ND beat writer issues some bulletin board material

[HuskyNan]

With every Notre Dame possession, the gap between women's college basketball's elite and the rest of the pretenders got wider.

The "haves" (Baylor, Notre Dame and Connecticut) really have it. The "have-nots" don't have a clue.

Notre Dame women's basketball: Message: Get out of ND's way

Yeah, maybe there's some truth in there about the gap between the top 4 and everyone else; I just don't like the tone. I imagine future ND opponents won't either.

 

[John Glass]

I think we saw that at 7:00 MD and Duke, top 10 by default, and weak schedules

 

[OneTrickPony]

"One play typified the message Notre Dame chose to deliver during its Big Monday big victory. In the first half, Louisville's Bria Smith went strong to the basket against Kayla McBride. McBride's hand met Smith and the ball at the top of her shot. McBride slammed Smith to the floor and was called for a foul.

But, it was worth it."

Well, ladies, can't say it any more clearly than that...

 

[Fightin Choke]

"One play typified the message Notre Dame chose to deliver during its Big Monday big victory. In the first half, Louisville's Bria Smith went strong to the basket against Kayla McBride. McBride's hand met Smith and the ball at the top of her shot. McBride slammed Smith to the floor and was called for a foul.

But, it was worth it."

Well, ladies, can't say it any more clearly than that...

I didn't think McBride was trying to hurt Bria. Kayla had her hands on top of the ball, and while there was body contact (and hence the foul), the force of the fall appeared to be the block, not the body contact.

 

[Fightin Choke]

With every Notre Dame possession, the gap between women's college basketball's elite and the rest of the pretenders got wider.

The "haves" (Baylor, Notre Dame and Connecticut) really have it. The "have-nots" don't have a clue.

Notre Dame women's basketball: Message: Get out of ND's way

Yeah, maybe there's some truth in there about the gap between the top 4 and everyone else; I just don't like the tone. I imagine future ND opponents won't either.

I totally agree, Nan. I'm glad it was just the beat writer and no player or coach that uttered it. "Don't have a clue?" Harsh. I guess he's trying to sell papers.

 

[OneTrickPony]

I didn't think McBride was trying to hurt Bria. Kayla had her hands on top of the ball, and while there was body contact (and hence the foul), the force of the fall appeared to be the block, not the body contact.

I like and admire Kayla, and I'm not trying to diminish her play...she is the real deal and I'm a fan. But, I don't think the goal of physical play is to hurt anyone...I think the idea is to intimidate someone into not attacking you...foul hard if you are going to foul...and even better if you can give a lick without fouling...like running over an out of position player.

My comment is more directed at our response to the physical play we've experienced...and watching the Maryland-Duke game last night reminded me of our game with Maryland where Tianna Hawkins had a good night with physical play...whereas Haley Peters negated her last night because she was prepared for the style and knew how to frustrate her...Duke did the same thing to Alyssa Thomas (as did we)...got her totally frustrated by being better mentally prepared...you cannot out-physical Alyssa.

I've seen Chiney Ogwumike and Haley Peters throw Breanna Stewart to the floor on multiple plays this year...mostly with no fouls called. Getting in the gym will help Breanna, but a lot of this is knowing how to maintain your balance and slip contact when you know a player wants to get into you. It's not an accident that Kelly doesn't get leveled by these big players, and it's no accident that Kaleena...who is a quick study...is getting much better this year at avoiding contact and scoring.

 

[doggydaddy]

Some teams need to play with a chip on their shoulder. The press just follows their lead as do some of the fans.

19,18,18,5,12,8,11,14,17,9,23,21,8,5. 13 seconds a possession in the last 10 minutes when up 22 points with a lead that was never under 19 and was stretched to 30 by the end of the game.

In looking at these seconds used by ND per possession in the last 10 minutes of the game, maybe Coach Walz was upset with fast break with 9 seconds left by ND instead of running out the clock.

He was also very upset about the foul shot differential.

"Louisville was on the short end of a lot of statistics against Notre Dame. The one that really stood out to coach Jeff Walz was that the second-ranked Irish took nearly four times as many free throws as No. 10 Louisville in the 93-64 loss Monday night. "I thought we came out, we attacked and we went at them inside," Walz said. "We get to the line seven times, and I thought we attacked and went hard at the basket. Somehow they got to the line 26 times. Stuff happens, I guess." Walz was visibly unhappy about the officiating at times, complaining when a foul against Achonwa was overturned and changed into a traveling call and again when Jude Schimmel was called for a foul with 0.1 seconds left in the first half when Diggins attempted a 25-foot running shot as she tried to beat the buzzer. "Danielle, welcome to Notre Dame," a frustrated Walz yelled toward Big East associate commissioner Danielle Donehew at the end of the court."

ESPN Recap

 

[Bestiarius]

"By then, if the Irish hold serve in the games they're supposed to win, the UConn outcome won't impact Notre Dame's situation significantly."

Already excuses for the upcoming loss to UConn?

 

[msf22b]

Pa-lease...Let's not let emotion get in the way of analysis...or just plain observation.

Notre Dame is a very good team, which does not relent when it has a lead.

Jeff may be unhappy with Notre Dame's piling on but he left his starters in as did Muffit with the predictable results.
The beat reporter may just be stating what everyone knows.

And mind you Louisville is not a bad team at all. Not like some others we've watched as recently as yesterday.
I eespecially like the way ND boxes out despite its lack of height and its defense is darned good.

And please don't let that Marbrey kid open for 3's in the corner.

We've been underestimating them for too long.
No doubt, we should be able to beat them.
By this time we all know what moves Sky is going to do, lets just stop her.

 

[doggydaddy]

Pa-lease...Let's not let emotion get in the way of analysis...or just plain observation.

I was really looking for all the emotion by posters in this thread that got in the way of analysis or observation. Can you point that out??

Notre Dame is a very good team, which does not relent when it has a lead.

I didn't see any disagreement with your first statement. Does you 2nd statement translate into "they rub it in"?

Jeff may be unhappy with Notre Dame's piling on but he left his starters in as did Muffit with the predictable results.

You can leave the starters in and still pull the plug. The results were only predicatable because they kept running and playing pressure D.

The beat reporter may just be stating what everyone knows.

Come on...now you are just making excuses for some arrogant words.

And mind you Louisville is not a bad team at all. Not like some others we've watched as recently as yesterday.

No, not bad. Just not that good.

I eespecially like the way ND boxes out despite its lack of height and its defense is darned good.

They do a great job in these areas.

And please don't let that Marbrey kid open for 3's in the corner.

1-6 on three point shots for this game. Was the make from the corner and the other 5 from somewhere else?

We've been underestimating them for too long.

Not since they beat UConn. And some not at all.
No doubt, we should be able to beat them.

So, you go right into underestimating?
By this time we all know what moves Sky is going to do, lets just stop her.

Not at ND if the refs make calls like last night.

 

[Blakeon18]

I would like to see Stanford as ND's 2 seed. On a neutral court it would be a one possession game...imo.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

With every Notre Dame possession, the gap between women's college basketball's elite and the rest of the pretenders got wider.

The "haves" (Baylor, Notre Dame and Connecticut) really have it. The "have-nots" don't have a clue.

Notre Dame women's basketball: Message: Get out of ND's way

Yeah, maybe there's some truth in there about the gap between the top 4 and everyone else; I just don't like the tone. I imagine future ND opponents won't either.

Hypothetically, if Geno Auriemma had said the statement about the "haves" and "have nots," would it be any different? It would still be true (though given the fact that Stanford beat Baylor, I would still include the Cardinal there, though the woodshed beatdown by UConn did not help).

It may be bulletin material, but it also happens to be true.

I can see your point about "tone," though given my lack of familiarity with this particular writer, I cannot say if that is this writer's style or if I would feel differently if the writer was speaking the words (with varying degrees of emphasis and inflection) as opposed to writing them.

 

[rjp172]

With every Notre Dame possession, the gap between women's college basketball's elite and the rest of the pretenders got wider.

The "haves" (Baylor, Notre Dame and Connecticut) really have it. The "have-nots" don't have a clue.

Notre Dame women's basketball: Message: Get out of ND's way

Yeah, maybe there's some truth in there about the gap between the top 4 and everyone else; I just don't like the tone. I imagine future ND opponents won't either.

I'm pretty sure we've covered this for a few seasons in a row now. Lesar is NOT a ND beat writer. This is not UConn where you have 3-4 beat writers to cover your team. The SB Tribune has beat writer- Curt Rallo. He has the AP vote for The SBT and writes every single game recap and weekly feature. Lesar writes maybe 3 articles a season that are typically ill informed both about competitors and ND itself. His M.O. is usually to swoop in a write articles nitpicking about the teams weaknesses. He does the same things about other ND teams. He isn't the normal beat writer for any of them. He just writes some hyperbolic crap a couple times a season on all of them. He isn't particularly liked or welcomed in the ND circles either His normal beat is the local fishing and hunting reports I believe. He has no incite into the team or its players. He's not around them or even witnessing games or press conferences. He strolls into a couple a year and then takes license to presume he knows what is going on.

 

[Wonkster]

I'm glad it was just the beat writer and no player or coach that uttered it. "Don't have a clue?" Harsh. I guess he's trying to sell papers.

I'll be an avid reader of this a$$clown's wcbb articles on the Digginsless Domers next year.

 

[OneTrickPony]

He has no incite into the team or its players.

I think incite is just about all he does have...

 

[HuskyNan]

Hypothetically, if Geno Auriemma had said the statement about the "haves" and "have nots," would it be any different? It would still be true (though given the fact that Stanford beat Baylor, I would still include the Cardinal there, though the woodshed beatdown by UConn did not help).

It may be bulletin material, but it also happens to be true.

Not sure why you brought Geno into the conversation. If you think I meant that this sentiment came from Muffet, I didn't say implicitly or explicitly that she had. In fact, I'll be she's never even thought anything like this. She's too good a coach to dismiss any team on ND's schedule.

I did say that I thought it was true as well - I just don't like this guy's casual dismissal of 300+ Division I teams. rjp says that this writer isn't a wcbb writer and I believe it because anyone that watches wcbb has seen the Marist's, Toledo's and Bowling Green's upset "better" teams.

 

[cardfan]

I like and admire Kayla, and I'm not trying to diminish her play...she is the real deal and I'm a fan. But, I don't think the goal of physical play is to hurt anyone...I think the idea is to intimidate someone into not attacking you...foul hard if you are going to foul...and even better if you can give a lick without fouling...like running over an out of position player.

My comment is more directed at our response to the physical play we've experienced...and watching the Maryland-Duke game last night reminded me of our game with Maryland where Tianna Hawkins had a good night with physical play...whereas Haley Peters negated her last night because she was prepared for the style and knew how to frustrate her...Duke did the same thing to Alyssa Thomas (as did we)...got her totally frustrated by being better mentally prepared...you cannot out-physical Alyssa.

I've seen Chiney Ogwumike and Haley Peters throw Breanna Stewart to the floor on multiple plays this year...mostly with no fouls called. Getting in the gym will help Breanna, but a lot of this is knowing how to maintain your balance and slip contact when you know a player wants to get into you. It's not an accident that Kelly doesn't get leveled by these big players, and it's no accident that Kaleena...who is a quick study...is getting much better this year at avoiding contact and scoring.

throw to the floor?? Holy hyperbole.

 

[OneTrickPony]

throw to the floor?? Holy hyperbole.

Chiney didn't mug Breanna as badly as she did Maya two years ago...on the takedown in question she released her neck as she started going down after the clothesline. I probably still have the recording if you don't. Haley threw her to the floor with emphasis more than once...she fancies herself a bit of a bada$$. Both ladies did a good job of intimidating the talented freshman, and she needs to learn to defend herself or its going to be a long four years. It doesn't mean she has to pay them back in kind...although I would...but she does need to learn balance and release techniques to keep from getting grabbed so much.

 

[uconnfan68]

throw to the floor?? Holy hyperbole.

uh, no.