None of the Post Mortems Mention The Short Layoff -- Why?

[JoePgh]

Early in the week, shortly after the Oregon game, I posted here that the compressed schedule between the Elite 8 and Final Four probably had the effect of spotting Mississippi State a 10-point lead in the first Final Four game.

Following the loss, I've seen many diagnoses suggested here, but none of them mentioned that. I really think it was a major factor.

The Bulldogs beat Baylor last Sunday, so they had a full day in Starkville to strategize about UConn. I am sure that Coach Schaefer did not waste that time. In fact, he has probably been cogitating about how to defend UConn's offense for the last twelve months.

On Tuesday, his team had a relatively short bus trip from Mississippi to Dallas, which probably took less than half a day. UConn had a plane flight on Tuesday, which probably did not allow any practice time, and minimal think time, to prepare for the semifinal game in Storrs before they arrived in Dallas and participated in all that hoopla.

The fact that UConn's offense didn't run smoothly at all in the first quarter, and the Dawgs picked off several pass attempts, probably had to do with their painstaking preparation. Coach Schaefer, previously known as the Minister of Defense, is very good at that when he has time and has his team's attention. By the time UConn righted the ship, they were down 16 points. From the time that the score was 29-13 to the time it was 40-39 in favor of the Huskies in the middle of the third quarter, UConn outscored MSU 27-10. That probably reflected Geno devising countermeasures to the defense and the players settling down after initial nerves. After that, the game was very tight but MSU had an advantage because of UConn's foul trouble in the front court.

Those factors had much more to do with the loss than any referee's call in the last few minutes of the game. I completely agree with those who say that the referees did a generally good job and did not decide the game.

But I do think that the extra day of undisturbed game preparation by MSU had a very substantial impact on the outcome of the game.

 

[UConnNick]

What's your point? Some teams get one less day of rest no matter how long the layoff is between rounds. They play on different days in the S16 and E8 rounds every year. Its always been that way. If you're unlucky enough to have to play with one less day of rest, so be it. They have to play the second games of the first four rounds on one day's rest, and you're complaining that UCONN only got three days rest between the E8 and semifinal game?

 

[JoePgh]

What's your point? Some teams get one less day of rest no matter how long the layoff is between rounds. They play on different days in the S16 and E8 rounds every year. Its always been that way. If you're unlucky enough to have to play with one less day of rest, so be it. They have to play the second games of the first four rounds on one day's rest, and you're complaining that UCONN only got three days rest between the E8 and semifinal game?

If the Final Four schedule had been similar to previous years (Sunday and Tuesday), then UConn would have had 6 days between the Elite 8 and the Final Four, and MSU would have had 7. The 7/6 ratio is much less advantageous to MSU than 4/3, which is what they actually had. Moreover, as I hope I said clearly, the benefit comes not from physical rest but from the thinking/strategizing time that the MSU coaches had, and that the UConn coaches really did not have.

If the game had been on Sunday rather than Friday, then the teams probably would have traveled to Dallas on Thursday, which would have given the UConn coaches 2 days in Storrs to strategize, vs. 3 days in Starkville for MSU. That is not such a big difference as 1 day vs 0 days before you have to deal with the hoopla in Dallas.

 

[CocoHusky]

If the Final Four schedule had been similar to previous years (Sunday and Tuesday), then UConn would have had 6 days between the Elite 8 and the Final Four, and MSU would have had 7. The 7/6 ratio is much less advantageous to MSU than 4/3, which is what they actually had. Moreover, as I hope I said clearly, the benefit comes not from physical rest but from the thinking/strategizing time that the MSU coaches had, and that the UConn coaches really did not have.

If the game had been on Sunday rather than Friday, then the teams probably would have traveled to Dallas on Thursday, which would have given the UConn coaches 2 days in Storrs to strategize, vs. 3 days in Starkville for MSU. That is not such a big difference as 1 day vs 0 days before you have to deal with the hoopla in Dallas.

If your point is that Vic had an extra day which proved to be strategically decisive for MSU then Vic is the coach of the Century.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I think the extra day for Mississippi State, the shorter travel, and the late game time all helped them. How much? In an OT game, any help could have been critical.

 

[VA Huskie]

I agree that all your points played out in favor of MSST. That being said, I feel that the main reason we lost was that this was the first time any of our players had to be "the show" on the big stage. MSST was great...but we weren't ourselves.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I agree that all your points played out in favor of MSST. That being said, I feel that the main reason we lost was that this was the first time any of our players had to be "the show" on the big stage. MSST was great...but we weren't ourselves.

Agreed. We had butterfingers, threw passes that were tipped, missed layups and free throws. Mississippi State played their A game, and we played our C game.

 

[Scotter]

The Friday game wasn't to UConn advantage, but the thing that bothered me all friday afternoon and gave me an uneasy feeling about the game was that UConn was playing in the second game. That's a lot of waiting around, but it was compounded by Karlie playing in the first game. So there was an emotional investment not only from Lou, but the rest of UConn as the HBO special showed. I didn't like the thought of that emotional energy getting used up before UConn played, and then my fears kind of played out with Karlie getting hurt and Stanford losing. It's an unusual situation for team sports, but you sometimes see it on fight cards. A fighter watches a brother or teammate get knocked out in a fight early on the card, and then doesn't perform up to expectations later on the card.

Waiting around for the second game is something different from all of the other big games that UConn played this season, except for UCLA which wasn't on their best performances either. And it's one of the areas where maturity helps.

 

[UConnNick]

If the Final Four schedule had been similar to previous years (Sunday and Tuesday), then UConn would have had 6 days between the Elite 8 and the Final Four, and MSU would have had 7. The 7/6 ratio is much less advantageous to MSU than 4/3, which is what they actually had. Moreover, as I hope I said clearly, the benefit comes not from physical rest but from the thinking/strategizing time that the MSU coaches had, and that the UConn coaches really did not have.

If the game had been on Sunday rather than Friday, then the teams probably would have traveled to Dallas on Thursday, which would have given the UConn coaches 2 days in Storrs to strategize, vs. 3 days in Starkville for MSU. That is not such a big difference as 1 day vs 0 days before you have to deal with the hoopla in Dallas.

They were forced to change the schedule back to the way it was originally when they first started the NCAA women's tournament. They've failed to sell out the FF during the last few years, so it was necessary in an effort to increase attendance. It worked. Having games on a midweek day (Tuesday) was crippling for attendance. It blows an entire half of the work week for most folks.

Maybe it gave the teams that played last Sunday some advantages, but generally, as far as players are concerned, they don't want to wait around for even one day to play the next game.

 

[Vowelguy]

In 2014 and earlier, the regional finals were Mon/Tues, so the gap was 6/5. Now it's 5/4. Big deal.

Also you're suggesting that Miss St didn't go home before going to Dallas. Do you know that is the case?

 

[Zanzman]

No disrespect but why can't Vic Schaefer beat SC he has had plenty of time to game plan for them stop looking for excuses and just give MSU credit for earning the victory over uconn

 

[huskyrob1]

Early in the week, shortly after the Oregon game, I posted here that the compressed schedule between the Elite 8 and Final Four probably had the effect of spotting Mississippi State a 10-point lead in the first Final Four game.

Following the loss, I've seen many diagnoses suggested here, but none of them mentioned that. I really think it was a major factor.

The Bulldogs beat Baylor last Sunday, so they had a full day in Starkville to strategize about UConn. I am sure that Coach Schaefer did not waste that time. In fact, he has probably been cogitating about how to defend UConn's offense for the last twelve months.

On Tuesday, his team had a relatively short bus trip from Mississippi to Dallas, which probably took less than half a day. UConn had a plane flight on Tuesday, which probably did not allow any practice time, and minimal think time, to prepare for the semifinal game in Storrs before they arrived in Dallas and participated in all that hoopla.

The fact that UConn's offense didn't run smoothly at all in the first quarter, and the Dawgs picked off several pass attempts, probably had to do with their painstaking preparation. Coach Schaefer, previously known as the Minister of Defense, is very good at that when he has time and has his team's attention. By the time UConn righted the ship, they were down 16 points. From the time that the score was 29-13 to the time it was 40-39 in favor of the Huskies in the middle of the third quarter, UConn outscored MSU 27-10. That probably reflected Geno devising countermeasures to the defense and the players settling down after initial nerves. After that, the game was very tight but MSU had an advantage because of UConn's foul trouble in the front court.

Those factors had much more to do with the loss than any referee's call in the last few minutes of the game. I completely agree with those who say that the referees did a generally good job and did not decide the game.

But I do think that the extra day of undisturbed game preparation by MSU had a very substantial impact on the outcome of the game.

They were just hugely tight, that's why they lost. Missed layups they normally make, missed three's. They had to go out there loose and they weren't. Not to 2nd guess Geno, but I would have given Crystal Dangerfield more PT in this game. Finally this is all a moot point if Morgan stays for her last year. Lol

 

[BostonCanuck]

Something related to this that I'm sure was a major factor in the team's personal performances, and I haven't heard it mentioned yet, is the late hour of the game. It's only a one hour time change to Dallas, but tip off was after 10 pm Eastern. That's around a student athlete's bed time, so our girls' bodies would have been starting to shut down. They went to Dallas on Tuesday, but as those of us who travel frequently know, you need closer to a week to acclimate. Once they learned they were scheduled for the second game, if they had tried to stay up a little later to prepare, they would have still been waking up at their regular body-clock time in the mornings, and somewhat sleep deprived come Friday as well.

 

[billybud]

It's a 532 mile, 8 hour bus trip from Starkville to Dallas....a slog down interstate 20.

 

[FairView]

Mississippi State won fair and square.
Sour-grape excuses just make it worse.

 

[Vowelguy]

Let's not forget the arena temperature. It was 74.3 degrees, and everyone know UConn performs best when it's 74.4 degrees. That 0.1 difference was devastating.

 

[meyers7]

But I do think that the extra day of undisturbed game preparation by MSU had a very substantial impact on the outcome of the game.

I highly doubt it. I don't see how it would be. I can see where it would be a slightly to MSU's advantage to have the extra day. But UCONN has been preparing for teams on 1 day for years. Plenty of other reasons besides this. And Stanford had the extra day and S. Carolina beat them. Sooo, I don't think there's anything to this.

 

[Aluminny69]

Finally this is all a moot point if Morgan stays for her last year. Lol

I was reminded of 2003 FF. UConn had four starters who had never started before, including four talented freshmen. The big difference, Diana Taurasi! She had already experienced two FF, including both disappointment, and victory. Yes, Morgan would definitely have provided the stability they needed.

However, I don't know what the line up would be. Who would be the odd man out of the starting lineup?

 

[huskyrob1]

I was reminded of 2003 FF. UConn had four starters who had never started before, including four talented freshmen. The big difference, Diana Taurasi! She had already experienced two FF, including both disappointment, and victory. Yes, Morgan would definitely have provided the stability they needed.

However, I don't know what the line up would be. Who would be the odd man out of the starting lineup?

Taurasi was instrumental in that game where we beat Texas. That bullet pass the length of the court was a great moment in Husky lore.

 

[bags27]

Pheesa missed (for her) bunnies, and that wasn't cause Miss State game planned her or had a shorter ride.

 

[Wally East]

In fact, he has probably been cogitating about how to defend UConn's offense for the last twelve months.

So, had he been working on it for a year or for one extra day?

 

[bizarro aj]

Uconn lost because only gabby and kls showed up to play. Nurse was horrible in that game and the reason i said she wasn't an AA showed up. If collier could make a foul shot uconn would have won. Geno just can't coach in close games and there's no way the ball should've been in chongs hands at the end of ot.

 

[CocoHusky]

Uconn lost because only gabby and kls showed up to play. Nurse was horrible in that game and the reason i said she wasn't an AA showed up. If collier could make a foul shot uconn would have won. Geno just can't coach in close games and there's no way the ball should've been in chongs hands at the end of ot.

 

[CocoHusky]

It's a 532 mile, 8 hour bus trip from Starkville to Dallas....a slog down interstate 20.

Flight time from CT to Dallas is ~5.5 Hours.

 

[Vowelguy]

Flight time from CT to Dallas is ~5.5 Hours.

No. Less than 4 1/2.