In search of the Perfect Game

[oldude]

After watching UConn dismantle USF on Saturday, it got me thinking about the idea of PERFECTION. Paraphrasing the French Philosopher, Voltaire, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” That expression has been used for hundreds of years to describe the experience of many different groups, organizations and teams who aimed far too high, achieving far less than they were capable of. But when it comes to UConn WBB, the relentless pursuit of perfection is simply the natural order of things. To quote a short Italian philosopher, “We don’t practice until we get it right. We practice until we can’t get it wrong.”

The idea of achieving perfection got me thinking about what perfection might look like. During the course of a single season, UConn can claim to have achieved perfection on no less than 6 occasions. But what about playing the Perfect Game? Intellectually, the Perfect Game would appear to be an impossible goal to achieve. Miss a shot, give up 1 basket or commit 1 turnover and there goes the Perfect Game. So, the next question is just how close can the Huskies actually get to the Perfect Game, and what exactly would it look like?

Is the Perfect Game a huge mismatch that UConn wins by 80+ pts, with single digit turnovers, shooting 70%, while turning over the opponent 25+ times and holding them to under 30% shooting…or is it a supreme challenge against a powerful opponent in a close game where UConn’s tremendous effort and brilliant execution was the difference in pulling out a close victory?

I would respectfully submit that at times this season, UConn has played at a level approaching perfection. If I could take the 1st Qtr vs MD (32-11), 2nd Qtr vs Stanford (23-4), 3rd Qtr vs Cal (22-3) & 4th Qtr vs ND (26-9), I create a composite score against four ranked teams of 103-27 in UConn’s favor. Of course, it’s a fantasy rather than a reality.

From the standpoint of a real UConn game, I have a couple in mind that approach perfection IMO, but I really want to hear from my fellow Boneyarders. So here is my question to everyone. What UConn WBB game most closely approached perfection in your opinion and why? Please bear in mind this is a subjective question, so be assured there are no wrong answers.

 

[OldAlum]

The game that first came to mind was the Blizzard game vs South Carolina Stewie's junior year. Stewie, Moriah, KML, and Morgan all could have made a highlight reel from that game! An amazing game. Great execution in a great atmosphere.

 

[oldude]

The game that first came to mind was the Blizzard game vs South Carolina Stewie's junior year. Stewie, Moriah, KML, and Morgan all could have made a highlight reel from that game! An amazing game. Great execution in a great atmosphere.

Good selection. If I remember clearly, UConn could have won by 20+, but it seemed as if Geno took his foot off the accelerator not wanting to embarrass Dawn, his USA WBB assistant coach.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Or the 2015 S16 Texas game. Or the 2016 Miss St game.

 

[oldude]

Or the 2015 S16 Texas game. Or the 2016 Miss St game.

I attended both games and they were something to behold. The MS St game led to the best quote ever by an opposing coach when Vic Schaefer compared the Huskies to, “piranhas on a roast.”

 

[OldAlum]

Good selection. If I remember clearly, UConn could have won by 20+, but it seemed as if Geno took his foot off the accelerator not wanting to embarrass Dawn, his USA WBB assistant coach.

Sarcasm? 87-62

We so need a sarcasm font!

 

[oldude]

Sarcasm? 87-62

We so need a sarcasm font!

I guess my memory is failing me. In my mind UConn could have won that game by a lot more... maybe it could have been 30+.

Thanks for setting me straight.

 

[jcoton56]

You start at good, strive for perfection and become excellent. If it were easy everyone would do it.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

It was just a near perfect half in a 41 point stomping of a then #7 North Carolina. "Today we tried to play a perfect game of basketball," Auriemma said of the goal the Huskies set every time they step on the court. "Make every pass correctly, the right pass at the right time, every cut, make sure we rotate on defense -- make sure we do this, this and this. So we tried to do that, and for 20 minutes, we came pretty damn close.
***********************
“Monday we start the whole process over again; Monday, we start the chase – I call it the chase,” Auriemma said. “Somebody sent me … a pretty good Lombardi quote recently. It said…

‘Perfection is unattainable, but if you chase perfection you’ll catch excellence.’

“So the chase starts, and some people just get tired of the chase. Some don’t even start the chase. Some start it, realize they can’t catch it and they just stop. What I’ve been trying to teach my players all along is that’s the fun part – knowing that you can’t get to that and you’re going as hard as you can to get there anyway.”

Hays: Fine first half helps Huskies win 54th straight

As Graham Hayes said in concluding that article:

"Auriemma wants perfection in a manner more comprehensive than wins and losses. He doesn't want to beat an opponent; he wants to beat the game. And as Charles, Moore and the rest of the Huskies showed Saturday, he has a team that thrives on chasing just that goal."

Because of Geno and CD's vision and the buy in of coaches like Marisa and Shea and the resolve and talent of many young athletes we are fans of a sports program that attains excellence over and over again, remaining true to its mission and ideals.

 

[meyers7]

One of the best halves I remember was against Georgia (ranked #3) in the opening game of 2000. UCONN just ran through them in the 1st half. Up by 29 p0ints at one point in the 1st half. This was a pretty good Georgia team that included the Miller twins and Tweety Nolan.

UConn Women's Basketball Blasts Georgia, 99-70


Really fun to watch.

 

[bags27]

I don't know what "perfection" means in a contested sport. It's MAYBE one thing to (say) hit the bull's-eye in archery every time or bowl 300. But once it's contested or judged, there is no perfection. A perfect score in gymnastics is subjective and relative to other perfect scores. And in a directly contested sport, there is always more to do. What's a perfectly pitched game? 27 up and 27 down? How about 27 strikeouts? How about 27 strikeouts with no fouls? how about 27 strikeouts with no balls or fouls?

Even if we knew what it was, there's never going to be a perfect basketball game, which is why we love it so much. All art falls short of perfection, unless you're Michelangelo viewing your statue of Moses and, angered that this perfectly rendered human can't speak to you, gash its knee to make it imperfect.

 

[UcMiami]

Fun thread -
Regarding the OP, I once read a thesis regarding Greek art and life that dealt with the concept of perfection - the premise being that in ancient Greece they did not have the modern way of thinking that perfection did not and could not exist - and because they didn't know it was impossible to create a perfect sculpture, perfect building, or have a perfect thought, they were able to create 'perfection'.

If you think about it, which brush strokes do you want to change on your favorite painting? Or has that artist actually achieve perfection for your eye? Which chisel stroke on the statue of David was a mistake by Michelangelo?

So .... perhaps I reject the whole premise.

Specific to basketball, I think you can always find fault with individual moments in a game, but you can look at a quarter or a half or if lucky a whole game (just as you can look at a season) and say - yeah, that was perfect.

The Philly NC against TN was pretty perfect!

(And just an aside, you can play perfect defense and at the same time give up a basket - sometime the other guy can be perfect too.)

Just had the memory of a second game that achieved near perfection - the first college game day for women - Uconn/ND at Gampel, ranked 1 and 2 I believe and both undefeated. packed house and a total destruction!

 

[bags27]

Fun thread -
Regarding the OP, I once read a thesis regarding Greek art and life that dealt with the concept of perfection - the premise being that in ancient Greece they did not have the modern way of thinking that perfection did not and could not exist - and because they didn't know it was impossible to create a perfect sculpture, perfect building, or have a perfect thought, they were able to create 'perfection'.

This goes back to (earlier than, but made famous by) Plato's mind-body problem (mind/soul can be perfect while the body will always fail). I think it's (older school, influenced by Winkleman and German idealism) art historians who believed that Greeks thought they could achieve perfection. Even the Parthenon--that masterpiece of symmetry--is asymmetrical. The top step (stylobate) is 3" higher at the middle, to offset the perception that it's lower (what tends to happen when looking straight on); ditto the 4 corner columns are 2" wider than the others, since viewing them with the sky behind them makes them look narrower. The Greeks intentionally created physical imperfection so as to make things look perfect. At least during some of the Classical period. In the Hellenistic period, they rejoiced openly in human imperfection.

 

[Intpseeker]

After watching UConn dismantle USF on Saturday, it got me thinking about the idea of PERFECTION. Paraphrasing the French Philosopher, Voltaire, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” That expression has been used for hundreds of years to describe the experience of many different groups, organizations and teams who aimed far too high, achieving far less than they were capable of. But when it comes to UConn WBB, the relentless pursuit of perfection is simply the natural order of things. To quote a short Italian philosopher, “We don’t practice until we get it right. We practice until we can’t get it wrong.”

Perfection is a self-defeating construct if it is the goal. It is a distraction from the work at hand. If it is the result of a work ethic, preparation, skill building, the alignment of the stars, and a requisite amount of talent/ability, then the human animal is capable, in the short term, of producing 'perfection'. It might be a work of art, a musical composition, an artistic or athletic performance, a project, a lecture, a moment in a relationship, any event in the human experience. They appear to just happen, but are the result of great effort.

What keeps me coming back to UConn games is the possibility of the 'perfect' offensive or defensive set, the 'perfect' pass, screen, ball movement, tip pass, face-guarding, put back, back tip, scrum, outlet pass, or no-bounce fast break.

How do I judge if it is 'perfect'? Simple. If I find myself jumping out of my chair, whether at home or at the game, shouting 'OH YAH!!!', that's an indication that 'perfection was just achieved.

Of note is the fact that it has happened so often this season that the dog is used to it and doesn't leave the room anymore.

 

[bags27]

And why haven't we proclaimed the obvious sentiment: The perfect is the enemy of the good, which is not the original and always wrongly attributed to Plato. The discussion here is really interesting, all the way to the end:
Perfect is the enemy of good - Wikipedia

 

[oldude]

Seldom has UConn won a national championship when they were not the favorite. But in 2013, after 3 close losses to ND and another to reigning national champion Baylor, UConn arrived at the FF as the clear underdog.

UConn’s 83-65 beat down of the Irish with Stewie’s emergence as a big time performer in FF games was my close to perfect game. With Baylor’s upset loss to Louisville, the stage was set for the 1st of 4 national championships for the Big 3.

 

[oldude]

And why haven't we proclaimed the obvious sentiment: The perfect is the enemy of the good, which is not the original and always wrongly attributed to Plato. The discussion here is really interesting, all the way to the end:
Perfect is the enemy of good - Wikipedia

Also attributed to both Shakespeare as well as Voltaire (Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.) as I paraphrase in my OP for this thread.

 

[huskeynut]

The pursuit of perfection is probably to many a fool's errand. Maybe or maybe not.

To work to develop your skill level to delivery a perfect pass to a teammate is a viable goal. To work tirelessly to perfect your shooting stroke is a viable goal. Basketball is built of many separate skills that when combined, present us with a game of infinite possibilities of "perfection" at any given moment. UConn has given us those moments many, many times.

The 2000 National Championship game against Tennessee is one of those games/ moments. At least the most memorable ones for me.

 

[VAMike23]

This one has always been high on my list:

Dec. 29, 2012
NO. 2 UCONN UPSETS NO. 1 STANFORD, 61-35
Huskies Snap No. 1 Stanford's Nation-Leading 82-Game Home Unbeaten Run.

"It was a bad day. Whatever we were trying to do, we really struggled with it," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Connecticut came in here on a mission. Mission accomplished."

"I don't think I've experienced anything like this," Ogwumike said. "That Connecticut team we played for 40 minutes is the standard. And the great thing is now we've experienced the standard."

LINK

 

[bags27]

Also attributed to both Shakespeare as well as Voltaire (Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.) as I paraphrase in my OP for this thread.

sorry, oldude, for forgetting your OP 15 minutes later. short-term memory and all that .

 

[VAMike23]

Against a decent but still overmatched team in terms of talent, this one also stands out:

March 28. 2010
Huskies Continue March by Humbling Iowa State, 74-36
New York Times via the AP

“Connecticut is certainly as good as advertised,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “I don’t think I’ve had a whipping like that since I was a little kid and I broke something of my mom’s.”

LINK

 

[j66kicker]

One of the best halves I remember was against Georgia (ranked #3) in the opening game of 2000. UCONN just ran through them in the 1st half. Up by 29 p0ints at one point in the 1st half. This was a pretty good Georgia team that included the Miller twins and Tweety Nolan.

UConn Women's Basketball Blasts Georgia, 99-70


Really fun to watch.

Was at that game - great memory!

 

[UcMiami]

Just went back and watched much of the first half of the ND game I sited above. Was really fun during one time out to see Bria and Breanna both sitting behind the Uconn bench as potential recruits. Then watched the Stanford game with Bria coming back from her ankle issue and Stewart, Jefferson, and Tuck as freshmen.
ND

Stanford
12/29/2012 - UConn at Stanford

 

[Los24]

The game that first came to mind was the Blizzard game vs South Carolina Stewie's junior year. Stewie, Moriah, KML, and Morgan all could have made a highlight reel from that game! An amazing game. Great execution in a great atmosphere.

I watch the highlights of that game every now and then... great game. I also searched but can not find a favorite line from Stewie where she was asked after the game about who was the best team in the country... her reply with a big smile, " I think we just answered that."

 

[connie]

re. “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Many years ago, I worked with a Russian fellow. His version of this expression (which he may or may not have known) was: "Good is the enemy of better". He used it to mean that something that is good enough (e.g., cutting in a straight line when painting a room) can be made worse if you try to make it better. Perhaps not applicable here; but I am guessing many readers are familiar with the experience.

In answer to the question . . . the sweet 16 game against UMiss 2016 comes to mind. But I agree with Bags (to the extent the question is even meaningful . . . and I don't say that critically). Technically, even so much as a tipped pass or a minor stumble (even if of no consequence on a single stat) takes the performance out of the domain of perfection. In that respect, there are probably a thousand things that could be deemed to fall short of perfection in even the greatest single performance.