EricLA
Cronus
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
- Messages
- 15,008
- Reaction Score
- 81,769
First I want to say what an enjoyable game it was and what a great atmosphere. It was also a great atmosphere at my house as I watched the game with Ken (Milfordhusky) and his sister. It was great enjoying the game with a pair of big time UCONN fans and we high fived every time UCONN did something really good (which was really often!)
The game was hyped almost as much as a NC game and for the first 10 minutes, was nip and tuck. I also love Staley's intensity - and her kick attitude. She's tough as nails and imparts that on her team as much as possible.
For UCONN - just a terrific game. SC pushed and banged and battled as hard as any team we've faced, and UCONN was up for it, and then some. I think it took UCONN a little bit to get their "sea legs" but after being down 18-15, it was all UCONN for most of the rest of the game.
Against good teams, we've said before, they might be able to play UCONN evenly for 32 out of 40 minutes, but there is that pair of 4-minute stretches where UCONN outscores the other team by 8-2 and suddenly it's a 15-20 point win.
In some other threads, people have talked about Moriah being the best PG and Stewie being the best forward (or best player) in the nation. I would add to that that KML is the best wing in the nation. I think she played terrific defense, and was nailing shots with hands in her face all night. I think she shot better from beyond the arc than from inside the arc.
Moriah was phenomenal. Can't say that enough. In the biggest WCBB game of the regular season, she was sensational. The way she comported herself... (did Doris use that word once tonight? No, but we did drink every time she said "exceptional" and got super wasted!!). Back to Mo... that crossover dribble in the 2nd half where she blew by that kid was just sick. She had at least 10 and possibly closer to 20 highlight plays - passes, steals, shots, you name it. Just wow.
Stewie - she was EVERYWHERE. Offense, defense, blocking shots, grabbing boards... oh and she scored a few points too. Did she even take a single 3 point shot? Maybe just one. All her scoring was done closer to the basket.
KML - can that kid play or what? terrific defense, otherwordly 3-point shooting, and she played 37 minutes. Clearly she's in terrible shape.
Morgan - Kid shoots 16% from beyond the arc all season and nails 2-3. In fairness, one was a bank shot. And a few of her drives were sloppy, but that's nitpicking. The kid was just so solid. I think she and Stewie can emphatically say to Geno "message received"
The rest of the team was solid and did what they needed to do. I want to mention Saniya - she had a fantastic play where she took the pass and instantly turned and shot - scored and was fouled HARD. There were several other times where she moved VERY well without the ball and was wide open - only to NOT be found by her teammates. I know she did not score a bunch, but she could have if her teammates found her. Also her defense on Mitchell was great.
SC was pretty much exactly what I thought they would be. Athletic guards (not as athletic as UCONN's), lots of one on one play, lots osf dumping the ball into the post when they weren't really open, and a TON of scoring off the ridiculous number of O-boards they got. Frankly I was surprised they scored as much as they did, and given the incredibly high degree of difficulty shots they actually made, it could have been much worse.
I think the gap between UCONN and everyone else is larger than most thought and while I predicted a 22 point win (72-50), the 25 point beatdown was not a surprise.
SC's huge "advantage" of their bench - if you replace starters Ibian and Dozier (2 points, 4 boards, and 1 assist) with Coates and Wilson, I think you get a better feel for what really happens at SC. Their players earning starters minutes are Sessions, Mitchell, Welch, Wilson and Coates. If you look at Ibiam and Dozier as bench players, their bench was literally no more productive than UCONN's.
And by the way, that play at the end of the first half where Cuevas knocked Stewie into the stanchion was 100% a foul, and would be called an offensive foul 100% of the time. I didn't always enjoy the SC fan's smack talk leading up to the game, but I trust that they would acknowledge that UCONN is better, and it's by a very wide margin.
Meet again in the NCAA's, and the outcome won't be any different. Having said that, I wish SC much success the rest of the season and hope they destroy Tennessee (and the rest of the SEC for that matter)...
The game was hyped almost as much as a NC game and for the first 10 minutes, was nip and tuck. I also love Staley's intensity - and her kick attitude. She's tough as nails and imparts that on her team as much as possible.
For UCONN - just a terrific game. SC pushed and banged and battled as hard as any team we've faced, and UCONN was up for it, and then some. I think it took UCONN a little bit to get their "sea legs" but after being down 18-15, it was all UCONN for most of the rest of the game.
Against good teams, we've said before, they might be able to play UCONN evenly for 32 out of 40 minutes, but there is that pair of 4-minute stretches where UCONN outscores the other team by 8-2 and suddenly it's a 15-20 point win.
In some other threads, people have talked about Moriah being the best PG and Stewie being the best forward (or best player) in the nation. I would add to that that KML is the best wing in the nation. I think she played terrific defense, and was nailing shots with hands in her face all night. I think she shot better from beyond the arc than from inside the arc.
Moriah was phenomenal. Can't say that enough. In the biggest WCBB game of the regular season, she was sensational. The way she comported herself... (did Doris use that word once tonight? No, but we did drink every time she said "exceptional" and got super wasted!!). Back to Mo... that crossover dribble in the 2nd half where she blew by that kid was just sick. She had at least 10 and possibly closer to 20 highlight plays - passes, steals, shots, you name it. Just wow.
Stewie - she was EVERYWHERE. Offense, defense, blocking shots, grabbing boards... oh and she scored a few points too. Did she even take a single 3 point shot? Maybe just one. All her scoring was done closer to the basket.
KML - can that kid play or what? terrific defense, otherwordly 3-point shooting, and she played 37 minutes. Clearly she's in terrible shape.
Morgan - Kid shoots 16% from beyond the arc all season and nails 2-3. In fairness, one was a bank shot. And a few of her drives were sloppy, but that's nitpicking. The kid was just so solid. I think she and Stewie can emphatically say to Geno "message received"
The rest of the team was solid and did what they needed to do. I want to mention Saniya - she had a fantastic play where she took the pass and instantly turned and shot - scored and was fouled HARD. There were several other times where she moved VERY well without the ball and was wide open - only to NOT be found by her teammates. I know she did not score a bunch, but she could have if her teammates found her. Also her defense on Mitchell was great.
SC was pretty much exactly what I thought they would be. Athletic guards (not as athletic as UCONN's), lots of one on one play, lots osf dumping the ball into the post when they weren't really open, and a TON of scoring off the ridiculous number of O-boards they got. Frankly I was surprised they scored as much as they did, and given the incredibly high degree of difficulty shots they actually made, it could have been much worse.
I think the gap between UCONN and everyone else is larger than most thought and while I predicted a 22 point win (72-50), the 25 point beatdown was not a surprise.
SC's huge "advantage" of their bench - if you replace starters Ibian and Dozier (2 points, 4 boards, and 1 assist) with Coates and Wilson, I think you get a better feel for what really happens at SC. Their players earning starters minutes are Sessions, Mitchell, Welch, Wilson and Coates. If you look at Ibiam and Dozier as bench players, their bench was literally no more productive than UCONN's.
And by the way, that play at the end of the first half where Cuevas knocked Stewie into the stanchion was 100% a foul, and would be called an offensive foul 100% of the time. I didn't always enjoy the SC fan's smack talk leading up to the game, but I trust that they would acknowledge that UCONN is better, and it's by a very wide margin.
Meet again in the NCAA's, and the outcome won't be any different. Having said that, I wish SC much success the rest of the season and hope they destroy Tennessee (and the rest of the SEC for that matter)...