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Congrats to the UConn Women's basketball team on winning the AAC championship game against South Florida 100-44. It was just an amazing show of dominance and at the same time, one of the most complete basketball game by one team that I've seen. 31 assists on 38 baskets? Crazy good.
And on top of that, we had a record breaking performance by Katie Lou Samuelson. Check out this graphic.
The last time that these two teams met, Napheesa Collier scored 39. Now Lou scores 40? And, one more time, they are only sophomores! We UConn fans get two more seasons of these two superstars.
So, let me ask you this question. How does a team that clearly had the two best players in 2015-16 along with another top ten player have another team, in the 2016-17 season have THREE of the top five players in the country.
The growth of these two players along with the incredible play by Gabby Williams has just boggled my mind. If all three of these players aren't all-Americans, than there is something wrong with the process.
The growth of these two players along with the incredible play by Gabby Williams has just boggled my mind. If all three of these players aren't all-Americans, than there is something wrong with the process.
Here is my full UConn/South Florida Post Game Report
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In the other conference champion game, No. 2 Baylor played West Virginia.
I was all set to write that like UConn, South Carolina and Maryland....Baylor won the regular season AND conference tournament championships. But West Virginia had other ideas.
They never trailed and used big first and third quarters get lead 65-44, a whopping 21 point lead going into the fourth quarter. But Baylor wasn't done. They started the fourth quarter on a 15-3 run to cut the lead to 9 points. Kalani Brown was a bull in the pain and hit a few big baskets to cut the lead to seven points 70-63. But a steal by WV and then a really dumb technical foul on Kristy Wallace helped West Virginia hold on for a 77-66 win.
Does Baylor drop out of a one seed position? I think they keep it but move to the No. 4 one seed.
But it was a crazy upset. Baylor really missed Alexis Jones in this one. I don't think they can win a National Championship without her.
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Depth. It's all about how many players a team has that get REGULAR minutes in COMPETATIVE games. Players that sit on the bench are not depth.
I just read a thread on a message board about UConn slack of depth compared to Baylor, Maryland, Notre Dame and South Carolina and "many more". The poster was incredibly worried about it.
All the responses focused on UConn's lack of depth and how it doesn't matter. That Geno shrinks his rotation in the tournament and uses only 6-7 players. All true statements. But no one mentioned that the entire premise falls apart when you actually look at the other teams.
Only Baylor has significant depth. They have Cox, Mompremier, Cave and Chou off the bench and all contribute. But the others? It's just not true.
Maryland played Frasor and Jones 14 and 8 minutes off the bench. Total 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.
Notre Dame played Boley and Young off the bench 16 and 16 minutes off the bench. Total 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist.
South Carolina played H-Harriman and Cliney 20 and 18 minutes off the bench. Total 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. And they only got that many minutes because Coates was out. Cuevas-Moore would replace Cliney on the bench and they would still be only 7 deep.
UConn played Dangerfield and Butler off the bench 26 and 12 minutes. Total 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.
It's amazing how people can formulate an opinion with no facts whatsoever and no one calls them out for it.
I just read a thread on a message board about UConn slack of depth compared to Baylor, Maryland, Notre Dame and South Carolina and "many more". The poster was incredibly worried about it.
All the responses focused on UConn's lack of depth and how it doesn't matter. That Geno shrinks his rotation in the tournament and uses only 6-7 players. All true statements. But no one mentioned that the entire premise falls apart when you actually look at the other teams.
Only Baylor has significant depth. They have Cox, Mompremier, Cave and Chou off the bench and all contribute. But the others? It's just not true.
Maryland played Frasor and Jones 14 and 8 minutes off the bench. Total 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist.
Notre Dame played Boley and Young off the bench 16 and 16 minutes off the bench. Total 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist.
South Carolina played H-Harriman and Cliney 20 and 18 minutes off the bench. Total 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists. And they only got that many minutes because Coates was out. Cuevas-Moore would replace Cliney on the bench and they would still be only 7 deep.
UConn played Dangerfield and Butler off the bench 26 and 12 minutes. Total 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists.
It's amazing how people can formulate an opinion with no facts whatsoever and no one calls them out for it.
My premise is simple. Examine important games and see who gets the most minutes off the bench. That will show you who is in the "real" rotation for a team.
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By David in Naples!!!!!
Well, the poster Wbbfan1 apologized to David for stealing his numbers and post it as if it was his own.
He private messaged him. Weak. He needed to go in that thread, admit his guilt and apologize in public. Right now, posters still think that thread was his own idea.
Man up Wbbfan1.
Gabby Williams fills the stats sheet every game. But, lately, she joined an exclusive club of Huskies who have scored 400 points, grabbed 250 rebounds, handed out 150 assists, stolen 75 steals and blocked at least 25 shots, all in a single season. That club currently has only one member, Maya Moore. Maya actually did it twice, but her best all around statistical year was 2010-11. She scored 868 points and grabbed 313 rebounds in 38 games. Gabby has far fewer points at 410 and 267 rebounds, but has only played 31 games. However, Williams already has 162 assists vs Maya's 151 in her senior season. Gabby also has 82 steals and 43 blocked shots vs Maya's 89 steals and 46 blocked shots. Both those totals are within reach for the Gabulous one.
Passing Maya on three of the five stats would be impressive.
So how close did Stewie come to joining that exclusive club ? Pretty close. Her senior year, Stewie had 147 assists, falling 3 short for membership. She also only had 67 steals vs the 75 necessary to join Maya. The challenge is being well rounded, quick, unselfish and tall enough to get enough points (400) and rebounds (250) and assists (150). The steals (75) and blocked shots (25) are icing on the cake. In Gabby's case, she makes for being under 6 feet tall by having extraordinary "hops" which let's her play like she was 6'3'. She is having one heck of a season, and there are hopefully, 7 more games to play.
Go Huskies..!!
And another -
One of the reasons this UConn squad has remained undefeated is the balance in scoring on the team. Take the six hardest games this season in terms of margin of victory. They would be FSU (+2), Baylor (+11), Notre Dame (+11), Maryland (+6), South Carolina (+11) and Tulane (+3). Against those six teams, UConn had six different players step up and have a great scoring game. Consider:
1. FSU - Saniya goes 6-6 (100%) and scores 16 points. Napheesa goes 10-14 (71%) and leads the team with 28 points.
2. Baylor - Crystal shoots 8-14 (57%) and scores 19 to lead the team. Katie Lou is right behind her at 4-8 (50%) and 16 points.
3. Notre Dame - Collier goes 7-9 (77%) and scores 20 points. Gabby gets 19 points on 7-17 shooting (41%).
4. Maryland - KLS hits for 23 points on 8-17 shooting (47%) and Kia adds 19 points with 6-12 (50%) shooting.
5. South Carolina - Gabby explodes for 26 points on 10-19 shooting (53%). Behind her is Pheesa with 18 points on 8-16 shooting (50%).
6. Tulane - Collier goes off for 26 points on 7-9 shooting (77%). KLS adds 17 on 5-14 (36%) shooting.
Six players who all stepped up in big games and scored critical points. How do you defend five players at a time, when all can score? Short answer, you can't.
One other revealing stat about UConn's play in big games is free throw shooting. In those six games above, the Huskies shot 107 free throws, or 18 in each contest. They made 84 of them for a 78.5% average. Big time nerves in big games.
Go Huskies..!!
He private messaged him. Weak. He needed to go in that thread, admit his guilt and apologize in public. Right now, posters still think that thread was his own idea.
Man up Wbbfan1.
Gabby Williams fills the stats sheet every game. But, lately, she joined an exclusive club of Huskies who have scored 400 points, grabbed 250 rebounds, handed out 150 assists, stolen 75 steals and blocked at least 25 shots, all in a single season. That club currently has only one member, Maya Moore. Maya actually did it twice, but her best all around statistical year was 2010-11. She scored 868 points and grabbed 313 rebounds in 38 games. Gabby has far fewer points at 410 and 267 rebounds, but has only played 31 games. However, Williams already has 162 assists vs Maya's 151 in her senior season. Gabby also has 82 steals and 43 blocked shots vs Maya's 89 steals and 46 blocked shots. Both those totals are within reach for the Gabulous one.
Passing Maya on three of the five stats would be impressive. So how close did Stewie come to joining that exclusive club ? Pretty close. Her senior year, Stewie had 147 assists, falling 3 short for membership. She also only had 67 steals vs the 75 necessary to join Maya. The challenge is being well rounded, quick, unselfish and tall enough to get enough points (400) and rebounds (250) and assists (150). The steals (75) and blocked shots (25) are icing on the cake. In Gabby's case, she makes for being under 6 feet tall by having extraordinary "hops" which let's her play like she was 6'3'. She is having one heck of a season, and there are hopefully, 7 more games to play.
Go Huskies..!!
And another -
One of the reasons this UConn squad has remained undefeated is the balance in scoring on the team. Take the six hardest games this season in terms of margin of victory. They would be FSU (+2), Baylor (+11), Notre Dame (+11), Maryland (+6), South Carolina (+11) and Tulane (+3). Against those six teams, UConn had six different players step up and have a great scoring game. Consider:
1. FSU - Saniya goes 6-6 (100%) and scores 16 points. Napheesa goes 10-14 (71%) and leads the team with 28 points.
2. Baylor - Crystal shoots 8-14 (57%) and scores 19 to lead the team. Katie Lou is right behind her at 4-8 (50%) and 16 points.
3. Notre Dame - Collier goes 7-9 (77%) and scores 20 points. Gabby gets 19 points on 7-17 shooting (41%).
4. Maryland - KLS hits for 23 points on 8-17 shooting (47%) and Kia adds 19 points with 6-12 (50%) shooting.
5. South Carolina - Gabby explodes for 26 points on 10-19 shooting (53%). Behind her is Pheesa with 18 points on 8-16 shooting (50%).
6. Tulane - Collier goes off for 26 points on 7-9 shooting (77%). KLS adds 17 on 5-14 (36%) shooting.
Six players who all stepped up in big games and scored critical points. How do you defend five players at a time, when all can score? Short answer, you can't.
One other revealing stat about UConn's play in big games is free throw shooting. In those six games above, the Huskies shot 107 free throws, or 18 in each contest. They made 84 of them for a 78.5% average. Big time nerves in big games.
Go Huskies..!!
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UCONN LINKS
Samuelson's career night propels UConn to AAC title, 107th straight win Carl Adamec
UConn signee Megan Walker is WBCA Player of Year Jim Fuller
UConn coach Auriemma on freshman Dangerfield’s progress American Republican
AAC
UConn 100 South Florida 54
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Message Boards
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Vol Nation - Tennessee women's basketball board
CockyTalk - The upstart South Carolina women's basketball board
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ND Nation - Notre Dame women's basketball board
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