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UConn's defense never rests
There have been impressive efforts by UConn in the 10 seasons I have covered them but I would have a hard time recalling a more sustained run of defensive brilliance than what the Huskies unleashed on third-ranked and previously undefeated Duke in the first 19 minutes of Monday's blowout win.
Whether it was the 2-2-1 fullcourt press, the aggressive 2-3 zone or straight man to man, UConn simply wasn't giving up any open looks to the Duke players.
Let's be honest, the Blue Devils are not the most talented offensive teams in the country. Senior Jasmine Thomas is Duke's only double-digit scorer, as a team Duke was shooting just 41 percent from the field and had more turnovers than assists but still this was the nation's third-ranked team that the Huskies made look like the 14th or 15th best team in the Big East.
"A couple times I looked up at the scoreboard and I couldn't believe what the score was," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "The way they played in the second half was more the what I expected. What happens when you are on the road and you start missing shots, you've got to hope the other team is missing shots. When they were missing and we were scoring. It is kind of you get caught in that car wash thing and you have no way which way is out. That is what it looked like to me, they just got caught where they couldn't make anything, we were making everything. The more they rushed to hurry up and get back into the game, the harder it became for them."
Duke missed its first 12 shots and was 1 for 20 to start the game.
"It's something that we work on all the time," UConn senior forward Maya Moore said. "It's really hard to do because it requires all five players to constantly be on the same page and communicating and being aggressive and aware. The minute one player loses focus, somebody scores. It's a mindset of not letting your teammates down. It's not about shutting your player down, it's about making sure your player doesn't score and that your teammate's player doesn't score. It's about team defense. It's really a mindset, not just X's and O's. It's about finding a way to get it done. As hard as practice is every day, games like this make it all worth it."
While UConn's defensive effort was a thing of beauty - unless you are a Duke player, the offensive performance also contributed to the surprisingly lopsided win.
Kelly Faris, who was 1 of 9 from 3-point range in her last five games, hit a pair of treys in the opening 13-0 run and finished 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes combined for 49 points on 18 of 30 shooting while freshmen Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley were solid.
Whether it was the 2-2-1 fullcourt press, the aggressive 2-3 zone or straight man to man, UConn simply wasn't giving up any open looks to the Duke players.
Let's be honest, the Blue Devils are not the most talented offensive teams in the country. Senior Jasmine Thomas is Duke's only double-digit scorer, as a team Duke was shooting just 41 percent from the field and had more turnovers than assists but still this was the nation's third-ranked team that the Huskies made look like the 14th or 15th best team in the Big East.
"A couple times I looked up at the scoreboard and I couldn't believe what the score was," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "The way they played in the second half was more the what I expected. What happens when you are on the road and you start missing shots, you've got to hope the other team is missing shots. When they were missing and we were scoring. It is kind of you get caught in that car wash thing and you have no way which way is out. That is what it looked like to me, they just got caught where they couldn't make anything, we were making everything. The more they rushed to hurry up and get back into the game, the harder it became for them."
Duke missed its first 12 shots and was 1 for 20 to start the game.
"It's something that we work on all the time," UConn senior forward Maya Moore said. "It's really hard to do because it requires all five players to constantly be on the same page and communicating and being aggressive and aware. The minute one player loses focus, somebody scores. It's a mindset of not letting your teammates down. It's not about shutting your player down, it's about making sure your player doesn't score and that your teammate's player doesn't score. It's about team defense. It's really a mindset, not just X's and O's. It's about finding a way to get it done. As hard as practice is every day, games like this make it all worth it."
While UConn's defensive effort was a thing of beauty - unless you are a Duke player, the offensive performance also contributed to the surprisingly lopsided win.
Kelly Faris, who was 1 of 9 from 3-point range in her last five games, hit a pair of treys in the opening 13-0 run and finished 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes combined for 49 points on 18 of 30 shooting while freshmen Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley were solid.
posted by Jim Fuller at
10:42 PM
1 Comments:
And on the 8th day, God created Maya Moore.
Unfortunately last night's game fueled all the WCBB haters. #3 teams do not lose by 36 points to #2 teams in MCBB. Duke might have been overrated, but Duke is still a legitimate top 10 team in WCBB.
I wonder what Breanna Stewart thought of UConn’s first half platinum performance against Duke. I wonder which team Breanna Stewart wants to play for now. :)
Duke does not have the athletes and the talent that Baylor, Stanford, and Notre Dame does. Duke blowout win was only one game, just like the Stanford loss was only one game. Doubt that UConn could shut down either Baylor or Stanford like the Huskies shut down Duke. And remember, the last 2 times that UConn played Stanford, the Huskies were terrible on offense.
Lauren Engeln will have a better career than Heather Buck. Lauren can shoot but obviously needs to work on her defense and work on understanding UConn’s offensive plays. Heather did score 4 points but on a few occasions was ridiculously lost on defense. And as is usual, Heather became nervous with the ball under the basket.
I have nothing against Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and I have never watched her play. But after watching over 3.5 seasons of the All-American and Player of the Year Maya Moore, does any die hard UConn fanatic really believe that KML has the gifted talent, heart, and desire, to duplicate MM’s incredible performances? It is not fair to KML for UConn fans to expect her to be as great as MM, who is one of the top 10 WCBB players of all time.
Maya Moore took a lot of deserved criticism for standing around and shooting jump shots for 3+ seasons. But after the Stanford game, Maya Moore took her game to the next level and now is comfortable driving to the basket. Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris, Bria Hartley, and Stefanie Dolson play well when Maya Moore plays great. What will happen next season, when Hayes, Faris, Hartley, and Dolson cannot feed off of Moore’s incredible performances?
Elena Delle Donne leaving UConn was a real blessing in disguise for WCBB. UConn would have won its 3rd straight undefeated NCAA championship this season and entered next season with a 117-0 record. WCBB haters would be 100% correct in saying there was no parity in WCBB. No team would have come within 15 points of UConn this season if EDD was a Husky. Stanford would not have been able to shut down Maya Moore, Tiffany Hayes, and EDD. That loss would have been a 15 point UConn win because the Huskies would have entered the game with the aura of invincibility. Stanford player’s mindset would have been negative prior to the opening tip against an UConn team with MM and EDD.
Baylor with Brittney Griner and freshman of the year Odyssey Sims has a real chance to duplicate UConn’s back to back undefeated championships in 2011-12 and 2012-13. The only reason that will probably happen is because Maya Moore becomes ineligible to play in the NCAA after the first week of April. And the Lady Bears have great chance to run the table the rest of this season and enter next season with a 34 game winning streak. 34 + 39 + 39 > 90.
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