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On the defensive
Having arrived safely in Trenton (no easy feat when you combine construction-related delays approaching the George Washington Bridge and impatient New York drivers) and not much to report.
One issue which has been addressed before my me and others who cover the top-ranked Huskies but bears revisiting is the Huskies' ability to lock down other team's top scorers.
I've broken it down periodically but with the recent release of the 40 finalists for the State Farm All-American team, I thought I would take it a step further. UConn has faced 11 of the 40 candidates, holding them to 15.6 points and 39 percent shooting from the field. Doesn't sound that impressive? OK, how the fact that only Rutgers' Kia Vaughn (who did it twice) and DePaul's Natasha Williams made more field goals than they missed against UConn's defense.
Here's the breakdown
Sha Brooks, Florida 3-10 shooting 8 points
Allison Hightower, LSU 4-15 14 points
Angel McCoughtry, Louisville 11-35 33 points in two games
Rashanda McCants, North Carolina 5-15 13 points
Jene Morris, San Diego State 7-19 17 points
Deirdre Naughton, DePaul 7-21 21 points
Courtney Paris, Oklahoma 6-16 14 points
Epiphanny Prince, Rutgers 12-35 30 points in two games
Kia Vaughn, Rutgers 14-20, 32 points in two games
Natasha Williams, DePaul 9-13 21 points
Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh 6-16 16 points.
What does this mean? Well, the Huskies' high-flying offensive may bring in the fans, it is the defense which holds the key to UConn's national championship hopes.
One issue which has been addressed before my me and others who cover the top-ranked Huskies but bears revisiting is the Huskies' ability to lock down other team's top scorers.
I've broken it down periodically but with the recent release of the 40 finalists for the State Farm All-American team, I thought I would take it a step further. UConn has faced 11 of the 40 candidates, holding them to 15.6 points and 39 percent shooting from the field. Doesn't sound that impressive? OK, how the fact that only Rutgers' Kia Vaughn (who did it twice) and DePaul's Natasha Williams made more field goals than they missed against UConn's defense.
Here's the breakdown
Sha Brooks, Florida 3-10 shooting 8 points
Allison Hightower, LSU 4-15 14 points
Angel McCoughtry, Louisville 11-35 33 points in two games
Rashanda McCants, North Carolina 5-15 13 points
Jene Morris, San Diego State 7-19 17 points
Deirdre Naughton, DePaul 7-21 21 points
Courtney Paris, Oklahoma 6-16 14 points
Epiphanny Prince, Rutgers 12-35 30 points in two games
Kia Vaughn, Rutgers 14-20, 32 points in two games
Natasha Williams, DePaul 9-13 21 points
Shavonte Zellous, Pittsburgh 6-16 16 points.
What does this mean? Well, the Huskies' high-flying offensive may bring in the fans, it is the defense which holds the key to UConn's national championship hopes.
posted by Jim Fuller at
3:56 PM
1 Comments:
right on target jim! uconn's defense has not been talked about quite enough. i had a good view of their defense against louisville in the big east championship game,and it was the kind of defense that wins championships. i am only concerned with how tightly the referees will be calling games.kalana and tiffany will be most important the rest of the way because of the way they can defend, even if they are not scoring.
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