1). Kim Mulkey’s outfit: The Baylor coach is known for her interesting – some may say eccentric – fashion sense. Baubles and bangles. We do anticipate Texas sparkle, with an accent of pink, since it is breast cancer awareness night. Just don’t try to out-dress Chris Dailey. We are from Connecticut and we keep score.
2). Officiating: The most crucial aspect of the game, certainly from UConn’s perspective. Is the crew going to let Stefanie Dolson and Brittney Griner do their thing without literally blowing the game with whistles. If not, keep an eye on the assistants, who will be holding back the head coaches.
3). Odyssey Sims: Who do the Huskies defend her with, since everything you hear seems to indicate no one cares how many points Griner scores. Kelly Faris? Oh yes, at some point, Kelly Faris. Don’t ya think?
4). Bria Hartley: She won this game two years ago as a freshman. It got Morgan Tuck so excited on her campus visit that she said yes to program when it was over. No sniffling allowed, Bria. This is a game made for WBCA All-Americans. That’s you.
5). Empty seats: The XL Center will be virtually sold out tonight, a scene that harkens back to the good old days when orange pants suits were the must-see attraction. And we don’t mean Jody Conradt.
6). High-low: Me thinks the Huskies are going to try and lure Griner away from the basket by asking Dolson to sink a 17-footer or two or three or four. Me thinks Baylor will let her shoot there all night and take its chances guarding her with smaller defenders. Do you move the Empire State Building to Queens just because someone dares you?
7). Not a big deal: I beg both coaches not to tell us after the game that this game was not a big deal. Women’s basketball is scorched earth. This game is the monsoon its been waiting for.
8). Dave O’Brien and Doris Burke: To ESPN2’s crew, we would like to apologize for not being able to provide LeBron James [for Doris] or Alfredo Aceves [for Dave, who calls Red Sox games in the summer] to entertain you better. But this is all we have to give.
9). Good seats: Make sure you take a look at who is seating in the courtside seats today. I can guarantee you, those people are very important to Susan Herbst and Warde Manuel.
10). Three-point shots: UConn takes a lot of them. Baylor doesn’t take as many. Three is one more than two. Keep that it mind.
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22 Responses to Ten Things To Keep An Eye (Or Two) On Tonight
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Hopefully we will have better luck with who our officials are tonight than who is “calling” the game. Doris Burke talks incessantly about everything except for what is going on in the game. Only way we know what’s going on in some cases is by following John on Twitter.
The only way you would know if Doris Burke talks incessantly about everything except for what is going on in the game – is if you listened to her.
FREDDYKOOL: REJOICE UCONN NATION FREDDY KOOL IN A AGREEMENT WITH REEBOCK HAS COME OUT JUST IN TIME FOR THE BAYLOR GAME A BRAND NEW 5″ PLATFORM (“STEF DOLSON”) SNEAKER, STEF WILL BE WEARING THEM TONIGHT, RELAX GENO!!!!
What Kim is wearing or not wearing–matters not. What isimportant is the Popes Ailments. She won’t be guarding anyone Uconn tonight.
The game shall last at least 40 minutes with each player being allowed 5 fouls each (that means fouls called by refs–we all know Doris and company won’t tell us who the foul was on)
If the three Ball goes for UConn, Sims is contained, Hayden is checked–Uconn shall win . But this is Baylors game to win-the pressure is on them. The sun shall shine, the oceans shall tide, and Connecticut shall tax us tomorrow even if Baylor wins or loses.
Uconn-Stanford, blowout. Uconn-Duke, blowout. Women’s basketball needs a barnburner tonight, with a Husky victory of course.
mulkey can smell a uconn win thats why she downplays game
doris”jerk”burke will spend half game talking about nd.
and yet you will listen to Doris just to hear her talk about ND
I love Doris Burke’s enthusiasm for the game of WBB.
Her enthusiasm is appreciated, but ray ray is right she will blab all night about ND and everything except for the plays at hand.
And yet you will continue to listen to Doris and then complain afterwards. Don’t change anything and expect a different result? Hope you are not a parent.
Baylor could very well hand UConn their worst home loss since before 1995. Despite the stellar one loss record, UConn has struggled mightly at times against poor competition. UConn has struggled mightly at times from behind the arc. The longer Stokes and Buck play, the lesser chance UConn has to win. Neither have a clue how to play UConn’s offense.
For all those who think Kim cannot coach: She won a national championship without Griner and with LESS talent than UConn’s teams in 95, 00, 02, 03, 04, 09, 10. Kim has NEVER had a Bird or Taurasi or Moore. No one has. Wake up. Geno won 7 NC because of 7 POY. Why do you think the Lady Vols have not won a NC since the 2 they won with Parker? Because they have not had another Olympian.
10). Three-point shots: UConn takes a lot of them.
They miss a lot of them as well and fail to grab the rebound because they are standing outside the arc.
well. looks like about 5 uconn players who understand the game at this level. Is Brianna Stewart have a clue out there? she’s terrible tonite on both sides of the ball. And how does Doty get anything to go with that crazy shot? Just let the big 3 take all the second half shots and take your chances.
Baylor just better, unfortunately. Didn’t realize Griner was so dirty. Try that in the WNBA. Only way UConn win it all is for Griner to get the flu at the final four.
Or give Lewis more shots
baylor is just too athletic for this uconn bunch. doty(that sequence where she threw up those 2 3-point bombs in the first half was laughable) and faris were pretty much invisible, just terrifically overmatched, short and slow.stewart looks as lost as she did the first day she stepped on the floor. Does that poor kid have any idea what her purpose is when she is in the game?has a freshman ever regressed like this? your non-core players need to step up, and tonite those guys were exposed for what they are. At this level with the disparity in the women’s hame, for teams like UConn, the season is really about 5 or 6 games reg season games and the tournament.Tonite was telltale.
It’s not like Baylor used tremendous depth to overwhelm UConn. It was pretty much all Griner and Pope. Stewart’s a Frosh who has lost her way at the moment. Games like tonight’s are when you need your upperclassmen to shine. Hartley was 5-12 with 5 TO’s and one of those makes was a meaningless “3″ in the final minute. And as well as Dolson battled, she didn’t score once near the hoop, and that’s attributable to Griner’s presence.
For all their flaws, if Baylor weren’t around I’d feel quite comfortable predicting a UConn title.
baylor played a horrendous first half that ended with the huskies up 3. that was troubling.dolson can’t play inside against griner-who can? dolson and lewis played well. Hartley is a good player, not great, and most importantly no point guard by any stretch. if she were, we would not have to endure doty. and poor point guard play is a killer in games like this. 22 turnovers? Doty and Faris were just horrendous. they can’t get to the basket-that’s why they bomb the 3 ball at the pace they do.
For all their flaws….that sums up the state of the women’s game quite nicely.
Faris didn’t have a great game offensively but she did make some plays as did Tuck who has a chance to be a very good player if she can stay healthy.
Sure Hartley isn’t a point but when was the last time UConn had one? The way Geno runs his offense a point guard isn’t necessarily needed but they sure come in handy against great defensive teams. Jefferson has made real nice strides recently but this game wasn’t for her. Still, UConn could’ve overcome the TO’s had they done a better job collecting defensive boards, and that’s where Stewart and Stokes not playing/contributing hurts.
UConn Chokies.
1-5 against ND.
0-2 against Baylor.
Geno outcoached again.
Certainly losing two close games to a Baylor team that is one Simms injury away from winning 62 straight is something to be ashamed of.