Still not happy about the last two final four games

[Huskymaniac]

In both cases, ND had about 2X as many FT attempts. The bad reffing cost us the game this year and might have cost us the game in 2011. That game would have been very close and could easily have gone the other way. I am really sick of ND and the preferential treatment they get from the refs. It goes back to at least the late 90s. It is like watching Duke play on the men's side. If I were Geno, I would run up the score on them every chance I have. If we can beat them by 50 or 60, we should. And I would be pressing until the bitter end of a blowout with all 5 starters in the game. Hate ND.......

Something came up that reminded me of this injustice today......

 

[Forty_four]

Whatever came up, let it go, the past will not change.

 

[VAMike23]

I think you will much prefer the final scores of THIS season's games with Notre Dame....!

All past demons shall be exorcised.

 

[pinotbear]

Oh, great..fit demons..

 

[Huskymaniac]

Whatever came up, let it go, the past will not change.

Yeah, I know, but it still sucks....

 

[Fightin Choke]

In this year's Final 4 game, UConn had 18 fouls to Notre Dame's 14, but UConn had 4 intentional fouls in the last 42 seconds, so the relevant number was 14 fouls for UConn and 13 for Notre Dame (I'm not counting a foul Mallory committed in the final minute either.) In the previous year's FF game, UConn had 5 intentional fouls in the last 75 seconds (trailing by 6 at the time). If we discount those 5 fouls, the foul count was 14 for UConn and 13 for ND. ND actually had fewer FT attempts than UConn in that game until UConn's intentional fouls. UConn should certainly have the upper hand talent-wise this year (2012-2013) and should be able to defeat ND this year. I see no need to encourage Geno to run up the score.

 

[Wbbfan1]

ND played very smart against UConn and took advantage of the calls. IMHO the majority of the foul calls were correct and even if some weren't there were other fouls that were not called. Geno was limited as he didn't have the bench players that could come in to score points or provide defense to shut down ND. This was especially true in the 2010 game. Also in that game only Maya stepped up and players were relying on her to take the shots and she couldn't do it by herself.

Last years game, UConn could have won the game, if they just took care of the ball in the last couple of minutes. Still IMHO ND was the better team and UConn almost stole a win.

This year Geno should have the better starting five and the better bench. Thus, Geno & UConn should win if they play their game.

 

[HuskyNan]

Geno will not run up the score on Muffet, one of his best friends.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Geno will not run up the score on Muffet, one of his best friends.

Are they good friends, Nan? I certainly believe they respect each other, but the Bruiser incident seems to suggest otherwise. Of course good friends are allowed to have disagreements.

 

[HuskyNan]

Are they good friends, Nan? I certainly believe they respect each other, but the Bruiser incident seems to suggest otherwise. Of course good friends are allowed to have disagreements.

Muffet is one of Geno's Philly buddies along with Jim Foster, Harry Perretta and Phil Martelli. They've been friends for over 30 years.

As for the Becca incident, kids do all kind of dumb things. Doesn't mean Muffet knew or agreed with anything Bruiser did.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Muffet is one of Geno's Philly buddies along with Jim Foster, Harry Perretta and Phil Martelli. They've been friends for over 30 years.

As for the Becca incident, kids do all kind of dumb things. Doesn't mean Muffet knew or agreed with anything Bruiser did.

Are you sure it happened as Geno suggested? Becca vehemently denies it happened (as Geno reported), but I'm sure the BY covered/discussed this incident at the time it became public last spring, so I don't want to rehash it now. But Altavilla provided both sides of the issue. The South Bend media (predictably) suggested it was a motivational tactic by Geno.

 

[HuskyNan]

Are you sure it happened as Geno suggested? Becca vehemently denies it happened (as Geno reported), but I'm sure the BY covered/discussed this incident at the time it became public last spring, so I don't want to rehash it now. But Altavilla provided both sides of the issue. The South Bend media (predictably) suggested it was a motivational tactic by Geno.

I don't know what happened. My point is that Geno & Muffet are friends even if their players may not like each other.

 

[Husky4Life]

I can't wait to see UConn suck the life out of ND this coming season. Revenge will be so sweet!

 

[alexrgct]

UConn could have and should have stolen this past season's national semifinal game. The girls simply failed to be prepared to box out and rebound what was very likely going to a desperate and poor initial shot. Having said that, Notre Dame was simply a more mature and poised team last year than UConn. Just slightly.

In 2010-11, UConn had a better team. Unfortunately, the two weaknesses of that team were a lack of depth and experience behind Maya Moore. What UConn accomplished that season in spite of those two weaknesses was pretty staggering, but unfortunately, the stage got a little too big, Stef got herself in foul trouble (and yes, at least one was a bad call, but her fourth was simply a dumb play on her part), and no one other than Maya stepped up. The loss was surprising given that UConn had dispatched ND three times with varying degrees of ease over the course of the season, but not a fluke given that the real reasons for the loss were the very weaknesses that threatened UConn's ability to win an NC that entire campaign. I will, however, go to my grave convinced UConn would have beaten A&M with relative ease had they gotten past ND in 2011.

Bottom line, it's tough to win it all. UConn will be better positioned to do just that over the next few seasons. I've enjoyed the past two seasons despite the disappointing endings and expect to enjoy the next few even more.

 

[cferraro04]

I am sure we will see the not so pretty side of Skylar Diggins this year. She will not have Peters, Novosel and Mallory to bail her out...on the other hand, I expect McBride will be a handful this year. UConn will be a match-up nightmare for ND this season... Bria, Stefanie, Breanna Stewart, KML and Faris with very little drop-off when Morgan, Moriah, Kiah, Brianna and Doty are going to be an absolute nightmare for Muffin and her staff.

 

[Vowelguy]

The loss was surprising given that UConn had dispatched ND three times with varying degrees of ease over the course of the season, but not a fluke

UConn also stole the first game in South Bend. Irish should've won that one.

 

[Icebear]

UConn also stole the first game in South Bend. Irish should've won that one.

You made an incorrect grammatical statement. The Irish should never win.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'm not happy about those either. I like losing to ND even less than losing to Tennessee. I think we sweep them this year. Geno probably won't run up the score, but a convincing 25-point win would feel very good.

I think our talent clearly surpasses theirs this year, but they have Loyd coming in and Reimer and others the next year. They will be solid, if no longer a top 3 team, for a while.

 

[alexrgct]

ND is enjoying a very solid influx of talent as a result of their recent success. The key will be developing that talent. Diggins was a top three prospect who played like one. Muffet needs to enjoy similar success going forward. In the past, she's had success finding and developing less heralded recruits.

Of course, in the near future UConn and ND could end up in different conferences, thereby ending this silliness of playing three-four ties per year. Would be nice to keep up an annual home-and-home should that happen, though.

 

[msf22b]

I can't think of any team, even Baylor that will not have match-up problems with our team, this year

 

[Louisville]

I am sure we will see the not so pretty side of Skylar Diggins this year. She will not have Peters, Novosel and Mallory to bail her out...on the other hand, I expect McBride will be a handful this year. UConn will be a match-up nightmare for ND this season... Bria, Stefanie, Breanna Stewart, KML and Faris with very little drop-off when Morgan, Moriah, Kiah, Brianna and Doty are going to be an absolute nightmare for Muffin and her staff.

I agree. I have always thought those 3 were the glue for ND's s success. Not to mention Tsisip did a lot of the coaching on the sidelines and was the main xs and os/game planner guy.

 

[rjp172]

Make no mistake about it...Diggins did more to make the other three look good than they did for her. She was the one drawing attention and making the pass. She ran and controlled that team. They weren't the same when she wasn't on the court. With ND's offense the benefactors just had to make an uncontested layup or jump shot. Diggins is a tireless worker. She has always gotten better, and has never regressed. Everyone thought she'd have a sophomore slump with ND graduating 4 starters. Instead she lead them to the NCAA title game. A common opinion was that ND surprised everyone and they wouldn't be able to do it again. She led them back and when others faltered she delivered.
Tsipis will be missed but I have no idea where you get that he was the main x's and o's guy. Each assistant did the scout on a rotating basis. ND didn't really change much for any particular opponent. He was responsible with working with the wings.

 

[speedoo]

Make no mistake about it...Diggins did more to make the other three look good than they did for her. She was the one drawing attention and making the pass. She ran and controlled that team. They weren't the same when she wasn't on the court. With ND's offense the benefactors just had to make an uncontested layup or jump shot. Diggins is a tireless worker. She has always gotten better, and has never regressed. Everyone thought she'd have a sophomore slump with ND graduating 4 starters. Instead she lead them to the NCAA title game. A common opinion was that ND surprised everyone and they wouldn't be able to do it again. She led them back and when others faltered she delivered.
Tsipis will be missed but I have no idea where you get that he was the main x's and o's guy. Each assistant did the scout on a rotating basis. ND didn't really change much for any particular opponent. He was responsible with working with the wings.

What 4 starters did ND graduate? I thought they retirned all their starters
last year.

 

[cferraro04]

They graduated three starters...Peters, Novosel and Mallory. They also graduated Miller who came off the bench.

No doubt that Diggins contributed to the success of Peters, Novosol and Mallory...however, to think that without those three that Diggins will be anywhere near as successful against top competition as she was with them is wishful thinking. Novosol was an absolute UConn slayer. In my opinion Novosel was the most under appreciated and rated player on ND. Peters was a rebounding machine and Mallory defensively was an extremely important part of their defensive sets...not to mention those dagger threes that she always seemed to be able to make at just the right time. This was a very veteran team with a tremendous team chemistry. They complimented each other extremely well...the loss of those three will be devastating to Notre Dame as a team next year. Achonowa (spelling) will at best be Peters light. McBride will emerge as a legitimate option. The couple of the new recruits will contribute immediately but they will in fact, at the end of the day, still be freshmen. Teams will be able to focus their resources more completely on Diggins and she won't have Novosel to bail her out. UConn will be the absolute "Beast of the East" next year... The ND game will not be pretty and all the leprechauns in the world won't help them..."the luck of the Irish" will still be on display but I think it is going to be "bad luck" that we will be seeing...

 

[Fightin Choke]

What 4 starters did ND graduate? I thought they retirned all their starters
last year.

I can see how this is confusing, but rjp is (mostly) correct. He wrote: "Everyone thought she'd have a sophomore slump with ND graduating 4 starters." He is referring to her sophomore campaign, which of course is when one would have a sophomore slump. After Skylar's freshman year, Notre Dame had to replace 3 (not 4) starters (Shrader, Barlow, and Lechlitner), as only she and Bruiser returned as starters (Peters, Novosel, and Mallory were bench players Skylar's freshman year). And Notre Dame made the championship game in Skylar's sophomore year. Of course her junior campaign was last year, when only Bruiser needed to be replaced as a starter and McBride stepped into a starting role. This coming year Notre Dame will need to replace 3 starters again, with only Skylar and McBride returning.