The KY and Bears game was watchable

[jsloanjr]

OMG..How many of you watched all 4 OT's last night? Every time one of the teams started to pull away in OT, I said ok......Game over. Wrong......Geno and staff will have a Coaches clinic on this game on how to defense both teams. Those kids must be exhausted today.....Thanks for the fun watch..........

 

[cohenzone]

Saw a bit of it. It was entertaining. But I'd take UConn, preferably at full strength to handle both of them. Nobody puts up the points they had at the end of regulation vs. Uconn. UConn, however can score at least as well as both of them. Swiss cheese D by both.

 

[jsloanjr]

That is so true, it looked like the NBA on defense.........Plus, both teams have zero post games............Ms Sims is a player as long as you allow her to drive to the rim......The difference is UCONN will have 3 players near the post to swat her drives away or force her to give up the ball........She has a WNBA body that can hurt a player if you collide. Why did KY allow Baylor to get so many open looks from the left corner?.........HELLO!!!.......

 

[rbny1]

I watched about 10 minutes of the second half and all four overtimes. I thought it was very exciting with the back-and-forth leads and a changing cast of players as player after player fouled out.

 

[pinotbear]

Checking out the box score is interesting - KY had 16 assists the entire game. Kastine Evans from KY (and, NFA, I believe) played 51 minutes at guard, and recorded one assist.

KY also shot 66 free throws. Folks have mentioned the delay for the men's game, and how tired some of the players might be - I figure the officials were exhausted, too.

 

[2ndCity]

I watched this game on my iPhone. And just as Odyssey was
taking BU's lead up to around seven points, with only a few minutes left, my phone rang. So I took the call and turned off the ESPN feed.

First thing this AM, I checked the scores:

In the highest-scoring Division I women's basketball game in history, Jenifer O'Neill (43 points) and #5 Kentucky outlasted Odyssey Sims (47 points) and #9 Baylor, in FOUR OVERTIMES!

I feel like such a putz!

 

[UcMiami]

I watched the whole thing and certainly enjoyed it. But ...
1. Neither team played good defense, especially the help defense which just never materialized. And the guards continually overplayed in the wrong direction allowing the driver to go away from any help that might have been available. When you see snippets of Uconn practices on defense, you frequently see the coaches coaching and correcting the directional aspect of guarding - making sure if you get beat you are funneling your man into a blind alley.
2. Defenders were doing a bad job of moving their feet leading to a lot of fouls on reaches/arm bars as the offensive player got an positional advantage.
3. 112 foul shots taken (admittedly a 4 OT game, but even in regulation there were just so many fouls. Blame the refs for a number of phantom calls but also just poor positional defense leading to a lot of bad fouls being committed - not to mention all the offensive fouls - hello Sims.
4. 90 of Baylor's points came from Sims, Davis, and Robertson and a lot of nothing from everyone else. Someone was wondering about Davis putting up such big numbers as a freshman YTD but when you look at the team she is the only other real scorer after Sims - and Baylor is scoring close to 100 per game in regulation. That is also why Sims numbers are so high this year. Davis looks like the real deal though - a Cash/KG pre injury type of forward.
5. Just how many lay-ups can two teams miss in a single game?!

If Prince comes back strong Baylor will look better as a team - some nice roll players and Sims is so dynamic. Davis looks like a quality player. And I actually thought coaches daughter played a good game - spot up three and a lot of hustle plays.
Was surprised with the Kentucky defense - was expecting better in the half court. The offense is still a mass of one on one and no one appears to know how to use a screen - the guards continually left too much space between them and the screen so the defender wasn't screened at all unless the screener leaned into the defended resulting in a number of offensive fouls.

 

[Blakeon18]

7 Baylor players fouled out.....yikes! If that happens to us....double yikes!

 

[Icebear]

Found it boring and turned it off. Watched the Sound of Music instead.

 

[psconn]

.

5. Just how many lay-ups can two teams miss in a single game?!

A few of those were potential game-winners and some were pretty open takes. It was amazing in a cringy sort of way. This is one of the things I hear from people who don't like wbb... missed layups. "How can you say they are playing at the highest level in the sport when there is a problem making the easiest shot in the game". [sigh]

That said, the drama of 4 OTs made it an entertaining game to watch.

 

[jsloanjr]

By Golly, I should have had the Sound of Music playing in the background instead of the announcers. Have you ever heard such a bland announcing crew?

John and Fran need to do their homework before doing another women's game......Was Dickie V busy last night?........

 

[RadyLady]

Found it boring and turned it off. Watched the Sound of Music instead.

Eek is right. I am not quite sure you chose the lesser of two evils

 

[UcMiami]

.

A few of those were potential game-winners and some were pretty open takes. It was amazing in a cringy sort of way. This is one of the things I hear from people who don't like wbb... missed layups. "How can you say they are playing at the highest level in the sport when there is a problem making the easiest shot in the game". [sigh]

That said, the drama of 4 OTs made it an entertaining game to watch.

Add in the misses from within 10 feet and the number would be astronomical. Agree that it is painful to watch in a game like this,

 

[sarals24]

It was kind of poetic justice when Mulkey's kid missed the point-blank layup to win it in regulation. The look on Mulkey's face was priceless.

 

[pinotbear]

Found it boring and turned it off. Watched the Sound of Music instead.

"The lanes are aliiiiiiiiiive...with the sound of whiiiiiiiiistles!"

 

[easttexastrash]

As good as Sins was, she missed a lot of layups in the first half. I was ok with the offensive fouls because she was being super aggressive trying to get to the rim.

The Baylor posts played as well as the UK posts, Davis in particular. She finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in 38 minutes of play. Walker and Stallworth had a combined 24 points and 19 rebounds in a combined 56 minutes if play.

Imani Wright, whose dad played NBA ball, is a good one Small is coming along more slowly than the rest of the freshmen. Cave has a lot of potential.

Robertson played 57 minutes in this game. I get frustrated with her at times but you can never fault her effort. But she is not the player you want taking shots at the end of the game. The decision by Mulkey to isolate her at the end of one if the OTs was a bad decision, especially since Small had just taken her player to the rim for a layup.

Mulkey seems determined to start Agbuke at center and I just don't understand. Both Higgins and Cave are better centers but Agbuke seems to get the start due to her upper classman status.

 

[semper]

I was trying to figure out the plays...anyone? Seemed like a lot of ramble scramble man "defense" on both ends, and then the offensive strategies often lost me. Also there were a few good passes, but our crisp passing is one of the things I love about Geno's teams. The passing gives the whole game a kind of blurred scenario.

 

[Zorro]

A very objective report, ett. I did not, of course, get to see the game, so there are many things about it that seem very puzzling. One thing I have not seen discussed is the incredibly ill-timed Ts on both coaches, each of which could (and probably should) have cost his/her team the game. What in the world could they have been thinking? Or were they?

 

[bschwartz]

Just watched the replay starting with a few minutes left in regulation. A few thoughts:

-- Both teams have lots of depth with size. Seems reasonable that they could use that as to have a strategy to bait Husky bigs into fouls trouble. If they can do that in the first half, they will be tough to beat even with KML and Tuck. Depth is the Huskies only major weakness so they will have to play smart

-- Both teams have major athleticism but I saw lots of examples of undisciplined play -- though exhaustion could have played a part in that.

-- I don't think ESPN did KM any favors by constantly getting reaction shots at almost every stoppage. Cameras went to MM too, but everyone knows how KM is going to react on a foul or non foul, you don't need to make a big part of the broadcast regardless of whether she wants that or not.

-- Glad to see what WBB can be when you have two good teams. Play wasn't always the best, but it was exciting. I thought the commentators were pretty good, nice break from the usual ESPN team.

-- Like the idea of the WBB and MBB games back to back. Would like to see that with the Huskies and Duke. Might not be good for people with ulcers, but it would

-- Can't wait for the player of the year debates at the end of the season. That will be a humdinger.

 

[RadyLady]

Found it boring and turned it off. Watched the Sound of Music instead.

I am having trouble just watching the replay. There are so many shots just getting chucked up by both teams - if this is running an offense, someone please tell me what I have been watching UConn do all these years. The post play is immature on the Baylor side, and almost totally lacking on Kentucky - someone mentioned what happened to Walker - well, the answer is, "she went to Kentucky". UConn uses crisp passing, and these guys (both teams) treat the ball as if it were a hot potato when they see too many jerseys around them of the wrong color...

Sloppy ball, but then I am spoiled by UConn...and proud of it.

I don't believe that either team will challenge UConn at all

 

[semper]

I am having trouble just watching the replay. There are so many shots just getting chucked up by both teams - if this is running an offense, someone please tell me what I have been watching UConn do all these years. The post play is immature on the Baylor side, and almost totally lacking on Kentucky - someone mentioned what happened to Walker - well, the answer is, "she went to Kentucky". UConn uses crisp passing, and these guys (both teams) treat the ball as if it were a hot potato when they see too many jerseys around them of the wrong color...

Sloppy ball, but then I am spoiled by UConn...and proud of it.

I don't believe that either team will challenge UConn at all

Yes, this was what I was trying to say too. The "blurred scenario" that I experienced last night is a result of three things, I think: the passing, the lack of strategies on defense, and the chuck 'em up philosophy on offense. Remember when Stewie took those three crazy shots and then came out, and the conversation with Geno afterwards, which was so priceless. I bet there were not such conversations happening on the sidelines last night...of course the game was so intense, from start to ....um, finish..can you imagine if that final Baylor 3 hadn't rattled out? Then what...incredible.

 

[jsloanjr]

Very good post by all, it was not your UCONN type textbook game.......Great passes, solid screens, backdoor cuts, block shots with a purpose and good outside shooting.........Other than these few missing skills, its was some what enjoyable to watch.......Both coaches will throw away the film...........

 

[sarals24]

Yep, was thinking the same thing...we get spoiled watching UConn. Last night Sims looked all-world (she's very good, don't get me wrong) simply because Kentucky allowed her to get to the basket at will. The number of double teams she split because UK didn't close them was staggering. UK barely pressured the ball in the backcourt either.

Ugly shots, bad passing and nonexistent defense on both sides. We are lucky that we get to watch such pretty basketball the majority of the time.

 

[UcMiami]

Yep, was thinking the same thing...we get spoiled watching UConn. Last night Sims looked all-world (she's very good, don't get me wrong) simply because Kentucky allowed her to get to the basket at will. The number of double teams she split because UK didn't close them was staggering. UK barely pressured the ball in the backcourt either.

Ugly shots, bad passing and nonexistent defense on both sides. We are lucky that we get to watch such pretty basketball the majority of the time.

Agree on the defense - I was surprised at how much fundamentally flawed individual defense was being played - players playing off but reaching for steals throwing themselves off balance and making the blow-by drive a foregone conclusion as just one example.

 

[sarals24]

Yep. And letting Sims drive right down the middle where she likes to do that one handed floater...bad doubleteams, late or no help defense...Walker has regressed, IMO. They had a replay on one of Sims' drives where she kind of slid over and then watched her just drive by. Yikes.