Ms St - Lou thread

[Centerstream]

McCowan seemed to lean on her defender and with her weight, just drove them to the court and the defender would usually get called for the foul.

 

[blaqtech]

This game should put to bed any idea of Walz as COY.

His team disintegrated down the stretch, complete lack of discipline.

Louisville girls did not make shots and that tree in the middle.....

 

[BostonFan]

MSU plays an ugly, physical style of basketball. Ughh. Not good for WCBB.

 

[jaydee602]

Why not? It was a foul plain and simple. It does not matter how little time is left especially when it is obvious. You can bet ESPN wants a UCONN, MS final.

If the refs decided that they didn't want to decide the game, why in the world would Lisa Mattingly call a petty Technical foul in the last 2 minutes?

 

[nd2tty]

Assuming UConn takes care of ND tonight, I don't see how Miss St beats UConn.

Can you imagine the difference in Gabby Williams fronting McCowan (vs. Fuehring guarding)? Especially with perimeter ball pressure on their guards making the entry passes difficult. McCowan won't catch the ball 75% of the time. The main danger of McCowan to UConn is offensive rebounds and put-backs. And defensively, on the perimeter, McCowan will be an absolute liability vs. UConn's shooters. Real danger will be foul trouble.

Vivians will be locked down. William might have a little more freedom, but do you really think she drops 25?

UConn has to handle the defensive pressure, apply some of their own, and rebound.

Last year was an abnormality.

 

[Shades]

 

[HoopsFan21]

MSU plays an ugly, physical style of basketball. Ughh. Not good for WCBB.

Yeah if we should make it that's why it's going to be tough. That style is not to our advantage.

 

[connie]

What a shame that Louisville lost. They really had it in the bag and let it slip through their fingers. Give credit to Mississippi State for playing tough and making clutch shots.

I do not intend to be ungenerous. And maybe I just don’t have an expert eye. But I just don’t see what everyone thinks is so great about McGowans. I swear I saw about a half dozen things she did wrong in the last ten minutes of the game: swatting a jump ball clear out of bounds when she clearly won the toss; Before that, failing to foul on the Louisville player who drove along the baseline for the reverse layup with 13 seconds left; near the end of overtime, blocking a shot and then chasing it out of bounds to give it back to Louisville; traveling on the very next play after getting a rebound; she threw the ball out of bounds at one point in the fourth quarter. I think I saw her almost throw the ball away on another occasion (possibly in the third quarter). And she just seems really slow up and down the court.

Again, there are things that she does which are almost unstoppable. But that seems to be primarily because of her remarkable height advantage. I certainly don’t begrudge her that. I just don’t see why she is considered an all American, statistics not withstanding. Her only option scoring is little put backs directly under the basket. Maybe this is not a representative game. I guess she is really good at positioning herself for rebounds.

 

[DeeHusky]

Doomed!

Whatever the outcome is, UConn remembers what happened. And Geno said last year, that game wasn’t supposed to be like that reffering to the players inexperience of contributing significantly in that kind of atmosphere. A year older now, whatever happens UConn is not going down without a fight.

 

[OldAlum]

Weird symmetry with last year. MSU opponent ready to win. Then a questionable choice by a player driving for the basket with time left on the clock. MSU wins in OT.

 

[JordyG]

You dont know that.
If she doesnt shoot, she probably gets fouled with 8 sec left. Who knows if she hits the FTs -- she's only 65%.

No. Walz should have gone after Vivians immediately in OT to get Vivians out of the game. Durr should have come through for them in the first half. Fuehring should have maintained her composure. The Louisville team should have maintained their composure during the last few in regulation. They should have made that layup before time ran out and won in regulation. UL earned this loss.

 

[psconn]

OMG Andy Landers talking about the "rematch"... geez.

 

[patrick]

"UConn's a great team...err Notre Dame and UConn are great teams..."

That was a good postgame interview.

Loved that!

 

[connie]

This game should not have gone into overtime, McCowan fouled Hines-Allen and it wasn't called.

I hear you. And yes, it certainly looks like a foul. But this is the sort of thing that happens in sports. Sometimes the calls just don’t go your way, and you have to fight through it.

 

[Vowelguy]

But that seems to be primarily because of her remarkable height advantage. I certainly don’t begrudge her that.

The thing is there have been other tall players and yet they did not get 13 offensive rebounds. She has made great use of her height.

 

[CajunHusky]

I miss Carolyn Peck as an analyst.

Atom Ant has got to go .... where is Dave O'Brien?

 

[connie]

Maybe not Vivians just fouled out

I think she fouled out in last year’s overtime game. But was it in the fourth quarter or an OT?

 

[Los24]

OMG Andy Landers talking about the "rematch"... geez.

Did he say that MSST rather face UConn than ND???

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Vis's strengths were Jeff's weaknesses. Sweating the little stuff matters and Jeff's teams have not had that as a strength. But there was so much chaos in this game, so many strengths that failed, it almost didn't matter, until it did. A fun game to yell at though.

 

[UConnCat]

We're quick to point out when 18-22-year-old players feel the pressure in athletic competitions and make mistakes or bad plays. It's happens to officials too. I think it happened tonight.

 

[IWearShoes]

Two out of shape teams crawling to the finish.

This is one uninformed comment. Congrats.

 

[ocoandasoc]

This played out like an SEC game -- because it was officiated like an SEC game. Not sure if that's bad or good -- but it's a fact. And it was to State's advantage.

Louisville's last drive should have ended in a foul call. But there were other bad calls and no calls all night.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Forget the officiating. Miss St won it fair and square. They wanted it more.

 

[BostonFan]

Yeah if we should make it that's why it's going to be tough. That style is not to our advantage.

MSU is a much tougher matchup since Z's advantage is now neutralized. UConn better hope their shots are falling.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'm sure this was talked about earlier but I'm not gonna wade thru the whole game thread. I question Louisville not fouling MSU on their last possession in regulation to prevent the 3 point shot. Seemed like a perfect opportunity. They even had a foul to give and didn't use that one. I think that cost them the game more than Hines-Allen shooting too early on the previous possession.

 

[Zanzman]

No technical no overtime

 

[IWearShoes]

Weird irony in Walz's career.

Maryland hits a miracle 3 to go to OT and win the NC.
Now his opponent hits a miracle 3 to go to OT and win in the F4.

Not sure an open 3 by a 42% shooter is a miracle. She did it at Iowa State last year to send that game to OT.

 

[BostonFan]

I'm sure this was talked about earlier but I'm not gonna wade thru the whole game thread. I question Louisville not fouling MSU on their last possession in regulation to prevent the 3 point shot. Seemed like a perfect opportunity. They even had a foul to give and didn't use that one. I think that cost them the game more than Hines-Allen shooting too early on the previous possession.

Yup. Louisville gave this game away in the last few minutes. Horrible coaching & refs led to disaster.

 

[Bronx23]

What a shame that Louisville lost. They really had it in the bag and let it slip through their fingers. Give credit to Mississippi State for playing tough and making clutch shots.

I do not intend to be ungenerous. And maybe I just don’t have an expert eye. But I just don’t see what everyone thinks is so great about McGowans. I swear I saw about a half dozen things she did wrong in the last ten minutes of the game: swatting a jump ball clear out of bounds when she clearly won the toss; Before that, failing to foul on the Louisville player who drove along the baseline for the reverse layup with 13 seconds left; near the end of overtime, blocking a shot and then chasing it out of bounds to give it back to Louisville; traveling on the very next play after getting a rebound; she threw the ball out of bounds at one point in the fourth quarter. I think I saw her almost throw the ball away on another occasion (possibly in the third quarter). And she just seems really slow up and down the court.

Again, there are things that she does which are almost unstoppable. But that seems to be primarily because of her remarkable height advantage. I certainly don’t begrudge her that. I just don’t see why she is considered an all American, statistics not withstanding. Her only option scoring is little put backs directly under the basket. Maybe this is not a representative game. I guess she is really good at positioning herself for rebounds.

I agree about McGowan! She's incredibly strong and quite good just around the basket for easy put ins and put backs. She has improved and will continue to do so but her game is limited! She's an excellent rebounder but then again that ain't that hard being 6'7" and so strong!
Bronx23

 

[Vowelguy]

Not sure an open 3 by a 42% shooter is a miracle. She did it at Iowa State last year to send that game to OT.

Miracle in that they were down by 3 with <10 secs.