Getting inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame comes with perks.
For starters, it means you’re pretty good at basketball – so good that you’ve been immortalized next to the game’s greatest with a one-of-one plaque. With immortalization comes fame: everybody knows who you are, either from your on-court performances or a litany of brand deals. You get a fancy ring and a nice-looking jacket, too.
Only under extraordinary circumstances do you get a banner, however. A banner that hangs high in the rarified air of the Gampel Pavilion rafters, with only a number and a name depicting the legacy you forged nearly two decades ago.
Rebecca Lobo – 50. Ray Allen – 34. Swin Cash – 32. Richard Hamilton – 32.
And on Sunday, Dec. 7, when the No. 1 UConn women’s basketball team (8-0) opens their Big East slate against DePaul (2-6), a fifth name will be etched into the rafters.
Sue Bird – 10.
Below are storylines to watch and an opponent scout for Bird’s Sunday flight up to Storrs immortality.
Storylines to Watch for No. 1 UConn
A nice exercise for the point guards: The Blue Demons are anchored by their backcourt, which includes leading scorers Kate Novik (14.3) and Natiah Nelson (10.5). The guard tandem heads an attack that dishes 18.1 assists per game (20th nationally), seldom turns the ball over (65th) and creates chaos on the defensive end (42nd in steal percentage).
KK Arnold and Kayleigh Heckel will have their hands full baseline to baseline and could be in line for larger roles – especially defensively – on Sunday.
Arnold and Heckel combined for 12 points on six fields goals in the Huskies’ romp of USF, with Arnold also adding three assists and three steals in her 20 minutes.
Arnold’s steal percentage (5.9) and personal foul efficiency (1.38) have quantified her reputation as a pestering on-ball defender. She’ll have a chance to better those metrics on Sunday.
Opportunity for Williams: Slow and steady wins the race, says Aesop’s old fable. Serah Williams has slowly but surely adjusted to life in the low post as a Husky, posting her best box score performance against Xavier last Sunday, Nov. 30, with 10 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals.
The highly coveted Wisconsin transfer played at one of the country’s slowest paces for her first 91 career games, giving her time to set up shop on the block and find easy baskets.
Connecticut’s breakneck pace, instituted by Geno Auriemma to find open looks in transition, doesn’t allow for bigs to get positioning in the post, look for the ball and go to work in an isolation game.
Williams knows that, as she admitted a couple of weeks ago. It’s been a slow scoring start for one of the Big 10’s top bucket-getters the last three seasons, but Williams has shown progress in her composure and steadiness in her footwork down low.
DePaul struggles mightily on the defensive glass (312th nationally), giving Williams the perfect opportunity to erupt on the block.
Opponent Scout: DePaul Blue Demons (2-6)
It hasn’t been a particularly pretty start for the Blue Demons, who enter Sunday’s contest on a three-game skid (this preview was written before Thursday’s game against Marquette went final).
Following an opening night victory over Valparaiso, DePaul has dropped games against UNLV, Bradley, Northwestern, Northern Colorado, Loyola Chicago and Princeton. Its lone win the last month? Grambling State on Nov. 21.
Novik leads the team in scoring, averaging 14.3 points on 12.9 field goal attempts per game. Nelson averages just north of 10 points while also grabbing 6.6 rebounds per night. The guard tandem accounts for 38% of DePaul’s 66.4 points per game and attempts by far the most field goals on a nightly basis.
The Blue Demons are adept at forcing turnovers (29.5%) and staving opponents off the three-point line (29.1% attempt rate) – ranking in the top 60 of both categories nationally – but have struggled with offensive consistency (195th in points per game) and on the defensive glass (317th).