So, would this game had been different with Turner healthy?

[psconn]

I skimmed through this thread and I sure I'm reiterating others here, but the facts as I see them are:

• that ND is/will be better with one of their best players in the line-up,
• a lot would have been different in this game if Turner played, and will be in any future meeting,
• like UConn, ND is well coached and improving... who can improve more is the key down the road,
• if UConn goes into that future game with the wrong mindset based on this win, they will lose,
• Good road win in a difficult setting against a quality team. Lots to be happy with and TONS to work on. That's the beginning and end of it.

 

[easttexastrash]

I skimmed through this thread and I sure I'm reiterating others here, but the facts as I see them are:

• that ND is/will be better with one of their best players in the line-up,
• a lot would have been different in this game if Turner played, and will be in any future meeting,
• like UConn, ND is well coached and improving... who can improve more is the key down the road,
• if UConn goes into that future game with the wrong mindset based on this win, they will lose,
• Good road win in a difficult setting against a quality team. Lots to be happy with and TONS to work on. That's the beginning and end of it.

Well said.

 

[Waquoit]

Brianna Turner is a game changer.

Not in college she isn't.

 

[asuwish]

Might as well discuss it...or we can all agree not to discuss it.

For the record, I can't remember being happier after a regular season game...

I think she would have helped a lot. At 6'3" she is as athletic as Stokes. Reimer could not stay with Tuck, but Turner could. She is a very talented player. Could they have won?, But her athleticism changes the game on both ends.

 

[easttexastrash]

I still don't see how Reimer was ranked so highly coming out of high school. I have yet to see her look like a top 5 player.

 

[PacoSwede]

It would have made a huge difference if she played; we then would not have been subjected to two dozens close-ups of her sitting on the bench in street clothes. And not just a quick glimpse, but extended, boring shots. Sometimes while there was live play on the court.

Great TV, ESPN. You certainly have a flare for the money shot.

 

[geneticrex]

The chances are greater that Turner would have had a positive impact for ND, than mailed in a stinker. I believe that is obvious to most fair-minded people, but with UCONN's balance, I think it's a stretch to believe a freshman, albeit a very talented freshman, would have been the difference in a blowout. 8 games into her freshman campaign, she has yet to see an actual frontcourt and Stokes, Tuck, Stewart and Lewis are just that.

 

[dtbtbtb]

With Turner the game would have been closer as most likely she would have done a better job of staying with Morgan and would help ND rebound much better. That said, I believe UConn would have still won the game!

 

[Buzzyboy]

Might as well discuss it...or we can all agree not to discuss it.

For the record, I can't remember being happier after a regular season game...

There definitely should have been another response, closer but not overtly close.

 

[HuskyNan]

Just like having Achonwa unavailable for the NC game, I'd say both would be worth about a 7-8 point swing towards ND. Before people jump up and down about Achonwa remember that ND had a few players hit a trio of 3-pointers from about mid court (exaggerating) which most likely are shots that wouldn't have been taken had Achonwa been in the game and ND was not desperate for some sort of scoring at that time.

If we're going to play this game, we have to ask what would have been the result if both Achonwa and Morgan Tuck had played? Both teams were down a player.

 

[Buzzyboy]

"IF" if the biggest word in the dictionary. We will never know with all the if because if Turner had played a lot of different things would've happened and if Tuck didn't play a lot of different things would've happened. UConn is balanced and ND isn't so I would say Tucks 25 pts would've been picked up by the other UConn players but we will never know what changes would've occurred. We accept the game as it was played I would've liked to see what Stokes would've done and who would've played her. ND didn't have enough defenders to stop UConn. As I said in pregame posts ND was slow and couldn't keep up with UConn and didn't have enough game changers UConn did and showed it. Another big if is if Nurse had defended Lloyd from the start Lloyd wouldn't have been able to shoot over her like she was able to shoot over MoJeff and there goes 31 pts or at least the possibility of a poorer shooting percentage.

Think back to the Ruth Riley ND team that beat #1 UConn Diana freshman year. Shea and Sveta sat with injuries. Would ND have beaten UConn. NO but we will never know. BB is a team game and ND lost and yes without Turner who may have made a difference good or bad. Don't forget she wouldn't have been defended by a lesser player she would've been defended by some great players.

Bottom line the game was played and played at ND and there was something like a 28 pts turn around and UConn won by 18. All the ifs in the world aren't going to change that. UConn did that with 24 turnovers which is really unheard of by a UConn team. So Geno has some work to do with turnovers and perhaps the next time if they meet UConn will have less turnovers and win by a lot more.

I think your reference to whether UConn would have won that game (semi-final loss) with Shea and Svet is a no brainer. How many sane (non-homer) fans would say that UConn's second half performance (which is maybe the worst of Geno's basketball career) would have happened with two All-Americans in the lineup. There's no way that Diana would have shot anything close to the amount of shots (and misses) that she did in that loss were the two AA's were playing. The fact that they were both seniors and big game players really locks in the total impossibility that they would have not performed in a stellar fashion and easily led the Huskies to the finals and the inevitable national championship. Comparing these two AA's and storied ladies to a girl who shows promise of being an outstanding player but is only 8 games into her freshman year is pretty silly. That Notre Dame had no where near the talent level that this Huskie team does.

 

[HuskyNan]

I still don't see how Reimer was ranked so highly coming out of high school. I have yet to see her look like a top 5 player.

Geno recruited her fairly heavily.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I think she would have helped a lot. At 6'3" she is as athletic as Stokes. Reimer could not stay with Tuck, but Turner could. She is a very talented player. Could they have won?, But her athleticism changes the game on both ends.

Factor in her inexperience against someone as athletic and mature as Tuck and she might have been out of the game or in foul trouble before she even had a chance to be a factor in the game.

 

[easttexastrash]

Geno recruited her fairly heavily.

Dodged a bullet there.

 

[geneticrex]

Dodged a bullet there.

At this point in time, it sure looks like it.

 

[HuskyNan]

Dodged a bullet there.

Not necessarily. Geno really wanted her and he's really good at spotting potential. Taya is only a sophomore and it often takes a couple years for post players to adjust to the next level.

I can't help watching Elizabeth Williams at Duke and gritting my teeth. She chose between Duke and UConn and I don't think she made the right decision, frankly. UConn's system would have suited her much better.

 

[DobbsRover2]

As always, dumb question. What if Ralph and Abrasimova played in the 2001 semi, didn't happen. Would it have been a 35+ game if Tuck was in there in the NC last year, didn't happen. Sports fans can play with the facts or they can play with something else. Still think UConn men could also have back-to-backs if Emmert hadn't done the dirty work that left him pie-faced at the 2014 NC, but again, didn't happen. Unless someone has invented a time-changing machine, didn't happen, so who cares except the what-if self-flagelators?

 

[easttexastrash]

No, it would have made no difference. ND is just not very good, other than Lloyd. They should drop below USC, UCONN, and Texas, at the least, and maybe TAMU and UNC. Missing one player, and a freshman at that, should not result in a total beat down.

 

[triaddukefan]

Not necessarily. Geno really wanted her and he's really good at spotting potential. Taya is only a sophomore and it often takes a couple years for post players to adjust to the next level.

I can't help watching Elizabeth Williams at Duke and gritting my teeth. She chose between Duke and UConn and I don't think she made the right decision, frankly. UConn's system would have suited her much better.

You mean from a purely basketball perspective correct ?

 

[JellyBean]

I picked the 3rd option. We got the "W" an I am not worried about if that one player was on the court or off the court. We got the "W", everyone stayed healthy, and we move on to the next game. Go, UConn!!!

 

[alexrgct]

As always, dumb question.

Well gee, thanks for reading my posts.

And for the record, this instance is a much more germane case than your counter-examples. Your cited players were done for their respective seasons before the "what-if" games. Turner will be healthy soon enough, and there's a chance ND and UConn play again. Could her presence be the difference- yes or no? Or would you rather say, "I'm happy about last Saturday's win and will worry about this question if those teams happen to come close to playing each other again"? Either way is a perfectly reasonable response, hence my options in the poll. Your polemic, characteristically crabby response, meanwhile, has less utility in an otherwise productive discussion.

 

[VAUConnFan]

No.

 

[Orangutan]

I still don't see how Reimer was ranked so highly coming out of high school. I have yet to see her look like a top 5 player.

Did you see the Maryland game? She was very good in that one against an (alleged) top team. That's a good demonstration of what she can do. Alas, she has been frustratingly inconsistent.

 

[Orangutan]

No, it would have made no difference. ND is just not very good, other than Lloyd. They should drop below USC, UCONN, and Texas, at the least, and maybe TAMU and UNC. Missing one player, and a freshman at that, should not result in a total beat down.

Even after the UConn game, ND is still #1 in offensive points per possession and 7th in defensive points per possession. Not bad for a team with only one good player.

UConn was going to win regardless of whether Turner played or not.

I just wish she had been out there for the experience. My hope with Turner (and Reimer and Westbeld) is that the experience they gain this year can help them challenge UConn better next year.

 

[meyers7]

Your polemic, characteristically crabby response, meanwhile, has less utility in an otherwise productive discussion.

This isn't a productive discussion.