Game thread

[Charliebball]

for those who aren't satisfied with the nine point victory margin over ND, #4 ranked Louisville beat South Dakota State by four points today......

 

[HopJim]

Silly assumption. Actually migraine.

"Geno was sending Gabby a message," was said by announcers.

 

[UConnCat]

"Geno was sending Gabby a message," was said by announcers.

Rebecca was wrong and as I said in another thread she owes Gabby an apology. Rebecca assumed she knew what was going on. She should have said "we'll have to wait until after the game to hear what happened with Gabby,"

 

[Sluconn Husky]

Walker earned a little more respect from her teammates today. With Gabby marooned on the bench in the second half, Geno needed her to step up and play BIG today. In the biggest game of the year (so far), in front of a full house, she did!! Megan matured a little bit today.

She got some rebounds, wasn't really involved with the offense. But I would've thought ND would've gone after her defense.

 

[bags27]

• CB, I usually love your posts, but please don't give this troll any airtime on the BY. He's a complete AH.

And I really, really don't want to get into a referee-calling out thing, but there is absolutely no way the refs favored UConn today. Lord, from where I was sitting, it was as if 3 leprecauns were in pinstripes. I kept yelling: this is Hartford: give us the calls. Amazing what ND got away with today, and I never call out refereeing (except that impossibly bad charging call that cost Baylor a chance at a NC).

 

[Dillon77]

It was strange. Marina had her old swagger back today like she hadn't had yet this season.

On the other hand...

Arike was pressing all game long. She needed to slow down and have her body under control. UConn's athleticism maybe got in her head.

Jackie was back to her freshman year timidity.

She's back in the Nutmeg State!
I've said this on the McGraw's Bench board, but I believe Marina has a lot of responsibilities to live up to ...scorer, leader, person-that-understands-the-motion-offense-the-most, counter-balance to our other one-on-one'rs. And with injuries and transfers, it's a bunch. I feel as if she's mentoring Lili T. in the running the half-court set, as well.

In any case, I think we saw that she can rise to the occasion. Look forward to the Michigan State game....at home (for once) and the Penn game in Philly, which I'll drive down to.

 

[Carnac]

for those who aren't satisfied with the nine point victory margin over ND, #4 ranked Louisville beat South Dakota State by four points today.

Don't discount South Dakota State they're very good this year. if they were in the AAC, they will probably finish in the top half of the conference standings.

 

[oldude]

for those who aren't satisfied with the nine point victory margin over ND, #4 ranked Louisville beat South Dakota State by four points today.

The Jackrabbits can play. They’ve beaten GW & NC St so far this season and their only loss other than Lou was to a very good Green Bay team.

 

[EricLA]

It was strange. Marina had her old swagger back today like she hadn't had yet this season.

On the other hand...

Arike was pressing all game long. She needed to slow down and have her body under control. UConn's athleticism maybe got in her head.

Jackie was back to her freshman year timidity.

In fairness, UCONN fans could say the same thing. Z played the way she played at Duke (until the 4th quarter), Gabby was a no show due to migraines, Pheesa ebbed and flowed in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, etc etc.

I give ND credit for out playing UCONN in quarters 2 and 3, and UCONN credit for storming back in Q4. My point is ND's defense had an awful lot to do with UCONN's woes in Q's 2 and 3, and we stepped up our defense in Q4. Perhaps Arike simply had no room to maneuver. Driving into the post worked in the Diggins days for free throws, but not so much these days...!

 

[Charliebball]

The Jackrabbits can play. They’ve beaten GW & NC St so far this season and their only loss other than Lou was to a very good Green Bay team.

that's true but they aren't nationally ranked and they surely aren't anywhere not as good as Notre Dame

 

[Ozimoto]

And I really, really don't want to get into a referee-calling out thing, but there is absolutely no way the refs favored UConn today. Lord, from where I was sitting, it was as if 3 leprecauns were in pinstripes. I kept yelling: this is Hartford: give us the calls. Amazing what ND got away with today, and I never call out refereeing (except that impossibly bad charging call that cost Baylor a chance at a NC).

And yet the ND fans on McGraw's bench are of the opinion that the Irish got hosed. Funny how that works. I agree with Bags. There were some things going on that could have resulted in assault charges. Maybe the motion offense didn't look so good because the girls looked like running backs trying to go through a defensive line to get through the key at times.

 

[Charliebball]

Don't discount South Dakota State they're very good this year. if they were in the AAC, they will probably finish in the top half of the conference standings.

that's kind of insulting..................to South Dakota State.................

 

[SVCBeercats]

I didn't see that particular quote but I believe the actual characterization was that she was troubled by migraines for the past few days. That could easily mean that she wasn't resting well in the few days before the game for one thing, and that it also interferred with her preparation for the game. Not to mention the high level of concentration that's needed when on the court in the bright lights which can be a problem for migraine sufferers.

Look, I screwed up writing this. I thought the writer was some college kid making excuses. Also since when my wife had migraines I had to nail a heavy blanket over the guest room window because the slightest light amplified her pain. So I thought how could this person be right considering all of the bright lights in the arena. I just plain screwed up.

 

[HopJim]

In fairness, UCONN fans could say the same thing. Z played the way she played at Duke (until the 4th quarter), Gabby was a no show due to migraines, Pheesa ebbed and flowed in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, etc etc.

I give ND credit for out playing UCONN in quarters 2 and 3, and UCONN credit for storming back in Q4. My point is ND's defense had an awful lot to do with UCONN's woes in Q's 2 and 3, and we stepped up our defense in Q4. Perhaps Arike simply had no room to maneuver. Driving into the post worked in the Diggins days for free throws, but not so much these days...!

Still concerned that similar to the Semis in last year's NCAA's, UConn couldn't stop the drives which in turn lead to many, many passes for layups. Basically ND stopped itself by missing 3-4 easy layups in last minutes of game. Refs did start calling fouls against ND in 2nd half but it was a mugging in first half. Give ND credit, they held and pushed and got away with it for much of the game. Good strategy while it lasted.

 

[Orangutan]

Don't discount South Dakota State they're very good this year. if they were in the AAC, they will probably finish in the top half of the conference standings.

I also note that that game was at South Dakota State. That's a tough place to play. They gave ND a tough game there a couple years back (I think ND won by 11, but only after pulling away in the 4th).

If I recall correctly, you can't even fly directly into the city they are in (Brookings). I believe ND had to fly into another city and then take a bus to Brookings.

 

[hoophuskee]

Rebecca was wrong and as I said in another thread she owes Gabby an apology. Rebecca assumed she knew what was going on. She should have said "we'll have to wait until after the game to hear what happened with Gabby,"

No she doesn't.

 

[chrissaran]

Napheesa disappeared when Z came in. UConn has to fix that.

 

[Orangutan]

And yet the ND fans on McGraw's bench are of the opinion that the Irish got hosed.

If both sets of fans thought they got hosed, then they probably did a good job. I thought they were fine.

 

[Orangutan]

In fairness, UCONN fans could say the same thing. Z played the way she played at Duke (until the 4th quarter), Gabby was a no show due to migraines, Pheesa ebbed and flowed in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, etc etc.

Sure, just thought it was interesting that the ND players who had been struggling stepped up and the ones who had excelled struggled. Probably had to do with a good UConn gameplan.

 

[Charliebball]

Napheesa disappeared when Z came in. UConn has to fix that.

Geno mentioned that when Z found a good area to work in offensively the Napheesa just floated around..............the one great thing about last year and that short bench was that everybody had a defined role and rarely strayed from it out of necessity............

 

[UConnCat]

No she doesn't.

She does and she will. Rebecca had a national TV audience believing Geno benched one of his star players to send a message. She needed to show some restraint and not speculate. It was a minor mistake but one I bet she acknowledges.

 

[Dillon77]

Napheesa disappeared when Z came in. UConn has to fix that.

Well, she didn't disappear on defense when Z came in.
In fact, I thought their presence in the lane made it tough for Shepard to get the kind of layups she was getting in the first half. No chippies for ND there. Scoring isn't everything: you can help your teams in other ways and Napheesa did.

 

[hoophuskee]

She does and she will. Rebecca had a national TV audience believing Geno benched one of his star players to send a message. She needed to show some restraint and not speculate. It was a minor mistake but one I bet she acknowledges.

We can agree to disagree. Whether she does or not is irrelevant. She doesn't need to do it. How many times during a game do analysts say teams aren't playing with heart? All these kids play with heart. How many times are they critical of refs? Further, imo your mention of national tv is irrelevant. You mean it's okay for Rebecca to say what she said if the game was not on Nat'l TV? Otherwise why make it a point to mention it? If it's wrong "to speculate" then why should it matter if on Nat'l TV or not?

Further, I don't think Gabby gives more than 2 seconds of thought as to what Rebecca said. You really think Gabby "is hurt?" Further, imo Rebecca's job is to speculate. SHe is the expert that we rely on. The color commentator - imo is there sometimes to speculate. For example years back vs South Carolina, Rebecca claimed they had no shot to beat to UCONN. She said they can't score enough. Isn't that really speculation - predicting that South Carolina's style had no chance to win? After all- it's about a bunch of 20 year old's competing vs one another - one team ranked 1, and the other ranked 2,3,4 or 5. The color commentator also speculates for example while the game is going - a certain play- what a team needs to do on the next possession, or what they need to do as a team etc.

 

[bags27]

Does Pheesa "disappear" when Z comes in?

Maybe it is that Z takes up a lot of Pheesa's space.

But maybe it's that Pheesa depends on Lou or Gabby to get her the ball where she wants it, and with Z in together with Pheesa, that usually means that Gabby or Lou (or both) are out. I got a feeling that next year Pheesa and Megan are going to work together really well.

Just want to bring Megan into this. She has supernal basketball instincts. just flows to the right place. her rebounding tonight was terrific. at around 3;25 left, she really skied for one.

 

[Orangutan]

Just want to bring Megan into this. She has supernal basketball instincts. just flows to the right place. her rebounding tonight was terrific. at around 3;25 left, she really skied for one.

I've watched two UConn games this year (UCLA and ND) and every time Walker has been on court she's been doing good things. Geno surely knows best, but I think she needs more PT.