The trap! Auriemma's opinion

[Carnac]

I disagree - its self policing by the players and it works. Far better than another set of rules and regs.

No way a commissioner makes the game a better game that way.

The players know for the most part whats intentional and what isn't . Especially around 2nd, and almost always in the batters box..
There is no way a commissioner can be a better arbiter of intent than the players - no way.

Personally, I'd rather see them roll back the rules at 2nd and especially the blocking rules at home plate. Arms length to the bag is okay - but you have mostly removed the double play breakup from the game. An exciting element has been removed, one requiring elevated skills by both the runner and the fielder. Its just gone from the game. Is the game better for it ? , I say NO. I agree with Pedroia, those rules are for pu**ies and players with bad footwork.

Brushbacks are part of the game - you wanna give that part away too ?

I don't recall Sale throwing at the greatest Philly since Schmidt.

I hate people meddling with something that works just fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Its all part of the game, most of the latest rules and those on the table now, especially balls and strike "solutions" just make it less of a game.

IMO

I know there would be some who would disagree with my proposal. It's extremely radical. Bottom line, I don't want to see/hear of a player getting beaned and die, or suffer a career ending injury because of taking a 90 mph fastball on his helmet. It looks like my post drew your ire:"I hate people meddling with something that works just fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Whether something is broke or not cannot be decided by one person. There are lots of long time BB fans that don't like pitchers throwing at batters intentionally. People can see a play or situation differently, like a play in basketball that can be called a charge or a block. It depends on your perspective. MLB would survive if pitchers stopped intentionally throwing at batters.

A recent rant by Manny Machado suggests that he does not agree with you, suggesting that "MLB should do something about it." I don't hate anyone that has an opinion that's different from mine. If I did, I would stop visiting the Boneyard. As for Sale throwing at Harper, I was watching the game when it happen. It did happen. One cannot see or remember everything that happens in sports. This is a UConn WBB forum, not a MLB forum, so I won't go into a deeper debate with you. I made a comment, you responded, we disagree on this, so we'll leave it there.

 

[IWearShoes]

I don’t know if Coach Abe realizes that Geno did her and her team a big favor. Right now, Charlie Creme is projecting UCF as a 10 seed. Had Geno kept UConn’s press on through the 3rd qtr and beyond, the Huskies win by 40, perhaps knocking down UCF to an 11 or 12 seed. As a 12 seed, UCF ends up playing against 4 seed at their home arena.

Well, gotta beat the 5 seed first.

 

[Yorkeez4]

In baseball I draw the line between a beanball and throwing behind a batter or at some body part other than the head. If it is retaliation for a spikes up I’m all for throwing at a batter - but not their head.

The rules concerning blocking home plate are a bit more confusing. I always thought blocking when the ball was nowhere near the plate was ridiculous but the new rules may have gone too far.

And I have to say I think the virtual elimination of the brushback pitch has made life tougher on pitchers. Bob Gibson was the master of the brushback.

 

[HuskyNan]

Let's not go too crazy about this. It was a horse merde move, phony hustle. Geno yipped a bit and moved on.

Move on? First day on the Boneyard?

 

[oldude]

In baseball I draw the line between a beanball and throwing behind a batter or at some body part other than the head. If it is retaliation for a spikes up I’m all for throwing at a batter - but not their head.

The rules concerning blocking home plate are a bit more confusing. I always thought blocking when the ball was nowhere near the plate was ridiculous but the new rules may have gone too far.

And I have to say I think the virtual elimination of the brushback pitch has made life tougher on pitchers. Bob Gibson was the master of the brushback.

Bob Gibson brushback? Hell, Gibson would send a message by drilling a hitter squarely in the back.

 

[Waquoit]

Move on? First day on the Boneyard?

I was saying Geno had moved on. The Yard will still be on this until the two teams play again, at a minimum.

 

[OldAlum]

Thanks for the video clip. That was, at the very least, trashy. I am all for playing hard and celebrating small victories, but they werent doing that. Rather than congratulating teammates on good defensive play, they were openly mocking an opposing player. Over the line and should have merited at least a bench warning if not a T.

 

[Papa33]

Oh you can rest assured that NEXT time they play, Geno won't call off the dogs until the UCF coach is waving a white flag.

GDawg, I agree with everything you said, except for the above excerpt. Until then, your reasons were solidly grounded in unwritten and widely observed standards of sportsmanship. But if Geno followed your prediction, who would he be hurting— their players, not the coach— and what example would he be setting? I'd like to think he'd be taking the high road, instructing by example, not by retribution.

 

[BroadwayVa]

CRYING ? THERE"S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL !

Suing ? There's no suing in baseball

Works for no one in any sport --- proving intent is extremely difficult

How do you prove a beanball vs a bad pitch --- you can't
How do you prove intent to injure vs somebody just out of control - you can't

It would set up a system where any and every hit batsman could sue.

Even Sabean was wrong to push the Posey Rule.

Everyone in the game accepts the risks and knows the rules.

Surrender anything to a court system and you have zero consistency of outcome -- end result is worse for any game.

Every city will have a different outcome depending if the incident happened at home or away.

Even more to the point - its worse for every fan - you'll ruin a great game for what ?

The path you suggest is a dead end for everybody.

Hell, I don't even like the nets around past the dugouts.
Read the back of the damn ticket and follow the first rule anybody who played the game learned or as a little kid the first time you even watched a game --- KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL

As Naive as I was and am, I expect sports, at the HS and College level to be for the love of the game with fairness for all.
I agree stay out of court, if possible, the outcome isn't a given.
To prove the case of someone being told by coach ---bean this guy or take it on their own may seem difficult. Prosecutors rely on those involve to hear either to say--I am going to or you must Bean him. Someone always blabs. When more than one holds a secret believe someone shall talk. That IS a given.
Even pro's who "keep their eye on the ball" are beaned. Don't ask HS or College kids to be more alert than pro's.
However this is about Women's BB not baseball or football or the legal system. We are only speaking of RULES. If you want everyone on every team in the conference to have the same view of the playing field and what is expected--WRITE it down don't expect coaches or all player to think the same. It works better for everyone.

 

[boontonbomber]

You wanted an explanation for why Geno was hot. That's it. You've obviously never coached before. I'm not saying you have to be a coach to understand the game of basketball. I am saying you have to be a coach to know that there are unwritten rules in the coaching fraternity and doing horsecrap like that will get called out. There's no rule saying you can't bunt to break up a no-hitter in the 8th inning, but if you do it to my pitcher you're getting earholed next AB.

not a fan of trapping at that point in the game, either, but, since you mentioned it, most baseball people have no problem with bunting to break up a no-hitter.

 

[JoePgh]

not a fan of trapping at that point in the game, either, but, since you mentioned it, most baseball people have no problem with bunting to break up a no-hitter.

If the game is 1-0 in the 9th, then of course you would bunt against a no-hit performance -- not to spoil the no-hitter but to win the game. One run in that game is critical. And I hope no one would think that violates any rule, written or unwritten. On the other hand, if the score is 8-0 and the only reason to bunt is to spoil the no-hitter, then that is at least stupid and probably unsportsmanlike. It is also irrational, because if you are down by 8 runs in the 9th, you cannot be sacrificing outs, as you might if it was critical to score a single run. The same thing applies to stealing bases or dropping down sacrifice bunts late in the game when the score is lopsided -- it is irrational and probably driven by a player's desire to enhance individual statistics.

In the basketball game, if UCF were down by 2 points in the last minute, then of course they might trap even if they had never done it before -- and I'm sure Geno would not complain about it. They certainly would do that if Kyla came into the game. In a close game, however, the only way Kyla would enter is if there were an injury or a foul-out by a starting player.

 

[dogged1]

If the game is 1-0 in the 9th, then of course you would bunt against a no-hit performance -- not to spoil the no-hitter but to win the game. One run in that game is critical. And I hope no one would think that violates any rule, written or unwritten. On the other hand, if the score is 8-0 and the only reason to bunt is to spoil the no-hitter, then that is at least stupid and probably unsportsmanlike. It is also irrational, because if you are down by 8 runs in the 9th, you cannot be sacrificing outs, as you might if it was critical to score a single run. The same thing applies to stealing bases or dropping down sacrifice bunts late in the game when the score is lopsided -- it is irrational and probably driven by a player's desire to enhance individual statistics.

In the basketball game, if UCF were down by 2 points in the last minute, then of course they might trap even if they had never done it before -- and I'm sure Geno would not complain about it. They certainly would do that if Kyla came into the game. In a close game, however, the only way Kyla would enter is if there were an injury or a foul-out by a starting player.

For Shame! Isn't it a violation of the unwritten rules of the boneyard to write a common sense post?

 

[boontonbomber]

If the game is 1-0 in the 9th, then of course you would bunt against a no-hit performance -- not to spoil the no-hitter but to win the game. One run in that game is critical. And I hope no one would think that violates any rule, written or unwritten. On the other hand, if the score is 8-0 and the only reason to bunt is to spoil the no-hitter, then that is at least stupid and probably unsportsmanlike. It is also irrational, because if you are down by 8 runs in the 9th, you cannot be sacrificing outs, as you might if it was critical to score a single run. The same thing applies to stealing bases or dropping down sacrifice bunts late in the game when the score is lopsided -- it is irrational and probably driven by a player's desire to enhance individual statistics.

In the basketball game, if UCF were down by 2 points in the last minute, then of course they might trap even if they had never done it before -- and I'm sure Geno would not complain about it. They certainly would do that if Kyla came into the game. In a close game, however, the only way Kyla would enter is if there were an injury or a foul-out by a starting player.

so where is the line drawn? 4-0, 3-0, …..games have been won with 9th inning rallies of that much or more. that's baseball. you play the game 'till the 3rd out. not stupid, not unsportsmanlike, not irrational. it's baseball. laying down a bunt is not exactly the easiest way to get a hit anyway. are you suggesting that once the score reaches some point( again, what is that point?), then batters simply take 3 down the middle and walk away. most pitchers working on a no-hitter want batters to do everything they can to break it up, so that they really can most enjoy the accomplishment. having pitched a couple myself, I know what it means.

 

[Gus Mahler]

Lawson played to the final buzzer- maybe beyond it.

Thank you, Coco, for the post. That was simply amazing to me. Why not just sit back in a zone and let the clock run out? And was HCPS not able to call off the dogs?

Anyway, that's water long past the bridge.

 

[phil sampieri]

Except they weren't just cheering. They were going batshit as if they had just won the national championship instead of having their hat handed to them. Not only were they screeching and jumping around, they were stepping on the court, and they were taunting and posing.
I have probably watched a thousand WCBB games and I have never seen that sort of behavior by a loser.

When did they do this what quarter and time

 

[CocoHusky]

When did they do this what quarter and time

It was with about 6:00 left in the 4th quarter after a MW traveling call.

 

[JordyG]

It was with about 6:00 left in the 4th quarter after a MW traveling call.

Let 'em dance. The day and time will come when Geno does the same against them when UConn is up by 35. We'll see if it's so funny then.

 

[river rat]

There was also extended mocking

 

[Centerstream]

It was with about 6:00 left in the 4th quarter after a MW traveling call.

They also did the same celebrating when their players would make a 3 point shot

 

[Centerstream]

To keep stirring the pot, late in the 4th quarter, like with less than 3 minutes to go, we did do some double teaming and trapping when UCF got to half court. It created a couple of turnovers and one where CW and the UCF player collided on the baseline and we got the ball (about the 1:50 mark). As Mikayla was dribbling up the court, it certainly looks like Coach Abe is giving Geno a "look" (1:46 mark). Then at the 1:22 mark and with 04 seconds on the shot clock, Crystal drains a 3. Kyla is already at the scorers table. UCF has yet to try to trap us in this quarter. On defense we applied token pressure and UCF misses a jumper. At the 49.2 mark, our starters are taken out of the game. UCF is in a zone. As soon as the pass goes to Kyla, the 2 UCF players mug her...and the rest is history.
When Geno did his walkby, it certainly looks like Coach Abe was a bit surprised.

The end.

 

[Centerstream]

Part 2.

I just watched the replay of the 2/11/2019 game against South Carolina and a similar thing happened. As soon as the starters went to the bench with 1:00 or so to go, they started trapping our bench players. We got the ball back with 20 seconds left in the game and USC trapped Molly just after she got across midcourt. She turned the ball over (I think it was due to the shock as she thought that she was just going to dribble the game out). The score was 97-78.

The end.

 

[tomcat]

Lots of things are allowed that are considered poor sportsmanship if they are instituted at certain times or in certain ways.

Agreed. Just because something is legal doesn't make it bush league.

 

[Niles]

Agreed. Just because something is legal doesn't make it bush

Agreed. Just because something is legal doesn't make it bush league.

Aaahh the days where Kia Nurse would have responded just perfectly.

 

[chrissaran]

This reminds me of Greg Schiano having his players dive at the Giants players knees when Eli took a knee to end the game. Under his direction his players could have cost a Giants player their career. It's bush league, which is why he didn't last long in the pros. Yes, Eli has had his day, and the Giants need to move on if anyone was wondering.

 

[DefenseBB]

I'm a bit of a purest. If trapping is allowed don't be awestruck when it happens. Yea the timing stunk, but it was legit, no ref calls because of the trap (yes the foul after). It is part of the game. Accept it or get a rule to change it. Geno knows that. He was being emotional and an Emotional Geno dosen't always think before he speaks.
Geno probably was angry with the whole UCF game and latched on this to make a point.

I am with Broadway on this. Even when you put subs in, their goal is to play offense and defense. They're supposed to have skills and if the other team has their own subs in, the UConn subs should be able to handle the trap. Is it unseemly, yes, but it is still a part of the game that is allowed. Geno has always had the team dribble it out when there was less than 30 seconds in the game and he has the ball while winning-that's good social/sportsmanship etiquette. It doesn't mean that the other team will show that. No one wants to hear this but, are not UConn subs also taught how to handle presses and how to dribble effectively? There's better battles to argue about vs. UCF than that. UCF will continue to play an overly physical style until they get elite athletes with great fluidity, then Coach A will be the one complaining about the other teams physicality! Kudos for what she has achieved but NO KUDOS for how she has achieved it or how they have behaved with it!
Unfortunately, this conference is still a rather pathetic lot of team that has not made any real in-roads on recruiting or Top 50 wins. Maybe Cincinnati, maybe UCF continues, maybe Houston and hopefully Jose gets USF to recover will show continued evolution. After that, we still are not a great crew of programs in this sport.