Fukkn choke job.

[Dogdeacon]

I have a very difficult time criticizing this team, but blowing a 7-point lead in the last two minutes of double-overtime is a choke job.

We know this team can beat good teams in close games - they just gave last night's away.

Wrong, they ran out of gas after an epic comeback and showing great resolve the last 5 minutes and up until that last 1:30 of 2nd OT. Check the box, 4 guys played 49, 49, 47 and 46 minutes and if I"m not mistaken Giffey came in for Nolan with about 12 left and that 5 stayed on the floor the next 20 minutes of game action. GTown ain't deep either, but its different when you have to come back from 12 down. GTown made shots to win it and UConn failed to execute on offense, but they didn't do anything near what you describe. Great game.

 

[UConn990411]

GTown made shots to win it and UConn failed to execute on offense, but they didn't do anything near what you describe. Great game.

So they didn't blow a 7-point lead in the last 2 minutes of double-overtime?

Uh, ok.

 

[Dogdeacon]

So they didn't blow a 7-point lead in the last 2 minutes of double-overtime?

Uh, ok.

Why do you need to define it as blow a 7-point lead? Does this also mean that UConn didn't overcome a 12 pt deficit or rally from down 5 with 1:09 left? Were they choking 75% of the 2nd half when Georgetown took the momentum and was unconscious from 3?

They lost the lead and yes they are culpable for that. But I didn't see what I'd define as a choke, rather I saw them run out of gas and then make both defensive and offensive errors that I'd attribute to mental & physical fatigue (at least more of a factor IMO than anything else).

Incidentally, doesn't there need to be pressure for a true choke? Given that there is no ramification other than their record for a W or an L exactly what is the pressure that forces the team to choke?

 

[Gurleyman]

So they didn't blow a 7-point lead in the last 2 minutes of double-overtime?

Uh, ok.

I tend to reserve the phrase "blowing a lead" for games when you miss front ends, turn the ball over against the press, etc. The lead was 7 for about 10 seconds and then it was 4 after a deep three with 1:45 left. Once that shot went in, the lead was manageable. Georgetown didn't have to foul or press, they just had to get two stops.

 

[sparky]

It was a good game. The guys played well but not super. They are a good team and only lack a space eater to become a very good team. Ollie does a nice job with his subs. He has brought Nolan along very well and he will be more comfortable next year. I am so impressed with how this team plays every second of the game and doesn't get down on themselves. They were in position to win and came up short, but not for lack of effort.

 

[Waquoit]

Yes, we need to respect them enough to say they choked by losing in double OT after being down 5 with 11 seconds to play in regulation.

I guess I missed the part where we "had it won." Silly me, going by the final score all these years.

I know expecting a good team to put the game away in the last minute up 4 with the ball doesn't fit with your personal "this UConn squad has the worst talent in 25 years" narrative. But you were wrong at the start of the season. Just admit it and move on. My comments have nothing to do with choking (a word I never used) and everything to do with guys like you that insist that this team a Little Sister of the Poor winning by nothing but sheer determination. Yes, they play hard, but this is a good Top 25-30 team.

 

[Jluc]

Well this thread sucks

 

[Bryan Lord]

If gtown lost I'd say they choked. We lost but we didn't choke.

 

[Brochacho]

The best team on the east coast needed 49 minutes and 52 seconds to beat UConn. Georgetown turned Syracuse's anus into a sock puppet.

 

[Bryan Lord]

Anus into a sock puppet. Can't "like" that enough.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I know expecting a good team to put the game away in the last minute up 4 with the ball doesn't fit with your personal "this UConn squad has the worst talent in 25 years" narrative. But you were wrong at the start of the season. Just admit it and move on.

The hinges have really come off for you this year.

 

[Gurleyman]

I know expecting a good team to put the game away in the last minute up 4 with the ball doesn't fit with your personal "this UConn squad has the worst talent in 25 years" narrative. But you were wrong at the start of the season. Just admit it and move on. My comments have nothing to do with choking (a word I never used) and everything to do with guys like you that insist that this team a Little Sister of the Poor winning by nothing but sheer determination. Yes, they play hard, but this is a good Top 25-30 team.

We never had the ball in the last minute up four. Georgetown had it and cut it to one with 50 seconds. There was just enough time on the clock, where the game never got to the point where all we had to do was protect the ball or wait for fouls. As soon as Porter hit the deep 3, Georgetown was in a position where they knew they would get the ball back twice more even if we used up the whole shot clock twice (barring offensive rebounds or fouls). They could play straight up down by four and then run their normal offense after they got it back.

Sure, you'd like to think we could get one bucket or one stop ideally, but Georgetown was in much better shape in the last minute of regulation than we were in overtime. They really did have the ball up five in the last minute (30 seconds, even). And we needed their help (missed FT) to have a chance.

 

[Waquoit]

We never had the ball in the last minute up four. Georgetown had it and cut it to one with 50 seconds. .

OK, we had the ball up 4 with 1:09 left. My bad. When they lost the ball at 1:09, there was still 25 seconds left on the shot clock. Without a turnover there they could have taken it down to :44. That's winning time. It was a tough loss. Look, the only point I was trying to make is that this team is much better than the Husky Puppy Thought Police would have you believe. They've been quiet for awhile but they've come back with a vengeance after this one.

 

[Hume]

Uconn last year was a 20-14 team including the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. They were 8-10 in the Big East. From that team they lost two players that were the number 9 and 12th players in the NBA draft and a total 4 out of their top 6 players. They lost 56.7% of their offensive production including their top scorer, and 55.7% of their rebounding production, including their top 3 rebounders. They replaced that with the number 27 prospect and the number 150 prospect. Keeping all that in mind I think they are a much better team than any of us should have had an expectation of at the beginning of the year, and if they fall by one point to the 7th ranked team in double overtime with their top player hobbled by a foot injury and their third best scorer battling with an injured wrist, I am not going be upset with them. Disappointed at the loss yes, disappointed with the players or effort no.

 

[Gurleyman]

OK, we had the ball up 4 with 1:09 left. My bad. When they lost the ball at 1:09, there was still 25 seconds left on the shot clock. Without a turnover there they could have taken it down to :44. That's winning time. It was a tough loss. Look, the only point I was trying to make is that this team is much better than the Husky Puppy Thought Police would have you believe. They've been quiet for awhile but they've come back with a vengeance after this one.

Uh, no. With 1:13 left we inbounded the ball under the basket with four seconds left on the shot clock and DeAndre passed on the open shot in the corner. Did you watch the game or are you just looking at the play by play? Because the play by play says Bazz missed a three with 1:15 left, but that shot didn't touch the rim.

 

[8893]

I know expecting a good team to put the game away in the last minute up 4 with the ball doesn't fit with your personal "this UConn squad has the worst talent in 25 years" narrative. But you were wrong at the start of the season. Just admit it and move on. My comments have nothing to do with choking (a word I never used) and everything to do with guys like you that insist that this team a Little Sister of the Poor winning by nothing but sheer determination. Yes, they play hard, but this is a good Top 25-30 team.

Nice try, but that's not my narrative. The deficiency in the this team has been and remains the front court, and that hasn't changed. Oh wait, it has. We're even thinner in the front court than we were then because of the loss of Wolf. Under any other circumstances besides playing for a coach like Ollie in a season where we have been ducked in just about every way imaginable, this team has trouble sniffing .500. You were wrong about Ollie, period. Instead of manning up and admitting that, you've gone the sackless route, just like your soul mate scooter, and now you're championing the talent of the players as the reason for our surprising success. Sad, really, but par for the course.

 

[Hi-Low]

Why is this thread still alive? Good God please let it get buried on page 2 and beyond....the notion they "choked" is offensive.

There is nothing more awesome in sports than a talented College BB team that really cares & plays hard..enough nonsense.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

I have a very difficult time criticizing this team, but blowing a 7-point lead in the last two minutes of double-overtime is a choke job.

We know this team can beat good teams in close games - they just gave last night's away.

Like this team a lot. Hard not to be proud of them, but this was a choke job. just like with your own children, you can love them, but gotta call them out when they mess up. Up by 7 with approximately 1:30 to go . . . "Just don't give up threes". "Whatever you do just don't give up the three!" that is the only way GTown can win.

Sooooo . . . What happens? Not one but two threes. Guard the flipping three. Not really concerned with a two point bucket. Someone should have been velcroed to anyone out on the perimeter. Big lapse. Snatched Defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

It's the most despised 30-win team in history, no question.

No way. . . All of George Mason loves this team, not to mention GMs opponent in the semi final matchup. How relieve where they to have dodged UConn? Small hearts that team had. Like they use to say about RedSox . . . 25 players, 25 cabs after the game. These guys were more into the NBA than the tourney they were in. "Out the way,man. My ball, my shot!"