The Official Lets Make Turtle Soup Thread

[John Glass]

Actually MD made it closer than I thought they would. I give them some credit although UConn was without KML's shooting.

UConn missed 5-10 lay-ups, fumbled several lose balls, and got careless when they were up by 18- a 23 point loss is a moral victory for Maryland. It could have easily been a 30 point lose

Maryland did not schedule a top 20 team, played in a very weak conference, and was 3-2 vs teams in the current USA top 20. The notion they had a hard schedule is absurd - they also had 2 home games in the NCAA tournament

 

[h2Oburyhuskyfan]

They didn't beat them... SC beat themselves with very poor shooting.

You do realize that SC shot 43% from the floor to ND 40%

 

[Buzzyboy]

I hope she gets 30.

What I would LOVE is if Kiah got 20 on Tuesday! What a swan song for someone who I've always enjoyed watching while wearing a UConn uniform. I personally think that one of the reasons she never scored a bunch is because she knew that someone else would do that so she didn't need to. I'm inclined to think her pro career, you'll see appreciably more offense than we were exposed to.

 

[Buzzyboy]

They didn't beat them... SC beat themselves with very poor shooting.

I think Notre Dame shot themselves in the foot many many times in the last few minutes, blowing a nice lead by playing very, very sloppily. SC shouldn't have been in a position to take the lead in that game except for Notre Dame blunders. I never thought I'd see a Muffet McGraw team play that poorly at the end of a game.

 

[Buzzyboy]

I love Doris Burke giving the Irish a good chance to win. Didn't they just beat a team that has never been there by only 1 point?

A lot of times one game might not suggest what the next game will be like because of matchups and your strengths versus your opponents. You could beat a team by 30 points who in turn, had beaten your next opponent by 30 just days before and struggle to beat the followup team because it's all about MATCHUP'S sometimes.

 

[Buzzyboy]

One of the things I really liked coming from Brenda Freese was when she was asked about parity and she stated that Geno was "the best of the best" when it came to coaches. It came out effortlessly and without coercion. I loved that she gave Geno those props. She earned a little respect from me for stating that, in that forum.

 

[Blue Huskie]

One of the things I really liked coming from Brenda Freese was when she was asked about parity and she stated that Geno was "the best of the best" when it came to coaches. It came out effortlessly and without coercion. I loved that she gave Geno those props. She earned a little respect from me for stating that, in that forum.

That was nice. However she did make the statement that we add at least one Top 10 player every year. Who was the Top 10 player she thought we added this year? Nurse? She certainly wasn't ranked as a top 10 player.

 

[EricSD]

That was nice. However she did make the statement that we add at least one Top 10 player every year. Who was the Top 10 player she thought we added this year? Nurse? She certainly wasn't ranked as a top 10 player.

Well then she got it wrong on 2 accounts - Chong was not even a top 20 player coming out of HS and she is the only true sophomore on the team. Having said that, not sure about the final rankings but pretty close to the end, Gabby Williams was #6 per Blue Star and #2 per ASGR... It's possible she dropped due to her injuries, though...

 

[John Glass]

That was nice. However she did make the statement that we add at least one Top 10 player every year. Who was the Top 10 player she thought we added this year? Nurse? She certainly wasn't ranked as a top 10 player.

the only reason Maryland loses is because they have less talent ??? not because they force opponents to shot lay-ups, and uncontested shots - or that their coach is clueless about in game adjustments, and relies on middle school psychology

They had a roster with 5 WNBA players which made one final four

 

[JellyBean]

ESPNU will replay the game at 8am EST, for us basketball and UConn junkies.

 

[OneTrickPony]

the only reason Maryland loses is because they have less talent ??? not because they force opponents to shot lay-ups, and uncontested shots - or that their coach is clueless about in game adjustments, and relies on middle school psychology

They had a roster with 5 WNBA players which made one final four

She doesn't realize that making those excuses is baking into her team that they cannot win...

 

[cabbie191]

You do realize that SC shot 43% from the floor to ND 40%

Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, that is also what they shot from the free throw line as well. Even accounting for the two times they got offensive boards and scored once on missed FTs, that is where I think they lost the game.

 

[cabbie191]

I love Doris Burke giving the Irish a good chance to win. Didn't they just beat a team that has never been there by only 1 point?

I think you're right. She should have said: "Hey folks, the championship game is over before it's even played so why don't you check in with us, say around 10:30 Tuesday, and we'll tell you what the final score was."
Hmm, isn't part of her job to try and make the upcoming game sound exciting and try to maintain viewership?

Burke has said all along that UConn is the team to beat. IMO, of all the teams in the tournament, I think ND has the best chance to beat us in the final. They have confidence through their experience of defeating us in recent years, and last night showed that even when things go horribly bad for them, they don't lose their composure.

Note: best does not equal good. But I don't quibble with what she said.

 

[h2Oburyhuskyfan]

I think you're right. She should have said: "Hey folks, the championship game is over before it's even played so why don't you check in with us, say around 10:30 Tuesday, and we'll tell you what the final score was."
Hmm, isn't part of her job to try and make the upcoming game sound exciting and try to maintain viewership?

Burke has said all along that UConn is the team to beat. IMO, of all the teams in the tournament, I think ND has the best chance to beat us in the final. They have confidence through their experience of defeating us in recent years, and last night showed that even when things go horribly bad for them, they don't lose their composure.

Note: best does not equal good. But I don't quibble with what she said.

Sarcasm!!!! Btw I wouldn't pin this SC loss on the free throws, although granted they were out scored there, but saying that is as logical as saying they lost because of the "other" 5 points of missed opportunities they had earlier in the game.
This game was lost imho because of a poor coaching moment on Staley's part, do to inexperience, and then 4 players standing around watching Mitchell dribble the ball. Do you think Muffett knew what was going to happen? Or was she just saying that in the court side interview afterward? I am pretty confident that on a final procession for UConn in a tight game, there will be at least a few passes before a player is going one on one.

 

[UcMiami]

As i recall in the Stanford game Uconn failed to get a shot off at the end of regulation, so stuff happens, though hopefully not in March/April.

I haven't watched the whole game but the last ten minutes were pretty dreadful execution by both teams. I don't remember ever seeing an ND team run such awful offense and it appeared that no one wanted to shoot except Jewel and Turner and Turner was throwing bricks at the basket from two feet - I think she missed the rim on consecutive layups!

 

[Buzzyboy]

I think you're right. She should have said: "Hey folks, the championship game is over before it's even played so why don't you check in with us, say around 10:30 Tuesday, and we'll tell you what the final score was."
Hmm, isn't part of her job to try and make the upcoming game sound exciting and try to maintain viewership?

Burke has said all along that UConn is the team to beat. IMO, of all the teams in the tournament, I think ND has the best chance to beat us in the final. They have confidence through their experience of defeating us in recent years, and last night showed that even when things go horribly bad for them, they don't lose their composure.

Note: best does not equal good. But I don't quibble with what she said.

I love and agree with everything you said with the exception of your reference to last nights game and said "they don't lose their composure". I think that the only reason they had to win the game in the last seconds was because they BLEW their big lead from having LOST their composure. They played so poorly in those last four minutes that I was shocked. It was much less what SC did to come back and more about bonehead and flagrant mistakes.

 

[cabbie191]

I love and agree with everything you said with the exception of your reference to last nights game and said "they don't lose their composure". I think that the only reason they had to win the game in the last seconds was because they BLEW their big lead from having LOST their composure. They played so poorly in those last four minutes that I was shocked. It was much less what SC did to come back and more about bonehead and flagrant mistakes.

That could be. The composure comment was really more focused on the final seconds when Cable was able to secure the air ball, turn and make a nice shot, and then get back on defense and take care of business.

By contrast, if you saw the Wisconsin/Kentucky game, I thought Kentucky played scared at the end - not taking taking time for good shots or even positioning themselves for effective passing.

I had the impression that in the last 7 minutes ND played poorly, but it didn't seem to me that they were panicky. Perhaps if I watch it a second time I'll have a different conclusion.

And to speak to h20bury's point: I absolutely agree that SC's last play execution was awful and results perhaps from inexperience in the big moment. But that happens to all teams even if they have lots of experience - witness some of our losses to ND a few years ago. And yes, in a one-point loss, one can find many missed opportunities that would have made the difference, so it wasn't just the FT shooting.