Still proud of this team

[HuskyNan]

Classic Walz-ian reply.

Been a staple on the Boneyard for decades

 

[Orangutan]

Been a staple on the Boneyard for decades

Ah, so Jeff learned it from y'all!

 

[Vowelguy]

Classic Walz-ian reply.

No that BY response long predates Mr Walz.

 

[BobbyJ]

No, I’m saying they got outscored 26-12 in the final 8 minutes because they went away from doing everything that got them there.

Stop overthinking things.

You said they DECIDED to stop playing O and D.

 

[DaBball]

Only her second in a row, the 2017 Final Four was UConn, Miss St, Stanford, and SC, with SC winning it all by beating Miss St in the Championship game 67 - 55.

I was including her championship game against Mississippi State last season too. She had an awful first half. I meant Final Four and NC. My bad for the poor word choice.

 

[connboy77]

UCONN finished with a 35-3 record. You can count on one hand the teams with a better record. They will still end up in the top four when the final standings come out. Not to shabby!

 

[ed4ourgirls]

Just wanted to add my thanks to the team for all their hard work in providing us
with another entertaining season. Getting to the final four was a great achievement.

What a wonderful group of young women and a fine coaching staff we have. So proud.

 

[Soxx]

I don’t disagree, but they were up 9 late in this game and decided to stop playing offense and defense.

That one is hard to swallow.

I get being disappinted at how it all fell apart in such a brief period, but “decided to stop playing offense abd defense”? That’s an odd way to describe what happened. Playing at such a high level requires an incredible level of intense individual effort that has to be tightly coordinated for collective success. As Geno pointed out in the post-game comments, at some moments in the game, they looked awesome—other times, things got really bad. It had nothing to do with a decision to stop playing either offense or defense.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Except for Collier, I didn't see any heart much less a lot of it.

If you dont see any heart on the UConn WBB team, perhaps you ask the Tin Man for some help.

 

[hoopsfan22]

UCONN finished with a 35-3 record. You can count on one hand the teams with a better record. They will still end up in the top four when the final standings come out. Not to shabby!

Lou and Napheesa lost five games in their entire collegiate career. Five. And most of those losses came in the national semi-final game. Some teams lose more games in a month than our two seniors have lost in their entire four year UConn career.

 

[Charliebball]

I cannot imagine UConn having another pair of players like Pheesa and Lou. They have been successful (most teammate points) and just a joy to watch for the last 4 years. I am not looking forward to next year after losing these two, especially after going through the loss of Kia and Gabby after last season. Lou is the reason I joined The Boneyard, in order to become "involved" with this basketball team.
I hope that over the spring, summer and fall that I can recover from tonight...
If anyone deserves to play in the NC Game, it is KATIE LOU SAMUELSON!!!!
AMF.

perhaps better to wait and see who comes to play with Paige Bueckers before making any definitive statements on best dynamic duo..............

 

[PacoBlaze]

perhaps better to wait and see who comes to play with Paige Bueckers before making any definitive statements on best dynamic duo....

Ok, seeing how you have brought up Paige I am curious about something (I will admit that I am not very cognizant of NCAA rules) - because Paige has publically "committed" to UConn, is she really committed as far as the NCAA is concerned? I guess I am asking when is the earliest that a player can sign a LOI?

 

[uconnfan68]

UCONN finished with a 35-3 record. You can count on one hand the teams with a better record. They will still end up in the top four when the final standings come out. Not to shabby!

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Louisville ranked above us. That’s life as a non P5.

 

[j66kicker]

Except for Collier, I didn't see any heart much less a lot of it.

Sorry, but I have to agree. "We just weren't good enough" doesn't cut it. We were good enough to be ahead by 9 with 7-1/2 minutes left. Certainly not the heart of a champion. Or last year. Or the year before that.

 

[NewCorn]

I think the big surprise is (in terms of points, rebounds. and assists), both Shepard and Turner had better stat lines than Collier.

I don’t understand how Ogunbowale, for the third FF game in a row, has a terrible first half, then cannot miss.

Phessa had a fine game. UConn lost to a bigger, better rebounding team. Another Final Four season. Well done.!

 

[Fiftyish]

Had to wait a day before posting my thoughts on the game and the season.
Sure was hard to watch that 9 point lead evaporate and some of the missed chippies, but....I remember the start of the season when folks were taking guesses on how many losses they would have by year end. With the loss of Azura, Gabby, and Kia plus a less than outstanding freshman year for Meghan Walker and the addition of only one recruit the season looked like it could get ugly. But to my surprise this team continued to win and ended up making it to the final 4. That's not the usual standard for UConn teams but this was a great season for this team. Just didn't have all the needed pieces.
Congrats to the team and thanks for another great year of fun games to watch.

 

[CocoHusky]

Except for Collier, I didn't see any heart much less a lot of it.

Probably because you weren't looking for it.
CW showed great for a freshmen playing in the FF.
ONO showed great heart and changed the game.
Megan Walker showed great heart by battling Jessica Shepard in the post.
Crystal shot the ball poorly but showed great heart by handing out 9 ssists.
KLS showed great heart by recovering from a scoreless 1st half to score 15 points in the third quarter. UCONN did not lose this game because of heart, they lost because ND was better on this night.

 

[Charliebball]

Ok, seeing how you have brought up Paige I am curious about something (I will admit that I am not very cognizant of NCAA rules) - because Paige has publically "committed" to UConn, is she really committed as far as the NCAA is concerned? I guess I am asking when is the earliest that a player can sign a LOI?

a verbal means nothing as far as the NCAA is concerned................some would say it also doesn't mean much to some coaches from other schools who will continue to pitch the recruit................I believe the NLI can be signed in the early signing period in the fall, (usually in November?) or the regular signing period in the spring (April?) of senior year................some players, mostly on the men's side will try to graduate early to get on campus ASAP..........

 

[wbball novice]

Why shouldn't UConn fans be proud? The team got to the Final Four 12 seasons in a row. Come on! UConn was one of the best teams in the country this year, despite the loss of 2 key starters replaced by a freshman and a sophomore who did not have a great freshman year, a very limited bench, and the unexpected loss of a key 6th player to the WNBA. The team faced off against some of the best players in the country and either won or never gave up.

And the team was blessed with luck: there were no season or career ending injuries, which would have been a disaster with such a small number of players. Katie Lou Samuelson recovered enough from her late season back injury to play in all of the tournament games. Napheesa Collier gained recognition as one of the best players in the country, respected even by arch-rival Notre Dame fans. Finally, the last game of the season was not lost by a last minute lucky shot, which was the case in the past 2 seasons. It's always better psychologically if you lose fair and square.

The UConn - ND game was exciting for fans of both sides and maybe even casual viewers, because the outcome was in doubt until maybe the last 4 minutes, a back and forth battle. However, considered in retrospect, much of it was poorly executed basketball on both sides. It rather resembled Stanford - ND, even (shudder) Missouri State - Stanford. What characterized these games was recurrent situations where there were multiple opportunities to score that were not exploited, not due to stellar defense but because of failures in offensive execution -- flubbed layups, 10% efficiency in 3 pt shooting, turnovers caused by bad passes -- on both sides. The earlier games referred to may not have been blowouts but they did not show women's basketball at its best. In contrast, the UConn-UCLA game had a lot of hardnosed defense; low scoring was to be expected and not due to poor offense. Hard to make your shots if your opponent has you in a (metaphorical) chokehold, but the physical game has always been a part of basketball and to suppress it as unladylike seems a little Victorian and unrealistic to me. Despite the acknowledged weakness of the conference, AAC experience with physical, defensive teams might have been good preparation for UCLA basketball. UConn-Louisville had a good balance between successful offense and defense on both sides and was perhaps the best showcase of the game; lucky to have at least one such a game in the tournament.

 

[Carnac]

Uhg, im so pissed!!!!

Britt, believe me, you’re not alone.

 

[Sluconn Husky]

The Huskies had control, with a 64-55 lead in a game that had been a one-possession tug-o-war for the better part of 32 minutes. Then they lost control, in every way. They didn’t run offense very well. They didn’t make a few available open shots, blowing layups late like they had early. They certainly couldn’t stop Notre Dame, turbocharged down the stretch and riding Ogunbowale’s hot hand that pushed UConn into a cold place.

...

But the most painful losses are ones of missed opportunity. That’s what this became, and that’s what is maddening.

UConn was magnificent on defense in the first half, but missed enough layups and 3-pointers to lead by just one, 30-29, at the break. The Huskies were outstanding on offense for much of the second half, particularly Samuelson, who was scoreless at halftime and had 15 points in the third quarter alone.

You don’t take a nine-point lead in this setting without being really good and doing a lot right, and UConn was really good and did a lot right for a stretch book-ended by periods of play lacking a finishing touch.

...

Auriemma had said the Huskies would be undaunted by the moment, that they wouldn’t play scared. “We might get beat,” he explained, “but we're not going to lose. They're going to have to beat our asses. We're not just going to lose because we're afraid to lose.”

After Friday’s game, he conceded that it always ends up being a combination.

Yes, Notre Dame earned this victory.

And, yes, UConn should have.


Mike Anthony: Same pain delivered with different method as UConn smothered out of the Final Four by fourth-quarter Notre Dame takeover

 

[Waquoit]

Probably because you weren't looking for it.
CW showed great for a freshmen playing in the FF.
ONO showed great heart and changed the game.
Megan Walker showed great heart by battling Jessica Shepard in the post.
Crystal shot the ball poorly but showed great heart by handing out 9 ssists.
KLS showed great heart by recovering from a scoreless 1st half to score 15 points in the third quarter.

None of this is "heart", it's just playing the game. Heart is over and above. I didn't see that from this team. Heart would have been the tallest starter and 3-time AA recognizing her team is getting beat on the boards and helping out. One measly rebound on D? This wasn't UConn BB of old.

 

[Roundball fan]

I am very proud of our girls, they gave everything they had and more. This team had energy and played to the best of their abilities. We were not a perfect team but they played with heart and they have nothing to hang their heads for. Go UConn.

 

[CocoHusky]

None of this is "heart", it's just playing the game. Heart is over and above. I didn't see that from this team. Heart would have been the tallest starter and 3-time AA recognizing her team is getting beat on the boards and helping out. One measly rebound on D? This wasn't UConn BB of old.

I have never seen a UCONN WBB (Old or Current) player NOT display heart even as you have defined it here. I have seen plenty of UCONN players NOT achieve the result you desire-more rebounds. Be assured heart and effort were not the reason for this outcome.

 

[Shorty Dee]

This was another fun season and an amazing ride. I am so proud of UConn Huskies. How many teams can say they been to 12 straight (20 total) final fours, and won 11 National Championships? I look forward to watching Lou and Napheesa play in the WNBA. #UConnnumber1fan!!#BleedBlue!!