It’s Oklahoma (3/21/25 @ 9:25p on TNT)

[NotADime89]

If there are any High priority season ticket holders not using there tickets I'm looking to buy 2. Heading down Friday morning and doesn't look like I'll have enough priority points to get access through UConn. Thanks!

 

[sdglast]

Could just be tired or not revealing too much. Nothing to read into, just would have thought bracket day would incite a little more enthusiasm.

I took it this way. I don't think he sounded defeated in any way, rather was just answering questions from the media. I think it's obvious to anyone that defense has been the issue, and Hurley acknowledges that and was simply explaining why to the horde. This is typically how he is when he meets with them, so I didn't read anything more into it. In fact, he joked around a bit with them, so he seemed pretty free and easy. He also mentioned they would be scouring OU tape after he met with the horde, so he really couldn't discuss much about OU and focused mainly on UConn. I was not alarmed watching him.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

You don’t have to be stupid in the name of trying to be a good fan

That seems to be your standard course of action.

 

[Deleted at users request]

That seems to be your standard course of action.

Can you tell the class why we were able to not double team Eddy effectively?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Can you tell the class why we were able to not double team Eddy effectively?

I can easily point point out why we didn't doub;e team Edey. As to being effective, well, in a global (game outcome being the only objective) view, yes, it was effective. As far as preventing Edey from doing quite a bit of damage on his own, well, let's see what your opinion is.

 

[businesslawyer]

Gameplan being the only team in the country that could guard Eddy one on one because we had Clingan. Lol

We won the game. Do you understand that the goal of coaches it to get their team to win the game, and not to do so in the manner that you’ve decided is best? You really seem to struggle with that concept.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Can you tell the class why we were able to not double team Eddy effectively?

We're at the "relitigating the most dominant tournament performance in [x] decades" stage of the season? What are we doing here?

 

[Deleted at users request]

We won the game. Do you understand that the goal of coaches it to get their team to win the game, and not to do so in the manner that you’ve decided is best? You really seem to struggle with that concept.

Huh? My post was nothing about what manner is deemed best.

It was all about it not taking a rocket science to decide to single cover Eddy with Clingan. Lol

 

[Waquoit]

This team still goes on long, fruitless stretches on O. They need to cut that out. Put too much pressure on the D.

 

[Inyatkin]

Huh? My post was nothing about what manner is deemed best.

It was all about it not taking a rocket science to decide to single cover Eddy with Clingan. Lol

There is no Eddy.

And regardless of personnel, it was a choice to play defense the way we did. It was dissected to death. Not sure how you missed all that.

 

[gampelcrazies]

F it. Booked my flight and got tickets. I'm ready for war

 

[Deleted at users request]

There is no Eddy.

And regardless of personnel, it was a choice to play defense the way we did. It was dissected to death. Not sure how you missed all that.

What is hard about the choice to let the best defensive center in a decade guard someone one on one lol.

Don’t even understand what there is to dissect. We had Clingan. Our other players were better than theirs.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

What is hard about the choice to let the best defensive center in a decade guard someone one on one lol.

Don’t even understand what there is to dissect. We had Clingan. Our other players were better than theirs.

Please, take a look at the boxscore I posted, then decide whether you want to continue to embarrass yourself.

 

[ec33]

So somewhere between doomed and a cakewalk before being doomed?

 

[Deleted at users request]

Please, take a look at the boxscore I posted, then decide whether you want to continue to embarrass yourself.

I do not need to look at a box score when I watched the game and understand basketball.

Only an idiot would’ve decided to double team Edey when they had Donovan freaking Clingan on their team.

 

[huskyjawz]

I do not need to look at a box score when I watched the game and understand basketball.

Only an idiot would’ve decided to double team Edey when they had Donovan freaking Clingan on their team.

That's easy to say in retrospect.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I do not need to look at a box score when I watched the game and understand basketball.

Only an idiot would’ve decided to double team Edey when they had Donovan freaking Clingan on their team.

Have you been drinking today?

You are now off on some tangent that is doing little beyond your feeble intellectual capacity.

Yes, Donovan Clingan was our Primary center last season.

Yes, DC was reasonably close to Edey's size (although from the look of the two together, nearly two inches shorter and likely 40 lbs lighter).

Our staff would not have double teamed Edey if our center combo was Clingan/Johnson, Sanogo/Johnson or Johnson/Reed. They knew the damage Purdue caused oth err teams came from finding an open theee point shooter when Edey was double teamed. They also knew the Edey in his own (he had one of the better stat lines ever for a national title game) could not do enough to beat us if we kept the rest of the team in check. That is what we did. That was the approach Hurley, Young, Murray and Moore felt would give us the best chance of winning and they were correct. It wasn't (to quote Geno from when you were in diapers) a "we have Diana and they don't" situation with Clingan.

 

[uconnyankee]

A nice statistical fact from DraftKings…

 

[Deleted at users request]

That's easy to say in retrospect.

No it wasn’t lol

 

[Deleted at users request]

Have you been drinking today?

You are now off on some tangent that is doing little beyond your feeble intellectual capacity.

Yes, Donovan Clingan was our Primary center last season.

Yes, DC was reasonably close to Edey's size (although from the look of the two together, nearly two inches shorter and likely 40 lbs lighter).

Our staff would not have double teamed Edey if our center combo was Clingan/Johnson, Sanogo/Johnson or Johnson/Reed. They knew the damage Purdue caused oth err teams came from finding an open theee point shooter when Edey was double teamed. They also knew the Edey in his own (he had one of the better stat lines ever for a national title game) could not do enough to beat us if we kept the rest of the team in check. That is what we did. That was the approach Hurley, Young, Murray and Moore felt would give us the best chance of winning and they were correct. It wasn't (to quote Geno from when you were in diapers) a "we have Diana and they don't" situation with Clingan.

If you watched any of non-Clingan Edey minutes and think we would’ve single covered Edey that’s on you.

I wish Hurley would have the humility to say something like that about Clingan. Like Geno said with Diana and Calhoun would say about Emeka and Kemba.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Anyways, on to Oklahoma! This is a very winnable game and not one where our small guards will be a disadvantage.

 

[SubbaBub]

3rd best Big East team would be in the 8-10 range in the SEC so might be a closer matchup than you think.

Sounds like something the simulation would say. Reality says an SEC team not named Kentucky hasn't won the title since 2007. One not named Kentucky or Florida hasn't won since 1994 or before that, ever.

Florida might a problem, Oklahoma shouldn't.

 

[TheRogers]

If we do win on Friday, does anyone know what time our game will be on Sunday? Sorry if it was posted already

 

[gampelcrazies]

If we do win on Friday, does anyone know what time our game will be on Sunday? Sorry if it was posted already

Won't know until the games are over Friday night

 

[Brochacho]

Sounds like something the simulation would say. Reality says an SEC team not named Kentucky hasn't won the title since 2007. One not named Kentucky or Florida hasn't won since 1994 or before that, ever.

Florida might a problem, Oklahoma shouldn't.

Comments like this always get me.
A) it’s really hard to win a championship. Odds are UConn may never win one again in our lifetimes
B) citing 2007 and 1994 really don’t matter at all considering how much the game has changed in the last 5 years - never mind the last 15 or 30.
C) Kentucky being the only SEC team to win a title in the lately means we should not be worried about a team that was in the Big 12 most of that time. As if that matters anyway.
D) championships won in the last 30 years somehow affect a first round game in 2025

 

[Marbles90]

Keen to see the reffing effect in the first game to understand just how disadvantaged we’ve been in the BE. Totally agree with the StJ/Marquette view. Our offense will be an advantage.

But that door swings both ways. Yeah it will be nice to see the offense have some freedom of movement, but if we foul in these games like we did in the BE, we are going to see a bunch of guys losing minutes on the bench in foul trouble.

 

[Marbles90]

I know everyone in today’s world loves to focus on numbers and metrics, but if you haven’t seen OU play, here is their SEC 2nd round loss to KY. Take a few minutes and watch. Eye test is worth more than just numbers:



My take: Neither team (OU or KY) is all that great. Fears is a tremendous talent and plays beyond his years but he is still an 18 year old freshman and sometimes plays like it. Fears and the rest of the team do draw tons of fouls so we really need to play defense with our feet not hands. It’s weird seeing every touch foul being called. OU has guys at all positions who can hit the 3. Their guards are feisty. Just stay composed on both offense and defense and we will be fine.

 

[superjohn]

Have you been drinking today?

You are now off on some tangent that is doing little beyond your feeble intellectual capacity.

Yes, Donovan Clingan was our Primary center last season.

Yes, DC was reasonably close to Edey's size (although from the look of the two together, nearly two inches shorter and likely 40 lbs lighter).

Our staff would not have double teamed Edey if our center combo was Clingan/Johnson, Sanogo/Johnson or Johnson/Reed. They knew the damage Purdue caused oth err teams came from finding an open theee point shooter when Edey was double teamed. They also knew the Edey in his own (he had one of the better stat lines ever for a national title game) could not do enough to beat us if we kept the rest of the team in check. That is what we did. That was the approach Hurley, Young, Murray and Moore felt would give us the best chance of winning and they were correct. It wasn't (to quote Geno from when you were in diapers) a "we have Diana and they don't" situation with Clingan.

It was a we have Donovan Clingan and they don't situation in a sense. The whole reason we could play the defense we did was because of Clingan.

 

[GAlawyer]

One of the narratives I’m expecting over the next few weeks is that the SEC, while boasting some strong teams, was top heavy this year. I don’t think they truly go 14 deep as seeded. Kentucky as a 3 seed way exceeds their metrics. Ole Miss and Georgia, while improved, aren’t intimidating as 6 and 9 seeds. We should handle Oklahoma, and if we do, I think Florida will be in for a fight.

We are the 2x defending national champs with obvious faults but championship DNA. Give us 5 days to prep for a 6-12 SEC team and I’ll take our chances.

 

[caw]

Let's see, Bill Self, two time champion, has one of the deepest portal bags out there - how did he do? Indiana spent a boatload in the portal, how did they do? Kansas St? It's not as easy as buying a team. You have to pick the right ones, develop them into your system and have them buy in.

To discredit what Pitino's accomplished is going out of your way to find reason he's not a great coach. Pitting him against Hurley is not worth the conversation as he's got 20 more years on him. Let's see how it all plays out and be more secure as a fan base.

Pitino did a fantastic job this year but let's not act like he's not 50/50 in his complete rebuild attempts at SJU. He's handpicked the transfers he's wanted two years in a row and has missed the tournament one year and now is a two seed. Let's see how that two seed does.

The question for next year is what Luis and Ejiofor do. Both are massively flawed for the NBA but also should at least test the waters. If either/both go that is going to be another huge rebuild by Pitino with only Wilcher coming back of their main players. While flawed for the NBA, Luis and Ejiofor will be hard to replace, not to mention Richmond. Scott and Smith should be easier to replace. If they come back, they should be very good next year.