Success for Shea or a chance for more payback vs ND?

[fireford]

As a big fan of Shea Ralph, as a lot of us are, I'd be really happy for her and her Vandy squad to reach the Elite 8. If she weren't in UConn's bracket, I'd would root for Shea and her team to reach the final 4.
However, even though UConn got a little bit of payback vs ND earlier this season, ND has still won 3 of the last 4 meetings vs UConn and also won the last two times they both met in the big dance in 2018 and 2019. So as far as I'm concerned, MORE payback is in order versus ND.
And yes, I'm well aware that UConn needs to beat UNC before they get a crack at more ND payback so I'm by no means counting chickens before they are hatched when discussing the potential Notre Dame/UConn matchup. We'll know the outcome of Vandy/ND before UConn and UNC play on Friday so the hypothetical question needs to be asked now.
So I'm curious as to which would give you more satisfaction: Success for Shea or More Payback vs ND?

 

[trisailin]

You seem to have forgotten that Notre Dame exiting earlier is NEVER a bad thing.

 

[Bigboote]

I'm more happy for friends' success than enemies' failures. And as above, I'd have been fine if Notre Dame had lost in the first or second round.

 

[fomalhaut]

Connecticut won by 38 in January. Why would they need to beat them again?

 

[CTGirl15]

I would love to have Shea and Vandy win and go to the Elite Eight, and my satisfaction will be even higher when that means they also knocked ND out of the tournament.

While Shea and Vandy are a bit of a "dangerous unknown", Notre Dame is a "dangerous known" entity that has started to click and I want no part of that in the Elite Eight.

 

[DemonDeac22]

I’m focused on UNC…let’s talk after that game is over 😉

 

[browns]

I want to see Uconn play Vandy mostly so Uconn can quiet the Mikayla Blakes cheerleaders..the 4 or 5 times I've watched Vandy play one of the announcers would say Blakes should be NPOY because of her 30 point games against much tougher teams then SS has played against ..that includes Carolyn Peck
I think that Blakes is a great player but not in SS's league..Sorry Shea you were a great Uconn Husky back in the day but no one in wcbb compares to Sarah and I'd love to see Uconn shut Blakes down

 

[HopJim]

Some seem to be making too much of this and potentially future games. Geno has been around so long that its normal to go up against past assistants and other revalries. I am sure he gives both teams the respect they deserve, but the respect will be based on how they played this year, not on the past history.

 

[Next 12]

Every so often Notre Dame comes up with a team that is excellent and gives the Huskies fits. But they fall back to mediocre for long periods. Uconn's record against ND is 39 wins and 16 losses. Uconn has never in the last 30 years been mediocre and has amassed 12 N.C.'s in the meantime to ND's 3. I also thought that ND played dirty in many games with deliberate fouls against Uconn players. Every time Uconn plays ND, I want a 40 point win. GO HUSKIES!!!!!

 

[fireford]

Every so often Notre Dame comes up with a team that is excellent and gives the Huskies fits. But they fall back to mediocre for long periods. Uconn's record against ND is 39 wins and 16 losses. Uconn has never in the last 30 years been mediocre and has amassed 12 N.C.'s in the meantime to ND's 3. I also thought that ND played dirty in many games with deliberate fouls against Uconn players. Every time Uconn plays ND, I want a 40 point win. GO HUSKIES!!!!!

On point but should be noted that ND only has TWO championships.

 

[Next 12]

On point but should be noted that ND only has TWO championships.

Thank You, I thought it was 3. I like that more.GO HUSKIES!!!!!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Maybe it is just me, but I no longer see Notre Dame as a rival.

 

[HuskylnSC]

I have followed Vandy Since Shea was hired. She recruits like Geno and she coaches like Geno but in her own way. If you haven't watched them yet, I imagine you will have an immediate affinity for Shea's players and the way they play. I want Vandy to have a big win against ND. Then I want to send a message to all the 'SEC is the toughest league' talking heads by shutting Mikayla down. I'd love to hold her under 20 to demonstrate the difference between SEC defenses and UConn Defense. A 30-point (maybe 25) win over the #2 SEC team would be very satisfactory. Of course, any win is satisfactory. I prefer to have very satisfactory wins.

 

[DemonDeac22]

I have followed Vandy Since Shea was hired. She recruits like Geno and she coaches like Geno but in her own way. If you haven't watched them yet, I imagine you will have an immediate affinity for Shea's players and the way they play. I want Vandy to have a big win against ND. Then I want to send a message to all the 'SEC is the toughest league' talking heads by shutting Mikayla down. I'd love to hold her under 20 to demonstrate the difference between SEC defenses and UConn Defense. A 30-point (maybe 25) win over the #2 SEC team would be very satisfactory. Of course, any win is satisfactory. I prefer to have very satisfactory wins.

I’ll take a huge win against Vandy if that matchup occurs but it doesn’t matter to me how many points Mikayla gets. She is hard to guard so she’ll get her points but UConn can shut down the rest of the players on the floor.

 

[Zarathustra]

My perspective.... win one game at a time.

 

[Stagnant]

I would rather play Notre dame. I think they are easier. Path of least resistance. I want that final four appearance bad.

Edit: what the guy above said. I am not looking past North Carolina. I have a lot of respect for them.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

I want to see Uconn play Vandy mostly so Uconn can quiet the Mikayla Blakes cheerleaders..the 4 or 5 times I've watched Vandy play one of the announcers would say Blakes should be NPOY because of her 30 point games against much tougher teams then SS has played against ..that includes Carolyn Peck
I think that Blakes is a great player but not in SS's league..Sorry Shea you were a great Uconn Husky back in the day but no one in wcbb compares to Sarah and I'd love to see Uconn shut Blakes down

Agree. Certainly need to give Blakes her due but when I hear Shea refer to her as a generational player me thinks that’s right up there with people who abuse the term iconic, when speaking of actors. Get past UNC, then let’s see what Sunday brings and presuming Geno puts KK on Blakes, well, it should be interesting.

 

[msf22b]

I have followed Vandy Since Shea was hired. She recruits like Geno and she coaches like Geno but in her own way. If you haven't watched them yet, I imagine you will have an immediate affinity for Shea's players and the way they play. I want Vandy to have a big win against ND. Then I want to send a message to all the 'SEC is the toughest league' talking heads by shutting Mikayla down. I'd love to hold her under 20 to demonstrate the difference between SEC defenses and UConn Defense. A 30-point (maybe 25) win over the #2 SEC team would be very satisfactory. Of course, any win is satisfactory. I prefer to have very satisfactory wins.

Mikayla may not be quite the generational player that Sarah is (and a lot of Vandy fans might well disagree)
but she is a unique talent and talk of shutting her down is silly.

 

[Ron and Vida]

🤣I’m starting catastrophizing about an unthinkable catastrophe of ND playing Shea and Geno back to back
Thank goodness TonyC will put these fears to rest

 

[rubymae4]

Mikayla may not be quite the generational player that Sarah is (and a lot of Vandy fans might well disagree)
but she is a unique talent and talk of shutting her down is silly.

Agreed. I don’t know why we must degrade one player to prop up another player. Sarah is great on her own. Mikayla is great on her own. They are great in different ways. Their play and personalities are different. If/how one is greater than the other doesn’t require tearing one down. It’s not their fault their coaches (who should) and media prefer one over the other.

Blakes is a lot of fun to watch. She doesn’t just score, she fills the stats sheet. She’s brought a tremendous amount of attention and success to the Vandy program that will reap dividends after she leaves and for that reason, is likely more valuable to Vandy than Strong is to UConn. She hope she is a program changer for Vandy like some of the early stars for UConn were.

I’m very partial to Sarah and UConn, but want great success for Shea and Vandy too. Does that mean the two will collide? I hope so. If so, I want UConn to win (and not in a heart-stopping manner) but I want Vandy to be at their best.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

I want to see Uconn play Vandy mostly so Uconn can quiet the Mikayla Blakes cheerleaders..the 4 or 5 times I've watched Vandy play one of the announcers would say Blakes should be NPOY because of her 30 point games against much tougher teams then SS has played against ..that includes Carolyn Peck
I think that Blakes is a great player but not in SS's league..Sorry Shea you were a great Uconn Husky back in the day but no one in wcbb compares to Sarah and I'd love to see Uconn shut Blakes down

I have had the opportunity to watch almost every single Vanderbilt game this year. Mikayla Blakes is the real deal and is every bit as good as advertised. She is the number one option opposing coaches defend against every night and she still leads the nation in scoring. She does something in almost every game that Sarah does not have to do, which is almost single-handedly lead her team to victory in highly competitive games. (And, yes, I know about Galvin, Pissott, and Washington). On top of that, she is really fun to watch because you can tell she is having fun on the court.

What Shea Ralph has done at vanderbilt in a relatively short time should earn her national coach of the year. They were picked eighth in the SEC preseason coaches poll and ended up being the second seed in the SEC tournament.

I hated seeing them in UConn’s bracket because I would’ve liked to see them play in the national championship game against UConn.

 

[cabbie191]

Every so often Notre Dame comes up with a team that is excellent and gives the Huskies fits. But they fall back to mediocre for long periods. Uconn's record against ND is 39 wins and 16 losses. Uconn has never in the last 30 years been mediocre and has amassed 12 N.C.'s in the meantime to ND's 3. I also thought that ND played dirty in many games with deliberate fouls against Uconn players. Every time Uconn plays ND, I want a 40 point win. GO HUSKIES!!!!!

They certainly played tough basketball but I wouldn't characterize it as dirty play. My memory bank says they excelled at flopping and getting to the foul line.

Regardless, that was under Muffet and compared to other rivalries at the time, there seemed to be less cordial feelings between the two staffs. I absolutely still love it when Notre Dame loses but I don't hold the same animus towards Nielle.