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NCAA Tourney games

UCLA looked all out of sorts the entire first half. Certainly a lot of that was Duke's defense. After the break it flip flopped. Duke went ice cold in Q3.
 
While I'm in "get off my lawn" mode: I like Arturo Castro as an actor, but I'm getting pretty tired of seeing him in cell phone commercials. I think he's in 1 out of every 3 ads.
 
I didn't see where Duke's FG% was at halftime, but it seemed like they didn't miss any shots. They are at 40% now, I bet under 30% in the second half. Just went so cold.
 
Reverse for UCLA. 50% now, couldn't hit shots in the first half, so they are torching the nets the final 20 minutes.



Combined 3 point shooting is 3-26! Yikes.
 
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Looks like UCLA is going to squeak past Duke, and Debbie Antonelli is trying to sell it as some sort of triumphal victory. Whatever. Both teams played their hearts out. Good on 'em.
 
Betts had a good game, but to my eye Dugalic was the key. She had some big buckets as UCLA was taking control, and then keeping them in the lead. Pretty nice to be able to bring a player like that off the bench.
 
I respect the heck out of Kara Lawson, but I want one of the Team USA assistant coaches handling things down the stretch. Duke completely mishandled the last 2.5 minutes by waiting too long to start fouling, taking terrible shots, and missing a few key opportunities to trap.
 
Bone Dog said:
Looks like UCLA is going to squeak past Duke, and Debbie Antonelli is trying to sell it as some sort of triumphal victory. Whatever. Both teams played their hearts out. Good on 'em.
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Did you watch the game? Outscored them by 20 in the 2nd half. They did not "squeak" past Duke, it was convincing.
 
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I thought Duke was really poor in the third quarter. Turnovers on like 5 possessions in a row. Did ucla’s defense really cause those turnovers? Or did Duke just shoot themselves in the foot?

I think dugalic is a problem for every team still in the tournament. She is going to be hard to match up with and opponents should just hope she settles for the 3.

Texas, South Carolina, UConn, any other team that faces UCLA needs to find a way to keep them off the glass.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Did you watch the game? Outscored them by 20 in the 2nd half. They did not "squeak" past Duke, it was convincing.
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Did you watch the first half? Yes, UCLA had a strong second half. That took guts. I’ve already praised them for it. I just don’t see it as a the sort of triumph the announcers were trying to sell. Do you? Grinding out a win against a scrappy underdog opponent in a high pressure game can be difficult.
 
JstVisiting said:
What is wrong with Notre Dame’s recruiting? Replace Hidalgo with a 2nd Team All ACC guard, they probably don’t even make the field. Can’t fathom how a program like ND ended up with this roster.
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Many transfers out last year. Could have been Hidalgo/Miles(TCU) 2.0 with Koval(LSU) at center just as examples. They have a good class coming in next year and should continue to be a top 5-10 recruiting team or higher.

Ironically, this "weak" team is a good result for them in the Elite 8, compared to the recent strong teams that were upset in Sweet 16.

They are currently an annual Sweet 16 lock. Challenge for Coach Ivey is to make jump back to a top 4 program. Of course USC, Michigan, Duke, UNC, TCU, now Vandy and even Tenn have exactly the same ambition.

Also UConn, SC, TX and LSU don't plan on giving up their turf either.

Note I left UCLA out...they have a real challenge next year replacing all those seniors.
 
Bone Dog said:
Did you watch the first half? Yes, UCLA had a strong second half. That took guts. I’ve already praised them for it. I just don’t see it as a the sort of triumph the announcers were trying to sell. Do you? Grinding out a win against a scrappy underdog opponent in a high pressure game can be difficult.
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UCLA played very poorly in the first half, they didn't look at all like themselves. I'm sure much of the credit for that goes to Duke. But they completely flipped that and then some in the 2nd half. When you outscore an opponent 39-19 over 20 minutes, it's not grinding out a win. I think you keep completely mischaracterizing how this game actually went.

I tune announcers out for the most part. I didn't hear what it was that you are reacting to. UCLA was higher seeded and supposed to win, but Duke is a team that has had a lot of momentum since some stumbles early in the season.
 
Rough finish for Duke after playing so well in the first half, they really struggled in the second. They're going to be in the mix for a Final Four again next year if they can avoid transfers and they bring back Skinner/Donovan.

UCLA righted the ship in the second half but I think they'll run into problems against Texas (assuming Texas makes it through). The Horns have the size and physicality to defend Betts and they're a lot more athletic than UCLA.
 
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bballnut90 said:
Rough finish for Duke after playing so well in the first half, they really struggled in the second. They're going to be in the mix for a Final Four again next year if they can avoid transfers and they bring back Skinner/Donovan.

UCLA righted the ship in the second half but I think they'll run into problems against Texas (assuming Texas makes it through). The Horns have the size and physicality to defend Betts and they're a lot more athletic than UCLA.
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Duke has some big losses to graduation
 
Joetro said:
Duke has some big losses to graduation
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Mair is a big loss but I think Fleary/Skinner will be able to her. Skinner in particular has been very highly touted by Kara as a passer.

Jackson is a good player who will need to be replaced, she struggled shooting this year though. Flemings is one of the top shooters in the 2026 class coming in and could make an impact immediately.

Most other programs lose quite a bit of talent going into next year so I think it'll feel more open where this season has largely been dominated by the top 4 teams.
 
JstVisiting said:
What is wrong with Notre Dame’s recruiting? Replace Hidalgo with a 2nd Team All ACC guard, they probably don’t even make the field. Can’t fathom how a program like ND ended up with this roster.
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They lost a lot of players that didn't like playing with Hidalgo.

People keep pretending this didn't happen.
 
JstVisiting said:
Unless you think they’re one of a couple of favorites who haven’t really been tested in conference and could have a glass jaw.
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Another thing people seem to refuse to remember is shorthanded Texas just snuffing UCLA out at Thanksgiving.
 
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Gamecockfan77 said:
They lost a lot of players that didn't like playing with Hidalgo.

People keep pretending this didn't happen.
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The only one I would say qualifies would be Miles. And out of the two, I don’t think Ivey regrets going all in on Hidalgo.
 
TheFarmFan said:
I respect the heck out of Kara Lawson, but I want one of the Team USA assistant coaches handling things down the stretch. Duke completely mishandled the last 2.5 minutes by waiting too long to start fouling, taking terrible shots, and missing a few key opportunities to trap.
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This! It also helps having veteran leadership on the roster. Wouldn’t be surprised to see C. Gray, Stewie, and A’ja calling plays.
 
Bone Dog said:
Maybe Emma Risch too
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I would say that was more of playing time. Ivey seemed to have her on a short leash, plus she dealt with some injuries so I could see why she wanted to go somewhere closer to home.
 
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