This team just doesn't have it

[UConn990411]

Let me start this off by saying this is a really good UConn team. When you're the clear #3 out of 300-and-something schools, you're really, really, really good.

But they just ain't a championship team this year.

I'm not just talking about this game, either - that was a laughably bad loss. Diggins missed about 30 shots and Notre Dame doesn't hit a 3-pointer till overtime, and you still lose? Up 6 in overtime, and you miss back-to-back-to-back front ends? Somehow, the team can't even get KML a single free throw in that situation.

Unlike the great UConn teams, this group just doesn't do the fundamentals well. They turn it over anytime they face some semblance of pressure, they jack up horrible 3s, they can't get a stop when they need one and this team is woefully bad at getting the best shooter in women's college basketball shots.

There's nothing wrong with being just a Final Four-caliber team, but they're a year away...and a healthy Hartley/improve Stewart...away from being a true contender.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Let me start this off by saying this is a really good UConn team. When you're the clear #3 out of 300-and-something schools, you're really, really, really good.

But they just ain't a championship team this year.

I'm not just talking about this game, either - that was a laughably bad loss. Diggins missed
about 30 shots and Notre Dame doesn't hit a 3-pointer till overtime, and you still lose? Up 6 in overtime, and you miss back-to-back-to-back front ends? Somehow, the team can't even get KML a single free throw in that situation.

Unlike the great UConn teams, this group just doesn't do the fundamentals well. They turn it over anytime they face some semblance of pressure, they jack up horrible 3s, they can't get a stop when they need one and this team is woefully bad at getting the best shooter in
women's college basketball shots.

There's nothing wrong with being just a Final Four-caliber team, but they're a year away...and a healthy Hartley/improve Stewart...away from being a true contender.

I'd have to disagree . . . . on absolutely nothing. This post is right on target. This team is going nowhere.

 

[rt bb fan]

Next year will be even tougher. No Faris

 

[JHHusky]

I haven't seen our team turn the ball over so much as this season.
They just don't have the precision of other UCONN teams.
Past teams were beautiful to watch with motion, passes, assists, and care of the ball.
It was always the other teams that turned the ball over.
This team is still great but different than the UCONN standard.

 

[UConn990411]

I'd have to disagree . . . . on absolutely nothing. This post is right on target. This team is going nowhere.

Thanks, but that's not quite what I said.

Going to a Final Four, which is what I expect this team to do, is still pretty d*** good.

 

[svetbird]

I think we win this game we tell a different story. I saw a lot of good tonight. Dolson was screwed over by the reffs or we win in regulation. Don’t tell me we don’t make one more point if she gets to stay in longer. KML was way off tonight and we still almost beat them. I thought Stewart played real well. The turnovers didn’t worry me until the later overtimes. Yes we need to work on that but I wasn’t screaming at my tv much for dumb turnovers. We had our freshman get beat by their starters late in overtime. That in the end was the outcome. I am usually very negative about my sports teams (and was after the Baylor game) but in this case I don’t get the doom and gloom. We showed we can beat these guys!

 

[Blueballer]

I'd have to disagree . . . . on absolutely nothing. This post is right on target. This team is going nowhere.

Except maybe the Final Four. Maybe not enough to win it all but they probably will get to the FF. There are only 2 teams that they can't seem to beat (Lately).

 

[msf22b]

Guards, guards, guards

 

[ASweet3781]

I think we win this game we tell a different story. I saw a lot of good tonight. Dolson was screwed over by the reffs or we win in regulation. Don’t tell me we don’t make one more point if she gets to stay in longer. KML was way off tonight and we still almost beat them. I thought Stewart played real well. The turnovers didn’t worry me until the later overtimes. Yes we need to work on that but I wasn’t screaming at my tv much for dumb turnovers. We had our freshman get beat by their starters late in overtime. That in the end was the outcome. I am usually very negative about my sports teams (and was after the Baylor game) but in this case I don’t get the doom and gloom. We showed we can beat these guys!

IF DOLSON WANTED TO STAY IN THE GAME, DON'T PUT YOURSELF IN A POSITION TO BE CALLED FOR A MOVING SCREEN 90 FEET FROM THE BASKET!

 

[UConn990411]

We showed we can beat these guys!

No, they haven't. This group of players has lost five of six to Notre Dame, and they haven't beaten Baylor. The reason is pretty simple: Baylor and ND's guards are flat out better than UConn's right now.

Faris is an enormous loss - her value is immeasurable to this team. But Hartley returning to form (she's at about 20% of her potential right now, for whatever reason) negates a lot of that loss.

Add in an improved Jefferson, a (eventually) healthy Banks and a dramatically better Stewart, and you have all the pieces for a championship team.

 

[Rb335]

I don't think it is time to panic quite yet. With only 3 losses on the season, this team is not bad by any means. They beat Duke and Stanford. I think it is a 3 way race to the NC, uconn being the underdog.

3 Losses- ND by 1 point
ND in 3OT
BAYLOR by 6 points

If uconn beat ND tonight, we are in a different mindset, and I doubt uconn will ever self destruct like this again. We do not need to panic. We have proven we can contend with the top, and have proven we are capable of beating the top. I think this game gives uconn things to work on, but more importantly motivation. There are only 9 games left this season. Make them count.

 

[ASweet3781]

No, they haven't. This group of players has lost five of six to Notre Dame, and they haven't beaten Baylor. The reason is pretty simple: Baylor and ND's guards are flat out better than UConn's right now.

Faris is an enormous loss - her value is immeasurable to this team. But Hartley returning to form (she's at about 20% of her potential right now, for whatever reason) negates a lot of that loss.

Add in an improved Jefferson, a (eventually) healthy Banks and a dramatically better Stewart, and you have all the pieces for a championship team.

If we are trying to predict next season let's remember, everyone thought UConn would be better than Notre Dame THIS year. Everyone.

 

[ASweet3781]

I don't think it is time to panic quite yet. With only 3 losses on the season, this team is not bad by any means. They beat Duke and Stanford. I think it is a 3 way race to the NC, uconn being the underdog.

3 Losses- ND by 1 point
ND in 3OT
BAYLOR by 6 points

If uconn beat ND tonight, we are in a different mindset, and I doubt uconn will ever self destruct like this again. We do not need to panic. We have proven we can contend with the top, and have proven we are capable of beating the top. I think this game gives uconn things to work on, but more importantly motivation. There are only 9 games left this season. Make them count.

These posts seem to completely disregard the 8 or so games the last 2 seasons that came down to the final minutes. All of them ended the same way. With a UConn loss.

How many more losses will it take to work on that winning thing?

 

[CONNFAN23]

I hate to say it but Geno has been consistently outcoached by McGraw.

 

[HuskyNan]

I think we win this game we tell a different story. I saw a lot of good tonight. Dolson was screwed over by the reffs or we win in regulation. Don’t tell me we don’t make one more point if she gets to stay in longer. KML was way off tonight and we still almost beat them. I thought Stewart played real well. The turnovers didn’t worry me until the later overtimes. Yes we need to work on that but I wasn’t screaming at my tv much for dumb turnovers. We had our freshman get beat by their starters late in overtime. That in the end was the outcome. I am usually very negative about my sports teams (and was after the Baylor game) but in this case I don’t get the doom and gloom. We showed we can beat these guys!

1. the refs didn't call half the fouls Stef made. I do think they starting calling stuff that was allowed earlier in the game.
2. Stef has 10 (ten!) turnovers. The team was better with Morgan in. At least Morgan drove to the basket instead of shooting from the perimeter.

 

[Fiftyish]

1. the refs didn't call half the fouls Stef made. I do think they starting calling stuff that was allowed earlier in the game.
2. Stef has 10 (ten!) turnovers. The team was better with Morgan in. At least Morgan drove to the basket instead of shooting from the perimeter.

Morgan Tuck has a ton of upside. She is going to be awesome. I think she has shown more improvement in her limited time than BS.

 

[VAUConnFan]

I hate to say it but Geno has been consistently outcoached by McGraw.

Disagree in that Coach McGraw is able to impose her coaching will because she has the best player on the floor and that player is her point guard, plain and simple. Close games are won from the point guard spot.

 

[Tenspro2002]

We showed we can beat these guys!

I would argue the exact opposite. We showed that they're completely in our heads and that they can pull out wins in the most improbable of circumstances.

 

[msf22b]

If we are trying to predict next season let's remember, everyone thought UConn would be better than Notre Dame THIS year. Everyone.

I wasn't so sure...at least that ND was way inferior and so voiced.

 

[svetbird]

Ok as a newer fan I sadly missed the years of greatness (seen highlights/old games read books etc) so I know what things were like (at least to a point). In this case my lack of being spoiled by success allows me to not compare this team to the greatest of all time. Look we are the number 3 team. We deserve to be number three, not 2 or 1 but number 3. Do you guys honestly think there was no way we could win tonight? This team is not favored to win like those in the past but any team who takes the number one team in the conference to triple OT can beat them. Are we like the old teams where we expected to win every night? No, but that does not mean we are not good enough to upset a team like N.D. Again I do not think we beat Baylor but these guys? I think we will take at least one from them.

 

[UConnChapette]

Disagree in that Coach McGraw is able to impose her coaching will because she has the best player on the floor and that player is her point guard, plain and simple. Close games are won from the point guard spot.

The only thing I am frustrated by in this game was the fact that when skylar picked up her 4th foul we didn't start driving the lane to force her to defend or foul out. We do that, I think UConn wins. We didn't do that. UConn lost.

 

[msf22b]

1. the refs didn't call half the fouls Stef made. I do think they starting calling stuff that was allowed earlier in the game.
2. Stef has 10 (ten!) turnovers. The team was better with Morgan in. At least Morgan drove to the basket instead of shooting from the perimeter.

I'm not crazy about the way the game was called, but it certainly wasn't the reason for the loss.
It was bad both ways...not the typical game in which ND gets a huge advantage; esp in Overtime 1 and 2.

 

[svetbird]

I'm not crazy about the way the game was called, but it certainly wasn't the reason for the loss.
It was bad both ways...not the typical game in which ND gets a huge advantage; esp in Overtime 1 and 2.

Seriously? There are people who think we should play Morgan over steph. Girl has a lot of upside but Steph is almost all American good!

 

[msf22b]

Seriously? There are people who think we should play Morgan over steph. Girl has a lot of upside but Steph is almost all American good!

Svet, we're speaking about refs?????

 

[CONNFAN23]

Disagree in that Coach McGraw is able to impose her coaching will because she has the best player on the floor and that player is her point guard, plain and simple. Close games are won from the point guard spot.

Anytime ND needed a clutch bucket they called a TO she drew up a play and they got an uncontested layup out of it 3 times.