UConn - Iowa Postgame Thread

[BBallF]

I can't see the replay - - I hated the the play call too. Too much. with that said -- if Paige were to hve caught teh ball there would have bene slightly over 3 seoconds left.

Was there any possibility that she could have split defense and drove once catching the pass or does it look like she would have been fading sideways / right?

And if I am not mistaken the Duke game he ran a play to give the ball toPaige at the top to allow her to makea move, didn't he? Or was there no timeout and Paige just made the play?

You are right. She should never be getting the ball in the side court. Only in the middle or on the foul line with her back to the basket. If there is no foul by Liyah she has to launch a three off balance as you say when you only need a two. You want a pull up jumper it is her most accurate shot. It was a counter intuitive bad call. Either you give it to Paige on a curl or on the inbounds or you just tell Nika to go straight and take a pull up and leave the lane open. Paige gets a jumper off over Marshall at will. Why she shied away all fourth quarter from the ball is a mystery. Even when you are off you are the best player and the game is on you.

 

[RoadMaster]

 

[Surly1]

I'm going to suggest Marshall knew the screen was coming and had her acting skills in order.

Listening to Diana, she pointed out that the play didn't/wouldn't have gotten Paige open. At best, she would have had to launch a contested 3 as Steulke rushed over with Marshall coming. End of the quarter finishes have been a thorn for UConn this year when they have the ball.

You win or lose the game with your best player. Too many times in the 4th, Paige went to corner and didn't get involved or touch the ball. I don't know if it was by design, but Paige didn't look or act like the player who was killing it in the previous 7 games. Yes, Marshall did yeoman's work guarding Paige, but Paige helped her out, responding too passively. She had a size advantage and seldom drove to the basket or tried to shoot over Marshall.

The game should not have come down to a last play or poor call. UConn had plenty of opportunities in the first half and failed to exploit their lead. You see it all the time in sports. One team has the lead for the entirety of the game, but allow the other team to hang around, and the outcome is determined by one or two plays, an officials call or a game-winning shot.

I'm still surly this morn, but by tomorrow afternoon, I'll realize that UConn would be running into a buzzsaw that is SC if they had beaten Iowa.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

After sleeping on it the thing that upsets me more than anything else is there are usually 10 to 15 moving screens NOT called during a game! What made THIS particular screen so flagrant to warrant blowing the whistle and calling it at THAT time and place!
The refs MISSED the earlier screens so it makes no sense to interject a whistle then, let it play out and see what happens!
This is the 2nd year in a row (the championship game last year) that the officiating, becomes the story line, NOT the girls play!
The NCAA should get the referee problem solved, it's sucks big time!
And we still have the Championship game tomorrow to anticipate the refs screwing it up again!

 

[veryolddog]

"Never have so few, given so much" to achieve the greatness of progressing to the National Championship. "Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

 

[JSB60]

I think I’m pretty much done with non-UConn women’s basketball. I love what this team did, but the ending leaves a bad taste. I don’t think the out of bounds play was good, I think Iowa played a great second half, but if,they’re going to end games like this to protect TV ratings, they can get their ratings without me.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

May the basketball gods lift the injury curse and put UConn back where it belongs next season.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

Another thought!
A lot of posts above want SoCar to beat up on Iowa in the Championship game, I want Caitlin to score 100 and Iowa win big!
Iowa is one of my 2nd or 3rd favorite teams, behind UConn!
They have some great players and a great coach, and they really did nothing to UConn, the refs did!
I do not like SoCar and would like them to be knocked down a peg!
Just IMHO!

 

[BBallF]

I agree with most of your comments and I agree the play was too convuluted. But Clark is more of a one-on-one player. Paige does need picks more. How often is Paige ispalted in the manner Clark is? SO, why not just give Paige the ball after one pass in which she would be coming "downhill" at a defender with the option to pick and roll or take a pull-up?

But I agree - not a good call - I jus thinktoo much dribbling wiht Nika toward the corner.

Exactly. If she takes the ball out she will at least get past Marshall for a pull up. If they double you dish for an open shot. Your odds are about 45% it goes in. Very uninspired play from a HOF coach truth be told.

 

[BBallF]

We didn’t drive to the hoop enough! Paige should have had the ball in her hands from the inbound!

I agree totally. They allowed us to shoot from the outside because with Shade being off and not being proactive and Paige being unassertive we are not a good outside shooting team. No Azzi or Caroline out there and Paige was held in check or allowed herself to be. During the game we should have spread the floor and let KK drive more also. No one could stay with her speed. As for the last play, really poor coaching. I’m sorry but it’s the truth. Give Paige the ball on the inbounds. How do you not? You run only a simple play like a pick and roll but that is it. Anything else is too much. Same issue when we played Mississippi State in the FF. Involved play and the ball was in the wrong persons hands. Nika wasn’t shooting that shot but giving the ball off in the side court makes no sense when you have a knock down pull up jump shooter and all you need is 2 points or to be fouled. It’s really disappointing. The whole season came down to that play and we did not perform.

 

[BBallF]

Probably not the story because if oyu start making comments about "should have been called," then you certainly could point to a short time earlier the Clark push-off in the lane, couldn't you? . . . Exactly.

That was a blatant push off. Lobo didn’t even mention that on the replay. Clark scored due to the push off. You don’t not call that and then call the foul on Liyah? However as was pointed out, she never really corrected that deficiency in her game.

 

[ABCDFE]

Whether it was “correct” or not. The point is that’s just not a call you make with 4 seconds left in a final four game…if it was an egregious offensive foul that’s one thing. Even you should be able to admit that the call was a stretch in the first place and then when you put it in the context of the game/circumstances it was a ridiculous call to make…it happens, it is what it is. And to be frank even before this game tipped off I had SC soundly beating UConn if they did make it through. But all that being said that was just a classic example of a ref unnecessarily injecting themselves into a high stakes game for absolutely no reason. And quite frankly it makes people not want to watch the sport, it ruins it for people.

Correct. No more obvious than nfl games. Watch what goes on in those games. Not to even mention nba games. This screen was so innocuous that made absolutely no sense whatsoever to call it then.

 

[Max47]

As a wise person once said "Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder". Thought some might find the following video of interest (value). I took segments of the game illustrating Edwards foul in real time followed by slow motion. I've been watching UConn women's basketball forever. My wife huge fan. I'm a little less so. My take on the file call is ref was in a good position, Edwards made a significant step into the player. Also Edwards left arm/elbow gives the appearance of a shove. Marshall does a very good job of selling the foul. Ref is in a good position to see everything. Bang-bang play in the last seconds. Personally I don't fault the ref on this call there's enough there to consider of unfair advantage to UConn.

 

[DRR25]

I would rather we lost to Iowa than to give Dawn the chance to hand Geno his 2nd consecutive NC loss.

It's a shame that a ref decided to make that call on Aaliyah. 99.9% of refs would have swallowed their whistles in that situation.

I disagree. You ALWAYS want your team to win a FF game no matter what. I guarantee you that Geno and the Huskies would love the opportunity to lose to Staley/S. Carolina in the championship game.

 

[ABCDFE]

Geno said Paige wasn't looking like or moving like her usual self, said he thinks it was something physical though she didn't say anything to him about it.

That would explain it. She definitely didn’t seem herself with the movement and the dog mentality late game

 

[Rowdy831]

That was a great game. I thought both teams did a great job of defending the other teams stars and it came down to which team had the better role player and last night that was Staulke (sp). The young players for UConn played way better than could be expected with so much on the line and that bodes will for their futures. Nika played an amazing game limiting CC to 21 points and making her resort to going to the basket for most of her production. She also had a very nice game offensively hitting several really clutch shots to keep them in the game.

On the down side I thought they played a little loose with the ball in second half and their interior defense was weak the whole game. AE and Paige both looked like they were tired from the tip but still fought to keep the team in the game. I will say I don't think Aaliyah has been the same since she took the shot to nose in the Big East Tournament. And that last foul was not one that should have been called in that situation. I don't think the play had much chance for success if the end goal was to get Paige a shot from 30 feet but we will never know.

In the end the girls played hard all season and did go further than a lot of people expected. I was a little perplexed that Q didn't get in the game when Iowa went to a box and 1 to take Paige out of the game but overall I thought the Iowa coach won the coaching battle last night. I look forward to a great offseason of healing and a healthy 2024-2025 for UConn.

 

[jdote33]

Geno said Paige wasn't looking like or moving like her usual self, said he thinks it was something physical though she didn't say anything to him about it.

He said a similar thing after the Notre Dame game. Although I think he said Paige took a hit in that game. Only Paige or him would know. IMO, I think similar to Caitlyn, Paige had some pretty good defenders on her the whole night. With the size advantage on Gabby I wish they didn't overthink and got her the ball on the elbows or in the post more often. That being said they had a lot of contributors, so it's hard to assess. Like if Paige took 20 plus shots which she was taking since the big east tournament, are Ice and KK less involved? I think the moment was pretty big for both players (CC and Paige) and they tried their best. But as much as Paige has been an absolute monster in elite 8 games, she hasn't been quite able to break through in final four weekends (I don't think she's scored 20 yet in 4 games). But once again, not all on PB. She's still contributed, team just hasn't done quite enough to win it all.

 

[mhshuskies]

This is arguably the worst officiating call in the history of basketball. The most watched game in women’s hoops entire history. The two best players facing off in the last two possessions. One comes through. The other has the ball in her hands, down one, with the season on the line. And an official makes a phantom call, away from the ball, to end it. I’m speechless. This chance will never come again. The NCAA, for the ump-teenth time, has utterly pooped the bed.

In any game there are bad or questionable calls, but generally the hope is they even out throughout the game. The officials should not make questionable calls at the end to secure a win.

 

[mhshuskies]

Another thought!
A lot of posts above want SoCar to beat up on Iowa in the Championship game, I want Caitlin to score 100 and Iowa win big!
Iowa is one of my 2nd or 3rd favorite teams, behind UConn!
They have some great players and a great coach, and they really did nothing to UConn, the refs did!
I do not like SoCar and would like them to be knocked down a peg!
Just IMHO!

Boo!

 

[uconnever]

He could've easily just given Paige the ball and let her make a play instead of messing with a screen. Despite all his talk about Paige being the best player he decided she needed help making a winning play. Iowa would have never set a screen for Clark.

They always set screens for Clark.

 

[Vancat]

Bogus call. But think of it this way, if it wasn't called, and we took the shot and missed, then whomever missed that shot would feel awful. This way, we blame the ref. Nah, huh. Bogus call.

PS Iowa won't win.

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

Not for nothing, but the wbb world should be forewarned- we are not going away.

 

[Vancat]

As a wise person once said "Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder". Thought some might find the following video of interest (value). I took segments of the game illustrating Edwards foul in real time followed by slow motion. I've been watching UConn women's basketball forever. My wife huge fan. I'm a little less so. My take on the file call is ref was in a good position, Edwards made a significant step into the player. Also Edwards left arm/elbow gives the appearance of a shove. Marshall does a very good job of selling the foul. Ref is in a good position to see everything. Bang-bang play in the last seconds. Personally I don't fault the ref on this call there's enough there to consider of unfair advantage to UConn.

point is, you don't make a controversial call that late in that game.

 

[hoophuskee]

As a wise person once said "Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder". Thought some might find the following video of interest (value). I took segments of the game illustrating Edwards foul in real time followed by slow motion. I've been watching UConn women's basketball forever. My wife huge fan. I'm a little less so. My take on the file call is ref was in a good position, Edwards made a significant step into the player. Also Edwards left arm/elbow gives the appearance of a shove. Marshall does a very good job of selling the foul. Ref is in a good position to see everything. Bang-bang play in the last seconds. Personally I don't fault the ref on this call there's enough there to consider of unfair advantage to UConn.

I don't agree with you. The point being made is of late game calls. "Gives the appearance" is not enough when you speak of "Marshall selling." It wasn't near the hit. It's the whole point why many say "you shouldn't make that call late." It's the whole point why Marshall felt a need to "sell."

How often does a player "carry?" How often might a ref allow post be in the lane for 3 seconds? How often on an Orebound does a player slightly push off?

Auriemma spoke of how many fouls could be called and they don't. DT spoke of "it didn't even get her open." That's the entire reason why so many think the call sucked. It had so little to do with teh outcome that was about to unfold. It's like in the Super Bowl - a player holds away from the action 5-10 yards away from the QB in which the QB is in motion to throw the ball.

 

[Bomber36]

iowa Is going to get their heads handed to them by SC.

"Never have so few, given so much" to achieve the greatness of progressing to the National Championship. "Uncommon valor was a common virtue."

Churchill and Nimitz in the same quote. Well done!