Geno protecting Saniya in the presser

[osceola48]

Someone asked if it was possible that there may have been a little choking. Well 8 missed FTs by otherwise good FT shooters tells that story.

And how many missed simple layups, mostly in the first half? I can't remember this excellent team missing easy shots like that.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Chong didn't do anything wrong. She saw an open lane and a senior tried to make a play.
Ok yes it would be best to start said play with 8 seconds left but whatever.

Girl played well yesterday and all season.

 

[Stinger92860]

Someone asked if it was possible that there may have been a little choking. Well 8 missed FTs by otherwise good FT shooters tells that story.

I disagree, missing free throws has been trending up lately.

 

[Buzzyboy]

She'll remember that last play, but overall she's got nothing to be ashamed about. She's had a great year, and who knows - maybe UConn would have lost already against someone in the season if not for her.

This year she had a knack for contributing when her team needed it the most, and I'd argue that until that last play, she was doing that this game as well.

I don't agree with her making that play but it would be ridiculous to bash her because she contributed so much to this team on the court and I'm sure so much to previous teams off the court. A sweet and talented young lady who finally got a chance to show what she was capable of. Great season, Saniya!

 

[Buzzyboy]

And let's give credit to that defender, who was none other than Morgan William. In an instant that open lane was closed, and Saniya didn't recognize the closure quickly enough. That was emblematic of the defensive play that has carried MSU this far and won them this game.

And please please please ... in any close loss, there were literally dozens of plays that could have made the difference. Let's not be those people who focus only on the last one.

We should give credit to Morgan William for getting away with a foul? It was, you know!

 

[Buzzyboy]

Why not? She bailed us out in the first game of the year when this streak could have ended right there. She's had a great year. At least she had the guts to try to make something happen. A bunch of our other guys didn't act enough like themselves tonight so she tried to lead. That's an awesome thing to do. She has my thanks and admiration.

I'm certainly not going to condemn her for what she did but conversely, are you suggesting that she's somewhat of a hero, trying to pull a lackluster team out of their lethargy? Saniya gave her all and it didn't work out but it wasn't the play to make, at that point.

 

[Buzzyboy]

People who thinks you should hold the ball till the last few seconds before trying to score are nuts! With 18 secs left, you score when you can, and let your defense do the work. I think Brady and or Belichick said the same thing in the last Superbowl.

Are you serious, comparing football and basketball in this scenario? Absolutely no comparison at all! In football you always score, when you can, unless you're talking about a possible game winning field goal, when you have a first down on the 20 yard line and the best field goal kicker in the world. Then you might run a play or two to reduce the amount of time the opposing team would have to score. Basketball is radically different. You don't even think about starting a play from where she did, with more 10 seconds on the clock. The only exception you might have is if someone is wide open under the basket and a good pass leads to an opposed layup. Other than that, no way, Jose!

 

[Buzzyboy]

Honestly , I am just appalled by everyone. Several times in the tourney players on different teams afraid to take " the big shot ". Here you have a player in control of the ball driving to the rim with 12 sec., trying to win the game . The defensive player not only is not set but is angled to the defender . Contact occurs landing both playrrs on the floor. NO CALL. ARE YOU KIDDING ME ? I guess it's ok to swallow the whistle when it's " anyone but uconn " !

It's been said that it was an obvious foul and I agree that it was but then again, some referees don't make that call in the waning seconds of any game. You don't go with the idea that the foul will be called. She made a big mistake but you win as a team or you lose as a team and I'm sure her teammates stood behind her. The whole team seemed to be out of sync for the majority of the game. We were blessed to a wonderful season by some amazing young women. Already looking forward to next year!

 

[Buzzyboy]

It was this exactly. You could see that Chong saw the opening and immediately went for the basket. It was move I'd hope any of our players would have made, no matter what time was left. She had a step on the defender, the whole MSU team seemed to be on the side guarding the inbound still and she found what looked like an open lane to the basket. Plus, all of MSU's bigs were away from the basket so it looked like an easy lay up. It was just an amazing job by Williams to get over and recover in defense as quick as she did because Chong had her beat originally. By the time she realized her path to the basket was blocked she was too far into her drive to stop. She was out of control, and if anything, was lucky to not get called for a charge.

I agree that it would have been nice to wait longer on the clock but you don't give up what seemed to be an easy lane for the go ahead basket just so you can run more time off the clock.

Also, remember how much we struggled making any baskets in OT and most of the 4th quarter and how we couldn't get an Offensive rebound to save our life. With all that in mind, it was a no brainer that she'd take that open lane and go for the easy layup and the win.

I know that many won't see the realistic viewpoint of the situation and will instead blame Chong for shooting too early and not holding for a last second shot, but I hope she can get over it and know she made the right play.

Congrats to this team for playing as well as they did all season. They surpassed many expectations and were awesome. Miss St just played the better game and had the better game plan last night.

I and so many others know that though SHE WAS FOULED, that it wasn't the play to make at that point and what happened previously has nothing to do with what is the right thing to do. If you haven't made a shot earlier, would you suggest that that person no longer attempts a shot. What happened earlier has absolutely no relevance. William shot the ball at something like 33% or 34% and yet, she shot the game winning shot. Should she have passed off to someone shooting at a higher level in the game? If you talked to 300 division coaches, I'd be astounded if there would be even 5 of them that might advocate what you're saying. That isn't the way to play the game, period!

 

[HuskyNan]

I and so many others know that though SHE WAS FOULED, that it wasn't the play to make at that point and what happened previously has nothing to do with what is the right thing to do. If you haven't made a shot earlier, would you suggest that that person no longer attempts a shot. What happened earlier has absolutely no relevance. William shot the ball at something like 33% or 34% and yet, she shot the game winning shot. Should she have passed off to someone shooting at a higher level in the game? If you talked to 300 division coaches, I'd be astounded if there would be even 5 of them that might advocate what you're saying. That isn't the way to play the game, period!

There's video posted in another. Look at the play again.

 

[shakes65]

Geno was at his classiest best in the presser and we should all be proud of how he handled the Q and A. As a team we did not play our best, and certainly MSU's tenacious defense was a real factor.
This was not a time to point out any play or player, though Geno did say that he wished Saniya had waited longer. But his comment, "God bless her" and she was trying to win the game for us was perfect at that moment.

These are young kids and they will come back bigger and stronger next year. I am sure Geno would be willing to play MSU next year and give them another whack at us, though I am not sure the bull dogs would be up to it.

So proud of all these kids and what they accomplished this year for a team that lost 3 All Americans and we all thought would be going through a rebuilding year.

 

[Icebear]

Someone asked if it was possible that there may have been a little choking. Well 8 missed FTs by otherwise good FT shooters tells that story.

They shot 68% if they made 3 more it would have 75%. That is near the team's normal of 77.9. They didn't shoot well from the line but it was more a return to the mean than the above average shooting recently.

 

[bertieboy]

From the presser, Geno implied that he DOESN'T like to hold for the final shot. He said something to to effect that he doesn't believe a last second shot wins games, but he wanted time for a rebound or a second attempt. Well, he found out that a last second shot can win a game.

However, thinking about it, another overtime would not have been good for UConn, with Gabby and Collier with four fouls. They foul out, the games probably over anyway.

Another OT would have been very good. Victoria Vivians fouled out in this OT with four minutes to go. They would have played very short handed for an additional 5 minutes.

 

[Striper69]

It was a team loss. Saniya will be ok, though losing her last game is tough. It didn't seem to hold Maya back.

Geno noted the missed FTs, 8 of them. You can't do that in a very close game.

Do you think she'll be drafted by a WNBA team?

I think she should.

 

[Striper69]

From the presser, Geno implied that he DOESN'T like to hold for the final shot. He said something to to effect that he doesn't believe a last second shot wins games, but he wanted time for a rebound or a second attempt. Well, he found out that a last second shot can win a game.

However, thinking about it, another overtime would not have been good for UConn, with Gabby and Collier with four fouls. They foul out, the games probably over anyway.

UNO (University Of Nebraska At Omaha) tried to hold for the last shot in the Summit League Tournament and missed it as their best player drove the lane against 2 players.
I think they should've taken a trey by one of their very good 3 point shooters and gambled to get a rebound if they missed. Odds are the shooter would've been open and odds are they would've got a second shot.

 

[Nostical]

I know it never is on one player or one play and we all apprecate her contributions this year--but I'll never understand Chong's move at the end. Having called an always controversial flagrant, especially right at the end of a storybook effort by MSU--that gave us 2 shots and the ball--Geno should have known the refs wouldn't then call a foul on MSU in the waning seconds on a drive by any of our guys. They just wouldn't. He should have told the team to wait out the clock and dish for a jump shot to win or go to double OT. That's my opinion. Given the loss, however, the bigger picture is with UConn losing and ending the streak, WBB took over the airwaves. That was good for the sport. Geno was very gracious and thoughtful in defeat. Now the pride of the Huskies will be on display next year. It should be fun to watch how they respond.

 

[UConnNick]

Chong made a 10 foot floater during the first half on a play that looked eerily similar to her ill-fated attempted drive in OT. It's likely that play in the first half may have gone through her mind when she made her move to go to the basket in OT.

Most of the players on the court were bunched together along the right sideline. The left side of the lane was wide open. If she had pulled the ball out and dribbled around for several seconds waiting for a last second shot opportunity, the MSU defense would have had a chance to get reset and balanced, with some defenders in the lane, making any attempt to drive to the basket much more difficult. She saw the defense way out of balance and saw an opportunity to exploit it for a drive and possible layup or foul, catching MSU totally off balance on D. There was nothing wrong with her decision under those circumstances. She saw a chance to drive all the way to the basket for a layup or foul, or possibly both. She took it. The fact it didn't work out doesn't make it the wrong decision, under the circumstances.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Chong made a 10 foot floater during the first half on a play that looked eerily similar to her ill-fated attempted drive in OT. It's likely that play in the first half may have gone through her mind when she made her move to go to the basket in OT.

Most of the players on the court were bunched together along the right sideline. The left side of the lane was wide open. If she had pulled the ball out and dribbled around for several seconds waiting for a last second shot opportunity, the MSU defense would have had a chance to get reset and balanced, with some defenders in the lane, making any attempt to drive to the basket much more difficult. She saw the defense way out of balance and saw an opportunity to exploit it for a drive and possible layup or foul, catching MSU totally off balance on D. There was nothing wrong with her decision under those circumstances. She saw a chance to drive all the way to the basket for a layup or foul, or possibly both. She took it. The fact it didn't work out doesn't make it the wrong decision, under the circumstances.

True true true.

Mark my words she will be sorely missed next year. If danger doesn't fire or Kia coughs wrong and hurts her back we are actually in a bit of trouble.

 

[CTBballfan243]

I disagree, missing free throws has been trending up lately.

The girls played a lot of minutes this season due to the lack of a bench. When you're tired it tends to show up in free throw shooting, and in shooting I need general.

 

[CTBballfan243]

The girls played a lot of minutes this season due to the lack of a bench. When you're tired it tends to show up in free throw shooting, and in shooting I need general.

.....and in shooting in general.

 

[Bigboote]

I'm sure, had Saniya had held onto the basketball for another five seconds, then started something that went awry, there would be people watching the replay shouting, "There was a double screen set up for her and a wide-open lane, WHY DIDN'T SHE GO IN FOR THE EASY SCORE WHEN SHE HAD THE CHANCE?"

 

[B BLOCK]

Let's be serious. It was a horrible, boneheaded play. Of course it will stay with her forever. C'est la vie.

I cannot stay quiet on this one.
The lane was there and she stepped up and took the opportunity. Had the shot gone in or if the refs did the right thing and she made both free throws and Uconn won you would be singing her praises.
The lane was open, players step up and make plays.
This game was lost so many times. Turnovers, missed fouls shots, bricks, poor rebounding, missed defensive assignments, choking, Miss State playing great, lack of depth, I could go on and on.
Women played all year above expectations and Saniya went out as a major contributor.
These ladies will move on to successful lives and you my friend will still be a Blog Coach!!!!