Muffet McGraw wins

[jdubct]

Congratulations are in order. With Notre Dame's victory today, McGraw has earned her 850th win. At the same time ND has achieved a 30-win season.

 

[oldude]

ND will be on the opposite side of the bracket from UConn with a potential battle against Baylor in a national semifinal game. While I believe UConn beats either team, I am happy that the Huskies will potentially play only one of them at the Big Dance.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Reports of Notre Dame's demise were greatly exaggerated. They stupefyingly stunk it up at Tennessee, but since then have looked quite good. Turner seems completely healthy and is running and moving well. Allen is excellent, and Mabrey seems to be at the top of her game.

They could beat anybody.

 

[oldude]

They could beat anybody.

Almost anybody

 

[bags27]

Congrats to Muffet, who UConn supporters graciously acknowledge is the 2nd best active coach in WCBB.

Naturally, I don't want to mess with mojo or give them bulletin board material (because we know that Muffet reads the BY). I do think they've improved (as has UConn), and, sure, they could beat UConn. You'd want there to be teams that could beat UConn (well, some boosters might feel otherwise). But I just don't think they're as good. Maybe they'd win 1 out of 5 against UConn, depending on shooting nights and ref calls. I think they're a tad bit slow, plodding and predictable. An excellent team, certainly, but we're talking about which is the very best team in the country.

 

[Carnac]

Congratulations are in order. With Notre Dame's victory today, McGraw has earned her 850th win. At the same time ND has achieved a 30-win season.

I watched that game. Duke played horrible. Too many un-forced turnovers, and bad shot selection. Nobody was boxing out for Duke, which resulted in lots of ND offensive rebounds, and put-backs. JPC should be embarrassed. ND had two second half runs of 10 & 16 points. ND was getting whatever they wanted on offense. Turner was having a field day in the paint. Duke won't make it beyond the second weekend in the tournament. There is absolutely no way they make it to Dallas. I'd bet the farm on that!!

 

[Gus Mahler]

Congrats to Muffet, who UConn supporters graciously acknowledge is the 2nd best active coach in WCBB.

Naturally, I don't want to mess with mojo or give them bulletin board material (because we know that Muffet reads the BY). I do think they've improved (as has UConn), and, sure, they could beat UConn. You'd want there to be teams that could beat UConn (well, some boosters might feel otherwise). But I just don't think they're as good. Maybe they'd win 1 out of 5 against UConn, depending on shooting nights and ref calls. I think they're a tad bit slow, plodding and predictable. An excellent team, certainly, but we're talking about which is the very best team in the country.

Well, I generally agree with what you've said.

Let me emphasize your emphasized "could." I did say "could." They could beat UConn and they could beat Baylor.

I don't think they're as good as UConn, either. But I would raise you and say they would win at least 3 out of 10.

 

[Gus Mahler]

JPC should be embarrassed.

What did you think of the dress?

 

[Carnac]

ND will be on the opposite side of the bracket from UConn with a potential battle against Baylor in a national semifinal game. While I believe UConn beats either team, I am happy that the Huskies will potentially play only one of them at the Big Dance.

A team will need BIGS, and good guard play to beat ND. IMHO, the only teams that can beat ND right now are Stanford (they did last year), Baylor, South Carolina and maybe Texas. And of course UConn. I don't see ND getting "bushwacked" this time like they did last year. They should make the FF. Nothing is guaranteed, we'll see.

 

[Carnac]

What did you think of the dress?

To be honest, I didn't notice. I was so upset at her team's lack of performance. ND was "pimp" slapping them up and down the floor, and there was nothing they could do about it. Too many bad shots, and unforced turnovers.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Well in the Bigs world we are settling these days. I was watching the first half of SEC championship thinking if Tina was on either team that team wins hands down. Pale shadows and yeah one of those shadows is Wilson. You know, the one who fancied herself a guard as a HS Sr.

PS. When Tina finally "got it" she REALLY Got It. Loved when she did something spectacular down low and told the camera ROAR!

 

[Dillon77]

Congrats to Muffet, who UConn supporters graciously acknowledge is the 2nd best active coach in WCBB.

Naturally, I don't want to mess with mojo or give them bulletin board material (because we know that Muffet reads the BY). I do think they've improved (as has UConn), and, sure, they could beat UConn. You'd want there to be teams that could beat UConn (well, some boosters might feel otherwise). But I just don't think they're as good. Maybe they'd win 1 out of 5 against UConn, depending on shooting nights and ref calls. I think they're a tad bit slow, plodding and predictable. An excellent team, certainly, but we're talking about which is the very best team in the country.

I watched that game. Duke played horrible. Too many un-forced turnovers, and bad shot selection. Nobody was boxing out for Duke, which resulted in lots of ND offensive rebounds, and put-backs. JPC should be embarrassed. ND had two second half runs of 10 & 16 points. ND was getting whatever they wanted on offense. Turner was having a field day in the paint. Duke won't make it beyond the second weekend in the tournament. There is absolutely no way they make it to Dallas. I'd bet the farm on that!!

Thanks to Bags for his congratulations (I think). Would like to address points that you and Carnac have made.

"I think they're a tad bit slow, plodding and predictable." Do you still have the VCR tape from the UConn-ND game in December? The one where Irish guards were trying to force everything down to Turner at the expense of the Princeton offense? Or Arike Ogunbowale was a bit hesitant to whip the ball around the perimeter? And Jackie Young and Erin Boley were not quite sure where their vast individual talents fit into the whole? If so and leading up to Tennessee, I could see that point. But that's not the team playing now. Ogunbowale and Mabrey have learned how to fit/utilize/sublimate their considerable skills into the sum of the parts and made, by doing so, both their games and the overall team's better. And Young (against Louisville) and Boley (against Duke) had their best games period. The Princeton offense is not predictable when it works well and we're back to that.

And that's not really the strength of this team. Running on the break is. That allows ND to space themselves in the lane and drive or dish. Andy Landers said that when ND's in that mode, they can play with anyone.

Carnac....Duke was, for sure, was tired (as were the Irish) from three games in three days. However, one reason Duke was terrible on offense was ND's defense, which Andy Landers commented on. The combination of zones, match-up zones and man helped a lot to contribute to Duke being out of sync. As Deb Antonelli noted, Mabrey went from offensive star on Saturday against Louisville to defensive stopper against Rebecca Greenwell. Taking away Duke's 2nd option was critical. It made Lexie Brown work hard, harder, hardest and she had nothing left after the initial 2nd half-run. Duke's two options (Brown and Greenwell) are very good, but will only go so far against better teams and they ran into one of them today.

So, I'm well aware that you're taking this from how do all teams match up against the Huskies, but this Irish team is in a different mode now. Actually has been for most of the ACC schedule. I wish Kat Westbeld's ankle was completely healed because she's our calming salve to virtually everything. With her, let's go into the tourney and see what happens....

 

[Florida Fan]

Reports of Notre Dame's demise were greatly exaggerated. They stupefyingly stunk it up at Tennessee, but since then have looked quite good. Turner seems completely healthy and is running and moving well. Allen is excellent, and Mabrey seems to be at the top of her game.

They could beat anybody.

They have the most shooters of any tournament team and an improving big. They sit people who would start for contenders.

 

[Hongster]

I would never glorify Mcgraw. She's a back stabber and an opportunist.

 

[ivrytontusker]

ND will be on the opposite side of the bracket from UConn with a potential battle against Baylor in a national semifinal game. While I believe UConn beats either team, I am happy that the Huskies will potentially play only one of them at the Big Dance.

Charlie Creme has us on the same side of the bracket as ND.

 

[UConnNick]

Charlie Creme has us on the same side of the bracket as ND.

That would make them the fourth No. 1 seed, which seems strange.

 

[UConnNick]

I would never glorify Mcgraw. She's a back stabber and an opportunist.

The numbers favor Mulkey over McGraw. She's got two NCs to McGraw's one. Miss Muffet got lucky facing a UConn team in the semis that was missing Abrosimova and Ralph when she won it in 2001.

 

[DefenseBB]

What did you think of the dress?

I did notice immediately and after my own double take of a blue print, I froze the screen and actually thought she looked pretty good in it vs. her standard black with black jacket or sweater. Though based on how they ended the game, I doubt we'll see one again.

 

[chuck.r]

Charlie Creme has us on the same side of the bracket as ND.

Creme's Bracketology page has a note at the top that states that "regions are not reflective of final four pairings". So the graphic layout of his brackets is arbitrary.

 

[triaddukefan]

I watched that game. Duke played horrible. Too many un-forced turnovers, and bad shot selection. Nobody was boxing out for Duke, which resulted in lots of ND offensive rebounds, and put-backs. JPC should be embarrassed. ND had two second half runs of 10 & 16 points. ND was getting whatever they wanted on offense. Turner was having a field day in the paint. Duke won't make it beyond the second weekend in the tournament. There is absolutely no way they make it to Dallas. I'd bet the farm on that!!

Considering the clowns in the national media didn't even have Duke ranked until the second week in December, and the fact that we have a awful coach, and none of our players are good enough to get national recognition... That's quite a bold proclamation.

 

[bballnut90]

The numbers favor Mulkey over McGraw. She's got two NCs to McGraw's one. Miss Muffet got lucky facing a UConn team in the semis that was missing Abrosimova and Ralph when she won it in 2001.

She seems to get the most out of her players over their four years. Kim does a good job developing talent as well but I think Muffet's a stronger coach in most areas. She seems to do more with less than maybe any other coach and consistently has one of the best offensive teams in the country. She also would likely have 4-5 titles of her own if there was no UCONN, where Kim still has just the two titles if there was no UCONN.

Notre Dame has looked fantastic as of late. Much improved from the first meeting with Connecticut. Turner looks much smoother and more aggressive, Mabrey is playing well and Allen looks magnificent running the show. Even role players like Boley, Young and Westbeld look much improved and are capable scorers. I think they'll be the toughest test for Connecticut if they meet in the Final Four or title game.

 

[CONNMAN98]

She seems to get the most out of her players over their four years. Kim does a good job developing talent as well but I think Muffet's a stronger coach in most areas. She seems to do more with less than maybe any other coach and consistently has one of the best offensive teams in the country. She also would likely have 4-5 titles of her own if there was no UCONN, where Kim still has just the two titles if there was no UCONN.

Notre Dame has looked fantastic as of late. Much improved from the first meeting with Connecticut. Turner looks much smoother and more aggressive, Mabrey is playing well and Allen looks magnificent running the show. Even role players like Boley, Young and Westbeld look much improved and are capable scorers. I think they'll be the toughest test for Connecticut if they meet in the Final Four or title game.

I agree with most of what you say except that she seems to do more with less. I would think for quality players Notre Dame is usually near the top of teams in the country.

 

[CocoHusky]

What did you think of the dress?

I though the dress was Myrtle Beach appropriate-in Mid-summer-maybe!

 

[CocoHusky]

Considering the clowns in the national media didn't even have Duke ranked until the second week in December, and the fact that we have a awful coach, and none of our players are good enough to get national recognition.

OK, let me give it up for Duke & JPM.. At the beginning of the season I said in an exchange with @CamrnCrz1974 that Coach JPM should be fired for " incompetence" & I was wrong.
I have watched her interactions with the players very closely and clearly the interactions this year are more positive and seemingly yielding better results. Duke is clearly playing better basketball than last year but still maddeningly sporadic. That makes it very hard to predict what Duke will do in this tournament. Against the right team (Drake??) Duke could bow out in the second round at home as it did a few years ago to DePaul or Duke could make it all the way to a regional final or even FF in Dallas.

 

[Carnac]

Considering the clowns in the national media didn't even have Duke ranked until the second week in December, and the fact that we have a awful coach, and none of our players are good enough to get national recognition... That's quite a bold proclamation.

I don't have an issue with your team. I watched the game, and quite frankly was pulling for them. I wanted them to knock off Notre Dame. They pulled it to within 2 (43-41) in the 3rd quarter. Then, something happened. ND went on a run, and never looked back. I don't want to use the word "quit", but at times it almost looked that way. McCalley did not make any adjustments to attempt to stem the run. You saw the game, I don't have to rehash it. I'm not a Duke fan, but I really was pulling for them yesterday, hard. It was not a good day for the Blue Devils, they lost every quarter to the Irish. Hopefully your team will have better luck in the tournament.