UConn WBB is at it Again!!

[tomcat]

If it wasn't UConn but say...Baylor...beating someone 140-52, most fans on this board would be very critical.

And they were. There were remarks to that effect when it happened/

 

[HoopsFan21]

And they were. There were remarks to that effect when it happened/

Feel free to repost all of the critical remarks when it happened. I mean, talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

 

[wallman]

Baylor beat Winthrop in an exhibition game 140 to 32. If people can't distinguish between an exhibition and the NCAA then don't respond. Winthrop only took 66 shots so they were clearly not trying to speed up the game like St Francis did by launching shots as soon as they crossed half court. St Francis added to their own demoralization by only making 18 of 81 shots and playing no interior defense. That is on the St Francis coach. There are no participation trophies in the NCAA tournament.

 

[Charliebball]

 

[Orangutan]

Does anyone know to which team Raoul pledges his allegiance? He must have a fave, and it must be one of the bigger name brands or top teams in WCBB. Every time UConn does something notable, he's Johnny on the spot with his detraction of it.

Raoul is a Michigan fan.

 

[HoopsFan21]

Raoul is a Michigan fan.

Well that explains it. They never win anything.

 

[bags27]

I guess this thread will finally bump the non-news about Ezi for those of us who want to spin our wheels until the next game.

I never thought for a minute that UConn played inappropriately:

1. If you were there, you'd appreciate that there was tremendous crowd energy which inevitably stokes up the players and maybe even the coaches. The 4th Q, the crowd went nuts every time a Husky did even the smallest thing right. There is only one home game left this season (and forever for 2 seniors) and you could feel it in the air.

2. Geno has established patterns of substitution, playing time, and "lessons to be learned." He is not going to deviate from those, regardless of opponent. He is not going to allow the luck of the draw or the opponent's play to dictate how he prepares his team for the next round. Sometime in the 2nd Q, he sent Meg in. She played well, but then took an ill-advised shot. Out she came and back in went a starter. I was sitting with 2 very knowledgeable fans, and we all groaned: keep Meg in. But he wasn't letting the score get in the way of his teaching.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I've got 4 negative nellies covered with this one:

 

[lne001]

Could not agree with you more...This is the standard for UCONN..Other teams need to play as hard with every possession for the entire 40 minutes.

Are you suggesting that St. Francis did not play as hard and well as they could during the game?

 

[Blue Huskie]

Baylor won a tourney game last year 119-30. No one cared other than how many times Coach Mulkey threw her bedazzled sequin jacket and screamed at the refs. You really are barking up the wrong tree.

That is correct. I remember checking the box score last year to see if she used her bench. And she did. Extensively. It happens in these early round games.

 

[Rocket009]

Does anyone know to which team Raoul pledges his allegiance? He must have a fave, and it must be one of the bigger name brands or top teams in WCBB. Every time UConn does something notable, he's Johnny on the spot with his detraction of it.

I would bet that he didn't even watch the game. Just looked at the score afterwards.

 

[cohenzone]

Geno taking a lot of heat in the social media world for running up the score. But then no matter what Geno does he's gonna get a lot of crap. These types of games bring out the "yeah but he's no John Wooden" or "if he's so great why doesn't he coach men" comments. Geno could cure cancer and everyone would complain that if he is so great why doesn't he cure AIDS?

Geno didn’t run up the score. The St. Francis coach put his team in a position to have that happen. Anyone who watched and understands the game would know that the St. Francis coach basically invited a blow out by lengthening the game. UConn was not going to stop trying to score or do their offense. They stopped running in the second half and no starters played the last quarter.

The critics haven’t a clue. However, it wasn’t a great basketball game, just one great team playing as it should against a team and a style that most teams in the AAC probably would handle ok.

 

[lne001]

Anyone who watched and understands the game would know that the St. Francis coach basically invited a blow out by lengthening the game.

What anyone who understands the game would actually know is that this game was a blow out before the first ball was tossed. The St. Francis coach had the choice of discarding the only offense he has used all year and absorb a nice 60 point beating, or playing their game and being blown out by 90. There is truly no real difference whether you lose by 60 or 90 other than to the coach embarrassed by the final margin. That's Geno.

 

[Crossover]

Are you suggesting that St. Francis did not play as hard and well as they could during the game?

They did on offense. Their defense left a lot to be desired. Could they have done better? I don't know because I have not followed them. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that defense is not a point of emphasis during their practices. You can't teach everything, especially to athletes who are not as gifted or as all in as those who wind up at UCONN, so focusing on offense might well be the way to go.

 

[cohenzone]

What anyone who understands the game would actually know is that this game was a blow out before the first ball was tossed. The St. Francis coach had the choice of discarding the only offense he has used all year and absorb a nice 60 point beating, or playing their game and being blown out by 90. There is truly no real difference whether you lose by 60 or 90 other than to the coach embarrassed by the final margin. That's Geno.

You think Geno should stop playing his style but the other coach shouldn’t. This is a scholarship sport and UConn has to stay sharp for the next game. He called off the dogs. Maybe UConn should have stopped running offense from the get go and just jack up 3s. Heaven forbid they hit 80% of those and win by 15o. There was no way this game was not going to be a massacre but St. Francis gave UConn a ton more possessions than normal. It was pretty much a substitute for turning the ball over 30 times.

 

[UcMiami]

Can't remember what game it was, but after a Uconn blow-out of a running team, the coach said, 'this is how we have played every game for the last three years, win or lose. What do you want me to tell my team before playing Uconn, that what we do every game is wrong, and that we have to completely change who we are in order to compete with this team? We have a .0001% chance to win the game whatever we do, and probably 0% chance if we try and change what we practice for the last 3 year.'
I liked that attitude then, and I respect the SF attitude this game. Yes, maybe they could have held Uconn to under 100 and scored 20 themselves, and would that have been more 'fun' for the players? I doubt it, though maybe it would have been more acceptable to those 'pundits' who never watch the games anyway.

The NCAA tournament is for D1 basketball which means you include the champion of every D1 conference, period. And that means you get FGCU taking out a mighty SEC team, and the lowly new Big East going 3-0 in the first round and Quinnipiac taking out 3 teams last year and another this year. And you leave open the posibility for a UMBC in a 1-16 game that has never happened in the 200+ previous iterations of that game. And a Ball State taking out a Tenn!