Villanova Post Game Thread

[storrsroars]

Fox is really pretty awful outside Rafferty.

This guy? He's been dead awhile.

 

[Edward Sargent]

The really hard thing is how late the tournaments are this year. It kind of sucks.

What really sucks id 3 games in 6 days to end the season with two on the road

 

[ctchamps]

Great game. Villanova made some runs.

First, congrats to Tristen - amazing. But sort of lost in the hoopla was the ridiculous (IMHO) way Nova played the last few minutes.

They were down what - 13 or 14 with like 2 minutes to go and they were fouling? Not a fan of how Nova played the last 2 minutes. Maybe I was looking too closely, but it seemed like they knew how close Tristen was and were playing just to try to keep him from the accomplishment. Lead went from up 13 to a 24 point win. Down 19, full court press? Go Tristen and Alex. Sweet.

LOVED Karaban draining the 3 to give Newton the 3-2. Loved how psyched Castle was. Loved how Hurley kept the starters in till like the last 30 seconds. Found myself strangely disliking Villanova, and thrilled we poured it on at the end.

Neptune always does that, I've seen a bunch of games the past two years where they are down double digits with a lil over a minute left and he'll keep fouling trying to extend a game they have no chance of winning.

Thats why I loved Karaban commiting that hard foul at the end, which then took our starters out of the game.

I was equally upset with the fouling because I knew it was impacting the chances of Newton getting the triple double. But I was just as upset with the pass Newton made to Castle at around the 3 minute mark and Castle didn't go up strong to dunk, Donovan missing a floater at around the minute and half mark and missing and Karaban not taking the first open look under a minute.

It would be coaching malpractice if English did not try to prolong the game. Good coaches teach their teams never to give up. They want the team to work on game extension because there is more season remaining. Every moment of development is precious.

Credit to Nova and English to realize how close Newton was to getting that triple double and calling off the dogs with a minute remaining. They got the message quicker than Alex. An argument could be made that we kept our starters in far longer than necessary. I'm sure some bent Nova fans will make that case. Credit to the Nova players and coaching staff for honoring one of our players.

 

[slepers]

Exciting doesn’t necessarily mean best. Think Phil Michelson

 

[microfich]

Oh I know that, but that doesn't mean every player on our team is more exciting than Caitlin Clark. That is just flat out dumb

I'll give you that. Exciting even happens in Little League.

 

[RichCTBB]

By the way they were playing defense and fouling with the game out of hand, I thought ‘Nova was trying to help Tristen get the triple double, but I also get that they need to build a habit of playing tough up until the final whistle in preparation for the post-season.

 

[Stew Crew]

How about a shout out for the officiating crew? Pat Driscoll and Tim Clougherty are two of the best in the game. They were fair and balanced, both between teams and from first half to second half. None of the bs of letting everything go early and then overcompensating later.

 

[Gampel91]

Great crowd at Gampel last night for the most part. It was embarrassing when some idiots tried to ruin the National Anthem with their nonsense shouting while a group of talented singers was doing a fantastic rendition. One of the downsides of $2 beer night I suppose. But the crowd joined in to drown them out in a nice moment to get things back on track.

 

[Waquoit]

Great crowd at Gampel last night for the most part.

I'm not the biggest Gampel fan but it was the best crowd I heard for awhile. They kept it going which isn't a given there.

 

[Stew Crew]

Great crowd at Gampel last night for the most part. It was embarrassing when some idiots tried to ruin the National Anthem with their nonsense shouting while a group of talented singers was doing a fantastic rendition. One of the downsides of $2 beer night I suppose. But the crowd joined in to drown them out in a nice moment to get things back on track.

Kind of felt bad for the singers. The crowd took over the National Anthem and finished about 10 seconds before the singers. But it was nice hearing 10,000 singing in unison instead of hearing the 5-10 idiots.

 

[VA Blue Dog]

Gus Johnson is just TV click bait. We're all clicking and making comments to his idiotic statement on Caitlin Clark. First she's playing with the ladies ball, one inch smaller in diameter. As we all know Pistol's career was pre 3 point rule and no shot clock yet in three years he totaled 3667 points. Dale Brown, LSU coach after Press supposedly calculated every shot Pistol made and came up with Pistol averaging 57 PPG. (As an aside remember UCONN beating Dale Brown's LSU and Shaq in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1991?). I had the pleasure of watching Pistol on TV in college and live when he played for Atlanta. To get a feel for the excitement he generated, imagine Joey California against Georgetown 2nd half, and Andrea Jackson's full court drive behind the back dribble, behind the back reverse direction dunk against LIU last year and Cam's hot shooting last night. That's what you got for a full season with Pistol. He would do a tricky dribble (ala Johnny Most commentary) with the ball going back and forth so fast. He could dribble left or right. Could not be overplayed. Then sometimes he would bring the ball up dribbling behind and through his legs and the fans would cheer him on. Another thing he would do is bat pass the ball. While dribbling he would just pass the ball by hitting it open handed to an open man. He would complicate this by faking the bat one way and passing the other. He could do this left handed or right handed. I have seen him throw passes behind his back threw his legs. Of course he had that beautiful jump shot, arms raised elbows slightly bent, releasing at the very top. Sometimes if in trouble he would find air time by double clutching and releasing a one hander with nothing but net. He could shoot left hand or right hand hooks. He could do no look passes behind his head left or right. He was a pure showman the likes we will never see again. Really Gus???

 

[superjohn]

Oh I know that, but that doesn't mean every player on our team is more exciting than Caitlin Clark. That is just flat out dumb

Gus didn't say Caitlin Clark is more exciting than a walk-on men's basketball player at UConn or that she's the most exciting player in women's college basketball or women's basketball. He said Caitlin Clark is the greatest college basketball player he's ever seen. It's such a ridiculous statement that I thought he would pull back and revise what he said but nope right after he doubled down on it.

 

[Jimdish255]

We were really good on D. What a day! Game Day and Gus Johnson!

Ya know, I got kinda turned off by Gus Johnson's drama during football season but he's modulated that enthusiasm enough to complement the game instead of hyping every play. He made William Shatner look like Spock. Obviously he's a great guy, very professional and well prepared and I've enjoyed his work during this season. I think he's found that sweet spot of adding to the game, enthusiasm, and feeding his broadcast partner to enhance the game without raising my BP 50 points on every play. He did go a little overboard on Clark but he's entitled to his opinion. It's purely subjective.

 

[Deepster]

Gus Johnson is just TV click bait. We're all clicking and making comments to his idiotic statement on Caitlin Clark. First she's playing with the ladies ball, one inch smaller in diameter. As we all know Pistol's career was pre 3 point rule and no shot clock yet in three years he totaled 3667 points. Dale Brown, LSU coach after Press supposedly calculated every shot Pistol made and came up with Pistol averaging 57 PPG. (As an aside remember UCONN beating Dale Brown's LSU and Shaq in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1991?). I had the pleasure of watching Pistol on TV in college and live when he played for Atlanta. To get a feel for the excitement he generated, imagine Joey California against Georgetown 2nd half, and Andrea Jackson's full court drive behind the back dribble, behind the back reverse direction dunk against LIU last year and Cam's hot shooting last night. That's what you got for a full season with Pistol. He would do a tricky dribble (ala Johnny Most commentary) with the ball going back and forth so fast. He could dribble left or right. Could not be overplayed. Then sometimes he would bring the ball up dribbling behind and through his legs and the fans would cheer him on. Another thing he would do is bat pass the ball. While dribbling he would just pass the ball by hitting it open handed to an open man. He would complicate this by faking the bat one way and passing the other. He could do this left handed or right handed. I have seen him throw passes behind his back threw his legs. Of course he had that beautiful jump shot, arms raised elbows slightly bent, releasing at the very top. Sometimes if in trouble he would find air time by double clutching and releasing a one hander with nothing but net. He could shoot left hand or right hand hooks. He could do no look passes behind his head left or right. He was a pure showman the likes we will never see again. Really Gus???

Gus might be click bait….but in the first two days of the tourney?!? No one better.

 

[Vancat]

Castle’s family sits 3 rows in front of us. One of the guys (not sure if father, uncle, whatever) stood up and yelled directions at him when they were at our end. It was entertaining.

 

[Jimdish255]

A buddy of mine and frequent lurker on the Boneyard (what's up Trip!) is concerned about Karaban, but although he's struggled over the last three games, I'm not worried.

Why? His shooting form is still excellent and his mindset is Jeter-esque: never too high or too low.

Personally, I see Karaban having a big game on the perimeter against Seton Hall. Seton Hall's aggressive interior defense will allow for a ton of kick-out opportunities for Karaban (six attempts in the first matchup, and Seton Hall is in the 88th percentile of 3PA/FGA ratio, so they allow plenty of perimeter opportunities).

A lot of times we don't find out until later, or never why a guy goes into a slump. Alex's D has been great and he seems to be moving fine so that would seem to rule out an injury. Hopefully he can clear his head and the tough comes back. It was frustrating when Polley went through his slumps but no reason to think this isn't temporary.

 

[uconnfan68]

A buddy of mine and frequent lurker on the Boneyard (what's up Trip!) is concerned about Karaban, but although he's struggled over the last three games, I'm not worried.

Why? His shooting form is still excellent and his mindset is Jeter-esque: never too high or too low.

Personally, I see Karaban having a big game on the perimeter against Seton Hall. Seton Hall's aggressive interior defense will allow for a ton of kick-out opportunities for Karaban (six attempts in the first matchup, and Seton Hall is in the 88th percentile of 3PA/FGA ratio, so they allow plenty of perimeter opportunities).

He needs to retape his hand.

 

[Jimdish255]

How about a shout out for the officiating crew? Pat Driscoll and Tim Clougherty are two of the best in the game. They were fair and balanced, both between teams and from first half to second half. None of the bs of letting everything go early and then overcompensating later.

Actually they didn't call much early and let the game evolve instead of trying to "control" the game. I thought it was refreshing except for 2 calls late and a blown out of bounds call in a short span but overall competent.

 

[Waquoit]

Gus might be click bait….

He's not. Clickbait is cynical and calculating. Gus is Gus. I admit I didn't get it right away and that's on me.

 

[AllHusky]

Gus might be click bait….but in the first two days of the tourney?!? No one better.

On the road listened to game on ESPN(I think)
Wayne Norman and Mike Crispino are far superior than any other announcers for UConn games. I’m going to watch the next game on TV while listening to them, should be best of both worlds!!

 

[Deepster]

On the road listened to game on ESPN(I think)
Wayne Norman and Mike Crispino are far superior than any other announcers for UConn games. I’m going to watch the next game on TV while listening to them, should be best of both worlds!!

Wayno was a Yarder for quite some time and attended a couple Yard golf tourneys.

 

[jibsey]

Gus made a dumb statement. None of us ever have done that in our lives I know, especially reading this board, but Gus and Jim Jackson are good commentators and he has one of the best broadcaster voices I've ever heard..... besides Johnny Most of course.

 

[Samoo]

What really sucks id 3 games in 6 days to end the season with two on the road

It's good practice/conditioning for playing multiple games in a short period, and then a 5-day break to rest up for Thursday noon at the BE Tourney. Fire hardens steel.

 

[freescooter]

Gus didn't say Caitlin Clark is more exciting than a walk-on men's basketball player at UConn or that she's the most exciting player in women's college basketball or women's basketball. He said Caitlin Clark is the greatest college basketball player he's ever seen. It's such a ridiculous statement that I thought he would pull back and revise what he said but nope right after he doubled down on it.

Rule 1 for a broadcaster. Know your audience. You are at UConn. Doing a UConn game. The most successful program in the history of the sport. And Caitlin Clark is the greatest player of all time! Even if it’s a men’s game, we know a bit about women’s basketball. And No, Gus. Just no.

 

[cohenzone]

Kind of felt bad for the singers. The crowd took over the National Anthem and finished about 10 seconds before the singers. But it was nice hearing 10,000 singing in unison instead of hearing the 5-10 idiots.

My grandson does the anthem at his high school games (been accepted into some good college music programs. These singers look forward to that kind of opportunity. Idiots abound.