Notre Dame inadvertently shows how difficult 87 straight is

[schmendrick]

 

[Carnac]

Wow!!!!! A UConn win, and a Notre Dame loss (to an unranked team). It doesn't get any better than THAT!!!!!

 

[jcoton56]

I don't have words for how bad I don't feel.

 

[bleeckerhusky]

Wow!!!!! A UConn win, and a Notre Dame loss (to an unranked team). It doesn't get any better than THAT!!!!!

It does, but unfortunately Tennessee won.

 

[easttexastrash]

Thank goodness. We can finally drop Norte Dame to a more deserving ranking. I still am confused as to how they lost to UCONN at home and didn't drop ANY.

I presume MD won't drop any, either.

 

[SCGamecock]

Maryland looked way better in a loss to UConn than Notre Dame looked in their loss to the Huskies... I think Maryland actually ran out of time, they were gaining momentum as the game ended.. UConn just kept making play after play to keep them at bay. On the other hand, Notre Dame never really seriously threatened in their game versus the Huskies... they just looked kinda blah in that game..

 

[Blueballer]

I was shocked to see ND drop this game. I did see that Turner fouled out. Was wondering if she was in foul trouble the entire game? Also makes me wonder if ND had a couple of sick players? Looks like Mabrey was the only one doing significant scoring. Odd game.

 

[alexrgct]

But not to UConn those games haven't!!!

That's a stunning loss. Thankfully, the Huskies have more and more great wins on which to hang hats. ND gets exposed, but it was still a great road win for UConn over the Irish earlier this month. The Maryland road win was terrific. Florida State, Ohio State, Texas, DePaul? Very impressive season thus far!!!

 

[Sonny44]

Maryland looked way better in a loss to UConn than Notre Dame looked in their loss to the Huskies... I think Maryland actually ran out of time, they were gaining momentum as the game ended.. UConn just kept making play after play to keep them at bay. On the other hand, Notre Dame never really seriously threatened in their game versus the Huskies... they just looked kinda blah in that game..

Brenda called good time outs tonight. Stopped our momentum.

 

[easttexastrash]

...makes me wonder if ND had a couple of sick players?

If they weren't they are now.

 

[Suebird10fan]

Thank goodness. We can finally drop Norte Dame to a more deserving ranking. I still am confused as to how they lost to UCONN at home and didn't drop ANY.

I presume MD won't drop any, either.

Meantime your team keeps racking up impressive wins.

 

[PhillyCoach]

Hey, remember, ND (according to MM) has the best point guard and the best post player in the nation! And didn't they have one of the best recruiting classes this year?

 

[bballnut90]

Surprisingly, Notre Dame just isn't as good this year. They don't have the depth they did a year ago since they traded out Cable/Mabrey/Huffman for Young/Boley/Patberg who are not ready to contribute in high level basketball games. Turner looks about the same as she did a year ago--which in her defense, she was rehabbing the entire off season, but she still isn't as polished or aggressive as she should be. They really don't have any depth for her unless you count Kristina Nelson, who has cost points for ND so far this year. Besides that, you have Mabrey 2.0 who is good, Allen who has been good, and Ogunbowale who can be terrific, but she is best suited as a spark plug rather than a go to scorer.

I've been all about Notre Dame the last several years and really thought this was their best chance for a title, but I've been underwhelmed in games I've seen this year. They still could win the ACC and go on to make another Final Four, but I have a lot less confidence in this year's squad compared to the previous 5 versions.

 

[JordyG]

Brenda called good time outs tonight. Stopped our momentum.

Wondering where you were. I'd be more upset about the Terps mediocre execution, Jones' surprising ineffectiveness and your teams inability to best a clearly mulit-player flu sick, shorthanded, and foul troubled UConn than Frese's poor timeout selection.

 

[JordyG]

Hey, remember, ND (according to MM) has the best point guard and the best post player in the nation! And didn't they have one of the best recruiting classes this year?

Ouch coach! I think ND played their Walz's "Get as many shooters as we can" approach while abandoning their tried and true "Get as many team oriented, character players" this year. It appears to have backfired. When your shooters ain't hitting, how then do you generate offense? If your guards have been creating off the dribble most of the game when the defense collapses and you need that outside shot, uh-oh! The shooters are now out of sync with the offense.

 

[UcMiami]

Ouch coach! I think ND played their Walz's "Get as many shooters as we can" approach while abandoning their tried and true "Get as many team oriented, character players" this year. It appears to have backfired. When your shooters ain't hitting, how then do you generate offense? If your guards have been creating off the dribble most of the game when the defense collapses and you need that outside shot, uh-oh! The shooters are now out of sync with the offense.

Not sure that is exactly fair, but I agree that perhaps the great consistency that MM has been able to generate through seven or so years of graduating talented players has finally run it's course. This year it seems to be a struggle to run ND's quality team offense and the defense is a little suspect as well. They still have time, but they have struggled more than usual in wins and losses alike this year.

 

[eebmg]

It does, but unfortunately Tennessee won.

I hope Tennessee has a resurgence (top 20) so they are in the tournament with a relatively high seed. Then put them in our bracket
( I am sure the tournament organizers will do this for their own good) so we can beat their brains out.

 

[Orangutan]

Ouch coach! I think ND played their Walz's "Get as many shooters as we can" approach while abandoning their tried and true "Get as many team oriented, character players" this year.

Apologies for this flareup of my OGS...

ND 15-16 - 632 assists on 1037 FG = 60.9%, team a/to ratio = 1.23
ND 16-17 (to date) - 269 ast on 441 FG = 61.0%, team a/to ratio = 1.37

My least favorite thing about wcbb discussions is the tendency to equate wins/losses to "character".

9 of 11 players were on the team last year. The new players are Young and Boley.

Young's HS coach: “I’ll remember her as the ultimate team player,” Mair said. “She’s the most humble player and best team player I’ve ever coached."

Boley's HS coach: “She’s a great teammate, too,” Mudd said. “She’s humble, and she has a passion to win. If she gets 31 points and we lose, she’s still incredibly upset. You can’t say that about a lot of kids in today’s world.”

So what are we really talking about here - Ogunbowale not passing enough? Anything else?

 

[JordyG]

Apologies for this flareup of my OGS...

ND 15-16 - 632 assists on 1037 FG = 60.9%, team a/to ratio = 1.23
ND 16-17 (to date) - 269 ast on 441 FG = 61.0%, team a/to ratio = 1.37

My least favorite thing about wcbb discussions is the tendency to equate wins/losses to "character".

9 of 11 players were on the team last year. The new players are Young and Boley.

Young's HS coach: “I’ll remember her as the ultimate team player,” Mair said. “She’s the most humble player and best team player I’ve ever coached."

Boley's HS coach: “She’s a great teammate, too,” Mudd said. “She’s humble, and she has a passion to win. If she gets 31 points and we lose, she’s still incredibly upset. You can’t say that about a lot of kids in today’s world.”

So what are we really talking about here - Ogunbowale not passing enough? Anything else?

When teams of equal talent hit the field or court, with coaches of virtually equal measure, for me, it almost always comes down to character. Who wants it more, and what are they willing to do to win.

I respect you and your team more than any other in CBB, men or women's. The numbers you've quoted clearly show exemplary assist to FG numbers.

 

[MilfordHusky]

The ND result is a stunner. I'm not sure this stat is exact, but I think it's close:

The Irish have lost 7 games over about 4 seasons, and 5 of those have been to UConn. They almost never lost to anyone else. An unranked NC State team? Shocker!

 

[Plebe]

The ND result is a stunner. I'm not sure this stat is exact, but I think it's close:

The Irish have lost 7 games over about 4 seasons, and 5 of those have been to UConn. They almost never lost to anyone else. An unranked NC State team? Shocker!

It's interesting as well that Notre Dame's only 3 losses since 2013 to teams not named UConn have been to unranked or much lower-ranked teams: Miami in 2015 (unranked at the time), Stanford (#13 at the time) in the 2016 tourney, and now NC State (unranked).

 

[chuck.r]

Wondering where you were. I'd be more upset about the Terps mediocre execution, Jones' surprising ineffectiveness and your teams inability to best a clearly mulit-player flu sick, shorthanded, and foul troubled UConn than Frese's poor timeout selection.

Brionna Jones was hardly ineffective - she had a double-double (19p/13r) with 2 blocks. She held her own. The more ineffective player, given her star status, was Walker-Kimbrough, who was outshone by the 2 freshmen. In fact, other than Slocum, no Terp was able to hit a trey - that stat IMO ultimately made the difference.

 

[msf22b]

Hey, remember, ND (according to MM) has the best point guard and the best post player in the nation! And didn't they have one of the best recruiting classes this year?

Notre Dame is not particularly athletic, not particularly quick; their world's best point can get passive and their world-class post, is slightly unmotivated...a world class BB body...some how the wiring between her ears doesn't allow her to compete...say, at the level that a Katie Lou did last night.

A pretty damning commentary about a good but not great team.

 

[Husky pride]

Maryland looked way better in a loss to UConn than Notre Dame looked in their loss to the Huskies... I think Maryland actually ran out of time, they were gaining momentum as the game ended.. UConn just kept making play after play to keep them at bay. On the other hand, Notre Dame never really seriously threatened in their game versus the Huskies... they just looked kinda blah in that game..

No doubt Maryland played great, but I would offer that the fourth quarter was more a product of UConn running out of the allowable number of fouls, rather than Maryland "running out of time". At the very least, many of those 4thQ Maryland layups would have been contested had Williams and Collier not been in serious foul trouble.... and the final winning margin might have been quite different.

 

[meyers7]

It does, but unfortunately Tennessee won.

Thanks, thanks a lot.