Elite 8 games: Washington-Stanford and Syracuse-Tennessee

[ASweet3781]

It's a positive for Tennessee to have put a bad regular season behind them. You're really going to argue that Arizona State and Ohio State weren't good teams? Forgive me for saying but that's absurd.

Tennessee was clearly better than both. It was obvious from the tip. Bigger, stronger, faster. Syracuse was the first team that had comparable talent and they got drilled. The problems still exist.

 

[EricLA]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...!!!

Couldn't be more pleased to see Tenn bow out, and not just by a bit, but in a blowout. People who think Tenn made such great strides in the NCAA's need to remember they squeaked past the 10 seed, beat a highly over rated ASU team tailor made for Tenn (a bunch of slow white girls), ran into an undermanned OSU team, and then got blown out by Syracuse. Tenn showed they are a top 25 team, but they are a long way from being an elite team. and with no recruits coming in, and losing who they lose, I will be surprised if they even squeak into the top 10 next year.

But hey, anyone who wants to really believe that Tenn is back can go enjoy the orange kool aid with the Tenn fans. Watching them this tourney showed me that they are a top 20 team. Nothing more. And they are decidedly NOT back.

 

[BigBird]

i am sure I will get some backlash for saying this but having graves, carter, and reynolds hurt at the same time just made this impossible. TN was never going to win like that. if they had been healthy, TN would be headed to Indy.....NO DOUBT

(( yawn ))

 

[trb123]

Quentin Hillsman is among my least favorite coaches. I rooted for him today because he helped set the following milestones.

1. Tennessee's Final Four drought now spans 2009-2016.
2. TENN finished with a record 14 losses (19-14).
3. They failed to win 20 games for the first time since the mid 1970s (Pat summitt's second season).

 

[Plebe]

Tennessee was clearly better than both. It was obvious from the tip. Bigger, stronger, faster. Syracuse was the first team that had comparable talent and they got drilled. The problems still exist.

Tennessee played better against both. They shared the ball well, got good movement on offense, limited turnovers. Everything they hadn't been doing well for most of the season.

 

[noirwestern]

Really? I shouldn't have penciled the Bears in, true. But wouldn't you agree Baylor is a strong favorite?

Baylor, despite what anyone says, still has yet to face a good defensive team this year.

 

[Blue Huskie]

If UConn and Oregon State win guess what all 4 teams will have in common?

Male coaches

 

[Jim]

I just noticed that if our ladies take care of business and reach the finals, one of two interesting scenarios will occur: it will either be Huskies vs. Huskies, or Stewie gets to play against the coach that wouldn't schedule a game near her home during her senior year. Karma could be a real b**ch.

 

[EricLA]

i am sure I will get some backlash for saying this but having graves, carter, and reynolds hurt at the same time just made this impossible. TN was never going to win like that. if they had been healthy, TN would be headed to Indy.....NO DOUBT

Are you serious? If Tenn had not been given the gift of the greatest bracket in the history of the NCAA"s, they'd have been out on the 2nd round. The squeaked past a 10 seed, beat the 2 seed ASU that was the perfect storm - slow white players who were simply out athleted, and then a depleted OSU team. Then they were absolutely destroyed by Syracuse, a fringe top 20 team.

 

[Vowelguy]

Beth mowins and Stephanie white were the broadcast team.

 

[Plebe]

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...!!!

Couldn't be more pleased to see Tenn bow out, and not just by a bit, but in a blowout. People who think Tenn made such great strides in the NCAA's need to remember they squeaked past the 10 seed, beat a highly over rated ASU team tailor made for Tenn (a bunch of slow white girls), ran into an undermanned OSU team, and then got blown out by Syracuse. Tenn showed they are a top 25 team, but they are a long way from being an elite team. and with no recruits coming in, and losing who they lose, I will be surprised if they even squeak into the top 10 next year.

But hey, anyone who wants to really believe that Tenn is back can go enjoy the orange kool aid with the Tenn fans. Watching them this tourney showed me that they are a top 20 team. Nothing more. And they are decidedly NOT back.

This pisses me off. Why was ASU "highly overrated"? Anybody who watched the game against Tennessee could see that it was a case of Tennessee elevating its game to close to its talent level. ASU swept both Washington and Stanford in the regular season, and no one's calling those two teams "overrated".

 

[Gus Mahler]

If UConn and Oregon State win guess what all 4 teams will have in common?

Male coaches?

 

[Plebe]

Are you serious? If Tenn had not been given the gift of the greatest bracket in the history of the NCAA"s, they'd have been out on the 2nd round. The squeaked past a 10 seed, beat the 2 seed ASU that was the perfect storm - slow white players who were simply out athleted, and then a depleted OSU team. Then they were absolutely destroyed by Syracuse, a fringe top 20 team.

That "fringe top 20 team" just beat a top-3 team in South Carolina on a neutral court.

I get that people don't like Tennessee and want to diminish them in every way, but they had a good tournament, considering all they'd been through.

 

[Biff]

In the closing moments of the Syr/Tenn game Deshields let go with one of the most bizarre passes (let me clarify, attempted passes) I've ever seen. What was she trying to do here? There is no Tenn player within 5 yards of where she throws this?????

 

[Kaizen]

Tennessee played better against both. They shared the ball well, got good movement on offense, limited turnovers. Everything they hadn't been doing well for most of the season.

Only for the first 3 Q. The last Q Tenn played like D2 school.

 

[EricLA]

This pisses me off. Why was ASU "highly overrated"? Anybody who watched the game against Tennessee could see that it was a case of Tennessee elevating its game to close to its talent level. ASU swept both Washington and Stanford in the regular season, and no one's calling those two teams "overrated".

As a 2 seed, ASU was over rated and a gift to Tennessee. If you can't see that I have no words. OSU had injuries and had only 6 players really to use vs. Tenn. Again if you can't see how lucky Tenn was, I have no words. I'm just so thrilled that Tenn has lost and is out of the tourney. Just because a team sprang an upset in the NCAA"s does not make them a top 10 teams, even tho anyone in the final 4 will probably be in the top 5 come the year end rankings.

 

[rford53]

Male coaches?

This could be the first time in Women's NCAA final four where all four head coaches are men.

 

[magic]

Me thinks Baylor's time is running out. Their toughest games this year have been with Texas, whom they are very familiar with. Yes, they played Depaul earlier, and FS . However now they have a far more difficult schedule starting tomorrow. I think they might sqeak by Oregon State, maybe. Now they will contend with teams that are capable of scoring.

 

[ASweet3781]

That "fringe top 20 team" just beat a top-3 team in South Carolina on a neutral court.

I get that people don't like Tennessee and want to diminish them in every way, but they had a good tournament, considering all they'd been through.

Why is that impressive? Didn't it prove that they had no business losing 13 games to begin with? I watched Tennessee-ASU and Tennessee-OSU. Tennessee clearly had more talent that those teams and played good and won. My thoughts were how did this team lose 13 games in the first place?

I'll give them a bit of a pass because they were missing their PG today but Syracuse, much better IMO than OSU/ASU, exposed the same problems about this team which caused them to lose 13 games in the first place. Coaching and chemistry.

 

[Plebe]

Why is that impressive? Didn't it prove that they had no business losing 13 games to begin with? I watched Tennessee-ASU and Tennessee-OSU. Tennessee clearly had more talent that those teams and played good and won. My thoughts were how did this team lose 13 games in the first place?

I'll give them a bit of a pass because they were missing their PG today but Syracuse, much better IMO than OSU/ASU, exposed the same problems about this team which caused them to lose 13 games in the first place.

Because they were horribly inconsistent. That sometimes happens in sports. Teams have good games and they have bad games.

 

[EricLA]

Why is that impressive? Didn't it prove that they had no business losing 13 games to begin with? I watched Tennessee-ASU and Tennessee-OSU. Tennessee clearly had more talent that those teams and played good and won. My thoughts were how did this team lose 13 games in the first place?

I'll give them a bit of a pass because they were missing their PG today but Syracuse, much better IMO than OSU/ASU, exposed the same problems about this team which caused them to lose 13 games in the first place. Coaching and chemistry.

Bingo. It's the Diamond Deshields show. I wonder if her father is satisfied with the season or if he will cause more problems...

 

[Plebe]

Only for the first 3 Q. The last Q Tenn played like D2 school.

If you'll check the conversation history, you'll see I was talking about the Arizona St and Ohio St games.

 

[Plebe]

As a 2 seed, ASU was over rated and a gift to Tennessee. If you can't see that I have no words. OSU had injuries and had only 6 players really to use vs. Tenn. Again if you can't see how lucky Tenn was, I have no words. I'm just so thrilled that Tenn has lost and is out of the tourney. Just because a team sprang an upset in the NCAA"s does not make them a top 10 teams, even tho anyone in the final 4 will probably be in the top 5 come the year end rankings.

If ASU was overrated as a 2 seed, who was the team that should have been made a 2 seed in their place? Tennessee beat them on a court where ASU had gone undefeated in the Pac-12 season.

 

[bballnut90]

A disappointing finish for Tennessee after a nice tournament run. Tennessee really missed Reynolds, and Holly did an abysmal job coaching today. The game was 63-59 in the 4th quarter, and Syracuse goes on a monster 23-4 run to turn it into a blowout. Not one timeout was called the entire 4th quarter. Not after Cuse scored 8 straight points in less than a minute to turn the 4 point lead into a 12 point one, not after Te'a Cooper had 3 turnovers in less than 2 minutes, no after Tennessee couldn't break the press, and when they did, they made poor decisions. There wasn't urgency to win the game, it almost seemed like they were content to keep the game close into the 4th and that was a nice consolation prize. Cooper was pretty dreadful today and there were zero post entries, everything was on the perimeter. The reason they did so well against Ohio State is Graves/Russell got touches and looks. Cuse played a great zone, but there were numerous opportunities where Russell had great position and was one on one, but Cooper/other players didn't get her the ball.

Going into next year, I really don't know what to expect. If everyone comes back, they'll once again be strong on paper, not that it means much.

 

[Kaizen]

If you'll check the conversation history, you'll see I was talking about the Arizona St and Ohio St games.

This is what you said:
Tennessee played better against both. They shared the ball well, got good movement on offense, limited turnovers. Everything they hadn't been doing well for most of the season.

I was responding to this post not your past conversations.