UConn Not Unanimous #1 in Final Coaches Poll

[Waquoit]

When the UConn men beat Duke in 1999, Duke raised a banner that said something like "No. 1 Final AP Poll". Maybe Baylor can do the same thing.

 

[Husky1964]

Having Britt G. for 4 years and winning once is akin to having Pat Ewing for 4 years and winning once. It's COACHING!!!!!!!!!

 

[housekeys]

It is a shame that the refs swallowed their whistle in the Baylor/Louisville game. Otherwise we would have actually had a real championship game. We will never know what would have happened.

Unlike some others, I agree with your post. Understand that once a team loses, blaming the officials is taboo. Yet, I agree that the tone of the game is set by the officials and it did not favor Baylor for most of the game. However, when Baylor and Sims made their comeback, the lack of whistles favored Baylor (why did Baylor wait that long?). Finally, you have to admit two things, 1) Griner did not play to her potential and 2) Louisville took full advantage of the officiating AND made plays (big plays) throughout the game. It all came together and Baylor lost.

You are also correct, in retrospect, that a Baylor-UConn final would have been a better game and the result unknown. As a UConn fan, I have to say that UConn would have won, but that is what fans say. In the end it does not matter because UConn won the NC, and won comfortably. What else can you ask of a winner but to win the games they play.

Ps. When UConn lost to Baylor, I also felt the refs swallowed the whistle in favor of Baylor, which is why it is all moot.

 

[JoePgh]

Two players make a team? Uconn had the best team...no probably about it. They had Faris, Doty, Buck, Dolson, Hartley, Mosqueda-Lewis, Stokes, Banks, Stewart, Jefferson and Tuck and they won the title.

Again, I would suggest a hypothetical: Suppose Geno had Baylor's roster and Kim had UConn's roster. What would the result have been? I suggest that Baylor with Geno would have won every game (including the one against the UConn roster with the "new Breanna") by at least 20 points. Griner would have been cutting to the basket and taking alley-oop passes from Sims and others. Pope and Williams would have had larger roles, particularly in rebounding. Sims would have been scoring on backdoor plays. Kim's daughter might have seen more playing time and might have been doing the same thing.

Meanwhile, Kim would have had Breanna playing the same game that Griner actually played, mostly away from the basket and with not a lot of movement. She would have gotten her points, but the rest of the team would have been far less productive. Stef would have been on the bench since she would have been considered too slow. Kelly would have been a role player of minor importance.

 

[Oldgrizzly]

When the UConn men beat Duke in 1999, Duke raised a banner that said something like "No. 1 Final AP Poll". Maybe Baylor can do the same thing.

That would be silly. Sick of the accusations that I am a crybaby. Probably my last post on this board. UCONN, congratulations on your well deserved National Championship. Baylor did not get to the dance because they had an off night against a red hot shooting team that benefitted from horrible officials. Don't see how that makes me a crybaby. Adios amigos.

 

[meyers7]

I think that once UConn got it together, they were better than Baylor.

I think it's pretty straight forward. Baylor and UCONN played the same team within a week and a half of each other (i.e. we are not talking about midseason meetings or different players in form/injuries). Baylor lost to this team by 1 and UCONN beat them by 33. Nuff said.

 

[svetbird]

I don’t understand the reffing argument when it comes to Baylor. It was not like they were calling everything Baylor did and nothing on their opponents. Both sides got some breaks. Did anyone notice when they called the wrong player (should have been Griner) early in the first so she didn’t get into foul trouble. Or the penalty that wasn’t near the end of the game that got the Louisville coach a technical as well. Bad calls on both sides Louisville won because they were better that night, not some reffing conspiracy

 

[DobbsRover2]

Boy, when is the silliness going to stop. You can justify the first 3 point shot or two but how long does it take to understand, "hey, my players aren't guarding the perimeter and we need to focus on the 3 point line". Why did it take 30 minutes of game time or roughly an hour and twenty minutes to realize "we are being hurt by those guys making those shots". UConn's defense without a word from Geno would never have allowed those guys those open looks. They learned their roles in preseason practice. Geno didn't all of a sudden realize, my gosh, we'd better get our guys to defend this dangerous team and their three point game. Dear Kim should have kicked her team's butts after the eight minute mark of the first half to get them in gear (if not sooner). These are college students, not imbeciles, right??????? Why do they need any kind of instruction on understanding who is hurting them offensively and what they need to do about it.

Yep, nice to be able to be the lounge-chair quarterback going silly-silly to all the coaches. I can remember doing the same thing to Geno after Purdue lit up the Huskies for 13 bombs on 59% shooting back in November. Why the hell didn't he make adjustments if he's such a hot-shot 7-NC coach? He should have known they would do that and be that hot. And maybe he should have learned something from last year in the four games against the Irish when UConn stifled ND's 3-pt shooting in three of the games (but nuts, it's the three games they lost), and got knocked for a 7-16 in the other game (but damn they won that one). So what is that he's supposed to learn?

First off, because of Griner's presence teams were averaging 21 jack attempts against Baylor per game at the rate of under 30%, and Louisville comes in at the rate of 6-18 at around 31%. Okay, not too worrisome, and the Bears know that the Cards will probably shoot a lot of 3s like all of their other opponents and will probably hit at about 30% if the Bears play their usual defense. But the game starts and there were 5 Cardinals hitting on the 3s including the forward and center, so that does put a strain on any team's perimeter defense in trying to guard outside the arc without leaving the interior secure. After a torrid first half, the Cards do not cool off as after two minutes pass in the second half first big Schimmel, then little Schimmel, then Hammond, then big Schimmel, and then Slaughter find the range. Baylor does make adjustments and for the last 9 minutes of the game, the Cards hit no more 3s and the Bears roar back to take the lead in the last seconds. So final seconds and Monique Reed is feverishly dribbling upcourt to obviously pop a 3 right? No, she drives to the hoop and draws a foul as Griner flies back from the perimeter. Two FTs, and game over.

But yes we're all so silly for not knowing what's going to happen. Isn't that what DVR is for?

 

[easttexastrash]

Unlike some others, I agree with your post. Understand that once a team loses, blaming the officials is taboo. Yet, I agree that the tone of the game is set by the officials and it did not favor Baylor for most of the game. However, when Baylor and Sims made their comeback, the lack of whistles favored Baylor (why did Baylor wait that long?). Finally, you have to admit two things, 1) Griner did not play to her potential and 2) Louisville took full advantage of the officiating AND made plays (big plays) throughout the game. It all came together and Baylor lost.

You are also correct, in retrospect, that a Baylor-UConn final would have been a better game and the result unknown. As a UConn fan, I have to say that UConn would have won, but that is what fans say. In the end it does not matter because UConn won the NC, and won comfortably. What else can you ask of a winner but to win the games they play.

Ps. When UConn lost to Baylor, I also felt the refs swallowed the whistle in favor of Baylor, which is why it is all moot.

Not really a good comparison to a regular season game and a "lose and end your career" game.

 

[easttexastrash]

Having Britt G. for 4 years and winning once is akin to having Pat Ewing for 4 years and winning once. It's COACHING!!!!!!!!!

I tend to agree there...

 

[easttexastrash]

I don’t understand the reffing argument when it comes to Baylor. It was not like they were calling everything Baylor did and nothing on their opponents. Both sides got some breaks. Did anyone notice when they called the wrong player (should have been Griner) early in the first so she didn’t get into foul trouble. Or the penalty that wasn’t near the end of the game that got the Louisville coach a technical as well. Bad calls on both sides Louisville won because they were better that night, not some reffing conspiracy

Here is what the poor reffing in the beginning did. It set the tone for the game. Walz sent his players on the floor to do whatever they wanted physically. By not calling those fouls early it set a tone for the Louisville players and by being allowed to rough up Griner everything fell into place.

Unfortunately for both UCONN and Baylor, for many fans, this year's championship will have a mental asterisk next to it because of what happened in that game. It was a hot topic of conversation and will be remembered by many people. Although many UCONN fans were very happy to see Baylor lose, UCONN would have been better served for Baylor to make it to the final so that there could be not talk of "did the best team win the championship?"

 

[Blue Huskie]

Polls after a championship game are completely worthless. Don't pay attention to them. UCONN earned the number one spot by playing the game. End of story.

This is a good point. What purpose would this "final" poll even serve? Why would they bother having it? I don't get it. Is it a "jumping off point" for next season ? (Wouldn't think so as it's based on players who are leaving).

 

[easttexastrash]

This is a good point. What purpose would this "final" poll even serve? Why would they bother having it? I don't get it. Is it a "jumping off point" for next season ? (Wouldn't think so as it's based on players who are leaving).

I agree...there is only one final ranking that counts...NUMBER 1!!!

 

[easttexastrash]

Let me clearly state, UCONN did what THEY had to do. They could not play teams that did not advance. And with the way Stewart was playing I don't know hat Baylor could have beaten them. But we will also never get to see that championship matchup between Stewart and Griner, which is a shame. I would have loved to have seen that. Instead we got to see Louisville lay a big egg.

 

[easttexastrash]

Let me clearly state, UCONN did what THEY had to do. They could not play teams that did not advance. And with the way Stewart was playing I don't know hat Baylor could have beaten them. But we will also never get to see that championship matchup between Stewart and Griner, which is a shame. I would have loved to have seen that. Instead we got to see Louisville lay a big egg.

That make me think...Walz should have "hatched" a better game plan for UCONN.

 

[UCONNfan1]

Here is what the poor reffing in the beginning did. It set the tone for the game. Walz sent his players on the floor to do whatever they wanted physically. By not calling those fouls early it set a tone for the Louisville players and by being allowed to rough up Griner everything fell into place.

Unfortunately for both UCONN and Baylor, for many fans, this year's championship will have a mental asterisk next to it because of what happened in that game. It was a hot topic of conversation and will be remembered by many people. Although many UCONN fans were very happy to see Baylor lose, UCONN would have been better served for Baylor to make it to the final so that there could be not talk of "did the best team win the championship?"

No offense, but anyone who puts an asterisk of any kind next to a NC is crazy. The year UCONN lost Ralph, then Abrosimova to injuries should have an asterisk because without those injuries, UCONN should have won the NC? No way. You could go on and on every year for shoulda, woulda, coulda. Does the best team win every year? Absolutely not. Do the 2 best teams always meet in the final game? Absolutely not.

We will never know if UCONN would have beaten Baylor in the NC game. Baylor took the lead late in the Louisville game after coming all the way back from 20 down, had all the momentum, and still lost. To put an asterisk of any kind next to our NC #8 demeans it and I think that is wrong. I guess NC losers any year can console themselves with a mental asterisk, but the reality is only 1 team wins and this year it was UCONN.

 

[easttexastrash]

No offense, but anyone who puts an asterisk of any kind next to a NC is crazy. The year UCONN lost Ralph, then Abrosimova to injuries should have an asterisk because without those injuries, UCONN should have won the NC. You could go on and on every year for shoulda, woulda, coulda. Does the best team win every year? Absolutely not.

We will never know if UCONN would have stomped Baylor in the NC game. Baylor took the lead late in the Louisville game after coming all the way back from 20 down, had all the momentum, and still lost. To put an asterisk of any kind next to our NC #8 demeans it and I think that is wrong. I guess NC losers any year can console themselves with a mental asterisk, but the reality is only 1 team wins and this year it was UCONN.

Seems to me that you have a mental asterisk next to that UCONN year of injury...

 

[easttexastrash]

No offense, but anyone who puts an asterisk of any kind next to a NC is crazy. The year UCONN lost Ralph, then Abrosimova to injuries should have an asterisk because without those injuries, UCONN should have won the NC? No way. You could go on and on every year for shoulda, woulda, coulda. Does the best team win every year? Absolutely not. Do the 2 best teams always meet in the final game? Absolutely not.

We will never know if UCONN would have beaten Baylor in the NC game. Baylor took the lead late in the Louisville game after coming all the way back from 20 down, had all the momentum, and still lost. To put an asterisk of any kind next to our NC #8 demeans it and I think that is wrong. I guess NC losers any year can console themselves with a mental asterisk, but the reality is only 1 team wins and this year it was UCONN.

Yes...I fully respect what UCONN did. This thread was to discuss UCONN not being a unanimous number 1 pick and I am just giving my opinion on why.

I would have voted UCONN nubmer 1, as well. They won...nobody else did...end of story.

 

[HuskyNan]

Let me clearly state, UCONN did what THEY had to do. They could not play teams that did not advance. And with the way Stewart was playing I don't know hat Baylor could have beaten them. But we will also never get to see that championship matchup between Stewart and Griner, which is a shame. I would have loved to have seen that. Instead we got to see Louisville lay a big egg.

Louisville didn't lay an egg - UConn wholloped them, same as the Huskies did in their 12 previous meetings. The physical play didn't bother UConn the way it did Baylor.

The refs let Louisville and Baylor play. Baylor should have made an in-game adjustment rather than wait for the refs to change. As it was, I thought the refs were, let's say, generous to Baylor late in the second half.

 

[easttexastrash]

Louisville didn't lay an egg - Uconn wholloped them, as the Huskies did in their 12 previous meetings. the physical play didn't bother UConn the way it did Baylor.

The refs let Louisville and Baylor play. Baylor should have made an in-game adjustment rather than wait for the refs to change. As it was, I thought the refs were, let's say, generous to Baylor late in the second half.

Nan, I think you have watched enough basketball in your life to know that what was done to BG does not fall under the category of "physical play." There is no comparison between the two games in those terms....none.

 

[HuskyNan]

Nan, I think you have watched enough basketball in your lfve to know that what was done to BG does not fall under the category of "physical play." There is no comparison between the two games in those terms....none.

I was lucky enough to sit on press row for one game while Diana Taurasi played atUConn. I could clearly see that she was absolutely covered with black and blue bruises from the holds and hacks. She even had long scratches on her arm from shaking off defenders. Yet, she somehow led her team to three championships. Maya Moore was so beat up, she had to wear rib protectors under her uniform. She led her team to a couple championships, too. BTW, I bet Breanna Stewart has a few bruises as well. Such is the life of the superstar.

 

[easttexastrash]

FYI...I will stomp my sour grapes tonight and drink wine the rest of the weekend.

 

[easttexastrash]

I was lucky enough to sit on press row for one game while Diana Taurasi played atUConn. I coild clearly see that she was absolutely covered with black and blue bruises from the holds and hacks. She even had long scratches on her arm from shaking off defenders. Yet, she somehow led her team to three championships. Maya Moore was so beat up, she had to wear rib protectors under her uniform. She led her team to a couple championships, too. BTW, I bet Breanna Stewart has a few bruises as well. Such is the life of the superstar.

Well, Breanna is not very tanned...her bruises are easy to see.

 

[easttexastrash]

It is a shame that these superstar players are so much better than other players that coaches resort to such tactics. Quite frankly, EDD got beat up a LOT in games that I watched but as Gary Blair says "they can't call 'em all" and coaches know that and will use it to their advantage.

I do look forward to being in the WNBA where the qualify of ref is much better and the game is, mostly, called consistently.

 

[CCinCT]

I was lucky enough to sit on press row for one game while Diana Taurasi played atUConn. I could clearly see that she was absolutely covered with black and blue bruises from the holds and hacks. She even had long scratches on her arm from shaking off defenders. Yet, she somehow led her team to three championships. Maya Moore was so beat up, she had to wear rib protectors under her uniform. She led her team to a couple championships, too. BTW, I bet Breanna Stewart has a few bruises as well. Such is the life of the superstar.

Except of course, for Skylar Diggins.