I noted in the game thread Thursday that Muffet had adopted a different, less caustic tone in her press conference.
@Shades noted that one of her bosses may have had a word with her. Could that be what happened in those 20 minutes?
"Usually, head coach Muffet McGraw enters the media conference room a few minutes after such disappointment, and oftentimes this year in an extremely despondent state. This time, there was a much longer wait of about 20 minutes — and a much more calm, measured demeanor."
It increases her composure but severely diminishes the entertainment value
The delay between the end of the game and MM"s appearance in the presser was duly noted on McGraw's Bench. And the resulting performance was very much appreciated, as well. Many Irish fans were not appreciative -- in fact, concerned -- of some of the prior appearances, whereas this one was much more level-headed.
For instance, her talk about the kinds of rebounds that the Irish front line gave up against BC was spot on ("close to the basket, resulting in layups") and she actually was having a conversation with the beat reporters there, as opposed to using them as triggers. I checked the scoresheet and she responded correctly to the glaring issues of that particular game (turnovers, 2nd chance points).
(BTW, many think that MM was advised to take a look the stat sheet and take a breath before that 20-minute gap. Touchdown Jesus knows there were enough thoughts/correspondence suggesting just that in the last week or so...
)
One of the posters on the Bench (btd?) has brought up the point that MM, herself, is in a position she's rarely been in: having to start from virtual scratch. On everything. Forget the exact location of the pass to the cutter, how about moving without the ball. On the zone, keep your hands up and come to the shooter. I think you heard the admission about going back to fundamentals. IMHO, that's game in, game out.
I was rewatching a rerun of "The Killing" the other day and heard a phrase that could be amended: "People like to remember the way she could've been, not the way she was."
MM, one is hoping, is finally seeing the way the Irish are this year and will move on accordingly.
p.s. This will apply, hopefully in an incremental degree, to next year's class at all, particularly with the announcement of Nat Marshall's knee surgery.
p.s..s. Well, off to play hoops myself, perhaps in an effort to lower the bp before the NC state game at 4 p.m. Gotta do what you have to in order to keep the faith.
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