Final Four Game Thread...

[OrangeXtreme]

It is done... a date with Destiny.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Nice sportsmanship displayed too.

 

[SWC75]

So UCONN beat Oregon State by 29 and Syracuse beat Washington by 21.

Is this doable? :noidea::crazy:

 

[Cheriehoop]

Awesome, congratulations SU!!!!

 

[Cheriehoop]

I think SU's biggest issue against UConn will be rebounding and inside D. Let's do this Tuesday!

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[MSOrange]

Briana Sykes is so cool .. on the ground with a defender around her, she so calmly looks over her shoulder and shuttles a bounce pass to her teammate ..

It still scares me half to death whenever she's on the floor. That girl has been through too much. I don't think I can take another knee injury, let alone her.

 

[NKR1978]

So UCONN beat Oregon State by 29 and Syracuse beat Washington by 21.

Is this doable? :noidea::crazy:

If we hit our 3's, it's doable. But we can't have lapses like we did against UW. THOSE 5-7 point runs against Washington will be 15 point runs with UConn.

I'm just pleasantly shocked that we are in the national championship game in women's basketball. Just amazing. We're building top 5-10 programs in sports that we were historically nonentities. Its amazing.

 

[SWC75]

I think SU's biggest issue against UConn will be rebounding and inside D. Let's do this Tuesday!

We rely on the press, the three and offensive rebounding. It will be hard to rebound against those Huskies and if their All-American point guard breaks the press, we will have to be unreal from three or forget it.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Cuseregular]

Well wow God bless the gals, very awesomely cool to see the victory.

Question to anyone who follows women's hoops, is there a legit shot at taking down UCONN? Any common opponents, do our strengths play well against them and vice versa. Love to hear an analysis from anyone who follows the women's game.

 

[sabach]

Seeing head scratching end of half/quarter game management...I'm definitely watching Syracuse basketball.

Said the same thing. I've never seen a team dominate for 8 minutes and then start throwing it away in the last 2 minutes of a quarter/ half. They come out at the start of the next quarter and start dominating again.

 

[Jake]

I think SU's biggest issue against UConn will be rebounding and inside D. Let's do this Tuesday!

Agreed. Our bigs are wafer thin. If I were Yukon, I'd just pound it inside.

 

[Jake]

Fun game. First time I've seen the women. Reminds me of Providence '87. Constant pressure and a hailstorm of 3's. Washington is gassed.

agreed . I came up with the same comparison first time I saw them play.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Well wow God bless the gals, very awesomely cool to see the victory.

Question to anyone who follows women's hoops, is there a legit shot at taking down UCONN? Any common opponents, do our strengths play well against them and vice versa. Love to hear an analysis from anyone who follows the women's game.

Anything's possible but probable? The talent gap between UConn and the rest of the women's teams is still pretty big but maybe a scheme like SU's can alter the odds some. However we're a streaky 3 point shooting team , using quantity 3's fueled by turnovers over normal efficiency percentage standards. If we can turn UConn over and make enough 3's (has to be double digit minimum) we could live the dream. If we do - would be awesome . What a special year!

 

[SWC75]

Well wow God bless the gals, very awesomely cool to see the victory.

Question to anyone who follows women's hoops, is there a legit shot at taking down UCONN? Any common opponents, do our strengths play well against them and vice versa. Love to hear an analysis from anyone who follows the women's game.

There's already some analysis on the board. Like you, I'm just becoming a fan of the Orangewomen right now. I looked it up on ESPN and there are two common opponents:

Maryland: Syracuse lost at Maryland 64-82 on December 2nd. Connecticut beat them 83-73 at home on December 28. That's +28 of Connecticut.

Florida State: Syracuse beat them 83-73 at home on February 18th. Connecticut beat them 73-49 at home on December 11. That's +14 for Connecticut.

Connecticut has been strong all season and four years. Syracuse has gotten a lot better. But I think it's how they fit together. As I said above, we rely on the press, the three and the offensive rebound. If they break the press and we miss threes, they are likely to win the boards and we are likely to get killed. One of our big three is going to have to work to avoid a huge blow out. Two will have to work to give us a chance and all three will have to work for us to win it. That's more important than the above numbers.

 

[SWC75]

What we've learned from JB is that full commitment to a given system can be extremely effective and this right here looks like another totally valid approach.

Hillsman became successful looking at what was successful for JB, (the zone) and listening to his metrics guy. I think JB may be past that flexibility.

 

[NYCSUGrad]

Hillsman became successful looking at what was successful for JB, (the zone) and listening to his metrics guy. I think JB may be past that flexibility.

It depends on the makeup of the teams in the future. I think if he can legitimately go 8+ deep without a significant dropoff in talent he MIGHT utilize the press a bit more. Like JB said, he didn't have the players to use it more this season because of the fatigue factor. We already trap when we can, though not as often as the women do. He might not consult with the women's assistant coach but I bet he read his book.

 

[SWC75]

It depends on the makeup of the teams in the future. I think if he can legitimately go 8+ deep without a significant dropoff in talent he MIGHT utilize the press a bit more. Like JB said, he didn't have the players to use it more this season because of the fatigue factor. We already trap when we can, though not as often as the women do. He might not consult with the women's assistant coach but I bet he read his book.

I thought JB was saying that the players on his team are not good players for the press, not that he didn't have enough of them. .

 

[Cheriehoop]

It depends on the makeup of the teams in the future. I think if he can legitimately go 8+ deep without a significant dropoff in talent he MIGHT utilize the press a bit more. Like JB said, he didn't have the players to use it more this season because of the fatigue factor. We already trap when we can, though not as often as the women do. He might not consult with the women's assistant coach but I bet he read his book.

Yes, JB's a big reader. Coach Q's system is relatively new to him and SU womens game but not new to basketball. Anyone old enough to remember Paul Westhead's teams in the 80's? It's called the Grinnell system. Von Read and Coach Q tweak their pressure D and 2-3 zone depending on matchups. JB does the same with his 2-3 zone but he uses length vs Coach Q's emphasis on speed for recruiting targets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinnell_System

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Anything's possible but probable? The talent gap between UConn and the rest of the women's teams is still pretty big but maybe a scheme like SU's can alter the odds some. However we're a streaky 3 point shooting team , using quantity 3's fueled by turnovers over normal efficiency percentage standards. If we can turn UConn over and make enough 3's (has to be double digit minimum) we could live the dream. If we do - would be awesome . What a special year!

UConn will be down a player on Tuesday. Samuleson has a broken foot. Looks like she averages 11 points a game.

One less Gatorade National Player of the Year we have to deal with.

 

[NYCSUGrad]

I thought JB was saying that the players on his team are not good players for the press, not that he didn't have enough of them. .

Well he did use the press very well against UVa, so even with this group of players it was possible, just not for any extended period, and not against every opponent. It's a good weapon to have and use judiciously, which might be possible somewhat more often with a deeper bench. But JB will not abandon the zone as his primary defense nor should he.

I think Hop will definitely mix it up more, while keeping the zone as the main defense. And he will have the luxury of being able to consult with both Coaches B and Q and Q's assistant. A big reason he did poorly in his coaching debut is that he couldn't talk to Boeheim at all. Even when Boeheim was out with the prostate cancer, he probably talked to Bernie Fine and Hop a bit, and that was only a few games.

 

[NYCSUGrad]

Yes, JB's a big reader. Coach Q's system is relatively new to him and SU womens game but not new to basketball. Anyone old enough to remember Paul Westhead's teams in the 80's? It's called the Grinnell system. Von Read and Coach Q tweak their pressure D and 2-3 zone depending on matchups. JB does the same with his 2-3 zone but he uses length vs Coach Q's emphasis on speed for recruiting targets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinnell_System

Thanks for linking this. I'll try to read it when I'm not so tired.