UConn vs SCar Post Game Thread | Page 4 | The Boneyard

UConn vs SCar Post Game Thread

Golden Husky said:
Or maybe Dawn had it all wrong and G-d is a UConn fan.
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When I was a kid, we were told that he was a Steelers fan; now I am told that she does not choose sides! At least that is what my grand kids tell me. :rolleyes:
 
That was a clinical dismantling.

The Gamecocks looked resigned to the dismantling almost the whole game. A'ja tried to settle the team down and certainly led by example. But wow. Even Holly Rowe's early bit about the Wilson family feeling at peace with whatever happens...Dawn's decline of timeouts...and so on. Nearly every aspect of the game had a feel of "Dead Man Walking."

Geno endearingly looked like the cat that swallowed the canary during his in-game interview. Cutting Holly off to say he wanted to be in a Capital One commercial...LOL.

HE. WAS. AMPED. UP.

And rightly so. How many times have we seen Geno abruptly end an interview because he wasn't happy with how the team was playing? And here he was derailing the interview before it could even begin. Casting himself alongside Holly...now that was a merciful upgrade from Charles, Spike, and Samuel.

Congrats to A'ja on a brilliant career (and to the Gamecocks for making the Elite 8). We often talk about the impact Kia has--even when it doesn't show up on the stat sheet. A'ja's impact certainly wasn't limited to the stat sheet. I was trying to think of other examples of star players who stayed local, ignited or exponentially accelerated the resurrection of a program, AND won a national championship in the process. I mean. Dang. Help with thinking of any?

A couple of recent players come to mind, but they don't have all the elements A'ja's narrative has had. Skylar didn't need to resurrect ND, even as she catapulted ND to a new era of excellence. And there wasn't a championship. In A'ja's own class, Kelsey Mitchell could have been another such player. But didn't end up close. Regardless of how preordained NPOY has seemed this year, it would be hard not to give A'ja the award on career impact alone (yes yes yes...OY stands for "of the year" not "career" but still...tell that to the Oscars). The NPOY conversation may seem preordained, but A'ja's career hasn't been.

In the end: SC back to Columbia. Huskies to Columbus!
 
Ex Nutmegger said:
I'm sure every recruit in the country was "at" this game electronically. They all saw the unselfish precision passing, the lock-down switching defense, the near-perfect execution of fundamentals and not so fundamental moves that almost left a few empty gamecock shoes on the court. They saw the enjoyment members of the UConn team expressed. They heard their positive comments afterward. They heard Rebecca and Kara's superlatives reigning down on the team.

Now the only question for them is have they got the stuff to be there.
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As you noted, there was pure joy on the faces of the Huskies after the game. This is what you want to experience.
 
huskeynut said:
This was a butt whooping of the first order. Crystal was AMAZING tonight. Balanced scoring from all 5 starters. The offense was clicking tonight. At times it was surgical in the way the passes found the open player. Excellent defense in daring SC to shot from beyond the arc..

SC made a big mistake slowing down the game. It was counterproductive. Took them out of the offensive game. SC did not look like they were into the game from the beginning. By the 3rd quarter you could see defeat on their faces.
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Unusual strategy. Slowing down game common against UConn but SC passed up most 12-15 foot shots. Their inside game early on was great but relying on this exclusively when down by 20, 25, 30, etc. obviously did not work.
 
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BoomBoom said:
That was a clinical dismantling.

The Gamecocks looked resigned to the dismantling almost the whole game. A'ja tried to settle the team down and certainly led by example. But wow. Even Holly Rowe's early bit about the Wilson family feeling at peace with whatever happens...Dawn's decline of timeouts...and so on. Nearly every aspect of the game had a feel of "Dead Man Walking."

Geno endearingly looked like the cat that swallowed the canary during his in-game interview. Cutting Holly off to say he wanted to be in a Capital One commercial...LOL.

HE. WAS. AMPED. UP.

And rightly so. How many times have we seen Geno abruptly end an interview because he wasn't happy with how the team was playing? And here he was derailing the interview before it could even begin. Casting himself alongside Holly...now that was a merciful upgrade from Charles, Spike, and Samuel.

Congrats to A'ja on a brilliant career (and to the Gamecocks for making the Elite 8). We often talk about the impact Kia has--even when it doesn't show up on the stat sheet. A'ja's impact certainly wasn't limited to the stat sheet. I was trying to think of other examples of star players who stayed local, ignited or exponentially accelerated the resurrection of a program, AND won a national championship in the process. I mean. Dang. Help with thinking of any?

A couple of recent players come to mind, but they don't have all the elements A'ja's narrative has had. Skylar didn't need to resurrect ND, even as she catapulted ND to a new era of excellence. And there wasn't a championship. In A'ja's own class, Kelsey Mitchell could have been another such player. But didn't end up close. Regardless of how preordained NPOY has seemed this year, it would be hard not to give A'ja the award on career impact alone (yes yes yes...OY stands for "of the year" not "career" but still...tell that to the Oscars). The NPOY conversation may seem preordained, but A'ja's career hasn't been.

In the end: SC back to Columbia. Huskies to Columbus!
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When Lobo was describing Aja’s legacy, I couldn’t help but feel like she was talking about herself. Local kid who helped a program get their first championship.
 
Best part of defeating the Gamecock team is that, at least for a while, I (I won't assume to put the rest of you in this)...I will not have to listen to Dawn on her no respect, unfair, underdog champions shtick jag. If we could have had the fans yelling for us .... I hope she doesn't show that face to the world as our Nat'l Team Coach.
 
wbball novice said:
Duke isn't as good a team as SCar, but it seemed UConn struggled with Duke. Crystal just had a good night. Was that it?
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There was no struggling vs Duke! Gamed tightened last few minutes. We didn't blow them out quite as badly!
Also Crystal was on fire!
Bronx23
 
bbballfan23 said:
Not sure why we were nervous...

Gabby was named MVP of the region.
Lou & Crystal All-Tournament team.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this?? Our leading scorer (by a wide margin), rebounder & shot blocker for the tournament wasn’t even awarded! Bahaha

Poor Pheesa, never gets her proper recognition.
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Entitlement etal; TOO MANY SPECIAL UCONN Players !
 
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Just saw Lou's locker room interview. Man, she talks like a coach. The confidence radiating from this team is scary.

I'm sure it's somewhere else, but here, look:

 
cockhrnleghrn said:
Congratulations; good luck in the Final Four.
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When A'ja came out of the game last night for last time in her college career two things hit us.
Firstly she had an impact on SC women's basketball similar to our Rebecca and secondly we watched her grow from a big kid straight out of high school into a fierce competitor as a senior like our Stewie.
So as disappointed as we were that she chose SC it clearly was the right choice for her. Wishing her future success.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
Best part of defeating the Gamecock team is that, at least for a while, I (I won't assume to put the rest of you in this)...I will not have to listen to Dawn on her no respect, unfair, underdog champions shtick jag. If we could have had the fans yelling for us .... I hope she doesn't show that face to the world as our Nat'l Team Coach.
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Even after winning NCAA's last year, she is like most coaches and trying for that little bit extra PR. If you are interesting in raises and keeping your job when a downturn happens, its understandable.
 
Bronx23 said:
True!
But slightly better players shouldn't lead to a rout!
Bronx23
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I am going to give a slight contradiction to @vowelguy assessment in that UConn didn't have "slightly better players" but significantly better players.
Kia-Canadian Olympian;
Gabby-2 time all-American;
KLS-2 time all-American, USA Basketball plus HG#1;
Pheesa, 2-time all-American, USA Basketball plus HG #6;
Crystal Dangerfield-HG#3, numerous USA team starter;
add in Z all-ACC performer HM All-American and
Megan Walker-HG#1, USA Basketball (who looked very good last night, not deferring so much and acting like she belonged)

Now compare that to SC-Wilson, no need to expound, Harris-HG#26, USA Basketball and what or who else????? Herbert-Harrigan-HG#72; Jennings HG#66; Freshman Grisset HG#23; Freshman Jackson HG#43; Freshman Williams HG#48. Missing were injured HG#35 Cuevas-Moore and transfer T'ea Cooper HG#12

All 7 UConn players were on last night and the result was what we saw. SC played as well as they could given their only other top experienced player, Cuevas-Moore was out as she can be a lights out 3 point shooter though she sometimes plays with her hair on fire.

So yes, they were significantly OUTGUNNED. As the saying goes, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken ...

I am not understanding why so many want to "dismiss" Dawn's coaching here. She has her quirks-chip on the shoulder/us against the world angst which is similar to Muffet but both can coach. Muffet is #2 and Dawn is probably in the 7-10 range. Last night was a mismatch once Crystal Dangerfield hit all those 3's.
 
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vowelguy said:
Uhhh, I think the former coach had slightly better players.
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Bronx23 said:
True!
But slightly better players shouldn't lead to a rout!
Bronx23
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DefenseBB said:
I am going to give a slight contradiction to @vowelguy assessment in that UConn didn't have "slightly better players" but significantly better players.
Kia-Canadian Olympian;
Gabby-2 time all-American;
KLS-2 time all-American, USA Basketball plus HG#1;
Pheesa, 2-time all-American, USA Basketball plus HG #6;
Crystal Dangerfield-HG#3, numerous USA team starter;
add in Z all-ACC performer HM All-American and
Megan Walker-HG#1, USA Basketball (who looked very good last night, not deferring so much and acting like she belonged)

Now compare that to SC-Wilson, no need to expound, Harris-HG#26, USA Basketball and what or who else????? Herbert-Harrigan-HG#72; Jennings HG#66; Freshman Grisset HG#23; Freshman Jackson HG#43; Freshman Williams HG#48. Missing were injured HG#35 Cuevas-Moore and transfer T'ea Cooper HG#12

All 7 UConn players were on last night and the result was what we saw. SC played as well as they could given their only other top experienced player, Cuevas-Moore was out as she can be a lights out 3 point shooter though she sometimes plays with her hair on fire.

So yes, they were significantly OUTGUNNED. As the saying goes, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken ...

I am not understanding why so many want to "dismiss" Dawn's coaching here. She has her quirks-chip on the shoulder/us against the world angst which is similar to Muffet but both can coach. Muffet is #2 and Dawn is probably in the 7-10 range. Last night was a mismatch once Crystal Dangerfield hit all those 3's.
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Taking vowelguy's post literally, I would agree with both of you. But, I think you guys may want to re-calibrate your hyperbole meters.
 
Bronx23 said:
But slightly better players shouldn't lead to a rout!
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DefenseBB said:
I am going to give a slight contradiction to @vowelguy assessment in that UConn didn't have "slightly better players" but significantly better players.
Expand ...

Folks, you're northeasterns and you don't understand sarcasm?

It was a sarcastic understatement.
 
vowelguy said:
Folks, you're northeasterns and you don't understand sarcasm?

It was a sarcastic understatement.
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I got it and even chuckled a bit when you posted but our colleague about 21 miles to my southwest didn't. There was simply no comparison of talent after Wilson and Harris. Bronx is usually pretty measured and logical on all his posts but for some reason I think he and few others are perturbed over the SC win in the NC game last year so whatever they can do to discredit it, they will. I am not trying to demean anyone on this, just looking at it objectively. There are 3 themes that always have legs on this forum:
1. Tennessee hatred
2. 2001 ND Championship when UConn had Svet and Shea out with injuries
3. SC beating MSU last year

No matter how much time passes, what additional successes we have, people will still "remember the Alamo" towards one of those 3 to be dismissive of what that team has or does.
I take folly in the Lady Vol travails as the fans still seem entitled despite 10 years of less than elite play or results. Numerous programs have passed them and yet Holly still can get stellar recruits there-just remarkable. So I too am enjoying their angst.

The other two, we have to move on and stop what "should have been" revisionist histories. Both ND and SC have won titles, deservedly so, they beat who they played. Next....
 
1024x1024.jpg


I guess this proves that Dawn was incorrect about what side G_D was on.
 
RockyMTblue2 said:
Just saw Lou's locker room interview. Man, she talks like a coach. The confidence radiating from this team is scary.

I'm sure it's somewhere else, but here, look:

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It's truly amazing watching and listening to each player speak in the post game interviews. They are so well spoken and poised, and from what I've read here it's usually under CD's tutelage. Each one actually honestly answers the questions they are asked but always deflect the praise to their teammates.
What's so special about KLS is you see the true joy and pleasure she gets from the teams and her success. And as she said for her it might be the first time she gets to play in a NC game, being hurt as a freshman and losing in the semi-final last year. She also in the last few interviews I've seen no longer rocks back and forth from side to side. Sure that's something she's been made conscious of, likely by CD.
She's now a two time AA with her senior year to come. Also mentioned being able to come back after she graduates and be part of the family.
Bronx23
 
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