4th Quarter scoring

[hoophuskee]

Because the faster you play the faster your lead can evaporate if you don't get the calls. Why invite yet another bad charge, traveling or push off call being aggressive if you don't need to? They have control of the game so slow the tempo down so the other team can't score fast if somebody gets hot. If they can't score fast they're not going to catch you. It's sound basketball stategy. I don't understand this obsession about jacking up the score when you don't need to.

I agree. I saw all the posts earlier today - didn't have chance to respond- and was very surprised by the criticism. The idea is to win. And the game was never in doubt once Wilson went down.

 

[hoophuskee]

Because, if you get used to that theory, and the score gets closer and closer, you could lose a game such as in the Final Four(especially if you go cold and the other team gets hot). I agree with your theory, years ago,when there was no shot clock, but it is a different game today.

How was it different last night? When did you know we were going to lose? When they cut it to 15 with 1 minute left?

 

[cohenzone]

Did Geno call off the dogs during fourth quarters of both the Notre Dame game and this game in respect to MM and DS?

Far different. They clearly were shortening the game by milking the clock. Who cares if we win by 30 or by 12. USC knows they were a beaten team.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Because, if you get used to that theory, and the score gets closer and closer, you could lose a game such as in the Final Four(especially if you go cold and the other team gets hot). I agree with your theory, years ago,when there was no shot clock, but it is a different game today.

Hey, it's not MY theory, it's what happened. And just to be clear they didn't stop running their stuff they just slowed it down. Perhaps you and the other's questioning this could call in to the Geno show and have him explain it to you. I'm sure he would be glad to.

 

[Monte]

Hey, it's not MY theory, it's what happened. And just to be clear they didn't stop running their stuff they just slowed it down. Perhaps you and the other's questioning this could call in to the Geno show and have him explain it to you. I'm sure he would be glad to.

Geno has a show?

 

[MilfordHusky]

One of the goals of game management is to get a large enough lead that you can play "prevent defense" at the end and still win comfortably. Exactly what Geno did. This also gives South Carolina and their fans false hope: "If only we could play the whole game like we did in the 4th quarter ...." Not really. Like the graphic on the cover of Mario Puzo's book, the Godfather was pulling the strings.

 

[Monte]

How was it different last night? When did you know we were going to lose? When they cut it to 15 with 1 minute left?

I said:............"IF."

 

[uconnfan68]

Far different. They clearly were shortening the game by milking the clock. Who cares if we win by 30 or by 12. USC knows they were a beaten team.

Who cares? Vegas? Everyone that took SC and 13.5, and probably the under.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Geno has a show?

Yes its calles, "Heros".

 

[SallyH]

I was kind of thinking that but only he truly knows the answer to that.

I'm thinking Geno is playing to win, and when a win is inevitable he tries to give some of the younger kids more experience (only Collier this game) and he doesn't want to show everything in his arsenal. Let all the other teams prep for what he has shown so far, all the while he is developing some new strategies and plays.

 

[cohenzone]

Who cares? Vegas? Everyone that took SC and 13.5, and probably the under.

Sports bettors deserve their losses. As a fan, win by one is a win. The thing I know about sports betting, the key player goes down early, nobody gives you your money back. At least in poker you can control your losses. Go Huskies.

 

[Monte]

How was it different last night? When did you know we were going to lose? When they cut it to 15 with 1 minute left?

2001, Final Four: Uconn vs. Notre Dame....."In the first half,Uconn led by 16 points.In the 2nd half, Uconn went into a scoring drought, without a point for 5 minutes. Notre Dame went on to win: 90-75. This was the largest deficit overcome in a final four game....a 31 point difference from the Uconn lead to the final score.

 

[Blue Huskie]

2001, Final Four: Uconn vs. Notre Dame....."In the first half,Uconn led by 16 points.In the 2nd half, Uconn went into a scoring drought, without a point for 5 minutes. Notre Dame went on to win: 90-75. This was the largest deficit overcome in a final four game....a 31 point difference from the Uconn lead to the final score.

That's about as different a situation as you could possibly come up with. The ND collapse started when the second half did, not in the 4th quarter and not because we were slowing down the tempo of our offense. We lost Shea & Svet (Our upperclass leaders) just a handful of games before.
Diana was a Freshman and she had such a struggle in that game but she kept trying and they didn't fall. The team was emotionally drained from trying to overcome the loss of their Seniors. I remember how devastated Diana was at the end of that game. The leadership dynamic was completely different for that game last night.

 

[Blue Huskie]

More thoughts to add to above post:
That was also the year of "Bird at the buzzer" in the BE Championship game. Svet was already lost but Shea went down in that game. It was all we could do to win that game at Gampel so beating ND at a neutral site was going to be a challenge. Especially with what we lost at the end of the year. Read the Jeff Goldberg book that came out in 2011 for some in depth insights into the ups and downs of that season. Fascinating material.

 

[hoophuskee]

I said:.."IF."

IF????????????????? Why is IF relevant?? Why are you complaining IF it didn't happen? What's the point of your gripe? UCONN won by double digits and it never reached single hen they slowed the game down.

 

[hoophuskee]

2001, Final Four: Uconn vs. Notre Dame....."In the first half,Uconn led by 16 points.In the 2nd half, Uconn went into a scoring drought, without a point for 5 minutes. Notre Dame went on to win: 90-75. This was the largest deficit overcome in a final four game....a 31 point difference from the Uconn lead to the final score.

Huh?? How does your response answer the following questions in italics? You realize UCONN won, right? You realize USC never got within single digits, right?

How was it different last night? When did you know we were going to lose? When they cut it to 15 with 1 minute left?

 

[DaddyChoc]

It was deliberate. He gave the run clock hand gesture over and over again starting just under the 7 minute mark of the 4th quarter.

thats not the "run the clock" signal... thats the motion offense signal, screen pass cut, backdoor, move til we confuse them (from the times Ive seen that hand gesture)

 

[Blue Huskie]

Huh?? How does your response answer the following questions in italics? You realize UCONN won, right? You realize USC never got within single digits, right?

How was it different last night? When did you know we were going to lose? When they cut it to 15 with 1 minute left?

hoophuskie: Don't get frustrated trying to make your argument with somebody who won't be satisfied in anything but a massive blowout. Some people are taking the "Spoiled UCONN fan" label to new levels. It's not enough that we win these tough games anymore we need to win them by 30 or more and win every quarter or it's viewed as a failure or as something that doesn't cultivate our roster in preparation for the future. Maybe we'll have to play The Golden State Warriors at some point and we won't be ready

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

The only reason I wanted Geno to keep his players with their foot on the gas the whole game is if they truly destroyed SoCar by the 30 to 35+ points it seemed like it was going to do, you break the spirit of SoCar so IF they were to play again in the FF, SoCar KNOWS they have NO CHANCE to beat UCONN! By letting them come back to a 12 point deficit and SoCar outscoring UCONN in the 4th period, "Hey we have a chance if we play the whole game like the 4th period!"
You want to make sure the opponent knows that you are the superior team in ALL facets of the game! They have no hope!

 

[Blue Huskie]

The only reason I wanted Geno to keep his players with their foot on the gas the whole game is if they truly destroyed SoCar by the 30 to 35+ points it seemed like it was going to do, you break the spirit of SoCar so IF they were to play again in the FF, SoCar KNOWS they have NO CHANCE to beat UCONN! By letting them come back to a 12 point deficit and SoCar outscoring UCONN in the 4th period, "Hey we have a chance if we play the whole game like the 4th period!"
You want to make sure the opponent knows that you are the superior team in ALL facets of the game! They have no hope!

Aside from the fact that "breaking the spirit" by running up the score is an absurd notion, can you imagine if they had a 25 point lead in the last two minutes and Geno leaves his starters in to try to make it 30 and one of them gets hurt? People would be lining up around the block to vilify him for that and I'm sure you would be leading the pack.

 

[hoophuskee]

The only reason I wanted Geno to keep his players with their foot on the gas the whole game is if they truly destroyed SoCar by the 30 to 35+ points it seemed like it was going to do, you break the spirit of SoCar so IF they were to play again in the FF, SoCar KNOWS they have NO CHANCE to beat UCONN! By letting them come back to a 12 point deficit and SoCar outscoring UCONN in the 4th period, "Hey we have a chance if we play the whole game like the 4th period!"
You want to make sure the opponent knows that you are the superior team in ALL facets of the game! They have no hope!

Nah. That is overstated. I can remember many times - UCONN men's team stunk vs mighty GTOWN or Cuse lose one being blown out and yet another knock them off. Quie a few games in the Dream Season they got ripped early vs teams they usually lost to by a lot only to come back the 2nd time and beat them.

It is much more of a gamble to try to play at fast pace then lose than vs. just ensure you get the win. Stewie, MoJeff and Kia Nurse aren't a fantasy sports game run on a computer. They are human. They can get tired. The refs could have owned the 4th quarter. Do we remember the game vs ND in which the guy ref made a bunch of unbelievably crappy calls costing us the game? Incompetent refs that were on display last night can turn a game around. They did it to Tuck in the 1st half.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Aside from the fact that "breaking the spirit" by running up the score is an absurd notion, can you imagine if they had a 25 point lead in the last two minutes and Geno leaves his starters in to try to make it 30 and one of them gets hurt? People would be lining up around the block to vilify him for that and I'm sure you would be leading the pack.

this guy is a "wrestling" coach... individual sport, not team, aggressive, fear etc. so his thinking may be a little different

 

[Buzzyboy]

Thanks, because I sure couldn't think of one. Again, with their foot on the pedal this game would've been the 23 point victory I predicted. When the lead hit single digits I started screaming at the screen.

Slowing the game down to the extent the Huskies did got them out of their rhythm and they were less effective. I'm not suggesting pushing the ball like crazy but I think SC sensed the change and was able to get "more comfortable" thus the disparity in scoring to UConn's disadvantage.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Nah. That is overstated. I can remember many times - UCONN men's team stunk vs mighty GTOWN or Cuse lose one being blown out and yet another knock them off. Quie a few games in the Dream Season they got ripped early vs teams they usually lost to by a lot only to come back the 2nd time and beat them.

It is much more of a gamble to try to play at fast pace then lose than vs. just ensure you get the win. Stewie, MoJeff and Kia Nurse aren't a fantasy sports game run on a computer. They are human. They can get tired. The refs could have owned the 4th quarter. Do we remember the game vs ND in which the guy ref made a bunch of unbelievably crappy calls costing us the game? Incompetent refs that were on display last night can turn a game around. They did it to Tuck in the 1st half.

I really want you to bring up some of the Dream season games where UConn got spanked, only to come back and win! The only game that season that was outrageous was the first St. John's game where UConn got hammered and then took their revenge in their rematch but that was the exception to the rule and that was early in the season when UConn was still finding their "press" that became an integral part of their success. I totally agree that you want to crush an opponent when possible because you don't want to give them hope. You see too often how sometimes it's hard to contain a big momentum swing. How often have you heard the announcers state that often UConn will either close the first half on a big run that crushes an opponent or open the 2nd half on a run that totally deflates their opponent. That's always been a staple of the UConn women's success and why would you want to deviate. I'm not suggesting that you try and force the pace but when you get overtly conservative, you often play into your opponents hand, particularly when you have the advantage in talent. Monday UConn ALLOWED SC a breath of life and with the exception of a couple of key buckets, it could have gotten scary. UConn's flow in the game was disrupted because of their slowdown and it could have gotten ugly. It could of undone all that UConn had accomplished through most of the game and that's not good.

 

[hoophuskee]

I really want you to bring up some of the Dream season games where UConn got spanked, only to come back and win! The only game that season that was outrageous was the first St. John's game where UConn got hammered and then took their revenge in their rematch but that was the exception to the rule and that was early in the season when UConn was still finding their "press" that became an integral part of their success. I totally agree that you want to crush an opponent when possible because you don't want to give them hope. You see too often how sometimes it's hard to contain a big momentum swing. How often have you heard the announcers state that often UConn will either close the first half on a big run that crushes an opponent or open the 2nd half on a run that totally deflates their opponent. That's always been a staple of the UConn women's success and why would you want to deviate. I'm not suggesting that you try and force the pace but when you get overtly conservative, you often play into your opponents hand, particularly when you have the advantage in talent. Monday UConn ALLOWED SC a breath of life and with the exception of a couple of key buckets, it could have gotten scary. UConn's flow in the game was disrupted because of their slowdown and it could have gotten ugly. It could of undone all that UConn had accomplished through most of the game and that's not good.

Read what the poster rasher said. He said you win this game to make a statement. So I brought up the Dream Season. The ST Johns game is a perfect point. UCONN got hammered in the 1st game. What statement did St Johns make?

What you say "it could have gotten ugly" I say the worry-warts are out in full force. It could NEVER have gotten ugly. Please cite the game in which UCONN has had the best pg in th game and overall the best player in the game wh is regarded as among the best ever and lost after holding a 21 point with near 10 minutes left. You're see ghosts that aren't there applying examples that don't need to apply. There was NO LIFE in USC,. As Lobo, Burke and Lawson said "THE game was over once Wilson got hurt."

I am stunned any of oyu were nervous and thought USC had a chance once Wilson went down and when UCONN was up by 21 going into the 4th, I am stunned many of you thought we could lose because of our talent. And in fact they never cut it to single digits - some of you were still scared? My God- I still can't believe it.

 

[hoophuskee]

IN 1994 UCONN beats Nova by 24, two-three weeks later they lose by 1.
IN 1997 UCONN loses to Miami by 23. Three weeks later they win by 20.

How many examples do we need?

 

[hoophuskee]

Thanks, because I sure couldn't think of one. Again, with their foot on the pedal this game would've been the 23 point victory I predicted. When the lead hit single digits I started screaming at the screen.

You mean in the Oklahoma game in 01-02?

 

[AboutWeston]

We just stopped playing our game. I was disappointed although it was the safest way to secure a win.
I thought we play to a standard, not the score. Oh well.

Considering that it was a road game, making sure we win is not a bad thing - and not getting any players injured in a melee trying to run up the score is smart.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

People, all I was saying was continue to play as they had been, substitute Chong, Eckmark, & Butler in, and continue the game plan. No frantic change, just do what they were doing!
By slowing down and SoCar came back to outscore UCONN in the 4th period by I think, 10 points, Dawn Staley and her staff could turn the game in a positive light, "hey girls UCONN was beating you up and you had the guts and the fortitude to come back, not hang your heads, and OUTPLAY THEM in the 4th period! Just think when we play them again in the FF if you can start that game like you finished this game you can beat them!" "How sweet to beat them there and ruin their season!"
In an interview that morning Dawn said if I had my choice I'd rather beat them at the FF then tonight!
If UCONN continued what got them the 21 point lead and won by 35 to 40, which they were capable of doing, going into their next game at the FF, If UCONN were to get up by 10+ early the coaches & players would be thinking, "here they come, they'll run us into the ground like the last time !"
Teams & coaches have long memories, and they might not voice it, but I promise you that past blowout will be on their minds, and effect their play! Leaving a little doubt in SoCar is a good thing.
And yes DaddyChoc I was a HS wrestling coach, but no matter what sport, you want to make an impression on your opponent. Don't you think ND back with Diggins, didn't get in UCONN's heads and effect the way the Huskies played? Come on, they ruled us mentally for 5 games at least! Then UCONN turned it around and now they drive ND crazy!

 

[slug25]

Geno knows we may need to milk the clock in a tournament game. Since we get so few chances to have the starters involved in the fourth quarter, it made sense to work on this skill and mindset. While the strategy preserved the win against SC, I suspect there will considerable emphasis on refining the end game protocol in the weeks ahead.