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In our most dominant seasons we had longer rotations. The shortest rotation for a perfect season might have been 1995, and that one was at least 8. The 2000 season went beyond 10, with players like “Big Rig” coming in with a third wave of players. This leads to speculation as to whether the...

I suspect the fact that Hurley’s HOF father was a high school coach also works to our advantage. He likely already feels he is standing on the shoulders of a giant, neither programs like Kentucky nor the pros are going to do much more for his self-esteem.

A recent sports show evaluating the 2024 team’s greatness commented that we were fifth in the modern era according to KenPom analytics, behind 1999 Duke! I agree with what I am sure every BYer feels, that this reveals a flaw in the analytics. Both 1999 and 2024 UConn at least should be ranked...

I’ve always been impressed with DeBerry as a high quality person who has much more than basketball going on for her. I’m sure she will make the best out of wherever she goes. This brings up an interesting dilemma if I am not mistaken. Did we not have a couple other offers besides Strong to HS...

She was not going to announce before she knew she had a spot, ie, after Edwards announced she was leaving. It was certainly prudent then to keep good local schools in the mix. I think it is entirely rational and leaves me with no wonder at all she did not announce sooner, more perplexing as to...

Actually, Auriemma won back to back after losing 4 out of 5 starters, including three Olympians, and having to the start two freshmen. The one returning player was Taurasi.

I suppose the author attempted a balanced, empirical approach for the most part, but he also uses the “heavy burden” hyperbole that has become a media mantra. I should just let this go. After all, I’m not an Iowa fan. Why should I stick up for the team as a whole? I will make a prediction...

The author dishes out the consistent media trope regarding the heavy burden Clark has in carrying a team not loaded with five star players. Those players are good shooters that have had the opportunity of playing together for a long time and averaging 5% points better than Clark at shooting...

1. The players shoot their averages. Both teams shot around 50% in the regular season, but Bueckers shoots 5% better than her teammates, Clark shoots 5% worse so … 2. Both Bueckers and Clark take more shots than usual for them. 3. UConn stays out of foul trouble.

Absolutely true, well, except that Clark also shoots plenty of layups that also get her to the foul line when she misses (and thus does not count against her overall %). But 38% from three is still only 50th best of the shooters in wcbb this year, perhaps there should be a few less 25’...

What never gets discussed is that Clark’s teammates collectively shoot 5% better than her. Five of Clark’s teammates had a better 3fg% than her during the regular season, seven teammates had a better overall percentage. Clark would be as ineffective without her teammates being so much more...

If you were to go by the comments of the two previous coaches Auriemma (admittedly biased) and Staley (objective in this particular matter), there would be a different college player invited.

The UConn mantra is “Play hard. Play smart. Have fun.” I won’t claim that Bueckers plays harder than anyone else, but she is in the top tier of putting in extra work and giving it her all. I do claim that she is the most serious student of the game I have witnessed, and that she gets the most...

Why would media hype cause Clark’s teammates to find her trying? As an upperclassmen Jefferson was the second best player in the country. Do you think she found Stewart trying because of the media hype she received? If Jefferson occasionally thought “Hey! I’m not chopped liver!” that would...

My problem with the hype over Clark lies with her teammates. Last year they shot about 5% higher, this year they are shooting about 5% higher. That is a big difference in her teammates favor. Seven of her teammates shoot better than she does. There is a distinct chance that the Iowa offense...

I have two expectations. As a basketball fan I enjoy watching beautiful basketball. Our guard dominated team has played more beautifully than our recent, injury plagued offenses, so that expectation is met. As an alumnus I expect my alma mater to “do things right” and develop fine women in...

Sigh. It seems that people have the impression that Clark plays with the equivalence of EDD or Stiles teammates. Iowa is a freaking good team. Iowa shoots around 50%, but Clark only shoots around 46% so her teammates actually shoot about 5% points better. Do you think Delaware or SWMS shot...

I have not kept track of net efficiency ratings this year. Bueckers was also the best in her freshman season, which is why she won POY over Boston and Clark. But she also benefited from the hype that year. This year the hype is not in her favor. Besides which, defense tends to be more valued...

Fair and convincing enough that the justifications are not post hoc. Still … KenPom ranks the BE 2nd with their unbiased metrics, but the BE gets slightly more than 25% of their teams in, while other power conferences get around 50%. I am not suggesting that the way the committee or BM...

How do we distinguish this analysis from not being post hoc rationalization. Who to choose between St. John’s and Seton Hall, if it came down to them? The answer depends on what you choose to emphasize. If there is consistency, then no complaint. The post hoc justification for choosing MSU...

Things have been breaking our way since the regular season. Brady got some great experience while Edwards was out. We are better off now for that. The women also got a decent bracket to navigate towards the FF. The men were given a head-scratchingly tough bracket for the overall top seed...

I used the term NBA “careers” deliberately. Add up the years those three spent in the NBA and it might equal what Clingan's will be.

You are using a guard oriented offensive statistic to compare with a forward whose eye popping statistics were defensive. Trying to compare them based on statistics is fruitless. As to your claim about how far they elevated the team, before the season UConn was projected from 5-8, ie, a two...

The excitement of the BE tournament this year calls to mind exciting tournaments of the past .. and the legendary coaches involved. There were many, so many that I wonder if the BE leads by a wide margin in this category, or if this is just my BE bias showing. Calhoun, Thompson, Boeheim...

That’s not speaking for many UConn fans, whose beef with VanDerveer stems from her saying she had six Sales before we beat them by 27 points in the FF, and then predicted Tennessee would beat us in the final after we just thrashed them. Her disdain was so great she actually disparaged her own...

The original purpose of this award was not to award the best player (else it would have been called something like Game MVP), it was supposed to be awarded to someone who showed up tough and resolute against adversity. Given the original purpose of this award, I vote for Brady.

I would not have guessed that Muhl would finish the regular season with both the highest 3fg% and A/T ratio, though the numbers themselves are what I expected.

To answer your question, I don’t think Iowa makes the FF without Clark last year. However, last year Iowa shot about 51% collectively with Clark, 53% without her. If the team shot even 48% without Clark, still a good percentage, they don’t make the FF as well. True, Clark enabled her...

Muhl’s 3% is 40.6, second only to Bueckers at 42.3, and almost five percentages higher than third place Samuels at 35.7. Shade is fourth at 34.8. Muhl is third in overall fg% at 48%, a respectable percentage that trails only our two AAs, Bueckers and Edwards. You may want her to increase...

Not everyone who is viewed as a great teammate averages double digits. Kelly Faris only averaged 7.2 ppg for her career yet was drafted 11th by the WNBA. Plus we want Bueckers to shoot more for her efficiency. We want the freshman to become as experienced and efficient as possible by...

You are still missing the point. People want a proven head coach from a major because of the certainty their job performance is transferable. The same certainty does not apply to former assistant coaches (Auriemma) or head coaches at mid-majors. Toner took well-informed savvy chances that...

Lol. No one could have known or predicted the assistant coach Auriemma would be the best head coach when they hired him. Granted, they were not in a position to hire the best head coach out there, but they could have gone after a proven head coach at least. Calhoun was the best local head...

I guess UConn really blew it when they went after Calhoun, Auriemma or Hurley, all of whom showed potential but had not yet demonstrated their recruiting or coaching ability as head coach in a major conference. Head coaches that successfully build major programs do not tend to leave them, save...

Intriguing idea, except that schools in the same conference would not want to compete against each other. We would need to be in with one school only for different conferences. The strategy would then be past rivalries more than the Yankee Conference of the past. It would have to be either...

I know we have been at odds regarding Clark due to our respective biases, though it appears you believe you do not have a bias, you just believe those who disagree do. When I once wrote that Clark is not in the same league as Bueckers defensively I later admitted that was a touch of hyperbole...