Muffet's Presser

[CL82]

FWIW, I think she was fine. What was she supposed to say? "Well we lost by 11 points at home to a young UConn team that will only get better through out the season. This was our best chance to beat this team. I guess it is back to the hunt for second place."

Nope, you say that we didn't execute our game plan and we'd like another shot at them.

 

[ballhawk]

Muffet really looked disconsolate. I think this is the first time in the last four years that she expected to beat UConn. And the loss is really eating at her. And, as others have written, she could have given UConn a little more credit.

 

[Jimbo]

Just leaving this here for comparison's sake…similar situation, the aftermath of a disappointing 12-point loss in December. Not a particularly fun night to relive if you're a UConn fan, but if you can bear watching just the first two or three minutes, I think there's a fairly stark difference between this video and the one at the top of this thread.

 

[Plebe]

Thinking the same thing....all their fault they lost and no credit to UConn. And I was also thinking that if Lindsay Allen is the best point guard in the country, then it's a down year for point guards. She's good but I think I can find better.

In my opinion, Jordin Canada and Tyra Buss are better point guards, just not surrounded by the talent that Allen is at ND.

 

[Florida Fan]

A good loss for Muffet. And they will be better next time, bench Agumbawale when her forced shots don't fall. But they've ridden her aggressiveness so they let her fire away. They won't lose again if they let Allen control the ball distribution. ND's record in the ACC speaks for itself and they will be there at the end. They had the horses, the crowd and they didn't deliver. Credit the tougher team with the better defense. Muffet is not good chewing their butts and it showed. UCONN rose to the occasion and ND didn't. A remarkable demonstration of resolve over circumstance.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Just leaving this here for comparison's sake…similar situation, the aftermath of a disappointing 12-point loss in December. Not a particularly fun night to relive if you're a UConn fan, but if you can bear watching just the first two or three minutes, I think there's a fairly stark difference between this video and the one at the top of this thread.

thats against Stanford not Notre Dame... different respect for/from the coaches

 

[DaddyChoc]

why do people expect the other coach to kiss anyone's a**... lucky she didnt say "frick UConn and the plane they flew in on". Geesh this isnt a beauty pageant.

She gave props to Gabby, gee whiz (or is it wiz)!

BTW Where is southbendtim?

 

[Confident Carl]

In blaming the loss entirely with regard their team's failures.
Muffet misses (or intentionally disregards) the fact that ND's substandard effort was largely caused
by the superior grit and execution of the UConn bunch

Muffet, look at the bright side. After last night you can still say,

 

[cabbie191]

I really appreciate the video Jimbo shared of Geno's presser - I was out of the country at the time and never saw this before. Shows Geno at his best. Thanks for sharing it.

Having said that, I must admit to being in the minority and not finding MM's comments as offensive as do some others. There's a huge difference in circumstances when explaining a loss when you have been the top dog (and I happen to believe that Geno was relieved that the streak was over so he wasn't upset) and explaining a loss when you've been second fiddle for a long time and you've just lost a game you had expected to win - which she out and out admitted.

Another factor - I've done several dozen media interviews in my career. Sometimes what you say and the general flow of your comments are dictated by what the reporters are asking and how they are asking their questions. I know she has done hundreds of these before and can help control how things go - but still .....

Last, do we know for certain that the clip of her comments showed the entire presser? It seemed an unusual opening to start her remarks that way. Is it possible she had an earlier statement that was more gracious?

 

[Siestakeyfan]

We should be gentle. Muffin was experiencing a sugar crash after all those cream puffs and cupcakes.

And for the trolls who have been championing other major power's confectionary schedules: this is why you play talented teams.

A REALLY GOOD POST THX

 

[HardHatGuy#2]

IMO UConns quickness and speed forced ND into rushing. ND has many players who are slow and cant guard UCOnns quickness. UConn is really good. ND is good but not quick and doesnt have great ball handlers . UConn beat ND off the dribble and on defense UConns quickness and speed killed ND. MM talks about frustration it was caused by a weak schedule and again UConns quickness and speed.

I like everything about this post, but want to make one small modification; ND has some good ball handlers, but no good ball handling BIGS. Gabby, Pheesa, and Lou are all at least 6' tall (I don't buy the Gabby 5'11" thing) and can all handle the ball. ND has Young (6'0") only who can do so, and she plays a classic 2; none of their taller players are ball handlers.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Muffet was fine. Yes she is surprised about fouls, but go look at the box scores of games where ND won against UConn. A lot of these games over the past 5-6 years have come down to the free throws. I thought the game was called a little tight in the opening minutes, but otherwise was overall fair. Many of UConn's free throws came late in the game while a UConn player was in the act of shooting. Muffet may find this curious, but if your player makes contact with a shooter, the shooter's going to the line 99% of the time, and UConn shoots free throws better than ND does anyway.

 

[msf22b]

They won't lose again if they let Allen control the ball distribution. .

I'm one who admires Allen.
I'm surprised that Geno gives her as much space as he does w/o picking her up.
A little more pressure up-court may render her less effective.

But that one-tick pony of passing over the head of the D to get an easy bucket from Turner, sure didn't work very well did it?

Works against most everyone else, even against the big 'uns
Not very well against Gabby.

 

[billnaples]

I seem to recall watching Saniya get an elbow to the nose (accidental I am pretty sure) and I only heard about the apparent shot Gabby took to the throat area so when the replay comes up we'll look harder for that. But the bottom line is MM is coming across as a whiner, it was after all her home game so if anyone was likely to catch an edge.....

I do think that the team is rapidly establishing their own identity with a NEW big three but maybe we should go to four with Kia being a major factor more often than not in many different ways. Short bench? Not a problem, Geno workd well with 7 and who knows how the others will develop once we get into the bulk of the AAC schedule.

 

[JudgeSCR]

why do people expect the other coach to kiss anyone's a**... lucky she didnt say "frick UConn and the plane they flew in on". Geesh this isnt a beauty pageant.

She gave props to Gabby, gee whiz (or is it wiz)!

BTW Where is southbendtim?

I certainly don't expect MM to kiss anyone's a** but what I would hope is that she would recognize that the other team had something to do with the loss. I said other "team" not just one player. For instance, she says over and over that they could not get the ball into the post ... well, part of the reason is that UConn played active and tough post defense (the other part is perhaps that MM has not drilled her team enough on when and how to get the ball into the post ... but she would of course not mention that).

I get it. Her press conference should not turn into a UConn love fest. But I thought she boarded on disrespectful ... to her players. Because when you give the other team little to no credit (and you as the coach don't shoulder any of the fault) you are saying by implication 'our loss is ALL ABOUT our team playing badly.'

Look I will lose no sleep over MM and Notre Dame (unless we play them again in the tournament) but I do believe the coach should give a fuller -- but not unbiased -- description of BOTH teams' play.

 

[Confident Carl]

I seem to recall watching Saniya get an elbow to the nose (accidental I am pretty sure) and I only heard about the apparent shot Gabby took to the throat area so when the replay comes up we'll look harder for that. But the bottom line is MM is coming across as a whiner, it was after all her home game so if anyone was likely to catch an edge.....

I do think that the team is rapidly establishing their own identity with a NEW big three but maybe we should go to four with Kia being a major factor more often than not in many different ways. Short bench? Not a problem, Geno workd well with 7 and who knows how the others will develop once we get into the bulk of the AAC schedule.

Gabby got clothes lined. Words can't describe her outstanding performance last night!

 

[tonehill68]

Thanks for posting Java. Muffet's confused on why Connecticut shot more free throws than her team. Well, once she "watches" the tape, she'll realize that most of her team fouls were on three things:

1. Too many bumping/physical fouls in the lane
2. Fouls on drives to the basket
3. Blocking fouls trying to draw offensive fouls.

When you add those up, the free throws add up. Now why didn't ND shoot many free throws.

1. Player control fouls (charging fouls drawn on UCONN) just changed the possession.
2. Connecticut just don't foul when being attacked.

Now keep in mind that ND was called for FOUR more fouls and shot 16 fewer free throws. Drive to the basket, get fouled shooting and get your free throws.

 

[UcMiami]

Looking for somewhere to post this and after Muffet's comment on looking into the fouls - 8 of Uconn's foul shots came in the last 2 minutes of the game when ND was in desperation mode and over the limit - 4 fouls and 8 shots. So for 38 minutes the totals were: 15 fouls each, and Uconn 12-12, ND 4-8 on FTs. If you look at the whole of the fourth quarter as ND being more aggressive in trying to overcome a constant 6+ point deficit ND committed 9 of their fouls in the fourth quarter, Uconn only 2. So entering that fourth quarter the foul count was Uconn 13, ND 10 and Uconn shot 13 of their foul shots in that quarter so for three quarter Uconn had shot 7-7 and ND had shot 2-4. That is not a lot of foul shots for either team - 2 shooting fouls for ND and 3 for Uconn plus an 'And 1'

Is Muffet right in saying more fouls could have been called - give the whistle happy nature of the refs in the first half thankfully there were no more foul calls.

 

[Wilderness]

Just leaving this here for comparison's sake…similar situation, the aftermath of a disappointing 12-point loss in December. Not a particularly fun night to relive if you're a UConn fan, but if you can bear watching just the first two or three minutes, I think there's a fairly stark difference between this video and the one at the top of this thread.

Thank you for posting this. What a contrast! Geno lives in a larger world.

 

[JoePgh]

I don't agree with the majority interpretation of Muffitt's comments, especially about the role of the UConn defense. If you listen carefully, she said that UConn's defense took away passes to Turner from the point guard. According to her, they expected that, and their offensive plan was that their wings (presumably Westbeld and Mabrey primarily) would instead make the passes to Turner. Those passes were open (according to Muffitt) and the players just didn't make them, which was the main cause of her disappointment.

I haven't reviewed the video to see if that is an accurate account, But she certainly wasn't arguing that UConn had nothing to do with their offensive woes, only that ND (its wings specifically) didn't execute the game plan against a defense that they had anticipated.

Of course, if that is true, maybe it has something to do with the fact that they had played a rather unchallenging schedule prior to this game, so their wings would not have needed to do what was being asked of them in this game, certainly not against a challenging defense.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I started back into my second viewing of Muffet's presser and was reminded that she said their biggest problem was they got frustrated early and threw the game plan out and started playing one on one. Uh, Muffet, did you try to get them back on course and they ignored you for the whole game? A little introspection may be in order Muffet. Also, if you are still making up next season's OOC schedule you might want to ...

 

[meyers7]

Muffet sure isn't very happy. This loss really affected her.

Well they probably realize this is their one chance to take it to Geno and UCONN, but......it's just not happening.

 

[Ukonnfan]

seems like rivalry has seeped into bitterness for Muffett. ..concerning the fouls, i watched the game and I saw my more arm pulling, throat smacking by ND. just saying. I was very, very surprised that a flagrant wasn't called when Mabrey fouled Gabby. I feel like she is a dirty player.

 

[Papa33]

Re: The slant of MM's assessment of why her team lost-- quite aside from her emphasis on her players' failures to execute on offense-- she was the third opposing coach of a ranked (and vanquished) opponent to say that she wasn't sure why a critical component of her offense was clicking, that she would have to "look at tape" of the game to understand the problem. What do you think that suggests about UConn's defensive execution?

 

[meyers7]

Muffet was fine. Yes she is surprised about fouls, but go look at the box scores of games where ND won against UConn. A lot of these games over the past 5-6 years have come down to the free throws. I thought the game was called a little tight in the opening minutes, but otherwise was overall fair. Many of UConn's free throws came late in the game while a UConn player was in the act of shooting. Muffet may find this curious, but if your player makes contact with a shooter, the shooter's going to the line 99% of the time, and UConn shoots free throws better than ND does anyway.

The other thing to look at nowadays is when are the fouls committed. UCONN committed 15 fouls, ND committed 19. Not too big a disparity. However it seemed like quite a few of them were shooting fouls and add to that quite a few were in 1 quarter (the 4th). Anytime you get a bunch of fouls in a single quarter (5) you are going to get to the line now, for 2. Different than in the past when you had the bonus and double bonus in a half with the 1 and 1's.

For example, Team A and Team B both commit 10 fouls in a half, assume not shooting.
Team A commits 10 - 1st quarter and 0 in 2nd quarter.
Team B commits 5 - 1st and 5 in 2nd.

Team B is going to shoot 12 FT's. 2 each for fouls 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 in 1st quarter
Team A is going to shoot 4 FT's. 2 each for fouls 5 and 5 in each quarter.

Same number of fouls, different number of FT's.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Wow!! Lotta sour grapes from MSquared! Classy not.

 

[huskeynut]

Re: The slant of MM's assessment of why her team lost-- quite aside from her emphasis on her players' failures to execute on offense-- she was the third opposing coach of a ranked (and vanquished) opponent to say that she wasn't sure why a critical component of her offense was clicking, that she would have to "look at tape" of the game to understand the problem. What do you think that suggests about UConn's defensive execution?

This is a great point. I see two major things here.
1. If MM looked a tapes of our previous games this season, she would have seen that those passes from the wing to the post didn't work that well for Baylor or Texas, who have a bigger front line.
2. If you have to "look at the tape" to see what happened, are you really aware of what is happening during the game? What are your assistant coaches doing? How can you make any in game adjustments. This is a Kim Mulkey moment all over again.

 

[bags27]

Following up on Huskeynut (I was typing while it was being posted), I think there are 2 issues here (and some may dispute that there are any issues; I get that):

1. It is just good sportsmanship to credit the other team at least a little (I know that she praised Gabby, but in some way that's faint praise, since it's saying that a player beat them, not the other team).

2. By doing that sly shrug about the fouls, she was completely disingenuous. Please don't excuse her by suggesting that she'll learn the "truth" from the tape. She's one of the smartest coaches in the business. She analyzed the rest of the game in real time, and she knew about the fouls in real time. That was just a passive-aggressive gesture on her part.

What does this mean? McGraw is a great coach running a great program. If ND hadn't been this strong so long it would have diminished UConn's achievements. But if you compare the teaching moment that Geno created after the Stanford loss to her ever-so-slightly dodging of these moments where she could have been a bit more forthcoming, a bit more emotionally honest, you will see a large part of the reason why there has been a gap between these programs over the past 2 decades.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

I think the conditioning and physicality of UCONN attests to the so-called disparity in the fouls being called - one opinion. A lot of times these undefeated preseason coronated #1's don't see any sort of real defense until they face UCONN and that to me is the big difference. As to getting the ball to Turner, its the same defense UCONN used and will use on Coates against So. Carolina. As to Allen - too hit or miss for me to be considered up their with the big time point guards at ND. One minute she lights it up the next she's MIA. Ogunbowale is too much like Plum and Mitchell (OSU) and that doesn't align with Muffet's way of executing so that will continue to haunt ND against the big time teams. You have to give Geno some big-time credit for where this team is especially coming away from the FSU game where at a lot of folks thought 3-5 losses coming, which still might come to pass but you have to be happy where we are for early December. I have to mention the interactions between Geno and Gabby during and after the game. I don't recall Geno showing this sort of admiration and affection for a kid's performance which was very, very deserving.

 

[oldude]

There is something truly disheartening about trying to beat UConn year after year for the other top WBB coaches. I am sure that they are all working as hard as possible to recruit top talent and coach them up to play their absolute best. I have seen this deflated response before from Dawn Staley, Kim Mulkey, Brenda Freeze, Karen Aston et al.

IMO the burden of trying to take down the Huskies fell the heaviest on Pat Summit and Muffet McGraw. Pat was the top dog until UConn dethroned UT. For several years it was back and forth and then UConn pulled ahead. Pat's frustration continued to mount, and I believe it was a critical factor in her decision to submit the infamous 32-page report to the NCAA detailing alleged recruiting violations at UConn, and then ultimately cancelling the series with the Huskies.

Muffet too had her moment in the sun, winning a national championship and 7 out of 8 matchups with the Huskies. It looked for a time like ND might dethrone UConn as the "top dog" in WBB, but again UConn surged ahead. After watching UConn hoist the NCAA championship trophy in each of the past 4 yrs, last nights game had to be the ultimate frustration for Muffet. This was the one she was supposed to win. She had to be thinking, "What in the hell do I have to do to beat this team?"

So I am inclined to give Muffet and all of the other frustrated coaches a pass on less than gracious behavior when it comes to the Huskies.