Post Game — Post Mortem...

[Bronxjeff]

Honestly, I put this one on the coach. Z in the lineup gave you the momentum and the lead in the 2nd Q. You then go back to the same lineup that led to the problem to begin with in the 3rd. Kept Z out until your lead dissipates before bringing her in. Geno's record speaks for itself so I am by no means questioning his overall coaching chops. I am just questioning a particular decision. At this stage, coaching to the situation and not to a set in stone mindset is crucial. Situational coaching is not one of Geno's forte imho.

I agree completely. It was a big mistake not to start Z in the second half, but why not correct quickly? Why wait till 7 plus minutes in the 3rd?

 

[donalddoowop]

Honestly, I put this one on the coach. Z in the lineup gave you the momentum and the lead in the 2nd Q. You then go back to the same lineup that led to the problem to begin with in the 3rd. Kept Z out until your lead dissipates before bringing her in. Geno's record speaks for itself so I am by no means questioning his overall coaching chops. I am just questioning a particular decision. At this stage, coaching to the situation and not to a set in stone mindset is crucial. Situational coaching is not one of Geno's forte imho.

Aussie, you said what I wanted to say but could not think of the proper words. Geno needs to deal with realities and not ideals. The ideal was to go with the starters but the reality was to go with the line-up that got the team the lead. Just because Geno is a HOF coach does not mean he does not make mistakes. That stubborn, set in stone mindset will potentially hurt the team's attitude and performance. How do you think Z felt after helping sparked the team to a lead in the first and second quarters only to sit in the third quarter until the lead was almost lost. She said she came to UCONN to win a NC and in a game that would give the team that opportunity, she is sitting when the game is on the line. Her positives out weighed her negatives in that game. There were some starters who did more things to hurt the team than Z did, imo.

 

[donalddoowop]

IMO, what they really need is to be in a better conference so they experience more competitive games. The AAC sucks and while Geno does the best he can to schedule top out of conference competition, it causes most of the tougher games to be earlier in the season rather than later. IMO When UConn gets to the NCAA tournament, they don't really know how good they need to to compete against be against the toughest competition in the nation.

This team did not know. Stewart, Tuck, and Jefferson's team knew.

 

[Topsail]

It was not the result we had expected but what is done is done. We can second guess all we want about decisions made during the game but that will not change the result. We will be in the mix for a championship again next year assuming Z stays. I expect Notre Dame will be the team to beat and ranked number 1 . We just were spoiled by 4 years of Stewie led teams and now we have to come to terms with winning a championship every year is far from reality.

 

[HoopsFan21]

WTF is O'Town?

 

[Waquoit]

Look what it takes to beat this team. An answered prayer at the buzzer.

 

[toadfoot]

A few comments about the semifinals after a night's sleep. The Louisville/Miss. St. game was poorly officiated without much benefit to either team, but McCowan clearly fouled on the drive to the basket at the end of regulation. Who knows, perhaps Hines-Allen would have missed both free throws, but odds say Louisville wins in regulation.
The UConn/ND game was obviously a huge disappointment. Their inability to solve the ND zone was a complete puzzle since the foul line area seemed to be open all night and the interior defense gave up too many layups. ND was the better team last night and deserved to win, but on the bright side, is there a bright side, it took an likely career performance from a supporting player to keep the Huskies from the final.
I think the final is a really bad matchup for ND. Shepard had the size to battle on the interior against UConn, but I think McCowan will be too much for her to handle.

 

[Centerstream]

WTF is O'Town?

I believe the tr..l is referring to @TheObserver.

 

[j66kicker]

WTF is O'Town?

Ossining, I presume

 

[Tenspro2002]

Isn't that what we said last season?

This team never played angry enough. It was a bad sign when Gabby said she couldn't bring herself to look at the tape from MSU. She should have had it on loop in the locker room.

So disappointing for this group that their legacy is being the ones who tightened up and failed to come through when it mattered most. At least Lou and Collier have one more shot at redemption. But we need to see more fire out of them.

 

[Bronx23]

1) We started in a weird defense that left Young open so she had a career night
2) Our guards couldn't make a shot
3) Why not press? They have no point guard
4) Their were tons of questionable call that all went against us. One against Z in the lane. The 4th foul on Lou was really a touch.
6) We are really bad in overtimes

Yes mostly true.
Press likely would not have worked because their small guards and smaller forwards are quicker than ours. They are extremely well coached and rarely does a press work against prepared team with solid players.
The big question is why we are so bad in overtones and while it's always the players, a lot of this must fall on Geno. 11-0 in championship games and 0-5 in overtones in NCAA play or is it final fours!
Surely it falls on him mostly and some the coaching staff and some the players.
I could go on and on about this but some is his offensive system, some is the short bench and surprisingly conditioning, some is prior close games to learn to break thru these struggles and some is having at least one or a few with the mental fortitude to make it happen!
Bronx23

 

[Huskygamble19]

Congrats to a great, great ND team, coaching staff and performance. They won, we lost. Plain and simple. We can second guess plays, substitutions, strategy, calls, etc. But this is WCBB at the highest level between two premiere teams with elite players. Credit everyone on ND. Arike was amazing. Westbeld, smooth. Maybry, gutsy, determined. Shepard, a workhorse. Young. WOW! And MM. Remarkable and inspiring.

Of course this is a disappointment. But it takes nothing--absolutely nothing--from my love for our team and its players. This sort of thing can happen. And it did. Don't let it wreck your day.

Now back to your regularly scheduled autopsy.

They fell behind by 5 twice and fought back to tie it again both times..Once late in regulation and once in overtime. Notre Dame just happened to have the chance for the last shot and made it good. there is nothing more you can ask of this team. they played their heart out and have nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[mbr33ct]

...just when the Morgan Williams infamous shot was coming to an end...now ESPN has another promo footage for next season already queued up.

 

[enigmatic]

It may not be Geno's style but I'm guessing that UCONN will be a more physical team next season playing with A LOT of anger and even more to prove. There are many variables that will be looked at to improve on during the offseason

 

[KMac]

IMO, what they really need is to be in a better conference so they experience more competitive games. The AAC sucks and while Geno does the best he can to schedule top out of conference competition, it causes most of the tougher games to be earlier in the season rather than later. IMO When UConn gets to the NCAA tournament, they don't really know how good they need to to compete against be against the toughest competition in the nation.

I never thought I would ever be saying this but Geno's poor coaching cost us this game. He started with his first 5 in the first quarter. Ok, that makes sense. But they are killing us on that combination. He finally subs (why it took so long, has to do with something someone else said earlier...some weird stubbornness about putting Z in), 2nd quarter with that combination of players, zone defense, we take the lead and look like they got their rhythm and confidence back. 3rd quarter, he goes back to the losing combination he started with in the 1st quarter!!!! Why Why Why??? The same results in the 3rd as the 1st! ND catches up and by the time he puts Z back in, we are off balance, and never get that smooth rhythm and confidence back from the 2nd quarter. If he had come back in the 3rd quarter with the same 2nd quarter line up, I think it would have been a different result.... Geno may be too caught up in philosophying about winning too many, blah blah blah... and spoiled players blah bah blah...just put in the best players at the time and stop trying to be the greatest philosopher!

 

[Dove]

Analyze the offensive issues all you want. UConn lost this game on the defensive side of the game.

Not really because there they were with 5 seconds left all tied up.

Muffet suffocated Katie Lou for the last 10 minutes and maybe even longer. Not sure when her last hoop was. But that girl could not get a shot whatsoever and her last shot was an airball IIRC.

Taking her out was the key. The game was won at that time. Geno did not counter successfully.

 

[scrapiromjim]

Check the box score. ND had a 17 advantage in a 2 point game. The refs put you at the foul line. The difference in this game is simple - free throw advantage. Three of our starters were playing with 4 fouls at the end. Our UConn women do not play the style of game that leads to such huge discrepancies at the line. ND players were far more aggressive off the ball with no fouls called. The reason for this loss is simple . . . foul shots. Coaches can not do much about the refs.

 

[Teacherdeb]

Eh that was fine last year. Not this year. Not to Notre Dame. Sorry this was a huge missed opportunity that will haunt for some time.

It was one game-ONE GAME.
If the loss diminishes an entire fabulous season, you have my sympathy and advice- get some perspective, and get a life.
Sure, to the superficial and fickle media and casual fan, losing in the Final Four is egregious. But when you look at the entire body of work, how can you not esteem a team of athletes that personify the beauty and transcendence of sport?

 

[wyo angel]

Eh that was fine last year. Not this year. Not to Notre Dame. Sorry this was a huge missed opportunity that will haunt for some time.

What was fine last year?

Huge missed opportunity to what? Redeem themselves?