Really, Tara

[chrissaran]

I know coaches are supposed to be positive and talk up their team, but Stanford is not twenty points away from the Huskies. They have who almost everyone considers to be the best player and number one pick in the WNBA draft. They have four returning starters. Yes, their bench is inexperienced. However, Stewie was a shell of her playoff self, Stef was 2 for 9 and needs to stop shooting all those threes, Kaleena played almost not at all in the second half and certainly didn't play her best game up to that point. Stanford is more than 20 points away, and they did not get better throughout the game as Tara stated. She claimed they fouled for no reason. The disparity: Stanford 21 fouls, UConn 19. Not much of a difference. Stanford will be there at the end, but the gap is more than 20 points.

 

[sarals24]

Well, the gap was 20 points last night, and that's what she has to go by.

I think they did foul for no reason, in her mind. In the sense that they were silly touch fouls that her players should have avoided by playing better defense.

Tara is a class act for the most part, there's no need to try to stir up controversy.

 

[msf22b]

Tara is addressing her base, her team

She knows very well what happens if Stewie or KML or Steff or anyone or two had gone off.

She is quantifying the difference between the two teams as per yesterday
to show that the expectant and reasonable improvement in her teams efficiency
could bring them close to the level that Ct played at yesterday.

A reasonable approach

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

 

[chrissaran]

As far as the fouls, you could say that about every team in college basketball, men's and women's. No one is used to the supposed new rules, which aren't new at all, so your point is moot. As far as stirring up controversy, you must never watch any of the sports talk shows. Controversy is all they talk about. It's what makes sports great, debating. Without that, sports and the world would be a very boring place.

 

[sarals24]

I understand that debate has a place in sports. But there is no controversy here, so you are just making one up for the sake of...what, exactly?

 

[sarals24]

And my point isn't moot. I said that she thought they were silly fouls because they could have been avoided by playing better defense. I never said anything about the "new" rules, neither did Tara.

 

[UCONNfan1]

I understand that debate has a place in sports. But there is no controversy here, so you are just making one up for the sake of...what, exactly?

Maybe Chris took Tara's quote out of context, but I hardly think Chris was posting like a crazy person...

Instead of telling her she should not be posting what she said, how about debating it with her and pointing out where you think she's incorrect? I highly doubt her sole purpose was so nefarious as to "try to stir up trouble".

 

[sarals24]

Tara didn't say anything in her post game that needed to be called out. Everything she said was basically coach speak. We have a lot of visitors on this board, and I think it reflects poorly on UConn fans if we mock other teams' coaches for saying that their team was 20 points away from UConn (when they did indeed lose by about 20 points). There's nothing to debate, we all think that UConn could have won by 40 if we were firing on all cylinders, but as the game played out, we didn't. So was Tara supposed to say, "Thank God that Stewie was off and KML got hurt or we would have lost by 50!"

I mean, if she had said that, we would have had something to talk about.

 

[UcMiami]

Tara didn't say anything in her post game that needed to be called out. Everything she said was basically coach speak. We have a lot of visitors on this board, and I think it reflects poorly on UConn fans if we mock other teams' coaches for saying that their team was 20 points away from UConn (when they did indeed lose by about 20 points). There's nothing to debate, we all think that UConn could have won by 40 if we were firing on all cylinders, but as the game played out, we didn't. So was Tara supposed to say, "Thank God that Stewie was off and KML got hurt or we would have lost by 50!"

I mean, if she had said that, we would have had something to talk about.

Nice post -
And if the Cardinal had made a few more fairly easy shots at the start of the game while Uconn was throwing bricks in their 1 of 11 start, Uconn could have been fighting from 10 or 15 points down for most of the game. I agree we had a pretty off night, but I recognize that Stanford had something to do with that. I think Stanford also had a pretty off night too and Uconn definitely had something to do with that. If both teams had played their best basketball who knows what the final score would have been - it could have been a 35 point win, a 20 point win, or a 5 point win. It WAS a 20 point win so that was what Tara had to work with and she ran with it as a way to get her team to focus on the work ahead. If it had been 30 points she would have run with that as well.
I do think we try to keep the women's side more civil and more respectful of teams most of us respect and coaches we respect (and who have shown respect for Geno and our team) and i like that. I enjoy our visitors from around the country and the insight they bring and the nationwide news they supply. Being civilized in our discussions I think makes it a nicer place for them to visit and tends to make the discussions more interesting.
Not knocking smack talking but I personally find it generally less interesting than discussion.

 

[cardfan]

Tara didn't say anything in her post game that needed to be called out. Everything she said was basically coach speak. We have a lot of visitors on this board, and I think it reflects poorly on UConn fans if we mock other teams' coaches for saying that their team was 20 points away from UConn (when they did indeed lose by about 20 points). There's nothing to debate, we all think that UConn could have won by 40 if we were firing on all cylinders, but as the game played out, we didn't. So was Tara supposed to say, "Thank God that Stewie was off and KML got hurt or we would have lost by 50!"

I mean, if she had said that, we would have had something to talk about.

good pts. It was pretty clear Nov. 11th was way early for a game even between two good teams. I except Stanford to be better (get more scorers) in March, and know UConn will be very, very good then too. I hope KML is okay and back soon.

 

[ocoandasoc]

I was actually fairly impressed with Stanford's performance. If just one more player steps it up big for them and the freshmen get some experience and prove to be quick learners they will definitely be there in March.

In general, a team is only as good as it plays against good competition. We all know those 60 point blowouts are meaningless. So... UConn is 20 points better than a young Stanford team two games into the season. Hard to be unhappy with that, and certainly no reason to mimic the arrogant behavior of some other fan bases by engaging in the "if only's" (save those for losses or, on second thought, lose them altogether!). And a 20 point loss to the national champion who returned most of its starters and key bench players on the road in the second game of the season with a young team is certainly not an indicator that Stanford can't make the Final Four and play UConn - or whoever - very tough in Nashville.

I think we're all better served by savoring every win in what could be a very special season than by putting down other teams or bragging about how much better we are than them. Things can happen... and we've already seen that. Talk about who plays well... and who doesn't. And who needs to play (or coach!) better. Talk about strategies, tactics, etc. But try not to denigrate other teams (UConn may be #1, but somebody else has to be #2, #3, etc.). And avoid the schadenfreude when bad things happen to other teams. Just my own opinion... a subject on which I am an expert!

 

[Tonyc]

Hey if we hit our outside shots they have to come out on the perimeter and play us one on one and we blow them out. Tara is a great coach imo one of the best in WCBB but she has to give her team confidence and belief they can compete with UConn after losing the way they did. They need one other player to step up. UConn needs their 2 AAs in the game and they need to hit their outside shots. That still makes me believe we win by more then 20.

A lot of "IFS" The game is over we won and now we have Maryland and they really think they can beat us. They're talking a lot of trash and they're hyped up. Remember last seasons Regionals when we beat MD and Brenda said something about being able to play with UConn and if they weren't hurt or something like that. Well I saw on thread on here where there was a tweet about beating UConn. I laughed . Even if KML is out I don't see them beating UConn. We are a smart team and Geno is a smart coach. MD is ranked 7/8th for a reason and we saw that in their last game which they almost lost. Lets focus on this big weekend against MD and Penn St. Stanford is over.

 

[jsloanjr]

Tara is an optimist and she wants to get her players attention and start to feel good about themselves and their game going forward. Tara did a perfect job and I have zero issues with any of her comments. She knows her team needs time and the NCAA tournament is 140 days away in Nashville............

 

[weyuo]

Controversy is all they talk about. It's what makes sports great, debating. Without that, sports and the world would be a very boring place.

I couldn't disagree more. Journalists too lazy to go out and find the good in life(and sport) and report about that and make that interesting resort to controversy. It's yellow journalism but they aren't called out on it. Controversy breeds confusion and mistrust. There are ways to tell the truth without turning it into a scandal.

 

[cohenzone]

As far as the fouls, you could say that about every team in college basketball, men's and women's. No one is used to the supposed new rules, which aren't new at all, so your point is moot. As far as stirring up controversy, you must never watch any of the sports talk shows. Controversy is all they talk about. It's what makes sports great, debating. Without that, sports and the world would be a very boring place.

Actually the rules are new. Hand checking was never explicitly against the rules, even though it would seem that it should have been. Now, if a ref allows it, they shouldn't be because there is now an explicit rule as a opposed to a "point of emphasis."

 

[hjoerring]

I was actually fairly impressed with Stanford's performance. If just one more player steps it up big for them and the freshmen get some experience and prove to be quick learners they will definitely be there in March.

In general, a team is only as good as it plays against good competition. We all know those 60 point blowouts are meaningless. So... UConn is 20 points better than a young Stanford team two games into the season. Hard to be unhappy with that, and certainly no reason to mimic the arrogant behavior of some other fan bases by engaging in the "if only's" (save those for losses or, on second thought, lose them altogether!). And a 20 point loss to the national champion who returned most of its starters and key bench players on the road in the second game of the season with a young team is certainly not an indicator that Stanford can't make the Final Four and play UConn - or whoever - very tough in Nashville.

I think we're all better served by savoring every win in what could be a very special season than by putting down other teams or bragging about how much better we are than them. Things can happen... and we've already seen that. Talk about who plays well... and who doesn't. And who needs to play (or coach!) better. Talk about strategies, tactics, etc. But try not to denigrate other teams (UConn may be #1, but somebody else has to be #2, #3, etc.). And avoid the schadenfreude when bad things happen to other teams. Just my own opinion... a subject on which I am an expert!

Your point is well taken. Although a newly card carrying member I have been following The Boneyard for some time, not wanting to join because of problems that seem inherent in such groups. In my view, there are some very knowledgeable people here and people who are respectful of WBB in general. However, there are a noisy bunch of UCONN zealots (sorry) who can be frightening. As has been said, they are willing to spin idiocy into .... But the majority Boneyarders are worth reading and, it has not been too difficult to sift the others.Actually, 90+ of my BB info comes via the Group. My only regret is that there is no such thing for WFH- they are really good, but how many were in attendance to see them win the BEC? Who gives them visibility? They remind me of the beginning of WBB at UCONN. I saw the majority of the home games (they were free) with a loyal bunch of young women-- who weren't UCONN students (I think they were from 'Romantic' Willimantic- as it was known then) I would love for an old timer to do a threat remembering the early 80's in the leaking fieldhouse and the women practicing at 7pm(?) after the men had finished and off to dinner. Yes, one can be a diehard fan without thumbing the others.

 

[stamfordhusky]

However, Stewie was a shell of her playoff self, Stef was 2 for 9 and needs to stop shooting all those threes.

"All those threes" amounted to two attempted threes. And why would she stop taking them? She is a good 3-point shooter and her ability to hit from that range helps open up the court. Over the summer, at the U19 World Championships she hit a record .583 (14-24) on threes. In NCAA tournament games last spring, she hit .600 (9-15). Neither Geno nor her U19 coaches told her to stop shooting threes - for good reason.

 

[Kibitzer]

"All those threes" amounted to two attempted threes. And why would she stop taking them? She is a good 3-point shooter and her ability to hit from that range helps open up the court. Over the summer, at the U19 World Championships she hit a record .583 (14-24) on threes. In NCAA tournament games last spring, she hit .600 (9-15). Neither Geno nor her U19 coaches told her to stop shooting threes - for good reason.

UConn's problem during the early minutes of the Stanford game was cerrtainly not Stef taking "all those threes." The problems were twofold: (1) Not only was Stef missing, so were her teammates, all taking open shots that they should have taken; and (2) nobody was rebounding, so each miss was an easy possession for Stanford.

It was clear to me that the UConn game plan included instructions to take open shots, as Stef did. The expectation was that more of them would go in -- which eventually occurred.

We now know that Geno's game plan also called for Saniya to come off the bench and drill a couple treys and for Kiah to nail a double-double in points-rebounds.

Yeah. Sure. Should I tell another one?

 

[UcMiami]

Your point is well taken. Although a newly card carrying member I have been following The Boneyard for some time, not wanting to join because of problems that seem inherent in such groups. In my view, there are some very knowledgeable people here and people who are respectful of WBB in general. However, there are a noisy bunch of UCONN zealots (sorry) who can be frightening. As has been said, they are willing to spin idiocy into .... But the majority Boneyarders are worth reading and, it has not been too difficult to sift the others.Actually, 90+ of my BB info comes via the Group. My only regret is that there is no such thing for WFH- they are really good, but how many were in attendance to see them win the BEC? Who gives them visibility? They remind me of the beginning of WBB at UCONN. I saw the majority of the home games (they were free) with a loyal bunch of young women-- who weren't UCONN students (I think they were from 'Romantic' Willimantic- as it was known then) I would love for an old timer to do a threat remembering the early 80's in the leaking fieldhouse and the women practicing at 7pm(?) after the men had finished and off to dinner. Yes, one can be a diehard fan without thumbing the others.

I was surprised and delighted during the telecast to see a short clip from the field house days - big hair, short shorts, and about ten invited guests in the stands to cheer on the team. Would love to see some more of that pre 1995 version of the Geno's team - would be curious to see if we could recognize the offense and defensive rotations in its early iterations before the influx of greater talent. Wonder if anyone has full archives of any games - obviously there was less technical support in that stone age of Uconn WBB

 

[chrissaran]

I didn't try to stir up controversy. I posted my thoughts. You said I was trying to stir up controversy. I guess I should just agree with everything you have to say. Not going to happen. You attacked my post. That's okay. I will continue to post my thoughts. You can like it or not. I'm sure it will mostly be not.