Spoiled - maybe just a little bit?!

[UcMiami]

I am a very loyal fan, and love to watch Uconn stomp all over good teams and bad, and I even enjoy games where they are challenged and prevail.
This is a great team this year, but to read the gnashing and moaning in the game thread, and in the post game analyses, the sky is falling, the team can't defend, everyone but Stewart is chopped liver, etc.

Just as a reminder - other teams are allowed to play their A+ game when they play against us, and when that happens, as it has the past two games, it will not look easy. We still won both games comfortably and were not truly challenged in the fourth quarter of either.

We do seem to think as a group anything less than 20 point wins are a disaster - as a reminder:
2002 NC 39-0 - what Geno refers to as the best team ever - beat #23 VaTech by 9, as well as having three 14 point wins against teams ranked #2, #3, and #23, and an 18 point win against an unranked PSU and a 12 point win against OK.

2008 - 39-0 Maya, Tina, and Rene - the first team to do the whole year with double digit wins, but had a 10 point win against an 11 loss Rutgers team and a 7 loss ND team as well as 11, 12, and 13 point wins against other pretty mediocre teams.

2009 - 39-0 Maya/Tina - 6 point win in the NC after cruising through the year with 12, 14, and 15 point wins being as close as folks got.

2014 - 40-0 Dolson/Hartley et. al. - repeat of the double digit margin of victory with the closest game being #7 Baylor at 11 pts, and #14 Texas A&M by 15.

The sky really isn't falling, we are 6-0 having played teams ranked by Massey as #2, #13, #17, #20, #54, #57 and coming through with a 35.4 point margin of victory over the strongest schedule of any team at this point of the season (and a stronger early season schedule than Uconn has ever played.) Moaning about how much we miss KML's threes doesn't compute in my mind because we just played two good, well coached, inspired teams and won by double digits with the mixture of players we have today, whereas when we played a similar team early last year, KML's threes couldn't save us from the loss.

It is early and there are obviously some things to tighten up, and the team has not yet fully gelled. But it is a very good team that should end up as a great one.

(And yes - luck is involved in a team shooting 65% from three when when one of their players shoots 75% on threes and 25% on FTs and 20% on twos (3-4/1-4/1-5 were Arike's numbers)

 

[ThisJustIn]

Sometimes I believe that some fans don't respect this team

 

[CocoHusky]

There is no maybe. We are spoiled rotten!

 

[ASweet3781]

Some of these "Fans" are in for a rude awakening next year with no Stewie/MJ/and possibly Morgan. They better get used to close games and even...gasp...losses.

I thought ND and DePaul played phenomenal against us. I thought they were entertaining games to watch. They each hit double digit 3's and we still won by double digits. We also have room for improvement and can certainly improve on D. I take that as a good sign.

 

[ballhawk]

Last year we beat ND in the NC by 10 points and this year we beat ND by 10 points. I, too, expected a blowout. So, maybe, this isn't the best team in the history of WCBB. Maybe, this team is only as good as last year's NC team. That's plenty good enough.

 

[HGN]

We are SPOILED. Big time. We expected a blowout and the game turned into a dogfight (no pun intended). But our dog won the fight. So lets be happy. We didn't get what we expected , so we whine. That's being spoiled. No one expects a team to shoot 65% on over 20+ 3's. ....I know I didn't. If ND had hit on 50% instead of 65 we win by 19. These Huskies played a great game.

We will not win every game by blowout. So let's learn to be happy with a Win anyway we can get it.

 

[alexrgct]

Notre Dame is spoiled! You lose peters, Novosel, Mallory, Skylar, McBride, Achonwa, and Jewel, and Muffet STILL has a top five program each year.


As Allen and the Maybreys gel more along with Arike and Cable, watch out. Turner and Taya are on the horizon, as is maybe Patbeberg. Gonna be a good irish team in the near future.

Of course, we have KLS and they don't. So maybe we are spoiled!

 

[huskeynut]

Oh yes we are spoiled!!!!!

Look what we have witnessed over the years:
1. 10 national championships
2. 5 undefeated seasons
3. Untold number of conference championships
4. Many All Americans
5. Hall of Fame coach.

Now people are going nuts because we had two very good, competitive games against two well coached nationally ranked teams. And its only December!!!!!!

Let me steal a line from another one of our boards - WE'RE DOOOOOOOOMMMMMMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HuskyNan]

Some of these "Fans" are in for a rude awakening next year with no Stewie/MJ/and possibly Morgan. They better get used to close games and even...gasp...losses.

I really don't understand these types of comments I've seen sprinkled throughout the Boneyard the last few days. Two ranked opponents play UConn tough for a half and now the sky is falling? What about that Canadian kid or that #15? And didn't Geno just bring in the #1 ranked high schooler? It's not like Stewie and Mo are the only players worth mentioning on the UConn roster.

 

[Bigpetunia]

I, too, think we UConn fans tend to be rather outrageously spoiled. Yes, it's true that I was rather surprised at how things played out in this game. Had I been told in advance that UConn would drop in 91, I'd have assumed a thirty point MOV. UConn scored about ten or so more than I predicted, but ND scored about twenty more! Was ND handicapped by the absence of Reimer and Turner? Well, sure, but the absence of such talent is missed much less than it otherwise would be if your team is as hot from the perimeter as ND was. Yes, there were significant (and correctable) defensive lapses on the UConn side. Last year, the one and only game in which UConn allowed an opposing team into the eighties, also early-season, resulted in its only loss. I would bet heavily that such a contingency would not be repeated should these two teams meet again in the tournament, irrespective of whether or not last night's two absentees are playing. Still, UConn won pretty damn convincingly in a hard-fought (as always) and entertaining game. The final score is a bit misleading because the outcome was no longer remotely in doubt when UConn stretched the lead out to twenty and the foot came off the gas on the defensive side in the last few minutes when ND successfully drained a few more threes. That apparently made some of us kind of blue, that the final MOV was not sufficiently humiliating for the Irish...yeah, we're pretty spoiled. UConn's defense will get a lot better, of that you can be certain. Everyone in his or her right mind who is a UConn fan should be cheering today for another great victory over its perennial most-credible and best-coached opponent!

 

[Tonyc]

How bout a little cheese with that whine? LOL This is a great great team. Not perfect just great. I was at 2 Christmas Parties yesterday and missed a lot of the game put kept peeking in to catch some of it. I will rewatch it today and probably tomorrow. IMO Genos gameplan was to slow Cable down. When Mabrey 2 came in it was unexpected that she would score like a machine gun. In the second half UConn shut her down built a 20+ pt lead and then held the ball to conserve the win. ND hit shots just like DePaul did but at a better rate so we win by 10. If UConn kept their foot on the pedal UConn most likely could've won by over 25 but UConn didn't thus a double digit win. Not bad. Many UConn fans are concerned and disappointed. It is very clear to me that one weakness this team has is playing against multiple guards who can shoot treys consistently from deep. Why because our bigs have to come out and guard them leaving the middle open or the shooter open if they don't come out and guard her. There is an ole saying live by the trey and die by the trey. If Reimer and Turner had played that would've eliminated 2 players shooting the trey. Our bigs who had problems defending the trey would've been down low and defended better. JMO folks.

I thought UConn played great again. The unexpected 65% shooting by ND wasn't as big of a problem as some think. First UConn overcame NDs unbelievable shooting still winning by double digits. Second I don't think you will see ND shoot 65% very often from 3 pt range. So its not that UConn played poorly its that ND shot unbelievably and a lot of that had to do with our bigs having to go out from underneath and guard them. Are we a bad defensive team. No but under the circumstances I think we did pretty well. Can you imagine Reimer or Turner playing the perimeter and guarding MoJeff? Mo would win that battle almost every time. I also think that if Reimer and Turner had played the score differential would've been higher because our bigs would've been underneath, been able to defend NDs bigs underneath, and there would've been 2 less trey shooters. Again with a 20+ pt lead if UConn had kept their foot on the pedal and continued to run up the score which would've ment to continue to play aggressive on offense and attack the basket instead of passing the ball around the perimeter to run down the clock then I also think UConn would've won by 20+ pts. We will never know but based on how UConn was going it is imo a very strong possibility.

A good indication will come against MD who has some bigs and South Carolina who has a lot of bigs. They will have to come out and guard UConn. The ND game was never in doubt for me. UConn maintained their poise. Hey we won by double digits. I don't think ND could've played any better. If ND had shot 40% from trey UConn blows them put. ND didn't which indicates to me that as well as ND and DePaul shot the ball and UConn still wins by double digits this team well I don't know what an team can do to beat this UConn team. All indications tell me that UConn can handle anything any team throws at them.

As far as next season . Our underclassman will have more experience and wont be making the freshman mistakes they are making in their first 6 games in college and I expect Butler and Boykin to be back which gives UConn a bunch of rebounders. Next year is next year and UConn may not be as strong as this season but they are still UConn.

 

[Nuyoika]

Yeah, I usually like to chit chat on here after the game but all this whining has made it less enjoyable. I'm not sure what people expect of top 3 teams and maybe the feeling was different watching it live but this game was never in jeopardy and some of these BYers are starting to sound more like opposing fans. Part of it could be that they haven't watched the other teams in WCBB play. I have no doubt that as of right now UConn and ND are again the best two teams in the country.

 

[easttexastrash]

Geno has said, and has been repeated on the BY countless times, that other programs need to improve to get closer to UCONN. This is what that looks like. DePaul and ND played incredibly well and deserve respect and recognition for their efforts. This is not about UCONN taking a step back, it's about two other programs showing that they have taken a step forward.

 

[Ozimoto]

If Maryland learns to play at their most efficient level for more than a quarter out of four they can become the real deal also.

 

[easttexastrash]

I really don't understand these types of comments I've seen sprinkled throughout the Boneyard the last few days. Two ranked opponents play UConn tough for a half and now the sky is falling? What about that Canadian kid or that #15? And didn't Geno just bring in the #1 ranked high schooler? It's not like Stewie and Mo are the only players worth mentioning on the UConn roster.

And Butler hasn't even hit the court yet. If she is as good as advertised the future is even brighter. I don't expect a team without Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck to trounce all opponents but next year's team will still challenge for a championship, even if not considered a clear favorite. And isn't that all that fans can ask for?

 

[HuskyNan]

Fans feared for the team after Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams and Swin Cash graduated, then again after Diana Taurasi graduated, then after Tina, then Maya, Kelly, and Kaleena. The sky often seems to be falling (and a few years after DT left were not fun) yet somehow UConn manages to muddle through.

 

[WestCoastFan]

I'm very spoiled: Love my kids (and they love me...I think); happily retired in SoCal wine country at 57; got two awesome Breitling watches; 65" ultra HD Samsong; good health (back's a little sore); nice house; great brothers; hot lady friend; best basset hound ever!

Can't speak for other Husky fans, but I don't care about the score, but rather that the girls play to their potential. I've written this before...they can do something really special this season and I hope they do so I can say I saw it. Couldn't care less about next year's team.

Remember...at the end of the day, it's just a basketball game. Let the young ladies enjoy the ride.

BTW, I already saw Perfection...I watched Secretariat at the Belmont. I still tear up when I watch the replay. I've also seen men on the moon, Haley's comet and the Red Sox win THREE series!! Game On, Baby.

 

[easttexastrash]

I'm very spoiled: Love my kids (and they love me...I think); happily retired in SoCal wine country at 57; got two awesome Breitling watches; 65" ultra HD Samsong; good health (back's a little sore); nice house; great brothers; hot lady friend; best basset hound ever!

Can't speak for other Husky fans, but I don't care about the score, but rather that the girls play to their potential. I've written this before...they can do something really special this season and I hope they do so I can say I saw it. Couldn't care less about next year's team.

Remember...at the end of the day, it's just a basketball game. Let the young ladies enjoy the ride.

BTW, I already saw Perfection...I watched Secretariat at the Belmont. I still tear up when I watch the replay. I've also seen men on the moon, Haley's comet and the Red Sox win THREE series!! Game On, Baby.

Well said, WCF. As a Baylor fan I am just happy to have a good team to follow that is fun to watch. I find joy in watching how hard they play every game, win or lose. Is it more fun to win than lose? Yes! Is it more fun to just enjoy being treated to quality women's basketball? Absolutely!

 

[WestCoastFan]

Well said, WCF. As a Baylor fan I am just happy to have a good team to follow that is fun to watch. I find joy in watching how hard they play every game, win or lose. Is it fun to win than lose? Yes! Is it more fun to just enjoy being treated to quality women's basketball? Absolutely!

So true, ETT.

 

[UcMiami]

Fans feared for the team after Sue Bird, Asjha Jones, Tamika Williams and Swin Cash graduated, then again after Diana Taurasi graduated, then after Tina, then Maya, Kelly, and Kaleena. The sky often seems to be falling (and a few years after DT left were not fun) yet somehow UConn manages to muddle through.

Nan - 'not fun'?!
I had a lot of fun watching those teams and they produced some great moments and included some great players. They did not get to the promised land, and that was disappointing, but they were always in the running. From Ann, Barb, Jess, and Ashley through Mel, Ketia, Willnett, Charde, Kalana, Brittany, Nicole, et. al. they were my 'wide world of sport' providing both the thrill of victories, and the agony of injuries and defeats.

Not every child can be Einstein or Mother Theresa, but we love them just the same!

 

[ASweet3781]

I really don't understand these types of comments I've seen sprinkled throughout the Boneyard the last few days. Two ranked opponents play UConn tough for a half and now the sky is falling? What about that Canadian kid or that #15? And didn't Geno just bring in the #1 ranked high schooler? It's not like Stewie and Mo are the only players worth mentioning on the UConn roster.

I was arguing against the fans who have been behaving like the sky was falling after the last 2 games. The ones who said Geno was out coached because we only beat ND and DePaul (who each hit about 15 3's) by double digits. I guess I missed the part where I said Stewie and Mo were the only players worth mentioning. I mentioned them because the fans freaking out over the last 2 games will need to prepare themselves for next year when we will certainly be involved in more close games without them.