Stanford Postgame Thread

[JellyBean]

What a game! First off, whoever came up with the idea of having Sue and Diana do that Peyton/Eli Manning commentary during the game; brilliant!! OMG!! Felt like being with the crew watching the game at the sports bar. The conversation was awesome. Bill Walton is a frigging conversation magnet! WOW! Loved that element. Great job.

BAck to the game. What a game! First off, hats off to Stanford. This was team I wanted us to face. Hey, I am one of those Ric Flair fans that believes in the whole "If you want to be the Man, you have to beat the Man" mindset. Of course, in this case it is Woman. Anyway, beating Stanford, the defending champs, removes one less argument, if UConn is able to hold on and beat South Carolina on Sunday.

But to the game, again. Love that the UConn girls kept their poise out there. Loved the way the ladies played together and were smart with their play. Great win!!

 

[jazz]

I just saw the stat sheet. Evina played 31 minutes and Nika played 17 minutes. And CD played 7 minutes as well. This gave much rest to our starters.

i dont think we score 24 in the 4th nor does CW hit the threes if she and the rest didnt get some rest...and while they rested we kept lead and even increased the margin. I was saying even back last year, i thought CW needed to sit 10 minutes a game to be more effective. I dont know for sure, but I have been trying to figure out why she is such an inconsistent shooter...her vision or is she a little gassed at times.

 

[jazz]

honestly we should have won by ten, we made 2-3 big mistakes down the stretch.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

No, I said UConn matchups up fine and compared the type of matchup problems they’d give us to what Oregon did. Last night’s game was extremely similar to the rock fight we had with Oregon later in the season. You took that as a dig because Oregon disappointed this season despite the talent they have. Below is the comment I made straight from the other thread.

“I think UConn matches up fine. I see them as comparable to Oregon, who gave us a lot of problems each time.”

We did exactly what I said we’d do. Force UConn to beat us from the perimeter. We did that and neither team shot well. We put up way too many 3s instead of feeding Brink in the post. UConn’s defense played a part, but we didn’t help ourselves by making adjustments either.

Ok, sort of understand, but then why bring Oregon into the conversation? Why not just say “I think UConn matches up with us (Stanford) fine”??? Why drag Oregon into the comparison just because “they gave us (Stanford) a lot of problems”? A better comparison would’ve been South Florida who played both Stanford and UConn very tough, and who actually beat you by 9 points.

 

[jazz]

Re: Boston, she is a talented big girl. There are untalented big girls where I can see them "bulling" into the lane. But I don't think that applies to Boston as much as opposing fans say it does. Of course, no one is perfect and sometimes she does foul, but overall Boston is just big and talented.

she is also getting better and better. she has some nice bend for a big girl and that helps her twist and turn and get her shots off while being fouled.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

One can slice and dice this seven ways to Sunday but for me we had more kids show up and contribute then they did and that was the difference. Too many nothing burgers for Stanford.

 

[msf22b]

This year's team is the classic example of the sum of the parts being greater than the whole.

Another way of looking at it is turning your point around.

We have 8 available starting, quality players...and one who was most responsible.
for turning around the.season at its lowest point, hardly plays.

Yeah, it would be great to have the 9th, but the eight semi and true stars may be quite enough.

 

[UConnCat]

 

[jazz]

I'll leave you with this infamous Geno quote on the subject:

"Sometimes we act like girls, like we're supposed to go to dinner every night. We're supposed to play each other, try to beat each other's brains in, try to win a national championship and compete like hell, Muffet and Geno. And then we're supposed to get together afterwards and go have a bottle of wine? That s--- is just not going to happen."

I remember that one. funny stuff and thanks for sharing the memories!

 

[willtalk]

i dont think we score 24 in the 4th nor does CW hit the threes if she and the rest didnt get some rest...and while they rested we kept lead and even increased the margin. I was saying even back last year, i thought CW needed to sit 10 minutes a game to be more effective. I dont know for sure, but I have been trying to figure out why she is such an inconsistent shooter...her vision or is she a little gassed at times.

After four years people are still asking the same questions. She is a streak shooter who gets hot every now and then. Most of the time she is not a good outside shooter or high percentage shooter. Every player has days when they can not miss and days when the can not buy a basket. The Hulls for Stanford are usually good 3pt shooters and they have been cold in the tournament as well. Of course they are usually good shooters.

As I said in the pregame analysis thread, when you have teams that are close in ability and talent the team that is hotter, or in this case less cold , will win. Stanford was not going to win shooting 34% and 17% from the 3 pt. line. Sometimes its defense but more often its just players having on off shooting day.

 

[Los24]

Although if you watch that sequence after the game ends where Geno is getting all huggy with Wes Moore, Wes isn't saying much and kinda looks at Geno like he's looking at a bug crawling up his shirt sleeve.

They're buddies, I guess, but that is a tough time to be gracious when your season just ended in a significant upset. These coaches are highly competitive people. They wouldn't be coaching in these games if they weren't.

Agreed, fair point. It's an emtional time for you as a coach and your team.

 

[#12in21]

These two showed up last night again!! I knew Geno would go to Evina more with Dorka down and was hoping that he would also use the weapon he has in Nika to be a difference maker. He did and she was. The kid is fearless and will fight anybody to secure a rebound and give her team another possession.

Our depth and resolve this season is what sets this squad apart from the last several year's teams. Even given the multiple potentially damaging miscues to finish this one off, multiple players reached down deep and hit those critical free throws to get the W. There is no quit in them, they believe in each other and that is a huge difference this season over previous years. Just imagine if our offense had been clicking and we didn't make all the unforced turnovers last night. Hoping that is what we see Sunday night - each and every player being their best selves. If that happens they celebrate #12 on the same floor as they did the first one. Absolutely love this group of young women!

 

[jazz]

After four years people are still asking the same questions. She is a streak shooter who gets hot every now and then. Most of the time she is not a good outside shooter or high percentage shooter. Every player has days when they can not miss and days when the can not buy a basket. The Hulls for Stanford are usually good 3pt shooters and they have been cold in the tournament as well. Of course they are usually good shooters.

As I said in the pregame analysis thread, when you have teams that are close in ability and talent the team that is hotter, or in this case less cold , will win. Stanford was not going to win shooting 34% and 17% from the 3 pt. line. Sometimes its defense but more often its just players having on off shooting day.

ok but my response was more specific with CW. She has a sweet stroke. Concise, compact with great follow through. Just thought that muscle memory would kick in a bit more for her. I still feel one day, we are going to hear that she had this 'unknown' eyesight issue. I just cant make sense of it because all the skills are there to be a better shooter. But yes, at this point, 'streaky' is the best way to describe CW and in order to be 'streaky' she needs to have a hot game to get that 25% up to 30 plus % and hopefully that comes against SC.

 

[jazz]

Some thoughts on the Stanford game:

• It was 27 years ago today at the Target Center in Minneapolis that an upstart UConn team lead by their brash young coach whipped a powerful Stanford team by 27 points to advance to their 1st National Championship game. It was a little closer tonight, but history repeats itself as the Huskies took down the defending national champion Stanford Cardinal at the Target Center to advance to their 12th National Championship game.
• This game was reminiscent of the 2010 national championship game between these same two teams. Just like that game, it was ugly at times tonight with a beautiful outcome for the UConn Huskies.
• As both teams struggled to score at the start of the game, I had to wonder if anyone would make their shots. Evina really gave UConn a lift in the 2nd qtr, knocking down 3 treys, while playing tough post defense against Stanford’s Bigs.
• In a grind it out game, for UConn to win, it had to come down to players making big plays. Paige made a bunch. Christyn hit some big 3’s. Liv, Aaliyah and Azzi chipped in with some big baskets and some huge offensive boards. Evina, Azzi, Christyn & Aaliyah with some monster FT's. Aaliyah gets a huge charging call on Jones. So many really, really, really big plays to secure this win.
• Defense has been the calling card for UConn all season long. Tonight the Huskies had to dig down about as deep as I’ve ever seen to pull this one out.
• The turnovers down the stretch by UConn caused enormous anxiety for all of us. But it's all about win and advance. Time for everyone to exhale.
• Two #1’s down and one #1 to go as UConn has managed to navigate the most challenging road to the National Championship any WBB team has ever faced. SC has been the top team in WBB all season long, and they most certainly represent a monumental challenge for UConn. But this UConn team has persevered like no other. In my heart and soul I believe these Huskies will find a way to win banner #12 on Sunday night.

so that is like 8 years before PB as even born...

 

[hookshot]

ok but my response was more specific with CW. She has a sweet stroke. Concise, compact with great follow through. Just thought that muscle memory would kick in a bit more for her. I still feel one day, we are going to hear that she had this 'unknown' eyesight issue. I just cant make sense of it because all the skills are there to be a better shooter. But yes, at this point, 'streaky' is the best way to describe CW and in order to be 'streaky' she needs to have a hot game to get that 25% up to 30 plus % and hopefully that comes against SC.

She has a very low percentage when shooting from straight on in ( i.e. top of the circle) but a very decent percentage when shooting from an angle or from the baseline. She uncharacteristically made one early in this game from top of circle, and that fooled her into thinking that she could continue to shoot from there

 

[ME Husky Fan]

I agree on your assessment of Azzi. There are too many times where she gets the ball, dribbles once or twice with seemingly no intent to do anything with it and looks for Paige to get rid of the ball. Freshmen nerves?

 

[jazz]

We won that game because Geno played his depth. Look how many hustle rebounds we got. Great job Geno. You had to roll the dice and it worked. Superb team defense.

great observation. he finally trusted his bench...or the fouls gave him no choice and then you can see what a better rested team can do with the 'little things' and 'hustle plays' that help you win, not to mention, who is to say that a better rested team scores better in the 4th and more composed at the FT line. Make better decisions as well although one could certainly argue that the decision making wasnt there at the end.

 

[jazz]

She has a very low percentage when shooting from straight on in ( i.e. top of the circle) but a very decent percentage when shooting from an angle or from the baseline. She uncharacteristically made one early in this game from top of circle, and that fooled her into thinking that she could continue to shoot from there

im just very bullish with CW..i just cant get my head around that there is some weird reason she isnt shooting better overall. but yeah, she is better from the angle. keep in mind that almost always, when she takes a three, she is wide open...got to hit them against SC. notice the big uptick in the offense when CW hits some threes.

 

[jazz]

ca

I can't stop laughing at Nika when she outrebounds those tall Cardinal trees. The undersized Muhl was not going to be denied when she went to the boards. She just cannot be intimidated!
The Stanford bigs were wondering, "How the hell did she get that rebound??"

can you imagine being her parents and how proud they are? her dad must walk around all day with his chest pumped out reminding everybody where she got that toughness from....

 

[jazz]

Nika Muhl out rebounded Brink 8 - 7. Let that sink in

maybe she is our new power forward for next year! i bet you she'd get us 8 rebounds a game if GA did it.

 

[Los24]

Tara is usually very classy. But when she won last season, her post game interview with Holly Rowe was mostly critical of her team's performance despite the victory. She is a perfectionist who won't settle for mediocrity.

Probably losing to Geno adds a little sting too

 

[Jds]

She was also in a loser's mindset when interviewed on camera (I think after Q3). Said to my wife then, "What's up with her? That's not good." Seemed like she didn't have a clear head. Hope she's okay - has been balanced and insightful when I've heard her speak in prior years.

I saw that and I’m sure she want to be with her team coaching. They shouldn’t interview coaches or players during game time including the half

 

[UcMiami]

Yes, I think Geno knows Tara well enough to realize that she was not in the mood for
any perfunctory post game chit chat.

Good point - Uconn fans seem to see disrespect around every corner and let nothing go. in 1996 there was tension between Geno and Tara, but it was really about outside factors - Tara was annoyed with USA basketball for saddling her USA senior team with Lobo fresh out of college and didn't play her, and Geno was annoyed for Lobo not getting minutes over the older centers/forwards. Geno and Tara buried that dispute decades ago, but fans have long memories.

I get tired of the: losing coach didn't praise Uconn enough, didn't chat in the handshake line, forgot to mention ______ Uconn player, didn't smaile enough, etc.

This Uconn video shows a very cordial greeting between the two coaches at the start of the game - after the game and in the interviews is mostly about your own team.