Congrats Iowa

[bovwa10]

Caitlin Clark. Sheesh.
Congrats to Iowa. You deserve it this year.

I disagree with a poster here. We did not play satisfactory in any way today. The passes were not crisp, the effort wasn’t there on defense, the focus was nonexistent. Some of our turnovers were uncharacteristically bad. Zia, who was the only bright spot tonight, literally threw one ball across the court to somebody in the stands. And that wasn’t even the worst turnover, that was just the one that made me nearly choke on my wings so it’s very memorable at this moment. Not sure how you come into a final four game unfocused, but we got the shellshocking of our lives tonight.

Good luck, LSU. You’re going to need it. Lol

Agreed on effort, I was disappointed in their effort this game. Only Cooke, and Cardoso and Amihere off the bench, really showed up in that department. I was most disappointed in Beal, she just did not show up at all.

 

[Geew1992]

 

[bballnut90]

Love seeing the classy posts from SC fans on here. Just wanted to say they've had an incredible season and everyone should hold their head high despite coming up short of another title. I've been a big Zia Cooke critic throughout the last few years but she played her heart out tonight and had a phenomenal senior year. Seeing her in tears after a great performance was brutal to watch, she seems like a great kid.

Boston had a great press conference, though I think all signs indicate she's leaving. She told Raven Johnson this is her team now and the way Dawn was talking about her sounded like someone who was leaving. I do hope she returns, she's a great figure in women's college basketball and a great representative for her university. I also was a little disappointed by ESPN for them showing the clip of her crying in the post game press conference after Dawn (and Aliyah) were requesting no pictures. She had her crying face plastered on every ESPN game last season, out of respect they shouldn't use that as the clip to highlight from the press conference.

Regardless if Boston returns or not, SC is in great hands with Raven Johnson next year. She shows up big in big games and is an excellent floor leader and decision maker. Dawn and Co. probably should've had her take more shots early on, or at least dribble into a pull up jumper, but she came up huge tonight and was brilliant this year even if her stats don't tell the full story.

 

[sweetspot]

Brea Beal struggled defensively vs MD (at least early) and couldn’t do anything late vs Clark. What happened to her? Expected more from her given her reputation

 

[JellyBean]

Wow! These Final Four games were EPIC! Hats off to Iowa. When the shots are falling, the magic happens. Great win for them and their program. More importantly, great win for Coach Bluder! I remember last year when Iowa lost in the NCAA tournament, folks in the Yard were saying how Coach Bluder was a horrible coach. Or "Doesn't understand how to coach a player like Caitlin" and other wacky foolishness. Coach Bluder put together a pretty good game plan and it worked. Iowa is moving on to the title game. I am wishing them all the best.

South Carolina. What a TEAM!! Great run this season. Great run over the past few years! Heck Coach Staley has put together a solid program over at South Carolina. Great talent with some really classy young ladies. Boston, Cooke, Beal, Cardoso, Johnson and the rest of the squad, great run. Not the outcome you may have wanted but they have nothing to feel bad about. Learn from this moment and build something for the future.

Like I said, these two games were awesome! Plus, it felt pretty good not having that pressure on watching UConn playing in either of these games. I could just kick back and whatever outcome happened, I was golden. I am looking forward to the title game on Sunday. LSU/Iowa. I guess LSU's "weak" schedule is still hurting them.

 

[SEbluebood]

Okay Boneyarders, do you still think UConn has to have an abundance of tall players to beat SC? Iowa had one.

No, but we would need Caitlin Clark!

 

[TheGOAT23]

Not intending to take focus off of Iowa's win, but it was pretty classless for the cameras to focus on anyone crying.

Yup! Even though I didn’t watch this particular game, I always turn the television when they do that. Even the men’s teams.

 

[TheGOAT23]

Czinano played better against Boston & Cardoso than she did against Mackenzie Holmes all season. I’m extremely impressed.

Mackenzie and Czinano are familiar with each other and they know what the other likes to do or not. They’ve played four years against each other. Could be five, if they both come back.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Mackenzie and Czinano are familiar with each other and they know what the other likes to do or not. They’ve played four years against each other. Could be five, if they both come back.

This is already year 5 for Czinano. Holmes is coming back for IU.

 

[Frankus]

Perhaps the most underrated aspect of Clark’s game, the best player in
wbb, is that she controls the pace of the game, which is something teams with great bigs, but not great guards like Clark can’t. She is in total control on the court and whether she’s running the fast break, sinking a 3, beating defenders for layups, dishing to other players for layups or 3 point shots, she controls everything at her judgment and pace.

 

[Bone Dog]

Last question, why on earth did South Carolina allow Clark and Czinano to get so many wide open layups without a defensive adjustment? Poor coaching job by Staley tonight imo

I think that may be too stark a judgment of Dawn’s defensive adjustments. She tried a bunch of things. On the other hand, I’ve never thought in-game coaching was her forté. As a program builder and recruiter she seems unmatched. But she can make mistakes in games. Bluder, by contrast, seems to be a brilliant game day coach. She knows how to design a plan and get her kids to execute it.

And a side note: as some others have suggested, I hope this game puts paid to the idea that we have to have more bigs to counteract other bigs, and that we can be spared the chorus of doomsayers on this topic over the coming summer. Or that the drumbeat about rebounding deciding everything can pound out it’s little ditty a little more quietly.

When that particular chorus gets too loud this summer, I’ll simply respond, “Remember Iowa-SC.”

 

[DallasDomer]

I think that may be too stark a judgment of Dawn’s defensive adjustments. She tried a bunch of things. On the other hand, I’ve never thought in-game coaching was her forté. As a program builder and recruiter she seems to unmatched. But she can make mistakes in games. Bluder, by contrast, seems to be a brilliant game day coach. She knows how to design a plan and get her kids to execute it.

Staley let the foul trouble dominate her by keeping Boston on the bench so long. Boston ended up with 3 fouls. Imo she should have trusted her players.

Again imo Bluder only had to keep Clark rested and turn her lose. So I think Bluder is a better scouting, planning, before game day coach by preparing Clark & Czinzano etc ahead of time which led to 41+18=59 pts +8 assists.

 

[mbr33ct]

Apparently SC fans think that Dawn was too loyal to Saxton and Fletcher and that both should’ve been benched to start the second half, can’t say I disagree with them…

I bet this is the first time this season some SC fans think that way.

 

[Carnac]

Wow, saw 2nd half- better team won!

Look what it took to beat SC. A herculean effort by Clark. Clark’s efforts were what dreams are made of. David defeated Goliath. The mighty have fallen. It’s anybody’s game tomorrow. Whoever can stay out of foul trouble and keep their core playrrs on the floor, make their bunnies and keep their turnovers to a minimum will win. LSU’s ability to contrl Clark will determine their success or failure.

Iowa kept the pressure on SC the entire game. SC wilted in the 4th quarter turning the ball over on 3 straight possessions and missing numerous free throws that would have won the game.

 

[VA Huskie]

Perhaps the most underrated aspect of Clark’s game, the best player in
wbb, is that she controls the pace of the game, which is something teams with great bigs, but not great guards like Clark can’t. She is in total control on the court and whether she’s running the fast break, sinking a 3, beating defenders for layups, dishing to other players for layups or 3 point shots, she controls everything at her judgment and pace.

Couldn’t agree with you more.

 

[visitingcock]

I bet this is the first time this season some SC fans think that way.

You would probably be betting wrong- at least for the second half of the season

 

[npignatjr]

Congrats to Iowa they never let So Carolina go on any long runs to take control of the Game.

However, I'm shocked at the Defense Game Plan that Dawn and her coaches drew up tonight. Caitlin Clark had free run most of the night. If I'm Dawn, I'm shadowing or double teaming Caitlin on most of the night. Caitlin throughout the game was able to get passes whenever she wanted to. Dawn has the players to play better defense on Caitlin.

Does she have better players when they're not grabbing?

 

[Bone Dog]

Does she have better players when they're not grabbing?

Yeah, I noticed the officials were more attentive to holding fouls on the perimeter and whistled a few of those against the SC guards. I wonder if that dampened their enthusiasm on defense.

Also, like others, I was surprised we didn't see even more of Amihere. She was very effective in her minutes. Does she not have the stamina to play more than 15 mins? This may be a hidden cost of playing too deep a rotation all season. When you need a particular person to play longer, they may not be able to sustain it.

 

[npignatjr]

Why? That's pretty lame if she does.she graduated. She's won everything she could win at SC. She'll be the clear #1pick and make a lot more money playing pro ball between salary and NIL. I'm sure cardosa wants to start next year as well.

Is she the clear 1. She was exposed last night, no game beyond 10 ft.

 

[Newfie]

Man what an amazing game. Clark silenced any critics about tonight. An absolutely legendary performance that solidifies her among the very best of all time. I hope Iowa finishes the deal and wins on Sunday.

I would not be surprised if Caitlin Clark didn’t shoot well Sunday. She expended a great deal of energy today.

 

[cancontent]

Yeah, I noticed the officials were more attentive to holding fouls on the perimeter and whistled a few of those against the SC guards. I wonder if that dampened their enthusiasm on defense.

Also, like others, I was surprised we didn't see even more of Amihere. She was very effective in her minutes. Does she not have the stamina to play more than 15 mins? This may be a hidden cost of playing too deep a rotation all season. When you need a particular person to play longer, they may not be able to sustain it.

Regarding Amihere, I don't know if stamina has anything to do with it but it is a good question. After the few times she disrupted Clark in the first half, I thought we'd see more of that.

 

[Geew1992]

 

[Heytherego]

I have all the respect for Boston but honestly them complaining about the media posting photos of her heartbreaking loss against Stanford is kind of crazy. It has nothing to do with the color of her skin. It could have been Clark or Bueckers and that same thing would have been plastered everywhere. Boston (player of NPOY caliber) missed the game winning/tying (can’t remember which) buzzer beating tip in and of course was heart broken. It was a big story line. I haven’t even seen the picture this year. It was the context of the last play which is why the picture seemed to go viral. No photos are going to go viral of her crying in the post game pressor this year because the context doesn’t matter. If she was just crying and hadn’t missed the game winning shot the photo would not have mattered. In Men’s you’d see the same thing I bet. Maybe I’m wrong, I just think it’s kind of being blown out of the water.

 

[wingsfan055]

Is she the clear 1. She was exposed last night, no game beyond 10 ft.

Boston is the clear #1. Her physical size, skills, and overall game would work well in the Pros. She's got a mid-range game (wasnt used as much this year) in addition to being a monster rebounder/inside scorer. She would make an immediate impact.

 

[Geew1992]

I have all the respect for Boston but honestly them complaining about the media posting photos of her heartbreaking loss against Stanford is kind of crazy. It has nothing to do with the color of her skin. It could have been Clark or Bueckers and that same thing would have been plastered everywhere. Boston (player of NPOY caliber) missed the game winning/tying (can’t remember which) buzzer beating tip in and of course was heart broken. It was a big story line. I haven’t even seen the picture this year. It was the context of the last play which is why the picture seemed to go viral. No photos are going to go viral of her crying in the post game pressor this year because the context doesn’t matter. If she was just crying and hadn’t missed the game winning shot the photo would not have mattered. In Men’s you’d see the same thing I bet. Maybe I’m wrong, I just think it’s kind of being blown out of the water.

There’s more to the tweet.