I just caught up to watching the Clemson-ND game. I don't see what the fuss on this and the McGraw's Bench board is about. ND was outstanding in all phases. They were outstandingly poor at shooting, dribbling, passing, patience, execution, athleticism and defense. The best and most impressive thing for ND was McGraw's demeanor on the bench where she failed to give her best Linda Blair imitation. That however doesn't excuse her poor coaching through today. Yes, at practice they may execute, but their continued failure to execute in games is on Muffet, and no one else.
In all seriousness looking at the game I was surprised to see Brunelle take a mere 6 shots all game. She had a paltry 3 rebounds against an undersized and mediocre Clemson team. Vaughn returned with limited side to side movement and with her acceleration. Every time Walker dribbled up the floor I cringed while waiting for either another bad shot or a turnover. They failed to put a hand in Sprays face until 4 mins. left in the 3rd quarter when they finally figured out she couldn't dribble. Their coverage in the 2/3 zone was so poor they allowed Thornton to score time after time from the elbow...and Clemson didn't even have to use ball movement or fakes to get the elbow entry pass. Thornton often just stood there and waited for the ball. Being a small, short armed team just kills their chances at closing out the passing lanes. Once again their team speed, which is negligible, killed them in transition and in the quarter court. Once again they got out rebounded, this time by a team roughly their size. Once again they showed little to no patience with their sets in the quarter court. Once again their poor passing, poor shooting, and poor decision making on offense was on display, Sniezek or no Sniezek.
Meanwhile the announcers were going on about how the ACC is the best conference in WCBB, as if they couldn't see Louisville struggling again, against an unranked team. At least this time it didn't take 2 OT's to beat them. Anyone with eyeballs can see that the PAC 12 is the best conference overall, although Oregon is really the team I respect, far and well over the others. Sadly, this year is clearly taking years off of Muffet lifespan: her coaching life and her personal one. Some people here are dancing and gloating, but I really fail to see how this benefits WCBB as ND with its poor recruiting will continue to sink further in the ACC. I mean, I don't see great recruiting classes on the horizon for Walz or Wes Moore either. On a good note, with UConn piling up the great recruits it's hard to see how ND has a chance to beat UConn over the next 8 years.
