Is Muffit the best coach in women's BB?

[earl the pearl]

She sure has our number..........

 

[EricLA]

All joking and possible sarcasm aside, UCONN is a better team on paper, yet Muffett and ND figured out how to win. when both teams are in the top 5, ND is now 5-3 or -6-3 against UCONN (i read that on their board and can't recall which it is)...

 

[Fiftyish]

She sure has our number..........

Geno probably thinks so.

 

[Icebear]

Muffet is indeed one of the best coaches in the game. She, also, has the advantage of more games against UCONN than anyone else between regular season and Big East and NCAA games.

 

[blackbird]

She's one of the best coaches. And she knows how to coach against Uconn. She also has a player who just seems to have it out for us.

 

[UConnCat]

Maybe Geno knows how Summit felt during the Taurasi era.

 

[Fiftyish]

Muffet is indeed one of the best coaches in the game. She, also, has the advantage of more games against UCONN than anyone else between regular season and Big East and NCAA games.

Conversly, Geno has had a lot of exposure to her game plans and seems to be having a problem coming up with an effective response. ND really handled UConn's press well and was able to score against it with quick guards.

 

[RoyDodger]

Seems every time I watch a UConn/Notre Dame game, it feels like the same game. Deja vu, anyone? And the result, as we all know, has been very similar in five of the last six games they've played. And I know that I, like others on the BY, feel that ND gets far too many foul calls in their favor (is there an Oscar in store for Diggins et al?). In today's game, ND had 24 free throw attempts vs. only 14 for UConn. So, I decided to go back over the last six meetings and see just how many free throws ND got vs. the Huskies. Well, the UConn site wasn't working correctly for the stats for the first of the six games back in the 2010-2011 season(3/8/11). So, I added up the free throw attempts for the games on 4/3/11, 2/27/12, 3/5/12, 4/1/12, and today. In those five games Notre Dame had 105 free throw attempts. UConn had 66.

You'll be interested to know that on 2/19/11, when UConn beat ND by 21 points, even in that game ND had 21 FTA vs. 16 for UConn.

 

[VAUConnFan]

1. Coach McGraw became a better coach the day she successfully recruited Skylar Diggins. Good players make good coaches.
2. Free throw attempts aside, there was only a disparity of one personal foul in this game. It seems that UConn won every statistical category except the all important final score. Hit one of the last three shots and we are not even having this discussion.

 

[phil sampieri]

She sure has our number..........

I hope all of you nay sayers have your life vests on when you jumped off the ship.

 

[tomcat]

Right now, and until UConn, which has more talent, can beat ND, which has more heart, the answer is yes.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Muffet is actually an excellent coach, period. Wouldn't put her in the Pat / Geno league, but definitely first rate.

I'll never forget the year they were undefeated and RU beat them (UConn did that year, too). In any case, either that year or the next, RU had a big first half lead that dissappeared in the 2nd half. Questions were asked at the fan club and Vivian actually answered. Muffet made one simple defensive adjustment that neutralized the game plan we had developed against them. Very impressive, it had to do with how they were playing Tasha Pointer, and she was unable to score or pass after the adjustment.

 

[cferraro04]

Muffet is a great coach...she gets the most out of her players...she primes them, toughens them, develops a game plan and works the plan... I just hate losing to ND didn't like it when it was Ruth Riley's team and I don't like it now that it is Skylar Diggins' team. Today, I will credit Muffet for figuring out that when UConn puts on their press that the run-outs off inbounds plays was there...she must have seen it on the game tape...she got her team to buy into it and it worked. No amount of coaching can account for the two cold-blooded threes that Skylar hit and that ridiculous circus shot she hit as the shot clock expired...

 

[rjp172]

Muffet is actually an excellent coach, period. Wouldn't put her in the Pat / Geno league, but definitely first rate.

I'll never forget the year they were undefeated and RU beat them (UConn did that year, too). In any case, either that year or the next, RU had a big first half lead that dissappeared in the 2nd half. Questions were asked at the fan club and Vivian actually answered. Muffet made one simple defensive adjustment that neutralized the game plan we had developed against them. Very impressive, it had to do with how they were playing Tasha Pointer, and she was unable to score or pass after the adjustment.

I was at that game. Remember because got in an verbal altercation with one of the blue hairs that throw a fit if you stand up during the game at any point. Rutgers had either a 16 or 18 point half time lead I believe. I do definitely remember CViv making the team practice at midnight in the hotel. It was a fairly early tip off. Lots of discussion about that "wtf" move by CViv.

 

[Scotter]

Let's be honest she's not in Pat / Geno league almost entirely because of recruiting. Pat and Geno deserve credit for recruiting because it is a fundamental part of college coaching, but when it comes to purely being a basketball coach Muffet in my opinion Muffet is certainly in their league.

Muffet is actually an excellent coach, period. Wouldn't put her in the Pat / Geno league, but definitely first rate.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Let's be honest she's not in Pat / Geno league almost entirely because of recruiting. Pat and Geno deserve credit for recruiting because it is a fundamental part of college coaching, but when it comes to purely being a basketball coach Muffet in my opinion Muffet is certainly in their league.

I don't disagree, but I'll add one more point that one could argue is a function of your point also. Geno and Pat sustained the 1st rate excellence year in and year out - no other team ever wanted to play UConn or Tenn. But most teams didn't fear Notre Dame and there were some "off" years where ND wasn't in the NC talk. Except for the last couple of seasons, when were UConn and Tenn not in the NC talk?

 

[cardfan]

Muffet has had some great guards, more so than TN in the last 10 yrs. She didn't have a Parker type impact player, but she gets good guards. It's a guards game.

 

[Scotter]

I don't disagree, but I'll add one more point that one could argue is a function of your point also. Geno and Pat sustained the 1st rate excellence year in and year out - no other team ever wanted to play UConn or Tenn. But most teams didn't fear Notre Dame and there were some "off" years where ND wasn't in the NC talk. Except for the last couple of seasons, when were UConn and Tenn not in the NC talk?

Like you said it is a function of recruiting. Muffet has taken three completely different groups of players to the Final Four in the last 20 years, won a national championship, and knocked off a more talented UConn team three times in the Final Four. That is sustained excellence as a basketball coach to me just not as a recruiter.

 

[wallman]

Well she seems to do a lot better job than Tara!!!

 

[Woof 101]

Obviously one of the best in the game right now. The real question is why was a a center jacking up threes time and again with the shot clock just starting.

That and the last two shots from three point land when a two or a foul inside would have won it. Did we not have a time out left to set up a play?

 

[Scotter]

Stanford has gone to five consecutive Final Fours because of their guards? Outside of Taurasi how many guards have really been the best player on a national championship team in the last 20 years? Guards can be a limitation on a team because of how often the ball is in their hands. Teams must have competent guards to win, but basketball has never truly been a guards game. As testament to that Notre Dame won its championship behind Ruth Riley.

Muffet has had some great guards, more so than TN in the last 10 yrs. She didn't have a Parker type impact player, but she gets good guards. It's a guards game.

 

[cardfan]

Stanford has gone to five consecutive Final Fours because of their guards? Outside of Taurasi how many guards have really been the best player on a national championship team in the last 20 years? Guards can be a limitation on a team because of how often the ball is in their hands. Teams must have competent guards to win, but basketball has never truly been a guards game. As testament to that Notre Dame won its championship behind Ruth Riley.

I was comparing ND to TN. I agree Riley was the key, but they don't get there without a quality pg like Ivey.

In addition to Taurasi, I would credit Bird with a few of your NC's. Other non UConn and ND teams that won NCs with great guards include: Stanford, Purdue, A&M, Baylor. We made it to 4 straight F4s in the 90s with Wideman, Starbird and Smith, but didn't win. ODU in '97 with Ticha P. who beat us, but then lost to TN and Kelly Jolly, who was a pretty good pg for the time. Imho, TN doesn't win in '07 and '08 without Bobbit, their tiny pg.

For Stanford, we've had good balance of very good posts, 3 pt shooters and solid guard play. Wiggins, Ros Gold Onwude, and JJ Hones were our back court with Appel and Pedersen in the post, and got us to our first F4 in 10 years in '08. Then Ros, JJ continued with Pohlen, with help from Murphy and Lindy L. with Appel, Pedersen, both O sisters, then Orrange and Lindy L. last year. Our post game was fine (minus Appel being hurt in SA), but we needed more production from our back courts in Tampa vs TN, San Antonio vs. UConn and Indy vs. A&M. And vs. BU in Denver. I didn't really count STl, but Renee M. took it to us then.