South Carolina Postgame Thread[merged thread]

[hoopsfan22]

What if, perhaps, Nika did a Bria?

For which senior?

 

[sun]

The crowd was roaring when UConn pulled within 6 points.
And with 3:00 left in the 4th UConn was still only down by 10.
UConn's defensive effort was super, they just couldn't make enough shots.
It's tough to play offense well when expending so much defensive effort to come back from behind.
Paige would need to have a clone or two in order to have won that game.

At this point, it doesn't serve any constructive purpose to criticize players for their errors made during the game.
The NCAA is a training ground for young athletes and every player will make mistakes and have weaknesses.
Only one team can be crowned the best, and UConn ended up being the 2nd best team this time around.
A #2 must always try harder if they want to become a #1.
All of the errors and mistakes added up to being the final score.
Geno can't go on the court and make the baskets for the players.
He gave them all a chance to have an impact on the NC game.
There's no excuses, THE TEAM simply couldn't score enough points.
Too bad, so sad, better luck next year because we all know that eventually the Huskies will return with some different players.
That's just the way the college game is, it's a set up for a heartbreak when they lose.

It's always going to be something, injuries, illness, the players, the coaches, the refs, the opponents.
It's entertainment except for those who are playing that have something on the line to prove.
And the game certainly was entertaining even though it was a little more exasperating than usual.
That's because of the emotional investment that many of the fans have with the UConn Huskies.
Next year the team will have some new players and a new identity, and the process will start all over again as sure as birds fly south for the winter and then return in the spring.
Geno is a coach on a mission, and he helped to create a wonderful and richly rewarding experience for the school, the fans and the players this year.
They all deserve congratulations and admiration for all of their efforts to reach the NC game.
They beat a lot of odds just to be able to play in it again this year.
Better luck to them next year!

 

[BobbyJ]

This.

Astonishing how difficult this concept proved to be. All season long with Nelson-Ododa and Edwards, more often than not setting moving picks, even as they were commonly left uncalled by the refs.

I thought the late second quarter lineup with DeBerry and Ducharme was interesting, settling the rebound issues, had us down 8 at half. Would have liked to see a bit more of it. Ducharme played well I thought, very active. Best she has since her injuries.

I wouldn't sleep on DeBerry next year. Height, length, decent shot from distance (in what little we saw of it), real solid fundamentals, a year on the bench, an off-season to step-up, I would not at all be surprised to see her make a real impact. Wouldn't be the first time a big made a massive jump from frehsman to sophomore years #Dolson.

DeBerry and Ducharme did nothing to “settle the rebound issues”. In 22 minutes Ducharme had 1 and DeBerry had zero in 4 minutes.

 

[hayman522]

Sure. he has. IMO every game that’s close any move could be the one anyone can randomly say "that's the move that blew it."

In this case, with Amari- I don’t think that just because you give a player minutes during the reg season that they will automatically produce during the high tension Tourney. For me- I value experience. And lo and behold how our seniors came through before this game but then it was the SC sr that came through in this game.

Anyhow where do you see the mistake here? You agree with some that it was DeBerry? Or Ducharme? Nika? My only counter to anyone suggesting that--- that those extra minutes he would have given in the NC State game or Stanford game while not having the starters or Evina in for example could have just as likely cost them. Agree?
=============================

And finally- when is it not the coach’s fault and you just lost to the better team?

UConn lost to a better team this night. But I agree UConn needed to develop Amari Deberry duringvthe year they needed the depth. Geno does not develop his depth and it costs him against teams like South Carolina.

 

[Beemer]

Well I don’t think you can count on Dorka being hurt and can't play. Then Liv suffering an injury that slowed her down then go out and rip the coach.

And again the minutes you give that frosh in the Reg season you have no way of knowing if it will produce duringg the NCAA's. The strategy of the short bench has produced the 14 straight Final Fours. It produced getting to the final this year. To have an implication that DeBerry would not have cost UCONN any of the tight games vs NC State and Stanford is nothing more imo than throwing a dart. Monday Morning QB. Which as I said after any loss one can randomly do.

For me- I wanted Paige to shoot and shoot and shoot.

So did I and I also wanted her to bring the ball up much more quickly, to keep SC off balance.

 

[Tufkas]

[forgot to insert the quote]
Bobby J:
"DeBerry and Ducharme did nothing to “settle the rebound issues”. In 22 minutes Ducharme had 1 and DeBerry had zero in 4 minutes."

Disagree mate. Some things are NOT in the box score. Rebounding is a team casade where players may facilitate for others. There is no "assist" stat for rebounds.

From 4 minutes to half, South Carolina had 4 total boards, 2 o-boards. UConn had 6 total boards, 1 offensive. Admittedly a very small sample, however against SC's game advantage of 49-24, FOR ME, things felt settled down. OK?

 

[Rb335]

UConn lost to a better team this night. But I agree UConn needed to develop Amari Deberry duringvthe year they needed the depth. Geno does not develop his depth and it costs him against teams like South Carolina.

Yes, but who could’ve expected Dorka to break her wrist in the tournament. Dorka led the team in both offensive and defensive rebounding rate per 40 minutes. You could argue she was our best rebounder.

If she was available, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Geno use the big lineup of Dorka, Olivia, and Aaliyah after the opening few minutes. Swapping out 5’11 with 6’5 would’ve immediately helped us to match up with the length of SC.

I feel pretty confident that Deberry will be a completely different player next year. It sounds like she has bought in, and im excited to see her develop n

 

[hoophuskee]

UConn lost to a better team this night. But I agree UConn needed to develop Amari Deberry duringvthe year they needed the depth. Geno does not develop his depth and it costs him against teams like South Carolina.

Hello - hey thank you for the post and it is absolutely fine we disagree on some points. Agree on others. Please don't take offense to any disagreement.


Can I ask some questions about DeBerry and your comment of playing her more along with a question on injuries?

1-- How certain are you that if you gave DeBerry minutes that it wouldn't have hampered performance from other players such as Edwards, Liv and Evina who all played the frontcourt position this year? Because we saw UCONN beat the bigger team while Evina was tremendous. Playing her more would have limited Evina as an example.

2-- And if you value experience, how confident would you have been with DeBerry getting "bench" minutes (not "starter" minutes of near 25 per game but "bench" as a frosh) going against the experience of UCF, NC State, and Stanford? There is no assurance our frosh was going to do well vs them in the Tourney its why experience is so valued. So wouldn't you agree that there is also a possibility that DeBerry in just even 1 minute could have cost UCONN the game vs Nc State or Stanford regardless how many minutes she picked up as a bench player?

I’m asking you to re-look at the Stanford game as a case in point. Early in the 4th quarter, Stanford put in Kiki Iriafen and she proceeded to get an OReb then turned it over, then didn't help quick enough vs Liv in which Liv got a low post basket while Kiki fouled her.). In the span of her 1 minute she allowed UCONN to get 3 valued points in which UCONN lead went from 2 to 5. That move was extremely costly. And right after that Tara V pulled Kiki. SO summing up everything, are you that sure a player who is let's be honest is "soft," probably would be that during the NCAA Tourney (regardless of the minutes you give her) vs highly experienced teams, and as a result , could have cost UCONN the game?

3-- We saw Evina play well vs big teams. UCONN got to FF last year and she was the 4. This year the game vs Stanford she was an enormous difference maker, and Geno had 3 other post players and as we know Ducharme also played PF. So, through it all, Geno was supposed to realize that it be possible vs an eventual SC matchup (the one team that beat UCONN) that Dorka would be out, Liv and Evina would be banged up, and CD would play worse (not awful but worse)) than she previously showed, and play Amari instead while “hoping for the best” vs experienced and very good teams of UCF, NC State, and Stanford?

 

[sun]

UConn lost to a better team this night. But I agree UConn needed to develop Amari Deberry duringvthe year they needed the depth. Geno does not develop his depth and it costs him against teams like South Carolina.

I agree that Amari hasn't been properly developed but it's hard to blame anyone if she's not quite ready yet.
She has shown the ability to make a high percentages of short range shots within and all around the lane.
She also has very good hands, perhaps better than Dorka and AE.
I recall in one game she caught a flaming hot pass with one hand while in the lane that was over her head, and she caught it like her hand was a catcher's mitt.
I think that she will get a lot of minutes next year and will become an important scorer.

And Amari has also displayed the ability to block shots including from behind the shooter.

Against certain power teams, we're going to need to use twin towers being on the court at the same time.
Perhaps even in addition to having Edwards or another big combo-forward on the court such as next year's rookies, in order to enhance rebounding and an inside game.

3 point shooting success appears to be too sporadic to be relied on to win the big games.

 

[JJTB]

Congrats to South Carolina. I have to say I hate when I see 21 fouls to 11.... and 26 free throws to 4... that is something that will irate me for the entire year. But South Carolina had a great game tonight... Give them their dues.

With regards to how the game was

 

[HuskyNan]

[forgot to insert the quote]
Bobby J:
"DeBerry and Ducharme did nothing to “settle the rebound issues”. In 22 minutes Ducharme had 1 and DeBerry had zero in 4 minutes."

Disagree mate. Some things are NOT in the box score. Rebounding is a team casade where players may facilitate for others. There is no "assist" stat for rebounds.

From 4 minutes to half, South Carolina had 4 total boards, 2 o-boards. UConn had 6 total boards, 1 offensive. Admittedly a very small sample, however against SC's game advantage of 49-24, FOR ME, things felt settled down. OK?

I saw Caroline tap rebounds to a teammate or get a hand on one for a held ball. She was a pest in the paint for the SC rebounders.

 

[JJTB]

Congrats to South Carolina. I have to say I hate when I see 21 fouls to 11.... and 26 free throws to 4... that is something that will irate me for the entire year. But South Carolina had a great game tonight... Give them their dues.

With regards to how the game was refereed……am I delusional in thinking there were a lot of non traveling calls or should I have put more tonic in my G&T?

 

[BBallF]

I'm sorry to belabor this thread but I just had to weigh in on this. There weren't any coaching fixes, player fixes or offense or defense fixes that would have changed last night. We were tired, spent, worn down or whatever words you want to use. It was our 3rd intense game in 6 days, and this one on 1 days rest in a non-restive environment known as the Final Four.

SC had an extra days rest, had two easier preceding games including a cakewalk in the Elite 8, had bigger bodies in bigger numbers and when you are tired and smaller, better rested bigs usually have their way. We also did not have Dorka who gives you a completely different inside-outside game and bulk underneath and has more basketball skills than either Liv or Aaliyah.

I think it is unbelievable that we even got to the NC game. We kept the most incredible, never to be broken, streak alive with a gut wrenching Elite 8 game. Think of the injuries, the sicknesses, the lineup changes, the unthinkable losses, and then the final crushing injury to Dorka. I mean, really?

You could see in the beginning of the game how it was going to be called by the refs, which was sickening in and of itself and I thought unfairly deferential to Boston and completely inappropriate for a showcase for women's basketball. 3 fouls in 6 games for Boston in the entire NCAAs? I counted that many fouls on her last night. It just wasn't happening. We had gone as far as we could with surgeries ( 3 including Aubrey and Dorka ), stitches, plates, screws, antibiotics, neurological exams, bedrest, braces and crutches. We needed our A game and a fairly called 40 minutes last night. We had neither.

Our ladies did great this year. As bad as they feel today, they will realize soon that they proved they could overcome adversity working together with grit and focus. They don't give a trophy for that but if they did is there any doubt which team would be the recipient?

.

 

[npignatjr]

lol. Now, with only 5 players that can play at a time, we can have "decoys" out there. Nika , for all her positives, is not a great offensive player, and the other teams know that. They "Guard" her by staying 7 ft away to help guard our real threats. That she made some wide open threes during the tournament was good, but a tiny sample. She shoots 22% from the foul line, FOUL LINE.

Bigger sample last year 73% FT. She scored the same a CW yesterday. Same number of rebounds as ONO and AE. And they don't lay that far back.

 

[npignatjr]

The way the referees handled Boston all season with the foul calls who is a bull in a China shop running over people and never getting called for a foul was a joke and I hope they watch the tapes and are embarrassed!

They pocketed that ESPN cash

 

[my2cents]

Bigger sample last year 73% FT. She scored the same a CW yesterday. Same number of rebounds as ONO and AE. And they don't lay that far back.

My point: She is a below avg offensive player.
Your Point: She is an above avg offensive player.

OK

 

[faithfulfan]

I wish people would stop blaming the refs. South Carolina was the much quicker team. Quicker teams draw more fouls. Dawn has done a really good job with recruiting fast and quick players. Those are things you can't teach. The other parts of the game you can teach and she has done a good job with that as well.

To me, the difference in the game was Paige basically taking the 1st & 3rd quarters off. Sometimes team players need to become selfish early in the game, instead of waiting until the end.

Everyone is pointing to the rebounds and fouls as being the biggest issues of the game, but to me it was the turnovers at critical times of the game. There were 2 opportunities in the 3rd quarter UConn had a chance to cut the lead to 3 or 4 points and didn't even get a shot off and South Carolina scored 4 straight points and got the lead back to 10. Little things add up to big things.

smaller and less strong guards foul more not less

 

[faithfulfan]

To those making excuses that the refs 'weren't' part of last night result, tell me one final game that UCONN won, where UCONN had a 26 to 4 foul line shooting advantage?
You'll never see a lop side officiated final in the men's final like that!
You let the players decide the game, the refs decided that wasn't gonna happen last night!

 

[faithfulfan]

These two quotes are, imo, the analysis that summarizes this game and why SC was the superior team. @EasyEd explains how SC's bigs helped their guards get open to make uncontested threes or allowed them to have an easier time to drive to the basket. @TeamFirst explains how their bigs prevented our guards from performing well because they allowed their guards to over press the perimeter plus the bigs successfully hedged when we tried to set picks. They negated UConn's perimeter game.

Add the illness to Fudd, the game injury to Evina, the groin injury that ONO played with and the absence of Dorka I was amazed that we kept this game as close as we did. I would add that Paige expended a lot of energy that first period. I feel that she still isn't completely back to game shape so add that to the equation of loss differential. It was against teams like SC, Stanford and to a lesser extent UCF that Griffen's absence was missed.

My only two quibbles were with Geno keeping Azzi in the first period as long as he did. She was clearly struggling and a big liability on defense. And I have to question Gabriel's development/absence. I was hoping he would put in Amari and or Piath because this game necessitated one or both get minutes.

SC bigs help because they aren't called for fouls against other teams guards!

 

[fomalhaut]

Calling South Carolina's defense the best ever is nonsensical. The 2010 and 2012 Connecticut teams posted the two lowest scoring defense and field goal percentage defense numbers ever, despite running a more high-powered offense than South Carolina does now.

 

[Charliebball]

I believe one of the announcers said Boston only had 3 fouls all tournament. I looked it up, Howard 0 fouls, Miami 1, NCState 2, Creighton 0, Louisville 0. Something is amiss here. Not saying we deserved the win, but seems that someone is getting preferential treatment. Hard to believe anyone would have this few fouls that play as physical as Boston. UConn I believe she had two.

she is very adept at not going for shooting fakes, doesn't leave her feet, doesn't reach and rarely overcommits........for me it's one of the most impressive parts of her game.....

 

[LwrcasefaN]

she is very adept at not going for shooting fakes, doesn't leave her feet, doesn't reach and rarely overcommits........for me it's one of the most impressive parts of her game.....

How about her traveling?

 

[Charliebball]

Then, sadly, it must be the coaching? Why is it the better, more talented bigs are NOT coming to UConn?

how many excellent post players are available every year? Perhaps only one or two.........that's makes the odds of getting them pretty slim right off the bat.............add the fact that UConn's not geographically attractive to many recruits plus the incredibly tough practice atmosphere makes it tough.............frankly I'm thrilled every time UConn gets a top recruit because these are players that are willing to go through hell to become better players and hopefully champions......

 

[npignatjr]

My point: She is a below avg offensive player.
Your Point: She is an above avg offensive player.

OK

My point facts matter. Notice SC played 2 starters known for their defense both averaging less than 7 points a game.

 

[faithfulfan]

she is very adept at not going for shooting fakes, doesn't leave her feet, doesn't reach and rarely overcommits........for me it's one of the most impressive parts of her game.....

she is very adept at not going for shooting fakes, doesn't leave her feet, doesn't reach and rarely overcommits........for me it's one of the most impressive parts of her game.....

I'm impressed with how SC doesn't get called for fouls, when I can see them fouling!-)

 

[Huskygamble19]

Lets see...they beat a no 1 seed and then beat another no 1 seed and they are asked to beat another no 1 seed. I guess that is too much to ask for... Great job ladies.. very proud of you.

 

[UCWBB Fan]

This is my first post here and first of all I would like to extend my congrats to the UConn for a great, but frustrating season. Who woulda thunk it that they would be playing in the NC game back in January. Great fortitude.

An observation I don’t think anyone mentioned here is that SC shot 22 of 60 FGs and was 3 of 16 on 3pt’ers. That means they scored 38 points on 2PT and 9 on 3pt for a total of 47. UC was 22 of 54 FG. and was 4 of 16 on 3PT’ers. That mean UC beat SC strictly on FG made
48 -47. I would say that was a pretty even offensive/defensive floor game. Where the SC won the game was at foul line 17 of 26 compared to 1 of 4 for UC. Does anyone really believe that UC committed 10 more fouls than SC. If the refs had called the game “fairly” might there have been a different outcome? We’ll never know, it is what it is. In spite of the ups and downs they had a more successful season than 62 other teams.

 

[jazz]

Williams was always in a tough spot imo since the getgo, some say her best season was freshman year where she had a big time game vs ND. 2020 she had no help, 21 last season I thought she performed really well in the final 4, this game obviously was her worst, but again it didn't matter in the long run. SC was just not gonna be denied this title, Boston having to go through a year of having to watch her missed layup was motivation. Again I always think it's hard for the post 2016 teams to live up to that 4peat team. Breanna Stewart made it look so easy so everyone just assumed well the next batch of kids are going to make it look easy too and that just won't happen anymore. Just think what it took to get to this final.
An ugly win vs UCF, an Indiana team with 5 srs, a 2 OT game vs Nc st, and then beating the defending champions. And after all that you have to beat the best team in the country. Geno was honest after the post press conference, he said SC was the best team all season and it was going to take a special performance from each player. It didn't happen, but that's just credit to the gamecocks. It's dissapointing for Williams and Olivia right now, but I'm sure they'll remember more good times than bad and + they'll be in the Wnba if they choose too so that's going to be fun to follow their careers professionally.

If we hit shots, we would have had a great chance to win. im talking only 3-4 shots more. The same can be said for SC. Despite the fact they killed us on the board, and had a large number of second possessions which for me is probably the most telling stat of most games - more possessions = more shot attempts = more points. If SC misses a couple more and only a couple, it is a closer game.

At the end of the day, we had a chance if we simply hit a few more shots from the outside and from the highlights I've seen, I think they were there to be had. We just didnt make them. Not saying we would have won, but also not saying we wouldnt have, but hitting a few more shots changes how everything is played thereafter.

 

[jazz]

This is my first post here and first of all I would like to extend my congrats to the UConn for a great, but frustrating season. Who woulda thunk it that they would be playing in the NC game back in January. Great fortitude.

An observation I don’t think anyone mentioned here is that SC shot 22 of 60 FGs and was 3 of 16 on 3pt’ers. That means they scored 38 points on 2PT and 9 on 3pt for a total of 47. UC was 22 of 54 FG. and was 4 of 16 on 3PT’ers. That mean UC beat SC strictly on FG made
48 -47. I would say that was a pretty even offensive/defensive floor game. Where the SC won the game was at foul line 17 of 26 compared to 1 of 4 for UC. Does anyone really believe that UC committed 10 more fouls than SC. If the refs had called the game “fairly” might there have been a different outcome? We’ll never know, it is what it is. In spite of the ups and downs they had a more successful season than 62 other teams.

I havent seen the full game yet, I always have to watch it on tape afterwards bc of where I live. I have seen extensive highlights and to be honest, if Liv was hurt and couldnt play tough down low and we didnt take it to the basket, then it is not a complete shocker that we shot considerable less FTs but 26 vs 4 does make you pause and think about it critically. So we only took 4 FTs the entire game...that is a bit odd, but again, considering our health, maybe only 10 FT is more like it, but 4 seems disconcerting.

 

[Dognusty]

This is my first post here and first of all I would like to extend my congrats to the UConn for a great, but frustrating season. Who woulda thunk it that they would be playing in the NC game back in January. Great fortitude.

An observation I don’t think anyone mentioned here is that SC shot 22 of 60 FGs and was 3 of 16 on 3pt’ers. That means they scored 38 points on 2PT and 9 on 3pt for a total of 47. UC was 22 of 54 FG. and was 4 of 16 on 3PT’ers. That mean UC beat SC strictly on FG made
48 -47. I would say that was a pretty even offensive/defensive floor game. Where the SC won the game was at foul line 17 of 26 compared to 1 of 4 for UC. Does anyone really believe that UC committed 10 more fouls than SC. If the refs had called the game “fairly” might there have been a different outcome? We’ll never know, it is what it is. In spite of the ups and downs they had a more successful season than 62 other teams.

You can't expect to shoot many free throws if u are taking primarily jump shots. Also a lot of those free throws came late in the game when SC was in the bonus. Off the top of my head i would say 12-14 was in the fourth alone.