USF Postgame Thread

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno's presser: "I like where we are now."

 

[DEpup]

The thing I find so annoying about Antonelli is that she doesn't even try to hide how giddy she is that UConn has lost a few games, may be a 2 seed, need to travel, and probably have a rematch with one of the top 3. Then in what I think she is begrudgingly trying to be a compliment while calling the game is how seemingly angry she is that UConn doesn't foul, doesn't make stupid mistakes, are good passers, play fast and speed an opponent up, play good defense...... It's as if it hurts her to say something good about UConn. I put the game on mute when I can't take her anymore....

 

[mbr33ct]

Geno's presser: "I like where we are now."

Who am I to argue with Geno.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

You got that right.

It was the worst I can recall. The icing or Creme on the cake was having a split screen with Creme to essentially repeat his performance in the half time show. Just wretched.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The highlights. If it is a repeat post let me know:

 

[Steelerone]

The announcers sucked. For most of the second half, they didn’t even pretend they were there to talk about the game

Thank you for pointing that out HN. At one point I became so frustrated that I actually started to count the time that, with the players on the floor playing the game both broadcasters talked about everything except what was happening on the floor - three and a half minutes. . While I realize that there are points to be made you go from the sublime to the ridiculous when you split screen for such an extended period of time. Having said that it was the best D I have seen the ladies play this season.

 

[jabstep]

The point you raise about UConn playing 4 on 5 or 3 on 5 was also raised by Andy Landers earlier in the season. While it remains to be seen how UConn will do if they run into one of the top 3 teams again in the Big Dance, clearly they are a more complete team than they were just a month ago.

Anna & Aubrey are a huge part of that transition. But so too is the improved play of Liv, Christyn & Kyla, to go along with the steady presence of Crystal & Megan.

The one thing that never ceases to surprise me is that some UConn fans seem to forget who exactly our HC is. The greatest coach in the history of WBB can make lemonade out of lemons. Hell, Geno can make lemonade out of dandelions if he has to.....

Your right Geno took this team from being totally lost on offense to one that plays defense first. That hopefully leads to transition BB which UConn excels in. He took the two freshmen and brought them along slowly at first and now he has confidence as well as the rest of the team in their abilities. AM is now a much more offensive threat. She shoots 3's with authority and drives now to take advantage of the open lane and can hit the layup or pullup or kick it out for an open three. Aubrey is like the energizer bunny. I would love to see her play against Sabrina, Harris or Cooper. That would be fun to watch. Liv has now turned into I think one of the three best defensive centers in WCB. She has developed an outside shot in the last couple of games. She seems to like to play outside and has turned into a great passer as well. She reminds me of Stevens only better. Megan is such a consistent shooter I haven't gone back and checked the 3 ball stats but I imagine her Pct is up there with the best. Crystal is a warrior and has adapted into whatever is needed to make this team go. She can shot 3's or penetrate and has shown in big games she is ready. She is the leader of this team. CW is playing hard and we all know she can get on fire and come up big. She did in last year's tourney. Kudos to Geno and the staff for bringing us another great team to follow.

 

[Bretski]

Oh... cant get them here in MA... Maybe on the internet... may be worth it for the tourney games... Does anyone pick up the radio call off the internet?? I would be worth it if it is close to synced..

Yeah, you can listen for free on the Tune In app.

 

[Biff]

Oh... cant get them here in MA... Maybe on the internet... may be worth it for the tourney games... Does anyone pick up the radio call off the internet?? I would be worth it if it is close to synced..

My answer will probably not be definitive but let me tell you what I have been doing.

I have been fed up with the TV BB announcing culture for several years. SNY has been an exception in pretty much staying with the game on the court but the big networks, led by ESPN, have been terrible in changing to an "entertainment" philosophy. Prepared scripts with human interest back stories seem to take precedence over the game. They feel the air has to be filled with chat, ALL-THE-TIME. It is just a reflection of the growing social media culture taking over most of the communication media.

Personal rant over.

So, whenever possible I use the audio feed from the radio coverage and mute the TV audio. That can sometimes leave you a little puzzled or curious as to what the heck they might be talking about as you see non-game graphics splattered cover the game coverage but at least while that stuff in on the screen (Like I saw Charlie covering a third of my screen for several minutes of the game last night) you are hearing a description of what is actually happening in the game.

How easy it is to get the audio and video synchronized depends on who is doing the TV and what equipment/devices you use to watch/listen. For example, with WTIC doing the radio and SNY covering the video, I often had to do nothing to get the two synced to an acceptable level. Now that the radio is on a relative weak station (ESPN radio 97.9), the sync is not so good. With ESPN or CBSN the results can vary.

Since I watch from a TV with a DVR, I have the ability to delay the video. So what I now have resorted to is to pick up the radio audio via the internet (Learfield IMG College Sports). The "tune-in" link to this is always on the UCONN website on-line schedule. That audio feed is delayed by 10-15 seconds from broadcast. So all I need to do is use my DVR to delay my video until the video is either slightly ahead of or exactly equal to the audio. What I find totally unlistenable is when the audio leads the video.

Unfortunately, the next UConn game is only via streaming on ESPN3. I do not think I can synch the Audio/Video on ESPN3 so I likely will be listening to the ESPN prattle with the rest of you for that game. After that, I should be able to sync the internet audio feed with the ESPN TV coverage for as long as UConn plays.

I went and watched some of the TV replay today and man it did suck. Thank you Bob and Debbie!

 

[psconn]

First the announcers dominated the game, now they're dominating the post-game thread! A couple thoughts on the game...

1) It has been really interesting to see the team develop over the season. They looked so ordinary at first and were underplaying their ranking by a lot IMO. Kyla was holding down the 5th starter spot to the best of her ability until very talented, but shaky freshman Anna was mentally ready to play UConn basketball with consistency. Kudos to both these kids for their work all season. Anna has made the kind of progress you usually see only between seasons. I think UConn may be playing at close to their ranking level now.
2) The AAC is really awful for a team at UConn's level. I'd be curious to know if anyone thinks that the Big East will be any better.
3) I might have missed it being called out already, but the play of the game need a mention in this thread... the fast break at about 2:30 of the 1st quarter (15:30 of the replay) was A THING OF BEAUTY!! Meg to CD to Anna to CD no look to Liv to Aubrey, BUCKET! One dribble at the start of the break then all passing to the bucket the whole squad rightfully happy running off the court for USF's timeout. Geno looked pretty pumped about it also.
3a) One side note, USF #4 started signalling a walk on CD near the end of the break instead of focusing on the play, and Aubrey went to the bucket behind her. It was not a walk, but maybe a learning moment for the player. I'm sure it was understandable frustration, but you have to play till the play is over.

 

[JonathanXIV]

I hate to pile on, but just watched highlights and it is absolutely astonishing how on virtually every play the announcers are talking about something other than what is happening on the court. In fact, they could barely be bothered to comment on what was actually happening on the court. And this was for plays deemed worthy of being highlights! Even during the first half of the game. Unbelievable.

 

[BBallF]

I liked how ONO was making her offensive moves without thinking. More decisive and affective.

Exactly. Because she was not thinking she began the moves more quickly which makes them harder to defend. Looking forward to a Meg like bump for ONO from sophomore to junior year.

 

[DefenseBB]

There seems to be agreement that Antonelli and Mowen we're JUST THE WORST. It was a blow-out but still. ESPN wbb announcers all stop paying attention to the game at some point and go into high chit-chat mode. It is not only annoying and rude (regardless of score, everyone tuned into the game presumably is more interested in the b'ball than whatever the announcers are blathering on about) but also downright disrespectful of the players!!

About the game. Fun first half. 2nd half resulted in no injuries. I'm ready for the NCAAs to start.

OMG, Antonelli just can't shut up on promoting her own vision of the WCBB world, regardless of how bizarre it is and how wonderful Louisville and the ACC is, even during an AAC game with UConn.

On the one chance she had to actually bring up and discuss a great topic was when Molly got into her last home game-she mentioned Molly's sister who has Down Syndrome and has been an ardent KLS fan (along with a Molly fan) and the fact Deb has a Down Syndrome son, that she could have really spoken eloquently about that, to which all of us would have applauded. But she even missed that simple layup...

 

[uconnfan68]

Since we’re piling on the ESPN announcers, I will confess that I wasn’t particularly crazy about their performance. I will have to go back to listen to the game tape to be certain I heard what I thought I heard, when I believe Antonelli commented that a couple of Louisville’s losses occurred when transfer Elizabeth Balogun was playing for the “Hungarian” national team.

Other than getting the country (Nigeria) and continent (Africa) wrong, Antonelli was close. Maybe Balogun also plays water polo. Hungary has a great women’s water polo team.

To be honest, I thought I heard Nigeria.