Muffet Quote

[UConnCat]

I was watching a video of Muffet McGraw's media day press conference and she gave this response when asked whether she and her team are over last year's loss to Baylor in the championship game.

"No. We have not and for a lot of reasons -- not the least of which is what happened after and what came out after. It really made it harder to swallow."

What is she talking about?

 

[VAUConnFan]

I was watching a video of Muffet McGraw's media day press conference and she gave this response when asked whether she and her team are over last year's loss to Baylor in the championship game.

"No. We have not and for a lot of reasons -- not the least of which is what happened after and what came out after," McGraw said. "It really made it harder to swallow."

What is she talking about?

Baylor's NCAA violations, the details of which elude me, but it had to do with the assistant coaches and an impermissable number of phone calls and texts.

 

[alexrgct]

Baylor's NCAA violations, the details of which elude me, but it had to do with the assistant coaches and an impermissable number of phone calls and texts.

If that's the case, it's kind of weak sauce on her part. Yes, Baylor's violations should have incurred a steeper penalty in my view (and possibly Muffet's), but her team lost because her senior leaders played terribly and Skylar couldn't do it all.

 

[UConnCat]

Baylor's NCAA violations, the details of which elude me, but it had to do with the assistant coaches and an impermissable number of phone calls and texts.

Thanks. I thought about that but the connection seemed tenuous at best. I wondered if I'd missed something.

 

[UConnCat]

If that's the case, it's kind of weak sauce on her part. Yes, Baylor's violations should have incurred a steeper penalty in my view (and possibly Muffet's), but her team lost because her senior leaders played terribly and Skylar couldn't do it all.

You mean Natalie Novosel's 0 for 11?

 

[VAUConnFan]

Thanks. I thought about that but the connection seemed tenuous at best. I wondered if I'd missed something.

And really had very little to do with how badly Notre Dame was outplayed in that national champonship game. Maybe there is more to it.

 

[UConnCat]

And really had very little to do with how badly outplayed Notre Dame was in that national champonship game. Maybe there is more to it.

In fairness to Muffet, she did go on to say how badly ND played and how good Baylor was (she used the word "unbeatable"), but her initial response was to allude to recruiting violations (assuming that's what she meant and I now think it is). At least Geno's complaints about ND and fouls had something to do with the game.

 

[rjp172]

If that's the case, it's kind of weak sauce on her part. Yes, Baylor's violations should have incurred a steeper penalty in my view (and possibly Muffet's), but her team lost because her senior leaders played terribly and Skylar couldn't do it all.

She went on to give them all the credit they deserved. I took it as also a remark toward the NCAA too. They had been investigating this for years. They sat on it until after the tourney. I would think most coaches who do thinks the right way would have some issue with Baylor. It wasn't just the hiring of a AAU assistant that created a pipeline to Baylor and all the impermissible phone calls that ensued. I believe there was question of Mulkey herself chatting up the Griners outside of allowable recruiting scenarios. She downplayed it as casual, but I thought I read some initial denial and it was the Griners who confirmed. I think a lot of women's coaches are seeing more and more of this and they'd prefer the NCAA to be more harsh than the way the men are handled in order to kill it now before it gets worse. There have been two instances regarding Griner and the NCAA stepping in and I personally believe they used "kid gloves" in both instances letting Baylor off easier than other precedents that have been set.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

The quote was not a dig against Baylor; it was a quote about Notre Dame not being over the loss, which was magnified by the NCAA's slap on the wrist, in her estimation. It was an expression as to how Muffet and her players FEEL, not whether or not different action should have been taken. She was not "blaming" the loss on the NCAA.

And the point of all of this, which has gone unsaid, is that she has lost two title games in a row. That tends to "stick in your craw" a bit more than just one loss.

 

[msf22b]

And, she may not be back for a while.

 

[uconnfan68]

And, she may not be back for a while.

We can only hope.

 

[easttexastrash]

It was a dig at Mulkey, IMO. It's not as if BG ever had any interest if ND. To me it's seems a bit petty to mention it in context to the championship game. This comment plus the "innocent" remark about Griner playing like a man surely indicate that she has some hard feelings.