoc for both of them as they are NOT pass first players.

[ArtBest23]

BTW, having watched the 2nd half and OT a couple more times, I'm stil a little surprised by the 5 second call.

I thought the long pass to Jefferson was available the entire time. No idea why Lewis didn't take it. Chong buried herself in the corner defended, like her feet were in cement, completely useless. Stokes was waiving for the ball but was actually in the middle of two at first and then three defenders; a pass to her was a turnover waiting to happen. And Stewart had no position at all inside but just kept leaning into the defender and waited far too long to break away for a deeper pass over the top. Lewis didn't get much help from her teammates. The only real opportunity was the lob towards midcourt for Jefferson who was the only one even moving. Not sure why Lewis didn't take that, but the 5 second call wasn't entirely her fault.

Of course Stanford promptly gave the ball right back by passing it out of bounds.

[myrtle]

that game will have some of the heaviest tape rewinds/perusals of any game this year...by both teams plus all teams who will be meeting them, plus the officials meetings plus the pro scouts. Lots of woulda, coulda, shouldas from all sides. But it sure makes the season more interesting.

_________________
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman

[RP]

Perhaps she became too comfortable camping out at the 3-point line after hitting 10 3s against UC Davis, but whatever the reason that was an unusual performance from KML.

For comparison, in UConn's last four tournament games, against BYU, Texas A&M, Stanford and Notre Dame, she scored 15 to 19 points every game while only making seven of 23 3-point attempts and averaged eight rebounds and 2.5 assists.

Clearly, she is capable of a lot more, at least at this level.

[ArtBest23]

[RP]

[ArtBest23]

[Homyonkel]

But I'm really aghast at the ease that Orrange and Thompson got into the paint and scored numerous times. That just never happens with a UConn team. And yet it did.[/quote]



That's the sound of the hammer hitting the nail on the head. It was the most disturbing part of the loss for a long-time UCONN fan. (And pointed out by a knowledgable Duke fan.)

[Howee]