Dual Championship Hopes Alive

[Tenspro2002]

The women gutted out a win over #1 seed USC, setting up a Final Four matchup with Iowa.

Once again, both men's and women's teams are in the Final Four with a chance for a third dual championship (for completeness, NC State has a shot at it too).

There are remarkable similarities to the last time we had a chance to do this, in 2014, but in this case a mirror image.

It is now the women who are getting by on defense, toughness, and transcendent play by a senior leader. It is the men who are playing like one of the greatest teams in history, with a suffocating defense and an elite, modern offense that is remaking the sport.

Here's to an interesting weekend.

 

[HooperScooper]

Curious why UConn was favored in the game when they were the 3 seed and USC was the 1 seed? Is the women's selection committee worse than the men's?

 

[ctbro1999]

Curious why UConn was favored in the game when they were the 3 seed and USC was the 1 seed? Is the women's selection committee worse than the men's?

UConn is a name brand (maybe THE name brand) in women's bball. USC hasn't made a Final 4 in 40+ years. Lots of casual fans probably betting on the UConn brand alone, driving the books to push the line to favor UConn.

 

[uh-no]

UConn is a name brand (maybe THE name brand) in women's bball. USC hasn't made a Final 4 in 40+ years. Lots of casual fans probably betting on the UConn brand alone, driving the books to push the line to favor UConn.

we have paige beuckers, and they don't

 

[HCCForever]

What a gutty performance by WBB team. I never expected them to get this far.

 

[Tenspro2002]

By the way, in addition to having the only 2 dual championships, this is now our 5th dual Final Four. That has only been accomplished 10 other times and no other school has done it more than once.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I will reiterate how utterly bizarre it is to have the women riding a wave of "nobody believes in us!" while the men are overwhelming favorites.

 

[Horatio]

5 good players injured and out for the season. Some starters. A Final Four is outstanding for that team and Geno. They had an insane injury bug lately

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Curious why UConn was favored in the game when they were the 3 seed and USC was the 1 seed? Is the women's selection committee worse than the men's?

UConn had #1 SOS, #2 NET ranking, and 5 losses, all to Sweet 16 teams, all but one ranked above them, all from P5 from conferences playing stronger competition in the last two months.

3 of the 5 players lost for the season had demonstrated prior high level success. The team only lost only to undefeated #1 South Carolina since the loss of Aubrey Griffin. It has been reasonable to think the high major schools would be stronger.

With steady competition between the P5 schools, it was hard to justify ranking UConn higher in the AP poll, or seed them higher.

It has been assumed that they will loser when the shrunken roster finally comes up short, but it hasn't yet and didn't tonight. It still se ms unlikely that they have enough available. But it's a 3-day, 4-team tournament. Can't ask for more than the opportunity.

Tonight, even with 7 consecutive missed free throws in the final minutes, they made their final 4 free throws and beat the point spread.

Stay grateful & keep watching is my framing.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

I will reiterate how utterly bizarre it is to have the women riding a wave of "nobody believes in us!" while the men are overwhelming favorites.

I didnt expect them to make the F4. Glad to be proved wrong.

Monster matchup this friday: PAGE "BUCKETS" v. CAITLIN CLARK is must-watch television

 

[caw]

I will reiterate how utterly bizarre it is to have the women riding a wave of "nobody believes in us!" while the men are overwhelming favorites.

Pretty sure the men Hurley believes "nobody believes in us!"

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I honestly was expecting this game to go the way of our Illinois game in the second half but not in UConn’s favor. Brilliant job by Geno, Bueckers and Edwards to pull this one off

 

[CCSUblue]

By the way, in addition to having the only 2 dual championships, this is now our 5th dual Final Four. That has only been accomplished 10 other times and no other school has done it more than once.

Georgia, Duke, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan State, LSU, Louisville, Syracuse, South Carolina, and now NC State...Have all done it once. UConn x5. Truly the center of the college basketball universe.

 

[mauconnfan]

5 good players injured and out for the season. Some starters. A Final Four is outstanding for that team and Geno. They had an insane injury bug lately

Add to it the fact the refereeing was awful at best, they were in major foul trouble mid 3rd quarter with KK and Nika with 4. Add to even that the USC coach was not very good in utilizing their size advantage. I fell asleep end of 3rd Q very happy for Geno and Paige already a complete success no matter how the FF ends.

 

[Scoe]

Add to it the fact the refereeing was awful at best, they were in major foul trouble mid 3rd quarter with KK and Nika with 4. Add to even that the USC coach was not very good in utilizing their size advantage. I fell asleep end of 3rd Q very happy for Geno and Paige already a complete success no matter how the FF ends.

I don’t know how Geno does it with the officiating in the women’s game, Hurley would’ve had to be thrown in jail lol.

 

[businesslawyer]

UConn is a name brand (maybe THE name brand) in women's bball. USC hasn't made a Final 4 in 40+ years. Lots of casual fans probably betting on the UConn brand alone, driving the books to push the line to favor UConn.

No, you gave the wrong answer. It was a grievance question. You were supposed to answer because we were screwed by the Committee.

 

[businesslawyer]

I honestly was expecting this game to go the way of our Illinois game in the second half but not in UConn’s favor. Brilliant job by Geno, Bueckers and Edwards to pull this one off

I’m really of two minds as to how miraculous this run to the FF is. Yes, we have no depth and little height, and I thought the defensive game plan last night was both well thought out and well executed.

On the other hand, we have two starters who project to be WNBA stars and a supporting cast around them that could have gone to most any college they wanted to. If this was a men’s team and you had a transcendent star like Page and a great talent like Edwards, wouldn’t you be expected to be really good?

 

[BlueMAB]

I don’t know how Geno does it with the officiating in the women’s game, Hurley would’ve had to be thrown in jail lol.

I don't disagree with the terrible officiating, but thought it was bad both ways.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Paige is only a year and a few months out from ACL surgery. Even though these players come back quicker now there is still some rehab left. Before she got hurt I would make the case she was a better player than Clark. Shoot she still may currently be a better all around player than Clark. Next year if this team stays healthy and honestly they are due for that Paige will be another year removed from ACL and really healthy. They will dominate. If they only had half the injuries they had this year I think they would be the favorite. If Fudd and the tall blonde girl were playing we are the best team in the country even with the rest of the injuries.

As for the injuries another poster made the comment that injuries are much more common in the women’s game. Almost always ACL’s, interesting as I would think core injuries would be more common. I wonder why this is such an issue with women. I mean a very high percentage of women players go down with this injury. It is not getting better although the medical improvements have been immense and allows these athletes to get back to playing in less than a year. But even with that the physiological hurdles are still very steep after feeling it pop once it is hard not to favor it.

I was an ok athlete but although my md said I was good after about 14 months (had surgery in the 90’s) I can say it was two years before I stopped thinking about it when I was running. Whether it was softball our basketball it seemed to be there in the back of my mind well after I was fully healed.

 

[J187Money]

First time I saw JuJu last night - she is a baller.

 

[DRBackup]

Curious why UConn was favored in the game when they were the 3 seed and USC was the 1 seed? Is the women's selection committee worse than the men's?

Because the NCAA committee and the "rankings" are trash. Numerical ratings systems have them in the top 3.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

The women gutted out a win over #1 seed USC, setting up a Final Four matchup with Iowa.

Once again, both men's and women's teams are in the Final Four with a chance for a third dual championship (for completeness, NC State has a shot at it too).

There are remarkable similarities to the last time we had a chance to do this, in 2014, but in this case a mirror image.

It is now the women who are getting by on defense, toughness, and transcendent play by a senior leader. It is the men who are playing like one of the greatest teams in history, with a suffocating defense and an elite, modern offense that is remaking the sport.

Here's to an interesting weekend.

On ESPN during the women’s game, they said that NC State is the first college in history to have a men’s and women’s team in the Final Four in the same season. They somehow left out UConn’s dual championships and the fact that this is now the fifth time UConn has done it.

 

[ctbro1999]

Paige is only a year and a few months out from ACL surgery. Even though these players come back quicker now there is still some rehab left. Before she got hurt I would make the case she was a better player than Clark. Shoot she still may currently be a better all around player than Clark. Next year if this team stays healthy and honestly they are due for that Paige will be another year removed from ACL and really healthy. They will dominate. If they only had half the injuries they had this year I think they would be the favorite. If Fudd and the tall blonde girl were playing we are the best team in the country even with the rest of the injuries.

As for the injuries another poster made the comment that injuries are much more common in the women’s game. Almost always ACL’s, interesting as I would think core injuries would be more common. I wonder why this is such an issue with women. I mean a very high percentage of women players go down with this injury. It is not getting better although the medical improvements have been immense and allows these athletes to get back to playing in less than a year. But even with that the physiological hurdles are still very steep after feeling it pop once it is hard not to favor it.

I was an ok athlete but although my md said I was good after about 14 months (had surgery in the 90’s) I can say it was two years before I stopped thinking about it when I was running. Whether it was softball our basketball it seemed to be there in the back of my mind well after I was fully healed.

Yeah, even though she returned from her ACL injury months ago, it doesn't mean she was 100% back (not even talking about rust or getting back in game shape). Take Ronald Acuna Jr on the Braves in baseball. He tore his ACL in 2021, rehabbed in time to come back a month into the 2022 season but he was a shell of his former self that year. Wasn't until 2023 where he was "fully" back, where he posted a historic MVP season. I think Bueckers will be even better next year, and she was still pretty damn great this season, and is playing the best ball right now.

 

[BGesus4]

First time I saw JuJu last night - she is a baller.

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

 

[mauconnfan]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

She seems to be a generational talent, her skills are unique and jump shot is special in the womens game. And she already tries to defend harder than Clark ever did. She’s more Paige than Clark, she’s going to be really good.

 

[ctbro1999]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

And she's only a frosh. Physically, she looks like she could go pro right now.

 

[NJHusky]

As for the injuries another poster made the comment that injuries are much more common in the women’s game. Almost always ACL’s, interesting as I would think core injuries would be more common. I wonder why this is such an issue with women. I mean a very high percentage of women players go down with this injury. It is not getting better although the medical improvements have been immense and allows these athletes to get back to playing in less than a year. the back of my mind well after I was fully healed.

It’s body geometry/physics. Women have thinner ligaments and I also remember reading somewhere that the opening in the knee where the ligament passes is smaller so easier to rupture when they put so much stress on it.

 

[TMB4405]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

Very happy we won. I was impressed with the USC freshman. She was a little rushed at times particularly in crunch time but i think you will see her really upping her game with a little more experience at this level. She also has the size and athleticism to become the best player in the sport in a year or two.

 

[Mr. French]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

She’s the smoothest offensive player out there. Her release isn’t as quick as Clark, yet, but her range and size and craftiness on offense is next level.

Paige and Nika are two of only a few things who can keep her under 30. Her shot selection and teammates’ shot selection are 2 others.

 

[Mr. French]

PS Paige and her defense are BOTH underrated at this point. Shes a killer with the ball and her decision making, but she’s also great on D and on the boards.