#2 Notre Dame @ #3 Louisville (poll & GAME THREAD)

[bballnut90]

Wow--that was not what I expected at all. That was far and away the best performance of any team this season. Louisville absolutely obliterated Notre Dame on both ends of the court. Wow. They were up 94-53 before Walz pulled Durr and Hines Allen. This is Notre Dame who was 66-2 in conference play since joining the ACC and has been the perennial #2 team in women's basketball for the last 6-7 years.

Quick thoughts/observations:
1. That was the weakest effort I've ever seen from a McGraw coached team. Zero ball movement, everyone looked frazzled, and there was no effort defensively. Hines Allen was fantastic, but she had way too many open midrange jumpers. She shot 15-20--put a body on her! Durr also had several looks that were wide open. Not sure what the ND guards were thinking, she shoots 50% from deep with a number of her looks being contested and they gave her wide open shots. She should be top priority on a scouting report and she had great looks all night. There were a few plays where Arike just looked straight up lazy, and several players in the 3rd quarter where no one got back defensively besides Mabrey to challenge Louisville. Horrible effort on both ends of the court. I'll give some sympathy since they don't have any depth, but they just gave up. Mabrey was the lone Notre Dame player who I thought really gave her best effort. She was extremely rattled and was pressured playing point guard against Louisville's quick guards, but I thought she battled out there....which brings me to my next point.

2. Notre Dame is going to have a very difficult time if they face teams with quick guards who can disrupt Mabrey. Without Thompson available to come in and alleviate Marina, the only other options are Arike, who is far from a PG, and Young, who is also far from a point guard. For that matter, Mabrey really isn't a point guard either. She's best utilized as a 2 or 3. She isn't a great decision maker and the role is definitely affecting her play.

3. I wouldn't count out Notre Dame yet. They did beat UCONN in 3/4 quarters and all 5 of their starters are very capable scorers, but I am very curious to see how they'll do in a rematch with Louisville in the ACC Tournament...assuming there's a rematch.

4. Louisville could not have played any better than they did tonight. Durr and Hines Allen were ridiculously good, but I thought Fuehring and Shook were the unsung heroes of the night. They did most of the dirty work and made things very difficult for Notre Dame when they drove the lane. Great defensive showing. Carter and Jones were also fantastic. The starting 5 shot 38-53...that's almost 72% from the field. That, combined with an incredible defensive performance led to a 41 point differential before the stars were pulled. I don't think that will ever happen again for Louisville, but wow that was incredible.

5. If I'm a UCONN fan, I'm not more nervous about matching up with Louisville. This game was an anomaly compared to the rest of their showings this year. This was their '2013 Baylor' game. The last 5 games they've scored 66, 62, 55, 74 and 67. Durr has a knack for playing great in big games, but I don't think they'll bring a similar effort next month.

6. I DO think Louisville is a major Final Four contender after tonight. Walz's teams in the past have struggled with consistency--they can bring a big effort like this and then they'll bring a lackluster effort in the next few games. It seems like that's been the case this year, as they've had some really great wins (tonight, Oregon, Michigan), but have had some poor efforts too (SDSU, GT, NC State). Curious to see how it shakes out. They blew me away tonight htough.

 

[noirwestern]

Man. One tough cookie. Reading this changes things a bit. Don't care much for her team or coach but can't feel too bad for her winning anything.

https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...basketball-sam-fuehring-background/904764001/

 

[jennyo70]

Wow! So much fun. I predicted a 3 point win, I never saw this coming. In my wildest dreams, I thought maybe 9-10 point win.

So, here is the difference between tonights game and the poor second half showings. It is all in Walz's substitution patterns. He has had some crazy combos of players out there. He is building depth by letting his role players go in and have to be play makers. Sometimes he throws too many of them out there, and everything stalls.

When we opened the 2Q tonight, I was a bit concerned. He had 2 (or 3, I can't remember) subs in all at the same time. The opening minutes of the 2Q were slow, labored, not much scoring. He saw enough with a couple TO from Shook,a nd had 4 of the starters , and then all 5 out there. When the starting 5 play, we are very, very good. That being said, these kids were locked in tonight. Do I think we will shoot that well again, highly unlikely. But, we also played very good, clean defense. This is one of (2) 40 minute games where they played hard all night, on both sides of the ball. If that can become their habit, we can compete with anyone.

Sam Feuhring means so much to this team. She does so much, all the stuff that doesn't show up in the stat line. She has become a great defender, an even better passer. She is the glue to this team. She doesn't put up huge offensive numbers, but her stat line is strong and she is not at all afraid to bang around in the paint. I love this kid's game so much. I am so, so very happy for her. Her first two years were not easy. She would come off the court crying. But she has worked long and hard, and it is now her time to shine. She and Asia are the only two left from their recruiting class. Both gems.

 

[DefenseBB]

There was a reason Asia Durr was ranked behind only Lou in her high school class.

Ok, how does that explain Shepard being #3?

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

It's good to be wary of Louisville, and prepare properly... dont take the gsme for granted. BUT, ND played very poorly in this game. Offense had no flow, way too much dribble /dribble, lots of standing around, they were very poor from 3pt range and they played poor defense. Mabry had big trouble at point guard. And they had trouble hanging on to the ball.

I am sure Geno and Staff will prepare Huskies for that future game and our team will not just show up... but they will actually play basketball.

 

[NOI33]

Ok, how does that explain Shepard being #3?

Huh? There is no question Shepard was the rightful #3/#4 coming out. Before her ACL tear in highschool, Shepard was very athletic for her size; she could even dunk. Her inside/outside game was quite strong. Dominated in USA basketball as well. The girl can ball. The ACL tear and subsequent recovery period really took a toll on her conditioning, and the lack of discipline/development at Nebraska did nothing to help.

 

[triaddukefan]

Totally stunned at the result and the margin.................... Had my phone off during the game....... turned it back on when I got back home... and couldnt believe my eyes when the ESPN notification came across...

 

[noirwestern]

Huh? There is no question Shepard was the rightful #3/#4 coming out. Before her ACL tear in highschool, Shepard was very athletic for her size; she could even dunk. Her inside/outside game was quite strong. Dominated in USA basketball as well. The girl can ball. The ACL tear and subsequent recovery period really took a toll on her conditioning, and the lack of discipline/development at Nebraska did nothing to help.

Erm, are we talking about the same person named Shepard?

 

[augustaTC]

Is that Feuhring (spelling?)? I was impressed w/ her during the Ohio St. game early in the season.

Yes, that's her (looked it up)!

 

[augustaTC]

Man I'm soooo glad people are seeing Sam Fuehring shine. That girl rode the bench and kept working. Her incoming classmates all transferred and she kept working. Literally. Cole, Jones, and deGrate. Gone. She remained even when Shook was going to challenge her for playing time.

And her life story is amazing too (story). Just a tough, hard-working lady. I'm so so happy for her.

Wow, what an amazing story. Can't say why she caught my eye, but she just seemed to be everywhere, doing the right thing. Gonna be interesting to watch how she and our post players match up in February.

 

[Carnac]

I don't visit the fan sites for other teams, but, knowing ND fans, I'd be willing to bet they're blaming a lot on the refs, irrespective of the blowout!

A 1-2 point loss, you can blame the refs. A 33 point loss, it was not your night. That one is on you!!!

 

[iri10]

A strange year, with teams like ND looking diminished (with good excuse), and Louisville looking dangerous. I would have put Tennessee in that surprisingly dangerous group too until today - now I need more evidence. S. Carolina is dangerous, but they look a bit worse than their championship team of last year.

I may be biased, but for now my tentative pick for most dangerous team is still MissSt.

 

[flncfan]

Gabby/Pheesa will shut down Hines-Allen and Kia will shut down Durr. UCONN wins by 20 + in Storrs.

 

[enigmatic]

Just watched the replay and that Louisville first half was the second best half of wcbb I saw this season so far (i personally think uconn's first half versus USF is the best). I thought Mabrey and Westbeld's opening treys to start the game would be indicative of how the game was gonna go but it changed oh so quickly in drastic fashion. It was like Durr, Hines-Allen and company couldn't miss a shot and it helped that ND sagged a bit on defense not to get into foul trouble. Despite the result, I wouldn't be surprised for Louisville to have some kind of let down after this considering their inconsistent outputs against opponents this season but I'm sure Geno took notice of this game and will cook up a gameplan when the Cards come to Gampel. As for ND and Muffet, I wouldn't write them off just yet. She's too good a coach to let her team have a dropoff. She's proven that she can coach deep into the postseason even with unfortunate circumstances but I agree that this season will be her most trying and toughest of all and look forward to see what she can do from here on out.

 

[Phil]

Louisville's margin of victory of 33 points is more than their margins of victory for their prior four games, Virginia Tech- 11, Duke – 6 NC State – 8, Georgia Tech – 3 COMBINED. (with five points to spare).

 

[Carnac]

I think of the difference in UConn's MOV and Louisville's MOV against ND. 9 vs 33. A win over ND anytime, by any score is rare. ND is always a perennial top 2-3 team.
Beating the Irish is like trying to eat a porcupine if you're a python. It can be done, but it's not going to be easy, and it's going to hurt long after it's consumed. In the illustration below, it was fatal for both.

UConn would have loved to hang a 33 point loss on ND in their last meeting on December 3. A victory by 9 was satisfactory with the team, staff and their fans. A 33 point win would have been unimaginable. When was the last time a ND women's team lost by 33? A ND loss is rare, but one by that MOV is unthinkable.
Where does ND go from here? Has Louisville constructed and posted the blueprint for beating ND? Can lighting strike twice? Imagine where they would be without the Shepard waiver.

 

[Orangutan]

Where does ND go from here? Has Louisville constructed and posted the blueprint for beating ND? Can lighting strike twice?

I'm sure Walz did some good X-and-O stuff. Andy Landers in the post game mentioned the on-ball pressure against Mabrey preventing ND from getting into their offense.

But the "Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen shoot the lights out" part of his blueprint is not something other teams can replicate.

 

[Carnac]

I'm sure Walz did some good X-and-O stuff. Andy Landers in the post game mentioned the on-ball pressure against Mabrey preventing ND from getting into their offense.

But the "Asia Durr and Myisha Hines-Allen shoot the lights out" part of his blueprint is not something other teams can replicate.

I can't argue that point. I was thinking the same thing. They BOTH appeared to be in a "zone" last night. As you know, being in a zone is rare and unpredictable.
Again, I refer back to my python eating a porcupine analogy. I predict that we will not see ND lose another game in this fashion the rest of our lives.

 

[hoophuskee]

I think of the difference in UConn's MOV and Louisville's MOV against ND. 9 vs 33. A win over ND anytime, by any score is rare. ND is always a perennial top 2-3 team.
Beating the Irish is like trying to eat a porcupine if you're a python. It can be done, but it's not going to be easy, and it's going to hurt long after it's consumed. In the illustration below, it was fatal for both.
View attachment 27712

UConn would have loved to hang a 33 point loss on ND in their last meeting on December 3. A victory by 9 was satisfactory with the team, staff and their fans. A 33 point win would have been unimaginable. When was the last time a ND women's team lost by 33? A ND loss is rare, but one by that MOV is unthinkable.
Where does ND go from here? Has Louisville constructed and posted the blueprint for beating ND? Can lighting strike twice?

ND is banged up. Mabrey is not a pg. Maybe next year she can be. They are a limited team this year. That last injury to the pg imo was a knockout blow. OFC they are still good. But next year they have the potential to be a beast.

 

[easttexastrash]

Ah, but can you think of 9 teams that could play UCLA better than Baylor did, or play better than SC did at Missouri, or ....
On any given night ...

No question this was a slaughter, but these things happen in sports and there are only a few teams in WCBB that do not have 'embarrassing losses already this year. And ND losing to an incredibly hot shooting, undefeated, and highly ranked Louisville is not that bad even if the score is crazy.

You can point to the Baylor loss to UCLA if you want. The circumstances surrounding that game were highly peculiar.

If Baylor had just lost to Louisville like that everyone would be saying that they don't be long in the top 10. Like I said, ND is consistently given more credit than the deserve by UCONN fans, I suspect because of the longing for the Big East days when they had a real challenger in the league.

 

[Tenspro2002]

3. I wouldn't count out Notre Dame yet. They did beat UCONN in 3/4 quarters and all 5 of their starters are very capable scorers, but I am very curious to see how they'll do in a rematch with Louisville in the ACC Tournament...assuming there's a rematch.

4. Louisville could not have played any better than they did tonight. Durr and Hines Allen were ridiculously good, but I thought Fuehring and Shook were the unsung heroes of the night. They did most of the dirty work and made things very difficult for Notre Dame when they drove the lane. Great defensive showing. Carter and Jones were also fantastic. The starting 5 shot 38-53...that's almost 72% from the field. That, combined with an incredible defensive performance led to a 41 point differential before the stars were pulled. I don't think that will ever happen again for Louisville, but wow that was incredible.

5. If I'm a UCONN fan, I'm not more nervous about matching up with Louisville. This game was an anomaly compared to the rest of their showings this year. This was their '2013 Baylor' game. The last 5 games they've scored 66, 62, 55, 74 and 67. Durr has a knack for playing great in big games, but I don't think they'll bring a similar effort next month.

6. I DO think Louisville is a major Final Four contender after tonight. Walz's teams in the past have struggled with consistency--they can bring a big effort like this and then they'll bring a lackluster effort in the next few games. It seems like that's been the case this year, as they've had some really great wins (tonight, Oregon, Michigan), but have had some poor efforts too (SDSU, GT, NC State). Curious to see how it shakes out. They blew me away tonight htough.

This was clearly an outlier game for Louisville, but it brings up another point: we have a number of wins over teams that were ranked highly when we played them, but many of those wins don't look nearly as impressive now.

#10 Stanford: now unranked
#20 Cal: now #24
#15 Maryland: now #11, but lost and will drop
#5 UCLA: now #14
#3 ND: now #2, but lost and will drop

Basically, the ND game was our only real test so far, and we looked awful for 3 quarters before the light came on.

@ Texas, @SC, and vs. Louisville will be as tough or tougher.

 

[hoophuskee]

You can point to the Baylor loss to UCLA if you want. The circumstances surrounding that game were highly peculiar.

If Baylor had just lost to Louisville like that everyone would be saying that they don't be long in the top 10. Like I said, ND is consistently given more credit than the deserve by UCONN fans, I suspect because of the longing for the Big East days when they had a real challenger in the league.

Is this a joke?

 

[easttexastrash]

Is this a joke?

Not a joke.

 

[hoophuskee]

Not a joke.

It must be because you make no sense. Anything you say can't be taken with too much seriousness with a post like that - that you made.

So let's review everything.
You rightfully explain how the Baylor team is. Many of us UCONN fans don't get to see. So you point things out that are pro-Baylor or pro your conference because you've seen them. I like to hear your pov on your team or your conference.

Yet when UCONN fans express a certain/respect/ fear or whatever for ND based on the experience UCONN has had with ND over time you pretend like you know what you're talking about and throw out some garbage about the old Big East. IMO it's such garbage you pretend to speak for the UCONN fan. You speak for the Baylor fan and good for you. I think Mulkey is an amazing coach.

But to put down ND the way you have and sort of talk down us UCONN fans for having a certain respect for ND (I want to make it clear I hate ND. Can you beat them please? Anyone beat them. You heard after UCONN beat Fla State last year Geno yelled out to Fla State "Beat Notre Dame." Why do you think he said that? For the hell of it? ) sounds more like pettiness/jealousy. I hope it's not. Your team is usually every year a feisty group that rightfully deserves respect. SO you don't need to be if you are. But here you are trying to tell me and other UCONN fans how we feel about ND? A team that has beaten us back int he day and a team that usually gives us tough games. Huh? You are stepping out of your lane here.

 

[JavaMan]

Louisville by 3
It’s gonna be a dogfight, though.

If you had added another three to the score you would've nailed it

Huh? Louisville by 6?

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