#2 Notre Dame v #1 Baylor

[Vowelguy]

Is she the player who tore her acl last year? I forget. If so, she may need more time to be ready to play in a game like this.

Yeah she was the PG on the final four team in 2010 (and was highly rated in HS), but then got injured. Pretty sure that was preseason though so it's been a full year.

You may be right though.

 

[UConnCat]

Having Griner on the court didn't allow Sims to have more steals than Diggins. It also didn't impact Diggins having 7 turnovers to Sims's 1.

So I will say that today, Sims was the better player. So how about we base which player is better on head to head combat? Or would we rather base it on what Diggins does the rest of the year against lesser opponents?

Don't get me wrong, Diggins is a great player. IMO, Sims is better and proved it today.

I believe Diggins is the better player and I'm not going to change my opinion based on one game, even if it is head-to-head. We'll see in April if Sims changes my mind.

 

[True Colors]

Shanay Washington is a good player. She hurt her knee last year and had to have surgery. Unfortunately the recovery did not work out properly so they had to do a follow up surgery on her. Baylor is hoping to get her back later this season.

FWIW, this is the second straight year that Notre Dame has played in Waco. Baylor won the game last year too(76-65).

TC

 

[easttexastrash]

I believe Diggins is the better player and I'm not going to change my opinion based on one game, even if it is head-to-head. We'll see in April if Sims changes my mind.

Of course she is better...she plays in the Big East. More east coast bias. We all realize that out performing your opponent in a head to head match-up says nothing about who is the better player.

Sims started playing 8 months off of ACL surgery last year. She was never 100%. She is now stronger and faster and IMO, the best PG in the nation.

 

[UConnCat]

Of course she is better...she plays in the Big East. More east coast bias. We all realize that out performing your opponent in a head to head match-up says nothing about who is the better player.

Bias? You know nothing about my biases. Why even go there? I'm not showing disrespect for your opinion. I just disagree with you.

Sue Bird is sometimes outplayed by opposing point guards and she's considered the best point guard in the world. She wins when it matters. Like I said, I don't make judgments on who's better based on one game.

 

[easttexastrash]

Bias? You don't know nothing about my biases. Why even go there? I'm not showing disrespect for your opinion. I just disagree with you.

Sue Bird is sometimes outplayed by opposing point guards and she's considered the best point guard in the world. She wins when it matters. Like I said, I don't make judgments on who's better based on one game.

Agree to disagree. Diggins will be first team All America based on previous performance and name recognition. IMO, Sims is tougher and a better player. I thought she proved it today.

But I do give Diggins the edge when it comes to wrestling strangle-hold moves. She was much better in that stat.

 

[stamfordhusky]

Of course she is better...she plays in the Big East. More east coast bias. We all realize that out performing your opponent in a head to head match-up says nothing about who is the better player.
.

One game is one data point out of many. It would make a lot more sense to judge players based on their performance over the whole season.

BTW, you may be surprised to learn that South Bend is in the midwest.

 

[VAUConnFan]

What happened to Shanay Washington? Was expecting her to be a big contributor this year, but didn't see her today.

Also, box score is listing Sims comign off the bench - I assume that's a typo?

Not a typo. Sims did not start.

 

[Sonny44]

If ND can score 81 on Baylor, so can we. And we won't give them 93 either.

 

[easttexastrash]

One game is one data point out of many. It would make a lot more sense to judge players based on their performance over the whole season.

BTW, you may be surprised to learn that South Bend is in the midwest.

My point was on the Big East. I assume YOU are in the east and the bias I was talking about was yours.

 

[easttexastrash]

I have to say that Novosel was the star for Notre Dame. Wow...she brought her A game.

Diggins and Sims are very close in talent. Today, Sims was the better player. Next time, Diggins may be the better player. Hopefully we get this match-up again in April.

 

[bbsamjj]

7 turnovers are unacceptable by Diggins. She did shoot better than Sims (45% vs 40%), and as many have mentioned, Diggins is both ND's point guard and #1 scoring option. Sims gets to pass to the best player in WCBB.

Also, when one player has 27pts (9-20fg), 4 rebounds, and 3assists; and the other has 25pts (6-15fg), 6 assists, and 6 steals, I'd say they're both very good. If they both continue to play at this level, they should both be all americans.

 

[cferraro04]

To begin with both Sims and Diggins are fantastic players. However, to say that Griner had nothing to do with Diggins having 7 turnovers is not accurate. Griner's presence changes the game. It changes how Diggins plays. For the most part it takes away Diggins' ability to get to the hole when Griner is there acting as a backstop. It causes Diggins to play out of character and to leave her comfort zone something Sims never had to do with her supporting cast around her. If you are looking for a guard who played like an All American in this game I would say both Sims and Diggins would fit the bill...but, I think the guard who deserves some credit here was Novesel...she is one gutsy kid who isn't afraid to take on the big girl and who made big shots today.

Bottom line here ND is undersized in the post. They had too much to handle with Griner, Williams and Pope. Peters is undersized and foul trouble took her out early. Aconaway is coming off an injury and was very little help. Notre Dame was playing Baylor at home...a tough road game early in the season. Both teams will be better and different come the NCAA tournament and I think Notre Dame puts this game in the rear view mirror and Baylor would be mistaken to think that they have ND's number. I think the only way to play Baylor is to play them in a zone. You have to limit Britany's touches and pack the middle so you can marginalize her rebounding position. You have to force Baylor to shoot from the outside. Keep Sims in front of you (easier said than done...I'm sure, but essential none the less). A soft 3/2 zone is the way to go...limit the perimeter shots...when the ball comes down to the post...drop into a solid 2/3 zone bringing the double team on Griner everytime she touches the ball...can't guard her one on one...there just isn't anybody like her in NCAA basketball. I think Geno will have a game plan for Baylor...it will be an extremely difficult task to go to Baylor's home court and get a win...and truthfully, I would rather we go there and keep it close and lose...it will give our team plenty of game tape, it will provide motivation and our team is going to show in my opinion the most improvement over the season of the top 4 teams. We are still working our freshmen into the line-up and our offensive and defensive sets. Our Sophmores have shown tremendous improvement and will improve much, much more post Maya as they get used to doing things themselves instead of waiting for Maya to do it. Our bigs will be much improved by the end of the season. I truly believe that UConn will show the most improvement among the top tier teams...and nobody is going to want to play UConn in March.

 

[quedash]

If I had to choose between Sims and Diggins I would go with Sims everytime; principally because she plays both ends of the floor at a high rate of effectiveness. I'm not so sure that Diggins could make life miserable for an opposing player on defense, but I know Sims can.

 

[ladybears4eva]

Baylor 76 - Notre Dame 63. Baylor at home. Griner. Diggins vs. Sims a neutralizing event. Peters will either foul out or be in debilitating foul trouble over-compensating for Griner's dominance.

very close .. kudos.. 13 point lead

 

[ladybears4eva]

If I had to choose between Sims and Diggins I would go with Sims everytime; principally because she plays both ends of the floor at a high rate of effectiveness. I'm not so sure that Diggins could make life miserable for an opposing player on defense, but I know Sims can.

i comepletely agree, i don't care that Skylar is popular and pretty...and has a exconvict after her.

 

[Icebear]

One thing I did note in the game as pertains to Griner is that she still doesn't have the will to run the court in either direction. She just kind of lopingly jogs up and back. If she plays USA ball Geno will be all over that. Presently I see Dolson doing a better job getting out on the break and getting back up the court as well.

 

[easttexastrash]

One thing I did note in the game as pertains to Griner is that she still doesn't have the will to run the court in either direction. She just kind of lopingly jogs up and back. If she plays USA ball Geno will be all over that. Presently I see Dolson doing a better job getting out on the break and getting back up the court as well.

Hopefully once she learns how to run the floor she can drop more than a miserly 32 on ND and will drop 40+ instead.

 

[easttexastrash]

I looked at the stats for Tina Charles against ND for the 2010 season, which was her Senior year.

01/16/10: 23 points, 13 rebounds and 1 block
03/01/10: 18 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block
03/08/10: 16 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocks

Griner's Numbers from Sunday
32 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks

Let's give the big girl the credit she deserves. These are Tina Charles type stats she is putting up and I consider Charles one of the best post players to ever play college basketball.

 

[Husky68]

Sims had 6 steals to Diggins' 1
Sims had 6 assists to Diggins' 3
Sims had 2 TOs to Diggins's 7.
Diggins has 27 points to Sims' 25
Diggins has 4 rebounds to Sims' 0

All in all, I would say that Sims' numbers are better than Diggins'. The three stat lines that you want your PG to win are assists, TOs, and steals. Had it not been for that last steal and subsequent 3 pointer Sims would have won the point total as well.

Sims also got to the FT line more. Sims was 12-14 and Diggins was 8-9.

I'll take Sims over Diggins any day of the week. She was the better PG today.

I think the PG who has that giant girl to throw the ball to and cover on dribble penetration has it a smidge easier!

 

[Husky68]

If ND can score 81 on Baylor, so can we. And we won't give them 93 either.

How terrible that ND coach agrees and rather than choosing her words wisely said her team didn't play any defense. Is she trying to harm their self esteem, hurt the Baylor teams feelings by imply that the Baylor team did not really deserve 90+ points on their merits. I loooooooooooooooooove ND coach, but this comment is just tooooooooooooooo much.

 

[True Colors]

If ND can score 81 on Baylor, so can we. And we won't give them 93 either.

Uconn has obviously earned the right to be supremely confident as a program..... but come on now.

It is not a 100% guaranteed lock that Uconn will score 81 points against Baylor.

It has been about 5 or 6 years since ANY team has shot 50% or above against Baylor. As in zero games. Ever. Baylor has held dozens of nationally ranked teams below 50% on offense(including Uconn).

This year might be the best defense that baylor has ever had. Baylor has THE best defensive player in the entire nation. Period.

We can pull this thread back up in a few weeks and see if Uconn is able to generate 81 points on Baylor as a rock solid, no questions asked, type of deal. I seriously doubt it.

TC

 

[ladybears4eva]

last team to score above 50% was Maryland in ncaa sweet 16 against us, 2006, and they won the NC.