UConn stats... 10 reasons Baylor lost...

[UConnCat]

Dear Kim,
I know it is hard to lose a close game to arch rival Uconn. Your team is vey talented, and plays super hard. But, you didn't lose because of the last shot taken by your team not being called a foul. Here is a list of 10 reasons Baylor lost that make more sense than blaming the refs for a non call.


3. Carrington, your "go to scorer", was 2-12 in the 2nd half including 0-4 from three range.

She also committed three 4th quarter turnovers, including two charges (thank you Aubrey).

 

[veryolddog]

Good points, David. You sold me. I think people should think about all the fouls that were not called all game long. There was some pretty vicious bangs that manhandled the UConn players totally ignored by the referee staff. Fair is fair. And then there is bullshito.

 

[huskyd]

That’s a really good point that has not been discussed. Richards blew out her hamstring and was in obvious pain. Young players don’t always have good judgment, so I’m sure Richards wanted back in the game. That’s when a coach needs to step in and say, “You’re done for the night.”

By rushing Richards back into the game, without a complete evaluation from the medical staff, including an MRI, there was a risk of a potential ruptured hamstring that could have ended Richards career. Mulkey demonstrated terrible judgment.

Mulkey demonstrated terrible judgment

And what about her presser in which she urged the powers that be to stop any further virus tests, so that nothing could prevent the tournament from being completed? Certainly nothing so trivial as a life-threatening disease.
Do you get the feeling sometimes that the players are just pawns to be moved around, not for their own sake, but to suit the moment?

 

[CocoHusky]

The Baylor “medical staff” in this instance was a trainer. There was no medical doctor evaluating Richards. A turned ankle is far different than an injured hamstring. Even the NFL doesn’t send players back on the field with a pulled hamstring. The standard procedure for an injured hamstring is for a clinical diagnosis, potentially including an MRI to determine if the hamstring was torn. No such diagnosis or procedure was performed on Richards, who was in obvious pain.

Quit making %%$ish up!

 

[Huskee11]

Mulkey was outcoached, just as she predicted. I suggest she look in the mirror when assigning blame for the last play.

17.2 seconds left, Baylor coming out of a timeout with a set play.

Ball comes into Andrews, probably not a great choice by Mulkey, lot of pressure on a 5' 6" Freshman backup. Paige has a height advantage and is not up tight on her, backing off (not afraid of a three) and making an entry pass difficult into Carrington, who started outside but moved down to the low right block. Williams did a great job of moving Carrington off the block and closer to Bueckers. So there wasn`t much room to squeeze a pass in.

Andrews is dribbling away as time moves on, Paige content with the status quo. Smith switches places with with Carrington but our defenders don`t switch. Edwards, like Williams before, moves Smith out. Jamelle Elliott has taught her well. It is VERY physical down there but it has been all game. Mulkey extends her arms upward but I think she is exasperated at this point not at the refs but at Andrews for not getting the ball into the post. She put her season in the hands of a Freshman and only gave her one option which was nullified based on well-coached post defense.

What is left is essentially a broken play that Carrington is asked to try and save. ONO is in the lane providing help to Edwards and as a result Egbo is open at the foul line but she doesn`t present herself at all. That is in part on the coach. The ball goes to Carrington with 8.1 seconds left. The right side is clogged up and she goes left behind a half hearted but fairly effective screen set by Egbo. Egbo is not fully stationary if we are looking for fouls to call, by the way. ONO goes with Carrington and there is some contact around the left elbow with six seconds left, some by Liv but Carrington pushes off with her right arm as well, as she has done before. Edwards moves off of Smith as well. Westbrook remains close to Ursin, who doesn`t seem to want to present herself as a kickout option. It`s all on Carrington and the other four are watching and rooting her on.

4.7 seconds left and Smith is wide open underneath. a high lob pass would have worked but Carrington is thinking shot only and her view may be blocked anyhow. It is a tough shot under any conditions, a right hander dribbling left and having to square up on the move. but this is what Mulkey`s unimaginative play call has left them with.

There is contact on the shot but the whole game has been like that. Can`t expect a bail out (unless your name is LeBron James). The tv camera has a great view, but the baseline ref has mistakenly stayed on the right side of the court so he has a poor view. There is a ref on the left side but behind Carrington so she can`t see much as well. The third ref is out of tv view near the scorer`s table. UConn may have caught a break simply because none of them had a good look. But again, it was a physical game and they let a lot go.

The most underrated, overlooked play of the game was Williams grabbing the rebound with 2.7 left. Smith and Egbo are both free and underneath but Williams is the only one of the three to go after the ball aggressively. Inexplicably, Smith lets almost two seconds run off before fouling her.

So all in all it was a very uncreative play with the ball in the hands of a Freshman reserve that was blown up by good post defense and left Carrington to make a playground play. Egbo was not coached to present herself as an option. Ursin was not working to provide an alternative. Their bigs stood by and watched our guard pull in the rebound and then let precious time run off.

Our coaches and players were better prepared for the moment.

 

[jazz]

I want to know why Baylor didn't make adjustments to get more Smith touches. Yes I know Aubry was playing great D, but Smith shot 100% the previous game. Not worth running some plays for her?

Not when the great Aubrey Griffin is on her!! Smith had no chance!

 

[jazz]

1--- Geno gets criticized on here which I feel very unduly for not using his bench. Yet who was Baylor's backup pg and how did she perform? Maybe in some of those wipeouts Baylor had they should've worked more slow down halfcourt? I guess any coach can be criticized too. They are all blundering &8%!%s!!!!

2-- Geno gets criticized for playing his starters 40 minutes in big games. If you believe at all in +/- stats than ask Kim how she feels knowing that she had had Carrington on the bench for those 1st 3.5 minutes in which UCONN went up by 9. I'm sure those that preach bench, bench, bench are thrilled knowing that Kim was "satisfied" knowing Carrington had maybe more energy late than some of the other UCONN guards that played 40. -----

Ohh wait-- Baylor lost------ huh? lol just having some fun. And--- I ammmmmmmmm THRILLED!!!!!!

We're advancin' and they ain't!!!!

ok point made but not really apples to apples. For some odd reason, Kim likes to bring Carrington off the bench. We made Carrington look like an all star in the first half but, for the game she was only 7 for 22 and 1 for 7 from 3 and had 3 turnovers. I'll take that. Maybe Carrington got tired as well.

I don't want you to take this as heated criticism of GA, because I still think he is the greatest, but.....I do think he should have played AM for at least 8 minutes in this game to rest CW, EW and PB. They were all gassed at the end resulting in next to nothing offensively the last 5-6 minutes. They couldn't even run offense in the end. Couldn't set pics and PB didn't have the explosion to lose her man. Baylor is a physical and big, strong, experienced team. Smaller, younger and weaker players need rest and a fresh AM is better than an exhausted CW, EW or PB - again for a few minutes.

They were missing layups and poor PB was just wobbly legged at the end. She was running on fumes -maybe 60% of herself. She just couldn't separate from her defender or finish in the last 5 minutes or so. She kept hitting the front end of the rim.

I do realise there is a perceived risk in sitting your best players but subbing in a solid role player who isn't as good for an exhausted better player is a good thing. That is why you have a bench.

It is hard for me to believe that a great recruiting team like UCONN can only win with 6 players...

We still won, but the physical and mental exhaustion was evident. I noticed it on EW in Q2.

 

[FanFromMaine]

That is absolutely ridiculous! It was the Baylor medical staff made the decision that Didi was able to return to the game. Once the decision was made that she could return Kim asked that the taping of the hamstring be hurried because UCONN was in the middle of a 19-0 run. The same thing happened in the Arizona game last night with McDonald and earlier in the season when Paige was hurried along so she could return to the game against TN. There was no poor judgement and nothing wrong with any coach saying of a key players -get her ready ASAP if she is able to return-this game is on the line.

How do know the medical staff said okay? This is not a gotcha question.

 

[CocoHusky]

How do know the medical staff said okay? This is not a gotcha question.

This is based on my personal experience. Physically ability to play after an injury is made my the medical/training staff not the coaches.

 

[jazz]

Mulkey was outcoached, just as she predicted. I suggest she look in the mirror when assigning blame for the last play.

17.2 seconds left, Baylor coming out of a timeout with a set play.

Ball comes into Andrews, probably not a great choice by Mulkey, lot of pressure on a 5' 6" Freshman backup. Paige has a height advantage and is not up tight on her, backing off (not afraid of a three) and making an entry pass difficult into Carrington, who started outside but moved down to the low right block. Williams did a great job of moving Carrington off the block and closer to Bueckers. So there wasn`t much room to squeeze a pass in.

Andrews is dribbling away as time moves on, Paige content with the status quo. Smith switches places with with Carrington but our defenders don`t switch. Edwards, like Williams before, moves Smith out. Jamelle Elliott has taught her well. It is VERY physical down there but it has been all game. Mulkey extends her arms upward but I think she is exasperated at this point not at the refs but at Andrews for not getting the ball into the post. She put her season in the hands of a Freshman and only gave her one option which was nullified based on well-coached post defense.

What is left is essentially a broken play that Carrington is asked to try and save. ONO is in the lane providing help to Edwards and as a result Egbo is open at the foul line but she doesn`t present herself at all. That is in part on the coach. The ball goes to Carrington with 8.1 seconds left. The right side is clogged up and she goes left behind a half hearted but fairly effective screen set by Egbo. Egbo is not fully stationary if we are looking for fouls to call, by the way. ONO goes with Carrington and there is some contact around the left elbow with six seconds left, some by Liv but Carrington pushes off with her right arm as well, as she has done before. Edwards moves off of Smith as well. Westbrook remains close to Ursin, who doesn`t seem to want to present herself as a kickout option. It`s all on Carrington and the other four are watching and rooting her on.

4.7 seconds left and Smith is wide open underneath. a high lob pass would have worked but Carrington is thinking shot only and her view may be blocked anyhow. It is a tough shot under any conditions, a right hander dribbling left and having to square up on the move. but this is what Mulkey`s unimaginative play call has left them with.

There is contact on the shot but the whole game has been like that. Can`t expect a bail out (unless your name is LeBron James). The tv camera has a great view, but the baseline ref has mistakenly stayed on the right side of the court so he has a poor view. There is a ref on the left side but behind Carrington so she can`t see much as well. The third ref is out of tv view near the scorer`s table. UConn may have caught a break simply because none of them had a good look. But again, it was a physical game and they let a lot go.

The most underrated, overlooked play of the game was Williams grabbing the rebound with 2.7 left. Smith and Egbo are both free and underneath but Williams is the only one of the three to go after the ball aggressively. Inexplicably, Smith lets almost two seconds run off before fouling her.

So all in all it was a very uncreative play with the ball in the hands of a Freshman reserve that was blown up by good post defense and left Carrington to make a playground play. Egbo was not coached to present herself as an option. Ursin was not working to provide an alternative. Their bigs stood by and watched our guard pull in the rebound and then let precious time run off.

Our coaches and players were better prepared for the moment.

Nice work Huskee!! Thanks for that!

 

[darkstar1]

But...but....but...the FOUL!!!!!!!! The FOUL at the end! Kim has pictures and video! She showed it to us in a text message on her phone during the post game presser!

AND....LeBron said so!

Don't forget the FOUL at the end!

Hahaha.

 

[jazz]

Just looking at the box, we held this strong, tough, big, experienced Baylor team to 39% shooting and 22% from 3 point land. We shot 43% and 47% from 3. If the refs call just a couple more fouls on Baylor that were very evident ( CW (3), AG(2), Liv and several against PB), we shoot 50% against arguably the best defensive team in the nation.

They barely beat us on the boards 43-41 - that is against arguably the best rebounding team in the nation. Then we slapped 10 of their shots out of there. This team rose to the occasion and showed some serious toughness!!

I really don't think Baylor expected us to be so tough. I really love this team for that by itself. I don't think we had the same toughness or attitude the last few years. I know it is hard to measure but that is what it looks like to me anyway.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Suppose (very hypothetically) the refs had called a foul, Carrington had made the free throws, and UConn had lost. It would have been easy to find a dozen stats to justify why UConn had only themselves to blame for the loss, first and foremost Christyn's 2 missed free throws that could have iced the game. Add to that Paige's zero assists and UConn having only 9 assists as a team.

Geno and the Boneyard could have said, with some justification, "You can't call the game loosely and let them play for 39.5 minutes, and then make a strict call in the last 10 seconds." That would carry about as much weight as Kim's postgame complaints.

It is unfortunate that a great game between two titans came down to the equivalent of a coin flip -- the game turning on a ref's split-second decision not to blow his whistle on one play. But the nature of the game, and of all sports contests, is that such things will occasionally happen.

It would have been better for all concerned if it had been the National Championship game that had to be decided in this way.

Thank goodness this wasn’t for all the marbles. What with the noise, and I do noise, on that last play imagine if this was for the championship? This would make national news and guys like Colbert, Meyers and the rest of these late night hacks would be highlighting this on their nightly shows.

 

[jazz]

By the way, I'm not throwing shade at GA, but why is PB setting the pick for CW to get the out of bounds pass at the end. PB completely forgot to even set the pick anyway. GA was losing his mind yelling at her. It seems to me that you use the bigger stronger, more experienced player (CW) to set the pick and the better FT shooter to have the ball in her hands. That is your first choice, all day, every day.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Just looking at the box, we held this strong, tough, big, experienced Baylor team to 39% shooting and 22% from 3 point land.

I mean we all knew Baylor wasn't a very good 3 point shooting team. They had a great team this year but losing Cox, Landrum and Cooper were major losses and all shot the 3 ball well. The only decent 3 point shooters on Baylor's team was Ursin and Andrews (who Kim didn't play very much). Carrington wasn't that good of a 3 point shooter but made them here and there. She shot them way too much in my opinion.

Their team relied on the backs of Smith, Ursin and Carrington they were pretty limited on who they could count on to score. Egbo was a rebounder and good shot blocker but hasn't been a consistent scorer. UCONN just had more players to turn too than Baylor. Last year UCONN was building back up the pieces and this year it was Baylor.

I hope the Baylor/UCONN series continues. Its GREAT for WBB and its always exciting. This is WBB at its best.

 

[lenbo]

The “foul” at the end sure didn’t look like a foul when I was watching in real time. Would it be right for refs to call a foul then when all night it’s been a let ‘em play game? Again, not an obvious foul, UConn players had established defensive position, at the time it looked like good defensive pressure.

Just like the Geno reaction to the Paige butt-slap, so much easier to dissect in slo-mo.

 

[oldude]

Quit making %%$ish up!

Coco, you and I are not going to agree on this (What else is new?). But I’ll make two more points and then suggest we find something else to disagree about.

First off, whatever evaluation the Baylor “medical staff” made, it was obviously wrong. Richards came back on the court, hobbled up and back a few times and then Mulkey sat her for the rest of the game.

Secondly, in all the years I have been involved in sports, one of the worst signs of a serious injury is when a player is just running down the court or playing field and goes down without being hit or tripping over themselves. I still remember the end of All-Pro OT Tony Boselli’s career, when he was just running downfield looking for someone to hit, and he dropped like he had been shot, blowing out his knee.

The manner in which Richards sustained her injury should have been of serious concern to Baylor’s medical staff as well as the coaches. Given the circumstances, I firmly believe the decision to put her back in the game demonstrated poor judgment.

 

[lenbo]

I honestly would have given the ball to Smith on the last possession

Carrington was great but struggled in the 2nd half while Smith was hotter. Smith is your all American and who has been on the big stage, I would have given it to her. Let her face up to drive it to the rim. Smith is difficult to stop in the open floor without fouling.

Was surprised they didn’t get it to Smith more throughout the game, even if she was covered. She was the All-American, not Carrington.

 

[CocoHusky]

Coco, you and I are not going to agree on this (What else is new?). But I’ll make two more points and then suggest we find something else to disagree about.

First off, whatever evaluation the Baylor “medical staff” made, it was obviously wrong. Richards came back on the court, hobbled up and back a few times and then Mulkey sat her for the rest of the game.

Secondly, in all the years I have been involved in sports, one of the worst signs of a serious injury is when a player is just running down the court or playing field and goes down without being hit or tripping over themselves. I still remember the end of All-Pro OT Tony Boselli’s career, when he was just running downfield looking for someone to hit, and he dropped like he had been shot, blowing out his knee.

The manner in which Richards sustained her injury should have been of serious concern to Baylor’s medical staff as well as the coaches. Given the circumstances, I firmly believe the decision to put her back in the game demonstrated poor judgment.

Yes you and I are never going to agree as long as you keep making stuff up! Not that unusual for a player to try and give it a go after an injury (return to the game) and later find out that cannot operate fully and had to be taken out. Happens all the time. You have stated that Didi returned to the game "without" being evaluated. You have also stated that Kim directed Didi to return to the game. Both are lies and you need to stop it.

 

[jazz]

I mean we all knew Baylor wasn't a very good 3 point shooting team. They had a great team this year but losing Cox, Landrum and Cooper were major losses and all shot the 3 ball well. The only decent 3 point shooters on Baylor's team was Ursin and Andrews (who Kim didn't play very much). Carrington wasn't that good of a 3 point shooter but made them here and there. She shot them way too much in my opinion.

Their team relied on the backs of Smith, Ursin and Carrington they were pretty limited on who they could count on to score. Egbo was a rebounder and good shot blocker but hasn't been a consistent scorer. UCONN just had more players to turn too than Baylor. Last year UCONN was building back up the pieces and this year it was Baylor.

I hope the Baylor/UCONN series continues. Its GREAT for WBB and its always exciting. This is WBB at its best.

true but they were shooting 40% from 3 in the tourney and 22% is downright atrocious!

 

[oldude]

And what about her presser in which she urged the powers that be to stop any further virus tests, so that nothing could prevent the tournament from being completed? Certainly nothing so trivial as a life-threatening disease.
Do you get the feeling sometimes that the players are just pawns to be moved around, not for their own sake, but to suit the moment?

That was a bizarre tangent to be sure. I think Mulkey said something to the effect that it would be a “travesty” if a FF team had to forfeit if someone tested positive. When I heard that I remember thinking that it would be a tragedy if someone was positive, was not tested and subsequently became really ill or died.

 

[oldude]

Yes you and I are never going to agree as long as you keep making stuff up! Not that unusual for a player to try and give it a go after an injury (return to the game) and later find out that cannot operate fully and had to be taken out. Happens all the time. You have stated that Didi returned to the game "without" being evaluated. You have also stated that Kim directed Didi to return to the game. Both are lies and you need to stop it.

The evaluation was cursory at best and not in line with standard medical practice for a hamstring injury, and of course Kim directed Didi to return to the game. She’s the freakin HC.

 

[KMac]

Dear Kim,
I know it is hard to lose a close game to arch rival Uconn. Your team is vey talented, and plays super hard. But, you didn't lose because of the last shot taken by your team not being called a foul. Here is a list of 10 reasons Baylor lost that make more sense than blaming the refs for a non call.

1. Your team missed 40 shots. FORTY. Your guys missed 39 other shots before the last one.
2. Your defense allowed Paige to score 28 points. Hold her to 25 and you win.
3. Carrington, your "go to scorer", was 2-12 in the 2nd half including 0-4 from three range.
4. UConn shot 8-17 from deep. That is 47% from a team that hit only 35% all season.
5. Your team missed 7 of 20 free throws. Make 3 freebies and win.
6. Baylor made only 2 threes all game and missed 7.
7. Normally, your rebounding advantage is 19 per game. Against the Huskies, it was only 2 rebounds. (41-39)
8. Your team had 10 shots blocked by UConn's Ono, Edwards and Griffin.
9. Your guys scored 24 points in the 1st period and only 28 in the whole 2nd half.
10. Starting with 2 minutes left in the 3rd period, and running about 5 minutes of game time, your team gave up 19 straight points and scored 0.

UConn scored 69 points on 43.3% shooting. Give them credit for playing hard and with determination. Each of the items listed above contributed more to your defeat than the last shot your team took. Deal with it, give credit and be mature.

Go Huskies..!!

That is so great!

 

[UConnCat]

I mean we all knew Baylor wasn't a very good 3 point shooting team. They had a great team this year but losing Cox, Landrum and Cooper were major losses and all shot the 3 ball well. The only decent 3 point shooters on Baylor's team was Ursin and Andrews (who Kim didn't play very much). Carrington wasn't that good of a 3 point shooter but made them here and there. She shot them way too much in my opinion.

Their team relied on the backs of Smith, Ursin and Carrington they were pretty limited on who they could count on to score. Egbo was a rebounder and good shot blocker but hasn't been a consistent scorer. UCONN just had more players to turn too than Baylor. Last year UCONN was building back up the pieces and this year it was Baylor.

I hope the Baylor/UCONN series continues. Its GREAT for WBB and its always exciting.

Carrington didn't get the memo. She was a 29% three-point shooter and still shot 7 threes last night. She made one.

Have to disagree with your description of the two teams. Baylor and UConn both had 4 players averaging double digits in points. Egbo and Edwards averaged similar numbers.

UConn relied heavily on 3 freshman throughout the season (just two last night) while Baylor relied heavily on more experienced players. I'd say UConn is buiding back up the pieces this year (and next) while Baylor will need to do that next season and beyond.

 

[CocoHusky]

The evaluation was cursory at best and not in line with standard medical practice for a hamstring injury, and of course Kim directed Didi to return to the game. She’s the freakin HC.

So now there was an evaluation but apparently not to your standard?

 

[SECbbfan24]

UConn relied heavily on 3 freshman throughout the season (just two last night) while Baylor relied heavily on more experienced players. I'd say UConn is buiding back up the pieces this year (and next) while Baylor will need to do that next season and beyond.

One thing Baylor has going for them is experience. I still think UCONN is more talented them, even with younger players. Having potential generational players like Paige definitely must be nice. She was the difference maker in the game.

Baylor IMO will be better next year if those transfer guards live up to their billing (Carr and Kamaria). They will have much better perimeter shooting than they had this year. If they lose Didi, it will be a big loss defensively but they may upgrade offensively. I expect Moon Ursin to be back.

The year after when they lose Smith, Egbo, etc is when it will be a major rebuild.

UCONN is set up for years with the way they recruit. Kim missed out on some big recruits in the last couple years in my opinion which is why they have supplemented much more through the portal. They will always be top 8 as long as she is there but they will have to find different ways of pulling in the talent.

 

[oldude]

So now there was an evaluation but apparently not to your standard?

I know you struggle sometimes with reading comprehension, so I suggest that you go back and read my original post where I state clearly that there was not a “complete evaluation”, although I suspect that distinction is lost on you.

 

[CocoHusky]

I know you struggle sometimes with reading comprehension, so I suggest that you go back and read my original post where I state clearly that there was not a “complete evaluation”, although I suspect that distinction is lost on you.

There is nothing wrong with my comprehension-now you are trying to insult your way out of a lie in bold below.

The Baylor “medical staff” in this instance was a trainer. There was no medical doctor evaluating Richards. A turned ankle is far different than an injured hamstring. Even the NFL doesn’t send players back on the field with a pulled hamstring. The standard procedure for an injured hamstring is for a clinical diagnosis, potentially including an MRI to determine if the hamstring was torn. No such diagnosis or procedure was performed on Richards, who was in obvious pain.

 

[HopJim]

Was surprised they didn’t get it to Smith more throughout the game, even if she was covered. She was the All-American, not Carrington.

Ditto. When Aubrey entered the game, for a time Smith dominated her particularly on pick and rolls and rebounding/offensive put backs. Later in the game, Aubrey became Aubrey, the two charges she took in critical situations were clutch. Particularly in 4th Q, Smith did not get ball, making it easier for everyone on UConn. Curious.

 

[HopJim]

That was a bizarre tangent to be sure. I think Mulkey said something to the effect that it would be a “travesty” if a FF team had to forfeit if someone tested positive. When I heard that I remember thinking that it would be a tragedy if someone was positive, was not tested and subsequently became really ill or died.

Many in my family are emergency room nurses and report some of the worst long term results are being experienced in the 18-30 year old category. Few deaths but many with long term breathing, heart or mental issues as a result of Covid. Seems like Mulkey just thinks everyone is bullet proof.