The mind-boggling, amazing, season changing defeat of Baylor by Louisville

[EricLA]

Jim I always thought we would win the NC this season.

Tony, you think we will win the NC EVERY season! The most optimistic fan in UCONN history. You need to see if some of that mojo can rub off on the Cubbies now!!

 

[Zorro]

..he had Stewie on the floor...

Are you trying to say; "We have Stewie and they don't"?

 

[Zorro]

Waco TX is not the most scenic of cities.

This is like saying; "A prickly pear cactus is not the most pleasant place to sit."

 

[meyers7]

Two more things ... Yeah I agree we probably would've beat the Bears ...

But we would have never beaten "Da Bears" with all those little Ditka's running around.

(sorry it just popped into my head)

 

[meyers7]

Jim I always thought we would win the NC this season.

I, for one, am shocked by this.

I've been saying all year how negative Tony has been. In the past he would have "known" we were going to win the NC this year.

 

[LesMis89]

Tony, you think we will win the NC EVERY season! The most optimistic fan in UCONN history. You need to see if some of that mojo can rub off on the Cubbies now!!

It'll take more than mojo to help the pathetic Baby Bears.

 

[Icebear]

But we would have never beaten "Da Bears" with all those little Ditka's running around.

(sorry it just popped into my head)

We have our own bears, "No Fear."

 

[Wbbfan1]

If Baylor is able to sign Brianna Turner and a couple of other ranked recruits, their demise will not happen. Texas is a fertile recruiting ground for HS Women's BB and Baylor can stay relevant just by signing Texas players and one or two others from outside of Texas. While Baylor may not be favorites on an annual basis to reach the Final Four, they will still be a team to reckon with. I suspect either Texas and Baylor will compete for the Big 12 Championships on an annual basis. It may take Texas another year to two to get competitive, but they'll get there.

I'll watch to see how Houston and SMU recruits over the next couple of years now that they play UConn on an annual basis. If they provide the resources to their Women's BB program they should be able to get a couple of the more highly ranked Texas players. Dallas and Houston have strong AAU programs.

Baylor's epic loss to a weaker, but determined Louisville, has implications for Baylor's future, I think. A loss like that is a psychological blow to the program. Not only do they lose a once in a generation player to graduation, that player goes out with a disappointing loss 3 games early, leaving the once in a generation player short of the collegiate scoring record, let alone short of a championship that was all but assured.

That hurts.

Waco TX is not the most scenic of cities. Both Waco and Baylor have suffered tragedies within living memory that cast a pall over the place, for a time at least. Frankly, I feel a bit sorry that Baylor did not reach the final this year. I wish them all the best in future and hope they make it to the wbb finals several times in the remaining years of this decade. However, that is the limit of my good wishes. ;-0

 

[hoophuskee]

Great post Alex!

I agree KM deserves blame. IMO more than just a little. This is regarded as greatest upset ever. Coach has to take a big hit for that. This wasn't like a huge matchup flaw. Baylor was able to force a lot of turnovers vs UCONN but couldn't handle L'ville? They just weren't properly prepared.

I've always felt in sports you often get what you deserve. Baylor lost to L'ville. They didn't deserve a matchup with UCONN. Thus any talk of this title being tarnished (if there ever was/is/will be) by not having to go through Baylor is just silly.

A final point on the offensive foul call and a bit on Rebecca. First off - I'm with you Alex- that was a charge! IMO Rebecca doesn't want to come across as a UCONN homer by having Baylor out of the way. But that was a charge! IMO Rebecca did similar with UCONN vs ND earlier in season. We know ND throws their bodies at UCONN in hopes of getting foul calls more than most. On 1 paly Diggins threw her body into UCONN player and got no call. The play-by-play announcer felt it was a foul. Rebecca had to know it wasn't. Instead of putting the pbp announcer in his or her place with a little understanding of the rule of verticality, she basically backed off not going either way. If it was a foul - then go ahead and say it. But it was obvious it wasn't. And to be neutral was weak.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Just 2 points in a thread I have generally avoided -

- Baylor will be just fine. Provided they don't drop off the map, and no one expects them to do that?? I don't think the recent disaster in Texas will impact Baylor at all, if that was what the poster above was referring to. There was also a long discussion about their rebuild from the school related MBB scandal in a NJ paper this weekend (related to Rutgers AD search) and it appears that they have put that behind them.

- I won't claim Mulkey is the best coach ever, obviously, but some of you have incredibly high standards in judging. Of course she has weaknesses (even Geno does). And, she isn't particularly likeable to a lot of folks (neither are Geno and Vivian). But she does have 2 NC 's and I've never heard anyone claim that she is just a figurehead (a la some claims about Brenda). I would rank her as a solid coach, who, if the trac continues, will be in HOF contention when she is late in her career. If the trac doesn't continue, she would still be a good coach.

 

[Vowelguy]

But she does have 2 NC 's

Not just that, but 2 NCs with completely different rosters. Only Geno and Pat have done that.

 

[BRS24]

Awesome post Alex.

I had forgotten that the halftime tweet was the previous game.

It's not that Geno wouldn't have allowed it. It's that Geno and Chris create a team culture that would keep any player from even contemplating doing something like that. Still shake my head when I think about it.

Remember that UCONN players are not allowed to tweet during the season ... the last tweet by Stewie was on OCt 12: "Bye twitter✌see you in April, we got some business to take care of! #chasing8" and then on Apr 10: "Told you I had some business to take care of...National Champs babyyyy!!!!! #gr8ness#bleedblue"

 

[Icebear]

Remember that UCONN players are not allowed to tweet during the season ... the last tweet by Stewie was on OCt 12: "Bye twitter✌see you in April, we got some business to take care of! #chasing8" and then on Apr 10: "Told you I had some business to take care of...National Champs babyyyy!!!!! #gr8ness#bleedblue"

I think that your point and Suebird's are consistent.

 

[jplotinus]

I'd like to offer up a comment on KM. If anything, I think she is being under appreciated for her contribution to wbb. I've said elsewhere she is the reason I became a wbb fan. When I saw her in either the '81 or '82 final 4 telecast, I was truly awestruck by her skills as a player. I saw her as a player of the game and not as a relatively small woman. She could flat out play. I recall feeling sorry there was no professional league she could go on to, but I was pleased to find out she was going into coaching.

She and Ann Donovan are two examples of former great players from per-WNBA days who have continued to elevate the game as coaches.

I have nuttin' but respect for Kim Mulkey.

 

[UcMiami]

I'd like to offer up a comment on KM. If anything, I think she is being under appreciated for her contribution to wbb. I've said elsewhere she is the reason I became a wbb fan. When I saw her in either the '81 or '82 final 4 telecast, I was truly awestruck by her skills as a player. I saw her as a player of the game and not as a relatively small woman. She could flat out play. I recall feeling sorry there was no professional league she could go on to, but I was pleased to find out she was going into coaching.

She and Ann Donovan are two examples of former great players from per-WNBA days who have continued to elevate the game as coaches.

I have nuttin' but respect for Kim Mulkey.

I do think most BYers appreciate Kim as a coach - we joke about her wardrobe, occasionally complain about her sideline antics, and discuss her strategies. Most of us do not remember her playing days, but it is nice to hear from those who do. And i do think she had a tough final game this year - I think Geno's comment about why they haven't lost in the final was interesting ... he said he hasn't always had his team right mentally/physically for the final 4, but he has never failed to have them right for a final. I think you could say that Kim failed to have her team 'right' for the Louisville game. Part of that is players, part is coach, but ultimately it is the coaches responsibility - hence the criticism. And there was a fair amount of honest analysis on the Baylor board along those lines as well, so the boneyard is not saying something new.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Good stuff Alex. Just one of those incredible games that the losing team has a lot of what-ifs to kick themselves about for the next few years.

One note on the late-game block or charge or no-calls, depending how you look at them. I'm not disputing your judgment on either call, and if I look at both plays enough times I could probably go either way on both, which is often the problem for the official reviewers who watch the play by play after games and often find that a quarter of the the block\charge calls are inconclusive, even at slow motion. The idea being, in many cases the refs should remember that contact on these drives around the basket does not necessarily mean a foul has occurred, and that blowing the whistle in favor of the better actor just cheapens the game.

One thing that does need to be corrected though is the reference to the "defender's feet in motion" part of the charge\block call, which can be a factor in some concrete calls but is one of the things that refs rightly pay the least attention to, so if a ref just smirks at you when you call out from the stands following a charge call that the defender's feet was moving, he's right. It's the torso\arms and a defender's movement to block the ball handler that are the main issues, and ball handler cannot just run into or over a defender whose feet are moving. And just because a defender's feet are planted does not mean she cannot be very guilty of a block because she leaned a shoulder into a shooter. So again, not saying your verdicts on the two calls were wrong, but the reasons cited are not necessarily the right ones.

 

[Vowelguy]

we joke about her wardrobe

There's nothing to joke about in her wardrobe.
Unless you're referring to the court jester that previously owned her attire.

 

[huskyharry]

Honestly, I'd have to rewatch the game to confirm my impressions, but... I think it was overthetop physical on Griner in the first 5 minutes or so. Then louisville players got a couple of fouls on them (I think it was Hammond and Shoni) and the physical play eased off. Anytime espn showed highlights and talked about "how physical" the game was, the showed the first few minutes of the game. I'm thinking it's a bit of a canard.

I agree...L'ville was overly physical in the first few minutes but after that they merely stayed in an uncomfortably-close triangle around Britney.
Mulkey did a terrible job of not adjusting the offense (put Griner at the top of the key and run other players backdoor?) and not adjusting the defense (very poor perimeter defense).

 

[Samanthabrown3]

The Baylor/Louisville game is no longer avail on ESPN3 but the Final Four games are still is or a couple of days. They also have the complete net cutting ceremony, which I had not seen before

ESPN3/Basketball - Link

Way cool! Thanks!

 

[HGN]

The problem Baylor had going into that Louisville game was Baylor's fans , players , and coaching staff thought they already had the game won......Heck , Louisville was a #5 seed. With absolutely NO ONE that could contend with BG. Then the skies opened up (game started) and it started raining. Three's (3's) that is. To Baylor it must have seemed Biblical. Baylor players and coaches probably looked over at the Louisville bench and thought they saw Noah himself. Noah ( Walz) built a boat (strategy) that carried him and his family of players to a dry and safe land they called Victory. While Baylor and its sin's of not taking the game serious , found itself drowning in tears and defeat.

By the time Louisville played UConn we knew it could rain again. We took the threat of rain serious. Prepared for it. And won.

Its not complicated . Its just that simple.

 

[Icebear]

No one thought Joshua had a chance in Jericho either. Baylor should have known their Bible.

 

[arty155]

...Baylor should have known their Bible.

-Clearly, just as Louisville should have known their Delphi, before challenging Auriemma:
‘Though all else shall be taken, Zeus, the all seeing, grants that the Wooden wall only shall not fail.’

 

[Outside Shot]

This game, for the first time, made Griner a sympathetic figure for me. What the officials allowed to be done to her was wrong and against the rules. Clearly, Griner didn't know how to respond, especially given the experience she had after punching the Texas Tech player a few years back. From Louisville's end, if the refs didn't enforce the rules, Griner was either going to get ejected for retaliating or be mentally taken out of the game- which is what happened. Granted, it had to combine with otherworldly shooting by the Cards. Credit them for that. But the referees did not enforce the rules of the game in this contest. They were definitely a factor in the outcome.

 

[DobbsRover2]

This game, for the first time, made Griner a sympathetic figure for me. What the officials allowed to be done to her was wrong and against the rules. Clearly, Griner didn't know how to respond, especially given the experience she had after punching the Texas Tech player a few years back. From Louisville's end, if the refs didn't enforce the rules, Griner was either going to get ejected for retaliating or be mentally taken out of the game- which is what happened. Granted, it had to combine with otherworldly shooting by the Cards. Credit them for that. But the referees did not enforce the rules of the game in this contest. They were definitely a factor in the outcome.

But the point as said in a couple places above, it should not have gotten to that point, refs or no refs. Every team with a pulse did something at least to a lesser extent along this lines versus Griner, so Baylor had faced this over and over. So yeah, you pull her outside and maybe have her hook on to two or three players and the rest of the Bears attack the basket with a big advantage. After a while the Cardinals have to change tactics as they fall behind and the Bears can mix it up more and have an attack like the one that pretty much buried L'ville in the last 9 minutes. Baylor had no reason to believe the Cards would be able to shoot 3s the way they did, but like in baseball where you guard the lines late in the game to prevent an extra-base hit when you have a small lead, the Bears should have made sure from the beginning that this time-honored underdog's tournament upset tactic could not be employed. Instead they seemed to get punch drunk from the 3-pt bombs for the first 31 minutes and were too dazed somehow to respond adequately until it was almost too late, and then relaxed and gave it up at the end.

And though Sims has been lionized for her late game tactics and Griner criticized for being too passive, it can also be seen as the two playing the roles needed to get their teams back in the game during the last quarter of the action. True, Griner might have been able to foul out even more Cards, but L'ville's strategy was simply to make running the offense through Griner very difficult and being down by 18 points with 9 minutes to go, it would have been tough and risky to try to feed it in to her. Instead Sims took on the role of driving the Bears back and scoring the points and Griner also to a certain extent did her job as a decoy, though getting a few more rebounds and one less foul would have been very helpful. For the first 30 minutes, though, yeah that's a different story.

 

[meyers7]

No one thought Joshua had a chance in Jericho either. Baylor should have known their Bible.

Especially considering they are Baptist.