Game Thread Lady Vols Missouri
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mlindsay
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Exactly! I have said before if she was a Sylvia Fowles or Courtney Paris (Dominant 5 players at the collegiate level with good hands) or even Alania Coates then yeah you force it in there but when she barely catches the pass and then doesn't know what to do with you, you almost have to make her a rebounder.
sccshortstop
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Yep MR is a project and I don't know that there will ever be a masterpiece at the end. She tries but just does not have the hands, moves or the physicality that she needs for any long term success. Seems to be a great kid and teammate but will not play much after college, and then only because of her size. I just call it the way I see it!!:loco:
Has anyone else noticed that a lot of WCBB post players seem to have to post up with their entire back and both hands out instead of with the side of their body and calling for the ball with one hand? I have been trying to pay close attention to that.
I watch A LOT of games weekly from all different conferences and I have been trying to compare how UConn post players post up as opposed to others. It seems that most are taught to post with their whole back on the defender. Once they loose contact they stand straight up. UConn posts tend to post with one side of their body or another (like male post players) and they keep contact with that side never standing straight up unless they are going to set a screen (because the didn't get the ball) or to release to catch the ball that is coming in.
If Russell could catch with one hand while posting with her side, or even just get into the habit of putting a player on her hip instead of posting with her back no one should be able to stop her most nights. When you post with your back the ball has to be received at the chest when you post with your hip the ball can be gathered in the air above your head.
Baylor, Texas or MD are my 3 front runners.
I think Baylor is the better team, and UConn benefited from an other worldly performance by Crystal Dangerfield in their win, which she has been unable to replicate since.
Texas has size, and Holmes is emerging as a real star. I think they might be a Final Four team.
Maryland is deep and strong, and their freshmen are getting a lot of experience.
UConn hasn't played anyone good since MD, so it will be interesting to see how they adjust to the tougher competition on Monday.
mlindsay
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They have the players but none of their coaches are better at game planning than Geno and his assistants.
I like;
1.) Maryland (Hate Brenda Frese but I think they have the pieces to do so)
2.) Baylor (They have the pieces I think Kim needs to adjust her lineups a little bit)
3.) Florida State
4.) Miss State (They didn't play them this year but I think they have the pieces in place to pull an upset)
Watching MSU maul Vandy, up 40-12 late in the 2nd quarter. They are brutal.
Because of how easily they've been winning most of their games, the bench is getting a lot of minutes. McCowan and Holmes in particular will benefit from the extended playing time.
I can't imagine MSU not getting a #1 seed, so if they get UConn in the final four, I'm sure they will be chomping at the opportunity to atone for last year's blowout
Because of how easily they've been winning most of their games, the bench is getting a lot of minutes. McCowan and Holmes in particular will benefit from the extended playing time.
I can't imagine MSU not getting a #1 seed, so if they get UConn in the final four, I'm sure they will be chomping at the opportunity to atone for last year's blowout
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mlindsay
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Smallvol#1
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sccshortstop
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sccshortstop
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Of course UConn is beatable.... Florida State, Notre Dame, Maryland, Baylor, South Carolina... all of them and i have probably left out a couple.... Come on, 2 starting forwards at 5'11" AND 6'1" and center a skinny rail of a player .... not a banger.... at 6'3" ..... Baylor, S Carolina.... Miss St have the size.....
But of course Conn is so well coached.... and they bring it every single time out on the floor.... I do not think they will go all the way this year, but i do not know who will beat them either.... it will be a case of CT being off, more than their opponent playing a flawless game.... that is my prediction
madtownvol
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Following up on your and Vol720's comments. I also agree.
Mizzou was sagging on Mercedes creating a box around her with 2 and sometimes 3 players. Earlier in the year, the LVs would force the ball into MR and generally not with good results. But, when a team commits that many players to a post, that creates a lot of open spaces on the court. In the 2nd half, the LVs were able to hit enough shots to make mizzou pay for taking away the MR option.
And MR's reflexes are not that great. So, she is not very good at making lots of quick cuts and fakes to get her spot in the post -- she can be compared to Izzy who was excellent on that dimension. I have seen MR fight for position more effectively than she did tonight though. That might be one place where the stress of having to play so many minutes is taking a toll. She definitely looks slower getting up and down the court as well as being more lethargic in the post.
I hope the LVs can play well enough in the closing games that Nunn can get more minutes and MR can recharge for the tournament run.
They play 6'1 Collier in the low post and 6'3 KLS on the wing. Collier is a banger and has unusually long arms, but she's still 6'1.
I think the team that beats them will be the one that can finally exploit the post matchup advantage and avoid foul trouble for their bigs. SC has the post tandem to do that and dangerous scoring guards, but Davis/Gray will need to be on target from beyond the arc to win this game.
ok I agree they play quality teams in the beginning of the year but their conference schedule gives them a chance to really glue as a team by beating up on cupcakes without any major adjustments. They can rest players during their conference play while other teams in tougher conferences has to play to the wire even against .500 teams because of better competition. Sure they play SC Monday but they will be completely rested and without injury then after that undefeated until NCAA tourney time.
It's odd to me how people make assumptions that UConn is more rested. When you watch them play do they look like they are not playing as hard as they could? Conversely when you watch other teams play including the team you root for, does it look like they are playing as hard as they can? Does UConn's defense look like it is sleep walking? Are they not running full tilt on the fast break? Comments like that are very reminiscent of fans who believe in an external locus of control. It's really puzzling to me because I watch games from all conferences and I can say without a doubt I see far more walking up the court around the country than I have ever seen in a UConn game regardless of the opponent.
As far as the tourney goes... nearly all of the teams in a major conference have anywhere from 10 to 14 days from their final game of the regular season or their conference tourney and the start of the NCAA tourney. For 18-22 year olds I think that is plenty of rest.
Furthermore to think that they don't have to work as hard because of their conference, yet somehow on most nights are still favored by 10+ points even versus ranked opponents is completely illogical. In reality a lot of Top teams like to use their conference as a crutch not to get better and then when they get to the tourney they have gone all year being good but will never be great because they use their conference rankings instead of their own work ethic, team goals, preparation, & player development as a barometer of how far they will go.
If you look at the avg minutes played by UConn starters it's exactly on par with that of starters elsewhere and in some cases UConn players are playing more because of injuries and having just 10 players this year with 3 of those 10 being 2 freshman and a walk on picked up to help with practices a few years back. They aren't super human. They get injured too. Twice this season they have been down to 9 when they had guards out on concussion protocol. Over the summer both Collier and Dangerfield had hip surgery so I am not sure where people are getting this idea that they are just in way better shape than any other D1 WCBB team. They might make it look that way on the court but they aren't robots.
The whole "my conference make me better" attitude is short sighted. You would think coaches would have figured this out by now but they haven't. In the 98 games they have won 27 were vs ranked opponents. I could continue but really the point is... it is what it is. There is no "if" you could come up with that would matter because it's not like they haven't won 50 in a row, 70 in a row, or 90 in a row in a different conference. They broke their own record... they are just doing what they do.
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Nashville Tennessean paper today: Blackmans Dangerfield looks for consistency at Uconn.
"The issue dogging Dangerfield and drawing the ire of the coaches has been her inconsistent effort at both ends of the floor."
Auriemma said:"She doesn't work hard at it, plain and simple. Crystal is used to doing it a certain way that allowed her to get away with a lot of that stuff in high school, and she's finding out that doesn't work necessarily in college. If Crystal worked as hard as Kia Nurse, she would be first team All American. But she doesn't. So she's not."
Crystal says:" There are possession that I work hard, but it's just consistency. I do believe I have it in me. I just have to find it, and it's going to take time, but eventually it's got to come or I AM NOT GOING TO PLAY!"
In the pressers both players and Holly mention inconsistent play as a problem! There's your main difference between Holly and Aremmia! Holly accepts this type of playing and Geno will not let his girls play that way!!!!!!!!!!
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