Muffet's Presser

[oldude]

It is a joke that UConn is not a power 5!!!

No, it's all about football.

 

[uconnell]

No, it's all about football.

Rutgers?

 

[HoopsFan21]

No, it's all about football.

It's cool. We will just keep thumping the P5 schools as a mid-major. Kind of embarrassing for them really.

 

[oldude]

Rutgers?

Certainly Rutgers hasn't been very impressive in football in the Big 10, or in any other sport for that matter, but they did experience somewhat more success than UConn in football prior to their entry into the Big 10, and they did a wonderful job convincing the Big 10 that having a team in NJ would open up the New York media market to the Big 10, which turned out to be BS.

 

[Schoup]

It is a joke that UConn is not a power 5!!!

P5 is about football, that's the problem for UConn. The best hope was ACC, which didn't happen.

 

[Schoup]

Certainly Rutgers hasn't been very impressive in football in the Big 10, or in any other sport for that matter, but they did experience somewhat more success than UConn in football prior to their entry into the Big 10, and they did a wonderful job convincing the Big 10 that having a team in NJ would open up the New York media market to the Big 10, which turned out to be BS.

It's it's not BS. It's a cash cow for the BTN. They get to jam a monthly fee into cable packages, in an area that has 13M cable subscribers with NYC and NJ. Having NYC as a B10 market helped them get their massive new tv deal. Expansion is about markets and thus why RU and MD were added to the B10.

 

[uconnell]

Certainly Rutgers hasn't been very impressive in football in the Big 10, or in any other sport for that matter, but they did experience somewhat more success than UConn in football prior to their entry into the Big 10, and they did a wonderful job convincing the Big 10 that having a team in NJ would open up the New York media market to the Big 10, which turned out to be BS.

I think it was more about cable boxes on which the Big 10 really made mucho $$$. The Big is happy with the money but not so happy with the losing rep that comes along with RU athletic dept.

 

[msf22b]

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)..

I think that is part of Muffet's MO: In the NCAA championship game which UConn won after several years of failure against the Irish, I remember a similar presser; substitute Breanna for Gaby

 

[oldude]

It's it's not BS. It's a cash cow for the BTN. They get to jam a monthly fee into cable packages, in an area that has 13M cable subscribers with NYC and NJ. Having NYC as a B10 market helped them get their massive new tv deal. Expansion is about markets and thus why RU and MD were added to the B10.

I think it was more about cable boxes on which the Big 10 really made mucho $$$. The Big is happy with the money but not so happy with the losing rep that comes along with RU athletic dept.

Not certain about the MD/DC market, but Penn State, and even Notre Dame for that matter, are bigger draws in the NYC/NJ markets than Rutgers.

 

[uconnell]

Not certain about the MD/DC market, but Penn State, and even Notre Dame for that matter, are bigger draws in the NYC/NJ markets than Rutgers.

The Big10 doesn't care if anyone watches or not as the collect the money from the cable boxes either way.

 

[BobbyJ]

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.

Great coaches know how to handle a wing who won't get the ball to, as she described, an open post. How long do you think it would have taken Auriemma to address this problem? Listening to these so called great coaches say they have to look at the tape to see what happened makes me wonder how many times Auriemma has said he had to do that.

 

[oldude]

The Big10 doesn't care if anyone watches or not as the collect the money from the cable boxes either way.

You just touched a nerve. I have only one cable company in my area (TWC) that has just been acquired (Spectrum). They are jacking up rates, and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it unless I can live without internet & phone service.

At least SNY is part of the lineup.

 

[Schoup]

Exact

The Big10 doesn't care if anyone watches or not as the collect the money from the cable boxes either way.

Exactly. the beauty of conference networks is people pay the fee in their cable bill regardless. It's jammed in to the packages, just like a lot of other channels with not a lot of regular viewers. Conferences can cover 50M or 75M cable subscribers and they are all paying up to a $1 month for a channel they don't really watch. That adds up to a lot of many for B10 to split with Fox or for the SEC to split with ESPN.

 

[cabbie191]

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.

I agree with the first sentence in the part of your post I am quoting, but I'm not so certain about the second.

A major reason why ND was favored by many to win is they are a veteran team. They started 1 senior, 2 juniors and 2 sophomores. Collectively these women have played 9 games against UConn (and yes, I know Turner was injured and didn't play all the games, but she was on the bench).

ND's players had to know what to expect in terms of UConn's defensive intensity - and if they were ill prepared to face it last night because of a soft schedule, then shame on MM for not creating it during practice.

 

[Schoup]

I agree with the first sentence in the part of your post I am quoting, but I'm not so certain about the second.

A major reason why ND was favored by many to win is they are a veteran team. They started 1 senior, 2 juniors and 2 sophomores. Collectively these women have played 9 games against UConn (and yes, I know Turner was injured and didn't play all the games, but she was on the bench).

ND's players had to know what to expect in terms of UConn's defensive intensity - and if they were ill prepared to face it last night because of a soft schedule, then shame on MM for not creating it during practice.

if you want to make that argument you really need to tally games played and minutes. If you go by just year, than one could argue the teams were the same essentially. UConn starts 1 senior, 2 juniors, and 2 sophomores.

 

[cabbie191]

if you want to make that argument you really need to tally games played and minutes. If you go by just year, than one could argue the teams were the same essentially. UConn starts 1 senior, 2 juniors, and 2 sophomores.

No disagreement here - in fact, I think your observation reinforces the point I was trying to make - both teams know each so well that there shouldn't be any surprises.

Which leads to another observation/question: If you view the 2013 and 2014 pressers that Tusker so graciously posted, there's a common thread to what was said there and MM's statement last night. UConn is great at getting under the Irish's skin so that they don't play up to their potential. ND comes out edgy and nervous in these games. Maybe MM should hire a sports psychologist/counselor!

One other thought - as poorly as Notre Dame played, they weren't even close to being a pushover. If we meet up with them in April, I think it will be a tighter contest.

 

[StephStorrs]

No disagreement here - in fact, I think your observation reinforces the point I was trying to make - both teams know each so well that there shouldn't be any surprises.

Which leads to another observation/question: If you view the 2013 and 2014 pressers that Tusker so graciously posted, there's a common thread to what was said there and MM's statement last night. UConn is great at getting under the Irish's skin so that they don't play up to their potential. ND comes out edgy and nervous in these games. Maybe MM should hire a sports psychologist/counselor!

One other thought - as poorly as Notre Dame played, they weren't even close to being a pushover. If we meet up with them in April, I think it will be a tighter contest.

Haven't a few teams had some real success with a sports psychologist/team counselor? If I remember correctly, Ollie brought in one for the men either last season or the season before and it worked well - no reason it wouldn't work well on the women's side of the game. No funny business at all, but it might actually be of some real benefit to her and the team.

 

[oldude]

Haven't a few teams had some real success with a sports psychologist/team counselor? If I remember correctly, Ollie brought in one for the men either last season or the season before and it worked well - no reason it wouldn't work well on the women's side of the game. No funny business it all, but it might actually be of some real benefit to her and the team.

This is exactly why it's great that Geno is a Master Psychologist.....

 

[Hope]

She thought she had the best team since she had the best center and best guard in the country, except that she should have blamed herself not having prepared her team for this game. Her team will miss FF again this year if she started to act like the coach at Duke.

While Coach Joanne P. McCallie earned a master's degree in "How to Throw Your Entire Team Under the Bus", I think MM is not quite up to that scholarly level yet.

 

[JavaMan]

Right on, cferraro. A total absence of generosity on Muffet's part. She was "surprised" by UConn; she thought she had this one locked up. To watch her was almost painful; it appeared she was going to break into tears or to explode as she rocked back and forth and tapped her fingers rhythmically. Hopefully she brought her meds. Even her praise of Gabby was qualified by saying that Williams probably doesn't usually play that well. All in all a complete beat-down at least for the sour old coach. Such is the stuff of Schadenfreude.

When she said "I was surprised," it didn't hit me right away, but by the time she finished her sentence, I thought, omg, she thought this was a guaranteed win for them. Wow!

​

 

[cabbie191]

When she said "I was surprised," it didn't hit me right away, but by the time she finished her sentence, I thought, omg, she thought this was a guaranteed win for them. Wow!

​

Absolutely wow! It isn't often that a coach admits that they really expected to win a big game, especially after they lost. I really think she was suffering from shock and a magnitude of disappointment that was off the chart. That's one reason why I am willing to cut her some slack as regards what she said.

 

[Sea Goat]

We totally out played them. Who gives a $#!t what MM thinks?

 

[j66kicker]

Absolutely wow! It isn't often that a coach admits that they really expected to win a big game, especially after they lost. I really think she was suffering from shock and a magnitude of disappointment that was off the chart. That's one reason why I am willing to cut her some slack as regards what she said.

Kudos to MM for expecting to win (and admitting it too, I suppose) - many/most teams facing UConn don't have that that expectation. But why cut her any slack? The off-the-charts "shock" and "magnitude of disappointment" just makes the victory all that more enjoyable

 

[drweo]

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.

Based on the replay I saw of the shot to Gabby's throat, it should have been (IMO) a flagrant foul. It was an elbow, above the shoulder, and not a play on the ball. I am really surprised that Geno did not press for the officials to review it, given how clear it was that Gabby was hurt.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

I agree with the first sentence in the part of your post I am quoting, but I'm not so certain about the second.

A major reason why ND was favored by many to win is they are a veteran team. They started 1 senior, 2 juniors and 2 sophomores. Collectively these women have played 9 games against UConn (and yes, I know Turner was injured and didn't play all the games, but she was on the bench).

ND's players had to know what to expect in terms of UConn's defensive intensity - and if they were ill prepared to face it last night because of a soft schedule, then shame on MM for not creating it during practice.

And UCONN had what? 1 senior, 2 juniors and 2 sophomores in their starting lineup so who was the veteran team when all was said and done? I think they were favored because on paper they were the more explosive offensive team. And last year's ND frosh had nothing to lose. Now, there are expectations and you play different when there are expectations.