In Reply to: Will be very interesting posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on May 01, 2025 at 13:20:59
UCONN didn’t do anything drastically different defensively compared to other teams we faced. They played Betts mostly one-on-one, worked to deny the post, and occasionally threw in a double team...standard stuff. The difference was that they just did it better. Their team speed allowed them to recover and close out on our shooters, even after multiple swing passes. I wouldn’t say it was poor shooting as much as it was rushed shooting. That said, maybe Kneepkens still hits those shots even with a hand in her face (she’s got a beautiful high-arching release.)
But the bigger concern for me is on the defensive end, and that circles back to our athleticism. UCONN put up 85 points, no one else even came close to that, except for the 80 usc scored in our second matchup. In our win against usc, we were able to make defensive adjustments and force JuJu left, which really changed the game in the second half. Against UCONN, though, it was painfully clear we couldn’t contain several of their players. They got far too many clean looks, and the lack of lateral quickness and recovery speed was exposed.
If we can’t keep teams in front of us or contest shots more effectively, it’s not going to matter if we hit a few more threes. We lost that game by 34, and I wouldn’t say it was due to effort, we didn’t quit. They were just more athletic, more explosive, and flat-out better. We'll see how it plays out but I felt becoming more athletic had to be a priority.