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Notre Dame Game Thread

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+1 Of the "big 3" Lou looked the tiredest and probably had to work hardest to get open. But she hung in there. She will need to. (Of course, Pheesa didn't play the whole game.) That one drive to the left was fantastic.
Yes. KLS played smart, and took what ND gave her. They focused on her NOT getting looks from 3, and she made them pay in other ways. Very smart. All-America smart.
 
Sonya is a senior who understands her role and is willing to let the more athletic players do their thing. However, I am supremely confident that when a game is on the line and she is on the court, she will do what it takes to get the win. Don't let the slow starts and pauses fool you. UConn's streak could easily have ended with Maryland last year and FSU this year, if Sonya did not play clutch basketball.
Her name is Saniya.
 
What's this all about??


Oh, Sunday must be one of the games that Morgan will be sitting in for Debbie Fiske.
 
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Morgan will be filling in for Debbie Fiske for a few games.:);)
 

So true. Was thinking of starting a separate thread: The Genius that is Geno. Only real basketball junkies need apply.

Chapter 1: Did you happen to notice?
Geno has a young PG in Dangerfield and a combo guard in Nurse. In order to buy some time for his young PG to grow up he deploys his best post player ( a former guard) to the high post and runs the offense exclusively through her resulting in assists totals of 10, 6 , 6 in three consecutive games against ranked teams.

PS MM I'm going to need you to do better, you should have seen this coming.
 
The refs call time and players are taught to go to bench at that point to get instructions. The staff takes care of the injured player. Think about it this way if the injury were more serious you don't want players go to a teamamte and seeing that. When KML got hurt against Stanford a few years ago it was the same thing players tend to stay away.

Just watched the replay. Refs don't call a time out. It was a foul... deadball. Lindsey Allen did go to the injured player and the others looked at her like she was about to explode and moved away. 2 ND staff came to her aide but Muffet never made it. In contrast I saw two occasions when Gabby went down hard and there were instantly 4 Huskies coming to help her. I can't dispute what you say is their training, because I don't know. I can say for sure that it is "bad optics".
 
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Maybe not sell ND short but give UConn ...more credit. At ND and UConn didn't hit the three either so the margin of victory could have been larger.

... and both teams played 5 on 8 today.
 
This team astounded me again....every time I think they can't tough
out another victory against a deeper talented team, they make me look stupid...I love it!!!!!!!

You should have known since you were right about them looking forward to this game. Odds are there's got to be a let down somewhere, but where? They're having too much fun. Even the coach broke the cardinal rule in the post game interview(must be miserable).
 
Just watched the replay. Refs don't call a time out. It was a foul... deadball. Lindsey Allen did go to the injured player and the others looked at her like she was about to explode and moved away. 2 ND staff came to her aide but Muffet never made it. In contrast I saw two occasions when Gabby went down hard and there were instantly 4 Huskies coming to help her. I can't dispute what you say is their training, because I don't know. I can say for sure that it is "bad optics".
I don't want to speak on why Muffet nor some other players made it over to Young when she went down, because I don't think I have enough information to speak on it. (After all... maybe that's something Muffet tells her players not to do. Maybe they don't care about each other and have no bond. Maybe MM's feet hurt and that walk across the wood was looking longer by the second. I don't know! It was strange - I don't think I've seen something like that before where the teammates, for the most part, look so disinterested. But I don't know the dynamics of the team nor the instructions Muffet gives her team on how to handle situations like that.)

What I will say, is I can't see that happening with our team. Like you mentioned, Gabby went down hard and there were for girls right there to help her and see if she was okay. I can't imagine Geno or CD tolerating anything but that concern and quickness to respond when a teammate is down. Maybe it's just the bond they have as a team this year, but it would surprise me if a Husky got hurt and a scene similar to tonight with Gabby did not occur.
 
Gabby, Pheesa and KLS are wonderful. Kia is nearly zero offense, what happened? She played so well for team Canada. I hope Chong is ok, haven't seen her since the knock by Turner. UConn 50 - 43.

Not just you WBB_FAN_WAn, but all of you trashing Kia. Watch off the ball. Watch what she is doing. Mabrey lit up last years team and she has done jack snow tonight. That is what Kia has done. It is team basketball, not just who can score the most.
 
Not just you WBB_FAN_WAn, but all of you trashing Kia. Watch off the ball. Watch what she is doing. Mabrey lit up last years team and she has done jack snow tonight. That is what Kia has done. It is team basketball, not just who can score the most.
From Carl Adamec:
"Kia Nurse chipped in eight points and four assists. But where she made her noise was on the defensive end.

A year ago, Marina Mabrey scored 21 first-half points against the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion. Wednesdaynight, the sophomore had just two points -- a layup with 11 seconds left that accounted for the final score."
 
Kia is what I'd call the definition of a team player. She's unselfish with the ball. Everyone, from Geno to the other players, to Kia herself has said that her first thought is "what can I do to impact this game and help my team? What can I do for this team?" Some nights, it's lighting it up on offense. Some nights, it's holding Marina Mabrey to 2 points - and had Marina not gotten that layup to go, Kia would have held her to zilch. She's never going to be the consistent offensive star, and she doesn't have to be. We'd all love to see her throw up 33 points every game and see her have as much fun as she did during the DP game, but the majority of what she does for this team isn't going to show up on the stat sheet. Defense is her strength and it's something she does pretty darn well. And really, if Geno was so horribly concerned with her chilly offense (which wasn't horrible tonight if you consider the fact that she didn't get a ton of good looks - it's not like she was throwing up plain ol' bad shots, she just didn't get an ample amount of good looks) she wouldn't be starting. She does a lot for this team and if she wasn't there starting the game, it would be felt. Just because it doesn't always show up on the stat sheet, doesn't mean it's not there. :cool:

And it's just my luck that I stumbled across this video about Kia's transition from the Canadian team to UConn while writing this. I think Kia in her own words sums it up pretty well: I'm not gonna score 33 every night and I'm all right with that.
 
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In checking the rules , I don't see it as a flagrant 1 (or 2 certainly)

Nothing in either the Definitions or Fouls sections would clearly compel a flagrant call there. The ref could deem it "excessive" under example 1 of the definitions but that appears to be up to the ref's judgment. The rest of the examples rest on various types of intent, which did not seem to be present. In the Fouls section, it appears that the swinging of the elbows is generally the trigger in various circumstances. She wasn't swinging them or using her shoulders as a pivot , IIRC.
On rewatching the game and checking those two events - on review, the Saniya was just an unfortunate collision of her face with Turner's arm. I have seen fouls called in those cases but always thought they shouldn't have been - Saniyas face was just occupying space where her in landing from a vertical jump for a rebound the arm came down on top of her.
On the Gabby foul, that arm was raised deliberately to ward off a screen and it made clear and forceful contact with a players throat - that to me is a clear F1 foul and it should have been reviewed by the refs (and Geno should have requested the review.) They might have decided against a flagrant, but when a player is struck in the head or neck it is their responsibility to check.

That is the exact type of situation that the change to F1/F2 foul designations and the availability of video review was designed to address. And it wasn't like the refs had not already inserted themselves into the game.
 
Yep they are playing 3 on 5
I saw Chong make a ridiculous charge after UConn had a defensive rebound and had a chance to help open a really nice lead in the first half and that stopped any momentum UConn had at a critical time. It was an out of control play that would have been hardly tolerable from a new freshman playing in her first or second game but for it to be from a senior with the experience that she has is horrendous. I'm not suggesting that we throw her to the scrap heap but when I hear people talk her up as someone who is going to finally emerge as a significant asset to this team I find it extraordinarily hard to fathom. Obviously I wish I was wrong but I'm confident that I'm not. Again, will she have a moment or two or three where she will do something nice or beneficial? I'm sure she will but I'm just as sure there will be offsetting plays that continue to disappoint.
 
He has to stay calm for his players' sake.
I think he knows this team is kind of young and has players who haven't had the experience of being the "go to guys" and yet have exceeded most if not all people's expectations. I'm sure he knows they have a lot of potential but probably expected them to have bumps in the road and falter a bit but they have shown remarkable composure and grit. I'm also quite sure that hammering them for mistakes would be exactly that, "a mistake"! I couldn't be more pleased with the way this team has played and the contributions we've gotten from just about everybody on the team at one point or another. They're continuing to get more and more cohesive game after game. Love it!
 
I saw Chong make a ridiculous charge after UConn had a defensive rebound and had a chance to help open a really nice lead in the first half and that stopped any momentum UConn had at a critical time. It was an out of control play that would have been hardly tolerable from a new freshman playing in her first or second game but for it to be from a senior with the experience that she has is horrendous. I'm not suggesting that we throw her to the scrap heap but when I hear people talk her up as someone who is going to finally emerge as a significant asset to this team I find it extraordinarily hard to fathom. Obviously I wish I was wrong but I'm confident that I'm not. Again, will she have a moment or two or three where she will do something nice or beneficial? I'm sure she will but I'm just as sure there will be offsetting plays that continue to disappoint.
I actually rewatched that play because I was pretty sure the ND player was moving on that play - and yup, she was nicely set, Chong twisted to go around her and the ND player did a cute little hop to that side and flop which the ref bought. It was perhaps not the best play for Chong to make, but it was not egregious and she is very good on not creating charges with her body contortions. But it was certainly no worse than a few of Gabby's wildly inaccurate turnovers, or similar mistakes made by other players. For some reason you seem to take particular note (pleasure?) in criticizing and denigrating certain players. Kia I thought had a great game scoring 8 points on 6 shots with four assist and one TO while playing lock down defense. Chong had a really solid game as she has in most of the games to date playing solid defense and coming up with 27% of Uconn's offensive rebounds.
 
In checking the rules , I don't see it as a flagrant 1 (or 2 certainly)

Nothing in either the Definitions or Fouls sections would clearly compel a flagrant call there. The ref could deem it "excessive" under example 1 of the definitions but that appears to be up to the ref's judgment. The rest of the examples rest on various types of intent, which did not seem to be present. In the Fouls section, it appears that the swinging of the elbows is generally the trigger in various circumstances. She wasn't swinging them or using her shoulders as a pivot , IIRC.

"Flagrant 1. (Rule 4-15.2.c.1). It is a flagrant 1 personal foul to cause excessive contact with an opponent."

The key is the determination of "excessive". How pulling down a rebound and bashing your opponent in the jaw with your elbow, or jamming your forearm into a defender's throat to clear out space can NOT be deemed "excessive" is the issue. In both cases there was no movement by the UConn player that contributed to the contact, such as if Gabby had suddenly crouched down to swipe at the ball and moved her throat into the way of a forearm that was intended to hit her in the chest.

Outside of the "judgement call" bailout, I personally can see no legitimate argument that these were both NOT Flagrant 1 fouls, nor have I seen any posted.

The Doty flagrant in the NC a few years ago is a different story, as back then the rules mandated that contact with the elbow above the shoulder was a Flagrant 1.
 
If I told you we went 1-9 on 3s against ND you have thought we won?

When was the last time we shot only 9 3s? Or made just 1?
 
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Just watched the replay. Refs don't call a time out. It was a foul... deadball. Lindsey Allen did go to the injured player and the others looked at her like she was about to explode and moved away. 2 ND staff came to her aide but Muffet never made it. In contrast I saw two occasions when Gabby went down hard and there were instantly 4 Huskies coming to help her. I can't dispute what you say is their training, because I don't know. I can say for sure that it is "bad optics".
You are correct.

This is something that UConn does; they rush to pick THEIR teammate up off the floor. It's part of the CD way of doing things.

And I LOVE it.
 
Just watched the replay. Refs don't call a time out. It was a foul... deadball. Lindsey Allen did go to the injured player and the others looked at her like she was about to explode and moved away. 2 ND staff came to her aide but Muffet never made it. In contrast I saw two occasions when Gabby went down hard and there were instantly 4 Huskies coming to help her. I can't dispute what you say is their training, because I don't know. I can say for sure that it is "bad optics".
I think you mixing up two different things, a player being hurt, and a player being knocked down. The UCONN tradition when a player is know down is for all the other player to rush to her and provide assistance. Another UCONN tradition is to sprint off the court and to the locker room. Young was injured, the other ND player could tell she was injured because she was on the ground screaming. When a player is injured the other players are though to stay away. I used the wrong words the refs did not call a timeout they stopped the action so that the injured player could be attended to. During a stoppage the rules are also very specific-ALL players must physically remain on the court. That is why you see the UCONN players standing with Geno on the side of the court. The coach (MM) has the rest of the team and the remainder of the game to worry about. I don't think the injury would have been handled any differently if this was a UCONN player.
 
"Flagrant 1. (Rule 4-15.2.c.1). It is a flagrant 1 personal foul to cause excessive contact with an opponent."

The key is the determination of "excessive". How pulling down a rebound and bashing your opponent in the jaw with your elbow, or jamming your forearm into a defender's throat to clear out space can NOT be deemed "excessive" is the issue. In both cases there was no movement by the UConn player that contributed to the contact, such as if Gabby had suddenly crouched down to swipe at the ball and moved her throat into the way of a forearm that was intended to hit her in the chest.

Outside of the "judgement call" bailout, I personally can see no legitimate argument that these were both NOT Flagrant 1 fouls, nor have I seen any posted.

The Doty flagrant in the NC a few years ago is a different story, as back then the rules mandated that contact with the elbow above the shoulder was a Flagrant 1.
I agree about the foul on Gabby - no question in my mind. But watch the Saniya play again - there can be excessive contact that is not a foul but the natural result of multiple bodies in motion, which is what this was in my view - a case of 'sh_t happens.
 
I think you mixing up two different things, a player being hurt, and a player being knocked down. The UCONN tradition when a player is know down is for all the other player to rush to her and provide assistance. Another UCONN tradition is to sprint off the court and to the locker room. Young was injured, the other ND player could tell she was injured because she was on the ground screaming. When a player is injured the other players are though to stay away. I used the wrong words the refs did not call a timeout they stopped the action so that the injured player could be attended to. During a stoppage the rules are also very specific-ALL players must physically remain on the court. That is why you see the UCONN players standing with Geno on the side of the court. The coach (MM) has the rest of the team and the remainder of the game to worry about. I don't think the injury would have been handled any differently if this was a UCONN player.
Agree - Allen I think went to her immediately and signaled to the bench and the trainer came out as the players moved away to receive instruction from Muffet. Same thing has happened with Uconn players who were hurt. Give the trainer space to work and get your mind focused back on the game.
 
Gabby Williams was crazy good in that game. She is an incredible athlete, surely the best athlete in WCBB. Watching her last night was a lot of fun. This goes to show how good UCONN really was last year that talents like Collier and Williams were on the bench waiting their turn. And it's only going to get better for UCONN next season. She should be the ESPN Player of the Week next week.

After this game, I put Baylor as the second best team in the nation, unless Maryland shocks us with a win against UCONN. Baylor and ND both lost by 11 points but Baylor's loss was on the road and ND's loss was at home. And Baylor stayed closer to UCONN throughout most of the 4th quarter, which ND did not.
 
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I don't want to speak on why Muffet nor some other players made it over to Young when she went down, because I don't think I have enough information to speak on it. (After all... maybe that's something Muffet tells her players not to do. Maybe they don't care about each other and have no bond. Maybe MM's feet hurt and that walk across the wood was looking longer by the second. I don't know! It was strange - I don't think I've seen something like that before where the teammates, for the most part, look so disinterested. But I don't know the dynamics of the team nor the instructions Muffet gives her team on how to handle situations like that.)

What I will say, is I can't see that happening with our team. Like you mentioned, Gabby went down hard and there were for girls right there to help her and see if she was okay. I can't imagine Geno or CD tolerating anything but that concern and quickness to respond when a teammate is down. Maybe it's just the bond they have as a team this year, but it would surprise me if a Husky got hurt and a scene similar to tonight with Gabby did not occur.

What a bunch of hogwash. I have seen this before where a player goes down and only the training staff goes out and players and coaches stay away to give the staff the space they need to concentrate and assess the situation without a bunch of chatter going on. To imply that these players and coaches don't care about each other is a load of horse manure.
 
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