If So and So did not get hurt we would have won.....

[Bayareahusky]

Ya the Lady Vols have had more than their fair share of injuries...... but the team potential is really good, as witnessed Monday night.... I want to see Mercedes in action before I call her the second coming...... will she be able to run the floor on her surgically repaired feet.. Monday I saw Wilson at 6'5" run up and down the floor like a gazelle......

Good job Tennessee on Monday..... the whole team came to play.....

 

[Aluminny69]

Wait a minute. 2008, Maya Moore's freshman year. Both Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene go down to injuries. Despite this, UConn only loses one game in the regular season. With Thomas and Greene, UConn beats Stanford in the Final Four. BTW, UConn didn't lose another game for quite some time.

 

[Bestiarius]

One could never say that TN would have won for sure but losing Harrison was an enormous blow. Her absence was OBVIOUS in the paint. They had no answer for SC's post players. TN was just too small to contend with 4 huge post players. That's just a fact. Also, Izzy has completely dominated their post players in every SC game. Losing the potential #1 WNBA draft pick just flat out matters.

I would also add that TN has been completely devastated by injuries over the last several years and those injuries have seriously impacted the team's results. We have 4 potential starters sitting on the bench in Mercedes, Jasmine Jones, Izzy, and Tucker. Just imagine how you would feel if Tuck, Stewart, KML, and Nurse were sitting out for the year. It's not a great feeling and I don't wish it on any team or fan base. I guess you can put me in the camp that blames injuries, but if you give TN even one of those 4 injured players then we win. SC has its original starting line up in tact. It was basically a 1 point game until the fouls started. Oh well, revenge is better than Christmas. We will see them again...

Yes losing Harrison was an enormous blow - to South Carolina. They spent the previous month developing strategies to defeat Izzy, and having her not play flummoxed the Gamecocks, and they almost lost the game because of it!

 

[Bestiarius]

I really think having this might help, courtesy of UT's website:

What this photo tells me is she probably can't dunk.

 

[Sonny44]

I don't think it's a slam dunk that Tennessee would've won with Harrison. She would have helped and been a huge factor defending the post and getting rebounds, but if she is healthy I don't think Graves has as much room to operate in the paint and put up huge numbers. I also think the rest of Tennessee's lineup was playing inspired basketball due to Harrison's injury. Realistically, this doesn't happen if Harrison is healthy.

You lose your star. Then you lose a game by one point. I think it's nothing short of disrespectful to her and most unrealistic not to assume you would have won the game. Huh, a star isn't worth a point?

 

[Tonyc]

You need to understand when a starter is sitting and you lose a game you think you should've or might've won remember this. What player or players would have to sit and their points along with their assists and rebounds would be gone. Now if the injured player is playing could that player make up how many more rebounds assists and points? In many cases the player that takes the place of the player who is sitting is not going to make that much more of an inpact then the player or players that replace her. The difference in many cases is minimal. Now if Izzy plays yes she would have blocked and altered some shots and would've scored double digits. However I watched the game and I thought the LVs moved the ball better then Ive seen before and they were not dependent on Izzy they were dependent on each other. They shared the ball well. Yes Izzy would've made a difference down low but the LVs lost by 4 points. Do you think with Izzy it would've been less or more. Don't forget if Izzy is playing who doesn't score as many points as they did. Frankly I liked the way the LVs played as a team without Izzy. I thought they looked much better then they do with her because they depend on her too much instead of playing within the flow of the game and going to her when still going to each other. The LVs played more like a team without her imo not being dependent on her. I think the LVs should grow as a team from this. Graves looked much much better. JMO.

 

[CocoHusky]

This is a very childish thread! Point, blank, period.

There are no childish threads, just childish ........ ( I'll let you fill in the blank).

 

[meyers7]

I've seen this posted in a bunch of places and I'm really not sure why you think it's a big deal. At 6'6", I'd guess she has somewhere around an 8'6" standing reach with shoes. That would put her within the range of a 18" vertical necessary to grab the rim, which is nothing to write home about. To put that into perspective, I'm a 6'1" guy who's about as unathletic as they come, and I can touch the rim. Maya Moore (who's on the upper end of athleticism for female basketball players) has a 26" inch vertical, without a running start.

Even for most top tier players who are much shorter than Russell, grabbing the rim is fairly common.

Lorin Dixon had a 1 step vertical jump of 33". SPARQ testing in HS.

 

[mhshuskies]

I'll add two:

If Turner isn't hurt, ND wins Dec. 6
If Achonwa isn't hurt, ND wins last season's national championship

Do we assume this thread is about excuses not based in realistic analysis?

 

[mhshuskies]

If Griner doesn't get mugged, L'ville doesn't make the final 4.

 

[mhshuskies]

It did, certainly. But they both played against UConn in all matchups when they were together. Duke lost plenty of games against good opponents when both played. They just lost to average teams when they didn't.

If Shea and Sveta were not injured in 2001, Notre Dame never would have won their first title and would not have been able to recruit some of the players that they have recruited...

This is based on reasonable analysis.

 

[mhshuskies]

CamrnCrz1974, this does not need to involve UCONN. For example Chelsea Gray going down didn't cost Duke a game? Alexis Jones?

How about an injury that could have helped, like say JPM WASN'T available to coach?

 

[Beemer]

How about an injury that could have helped, like say JPM WASN'T available to coach?

That is sooooo bad. But in an entirely good way

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

To the original point -

Stanford, when Harvard beat them in the 1st round of the NCAA's - 2 injuries in short order to 2 stars, I remember Nygaard, forget the other one. Something like final game and then practice before the NCAA's. Legit and the gold standard for the question raised.

OTH, Minnesota's injury to their star RB allowing Z-B to step up. Probably helped Z-B, but who knows how it has affected Minnesota which got whacked last night.

 

[Biff]

To the original point -

Stanford, when Harvard beat them in the 1st round of the NCAA's - 2 injuries in short order to 2 stars, I remember Nygaard, forget the other one. Something like final game and then practice before the NCAA's. Legit and the gold standard for the question raised.

Kristin Folkl- The great Volleyball player

 

[Oldbones]

In 1996 Final Four semi, played in a city almost bordering Tennessee, if Wolters and Elliot hadn't had phantom fouls called on them when it was they (esp Wolters) who were being mugged all game, they would have been available in OT or NO OT needed, and then a critical marginal OT foul call against Sales would not have decided the game.
In 1997, if Tennessee, despite being Tennessee, were not invited to 1997 NCAA with Ten losses and no SEC title. Instead, since they were Tennessee, they were invited. Turned out to be a good invite, dagnabbit.
Jane Appel's bad ankle in 2010 final. Worth 7 points to Stanford? Of course not.
Griner and Mulkey not getting along late-season (according to Griner) in 2013. Worth 2 points vs. Louisville? No way.
Refs waking up sooner and seeing Novosel and Diggins' flops and dives for what they were in 2011 and 2012? Worth two more UConn trips to the Final? Definitely.

 

[bballnut90]

Wait a minute. 2008, Maya Moore's freshman year. Both Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene go down to injuries. Despite this, UConn only loses one game in the regular season. With Thomas and Greene, UConn beats Stanford in the Final Four. BTW, UConn didn't lose another game for quite some time.

2008 was a really great season for women's basketball--the 2008 senior class was loaded and there were a LOT of really great teams that year (Tennessee/Stanford/LSU/North Carolina/Maryland/Rutgers/A&M/UCONN/etc.) That said, I don't think Thomas/Greene would've made a big difference against Stanford. Tara had an outstanding game plan and Stanford controlled the game. I don't think Thomas would've logged many minutes, and Greene likely would've started in place of Maya Moore, which I don't think would have been a big benefit to bring Moore off the bench. Even if they got past Stanford, they would've had to face Tennessee led by senior Candace Parker. UCONN had the historical advantage in title games head to head, but that crop of Lady Vols went 3-0 against UCONN and the 2008 team was outstanding defensively in the NCAA tournament. Everyone was hoping for that match up just after the rivalry ended and most felt Tennessee/UCONN were the two best teams in the nation that year.

 

[hoophuskee]

2008 was a really great season for women's basketball--the 2008 senior class was loaded and there were a LOT of really great teams that year (Tennessee/Stanford/LSU/North Carolina/Maryland/Rutgers/A&M/UCONN/etc.) That said, I don't think Thomas/Greene would've made a big difference against Stanford. Tara had an outstanding game plan and Stanford controlled the game. I don't think Thomas would've logged many minutes, and Greene likely would've started in place of Maya Moore, which I don't think would have been a big benefit to bring Moore off the bench. .

Everything you said here is wrong. Matter of fact most of it - isn't even close. I agree with your points later imo Tenn was the best but nothing else.

First off- Geno loved Mel Thomas - there is no way in hell she was going to play a the few minutes you suggest. He played her 31 minutes vs Stanford 1st time. vs Louisville it was 11 pt game at halftime - he played her 35. And vs Syrucuse game she got hurt it was a tough game UCONN only won by 6 she played 38 minutes. I can remember on a postgame Chris Dailey talking about how much they loved what Mel Thomas did that the average fan couldn't see. I can't remember exacly what - and I'm not saying anything right or wrong- but there is no way in hell they weren't going to play Mel near 30 mintues if not more.

Secondly the game plan you suggest Tara was so great with in game 2 was the exact same strategy she employed in game 1 of the 2nd half. The difference between the 2 was in game 1 UCONN had 5 shooters that had a mid-range game and out vs in game 2 they had just 3 and Swanier got into foul trouble. Look at game 2 box-- KG had 15 BECAUSE Tara played same defense of triangle-and-two - and the two she used were against Mel and Renee, or Mel and Maya, or if Mel left, it was Renee and Maya. Why do you think Kalana took 11 2nd half shots while Mel Thomas only took 1? Tara has done this with UCONN even recently when for example she left Moriah Jefferson wide open. Bottomline is the players you are downplaying (Mel and KG) are the ones that Tara had to use in her triangle to guard (Mel) and Kalana was the one that knocked down shots to beat Tara's junk defense because she also felt she needed to put a player on Mel thus allowing KG to take 11 2nd half shots.

Also - look at the 1st half stats when UCONN built the 9 point lead. The 17 minutes Mel Thomas played UCONN was "plus 10." It's no accident legenadary coach Tara V in the 2nd half threw up a triangle defense in which one of the 2 guarded Mel. She took just 1 shot in the 2nd half because that was tara's designed defense. In our 2nd meeting they stuck the triangle on Maya and Renee - and all we had was Keita who was in foul trouble and lost her rhythm.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/datadump/WBasketball/2008/stats/stan1.htm#GAME.BX1

Third- you are completely missing what UCONN was in 2008 if you think Maya would have been denied a starter because of Kalana. Maya played most of her minutes at pf. She was inevitably taking minutes from Charde who was in the doghouse quite a bit her senior year. Therefore Kalana would have been starting along with Maya thus we would have had four shooters on the floor that would have been able to combat Tara's junk defense.

I'll reiterate I don't think we could have beaten Tenn but the Stanford game we needed Mel and Kalana and would have beaten them if they were there.

 

[hoophuskee]

In Maya's senior year 2 of the calls on Dolson were terribly nitpicky. We lost EDD and another kid that went to Ne Zealand before season started so we were thin in the post. ND was able ot take advantage of refs calling nitpick fouls on Dolson which made UCONN very small. non-nitpicky refs that shouldn't have made at least one if not two calls early - then we probably win. Maya was on fire.

 

[bballnut90]

Everything you said here is wrong. Matter of fact most of it - isn't even close. I agree with your points later imo Tenn was the best but nothing else.

First off- Geno loved Mel Thomas - there is no way in hell she was going to play a the few minutes you suggest. He played her 31 minutes vs Stanford 1st time. vs Louisville it was 11 pt game at halftime - he played her 35. And vs Syrucuse game she got hurt it was a tough game UCONN only won by 6 she played 38 minutes. I can remember on a postgame Chris Dailey talking about how much they loved what Mel Thomas did that the average fan couldn't see. I can't remember exacly what - and I'm not saying anything right or wrong- but there is no way in hell they weren't going to play Mel near 30 mintues if not more.

Secondly the game plan you suggest Tara was so great with in game 2 was the exact same strategy she employed in game 1 of the 2nd half. The difference between the 2 was in game 1 UCONN had 5 shooters that had a mid-range game and out vs in game 2 they had just 3 and Swanier got into foul trouble. Look at game 2 box-- KG had 15 BECAUSE Tara played same defense of triangle-and-two - and the two she used were against Mel and Renee, or Mel and Maya, or if Mel left, it was Renee and Maya. Why do you think Kalana took 11 2nd half shots while Mel Thomas only took 1? Tara has done this with UCONN even recently when for example she left Moriah Jefferson wide open. Bottomline is the players you are downplaying (Mel and KG) are the ones that Tara had to use in her triangle to guard (Mel) and Kalana was the one that knocked down shots to beat Tara's junk defense because she also felt she needed to put a player on Mel thus allowing KG to take 11 2nd half shots.

Also - look at the 1st half stats when UCONN built the 9 point lead. The 17 minutes Mel Thomas played UCONN was "plus 10." It's no accident legenadary coach Tara V in the 2nd half threw up a triangle defense in which one of the 2 guarded Mel. She took just 1 shot in the 2nd half because that was tara's designed defense. In our 2nd meeting they stuck the triangle on Maya and Renee - and all we had was Keita who was in foul trouble and lost her rhythm.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/datadump/WBasketball/2008/stats/stan1.htm#GAME.BX1

Third- you are completely missing what UCONN was in 2008 if you think Maya would have been denied a starter because of Kalana. Maya played most of her minutes at pf. She was inevitably taking minutes from Charde who was in the doghouse quite a bit her senior year. Therefore Kalana would have been starting along with Maya thus we would have had four shooters on the floor that would have been able to combat Tara's junk defense.

I'll reiterate I don't think we could have beaten Tenn but the Stanford game we needed Mel and Kalana and would have beaten them if they were there.

Few comments on this--I wasn't wrong on everything as you implied. The only comment you're discrediting that I agree I was probably wrong about is the number of minutes that Thomas plays. For some reason I remember Geno not giving her big minutes in big games, but as I look through box scores in 2007 and 2008 I see he did give her big minutes in big games.

In regards to Stanford's game plan-I never saw the first game and do not recall specifics defenses that Stanford used, but in the national semifinals their ball movement and offensive execution was outstanding. They shredded UCONN's defense and put up 82 points, had 20 assists to just 11 turnovers and thoroughly outplayed Connecticut. Also, per Stanford's press release, this was stated which shows Tara DID have a different game plan on the offensive side, "The changes VanDerveer made - basically modifying her offense to revolve around two post players rather than one - increased the production of Wiggins' supporting cast."

Most signficant, Stanford was a MUCH better team by the end of the season than the first go around, where UCONN peaked earlier in the year. Some of that may have been influenced by the season ending injuries, but UCONN wasn't playing inspired basketball at the end of 2008. Houston and Charles were in Geno's dog house, UCONN struggled to beat Georgetown in the Regional Semis and also had a tough time against Rutgers (granted, everybody struggled against Rutgers during that era.) Shortly before the tournament they barely escaped against a bad DePaul team and struggled against Louisville in the BE Championship. Stanford on the other hand rode into the Final Four on a 22 game win streak, Wiggins was putting up ridiculous numbers in the tournament, they beat #1 seed Maryland by double figures and The Card was playing their best basketball of the season. This cannot be overlooked, as Stanford was a completely different team by the end of the 2008. In a more extreme case which illustrates this point, Rutgers lost 80-40 against Duke the year before but improved immensely as the season went on while Duke peaked too early, and Rutgers was able to beat Duke in the NCAA tournament. Just because UCONN rolled against Stanford the 1st time doesn't mean they would have done the same the second time.

Also-your last point about Maya being a starter-Maya never started when Greene was healthy. She earned starter minutes, but she came off the bench in all 8 games. When Greene went down she entered the starting 5, but she would've most likely continued to come off the bench all season had Greene and Thomas stayed healthy. Against Stanford, Moore was one of UCONN's bright spots with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes. She wasn't going to get 37 minutes of playing time coming off the bench both halves.

 

[hoophuskee]

Few comments on this--I wasn't wrong on everything as you implied. The only comment you're discrediting that I agree I was probably wrong about is the number of minutes that Thomas plays. For some reason I remember Geno not giving her big minutes in big games, but as I look through box scores in 2007 and 2008 I see he did give her big minutes in big games.
.

You're usually right on a ton of things. You bring many thought provoking threads up -- but in this case you are looking this at a completely wrong angle.

1--- What's your favorite type of team (I know you "appreciate all types as a fan) in terms of a comparison between a low-post inside centric team vs a perimeter-scoring centric team? I understand you "appreciate" both but which do you personally prefer?

2---So you acknowledge Mel Thomas would have played big minutes right? Therefore you have to acknowledge that Mel was a good basketball player that UCONN missed, right?

3-- You mentioned Charde and Tina were in the doghouse. What does "in the doghouse" generally mean in terms of performance? In generally means they aren't playing well, right? Charde certainly wasn't playing well all season. And I don't recall Kalana Greene ever being in the doghouse, do you? And as you say Maya wasn't going to take Kalana's spot -- one reason we can assume logically is that Kalana was playing well enough. -- But not Charde, right?

4--- So UCONN's frontline had at end of season "one-legged" Brittany Hunter and two inconsistent sophomores in Tina and Kaili and an inconsistent Charde while Geno has shown us he was satisfied with both Mel and Kalana - yet you don't think Geno would have given big minutes to Mel at sg, KG at sf and Maya at pf (if you think Geno would have done this then why do you keep talking about Maya playing behind Kalana as if it is relevant when you know she can really "play" pf too? As I said before Maya would have been playing pf) ? Maya already had shown she could play power forward and play it tough- she had 17 rebounds as a starting pf vs Syracuse. So you really think Kayla Pederson (power forward from Stanford that had 17 points in 37 minutes) would have outplayed Maya?


UCONN's bigs weren't playing well or in Hunter's case she was hurt. You really think Maya couldn't have defended Pedersen well? Then we'd have three players to guard Appel- sure Appel was better at that time BUT the Stanford two-man game which you give props to - rightfully so- I know it would have been negated because Maya had the athleticism/quickness with just enough size to negate Pedersen.

5--- You spoke of Maya was a bright spot-- sure she was-- but she didn't play well. "Bright spot" and "Playing well" are 2 different things. She was 8-19 from the floor and 3-11 from three therefore she was incredibly inefficient - so you mention her 20 points--- I mention her bad shooting. That's what happens when a team can throw a triangle-and-two defense at you and you don't have additional shooters to get them out of it. For a frosh she did her best and was a bright spot. Just not good though. Also while she did have 3 assists- she had 4 turnovers. So in this game she didn't shoot well. She didn't pass well. I can't say she played well. Usually when your best players are this inefficient shooting and more turnovers than assists- you aren't going to win. That all adds up to "not playing well."

6--- I absolutely agree with - you nailed it UCONN wasn't playing as well at end of season. But as I said you are looking at things at a completely wrong angle. UCONN wasn't playing well because they didn't have additional shooters / players that can hit shots and make good decisions with the ball. And of course, Hunter was a shell of her early- -season-self. But that is the point of this thread- in this case "If Mel and Kalana weren't hurt" then UCONN would have been much better not only because of the value of Mel and Kalana but the decision would have been to put Maya at the pf - position she went on to play magnificently for three years after. Before Kalana got hurt- Maya wouldn't just play sf.

With Maya on the floor at pf we would have had four shooters on the floor. Our pg Montgomery would have dictated tempo. Not the sg Wiggins or the low posts. We would have been able to run more with Monty/Ketia/KAlana and Maya. Even Tina and Charde for whatever minutes they got would have gotten more opportunities in full-court and because Maya would have guarded Pedersen - the two-player inside attack would have been negated.

Therefore with two good players- guards which Geno never put in doghouse because they were good they would have been the ones seeing the minutes and Maya would have been taking minutes away all year from the inconsistent frontline. Thus the probability that UCONN would have faded like they did in 07-08 is almost nil.

 

[bballnut90]

You're usually right on a ton of things. You bring many thought provoking threads up -- but in this case you are looking this at a completely wrong angle.

1--- What's your favorite type of team (I know you "appreciate all types as a fan) in terms of a comparison between a low-post inside centric team vs a perimeter-scoring centric team? I understand you "appreciate" both but which do you personally prefer?

2---So you acknowledge Mel Thomas would have played big minutes right? Therefore you have to acknowledge that Mel was a good basketball player that UCONN missed, right?

3-- You mentioned Charde and Tina were in the doghouse. What does "in the doghouse" generally mean in terms of performance? In generally means they aren't playing well, right? Charde certainly wasn't playing well all season. And I don't recall Kalana Greene ever being in the doghouse, do you? And as you say Maya wasn't going to take Kalana's spot -- one reason we can assume logically is that Kalana was playing well enough. -- But not Charde, right?

4--- So UCONN's frontline had at end of season "one-legged" Brittany Hunter and two inconsistent sophomores in Tina and Kaili and an inconsistent Charde while Geno has shown us he was satisfied with both Mel and Kalana - yet you don't think Geno would have given big minutes to Mel at sg, KG at sf and Maya at pf (if you think Geno would have done this then why do you keep talking about Maya playing behind Kalana as if it is relevant when you know she can really "play" pf too? As I said before Maya would have been playing pf) ? Maya already had shown she could play power forward and play it tough- she had 17 rebounds as a starting pf vs Syracuse. So you really think Kayla Pederson (power forward from Stanford that had 17 points in 37 minutes) would have outplayed Maya?


UCONN's bigs weren't playing well or in Hunter's case she was hurt. You really think Maya couldn't have defended Pedersen well? Then we'd have three players to guard Appel- sure Appel was better at that time BUT the Stanford two-man game which you give props to - rightfully so- I know it would have been negated because Maya had the athleticism/quickness with just enough size to negate Pedersen.

5--- You spoke of Maya was a bright spot-- sure she was-- but she didn't play well. "Bright spot" and "Playing well" are 2 different things. She was 8-19 from the floor and 3-11 from three therefore she was incredibly inefficient - so you mention her 20 points--- I mention her bad shooting. That's what happens when a team can throw a triangle-and-two defense at you and you don't have additional shooters to get them out of it. For a frosh she did her best and was a bright spot. Just not good though. Also while she did have 3 assists- she had 4 turnovers. So in this game she didn't shoot well. She didn't pass well. I can't say she played well. Usually when your best players are this inefficient shooting and more turnovers than assists- you aren't going to win. That all adds up to "not playing well."

6--- I absolutely agree with - you nailed it UCONN wasn't playing as well at end of season. But as I said you are looking at things at a completely wrong angle. UCONN wasn't playing well because they didn't have additional shooters / players that can hit shots and make good decisions with the ball. And of course, Hunter was a shell of her early- -season-self. But that is the point of this thread- in this case "If Mel and Kalana weren't hurt" then UCONN would have been much better not only because of the value of Mel and Kalana but the decision would have been to put Maya at the pf - position she went on to play magnificently for three years after. Before Kalana got hurt- Maya wouldn't just play sf.

With Maya on the floor at pf we would have had four shooters on the floor. Our pg Montgomery would have dictated tempo. Not the sg Wiggins or the low posts. We would have been able to run more with Monty/Ketia/KAlana and Maya. Even Tina and Charde for whatever minutes they got would have gotten more opportunities in full-court and because Maya would have guarded Pedersen - the two-player inside attack would have been negated.

Therefore with two good players- guards which Geno never put in doghouse because they were good they would have been the ones seeing the minutes and Maya would have been taking minutes away all year from the inconsistent frontline. Thus the probability that UCONN would have faded like they did in 07-08 is almost nil.

I'm at work so I have to make this quick...but I'll point out that Houston/Charles both has solid showings, they combined for 19 points, 11 boards and 8-13 FG so I don't see Moore making a bigger impact at the 4 than she did as a SF. UCONN still had 3 long range shooters outside of Thomas, who wasn't going to get open looks against Stanford. If Thomas plays, it means Swanier comes off the bench and sees fewer minutes (who was rock solid at the end of the year and had 13 points, 5 assists, 1 TO and was 3-6 from long range against UCONN.) It's also far fetched to say the probability is almost nil that UCONN fades at the end of 2008. They didn't finish the previous three seasons playing their best basketball, no reason to believe they would in 2008. It's also far fetched to say that freshman Moore negates Pederson, who finished with 17/7 scoring inside and out. I stand by my main argument Stanford was peaking at the right time and was a completely different team from the first match up. They had outstanding ball movement which created open opportunities to score against UCONN. I don't think adding in Greene/Thomas changes that, where do differ on your views. I'll leave it at that.

 

[bertieboy]

Mel Thomas and Kalana Greene both got injured in January of 2008 and did not return. They were both starters and had we still had them for the NCAA semifinal game against Stanford, we would have won it. Stanford prevailed 82-73 but we had beaten them 66-54 in December. Tennessee won it all in 2008 with Candace Parker, but if we had gone up against them with our full roster I would have liked out chances a whole lot.

 

[hoophuskee]

I'm at work so I have to make this quick...but I'll point out that Houston/Charles both has solid showings, they combined for 19 points, 11 boards and 8-13 FG so I don't see Moore making a bigger impact at the 4 than she did as a SF. UCONN still had 3 long range shooters outside of Thomas, who wasn't going to get open looks against Stanford. If Thomas plays, it means Swanier comes off the bench and sees fewer minutes (who was rock solid at the end of the year and had 13 points, 5 assists, 1 TO and was 3-6 from long range against UCONN.) It's also far fetched to say the probability is almost nil that UCONN fades at the end of 2008. They didn't finish the previous three seasons playing their best basketball, no reason to believe they would in 2008. It's also far fetched to say that freshman Moore negates Pederson, who finished with 17/7 scoring inside and out. I stand by my main argument Stanford was peaking at the right time and was a completely different team from the first match up. They had outstanding ball movement which created open opportunities to score against UCONN. I don't think adding in Greene/Thomas changes that, where do differ on your views. I'll leave it at that.

Nah - nothing here I agree with you on. Its unusual but nothing.

1--- Maya was 1stteam all-american. And Monty was climbing. Your use of prior years in which we declined doesn't even come close to meeting the standard of UCONN's 07-08 team. One player in basketball can be enormous. Either the greatest or 2nd greatest UCONN husky in history of the program (Maya) -- you give her good players- guards so then she could paly power forward- which she played predominantly her soph thru senior years- UONN wouldn't have faded. One player in basketball - especially a superstar is enormous.

2--- Tina and Charde didn't have the showing you think. If Tina was so solid, then why did Gneo only play her 10 minutes in the 2nd half? If Charde was so solid then why in 14 minutes in the 2nd half did she only gather 1 rebound and score just 4 points as the opposing team was in a triangle-and-two? The player's you're referring to as "solid" wound up with 6 points and 2 rebounds in the 2nd half along with zero assists between the two.

3--- Therefore I don't agree one iota not even a mil-second with your belief Maya wouldn't have had a bigger impact at the 4. A further point I disagree is that you do nail it when you say Pedersen scores "inside and out." So tell me- to start the game who can guard an inside and out player like Pedersen - on UCONNs frontline as Geno started McLaren and Hunter? What about Tina? None of them can guard an inside out player that is crafty with the ball/slick with her cuts etc. So the option is "1 rebound Charde" or Maya.

4--- It is so far-fetched to believe Maya couldn't have negated Pedersen when in act she was a power forward most of her career at UCONN.

5--- And I stand by my main argument that Stanford wouldn't have ben able to defend UCONN in that junk defense they employed while Maya would have made life much tougher for Pedersen. If you cant how the junk defense at UCONN then BOTH shooting AND passing become MOE efficient for UCONN forcing Stanford to play even more half-court. And Maya defending Pedersen - it could have been too much for Stanford.

6--- And you are absolutely right about Swanier!! She was solid. But in the 1st half she picked up two fouls and had to leave with 12:42 left. The score was 15-14. Stanford built up the score to take a halftime 7 point lead when she was out. And Swanier was our bench player - behind BOTH Thomas and Kalana on depth charts. The two fouls on her with Mel and Kalana would have had NO IMPACT. Lorin Dixon (and Meg Gardler though only 2 minutes) would never have saw the floor if we had KG and MT. Anyhow what we would have had was "40 minutes of Ketia Swanier but actually better" because Thomas was a better shooter - a better weapon to beat that junk defense and Kalana was a better player than Charde and because we would have had 4 shooters - Stanford would have had to scrap their junk defense thus both Maya AND Rene would have benefited not being guarded by a triangle-and-two.

7----- I agree with you - if UCONN met Tenn - I think we would have lost. Too bad we didn't get the chance to see. .