Putting the game in perspective.

[MilfordHusky]

That's the hype, right? But I don't recall seeing this particular Stanford team put on any offensive clinics against any good teams. IMO, this is a very limited offensive team, with only Chiney as a legitimate offensive threat, yet her offense itself is very limited.

OK 71 points against Baylor. Want to bet they don't score much more than 55 if they play Baylor again with Sims tormenting Orrange and Kokenis for 35+ minutes?

You may well be right. It's still early in the season, but this Stanford team may not match up offensively to earlier teams. Tara is still a great offensive coach. It's not as if we shut down Tennessee, Rutgers, or Duke, all of which have been offensively challenged at times.

 

[Replicant]

I'm thinking more in a technical sense. Call it the "clinic" category, it isn't about suspense, shot at the buzzer, it isn't about great comeback, it isn't about something on the line, it is about basketball excellence. Where does this game fit? And what are the other contenders?

Any number of our annual drubbings of UNC, Duke or Oklahoma would qualify nicely. I can still remember Lorin Dixon destroying the Heels almost single handedly and getting a huge hug from Geno when she finally came out of the game.

If you're gonna talk about clinics, just visit the Maya archives. I thoroughly enjoyed Geno and Maya serving a can of whoop- on Syracuse and Coach "Q" back in 2009. Syracuse was a bunch of rough and dirty smack talkers and Geno didn't call the dogs off. Final score was 107-53. Maya scored her career high 40 points and went 10-14 on 3's, tying the all-time UConn mark on 3's:

Moore reached 1,000 points in her 55th game on a 3-pointer, making the score 69-34 with 15:23 left. Svetlana Abrosimova scored her 1,000th point in her 63rd game.

"It was the best game I've ever seen her play," said Renee Montgomery, who had 14 points and 11 assists. "If we can get her that many looks, she can probably set records every single game. She's just a great player."

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gameId=290170041

 

[MilfordHusky]

The first half of the second round NCAA tourney against Temple in Norfolk a few years ago. Temple came in as an 8 seed with a 25-8 record, so they were pretty solid. Tonya watched the kids she had helped recruit plus maybe some newbies destroy her squad in a 55-12 first half. We shot 77.8% from the floor and 77.8% from the arc. That was the team that pushed the streak from 39-0 to 78-0. We were damn good.

 

[Icebear]

I might have missed it, but no poster has mentioned that this game represents the largest final point differential (26) EVER in wcbb in a meeting between #1 and #2 teams, made even juicier by the fact that in this case the #2 team won!

If that's a "clinic," it shore ain't a walk-in clinic!

JS has mentioned it and it is only the greatest point differential when the #2 beat #1. UConn beat UNC by 30 when UConn was #1 and UNC was #2.

 

[meyers7]

The one game that always comes to mind is the first game of the 2000-2001 season against GA, who I believe was fairly well ranked at the time. I remember the first half was so well played we went all the way down the bench to Big Rig....in the first half.

But yes the ODU game was a special one too.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I might have missed it, but no poster has mentioned that this game represents the largest final point differential (26) EVER in wcbb in a meeting between #1 and #2 teams, made even juicier by the fact that in this case the #2 team won!

If that's a "clinic," it shore ain't a walk-in clinic!

Not quite true. UConn beat North Carolina 88-58 four seasons ago(the night before President Obama's inauguration).

 

[DobbsRover2]

Not quite true. UConn beat North Carolina 88-58 four seasons ago(the night before President Obama's inauguration).

Right, that was the game that Tina said, "Mr President, you'll be backkkkkkkkkk!"

 

[VAMike23]

If Stewart matures quickly enough, this team has, IMHO, the potential to be as good a defensive team as the 2009 squad. We have hashed over defensive stats re: the 2009 and 2010 teams, as well as the 2002 teams, but I tend to regard the '09 squad as the stingiest and most fearsome, when Tina was playing well toward the end of the season.

Yesterday was a big step in that direction. Just an outstanding, 40-minute long effort, with no let up.

Also, I disagree with posters who say our offense wasn't clicking. We may not have shot a very good % but we had *plenty* of quality looks and well-selected shots on offense. Plenty. I think our offensive flow was actually quite good. Bria missed a couple of drives that she normally does not, including a wide-open layup in the 2nd half, while Stewie blew a wide-open layup in the first half; also our 3-ball was far from blistering at 25%. In watching the game again, I did not see a lot of forced or pressured 3-balls. Mostly misses that were well-selected shots. Doty did have one long bomb that looked ill-advised and she also got one partially blocked. Stewie was cold and shot a few 3's quickly and out of rhythm. But with all of the quality movement we were getting (both perimeter and in-out) we had many good looks that did not go down. Stanford missed open looks as well, but I think a bigger % of them were affected by our D and/or were forced.

 

[Phil]

The first half of the second round NCAA tourney against Temple in Norfolk a few years ago. Temple came in as an 8 seed with a 25-8 record, so they were pretty solid. Tonya watched the kids she had helped recruit plus maybe some newbies destroy her squad in a 55-12 first half. We shot 77.8% from the floor and 77.8% from the arc. That was the team that pushed the streak from 39-0 to 78-0. We were damn good.

Yep. I was sitting in Norfolk when that happened. It was too bad it had to happen against Tonya, but it was quite a performance.

 

[Phil]

Also, I disagree with posters who say our offense wasn't clicking. We may not have shot a very good % but we had *plenty* of quality looks and well-selected shots on offense. Plenty. I think our offensive flow was actually quite good. Bria missed a couple of drives that she normally does not, Stewie blew a wide-open layup in the first half, and our 3-ball was far from blistering at 25%. In watching the game again, I did not see a lot of forced or pressured 3-balls. Mostly misses that we well-selected shots. Doty did have one long bomb that looked ill-advised and she also got one partially blocked. Stewie was cold and shot a few 3's out of rhythm. But with all of the quality movement we were getting (both perimeter and in-out) we had good looks that did not go down. Stanford missed open looks as well, but I think a bigger % of them were affected by our D and/or were forced.

Having said that, I wasn't arguing our offense was bad, just that, unlike some game like the ODU and Temple, where we couldn't do anything wrong on offense, the Stanford game was special mainly because of defense. We had some very nice offensive sets, enough for a highlight reel (Stewie's and-one comes to mind). But when you miss wide-open layups, get blocked a couple times, and miss three-quarters of your threes, "The offense is clicking" just doesn't sounds right.

 

[VAMike23]

Having said that, I wasn't arguing our offense was bad, just that, unlike some game like the ODU and Temple, where we couldn't do anything wrong on offense, the Stanford game was special mainly because of defense. We had some very nice offensive sets, enough for a highlight reel (Stewie's and-one comes to mind). But when you miss wide-open layups, get blocked a couple times, and miss three-quarters of your threes, "The offense is clicking" just doesn't sounds right.

Point taken

 

[Icebear]

Every game has a few blown gimmes. It is normal and simply part of the game.

 

[alexrgct]

Games that really stand out to me:

-Tennessee 2002 national semis. That was an absolute clinic.

-2009 BET championship over Louisville. Just complete and utter domination over a team that would go on to make the championship game.

This game's historical context will be interesting. It may be what catapults this UConn team to a national championship. Or it may be an interlude before Baylor reestablishes itself as the best squad around. Certainly UConn has won the 2012 part of the 2012-13 season, and did so in style. But there is no rest for the weary with ND, Louisville, Duke, and Baylor coming up. That being said, Geno has a hell of track record keeping his best teams focused and hungry once they get that swagger. He's never had to dethrone a defending champ with all its key pieces back, though.