South Carolina Postgame Thread

[oldude]

I realize that this is all past tense now, but the two issues are intertwined. Dawn's behavior and her cursing at the refs which is not what all coaches do but which Dawn does regularly and gets away with, you could reasonably argue, led to the lack of fouls in the third quarter which set Geno off. As I said previously , there is no proof just circumstances. Post hoc, ergo proctor hoc. After this, therefore because of this. Listen, Geno apologized. It's over. I do think the larger issue has been and remains, the terrible quality of womens basketball officials in general.

Just not the way she does it! That is my point. She cursed, screamed, hurled expletives. It's not acceptable.

Kind of hard to believe Geno doesn’t curse at refs considering he had no problem cursing on national tv when Holly Rowe was interviewing him last night.

 

[mhshuskies]

The obvious difference in the scoring was FTs, not the number of offensive threats. Azzi and Sarah were 7-31 overall and 4 for 14 from 3. That's 22 % overall and 28% from 3. If they shoot 35% from 3 they get an extra 3 points. If you just take the non 3s, they shot 3-17 or 18%. If that number becomes 40% they get an extra 4 regular baskets or 8 points and the score is virtually tied. So yes, shooting was a factor but SCV was not much better. However, it is pretty hard to overcome 16 additional free throws.

Rebounding.

 

[maple]

Honestly, I don’t even care what Dawn said to Geno last night. She’s been unprofessional at times, as has Geno. As have many other coaches in basketball and beyond. But as a UConn fan I’m embarrassed to see Geno acting so out of pocket over a loss. This will never blow over, it’ll get brought up constantly from now until forever. My final thoughts.

 

[Vancat]

Haven’t read all the pages yet, but does anyone else think it’s possible Geno started that kerfuffle to distract attention away from his hurting players?
Edit: just saw Nan’s similar take on this.

 

[jaundicedeye]

I agree. As I indicated, Geno does exactly the same thing.

No Oldude. Geno does not do the exact same thing that Dawn Staley does. Not even close. We all watch the games.

 

[BBallF]

Kind of hard to believe Geno doesn’t curse at refs considering he had no problem cursing on national tv when Holly Rowe was interviewing him last night.

I never saw Geno curse collectively at the referees before a game or quarter. I beg to differ if you think Dawn's behavior and mouth, as best shown last year in the Finals while on her bench, are usual and regular Geno customs.

 

[cancontent]

Haven’t read all the pages yet, but does anyone else think it’s possible Geno started that kerfuffle to distract attention away from his hurting players?
Edit: just saw Nan’s similar take on this.

It's been noted by several people in the thread. The consensus I got based on responses was that in theory it makes a lot of sense, but poorly executed.

 

[Convert2016]

Back to the game... I do think Azzi was exposed in the tournament. Offensively, she needs to work on some things. Teams did a good job taking away her "rhythm shots"; two dribbles to the right, pull up, and shoot. Take away the Syracuse game (very poor defense), and she was 15/48 in the other four games, 31%...

 

[browns]

One game? By how much? This seems like a stretch.

It's actually the last 3 games..she shot 30.7% from the field and 27.7% from 3..sweet sixteen,elite 8,and the FF..might have coach's thinking

 

[Suebird10fan]

A good deal of their failure can be attributed to the SC defense. Let's be fair. None of them could get free for a decent open look, particularly AZZI.

Azzi was hesitating to pull the trigger a lot in the second half.

 

[HuskyNan]

She conveniently waited until he was out of hearing range and threw it out for her staff and groupies. And I’m sure he would have been terrified if he’d heard it.

Never, in the history of man, have two intense Philadelphians hurled insults and invectives at one another with a casual threat tossed into the conversation like oregano on lasagne. (I’m sure Geno gets the “bust his ass” reference for what it is, Philly style)

Geno lost his temper at an inappropriate time, Dawn responded. I think both of them had protecting their teams in mind and they got heated.

 

[joea]

In my job, if I lost my temper and blew up at a representative of a competitor in front of all of our coworkers, employees, and friends, I would expect to at least be reprimanded. And that is even if I was justified in my anger. As a manager and representative of my company, I have responsibilities that are more important than my anger and that still holds no matter what I’ve accomplished at my job and how widely respected and perhaps loved I might be by my peers. An apology would need to be given to the competitor and their employee.

Geno is an employee of the State of Connecticut and his job is to coach the State’s women’s basketball team. I expect UConn will issue a formal apology to South Carolina. But if Dawn did something that offended or angered Geno, he should discuss it with her in private, address it through both universities’ official channels, or the head of referees (if that’s the problem).

He took the spotlight off the young women of South Carolina. It was their moment and he took the attention off them and put it on him. It was wrong and he should apologize

.

WIth all due respect , the sports world is not the business world, and there are things happening in the sports world all the time that would not be expected, and in many cases not tolerated in the business world. Forget politics.
Groveling is not a good look. Its a competition and sometimes it is harsh.
Congratulate the SC team yes. Apologize? Meh.

 

[mainerhuski]

UConn is so good that, as poorly as the rebounding & shooting was yesterday (tons of credit to SC), if the Huskies had been just at their season average in either of those 2 categories, they would have won.
More importantly, I hope we see that version of Ashlynn in every post season game next year (minus the ankle tweak!)

 

[Pharos]

Has anyone else said it? I DON'T LIKE THE PHYSICAL CONTACT GAME. Someone wrote figure skating or mud wrestling. What's wrong with figure skating? And is the comparison fair. In figure skating there are no scores to tally. In clean-contact BB, you get artistry and scoring!

 

[mainerhuski]

The other game is halfway through the 3rd quarter and it is 28-21🙁

Booker & Fudd having bummers for their last games.

 

[GetReal2day]

They can’t handle physical defense.

Our offense works when we are able to cut, move until we are open. Deep playoff defense is holding, pushing and physically controling you and when this type of def is allowed, we cannot handle it. Our lack of physical presence (offense & def) in the lane led to our loss as we were not ready for it. SC rammed it down our throats most times down the stretch and we cut, moved and took difficult shots and didn’t take it to them in any productive manner. Not saying we need to completely change our offense, but hopefully Geno learns from this.

 

[tchalla1]

Some thoughts on the South Carolina game:

• A couple weeks ago, a YouTube video asked the rhetorical question, “UConn, unbeatable or untested?” highlighting the fact that the Huskies had not played SC, TX or UCLA this season. Unfortunately, that question was answered today as UConn was tested by a formidable SC team.
• No team or player expects to lose the last game of the season, and yet, for most, that’s exactly what happens. In his postgame remarks, Geno will undoubtedly remind everyone that, “Winning a championship is hard.” But nobody much will listen, as the expectations by UConn fans are both incredibly high and, at times, unreasonable.
• For the players, coaches and fans, the loss to SC today is very disappointing. That’s normal. Unfortunately, there will always be those who will look to blame someone for the loss: Geno, the players, the refs, whoever. DON’T!!! The game is basketball. Sometimes good teams get beaten by better teams, and in this instance, SC was the better team.
• To those players who will be moving on from UConn: Azzi, Caroline, Serah and perhaps Ice & Ayanna as well, we thank you for all you’ve given to UConn WBB and wish you great success wherever your path in life leads you.
• To the entire team, the coaches and the support staff, Thank you for a great season. UConn WBB fans are truly fortunate.
• We can take some comfort in the knowledge that next season the Huskies will once again be loaded, and they are still coached by the best coach in basketball. #13 will have to wait a year. Only 8 months until next season…….

Very nice take, oldude

Some thoughts on the South Carolina game:

• A couple weeks ago, a YouTube video asked the rhetorical question, “UConn, unbeatable or untested?” highlighting the fact that the Huskies had not played SC, TX or UCLA this season. Unfortunately, that question was answered today as UConn was tested by a formidable SC team.
• No team or player expects to lose the last game of the season, and yet, for most, that’s exactly what happens. In his postgame remarks, Geno will undoubtedly remind everyone that, “Winning a championship is hard.” But nobody much will listen, as the expectations by UConn fans are both incredibly high and, at times, unreasonable.
• For the players, coaches and fans, the loss to SC today is very disappointing. That’s normal. Unfortunately, there will always be those who will look to blame someone for the loss: Geno, the players, the refs, whoever. DON’T!!! The game is basketball. Sometimes good teams get beaten by better teams, and in this instance, SC was the better team.
• To those players who will be moving on from UConn: Azzi, Caroline, Serah and perhaps Ice & Ayanna as well, we thank you for all you’ve given to UConn WBB and wish you great success wherever your path in life leads you.
• To the entire team, the coaches and the support staff, Thank you for a great season. UConn WBB fans are truly fortunate.
• We can take some comfort in the knowledge that next season the Huskies will once again be loaded, and they are still coached by the best coach in basketball. #13 will have to wait a year. Only 8 months until next season…….

Very nice take,, oldude--Before I provide any analysis, let me echo some of the sentiments already expressed: UConn is a class organization and Geno did not represent the brand well. True, I know he gets tired of how in the Final Four, they allow MMA style of basketball, but still.

They're talking how great Sc's defense was, but that isn't so. UConn repeatedly missed wide open shots, and along the grabbing and tussling, our offense flowed like mud....

Subsequently, we were outplayed, outcoached, and regrettably outclassed, at least in regards to our respective coaches...

Regardless, my heart aches and still does at watching our student athletes' remorse and intolerable grief at the loss. I would like to tell them that they have nothing to hold their heads low about--they demonstrated near-perfection for this entire season, and made me immensely proud to be a UConn fan...

 

[tchalla1]

Congratulations to South Carolina. Not much left to say. Congrats.

Dawn Staley in responding to a reporter's pre-game question---"How do you beat UConn?"--and Dawn's answer was, "You have to catch UConn on a bad night." She was quite prophetic...

 

[Scoe]

Nice touch on the apology - "How I reacted", not "I was wrong". Basically the "sorry I made you angry" apology. Well done.
Have no time for the condescending holier than thou moral superiority stuff.
Feel bad for the team. Tough way to end the season.

It's fine he apologized it's not a court case.

 

[Cheddie]

Nonconference needs to be better. Some of it was bad luck — ND and USC were way down.

FSU and Utah were big duds, tho a bit questionable from the start.

But no more non P4 — no Loyola, no So Florida.

I’ve heard UConn was invited to the early season tourney with TX SC UCLA and turned it down. Dunno if that was correct,

In addition to helping the team competitively later in the season, I would suspect a key scheduling criteria is $$.

 

[Cheddie]

It was Geno that made her cry?

Doesn't seem right. 1. I would sincerely hope he would not pile on his players at that point. 2. I'd imagine that missing an open layup just pushed a desperate Kayleigh Heckel over the edge in a game that was already lost.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Doesn't seem right. 1. I would sincerely hope he would not pile on his players at that point. 2. I'd imagine that missing an open layup just pushed a desperate Kayleigh Heckel over the edge in a game that was already lost.

She even slapped her self in the chest as to gesture it was her fault. She was putting too much off it on herself. I think Geno actually took a timeout to let her get composed on the sideline.

 

[joea]

It's fine he apologized it's not a court case.

I agree wholeheartedly with how he did it, kind of artful, and would have been OK with not doing anything at all.

 

[Scoe]

I agree wholeheartedly with how he did it, kind of artful, and would have been OK with not doing anything at all.

I actually misread your post a bit in post #27 my bad I agree with you 100 percent

 

[Bedford fan]

Who cares about handshakes? Sarah didn’t post up hard and let a 5’9 player guard her. Azzi passed up shots she needed to take. That’s my takeaway.

And Sarah could not guard Joyce near the basket

 

[Terrierdog]

Kind of hard to believe Geno doesn’t curse at refs considering he had no problem cursing on national tv when Holly Rowe was interviewing him last night.

Saying "s***" is hardly cursing, but I did mask the word in case it offended you. I think -bomb is worse. Does Staley really use it in addressing officials? Anybody have a quote?

 

[GoUconn7961]

And why did Geno ignore Allie Zeibell?

What does that have to do with my post?

 

[Basingstoke]

And Sarah could not guard Joyce near the basket

I actually don't agree. Look at Joyce's shooting stats and also recall a couple of ridiculous makes she made in the lane. With those shots I credit the shooter as opposed to blaming the defense.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I never comment on what I’m not privy to, and I wasn’t on the sidelines, and I wasn’t a part of those conversations before and after the game. Sure, it was a bad “look”. But the amount of (over) reaction to it is really something. It’s almost like no two coaches in the history of basketball ever got into it in the height of competition.

 

[oldude]

Saying "s***" is hardly cursing, but I did mask the word in case it offended you. I think -bomb is worse. Does Staley really use it in addressing officials? Anybody have a quote?

You think S*** is the worst word that ever came out of Geno’s mouth, the tough little kid that grew up outside of Philly?