[81alum]

I watched the first half of the Georgia vs. Iowa State game, and Georgia's defense didn't look all that scary or ultra-physical. However, that may have been a function of the approach they decided to take against Iowa State's offense. Both teams were zoning a lot in that game and daring the other to shoot over the top. Maybe Georgia will defend us more like Tulsa/SCar/Colo/etc. did.

I noticed that too.  And Georgia did a fair bit of zone against LSU, too.

Try watching the Vanderbuilt game, where they open up in man.  There you see the close defense by the guards more, especially Jasmine James.  But you are right, it is not a Mayberry smothering type of defense, but they generate a lot more turnovers than Tulsa, somehow.

Also in that game you see James making pinpoint passes from the top of the arc all the way to Hassell under or around the basket.  Repeatedly.  Just like they have to stop Chiney first, we have to stop Hassell first, and that may mean defending James so she can't pass so effectively.  I now understand her relatively high number of turnovers.  Some of those passes were pretty high-risk.  They were Elway bullet passes, and if Hassell caught it it was a certain 2 points, but a couple of times they sailed out of bounds.  Those are not bad turnovers, since it gives the defense plenty of time to get set.

The announcers called Hassell "the strongest player in WBB."  That might be an exagerration, but she is not one of the spindly types.  She routinely pushed her opponent out of the paint, but at the other end she was very difficult to push out of the paint herself.  I imagine she will be on Chiney trying to bulldoze her.  And I would imagine we will need Ruef on Hassell at the other end, and maybe two players, since I doubt that Chiney or Jos can push Hassell around by themselves.

With our focus on Hassell, it is likely that Georgia will have some open threes.  They have not made a high percentage of their threes this year, but have been heating up lately and (unlike us) never seem to get tired of shooting it.  In short, stopping Georgia will be similar to stopping Stanford--a lot could depend upon whether anyone gets hot from three point range.

[81alum]

I watched the first half of the Georgia vs. Iowa State game, and Georgia's defense didn't look all that scary or ultra-physical. However, that may have been a function of the approach they decided to take against Iowa State's offense. Both teams were zoning a lot in that game and daring the other to shoot over the top. Maybe Georgia will defend us more like Tulsa/SCar/Colo/etc. did.

I noticed that too.  And Georgia did a fair bit of zone against LSU, too.

Try watching the Vanderbuilt game, where they open up in man.  There you see the close defense by the guards more, especially Jasmine James.  But you are right, it is not a Mayberry smothering type of defense, but they generate a lot more turnovers than Tulsa, somehow.

Also in that game you see James making pinpoint passes from the top of the arc all the way to Hassell under or around the basket.  Repeatedly.  Just like they have to stop Chiney first, we have to stop Hassell first, and that may mean defending James so she can't pass so effectively.  I now understand her relatively high number of turnovers.  Some of those passes were pretty high-risk.  They were Elway bullet passes, and if Hassell caught it it was a certain 2 points, but a couple of times they sailed out of bounds.  Those are not bad turnovers, since it gives the defense plenty of time to get set.

The announcers called Hassell "the strongest player in WBB."  That might be an exagerration, but she is not one of the spindly types.  She routinely pushed her opponent out of the paint, but at the other end she was very difficult to push out of the paint herself.  I imagine she will be on Chiney trying to bulldoze her.  And I would imagine we will need Ruef on Hassell at the other end, and maybe two players, since I doubt that Chiney or Jos can push Hassell around by themselves.

With our focus on Hassell, it is likely that Georgia will have some open threes.  They have not made a high percentage of their threes this year, but have been heating up lately and (unlike us) never seem to get tired of shooting it.  In short, stopping Georgia will be similar to stopping Stanford--a lot could depend upon whether anyone gets hot from three point range.