1999 Kentucky game

[noirwestern]

Oh baby! This one has a little bit of everything - an opponent who doesn't know they can't win, two refs with new hand check fouls to call, or not, depending, a Geno ejection, young stars missing shots, passes, you name it. Let the tribulations begin. I think I'll watch this one a few times to toughen myself up.

 

[JordyG]

Thank goodness, something from 1999. You're a prince.

 

[Jimbo]

There's some pretty funny stuff about this game, and Geno's ejection in particular, in the A Season to Remember video about the 1999-2000 season (available at the UConn Husky Games website):

Sveta: "My first thought was, oh my God, CD's probably really mad at him right now."
CD: "'I'm gonna kill him' was my first thought."
Tamika: "We really thought he did it on purpose! We said, 'Do you think Coach did it on purpose just to test us?'"
Geno: "The only thought you have [is] you're embarrassed because you acted like a fool."

Pure gold.

 

[Rocket009]

Amazing that Kentucky ran way better offense then than they do now under Mitchells.

 

[Plebe]

Wow, what a fascinating game.

• I would really, really like to hire a lip-reader to tell me what Geno told the refs to get himself ejected. The only line I could make out was when he said, immediately after the 2nd technical, "I'm not leaving."
  
• How cool was it when Doris Burke makes mention of UConn's incoming top recruit by the name of Diana Taurasi.
• The questionable calls definitely went both ways, perhaps none more questionable than an offensive foul called on Kentucky on what was a clear blocking foul on Sue Bird, late in the first half.
• Kentucky was all kinds of fearless in this game. They showed every sign of being a program on the rise. They had every starter back from the previous year, when they won a game in the NCAA tournament. I was disappointed to look it up and find that they missed the tournament in 2000 and the next several years thereafter. I hold Bernadette Mattox in high esteem, and I don't know why things never took off for her at Kentucky. (Side note: If you haven't watched the ESPN mini-doc on "Coach Bernie", I highly recommend it.)