Re: Stanford...How did we lose that game?

[hoophuskee]

It's not that hard to figure out.

1--- Tuck wasn't the player she is now- She missed a year of basketball.
2--- It took a long time for MoJeff to find her groove. She wasn't nearly the offensive player she is now.
3--- KML was probably sick.
4--- We moved in two starters which are better basketball players than what we had back then.

In summary-- 80% of our starters are better now.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

BB- we scored 90 pts or so- offensively we were really good are I think you are right about getting rid of the streak. And I am glad we lost vs eeking out a close win. I think it resonates better with the team and coaches and had more effect than a really horrible defensive performance, and horrible offensive decisions down the stretch, and winning the game regardless.

So we scored like 360 points and still lost?

 

[Geno-ista]

So we scored like 360 points and still lost?

Omg - I was trying to figure out your RSVP- sorry!!! My connection must have been slow! That's not the only thing that's slow???

 

[JFC613]

It's not that hard to figure out.

1--- Tuck wasn't the player she is now- She missed a year of basketball.
2--- It took a long time for MoJeff to find her groove. She wasn't nearly the offensive player she is now.
3--- KML was probably sick.
4--- We moved in two starters which are better basketball players than what we had back then.

In summary-- 80% of our starters are better now.

Seeing this three times I thought you were trying to make your point more poignant!

 

[Ellie]

On that day, Stanford was the better team. If WBB is ever to achieve the interest the men's game generates then we'll need more games as that. Watched the men play vs. Cincinnati today. Great game. We were glued to our seats till the end. Then watched Kentucky men take on a feisty Texas A&M. Another great game and even though we didn't care that much who won or loss, stayed to the end. Great theater, folks. Watching a few elite women teams beat up on lesser opponents by 20 to 50 point margins is not entertaining and we usually "leave" by intermission. Women have come a long way but still miles to go to Parity, USA. We hated watching Stanford steal one from our Huskies but for fans outside the Nutmeg state it was a great game and conversation the next day for around the water cooler. Here's hoping we have other Stanford games but with Uconn winning at the buzzer!

 

[hoophuskee]

On that day, Stanford was the better team. If WBB is ever to achieve the interest the men's game generates then we'll need more games as that. Watched the men play vs. Cincinnati today. Great game. We were glued to our seats till the end. Then watched Kentucky men take on a feisty Texas A&M. Another great game and even though we didn't care that much who won or loss, stayed to the end. Great theater, folks. Watching a few elite women teams beat up on lesser opponents by 20 to 50 point margins is not entertaining and we usually "leave" by intermission. Women have come a long way but still miles to go to Parity, USA. We hated watching Stanford steal one from our Huskies but for fans outside the Nutmeg state it was a great game and conversation the next day for around the water cooler. Here's hoping we have other Stanford games but with Uconn winning at the buzzer!

I don't like the same things you like therefore I don't entirely agree with what you're saying. I used to be a big college basketball men's fan (I'm not talking about UCONN but overall fan) back as far as the 70's. I don't blame what's happened on the kids - they have every right to leave early but once they have - how many superstars do you see in the men's college game other than 1 year? Were you too young to remember Bill Walton's display of dismantling Louisville in which Wooden said afterwards they ran every play off of their offense?

How about the next year when The Wolfpack led by the extremely athletic David "SKYWALKER" Thompson and had tall man Tom Burleson and very very small pg Monty Towe) knock them off? Or how about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird going head-to-head? As a UCONN fan, I'm bias for example of what I saw last year- those games were "great" in my "little world." But if you saw what Larry Bird was going through to get to the finals as a non-local- it was amazing special spectacular sensational. Do you think most fans my age not UCONN fans would say what Bird was doing at Indiana State was just as exciting as what Kemba was doing at UCONN?

Bottomline s what you call a great game because it's close - I turned off the KU - TAM game early in the 2nd half. Let me give some stats of that "great game." Kentucky had 13 assists to 12 turnovers in about 50 minutes of play. While TAM had 7 assists and 12 turnovers. I can't believe these stats are right but it is indicative of the ugly play I saw. And how about Kentucky from the floor - they were 18-64? That was "great?" Does TAm have Olajuwon or Ewing or Walton back there on defense? While TAM shoots 23-69 and were 16-30 from the ft line. I wouldn't waste my time with this type of play.

The defenses aren't like a a great matchup I saw of GTOWN with frosh Ewing going against Louisville led by the McRay brothers (who were a big part of a championship 3-4 years earlier led by "Dr Dunkenstein") in the final four. Or When GTOWN shut down Kentucky led by Sam Bowie for a stretch that was utterly amazing. Or Hakeem Olajuwon's defense during his Phi Slamma Jamma days. Overall, I don't enjoy the men's game that much anymore (other than UCONN) and I kind of smirk when I hear/read "great" tossed around so much. We know the UCONN women are great. What they are doing IS HISTORY. I don't think the women's game will get much of a pop just because of close games. It comes down to a combination of QUALITY (blown layups aren't good) and speed and athleticism. Friends my age - and younger kids I know of friends - they love speed and freak athletes. For example what do you think most fans want to see - an alleyoop to Brimah for a thunderous dunk or bounce pass for lay-in from the women?

When Chong had that breakaway vs Duke - it was pretty big that early - how exiting was her basket vs a breakaway you see in the men's game. In the men's game you would have seen a dunk, pounding the chest, and scream. For the record I was ecstatic with the steal.

 

[Ellie]

I don't like the same things you like therefore I don't entirely agree with what you're saying. I used to be a big college basketball men's fan (I'm not talking about UCONN but overall fan) back as far as the 70's. I don't blame what's happened on the kids - they have every right to leave early but once they have - how many superstars do you see in the men's college game other than 1 year? Were you too young to remember Bill Walton's display of dismantling Louisville in which Wooden said afterwards they ran every play off of their offense?

How about the next year when The Wolfpack led by the extremely athletic David "SKYWALKER" Thompson and had tall man Tom Burleson and very very small pg Monty Towe) knock them off? Or how about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird going head-to-head? As a UCONN fan, I'm bias for example of what I saw last year- those games were "great" in my "little world." But if you saw what Larry Bird was going through to get to the finals as a non-local- it was amazing special spectacular sensational. Do you think most fans my age not UCONN fans would say what Bird was doing at Indiana State was just as exciting as what Kemba was doing at UCONN?

Bottomline s what you call a great game because it's close - I turned off the KU - TAM game early in the 2nd half. Let me give some stats of that "great game." Kentucky had 13 assists to 12 turnovers in about 50 minutes of play. While TAM had 7 assists and 12 turnovers. I can't believe these stats are right but it is indicative of the ugly play I saw. And how about Kentucky from the floor - they were 18-64? That was "great?" Does TAm have Olajuwon or Ewing or Walton back there on defense? While TAM shoots 23-69 and were 16-30 from the ft line. I wouldn't waste my time with this type of play.

The defenses aren't like a a great matchup I saw of GTOWN with frosh Ewing going against Louisville led by the McRay brothers (who were a big part of a championship 3-4 years earlier led by "Dr Dunkenstein") in the final four. Or When GTOWN shut down Kentucky led by Sam Bowie for a stretch that was utterly amazing. Or Hakeem Olajuwon's defense during his Phi Slamma Jamma days. Overall, I don't enjoy the men's game that much anymore (other than UCONN) and I kind of smirk when I hear/read "great" tossed around so much. We know the UCONN women are great. What they are doing IS HISTORY. I don't think the women's game will get much of a pop just because of close games. It comes down to a combination of QUALITY (blown layups aren't good) and speed and athleticism. Friends my age - and younger kids I know of friends - they love speed and freak athletes. For example what do you think most fans want to see - an alleyoop to Brimah for a thunderous dunk or bounce pass for lay-in from the women?

When Chong had that breakaway vs Duke - it was pretty big that early - how exiting was her basket vs a breakaway you see in the men's game. In the men's game you would have seen a dunk, pounding the chest, and scream. For the record I was ecstatic with the steal.

Happy you were "ecstatic" ... beats any alternative I can think of. My husband and I served in the military in the late 1960's ... in part, to insure all Americans have the right to express varying views of opinions that don't always align with their own. I admire your devotion to the women's game and respect your opinions.

You brought it up so I'm 68 years young and have followed Uconn since the late 1950's when they were a member of the old Yankee Conference by listening to the games on WTIC radio with my Dad. Toby Kimball was my favorite old time Husky ... an incredible rebounder who carved out a respectable NBA career. My husband took me to my first Uconn women's game at the old Storrs Field House to see some player named Kerry Bascom he said was supposed to be "pretty good". We've been hooked ever since, but remain Basketball fans first ... Uconn fans second.

Have a nice day and enjoy the SMU game.

 

[hoophuskee]

Happy you were "ecstatic" ... beats any alternative I can think of. My husband and I served in the military in the late 1960's ... in part, to insure all Americans have the right to express varying views of opinions that don't always align with their own. I admire your devotion to the women's game and respect your opinions.

You brought it up so I'm 68 years young and have followed Uconn since the late 1950's when they were a member of the old Yankee Conference by listening to the games on WTIC radio with my Dad. Toby Kimball was my favorite old time Husky ... an incredible rebounder who carved out a respectable NBA career. My husband took me to my first Uconn women's game at the old Storrs Field House to see some player named Kerry Bascom he said was supposed to be "pretty good". We've been hooked ever since, but remain Basketball fans first ... Uconn fans second.

Have a nice day and enjoy the SMU game.

Thank you for your service!!

Same here with me regarding what you like. Everyone enjoys differently.

I got hooked with the Knicks in 69-70 first and then a little later UCONN.

I'm a UCONN fan 1st, a professional basketball fan 2nd (NBA and WNBA). The mens's college game (other than UCONN) just doesn't do it for me any more. So I'd much rather watch a 40 point blowout watching beautul passing than for example a very sloppy but close men's college game. Unfortunalley I'm a Knicks fan . . . so not much NBA happiness but still enjoy overall the game a lot moe than mcbb.

 

[OssiningPride]

At the end it came down to coaching.

 

[AndyCT]

In my opinion, she puts all of her egg s in one basket for the UConn game...then she and her players are spent and perplexed for the rest of the season.

Logical conclusion, but not really supported by any facts. Stanford has been a consistently good to great team through the years against all comers, not just UConn. But if Stanford does focus on UConn somewhat, it’s probably a good philosophy since they usually beat most everyone else.

For example, on January 18, 2009 Stanford lost to Cal. They would lose to UConn that year in the Final Four, the next year during the regular season and again in the Final Four, and finally lose to DePaul on December 16, 2010. In that almost two year span Stanford beat everyone not named UConn for a record of 62-3, or as one ESPN wag put it, were it not for playing during UConn’s record setting streak, Stanford itself would have achieved what would have been the third longest streak in women’s history, behind only UConn and UConn again.

In the remainder of the 2010-11 season, besides losing to DePaul and Tennessee, they would end UConn’s 90 game winning streak and then lose only to eventual national champion TAMU; the next year, 2011-12, they would only lose to UConn and eventual national champion Baylor, as did UConn – but UConn also lost that year to St. John’s and Notre Dame (3X), as we pretty much all remember.

The next season, 2012-13, UConn had the same losses except for St. John’s – Baylor and Notre Dame (3X). Stanford lost only three games – UConn, a split with Cal, and Georgia in the Sweet Sixteen, but they did beat Baylor, something UConn couldn’t do that season (though I think most of us believe UConn would have won had they met in the tournament) and along the way they beat eleven (at the time) ranked teams.

As others have posted, this year’s UConn-Stanford game is looking more and more like an outlier – the stars just aligned that day. Stanford is working in a new offense and suffering the end of the Ogwumike line (with Olivia and Erica both opting for Pepperdine) and eventually the Samuelson line as well; this is, frankly, a rebuilding year for the Cardinal, and while it looks like UConn is correcting its defensive woes nicely, this will probably be a long and challenging season for Stanford.

Anyway, the reality is that UConn is probably the biggest game on Stanford’s schedule year in and year out, and practically speaking unless someone bumps the Huskies off, Tara know that the road to the National Championship goes through Connecticut, so it only makes sense that Stanford focuses on how to beat UConn; after all, they’re going to have to do it sooner or later, and besides, they do beat almost everyone else. But their record surely indicates that they do more than just prepare for UConn at the expense of everyone else. Just ask Baylor.