So Maybe She’s Not So Clutch | The Boneyard

So Maybe She’s Not So Clutch

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FT shooting vs. in game shooting in end of game situations varies player by player. Taurasi, for example, has historically struggled hitting FTs late in games but is money for big moment shots on the court. Arike appears to be similar...she was money in last years Final Four hitting big shots but people forget she missed back to back HUGE FTs in OT that likely seal an ND win...this led to the Dangerfield 3 and her game winner after. Vs. UCONN this year she hit her FTs but missed the front end of 2 FTs today which cemented ND's loss. Tough way to go out but she went out fighting and had a heck of a career. Arguably the best in ND history.
 
I never thought she would make every key 4th quarter shot for the rest of her life.

It did start to feel that way at times though.

Making an improbable 3 to win one year and missing key free throws one year...that's the yin and yang of basketball.

That's...the facts of life.

 
BigBird said:
Thinking how odd it is that ND’s free throwing went somewhat sour when it was most needed. And the great AO blew the FT that would have given ND a shot at overtime.
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Loved that she blew the FF but she was special most of the game, unconscious 2nd half. While her miss made be ultra happy, surprised so few congratulated AO on a great game.
 
HopJim said:
Loved that she blew the FF but she was special most of the game, unconscious 2nd half. While her miss made be ultra happy, surprised so few congratulated AO on a great game.
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Do you mean so few on this board? Or on the court?
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think either of last year's AO's shots were miss it and we lose... They were OT if missed, which is way different than if I miss a free throw we lose. There is clutch, and then there is CLUTCH... see Guy for VA yesterday in the men's Final Four...
 
Notre Dame was down two with 3.9 seconds left. Ursin was covering AO. Everyone in the arena knew the ball was going to AO. Ursin is powerful but short and AO would have no trouble getting a shot over her. Richards was the better defensive matchup but she had four fouls and more importantly, hurt her leg in the fourth quarter and was gimpy.

McGraw had a decision to make. Go for the win, or go for the tie. She chose the latter. She knew that Baylor was vulnerable, with Cox and Smith out, and Richards and Jackson with four fouls each, plus Richards was gimpy. And Brown had been in for 37 minutes and was probably exhausted. Overtime favored ND. She probably figured the refs would call a foul if AO took it hard to the hole, and she was right. The refs were letting everything go early but were calling it very tight late. And, of course, they are Notre Dame after all.

So AO got the ball and took it to the hole, creating enough contact.

It looked like they were going to overtime.

The first free throw looked to me like it was going to be good but it rattled out. Shocking. I wonder about the hoops they use at these final fours conducted in hockey arenas. Are they new hoops? Are the rims perhaps a bit on the tight side?

It sure looked to me in the arena that she tried to miss the second, but her line drive went in.

Sports are fickle. The ball goes in and you are a gutsy hero. It rattles out and you aren’t.

I am not a big fan of AO based in large part on her conduct against UConn in the game at ND in December. But, I have to admit that she and Mabry played really well and hit shot after shot in the second half. It was a thrilling game, even for UConn fan.
 
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Huskee11 said:
Notre Dame was down two with 3.9 seconds left. McGraw took an extra timeout to see what the defense looked like. Ursin was covering AO. Everyone in the arena knew the ball was going to AO. Ursin is powerful but short and AO would have no trouble getting a shot over her. Richards was the better defensive matchup but she had four fouls and more importantly, hurt her leg in the fourth quarter and was gimpy.

McGraw had a decision to make. Go for the win, or go for the tie. She chose the latter. She knew that Baylor was vulnerable, with Cox and Smith out, and Richards and Jackson with four fouls each, plus Richards was gimpy. She probably figured the refs would call a foul if AO took it hard to the hole, and she was right. The refs were letting everything go early but were calling it very tight late. And, of course, they are Notre Dame after all.

So AO got the ball and drove it hard, creating contact.

It looked like they were going to overtime.

The first free throw looked to me like it was going to be good but it rattled out. Shocking. I wonder about the hoops they use at these final fours conducted in hockey arenas. Are they new hoops? Are the rims perhaps a bit on the tight side?

It sure looked to me in the arena that she tried to miss the second, but her line drive went in. I was surprised that Mulkey didn’t call a time out to advance the ball. She had one left, ND was out of time outs. Tossing it into the front court would have ended the game.

Sports are fickle. The ball goes in and you are a gutsy hero. It rattles out of a hoop with a tight rim and you aren’t.

I am not a big fan of AO based in large part on her conduct against UConn in the game at ND in December. But, I have to admit that she and Mabry played really well and hit shot after shot in the second half. It was a thrilling game, even for UConn fan.
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Baylor did NOT have any timeouts left at the end.
 
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Huskee11 said:
Notre Dame was down two with 3.9 seconds left. McGraw took an extra timeout to see what the defense looked like. Ursin was covering AO. Everyone in the arena knew the ball was going to AO. Ursin is powerful but short and AO would have no trouble getting a shot over her. Richards was the better defensive matchup but she had four fouls and more importantly, hurt her leg in the fourth quarter and was gimpy.

McGraw had a decision to make. Go for the win, or go for the tie. She chose the latter. She knew that Baylor was vulnerable, with Cox and Smith out, and Richards and Jackson with four fouls each, plus Richards was gimpy. She probably figured the refs would call a foul if AO took it hard to the hole, and she was right. The refs were letting everything go early but were calling it very tight late. And, of course, they are Notre Dame after all.

So AO got the ball and drove it hard, creating contact.

It looked like they were going to overtime.

The first free throw looked to me like it was going to be good but it rattled out. Shocking. I wonder about the hoops they use at these final fours conducted in hockey arenas. Are they new hoops? Are the rims perhaps a bit on the tight side?

It sure looked to me in the arena that she tried to miss the second, but her line drive went in. I was surprised that Mulkey didn’t call a time out to advance the ball. She had one left, ND was out of time outs. Tossing it into the front court would have ended the game.

Sports are fickle. The ball goes in and you are a gutsy hero. It rattles out of a hoop with a tight rim and you aren’t.

I am not a big fan of AO based in large part on her conduct against UConn in the game at ND in December. But, I have to admit that she and Mabry played really well and hit shot after shot in the second half. It was a thrilling game, even for UConn fan.
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Great post, but a picky correction: It was Baylor that called the last timeout before ND's inbound play.
 
nutmegger said:
Baylor did NOT have any timeouts left at the end.
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My bad. I had thought it was Notre Dame that called the second timeout before the play to AO. Apparently it was Baylor. Post edited.
 
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Notre Dame didn’t lose because she missed the free throw; they lost because Jackie Young was 1-8 from the field and scored only four points. Kudos to Baylor for stopping ND’s most important player.
 
bballnut90 said:
FT shooting vs. in game shooting in end of game situations varies player by player. Taurasi, for example, has historically struggled hitting FTs late in games but is money for big moment shots on the court. Arike appears to be similar...she was money in last years Final Four hitting big shots but people forget she missed back to back HUGE FTs in OT that likely seal an ND win...this led to the Dangerfield 3 and her game winner after. Vs. UCONN this year she hit her FTs but missed the front end of 2 FTs today which cemented ND's loss. Tough way to go out but she went out fighting and had a heck of a career. Arguably the best in ND history.
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who? (even tho I see she passed her in scoring leaders, I'd like to see the comparison with all stats)
1554697955828.png
 
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DaddyChoc said:
who? (even tho I see she passed her in scoring leaders, I'd like to see the comparison with all stats)
View attachment 42028
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I'd still probably go with Sky considering she was the star that put ND back on the map as a title threat, but when you look at Arike's body of work it holds up against any ND player. She has the stats, the title, MOP, the buzzer beaters, 2x AA and another runner up with two stellar performances in the Final Four her senior season.
 
Jordy said:
Notre Dame didn’t lose because she missed the free throw; they lost because Jackie Young was 1-8 from the field and scored only four points. Kudos to Baylor for stopping ND’s most important player.
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Lots of missed opportunities. But like in football, it’s often the kicker that gets blamed for missing the field goal at the end.
 
Huskee11 said:
Notre Dame was down two with 3.9 seconds left. Ursin was covering AO. Everyone in the arena knew the ball was going to AO. Ursin is powerful but short and AO would have no trouble getting a shot over her. Richards was the better defensive matchup but she had four fouls and more importantly, hurt her leg in the fourth quarter and was gimpy.

McGraw had a decision to make. Go for the win, or go for the tie. She chose the latter. She knew that Baylor was vulnerable, with Cox and Smith out, and Richards and Jackson with four fouls each, plus Richards was gimpy. And Brown had been in for 37 minutes and was probably exhausted. Overtime favored ND. She probably figured the refs would call a foul if AO took it hard to the hole, and she was right. The refs were letting everything go early but were calling it very tight late. And, of course, they are Notre Dame after all.

So AO got the ball and took it to the hole, creating enough contact.

It looked like they were going to overtime.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I am not a big fan of AO based in large part on her conduct against UConn in the game at ND in December. But, I have to admit that she and Mabry played really well and hit shot after shot in the second half. It was a thrilling game, even for UConn fan.
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Generally a good post, however, I must at least disagree on one aspect. Perhaps two but still the same subject. DI Di Richards did not have 4 fouls, she fouled out. Di Di is one of the better perimeter defenders in WCBB but she had difficulties with Arika this game. Her length, which is an asset against most guards was a liability in this matchup. She was getting beat off the dribble throughout the game and her attempts to recover is what got her fouled out. Baylors smaller guards actually were more effective against Arika this game. Even before she fouled out Richards often found herself match up against Young against whom she was very effective.

Arika's actions in the Uconn game were not a one-game thing. She has done the same sort of things in other games as well. Not a very likable person to say the least. Combine that with the hype she has gotten and it is no wonder so many people were happy ND lost. I can not remember a time when so many fans from teams not playing were so involved in an outcome. Sort of feel bad for the ND fans. They had to put up with the negative backlash against their team. Their coach certainly didn't help ND's PR either.
 
BigBird said:
Thinking how odd it is that ND’s free throwing went somewhat sour when it was most needed. And the great AO blew the FT that would have given ND a shot at overtime.
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Baylor was 2 of 7 on free throws and Notre Dame was 18 of 22. Quite a disparity. How does something like that happen? (tongue in cheek). I do not recall reading anything about that in the ESPN writeups. It would have been a travesty had Baylor lost.
 
willtalk said:
Generally a good post, however, I must at least disagree on one aspect. Perhaps two but still the same subject. DI Di Richards did not have 4 fouls, she fouled out.
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Disagree. It was Smith who fouled out. Richards had four fouls.

Richards went out after a fall in fourth quarter and was favoring her leg a bit after she came back in.

Baylor only played seven. Cox out, Smith out. Team on the floor at the end was Ursin, Landrum, Richards, Brown and Jackson.
 
jaundicedeye said:
Baylor was 2 of 7 on free throws and Notre Dame was 18 of 22. Quite a disparity. How does something like that happen? (tongue in cheek). I do not recall reading anything about that in the ESPN writeups. It would have been a travesty had Baylor lost.
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As you implied, ND has always had big advantages in the number of free throws per game. Always drove me crazy.
I am thrilled that I will never again see AO and a Mabry in an ND uniform.
 
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