The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
UConn getting defensive down stretch
STORRS — Geno Auriemma isn’t easily surprised.
A perfectionist who is meticulous with his attention to detail, Auriemma rarely, if ever, is caught off-guard, particularly when assessing his team’s collective strengths and weaknesses.
But there are exceptions. Auriemma knows this UConn team lacks the ingredients to be great defensively, but they’re far from being pushovers.
“We’ve been pretty good all year, way better than I ever imagined,” Auriemma said regarding his defense.
The Huskies have consistently been one of the country’s best in that department, and this year — at least statistically — is no different. Opponents are averaging 53.9 points against them while shooting 34.1 percent, both figures ranking top-10 nationally.
But as impressive as those numbers are, the Huskies — 23-3 and ranked No. 6 in the Associated
Press poll heading into Wednesday’s game at Cincinnati — are nowhere near content. In order to make a 13th straight Final Four, they know they need to dial up the intensity some more.
“For us, defense has always been kind of a cornerstone,” assistant coach Shea Ralph said. “A lot of people have talked about our offense over the years, but it’s been our defense that’s really won our championships for us. … Historically, teams have had a hard time scoring against us.
“If you’d ask us, compared to our teams from the past … our defense hasn’t been as good this year.”
The Huskies have placed more of a premium on defense in practice, especially lately. It translated into outstanding efforts against three of the better teams in the American Athletic Conference — South Florida, Tulane and UCF. Each shot below 40 percent from the field.
“Everybody loves to be on offense, everybody loves
to shoot, but not a lot of people take defense as seriously as you need to take it to win championships against great teams,” Ralph said. “I think our team is starting to understand that if we want to go far, we have to stop people from scoring.”
The Huskies lack an elite defender like Kia Nurse or Gabby Williams who can shut down the opposition’s top scorer by herself. But what they do have is a shotblocking rim protector in Olivia Nelson-Ododa. The 6-foot-5 sophomore ranks fourth in the country in blocks (84) and has stayed out of foul trouble enough to see her minutes uptick.
But, for as intimidating as she can be, she needs help.
“She’s really started to do a better job in the lane,” Ralph said. “I think our guards have done a better job of defending people off the dribble recently. But again, it’s more of a team effort. I see it as a team effort. We don’t have a Gabby or a Kia that’s going to completely shut people out. We don’t have that on this year’s team. Crystal’s (Dangerfield) probably the closest thing we have.”
Auriemma believes Aubrey Griffin could evolve into that. On multiple occasions,
he’s mentioned her in the same breath as Williams. The freshman has shown it in spurts, collecting 38 steals (tied for second on the team) despite coming off the bench.
“She does a great job
when she’s being really aggressive,” Ralph said. “It completely changes the face of the game, it changes the feel of the game, the energy.”
Right now, that’s where Griffin, a 6-1 guard with freakish athleticism and good lateral quickness, believes she can make the biggest impact.
“It just comes natural,” she said.