Iowa Postgame Thread [merged thread]

[huskeynut]

Can we stop comparing members of our current roster to past UConn greats.

Paige is Paige. She is not Sue or D or anybody else. Aaliyah is Aaliyah. She is not Morgan or any other UConn great. Both players are staking out their own identities. Accept them as they are - two exceptionally talented freshman that we are blessed to have wearing the UConn uniform.

Their complete stories are still be written. Enjoy it. Its going to be one he double hockey sticks of a ride.

 

[DEpup]

UConn best Iowa by 20. Maryland beat Iowa by 20 2x this year.

And I watched those games. To Iowa's credit, they have gotten better and better. I think the defense they played in their last 2 games was the best all season.

 

[Vowelguy]

Iowa went to E8 a couple of years ago.

 

[VidNick]

Caitlin is a great talent but I think she really pushes it with the one on one moves. Paige doesn't do that. Caitlin with the degree of difficulty on her shots hurts the team a little. Paige is smarter. I know Caitlin is in a position where she probably has to do more, but she certainly has teammates who can shoot. She should probably try to get more assists than pushing the envelope with some of her difficult shots.

I totally agreed. She stopped a couple of runs single handedly by coming down and firing up (and missing) a long range three. Given the way (very well) the rest of the Iowa team was shooting, her taking crazy shots hurt the team badly. I don't blame her though, I blame her coach. It is responsibility of the coach to make sure the team is taking advantage of what the other team is giving them.

 

[VidNick]

That would be interesting, I don't think they were ranked at any point his season (I couldn't definitely be wrong about that though).

Yes, but to get to compete with the very best (top 4-5) teams they need someone in the middle who can rebound as well as get down the court.

 

[pvdoggy]

Iowa went to E8 a couple of years ago.

You should stop trying to confuse people with facts.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Can we stop comparing members of our current roster to past UConn greats.

Paige is Paige. She is not Sue or D or anybody else. Aaliyah is Aaliyah. She is not Morgan or any other UConn great. Both players are staking out their own identities. Accept them as they are - two exceptionally talented freshman that we are blessed to have wearing the UConn uniform.

Their complete stories are still be written. Enjoy it. Its going to be one he double hockey sticks of a ride.

Yeah, you’re right I think it was just terrible when they compared James Bouknight to Jeremy Lamb on the men’s board. Lol

 

[VidNick]

Caitlin's great, without question. However, 7-21 is not great.

Neither was the 7-18 Paige shot, especially considering she was not given any special defensive treatment and was wide open on most of her shots.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

So ...
I am very happy both teams played really well and played their respective games. Was worried and sort of stopped reading all the hype on Paige and Caitlin. But was relieved in the end it was simply Uconn v Iowa.

Uconn plays better defense as we all knew, and Iowa shoots lights out from 3 which we also knew and which kept the game respectable.

I thought the scorers missed a few of Caitlin's assists and did not feel she 'forced things' but she was playing against a very good defense. I didn't think Iowa looked slow - they were quite successful with the drive and dish, getting past Uconn defenders to force the help.

Definitely liked the way the game was called - there were probably 10-15 fouls that 'could have been called' on each team and sometimes are and would have destroyed the flow.

Uconn offense puts pressure on opponents offense - that was what I saw as the game progressed. If you don't keep scoring on every possession you fall further behind. That pressure builds from the first quarter on and eventually the opponent breaks. Iowa played a near perfect 3rd quarter shooting 57%/67%/86% in the quarter and all it did was shave 3 points off a 14 lead - that effort against a Uconn defense playing well is almost impossible to maintain. And they didn't.

My player of the game was Evina - calm cool in the beginning and one rebound short of the triple double - but the whole team play a very good game of basketball today.

Rewatched the game. Evina was magnificent.

 

[VidNick]

Clark’s a shooter, Paige is just a great all-around player. Very Taurasi like.

Strange comment. Taurasi is and always has been a shooter. The 'other' things are secondary to her.

 

[JoePgh]

Regarding Aaliyah, I am fairly sure that she has now scored UConn's first basket in each of the three games in the NCAA tournament thus far. In the last two games, other people took and missed jump shots -- probably because of nerves. Aaliyah's game doesn't rely on precision nearly as much as a jump shooter does. She scores with muscle and intensity more than with pinpoint accuracy -- in golf terms, she is driving rather than putting. That seems to imply that she is likely to score the first UConn basket on a putback or a fastbreak layup. When she scores, it seems to relax her teammates, who then play with fewer nerves.

Regarding Caitlin Clark and her comments after the game, I have several comments:

• First of all, she is a very well-spoken and well-mannered young woman who (like Paige) is a good role model for young girls who play basketball.
• She was very appreciative about her postgame conversation with Geno, and went into a lot of detail about what he told her. I thought she handled that topic particularly well.
• I agree that her comments about how the game was closer than the final score suggested involved a bit of hyperbole, but it was understandable. I think most competitive players would say that after a disappointing loss in a big game, unless it was a 50-point blowout.
• I was more surprised that she was very determined not to admit that UConn was any better on defense, or did anything different, than the teams she faced in the Big 10. I can imagine that Northwestern might have played equally tough defense, but I doubt that any other team did.
• I think that having a Paige - Caitlin rivalry to hype for the next three years will be a good thing for women's basketball, even if (as I expect) UConn is again bad for women's basketball.

Finally, did everyone catch Geno's elaboration of what the Paige poke at the end of the game was all about? I thought it was amusing and revealing. It occurred after Anna hit her second 3-point shot of the game. Geno said that he had told Anna that she had to contribute something to the scoreboard if UConn was going to be successful, and Anna was stressing about that. He was reluctant to play her, but CD and Jamelle convinced him that she would make one or two 3-point shots if he gave her a chance. So he did, and they were right. I guess Paige knew about that, and she was delighted to remind Geno that he was wrong. He said, "Believe me, she never misses a chance to point out when I'm wrong."

I think it is telling that Paige was pointing out specifically that he was wrong in failing to show enough confidence in one of her teammates. That is a very Paige-like thing for her to be concerned about.

 

[VidNick]

She had five assists today, below her average. But first and foremost she is a shooter with incredible range. It’s her claim to fame. If you want to debate who is the better all around player, I say Paige hands down, with 8 assists, 9 rebounds, and 18 points. Maybe Clark had an off night in rebounding and assists.

1st of all, Paige padded her scoring late with two wide open threes. I do not recall seeing her make a single contested shot all day, while missing numerous open shots including an open air ball three.

One game comparisons are not valid. The tournament is showing pretty clearly the big 10 has more good teams than any other conference. The only team Uconn played in the regular season to make it past the 1st round is South Carolina. Clark played in a tougher conference and led Caitlin in PPG, Assists and Rebounds. If her coach teaches her to take advantage of all the opportunities presented by the attention she receives, she will still have the same points on fewer shots and 10 or more assists per game.

 

[Childhood]

Regarding Aaliyah, I am fairly sure that she has now scored UConn's first basket in each of the three games in the NCAA tournament thus far. In the last two games, other people took and missed jump shots -- probably because of nerves. Aaliyah's game doesn't rely on precision nearly as much as a jump shooter does. She scores with muscle and intensity more than with pinpoint accuracy -- in golf terms, she is driving rather than putting. That seems to imply that she is likely to score the first UConn basket on a putback or a fastbreak layup. When she scores, it seems to relax her teammates, who then play with fewer nerves.

Regarding Caitlin Clark and her comments after the game, I have several comments:

• First of all, she is a very well-spoken and well-mannered young woman who (like Paige) is a good role model for young girls who play basketball.
• She was very appreciative about her postgame conversation with Geno, and went into a lot of detail about what he told her. I thought she handled that topic particularly well.
• I agree that her comments about how the game was closer than the final score suggested involved a bit of hyperbole, but it was understandable. I think most competitive players would say that after a disappointing loss in a big game, unless it was a 50-point blowout.
• I was more surprised that she was very determined not to admit that UConn was any better on defense, or did anything different, than the teams she faced in the Big 10. I can imagine that Northwestern might have played equally tough defense, but I doubt that any other team did.
• I think that having a Paige - Caitlin rivalry to hype for the next three years will be a good thing for women's basketball, even if (as I expect) UConn is again bad for women's basketball.

Finally, did everyone catch Geno's elaboration of what the Paige poke at the end of the game was all about? I thought it was amusing and revealing. It occurred after Anna hit her second 3-point shot of the game. Geno said that he had told Anna that she had to contribute something to the scoreboard if UConn was going to be successful, and Anna was stressing about that. He was reluctant to play her, but CD and Jamelle convinced him that she would make one or two 3-point shots if he gave her a chance. So he did, and they were right. I guess Paige knew about that, and she was delighted to remind Geno that he was wrong. He said, "Believe me, she never misses a chance to point out when I'm wrong."

I think it is telling that Paige was pointing out specifically that he was wrong in failing to show enough confidence in one of her teammates. That is a very Paige-like thing for her to be concerned about.

Thank you for your explanation. I'm quite confused on what Geno has mentioned. Now, it sounds you are right.

 

[Childhood]

1st of all, Paige padded her scoring late with two wide open threes.

Padded? sounds a little bit dicredit to Paige. Those 2 three are big shots to me when the lead is from 15 cut to 9.

 

[VidNick]

I was more surprised that she was very determined not to admit that UConn was any better on defense, or did anything different, than the teams she faced in the Big 10. I can imagine that Northwestern might have played equally tough defense, but I doubt that any other team did.

The Big 10 is clearly the best conference in women's basketball this year. For the 1st time ever? Many very good teams and one great team. While making a few ridiculous shots, Clark overall played a dumb game. Had she played smarter and taken what was given to her or Uconn not shot the lights out (for them) from the outside, game would have been in single digits.

 

[pvdoggy]

Padded? sounds a little bit dicredit to Paige. Those 2 three are big shots to me when the lead is from 15 cut to 9.

and I believe both times they were in response to just made 3pt shot by Iowa.

 

[VidNick]

it's easy to be a great winner, saying all the right things. Since he became a national and international recruiter of talent he has not lost a single game of consequence to a team that was not loaded with talent, size and athleticism. When you have 11 Championships, 9 of them built on the backs of three of the greatest players of all time, its like he said: another championship will not mean that much to me, but it will to these kids.

 

[darkstar1]

So you were just sitting back with your feet up when Anna had everyone who took UConn at -17.5 standing on their feet and cheering.

Yup. ? happy as a clam.

 

[mudcat]

A reason you want? How about that this is a UConn fan board and Paige and Caitlin are the two best freshman in the country. Geez, grow up!!!

I don't know why some feel that to be a fan of one team you have to insult or denigrate other teams and/or players. I think you should copy your final sentence 1000 times.

 

[UcMiami]

Can we stop comparing members of our current roster to past UConn greats.

Paige is Paige. She is not Sue or D or anybody else. Aaliyah is Aaliyah. She is not Morgan or any other UConn great. Both players are staking out their own identities. Accept them as they are - two exceptionally talented freshman that we are blessed to have wearing the UConn uniform.

Their complete stories are still be written. Enjoy it. Its going to be one he double hockey sticks of a ride.

I don't think anyone is trying to make Paige be someone she isn't or Aaliyah into Tuck, but one of the wonderful things about sports is the collective history and seeing echos that reverberate into current players and games. The athletes have changed, but people still wax eloquent about DeMagio or Russell or Lobo, or _____. And they see the game as a continuum from peach baskets to final fours. The fact that we have a pantheon of Husky greats in the women's game to compare to our current team members is actually a real positive. When DT came along, all the comparisons were to guys, same with Lauren Jackson - she had a game like _____ guy on that team. Now we have college and pro women to compare our players to. It has happened in every sport for as long as people have recorded the events.

One of the things that I like most about baseball and cricket is that the history is so well recorded and remembered - it is generally where the best sports writers have flourished, the ones who have been able to weave that history into their stories and place a game or a play or a player or a season into historic context.

 

[darkstar1]

Our physical game with Iowa: "Kudos! Refs let them play."
Texas A&M's physical game with Iowa State: "Abomination! ISU got cheated."

All I would like to see from refs is consistency. Refs did not decide this game with inconsistent and bad calls, like those that benefited A&M.

 

[j66kicker]

Strange comment. Taurasi is and always has been a shooter. The 'other' things are secondary to her.

Taurasi is second all-time in assists at UConn, with more assists than Sue, Renee, Crystal, and everyone else except Moriah.

In addition to being the all-time WNBA leader in scoring and 3 point baskets, D is also #4 all-time in assists in the WNBA.

 

[VidNick]

Padded? sounds a little bit dicredit to Paige. Those 2 three are big shots to me when the lead is from 15 cut to 9.

She was wide open. Isn't she supposed to make those shots? Far lesser Iowa players were making those shots. Making an open three is not that hard in the overall scheme of things.