Week 18 - March 4 to 11 (conf standings, NET, conf tourney games) | Page 12 | The Boneyard

Week 18 - March 4 to 11 (conf standings, NET, conf tourney games)

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Both Osbourne and JuJu with 4 fouls heading into second OT. Great game.
 
To recap 1OT: UCLA took a 4 point lead with under a minute left. Osborne then commits a totally unnecessary foul in the backcourt to put JuJu on the line. She makes the first, misses the second, but USC gets the O-board and hits a 3 to tie the game.

Then UCLA has a chance to win with 1.8 seconds left. Osborne collects the inbounds pass and dribbles out the clock along the baseline without so much as looking at the bucket. Perhaps she failed to notice the decimal point and thought she had 18 seconds to score.
 
Fight On University Of Southern California GIF by USC Trojans


Fight On!!
 
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I just think the quality of basketball from every other team is so far below theirs this season. The rest of the top 5 teams don’t look like top 10/top15 teams most other years. It would be a travesty imo if any other team walked away champions this year because they are clearly the best by quite a large margin. I say this as a UConn fan but any other team winning this year would just be embarrassing for the sport imo.
Embarrassing for the sport? I don’t get that. Was it embarrassing for the NFL when the Chiefs won it this year despite the fact they were 11-6 and fairly mediocre all regular season? Or when the Rangers won the WS despite finishing with a worse regular season record than 5 other teams? Was the Heat’s run to the finals last year an embarrassment to the NBA when they were in the play in tournament but ripped through the East beating the Bucks Knicks and Celtics?

The favorite not winning the championship is not an embarrassment for a sport, that’s the whole reason tournaments are so popular. Was before my time, but one of the most talked about and glorified NCAA tournament championships in men’s history was State beating Houston in 83. I don’t hear folks talking about that being a blackeye for college basketball, it’s celebrated.
 
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UCLA had that 1 seed in their grasp and let it slip away.

With a weakened BiG field, Iowa in great shape to win the title and grab a 1.

Leaving the final 1 between USC, UCLA, Texas, OhioSt.
 
Too bad this game was on so late for many in the country. maybe the game of the year. Maybe the most physical game of the year. Amazing there wasnt a bad injury. Lots of crazy and amazing stuff from Juju yet she tried to force so much. One could say USC survived her crazy play as much they benifited from it. Osborne really did make the most costly bad decisions of the game but she really played her heart out too.I found myself thinking who has the best chance of beating Stanford. UCLA lost big to them but didn’t have Betts who is a rebounding machine. USC beat them but that was the game Watkins scored 51. Tara has a better coached and disciplined team but can they match the crazy physicality? A similar problem that Geno frequently has. As many players as were called for fouls last night they could have called many more. Game is replaying on PAC 12 network now.
 
They also beat UNC and Duke and Notre Dame by 30. No need to downplay what they’ve done. They are too deep and talented imo compared to the rest of the country. Undefeated and the eye test doesn’t lie. Sometimes they play it close because they let teams hang around in the first but their depth won’t let them loose imo.
They beat ND in the very first game of the year before Hidalgo really got going. ND is much better now. Duke and NC are hardly the class of the ACC this year. Yeah the depth of SC is impressive but maybe more so is the lack of injuries that so many other teams have had. I think they have more to prove. Everybody thought Baylor was unbeatable that year with Griner and Simms. Louisville beat them. Lots of capable yet flawed teams that could beat SC on any given day. Unfortunately physicality is the great equalizer. I don’t like it but that’s the way it is.
 
They beat ND in the very first game of the year before Hidalgo really got going. ND is much better now. Duke and NC are hardly the class of the ACC this year. Yeah the depth of SC is impressive but maybe more so is the lack of injuries that so many other teams have had. I think they have more to prove. Everybody thought Baylor was unbeatable that year with Griner and Simms. Louisville beat them. Lots of capable yet flawed teams that could beat SC on any given day. Unfortunately physicality is the great equalizer. I don’t like it but that’s the way it is.
I will nitpick that Hidalgo definitely got going in that game, she had over 30 points, but she had no chemistry with her team yet. As of late, her chemistry with her teammates is much improved and her “sidekicks” have been consistently giving her a lot more support. But yes we are in agreement that the ND team in November is not the one that has been on display these past couple weeks.

But I agree, I think it’s foolish to declare South Carolina unbeatable. College basketball is way too unpredictable to say that. Yes they have looked fantastic, in some ways better than last year (wasn’t that team also supposed to be unbeatable?). But there are a lot of talented players and teams that could catch SC on one of their sluggish start days that they have sometimes, and make them pay.

Crazy upsets have been happening all over the place this season. My jaw dropped when I saw the score of Maryland vs Ohio State yesterday.
 
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Indiana started five guards in the B1G first round. Fortunately they have some size, and Garzon and especially Parrish are rebounders.

Looks like Meister has gotten in; good that she's able to play. But if Holmes can't play, they won't be in the tourney long.
Even with a last ditch effort, it didn't help.
 
I’ve only seen snippets of Juju playing. Could someone who’s seen more of her describe what makes her so good… or overrated, if that’s your opinion?
 
A quick update on WN's NET, the biggest movers +/- in the top 12 conferences:
1709997768123.jpeg
 
Lindsay Gottlieb: “What an epic evening for women’s college basketball, for Los Angeles, for the rivalry. … UCLA is so good. There’s not a ton of love between the two schools, but there’s a ton of respect.”
 
After a couple of days of Big 12 games not worth tuning in for the semi's at least have some decent teams and fun players. #17 Baylor tips off versus #4 seed Iowa State and my new favorite player, Audi Crooks, at 11:00 central. Guess this might be a pick'em as far as odds. Cyclone won in Ames 66-63. Lead switched back and forth a lot in the 4th quarter.
 
Wow, disastrous Q3 for Oregon St. Stanford outscored them 23-8 to go up by 7.
Rueck went away from what has been working all season in playing deep into his bench--only really played 6 players vs Stanford. He left his 3-point snipers on the bench and OSU missed a lot of wide open 3's. Rueck was asked in the post game presser about diverting from playing 8-10 all season and only playing 6 in the Stanford game--Rueck did not like the question. Rueck was outcoached by Tara again. OSU's clear advantage is their bench, and hopefully lesson learned before NCAA Tournament
 
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They beat ND in the very first game of the year before Hidalgo really got going. ND is much better now. Duke and NC are hardly the class of the ACC this year. Yeah the depth of SC is impressive but maybe more so is the lack of injuries that so many other teams have had. I think they have more to prove. Everybody thought Baylor was unbeatable that year with Griner and Simms. Louisville beat them. Lots of capable yet flawed teams that could beat SC on any given day. Unfortunately physicality is the great equalizer. I don’t like it but that’s the way it is.

You think Hidalgo would do better than 31?
 
Ranked #17 Baylor gets beaten by unranked Iowa State in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Time for my seemingly monthly reflection that while I really like Nicki Collen as a person and a mentor, I'm still not sold on her as a coach. Her teams seem to regress as the season progresses, which is not how it's supposed to work...
 
Rueck went away from what has been working all season in playing deep into his bench--only really played 6 players vs Stanford. He left his 3-point snipers on the bench and OSU missed a lot of wide open 3's. Rueck was asked in the post game presser about diverting from playing 8-10 all season and only playing 6 in the Stanford game--Rueck did not like the question. Rueck was outcoached by Tara again. OSU's clear advantage is their bench, and hopefully lesson learned before NCAA Tournament
Very strange to me that he only played 6.
 
Typical Maryland. Knock off the one seed then come out the next day and lose. Although I felt Ohio State just plain beat themselves more than anything great MD did yesterday.
 
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You think Hidalgo would do better than 31?
No but I think she was acting like mostly their only option at that point. She has learned to integrate the other weapons better. And their defense has gotten much better.
 
I’ve only seen snippets of Juju playing. Could someone who’s seen more of her describe what makes her so good… or overrated, if that’s your opinion?

She is a phenomenal talent but needs for time to mature. She really forces it at times when she should pass. Also can be very affected by adversity sometimes. Quite a player already.
 
but one of the most talked about and glorified NCAA tournament championships in men’s history was State beating Houston in 83. I don’t hear folks talking about that being a blackeye for college basketball, it’s celebrated.
Villanova over Georgetown is right there with that game. Both incredible. Both over unbeatable teams with a dominant big man.
 
Nebraska over Maryland. Anyone, anyone? Terps were starting to get hot, so that's a nice win for the Huskers.
 
Drake goes 19-1 in the Missouri Valley.

Princeton and Columbia both finish 13-1 in the Ivy.

Toledo 17-1 and Ball St. 16-2 in the MAC.
 
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