Another 2 seed goes down

[uconnfan68]

Since I'm interested in such things, going into today Sagarin/Massey ratings for the top 4 seeds in Lexington:

Notre Dame - 3/2
Maryland - 4/5
Kentucky - 10/13
Stanford - 7/11

Suggests Maryland is the best 2-seed. Kentucky is a properly seeded 3 and Stanford is underseeded as a 4. And Kentucky is at home. To me, Lexington is by far the toughest bracket.

The toughest bracket is always UConn's, at least for everyone else

 

[Checkmate]

actually Maryland has beaten two top 25 teams - Syracuse and Michigan State (3x)

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

If Kentucky beats Washington I think they will give Notre Dame all they want in Lexington. Truth be known, I'd love for the Gamecocks to be able to beat the Mildcats for a 4th time this season. They are the team and head coach I most dislike in WBB. Come to mention it, I don't like them in MBB, either.

 

[Plebe]

Why was Maryland ranked #5 ? a moral victory over UConn ? a pathetic schedule that gave them a good record ? A 3-3 record vs top 25 teams ? last years team ?

There was nothing they did this year to warrant a #2 seed

I find this post extremely ironic, because Maryland was pretty much the only 2-seed that no one was questioning before the tournament.

 

[SCGamecock]

If Kentucky beats Washington I think they will give Notre Dame all they want in Lexington. Truth be known, I'd love for the Gamecocks to be able to beat the Mildcats for a 4th time this season. They are the team and head coach I most dislike in WBB. Come to mention it, I don't like them in MBB, either.

Or football even... It makes me physically nauseous when we lose to Kentucky in football.

Beating Kentucky in the Final Four would be LOVELY.

 

[Boreifs]

PAC 12's doing well in the WNIT, too.

RPI took a huge hit this season when UConn was rated as the #3 team in the nation, but the PAC 12 is certainly justifying its rating as the number one conference. The SEC also has four teams; I believe they were rated #2, but I could be mistaken. If so, RPI has made a strong comeback.

 

[Dillon77]

RPI took a huge hit this season when UConn was rated as the #3 team in the nation, but the PAC 12 is certainly justifying its rating as the number one conference. The SEC also has four teams; I believe they were rated #2, but I could be mistaken. If so, RPI has made a strong comeback.

Conferences in Sweet 16 With Multiple Teams

PAC 12: Oregon St. (vs. DePaul next), UCLA (vs. Texas next), Stanford (vs. ND), Washington (vs. Kentucky)
SEC: Mississippi State (vs. UConn), South Carolina (vs. Syracuse), Tennessee (vs. Ohio State), Kentucky
ACC: Florida State (vs. Baylor), Notre Dame, Syracuse
Big 12: Baylor, Texas

Games with contrasting styles of interest: Syracuse vs. S. Carolina, DePaul vs. Oregon State.
And the UCLA vs Texas game should be interesting, too. Jordin Canada can influence that one...

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Can't believe the Terps lost at home. Looking past Washington maybe?

Brenda has regress as a coach. I thought she was brilliant two years ago when she beat #1 Tennessee and Louisville on their home court. Last year she swept the Big 10 regular season and tournament and made the final 4. This season you could see the signs they could be beaten. During their OOC schedule and the UConn game they were very, very good. Then when the Big 10 season started for some reason she leaned very heavily on her seniors, juniors and Kristen Confroy who is a good outside shooter and rebounder for her size. But at the same time she pretty much ignore her 4 talented and athletic players who made great contributions during the OOC schedule but rarely got of the bench during the Big 10 tournament and NCAA tournament. Brenda showed an extreme lack of imagination in her coaching this season and even though the team won 31 games this season, that was the most disappointing 31 win season in college basketball history.

When you have a Ferrari with 5 speeds, it seems like a waste when you only use 3 speeds and never use the 4th or 5th gear. This is what I summarize Maryland's season in 2015-16. So much potential wasted.

 

[MarieYLee]

Yeah, it shocked me that Maryland didn't press/try to speed up the game considering Washington only played 6 players, and really, only 2 guards in Plum/Atchley.

 

[UcMiami]

Terps - always thought Brenda had been lucky to have Jeff on the bench for her NC, then the last few years they showed some really decent play and attention to playing pretty good defense and I started to reevaluate. Was really surprised during the pretty disastrous second half yesterday how often W-K was completely left out of the offense - never touching the ball on two or three possessions in a row. And pretty disorganized on defense as well.

Not sure if her good coaching was more a result of Thomas and Brown over the last couple of years, if there has been another shake up in assistants, or what. But definitely a surprising and inglorious result.

 

[Dillon77]

Brenda has regress as a coach. I thought she was brilliant two years ago when she beat #1 Tennessee and Louisville on their home court. Last year she swept the Big 10 regular season and tournament and made the final 4. This season you could see the signs they could be beaten. During their OOC schedule and the UConn game they were very, very good. Then when the Big 10 season started for some reason she leaned very heavily on her seniors, juniors and Kristen Confroy who is a good outside shooter and rebounder for her size. But at the same time she pretty much ignore her 4 talented and athletic players who made great contributions during the OOC schedule but rarely got of the bench during the Big 10 tournament and NCAA tournament. Brenda showed an extreme lack of imagination in her coaching this season and even though the team won 31 games this season, that was the most disappointing 31 win season in college basketball history.

When you have a Ferrari with 5 speeds, it seems like a waste when you only use 3 speeds and never use the 4th or 5th gear. This is what I summarize Maryland's season in 2015-16. So much potential wasted.

With Maryland in the Big1G now and Maryland/ND not playing each other (like last year), I only saw the Terps a few times this year. So I've got a (very) few observations and questions:

- The Terps lose Moseley, Pfiman and Howard but return Walker-Kimbrough, Jones and Confroy. I'd say possible addition by subtraction, but you're bring in seven (7!) frosh. Yes, it's the number #1 rated team, but where do you think Brenda goes with these ingredients? (See similar scenario for Baylor, Ohio State and, to a lesser degree, North Carolina, who are bringing in 5).

- I had forgetten that there was also a massive turnover in assistant coaches. Do you think that could've had an effect? Brenda not only coaching the players, but the coaches, too? Maybe they'll hit their groove in terms of expectations next year?

Will be interested in your insights...

 

[Ozimoto]

What I saw is that Maryland's jump shots weren't falling so Washington was able to pack the paint and their big girl completely shut down Briona Jones with weak side help. Maryland did not have the defensive intensity to keep Washington from scoring during the drought and you saw the result. Confirmed my opinion of the Terps all season. Inconsistency.

 

[Checkmate]

I find this post extremely ironic, because Maryland was pretty much the only 2-seed that no one was questioning before the tournament.

The only thing anyone noticed was a close game with UConn. Their conference and OOC schedule was extremely weak. The Ohio State beat them twice and had a lower seed.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

With Maryland in the Big1G now and Maryland/ND not playing each other (like last year), I only saw the Terps a few times this year. So I've got a (very) few observations and questions:

- The Terps lose Moseley, Pfiman and Howard but return Walker-Kimbrough, Jones and Confroy. I'd say possible addition by subtraction, but you're bring in seven (7!) frosh. Yes, it's the number #1 rated team, but where do you think Brenda goes with these ingredients? (See similar scenario for Baylor, Ohio State and, to a lesser degree, North Carolina, who are bringing in 5).

- I had forgetten that there was also a massive turnover in assistant coaches. Do you think that could've had an effect? Brenda not only coaching the players, but the coaches, too? Maybe they'll hit their groove in terms of expectations next year?

Will be interested in your insights...

As far as the game last night, Brenda gets a F in two categories, game plan and proper use of personnel. As stated many times, Washington only uses 6 players. They only have two guards basically. Their center can't jump and they have to have her park at the foul circle because if she's inside fighting for offensive rebounds, it will be impossible for her to run down the court on defense. With a team like that you use your athletes to press them all game long, not only to tire them out and maybe get them in foul trouble, but to speed up the game and get them in a track meet. Maryland basically played the entire game in half court sets and couldn't get Brionna Jones established. As a previous poster stated their jump shots were not falling so you try to trap them, get steals and make easy baskets. No imagination at all from the coaching staff. Maybe this is due to new personnel on the coaching staff. Maybe they did well the previous two years because of (Year 1 - Thomas, Year 2 - Brown and Mincy). They had SWK and Jones (plus a really good two player bench in Moseley and Pfirman) and that should have been enough.

Before this game I had them as the 3rd best team in the country behind Notre Dame and Baylor next season. I am going to have to revise that to 6th. Behind Notre Dame, Baylor, South Carolina, UConn and Ohio State and barely ahead of Louisville and Texas. I expect the starting lineup to be Slocum, SWK, Confroy, Fraser and Jones with Kiah Gillespie being the 6th player. Brenda's use of her bench gets a D this season as talented players such as Fraser, Gillespie, Kiara Leslie (the team best defensive player and can guard 4 positions) and A'lexus Harrison barely saw the floor in Big 10 play and the post season. I wonder if she'll incorporate talented players like Blair Watson (several triple doubles this season with both assists and blocks), Kaila Charles and Jenna Staiti (51 points in a losing effort in the semi-finals of the state of Georgia post season tournament) into the rotation. Maybe because the team will have only two seniors, she'll have to.

 

[CocoHusky]

As far as the game last night, Brenda gets a F in two categories, game plan and proper use of personnel. As stated many times, Washington only uses 6 players. They only have two guards basically. Their center can't jump and they have to have her park at the foul circle because if she's inside fighting for offensive rebounds, it will be impossible for her to run down the court on defense. With a team like that you use your athletes to press them all game long, not only to tire them out and maybe get them in foul trouble, but to speed up the game and get them in a track meet. Maryland basically played the entire game in half court sets and couldn't get Brionna Jones established. As a previous poster stated their jump shots were not falling so you try to trap them, get steals and make easy baskets. No imagination at all from the coaching staff. Maybe this is due to new personnel on the coaching staff. Maybe they did well the previous two years because of (Year 1 - Thomas, Year 2 - Brown and Mincy). They had SWK and Jones (plus a really good two player bench in Moseley and Pfirman) and that should have been enough.

Before this game I had them as the 3rd best team in the country behind Notre Dame and Baylor next season. I am going to have to revise that to 6th. Behind Notre Dame, Baylor, South Carolina, UConn and Ohio State and barely ahead of Louisville and Texas. I expect the starting lineup to be Slocum, SWK, Confroy, Fraser and Jones with Kiah Gillespie being the 6th player. Brenda's use of her bench gets a D this season as talented players such as Fraser, Gillespie, Kiara Leslie (the team best defensive player and can guard 4 positions) and A'lexus Harrison barely saw the floor in Big 10 play and the post season. I wonder if she'll incorporate talented players like Blair Watson (several triple doubles this season with both assists and blocks), Kaila Charles and Jenna Staiti (51 points in a losing effort in the semi-finals of the state of Georgia post season tournament) into the rotation. Maybe because the team will have only two seniors, she'll have to.

Come on, seriously give some credit: "Their center can't jump": That non-jumping center shut down Brionna Jones and snagged EVERY rebound in the deciding stretch of the game. She beasted you the way Jones beasted UCONN and there were plenty of UNCONN fans giving Jones credit.

 

[Rixxx]

I caught part of the game last night. What I did see was surprising. Seriously, where is Jones??? Also, SWK's name was hardly mentioned at all when I flipped to the game. Props to WU..............

 

[Dillon77]

Come on, seriously give some credit: "Their center can't jump": That non-jumping center shut down Brionna Jones and snagged EVERY rebound in the deciding stretch of the game. She beasted you the way Jones beasted UCONN and there were plenty of UNCONN fans giving Jones credit.

Interesting...Washington Coach Neighbors pretty much explained that strategy on Jones was a key team-wide focal point. Chantal Osahor didn't have any blocks but did have 15 rebounds. Interestingly, Walker-Kimbrough led the Terps with 11 rebounds. Here are his post-game comments:

On defending Brionna Jones: "It was job one, two, three, and four. We were going to make Shatori Walker-Kimbrough be the All-American that she is today. Stopping Brionna Jones was key for us. If you look at what we did in the PAC 12, whoever we play we try to take away their post player and just see how many threes they can make. They made ten tonight but I was worried about letting Jones make twelve field goals. We worked on it in shoot around today was making sure she's playing like a crowd and she had to feel like that. She had two, three bodies around her every time she touched the ball."

Will pay attention to UW's strategy against Kentucky...that team is guard-oriented with Epps, Morris and Thompson. Epps apparently tweaked her shoulder in this game..we'll see. Both teams play a short bench so this one could feature attrition. If UW gets through, wonder if they'll apply the center strategy to Turner of ND (assuming ND gets by Stanford).

 

[cbraarj]

Or football even... It makes me physically nauseous when we lose to Kentucky in football.

Beating Kentucky in the Final Four would be LOVELY.

You should they stink in football

With Maryland in the Big1G now and Maryland/ND not playing each other (like last year), I only saw the Terps a few times this year. So I've got a (very) few observations and questions:

- The Terps lose Moseley, Pfiman and Howard but return Walker-Kimbrough, Jones and Confroy. I'd say possible addition by subtraction, but you're bring in seven (7!) frosh. Yes, it's the number #1 rated team, but where do you think Brenda goes with these ingredients? (See similar scenario for Baylor, Ohio State and, to a lesser degree, North Carolina, who are bringing in 5).

- I had forgetten that there was also a massive turnover in assistant coaches. Do you think that could've had an effect? Brenda not only coaching the players, but the coaches, too? Maybe they'll hit their groove in terms of expectations next year?

Will be interested in your insights...

Brown transfered too.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

In the end we lost to the Buckeyes twice and the Huskies twice. At least we did steal Destiny Slocum from Washington.

 

[Dillon77]

You should they stink in football

Brown transfered too.

Yup, down to Duke, where she'll join Stevens, Greenwell and incoming Top Ten frosh Leaonna Odom for the comeback/comedown of Coach P. That will be interesting, too.

 

[easttexastrash]

This loss by MD really surprised me. I thought they were the most dangerous 2 seed in the field.

 

[Wiltonian]

Brenda's got some explaining to do.

"I thought we were playing the other Huskies!"

 

[easttexastrash]

Brenda's got some explaining to do.

I thought it was "splainin'"