Villanova Postgame Thread

[oldude]

Some Thoughts on the Villanova game:

• Through all the injuries, upsets, head scratching and predictions of disaster, UConn WBB has just won their 10th straight conference tournament convincingly….and ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED TO THE UNIVERSE.
• Through the years we have become accustomed to high scoring offense from UConn WBB. But the true calling card for this UConn team is DEFENSE. For the 3rd game in a row UConn’s defense was suffocating holding Nova to just 56 points on 30% shooting.
• Siegrist is an AA, but Aaliyah plays her as tough as anyone, containing the nation’s leading scorer to 22 points on 9 for 21 shooting. Olson, Nova’s 2nd scoring option, was also held in check, primarily by Nika’s relentless defensive effort, going 3 for 19 from the floor tonight.
• Aaliyah with yet another monster game with 19 points, 15 rebounds, a fantastic defensive effort on Siegrist and, IMO, Conference Tournament MOP and 1st Team AA.
• I thought the contributions tonight from Lou & Dorka were tremendous. This is the last rodeo for our two wonderful grad students, and they are leaving it all on the court.
• Azzi is still just a bit off with her shooting stroke, but everything else she does on the court is textbook, including her defense, passing and constant movement without the ball….and when she started burying 3’s in the 3rd qtr, you could feel the game slowly but surely slip away from Nova.
• At this point in the season, just about every team in the country is beat up. The 9-10 days off for the Huskies prior to their first game in the Big Dance is a very much needed godsend for this team.
• The P-5 along with the Big East are the 6 most consequential WBB conferences in the nation. With the Big12 tournament yet to be played, only the BE has seen the top 2 seeds in the final, and only SC & UConn have won their respective conference tournaments as the favorites. All the upsets of top-rated teams in the Pac12, BIG10, ACC & SEC tournaments should give the Selection Committee much to consider when making up the brackets for The Big Dance. IMO, the four #1 seeds right now should be SC, VA Tech, Iowa & UConn.

 

[jcoton56]

You are playing in our world now baby.

 

[Bone Dog]

 

[Biff]

Just hope that Aubrey is O.K.

 

[Bone Dog]

Azzi hit a few 3s and Aaliyah and Dorka were awesome in the paint.

 

[Rb335]

Big East Regular season and Tournament Champs!! A huge accomplishment. One more to go?!

March has looked good on this team. I’ll be choosing to forget that 4th quarter and celebrate the many good quarters of basketball the past 3 days. That was an exciting tournament for the whole conference, especially us Huskies!

 

[CONNCAN]

Just hope that Aubrey is O.K.

Yes, the only downer to this wonderful victory and Big East Championship is the health of Aubrey Griffin

 

[Bone Dog]

 

[Bone Dog]

Yeah, we relaxed a bit in the 4th. We could have kept the pedal to the metal. But whatever. An awesome win

 

[Nolefan]

Would have like to see Geno keep the foot on the gas in the 4th but Villanova had no chance of coming back .. time to rest up and get ready for the big tournament not sure how UConn is not at least a 2 seed possible 1

 

[HuskyNan]

I would like to point out that the offense was just not the same when Lou went out. Props to Sarah Kustok for noting that.

 

[Nolefan]

Yeah, we relaxed a bit in the 4th. We could have kept the pedal to the metal. But whatever. An awesome win

Was no need we could have beat them by 30 easily

 

[Blue Huskie]

Well done. Defense rules. Champions yet again. LOVE IT!

 

[SLY63]

• This tournament has gone as well as any of us could have expected a week ago
• Geno calling the team out after Xavier was masterful
• Siegrist is going to have nightmares about AE
• AE played like a 1st or 2nd team AA in the BET
• Dorka also was awesome
• With AG out and CD out to not get hammered, we got tired in Q4
• Now 10 days rest and practice
• We'll see what the oddsmakers say, but I see our odds of winning the NCAAs second only to SC regardless of seed
• I hope we get the 2 seed with Va Tech as the 1 seed.
• But, outside of SC, no one wants to see us in their bracket

 

[my2cents]

The spacing when Lou and Azzi on the floor at the same time opens everything up for everyone else.
Love to see Nika drive to the basket, she stopped doing it when her arms were hacked off and she got no calls.

 

[maple]

TO DO LIST:
1. BE regular season champs - DONE
2. BE tournament champs - DONE
3. NCAA champs - TBD!!!

What can I say? I love this team. There have been ups and downs and there’s been times when I have been beyond frustrated with things, but once again, March is UConn season!! !!

 

[pghhuskydoc]

I think if you asked most Boneyarders 2 weeks ago that we would see a performance like this BE tournament, they’d say no way
Great job by the team and coaching staff!!!

 

[Nolefan]

I would just like to point out that the offense was just not the same when Lou went out. Props to Sarah Kustok for noting that.

Honestly I can’t imagine where this team would be without Lou she is the regular season MVP in my book

 

[Blue Huskie]

Also thankful we don't have to do 3 days in a row again.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Surly1]

You can tell that UConn is in post-season mode (March) when the "D" is ramped up. Villanova is a well-coached team, but they were unable to execute in a manner they would have preferred. Hard to play and beat a quality team 3 times in a season, but it is just the beginning......

I don't care where UConn is seeded as long as it isn't in with SC. The NCAA should prefer to see UConn reach another Final Four - another shot at SC would be must-watched TV.

It would be nice if the announcers paid attention to what is happening in the game (no reference to Aubrey) instead of rambling on.

 

[wingsfan055]

Cant see how the Committee doesnt give us a #1 seed. We just blew out a very good VU team with a Top 3 player in the country on a neutral court. We have our Top 7 back. We have more than enough talent and experience to beat anyone on a neutral court, and would be favored against anyone except 1 or maybe 2 teams at most. Do your job Committee!!

 

[Centerstream]

Our prevent offense for most of the 4th quarter is going to me a heart attack. The final MOV may be only 11 but in reality it could have been 30. IMO.
Another great game by all who played.
Of course Siegrist kept her 20+ streak going but it seemed to me that she took more than 3/4 of Nova's shots in the last 5 minutes of the game.
And we ended another streak - no tournament victories in years ending in "3".

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[Happydad745]

Our defense came up big again, and our twin towers AE and DJ showed everyone why they are so good together. Aziz's brace must be pushing her shot to one side or the other...and Lou is always so impressive. Nika did a great keeping everyone on tract and leading the team. I hope Aubrey is ok, I missed the part where she left the game.
I was a little unhappy with Nova at the end of the game, we gave them their final 2 points and then with not way to win tried to pull a full court press-Why?

 

[pghhuskydoc]

Kudos to Aaliyah for tournament MOP. She was great.

 

[nickp91]

Geno Auriemma: “This one has something maybe a little special to it.”

 

[SLY63]

Without being a downer, I can't help but think that might might have been one of the best UConn teams ever given out post play if everyone was healthy.

 

[topogigio]

Congratulation, Ladies - hard fought and well deserved. Time for some rest, get ready for the Big Dance!

 

[PAHuskeyFan]

Another great Team win for UCONN…

I love it when Aaliyah goes nuts vs the nations leading scorer and the Conference Player of the Year. AND that the TEAM Defense held the POY well below her 30 pts per game average.

I love it when Azzi drains her threes… My new term for it, the “FuddGates are Open”

I love Dorka’s multiple moves around the basket and that she hits from near and far.

I love Nika’s passion and when she racks up the assists with some really great passes.

I love Lou’s durability, power and fluidity…always fighting off a defender and making baskets.

I love Caroline’s FIGHT…even with multiple head knocks

I love the UCONN Bench’s attitude and incredible energy for the players on the court.

I love that the team shoved Carl Adamec’s tweet that UCONN has never won a Tournament Championship in a year that has a 3…right back at him! He’s a UCONN beat reporter, hasn’t he heard about MOJO.

I love that although my Mike’s Mango supplier was out of stock today, I had enough to get through this game… MOJO!!!

I love that UCONN has the Tournament Championship, as well as the Tournament MOP in Aaliyah.

I hope that the Committee sees what UCONN is NOW that they have the pieces back, Charlie never figured it out… He really should be ashamed of how obvious his bias has been.

GO HUSKIES