South Carolina Postgame Thread | Page 14 | The Boneyard

South Carolina Postgame Thread

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NoSpamHere said:
For those spun up about Geno’s behavior at the end, please watch his postgame press conference. You will get more insight into the situation. It’s not as black & white as it appears, and the videos posted of a handshake is not what he was referring to.

Whatever happened he should’ve stayed to shake hands with the SC players.
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I was thinking about the words that Geno was saying about the NCAA and the handling of the tournament, etc. I don’t think people think that politics and sports can collide or even mix, but the NCAA is a political entity that controls college sports in America. Ego and pride and even power I have to say and what goes on in Games. And many respects I think he’s right like even the fact that they have to play a semifinal and the final basically in 36 hours, that’s ridiculous. The guys get two full days.
I’m guessing Geno knows what hand to play and when… but at the end of the day, we’re all human. We all have emotions cloud, our judgment and his perception is skewed right now. I believe he really wanted us to win so much. I’m not being naïve here, but the players execution on the court just happens to be a direct reflection of his and his teams or his staff I should say and their game plan. Both games were a defensive tragedy, especially if you like offense. Good luck, Bruins.
 
Possibly the worst Semi-Finals ever? Two teams don't hit 50 pts, one hits 51, and the other hits 62. Three consensus All Americans go 10-53. I remember when Stanford led us 20-12 at the half in the championship game, and I said to a friend we just set women's basketball back several decades. This was worse. I don't know the reason, or the answer, but the basketball was awful.
 
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SARG 2011 said:
Congrats to South Carolina, they made plays when they had to. Great year for UConn just looked sped up and missed some make able shots all game. That's sports though...only 1 team will be victorious in the end
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Dynastic said:
Yeah, I played rugby in college and after… we scored more than all these girls in our weekend matches
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Yes very unfortunate. Two very unentertaining games which didn't show case the skills of these athletes. If first time viewing woman's basketball it was a turn off. Bummer
 
Pop psychology:

In the moments, Geno views the physical play and lack of calls as Dawn working/intimidating officials. He believes that is a huge factor in why SS did not have a better game and thus why UConn lost. Angry, upset, emotional, he lashed out at Dawn over a small slight from earlier in the night.

Pissed at Dawn, though for more than the handshake, he’s unlikely to apologize anytime soon.

That’s my take.


No laboratory rats were harmed in this process. Unfortunately.
 
cleobel60 said:
Nika drafted but rarely played. KK seems to be on same path.
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KK back next year so plenty of time to recover. KK largely underrated and should even get AA consideration next year, as she will be unleashed as a scorer finally in her senior year. Defense, assists and leadership she is already bringing.

Nika the jury is out. Unfortunately, her WNBA career is just injury and rehab so far. She was drafted today by the new franchise in Portland, but will miss entire '26 season with new ACL tear.

Between injuries her play in Europe has been promising, especially as a scorer.
 
packwrap said:
KK back next year so plenty of time to recover. KK largely underrated and should even get AA consideration next year, as she will be unleashed as a scorer finally in her senior year. Defense, assists and leadership she is already bringing.
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She would need to improve A LOT for AA consideration.

If she has offense that is ready to be unleashed, she should’ve been using it tonight.

She’s not bad. But she’s not elite either.
 
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Vowelguy said:
She would need to improve A LOT for AA consideration.

If she has offense that is ready to be unleashed, she should’ve been using it tonight.

She’s not bad. But she’s not elite either.
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😁 Kelsey Plum apparently thinks she is a top 10 ncaa point guard, as she keeps inviting her to Dawg camp.

Question is what is Elite? Is hon mention AA Elite, or only first team? Is second round WNBA draft Elite, or only first round?

KK's development next year will be a great thing to watch, precisely because it's not a sure thing.

Funny thing, last year when Geno spread the floor and Dawn had all her defenders at the perimeter, Geno had KK close out the game taking her defenders 1 on 1 to the hoop. KK had potential....now this year not so much.

By the way on your thoughts that "this team really missed Paige" you could be right, as she would have been able to get her own shot better than this group. Different opinions make Boneyard fun, so don't worry too much about prevailing BY thinking.
 
I know Geno is a huge believer in doing things the right way and showing class, now that doesn't mean our program is perfect. When someone on another team does something he doesn't like the he has never been one to shy away from giving his 2 cents on it.

He has gone after other players and coaches in the past for it. Rutgers and Syracuse in the past. After winning the national championship in 2004 I believe there was an assistant on Tennessee who didn't shake hands and Geno didn't take kindly to it and tried to confront him, apparently CD had to hold Geno back and tell him to let it go, this was talked about in one of his books and said Pat Summit would never not shake hands.

Dawn knows this about Geno and I do believe she was planning on doing whatever it took to throw Geno personally off and the rest of the team off their game by any means necessary and had it mapped out all season. Not shaking hands and staying in the huddle was absolutely planned. Pulling on SS jersey planned.

Saying all that they were just more athletic and stronger and certainly doesn't help when your shooting is off.
 
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GoCardinal said:
Hats off for a great run. However, I think this game was incredibly bad on both ends. From the shooting, to the “defense” that really was just over physicality and fouls, to just the flow.

Moving forward, I don’t think KK Arnold needs to be the starting PG next season. She offered nothing today. I also do not think Ziebell is going to be ready to contribute next season, they have got to find a way to find some help for Strong. I think Geno needs to hit the portal hard for some shot creation and athleticism.
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I disagree that KK played Raven to only 2 points. I do think that KK should spend a lot of time with a shooting coach this summer. Sher really needs to be a shooting threat. She needs to force her defender out to the perimeter, and then she could use her speed for blow bys.. With that said...I think there will be quite a bit of competition for the point guard spot next year. 1. Morgan Cheli will be back. She can play point, and she is 6'2". 2. Kaileigh Heckel has had a year to adjust to the UConn system...she also needs to spend a lot of time with a shooting coach this summer. She has great energy, plays hard, and is a good defender. 3. Jovana Popovic 5'8" guard from Serbia. She averaged 26.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game. Coach Geno Auriemma described Popovic as a "high-level guard" and a "playmaker" who fits UConn's recent trend of recruiting elite international talent. 4. Kelis Fisher - small but fast, offensive minded get downhill fast type of guard, but needs to work on her outside shot and her midrange pull-up. 5. ???? Portal
 
Aluminny69 said:
Blame Geno. He seems to think he can win with a smaller lineup. Sorry, not against a tall, athletic team. Who was the last center that geno fully developed? I was disappointed with his inability to develop Serah.
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C'mon Aluminny69...that really isn't fair. Geno had one year to work with Serah. She wasn't used to a high-octane team like UConn, where she was the fourth option. Back in Wisconsin, she was their first option, and that team didn't run and defend like UConn. It took some time for her to feel comfortable...but one season just isn't long enough for a big to adjust.
 
HuskieDawg said:
I think, and it’s obviously a total guess, Geno felt the game was too physical for her and/or her defense wouldn’t be what he needed.
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She got in the game for one minute and the first thing she did was foul and put So Car. on the line. Geno yanked her for the second half.
 
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When you have 3 strikes, you have a recipe for losing . Poor shooting nite, X factor Blanca a non factor and killed on the bds. I m beyond disappointed over Geno s end of game move. Hat off to Dawn as she is the new sheriff in town. I think she will make it 3 championships in the last 5 years on Sunday.
 
I am still a UConn fan. Sad the season is over. All the best to Azzi and Serah.

Outside of last night's game, it was an exciting season. For what ever season, the team played their worst game tonight. As is said, "*hit happens."

None of us were at the game so we don't know what really transpired. Geno's conduct at the end of the game is completely out of character. And we may never know the real story.

So I'm signing off. I await next season.

Go UConn.
 
The shooting had been erratic for most of the tournament. Sure it didn't matter in first 2 games, but became more evident going forward. Against North Carolina and ND is was clear. South Carolina's length, speed, and stronger play brought it into clear focus. Azzi, Sarah were locked up by Carolina's D. The bigs couldn't hold their own in paint. All in all a sad way to end season, coupled with Geno and Dawn's interaction, or lack of at the end. Just added more bitterness to the loss. PLEASE let's not let this degenerate into another feud like Pat Summit and Muffet McGraw.
 
Just woke up and immediately my thoughts turn back to last night. Has to be one of the worst/most disappointing UConn tournament games I’ve ever watched. (I don’t count the injury bug years.) Idk what to say except ouch. It’ll take a while to get over this one.
 
K9 was effort plus. Rebounded great and put her mark on this game. We needed some guard points. Unfortunately, when she drove the baseline, none of our players cut to the hoop, they just stood around. Against lesser teams she might have attempted to score but against SC's bigs she wasn't given the opportunity.
JBK said:
She will be a gamer going forward. My new favorite
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Fishy said:
It really is.
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The concentration of talent continues in college basketball. Fewer teams can compete. It isn't just the Big East that has this problem. In many ways, our conference is being pouched like many others. Money has entered the equation with a limited pool or top players, many of which are one and dones in the men's game. This is our reality.

Just look at the transfer market. Some players move well like in a minor league baseball league. Others in the portal are not pickup, lose their scholarships, move to a lower division, become walk-ins or leave the sport. Fine high school players often find a limited Division 1 market for their talents. This is life today, some players make it big, but many lose the special years and bonding that is college sports. Coaches can't easily warehouse players as they could in the past.
 
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Jimdish255 said:
I don't understand. Heckel was the best player on both ends of the court tonight and with over 7 minutes to go she got benched for 5 plus minutes until the game got away from us. I don't understand.
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That bothered me too at the time. When KK took over, our game slowed down, she often looked to Geno for offensive clues to jump start our scoring. That never seems to work against a long talented well set defensive minded SC. Flowers to them.
 
Dynastic said:
Yeah, I played rugby in college and after… we scored more than all these girls in our weekend matches
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This is what the "Let them play" philosophy gets us. Sometimes it's bad for a defender to reach out and touch an offensive player. Other times it's ok for the defender to give a full body bump. Take away the body bumping and grabbing... it'll be a better visual for a beautiful game.
 
NoSpamHere said:
I’m amazed 3 of the 4 teams scored under 52 points.
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If that's due to the physicality... gotta change the rules and interpretation of the ones you don't change. Lower the mound. Cork the bats. People like scoring.
But we don't like parades to the foul line. What about 3 or 4 fouls and you're out?
 
Appreciate this thread being open and allowing the tough discussions. Watching ESPN now, saw it all go down last night live.

Geno behaved poorly. He was clearly miffed early on and it snowballed into the incident. He also doubled down after the game and may have made things worse.

The Huskies were off. SC plays a very physical style and it rattled UConn. Fudd and Strong are much, much better players than they showed.

Dawn won’t win any awards for sainthood but congrats to her and the women of SC. They did what 38 teams couldn’t this season, and she came out of last night looking like the bigger person.
 
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UConn990411 said:
It feels unfair to second guess a 38-1 season, but UConn won last year in part because they had real size to challenge teams like South Carolina and UCLA.

It’s baffling that they completely abandoned that approach this year.
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We won because we had Paige. She would have carried the team on her back last night. We did not have anyone who wanted that role. Very disappointing but this team needed some toughness, physically and mentally, and that was sorely missing.
 
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