ND Gets a 1st Place Vote

[Wonkster]

Wonder who voted ND 1st.

The Bridgeport Fire Department voted in the Coaches' Poll?

 

[DobbsRover2]

???

I was just noting that the popular assumption in the BY seems to be that the Huskies blew away everyone. Baylor was not a blow-out. Simple fact.

Even DD agrees.

Bringing this up does not somehow imply that I think ND deserves that lone vote. I most certainly do not. How in hell did you read that into what I posted??
Bizarre.

I think the fact that every UConn game but one so far has been a total blowout is sufficient evidence the Huskies are tops, by 1,000 miles. Do we have to spin a fantasy (that every game was a blowout) too? Let's stick to facts, especially when they all favor UConn.

BTW, I think the prime reason Baylor was not a blowout was the unusually poor Huskies' accuracy on wide-open shots. Those nights happen, and they are the only way anyone can come close to beating the team, barring injury/illness/player suspension for bad behavior or the like. But horrendous shooting can infect even UConn. Remember the first half of the NC games vs. Stanford?

Whether it's possible for that kind of horrible shooting to arise in the tourney is the only possible drama regarding the outcome of this season.

Ah, fine then. You did not state in your previous post that you believed that the Huskies are 1000 miles better than ND (which is a lot more miles than even I would go), only that when ESD called the voter moronic and that UConn has won every game by double digits, you felt that the Baylor game still was close. I stupidly thought meant that you also disagreed with his displeasure about the vote even though ND has had even more much closer games. You see, I thought you had a point to make about UConn having a game that you thought was closer than the final score. My mistake, and how in hell did I think I had any reason for thinking that? Again, just stupid.

And yes good outside shooting can ebb and flow, but UConn's defense rarely is much affected. On April 6, 2010, the Huskies held a team to 20 points in the first half, 27 points in the second half, and 26% shooting for the game, and that's the biggest reason they won. The final margin was 6 points, but it was also at 13 points with 2 minutes to go. I'm not sure whether the comfort level is 6 points there or 13, but usually a win is a win, and a game is usually 40 minutes instead of 35, and therefore UConn won comfortably by double digits on the road against Baylor and not by 3 points. You play the game to the end.

 

[Fightin Choke]

At least one voter voted ND #7 too - that's even more ridiculous

You interpreted it incorrectly. That 2/7 refers to Notre Dame's ranking on the season, not this poll. Notre Dame was ranked 7th in the preseason, and their highest overall ranking has been 2nd. And UConn has been ranked #1 in every poll this season (hence 1/1).

Also, if you look at the point differential this week between Notre Dame and UConn, you can see that the 30 points indicates ND received 1 first place vote and the rest seconds, with UConn receiving 31 first place votes and 1 second.

 

[doggydaddy]

You interpreted it incorrectly. That 2/7 refers to Notre Dame's ranking on the season, not this poll. Notre Dame was ranked 7th in the preseason, and their highest overall ranking has been 2nd. And UConn has been ranked #1 in every poll this season (hence 1/1).

Also, if you look at the point differential this week between Notre Dame and UConn, you can see that the 30 points indicates ND received 1 first place vote and the rest seconds, with UConn receiving 31 first place votes and 1 second.

Thanks for posting that. We went through this before in another thread.

 

[PacoSwede]

Ah, fine then. You did not state in your previous post that you believed that the Huskies are 1000 miles better than ND (which is a lot more miles than even I would go), only that when ESD called the voter moronic and that UConn has won every game by double digits, you felt that the Baylor game still was close. I stupidly thought meant that you also disagreed with his displeasure about the vote even though ND has had even more much closer games. You see, I thought you had a point to make about UConn having a game that you thought was closer than the final score. My mistake, and how in hell did I think I had any reason for thinking that? Again, just stupid.

And yes good outside shooting can ebb and flow, but UConn's defense rarely is much affected. On April 6, 2010, the Huskies held a team to 20 points in the first half, 27 points in the second half, and 26% shooting for the game, and that's the biggest reason they won. The final margin was 6 points, but it was also at 13 points with 2 minutes to go. I'm not sure whether the comfort level is 6 points there or 13, but usually a win is a win, and a game is usually 40 minutes instead of 35, and therefore UConn won comfortably by double digits on the road against Baylor and not by 3 points. You play the game to the end.

Yes, that was stupid, since I was responding to your post, not ESD's, whatever it said.

What's your point about erratic shooting? My point was that the only way UConn can be beaten is if it has one of those terrible shooting nights. Not that I expect it. And even should the rims not be kind, UConn would simply have to prevent the opponent from scoring more, as you point out. Bottom line: Huskies aren't going to be beaten this year as far as I can see. TonyC at his most optimistic has it right.

Re: beating Baylor by 3 points? Where did that come from? The game was not a blowout, even if the final margin was 11. Even, as some others have posted, it never felt like UConn was in danger. It simply was not a blowout. Why does that bother you so much?

 

[doggydaddy]

Nina Davis is not going away.
I like her a lot, top player, too bad she's not here

Who said she was going away?

 

[UConnCat]

I wonder if one of the reporters will ask Geno about the poll after tonight's game and how he'll react.

If the situation were reversed and ND lost a #1 vote, Muffet would be all over it! Remember last year when a couple of voters didn't vote ND #1 after beating UConn she wanted to know who those voters were: "I'm over it now, but I'll be anxious to find out who voted us lower when they release the information at the end of the season."

 

[DobbsRover2]

Yes, that was stupid, since I was responding to your post, not ESD's, whatever it said.

What's your point about erratic shooting? My point was that the only way UConn can be beaten is if it has one of those terrible shooting nights. Not that I expect it. And even should the rims not be kind, UConn would simply have to prevent the opponent from scoring more, as you point out. Bottom line: Huskies aren't going to be beaten this year as far as I can see. TonyC at his most optimistic has it right.

Re: beating Baylor by 3 points? Where did that come from? The game was not a blowout, even if the final margin was 11. Even, as some others have posted, it never felt like UConn was in danger. It simply was not a blowout. Why does that bother you so much?

Especially stupid since it's a response to a response to a response. As far as I remember, the Baylor game was as first mentioned by ESD a double-digit win, as ESD said all the games had been. Whether you want to now to shift the the term to "blowout" as the measure of how impressively UConn has to win the double digit games on the road, well fine. I'm guessing that if Louisville had gone to Gampel and beaten UConn by 11 I would probably think the Huskies had been beaten pretty bad, but maybe not quite at "blowout" standard. Just really a bad double digit home loss.

As noted, the vagaries of 3-point shooting are a given for all teams who play opponents who give any kind of effort on defense. UConn can win a game 83-35 and still have a bad night from the perimeter. Sure, bad shooting can be a factor in a loss, as can throwing the ball away 25 times or getting crushed on the boards or giving up 96 points.

In the last five years UConn has won an NC when they shot 32%, and they lost games when they shot 46%. UConn is unbeaten going back many years when they have held the opponents to 56 or less points. So for you it is only a bad shooting night that can doom the Huskies, and for me it's bad defensive night when they give up too many points. But one thing we can agree on is that tonyc is ultimately the one to listen to, and even if he says that deadball rebounds is the key, I'll go with that.

 

[VAMike23]

Ah, fine then. You did not state in your previous post that you believed that the Huskies are 1000 miles better than ND (which is a lot more miles than even I would go), only that when ESD called the voter moronic and that UConn has won every game by double digits, you felt that the Baylor game still was close. I stupidly thought meant that you also disagreed with his displeasure about the vote even though ND has had even more much closer games. You see, I thought you had a point to make about UConn having a game that you thought was closer than the final score. My mistake, and how in hell did I think I had any reason for thinking that? Again, just stupid.

And yes good outside shooting can ebb and flow, but UConn's defense rarely is much affected. On April 6, 2010, the Huskies held a team to 20 points in the first half, 27 points in the second half, and 26% shooting for the game, and that's the biggest reason they won. The final margin was 6 points, but it was also at 13 points with 2 minutes to go. I'm not sure whether the comfort level is 6 points there or 13, but usually a win is a win, and a game is usually 40 minutes instead of 35, and therefore UConn won comfortably by double digits on the road against Baylor and not by 3 points. You play the game to the end.

Hmm -- someone makes a point or observation, then their post then gets either misrepresented or misunderstood (happens all the time). But then the replying poster lays on the faux sarcasm as if the other poster is really the stupid one (a bit less common). After which, a lot of extraneous info is thrown in for hand-waving purposes. All in lieu of, "My bad."

Where have I seen this before? Oh yeah, I remember now.

 

[Kibitzer]

Hmm -- someone makes a point or observation, then their post then gets either misrepresented or misunderstood (happens all the time). But then the replying poster lays on the faux sarcasm as if the other poster is really the stupid one (a bit less common). After which, a lot of extraneous info is thrown in for hand-waving purposes. All in lieu of, "My bad."

Under your characterization of faux sarcasm, you forgot a couple throwaway lines:

"Just sayin'"

"Did I miss something?"​

 

[chrissaran]

The only one that matters is the last WON!

 

[Vowelguy]

I wonder if one of the reporters will ask Geno about the poll after tonight's game and how he'll react.

If the situation were reversed and ND lost a #1 vote, Muffet would be all over it! Remember last year when a couple of voters didn't vote ND #1 after beating UConn she wanted to know who those voters were: "I'm over it now, but I'll be anxious to find out who voted us lower when they release the information at the end of the season."

Big difference of course. ND beat UConn but didn't pass them. This year the two teams haven't played.

I don't understand why this is such a big deal.
-UConn and ND have been incredibly evenly matched in the previous 2 seasons.
-Even some UConn fans on this board (not me) have said that ND is better than they were last year.
-Both teams are undefeated and have beaten very good teams.

Is it really that outrageous to consider the two teams very close in ability?

 

[UConnCat]

Big difference of course. ND beat UConn but didn't pass them. This year the two teams haven't played.

I don't understand why this is such a big deal.
-UConn and ND have been incredibly evenly matched in the previous 2 seasons.
-Even some UConn fans on this board (not me) have said that ND is better than they were last year.
-Both teams are undefeated and have beaten very good teams.

Is it really that outrageous to consider the two teams very close in ability?

I'm not sure why you chose to respond to my post to make your points. I was just poking a little fun at Muffet and her reaction to the coaches' poll last year (which was silly, btw). I don't consider losing a #1 vote to be a big deal at all, and I doubt Geno does either.

 

[pinotbear]

aside from all the "woulda, coulda, shoulda's", I have a mental image of Geno channeling Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons". He sees that another coach has voted ND ahead of his Huskies, and he hisses "..EXcellent"...

 

[doggydaddy]

Who says it's a big deal?

Just something to talk about.