Muffet Speaks With Only A Little Hoof and Mouth

[Orangutan]

LOL And have you read, or do you expect to read, all about the talent on this year's UConn squad? No, all that has been written has been about who left.

I have read plenty about UConn's talent...on this board

And why isn't the entire press conference video on the Notre Dame site? Where did you get the added information about what she talked about? I'd like a link please.

Here you go - McGraw Optimistic, Confident in Deep Irish Squad Sometimes they are a little slow getting things up on UND.com WatchND.tv puts up press conferences the fastest.

I think MM gave last year's seniors a kick in the ass going out the door with the "little talent" comment. There could have been a nicer way to say it. While they may not have been in the same class as the UConn trio they played 50 minutes a game last season and, along with Turner and Allen were the core of the team. So in fact, Notre Dame lost half it's starting core. And if you compare this year's preseason roster with last year's Notre Dame is missing nearly a third of the minutes. Remember, last year at this time Reimer was also part of the roster. So Notre Dame goes into this season with 3 starters missing from last year's starting lineup. Of course one can say that Notre Dame has already adjusted to Reimer's loss. yeah, All the way to the S16. But Boley hasn't yet played a single minute and despite all the accolades is untested. We have seen with Stewart how freshmen can struggle. Mabrey the younger and Ogunbowale started last season hot but IMO peaked in the UConn game. By the end of the season both were much less effective.

Well, Mabrey1 (Miami) and Cable (Wisconsin) are enemy combatants now that they are working elsewhere as graduate assistants! She does talk later about needing to replace Mabrey1 and Huffman as "glue" players. There are definitely some questions about this team and you do a good job of listing them out. I would say that the young players (Mabrey2, Arike, Boley, Young) are more talented than the departed seniors. Huffman, Cable, and Mabrey1 got the most out of their talent. It remains to be seen whether those younger players can do the same. I am optimistic, though, especially regarding the sophomores. I know that Arike and Mabrey2 put in a lot of offseason skill work.

And since when is having 5 or 6 teams out of 350 vying for a title called "parity"? Is parity defined as "when your team is a contender"?

When you're coming off of 3+ years of utter domination by one team, 5 or 6 teams having a chance does look like parity by comparison. I think Syracuse and Washington showed last year that their may be more teams capable of deep tourney runs than most people think.

 

[Dillon77]

Pre-season--MOST LIKELY to win the NC---that could have been written about ND most of the last 4 years (maybe just the first 3).
They had the best shot --when Baby Mabrey went off on Uconn I thought it would be a different final 4.

Baby Mabrey. I like that...

However, now that Michaela has left "Baby Mabrey" or Mabrey2 or simply Marina is now the only NJ Shore Girl on campus. The new "Baby Mabrey" is now Dara and she's just starting her junior year at Manasquan, down the Shore. However, she might find herself out west in two years...

..but first, time to enjoy Marina in her soloness (new word....) as a Mabrey,
along with her buddy Arike and new running mate, Jackie (Young).

 

[Charliebball]

Young and Boley will be excellent for ND........... just a matter of time..............they would certainly see minutes if they were playing for Geno...........

 

[Kaizen]

This board has exceptionally high standards if a double-double (even if restricted to one half) is not "showing up": Stanford vs Notre Dame - DI Women's Basketball

Do you think she is a double-double (a UConn recruit 2018)

Aubrey Griffin,
The Ossining freshman has announced her presence with authority since stepping onto the floor and has been turning heads every step of the way. Griffin, a 5-foot-11 forward, grabs her second lohud girls basketball player of the week honor after averaging 41.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in two Pride wins last week, including a 49-point, 15-rebound display against Peekskill on Friday.

Player of the week (Jan. 17): Aubrey Griffin, Ossining

 

[BroadwayVa]

Baby Mabrey. I like that...

However, now that Michaela has left "Baby Mabrey" or Mabrey2 or simply Marina is now the only NJ Shore Girl on campus. The new "Baby Mabrey" is now Dara and she's just starting her junior year at Manasquan, down the Shore. However, she might find herself out west in two years...

..but first, time to enjoy Marina in her soloness (new word....) as a Mabrey,
along with her buddy Arike and new running mate, Jackie (Young).

Thanks---Manasquan?? I live on the Jersey Shore--New Gretna (near where the phone lines go to europe).
Ok--I'll use Mabrey2 (First names allude me). Is she as accurate as Mabrey2???

 

[Alydar]

Pre-season--MOST LIKELY to win the NC---that could have been written about ND most of the last 4 years (maybe just the first 3).
They had the best shot --when Baby Mabrey went off on Uconn I thought it would be a different final 4.

Not me. When an opposing team hits 70% of their 3's in the first half ... and still trail on the scoreboard, I feel like a win is in the bag.

 

[southbendcane]

McGraw: NCAA women might see parity in '16-17

Seems she and the rest of the NCAA, except UConn, lost little talent. How will Madison Cable feel about that?

Did you listen to her interview ? She said what she is waiting to see is who will replace the things that the 3 girls they lost brought to the table. Cable was the first one she mentioned along with Mabrey and Huffman. Nice try.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Lol.

Pot: "Kettle, you are black."

If having thin skin, i.e. prone to respond to personal comments, 80 percent of Americans would be Black.
Probably make it a better place.

 

[southbendcane]

How old is Madison Cable??? 34?? She seems to have been at ND forever. Tough old lady --I like her..

Muffet said Nothing WRONG! What she failed to say is ---there has been parity with Uconn for the last 4 years--who has Uconn faced in the NC these past 4 years?? Tx, Baylor, USC, ND all had equivalent teams--Uconn was just a bit more equal. If Turner was more aggressive as Stewie was--who knows? Does Muffet mean PARITY means being able to beat Uconn?? Bad premise!
Parity comes when everyone achieves the level of technical play and coaching as Uconn--it's not about breeding down but breeding UP!

Other than that Muffet was truthful and ambitious for her team--but I think she did not do ND WBB a service by alluding to the departure of Uconn's Golden 3 as a reason for Parity or success of ND WBB.

It never was about how Badly UConn played but how well everyone else did.

U Conn and Tennessee were ahead of the curve.They got the jump on All Americans and top recruits. Now these other teams are getting as many and some even more. It took them a while to catch up. Until Diggins came along N.D. only had maybe 3 or 4 High School All Americans ever. U Conn has more then that on their team every year. N.D. has like 7 or 8 this year so its put up or shut up time. . It be interesting to see how U Conn would of done if they only had 1 All American every few years instead of a handful and usually the top player in the country every year? Just saying.

 

[southbendcane]

She believes 6-3 forward Brianna Turner (14.6 points, 7.3 rebounds), is the nation's best player and senior Lindsay Allen, who averaged 9.3 points and 5.8 assists, is the best point guard.

==>When does NCAAW basketball become such low standard ???

I was wondering when someone would mention that lol. I love Turner but just wish she had a little outside game which Muffet claims she worked on over the off season. As for Allen i wish she had a little more fire and was more vocal but she is steady and good at what she does. I was one to quickly say Mo Jeff was a better guard when Muffet said Allen was the best last year. I think she says that some time to give her players more confidence in themselves and let them know how much confidence she has in them. If their not the best they are both up there . I think Wilson from South Carolina might be a little better then Turner .

 

[BroadwayVa]

Anything to talk about something besides what a certain high school senior is thinking/tweeting today....

I take your points, Irish fans, but I hope you can understand that some of us think this is code:
"I'm expecting that this is the year where parity finally hits women's basketball. It's a long time coming. I think it's going to be great for the game."
This is essentially what was tweeted by an idiot sports writer (not quite a redundancy, but close) during UConn's historic run. Is UConn supposed to feel guilty that it didn't allow parity by being better than everyone else for four straight years? If "parity" is great for the game, is non-parity bad for the game? Is Muffett criticizing UConn's "behavior"?

I know she's answering questions off the cuff, but still "when parity finally hits..." sounds like there was a disease that's finally gone away, like "when health finally returns." There was no parity because no team could beat UConn. Frankly, saying it the way she did (and I do think she's a master of this formulation) is being passive-aggressive.

that is all; I'm expecting my blood pressure to come down, now too.

Count to 10 then repeat 20 times---Uconn National Champs 11 times, Uconn National Champs 11 times, etc.

Mary Beth Green (not her name) always got 100 plus and add extra credit--for 4 years in HS and 4 years in College--she was impossible to exceed. In College some protested they change grading to a Curve and not use Mary Beths grades . The college rejected the request--they said : We don't dumb down our Academic expectations--we expect excellence. The same applies to those Colleges that want PARROTY in WBB-same goes for BB. Expect and demand excellence as Geno does. Perfection is to be striven for.

 

[southbendcane]

You people read into things to much. All she said was that U Conn has been a dynasty for so long and this year there is actually teams on the same level maybe even better so other teams actually have a chance for a change. That is a compliment. There are about 8 teams that could win it this year including U Conn. When was the last time that many teams were in the mix ? You lost 3 All Americans and only brought in one top recruit. Many other teams loss a lot less and brought in more as well. Yes to U Conn fans your dominance is enjoyable no doubt. But to every other division one team its not very fun when you know who is going to win the title before the season starts. This year their is hope. Its a breath of fresh air to women's basketball for many. Your being treated like the wicked witch in The Wizard Of Oz. Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead. Everyone else was the Lolly Pop Guild for all these years . Let us come out from hiding and have a little fun would ya lol.

 

[Dillon77]

Thanks---Manasquan?? I live on the Jersey Shore--New Gretna (near where the phone lines go to europe).
Ok--I'll use Mabrey2 (First names allude me). Is she as accurate as Mabrey2???

In 2015-16, Michaela Mabrey, the senior (Mabrey 1) shot 64 of 160 from 3-point land, or 40%.
Marina Mabrey, the freshman (Mabrey 2...the one who went off at UConn), shot 34 of 75 for a 45% 3-point percentage. Overall, she shot a tinge over 51 percent in averaging 10.7 pts per game.
Dara Mabrey (Mabrey baby) led Manasquan High with 50 3-pointers last year as a sophomore. Could not find a percentage in the stats presented (where I looked).

BTW, she plays with Faith Masonius, a 6'1" wing who is for sure D-1 material and has several connections to UConn. (Charlie and I talk about this odd coupling of UConn and ND on one high school team.). If you have a chance, check out a few Shore conference games. I went to two last year and loved 'em.

 

[southbendcane]

Count to 10 then repeat 20 times---Uconn National Champs 11 times, Uconn National Champs 11 times, etc.

Mary Beth Green (not her name) always got 100 plus and add extra credit--for 4 years in HS and 4 years in College--she was impossible to exceed. In College some protested they change grading to a Curve and not use Mary Beths grades . The college rejected the request--they said : We don't dumb down our Academic expectations--we expect excellence. The same applies to those Colleges that want PARROTY in WBB-same goes for BB. Expect and demand excellence as Geno does. Perfection is to be striven for.

Translated have 5 or 6 All Americans including the over all best player every year along with a dam good coach and you to could win 11 National championships.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Help me out folks because I am confused. On other threads on The Boneyard posters talk about the loss of the big 3 and that UCONN will lose some games but still be an excellent team. When Muffet mentions parity isn't that pretty much the same thing posters on the BY have been saying? Other than the hatred some seem to have for her no matter what she says, what are people disputing?

I don't hate Muffet; to me she's unworthy of fan hate. I have distain for her. I tried to make clear in kicking this off that she says nothing new in saying UConn is backing down to the pack this year in her opinion. When she said every one else lost very little she put her hoof in her mouth.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

This article pulled from a 15-minute press conference she gave yesterday, of which 90+% of the time was spent talking about her own players. But of course ESPN isn't going to print the quotes about how Koko Nelson is in better shape or Erin Boley has the best 3-point shot on the team or Brianna Turner has been working on her free-throw line jumper, etc. etc.

Did she anoint Turner POY and Llyod PG of year as has been suggested in an article about that press conference?

 

[Orangutan]

Did she anoint Turner POY and Llyod PG of year as has been suggested in an article about that press conference?

Yep. Same as it ever was.

 

[southbendcane]

No, never cared much for Bill Belichick- he's from a Navy family. Anyway, when asked about the national scene and how ND stacks the words "UCONN" did not need to come out of her mouth to adequately answer the question. The next time Geno has a press conference about the status of HIS team and the words ND is part of his response you can be offended- or pretend to be.

Are you serious?. It just bothers you so much to hear that you lost a lot and might actually be human this year. All she is saying is that by them losing some big parts to their team and others not losing as much that things are wide open. She brung up U Conn because she was talking about women's basketball and they are the team to beat every year. Some people are mad that she brought them up and others are mad she didn't bring them up when answering another question. She will never get a fair shake with your fans because she is the coach of your biggest rival. No matter what she says someone will always find a way to bring out the negative. Give the lady a break.

 

[southbendcane]

Did she anoint Turner POY and Llyod PG of year as has been suggested in an article about that press conference?

How could a coach ever hype up her own players by saying they could be the best at their positions or the best player? What was she thinking? If Allen gets best guard first team and Turner is the Player Of The Year then what would you say ? Probably that they didn't deserve it . Not everyone is like Geno and down plays his players to get more out of them even though he knows how good they are. The tough love approach isn't for everyone.

 

[JordyG]

Help me out folks because I am confused. On other threads on The Boneyard posters talk about the loss of the big 3 and that UCONN will lose some games but still be an excellent team. When Muffet mentions parity isn't that pretty much the same thing posters on the BY have been saying? Other than the hatred some seem to have for her no matter what she says, what are people disputing?

Because no one says Alabama domination is bad for CFB and that spreading the talent around would be good for that game. I'm not the only one to notice that good coaching better informs equal talent. But winning with good talent is a different kettle of fish. If the best talent were the only prerequisite for championships why can't Calipari win every year? Why is it in CFB that Jim Harbaugh can walk into CFB and make Michigan a title contender overnight? Because great coaching makes great players champions. To repeat myself, Bill Walsh used to say in sports you have coaches and you have gym teachers. Harbaugh, Saban, Geno and Popovich are coaches.

 

[southbendcane]

Because no one says Alabama domination is bad for CFB and that spreading the talent around would be good for that game. I'm not the only one to notice that good coaching better informs equal talent. But winning with good talent is a different kettle of fish. If the best talent were the only prerequisite for championships why can't Calipari win every year? Why is it in CFB that Jim Harbaugh can walk into CFB and make Michigan a title contender overnight? Because great coaching makes great players champions. To repeat myself, Bill Walsh used to say in sports you have coaches and you have gym teachers. Harbaugh, Saban, Geno and Popovich are coaches.

He couldn't beat the Seahawks.

 

[CocoHusky]

Are you serious?. It just bothers you so much to hear that you lost a lot and might actually be human this year. All she is saying is that by them losing some big parts to their team and others not losing as much that things are wide open. She brung up U Conn because she was talking about women's basketball and they are the team to beat every year. Some people are mad that she brought them up and others are mad she didn't bring them up when answering another question. She will never get a fair shake with your fans because she is the coach of your biggest rival. No matter what she says someone will always find a way to bring out the negative. Give the lady a break.

What lady and what would you like me to break?
FYI I am better at crushing souls than breaking things and brung is not a word.

 

[CocoHusky]

U Conn and Tennessee were ahead of the curve.They got the jump on All Americans and top recruits. Now these other teams are getting as many and some even more. It took them a while to catch up. Until Diggins came along N.D. only had maybe 3 or 4 High School All Americans ever. U Conn has more then that on their team every year. N.D. has like 7 or 8 this year so its put up or shut up time. . It be interesting to see how U Conn would of done if they only had 1 All American every few years instead of a handful and usually the top player in the country every year? Just saying.

UCONN still ahead of the curve. That would not be interesting for UCONN to have 1 HS All-American per year that would make UCONN like ND. or Louisville, or Duke, or Stanford= BORING! Your are not "just saying" more like "just recycling" same old {Self edited }.

 

[Kaizen]

I was wondering when someone would mention that lol. I love Turner but just wish she had a little outside game which Muffet claims she worked on over the off season. As for Allen i wish she had a little more fire and was more vocal but she is steady and good at what she does. I was one to quickly say Mo Jeff was a better guard when Muffet said Allen was the best last year. I think she says that some time to give her players more confidence in themselves and let them know how much confidence she has in them. If their not the best they are both up there . I think Wilson from South Carolina might be a little better then Turner .

I agree Turner and Allen are, top players, but not the best.
Unless they are as good as Stewie.

 

[southbendcane]

I agree Turner and Allen are, top players, but not the best.
Unless they are as good as Stewie.

Stewie is gone. I know its hard . But you have to let her go. You can do this.