Notre Dame vs. UConn: A Proposed Thought Experiment

[JoePgh]

Consider the following hypothetical scenario:

Suppose that for the last two years, Geno and his coaching staff had had the Notre Dame roster, and Muffitt and her coaches had had the UConn roster. Of the seven games played to date, would the results (6-1 in favor of ND) have been the same? If not, what would you judge is the most likely result?

At the other end of the spectrum, you could frame the question in this way: Would the results (6-1 in favor of Muffitt's team) have been the same?

(Suggestion: Try not to think about how Geno's and Skylar's personalities would have meshed -- or not! It might have been another situation similar to Geno and Diana, whose personality reminds me a lot of Skylar's. But on the other hand, it might have been a disaster ...)

Here is my response (and of course I have no real evidence on which to base this conclusion, nor would anyone else): I think the ND roster would have beaten the UConn roster approximately the same number of times even if the coaching staffs had traded places. That is because I think that (until now), despite somewhat greater physical talent on the UConn roster, the ND players seem to have had an edge in emotional and mental maturity, which has allowed them to function with fewer miscues in the final minutes of games. Other than that, the teams and the coaching philosophies are VERY similar, apart from the Skylar factor.

The corollary of this theory is that based on evidence in the last month, this difference may finally have disappeared. If it has, then maybe the small but real difference in physical talent will at last prove to be the deciding factor, and UConn may win by about 10 points (enough to avoid the last-minute drama that has been its downfall in all of the previous games).

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Anything that would avoid last-minute drama and end in a UConn win would be fine with me!

I'm too tired to think through the coach-switching (although I will), but I agree that UConn has grown in basketball maturity and that might level the playing field more.

 

[winlots]

Consider the following hypothetical scenario:

Suppose that for the last two years, Geno and his coaching staff had had the Notre Dame roster, and Muffitt and her coaches had had the UConn roster. Of the seven games played to date, would the results (6-1 in favor of ND) have been the same? If not, what would you judge is the most likely result?

At the other end of the spectrum, you could frame the question in this way: Would the results (6-1 in favor of Muffitt's team) have been the same?

(Suggestion: Try not to think about how Geno's and Skylar's personalities would have meshed -- or not! It might have been another situation similar to Geno and Diana, whose personality reminds me a lot of Skylar's. But on the other hand, it might have been a disaster ...)

Here is my response (and of course I have no real evidence on which to base this conclusion, nor would anyone else): I think the ND roster would have beaten the UConn roster approximately the same number of times even if the coaching staffs had traded places. That is because I think that (until now), despite somewhat greater physical talent on the UConn roster, the ND players seem to have had an edge in emotional and mental maturity, which has allowed them to function with fewer miscues in the final minutes of games. Other than that, the teams and the coaching philosophies are VERY similar, apart from the Skylar factor.


JOE: one of the most seriously provocative (in the most positive sense of the term) posts I've ever seen on here. If I get the mental energy to make the type of response this deserves, I'll get back. For right now, '
I'm just soaking in the euphoria of last night's great win...stuffing myself with some high-end choc Easter treats, .and violating one of my TV basics by watching some stretches of womens teams other than "Our Girls" bec I thought tonight's match-ups were so intriguing.

Just off the top of the head, I'll say that I think you isolated some critical variables re the ND wins.....and that your answers to your own questions are prob pretty close to the mark. I enjoy the "hypotheticals" which some others on here decry, and I'm glad you did this nifty "what if."

 

[Buzzyboy]

Anything that would avoid last-minute drama and end in a UConn win would be fine with me!

I'm too tired to think through the coach-switching (although I will), but I agree that UConn has grown in basketball maturity and that might level the playing field more.

I'm amazed at how many of the games in the last 2 1/2 years UConn has lost in the last minute. It makes no sense that UConn could possibly find more different ways to lose a game than they have to Notre Dame. There was a couple of games where the odds makers in Las Vegas would have given crazy odds that there was no way UConn would lose and yet they'd find (much more often than Notre Dame would find a way to win) a way to lose, whether a blown call or a sloppy pass or missed free throws or all the above. No way is Notre Dame a better team and I'm hopeful that this is the year where UConn will get that monkey off their back. The one thing I hope is that I never ever see a Notre Dame women's team every win another national championship. I kinda like Muffett but I want them never to lift a national championship trophy again. EVER!