Went to the women's game last night...

[OkaForPrez]

Most powerful form of behavioral conditioning is random incremental reward. Works for mens basketball and slot machines.

 

[cohenzone]

I compare the women's team to Seinfeld.
I've seen each episode 20 times yet I still watch. I know what's coming, yet I still laugh. I'll still watch the women, even against some of the weaker AAC teams, knowing the outcome.

I enjoy watching greatness.

I haven't noticed anyone in this thread say they won't watch the women. The 93 person has a bug up the arse because someone said they like competitive games. Of course all of us would prefer winning to losing and when Geno is gone and maybe UConn is just a regular program, we'll want these days back again.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I say this all the time at home. The predetermend outcome of the woman's game is much more boring to watch, you're lying if you don't think so. I love rooting for the uconn men because were constantly underdogs and we fight hard for our wins. The games against nd and Baylor have been the only ones worth watching, and they were great games. Not that it has to be said but the men's and woman's games are so much diffrent it's not even funny, the ball, refs, players, everything's diffrent. The woman's game relis more on shooting and ball movement because they don't have players who's whole goal in college bb is to dunk on the closest person to them. And btw to all the woman posters who complain that the men's team isn't as good as the woman's team. 2 things: first geno is the best coach in your sport and we are very fortunate to have him, and second you get 4 top ten recruits and keep them for all 4 years. If uconn kept kemba in 2012 there is not doubt in my mind we would be repeat champs. I will continue to root for the woman and @Uconn93 is right, we should root for the woman to win by as much as possible because when geno retires we probably won't get this lucky with a hire again.

Rant over

(Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes)

 

[cohenzone]

I say this all the time at home. The predetermend outcome of the woman's game is much more boring to watch, you're lying if you don't think so. I love rooting for the uconn men because were constantly underdogs and we fight hard for our wins. The games against nd and Baylor have been the only ones worth watching, and they were great games. Not that it has to be said but the men's and woman's games are so much diffrent it's not even funny, the ball, refs, players, everything's diffrent. The woman's game relis more on shooting and ball movement because they don't have players who's whole goal in college bb is to dunk on the closest person to them. And btw to all the woman posters who complain that the men's team isn't as good as the woman's team. 2 things: first geno is the best coach in your sport and we are very fortunate to have him, and second you get 4 top ten recruits and keep them for all 4 years. If uconn kept kemba in 2012 there is not doubt in my mind we would be repeat champs. I will continue to root for the woman and @Uconn93 is right, we should root for the woman to win by as much as possible because when geno retires we probably won't get this lucky with a hire again.

Rant over

(Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes)

It isn't a matter of not rooting for them to win going away, but wanting a little competition more frequently isn't the same as not liking them being the best in so many years. I think the coach feels the same way. Competitors like to know that they can throttle really good opposition. The fact is, if you notice the women's game in general, UConn and ND this year are the only 2 teams that are so dominant just about every night. There is a fair amount of balance in the game. UConn had years when some decent but not great teams gave them a good game or once in a great while even beat them. Unlike the men's team, you can probably name every game the women lost in the last 15 years because there have been so few. Is watching the women's games more relaxing than the men's? No contest. But it is kind of cool when you know the men have to be much more close to perfect on each possession compared to the women in order to win a lot of games, but that the oppositon usually makes perfection difficult. What's unusual about our women's program is that in years when UConn is extremely good, they are head and shoulders better than just about everyone. A decent number of times when the very good UConn teams haven't won an NC is because we've lost key players to injury. This year's team is scary because, as relatively thin in numbers as the team is, they've scarcely missed a beat when key players are out or struggling, which is a trubute to their talent, how competitive they are, and how well coached they are.

 

[HuskyHawk]

They do (At least UConn does), but its a moving target. They beat #3 Stanford by 19, # 8 Maryland by 17, #13 Penn St. by 19, #2 Duke by 22, # 21 Cal by 33, #7 Baylor by (only) 11, and #23 Rutgers by 30. # 5 Louisville is coming up in a couple weeks but if the 2013 Championship game is any indication, they will win by at least 15.

UConn has the best women's basketball team in the nation and their subs are probably 2nd best. The walk-ons would probably be ranked as well just by virtue of practicing with the starters. It is what it is.

This is the problem. I will watch a game if they play a top 5 team, and even then the result often matches what happens when the men play a crappy team like Temple. I'll watch in the Final Four, on the off chance that someone challenges them. I want them to win, don't get me wrong, and will never root against them. But watching their games reminds me of the commercials last year where NBA players were getting excited blocking the shots of and dunking on what looked like elementary school kids.

And while I appreciate that the team runs like a well oiled machine, it's a lot easier to run like a well oiled machine when nobody is capable of disrupting it. I was much more appreciative of old Bobby Knight Indiana teams carving up teams that were often athletically superior to them. For what it's worth last year's WBB NC was more satisfying for the early season losses and rare vulnerability they showed. Plus I hate Louisville and would have been pissed if they won both titles.

 

[hthusky74]

Doesn't Kentucky do this? How does it work out for them?

The difference is that in the women's game there is a larger drop off in talent overall when one team signs 4 out of 8 and the other 6 in the top 10 get spread out to 6 different schools. In the men's game, you can have that happen but the overall talent pool is much, much deeper. I've seen several top girls hs basketball players in my area go on to play high d-1 ball and in most cases start, and they would not be in the rotation at UConn. It's just different.

Big difference with the women. With the KY men they are gone after 1-2 years. With the UConn women, except for the occassional transfer, they are there for 4 years.

 

[Husky25]

This is the problem. I will watch a game if they play a top 5 team, and even then the result often matches what happens when the men play a crappy team like Temple. I'll watch in the Final Four, on the off chance that someone challenges them. I want them to win, don't get me wrong, and will never root against them. But watching their games reminds me of the commercials last year where NBA players were getting excited blocking the shots of and dunking on what looked like elementary school kids.

And while I appreciate that the team runs like a well oiled machine, it's a lot easier to run like a well oiled machine when nobody is capable of disrupting it. I was much more appreciative of old Bobby Knight Indiana teams carving up teams that were often athletically superior to them. For what it's worth last year's WBB NC was more satisfying for the early season losses and rare vulnerability they showed. Plus I hate Louisville and would have been pissed if they won both titles.

I agree with every world you wrote. I'll watch matchups vs. ranked teams, but the Women are not appt. TV for me. It's not about want them to lose, I don't think anyone here wants them to lose. On the other hand, if I'm coaching a team of 13 year olds or younger, regardless, of gender, I'd model my offense after UConn's Women and write to Geno to see if he'll let me in on any of his practice techniques.

Watching the Women reminds me of the following quote by Vince Lombardi:
“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”
― Vince Lombardi

 

[Uconn93]

If you have a serious disease and your looking for a doctor, do you want the doctor who puts up a good fight and usually cures that disease or the doctor who has perfected his treatment and is at the top of his field and who cures your disease every time?

If your company gets sued, do you want to hire a lawyer who's a nice guy and wins sometime or even most of the time, or do you ant the best lawyer who specializes in your legal problem, knows the judge and wins every time?

If you're putting up a building, do you want the engineer or architect who draws pretty pictures and puts up nice buildings but with a few defects or do you want the person at the top of their field who gets it right every time?

If you're putting together a sports team, do you want the team that fights real hard and wins 60% or 70% of their games and half of those by real close scores or do you want the team that wins every night in a blow out?

You can have your mediocrity, because I want the winner every time.

 

[Husky25]

Apples and oranges comparisons...all of them. You are somehow the only poster on this subject who seems to not be able to grasp the point being made. College basketball is entertainment and it entertains different people to different levels.

If you have a serious disease and your looking for a doctor, do you want the doctor who puts up a good fight and usually cures that disease or the doctor who has perfected his treatment and is at the top of his field and who cures your disease every time?

If your company gets sued, do you want to hire a lawyer who's a nice guy and wins sometime or even most of the time, or do you ant the best lawyer who specializes in your legal problem, knows the judge and wins every time?

If you're putting up a building, do you want the engineer or architect who draws pretty pictures and puts up nice buildings but with a few defects or do you want the person at the top of their field who gets it right every time?

If you're putting together a sports team, do you want the team that fights real hard and wins 60% or 70% of their games and half of those by real close scores or do you want the team that wins every night in a blow out?

You can have your mediocrity, because I want the winner every time.

 

[cohenzone]

Apples and oranges comparisons...all of them. You are somehow the only poster on this subject who seems to not be able to grasp the point being made. College basketball is entertainment and it entertains different people to different levels.

I don't know what the "93" means in the poster's name, but I sure hope it doesn't mean a 1993 alum. Nothing much anyone has written penetrates, and if we're talking anyone over the age of 14...(shakes head).

 

[mauconnfan]

If you have a serious disease and your looking for a doctor, do you want the doctor who puts up a good fight and usually cures that disease or the doctor who has perfected his treatment and is at the top of his field and who cures your disease every time?

If your company gets sued, do you want to hire a lawyer who's a nice guy and wins sometime or even most of the time, or do you ant the best lawyer who specializes in your legal problem, knows the judge and wins every time?

If you're putting up a building, do you want the engineer or architect who draws pretty pictures and puts up nice buildings but with a few defects or do you want the person at the top of their field who gets it right every time?

If you're putting together a sports team, do you want the team that fights real hard and wins 60% or 70% of their games and half of those by real close scores or do you want the team that wins every night in a blow out?

You can have your mediocrity, because I want the winner every time.

Congrats to you for this wonderful analogy……now move on you're clueless!

 

[sdhusky]

If you have a serious disease and your looking for a doctor, do you want the doctor who puts up a good fight and usually cures that disease or the doctor who has perfected his treatment and is at the top of his field and who cures your disease every time?

If your company gets sued, do you want to hire a lawyer who's a nice guy and wins sometime or even most of the time, or do you ant the best lawyer who specializes in your legal problem, knows the judge and wins every time?

If you're putting up a building, do you want the engineer or architect who draws pretty pictures and puts up nice buildings but with a few defects or do you want the person at the top of their field who gets it right every time?

If you're putting together a sports team, do you want the team that fights real hard and wins 60% or 70% of their games and half of those by real close scores or do you want the team that wins every night in a blow out?

You can have your mediocrity, because I want the winner every time.

And that's why UCONN Women's BB will get better ratings than the Super Bowl.

(my comment is only slightly stupider than yours)

 

[Uconn93]

Right, because when you're not smart enough to carry on an intelligent conversation or debate, personal insults is always the best way to go.

 

[Husky25]

Right, because when you're not smart enough to carry on an intelligent conversation or debate, personal insults is always the best way to go.

Not that I need to defend the Original poster, but:

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. - John 8:7

I'm so sick of hearing this nonsense. Why is it that we are a nation of whiners?!?!?!?! I get that we complain when "your" team loses.....that's only natural. Because.....wait for it.wait for it..the goal is for your team to win. When the dreaded day comes and Geno retires, and we move back to the pack...it's gonna suck! Then, you and every other whiner will have a legitimate reason to complain. Until then, sit back, shut up and root for the UConn Women's basketball team to break every record possible and to win *EVERY* game by the *LARGEST* amount possible.

 

[HuskyHawk]

If you have a serious disease and your looking for a doctor, do you want the doctor who puts up a good fight and usually cures that disease or the doctor who has perfected his treatment and is at the top of his field and who cures your disease every time?

If your company gets sued, do you want to hire a lawyer who's a nice guy and wins sometime or even most of the time, or do you ant the best lawyer who specializes in your legal problem, knows the judge and wins every time?

If you're putting up a building, do you want the engineer or architect who draws pretty pictures and puts up nice buildings but with a few defects or do you want the person at the top of their field who gets it right every time?

If you're putting together a sports team, do you want the team that fights real hard and wins 60% or 70% of their games and half of those by real close scores or do you want the team that wins every night in a blow out?

You can have your mediocrity, because I want the winner every time.

How about this, since basketball is entertainment. If you read a book or watch a movie, do you want the one where you already know how everything turns out? Or would you prefer to go through the trials and life forming changes that affect the characters of the story not knowing how they will handle them and what the outcome will be?

The greatest moments in sports all come from adversity being overcome. That's what we remember, those are the images that last a lifetime. Kirk Gibson's homerun, Willis Reed coming back from injury for the Knicks, Fisk's HR in 76, UConn beating Duke in '99, Baylor's win over Bama this year, the Cal-Stanford finish years ago, thousands of upsets and last second shots in the NCAA tournament (including Laetner agaisnt us) and greatest of all for me....the shot, from Burrell to Tate and then in. I would not trade what happened in that Clemson game for a 25 point blowout of Clemson. Never. No blowout could ever possibly come close.

 

[Thirty Three]

Right, because when you're not smart enough to carry on an intelligent conversation or debate, personal insults is always the best way to go.

You mean like telling the original poster to shut up and going on a tirade which had almost nothing to do with the very simple point he was making. Yea, way to not throw personal insults and carry on an intelligent conversation.

Or when you started babbling about "so everyone should get a trophy and we shouldnt care who wins or loses, blah, blah, blah" which again had NOTHING to do with any of the simple points anyone was making. You just made up some ridiculous crap that no one said or even remotely implied. And you claim that others cant carry on an intelligent conversation or debate. Hysterical. Seriously, your reading comprehension abilities are either absolutely horrific, or you're just a troll. Im having a hard time figuring out which it is.

 

[GlastonTim]

Right, because when you're not smart enough to carry on an intelligent conversation or debate, personal insults is always the best way to go.

You threw the first insults by calling me a "whiner". It's alright for you though.

 

[DW4UCONN]

I'm so sick of hearing this nonsense. Why is it that we are a nation of whiners?!?!?!?! I get that we complain when "your" team loses.....that's only natural. Because.....wait for it.wait for it..the goal is for your team to win. When the dreaded day comes and Geno retires, and we move back to the pack...it's gonna suck! Then, you and every other whiner will have a legitimate reason to complain. Until then, sit back, shut up and root for the UConn Women's basketball team to break every record possible and to win *EVERY* game by the *LARGEST* amount possible.

9 likes, REALLY? Geno retires and because you think the team will have to compete, be at the top of their game to win and playing their best sometimes will not be good enough .... will really suck for you? Sad. I guess you were not there when the program was in it's infancy. Were you following Geno's team when they had great competitors like Kerry Bascom, Megan Pattyson, Wendy Davis and Debbie Baer? They lost a lot so I have to wonder if you did. Perhaps it took a perfect 35-0 to grab your attention?

There is much to admire about our Lady Huskies, but unless it is a competitive game I have little interest in watching yet another anticipated blowout. I just wonder if the women would draw so well if the were mere mortals? I remember playing pick up games in the Field House on a court next to where the women held practice. I imagine they also occasionally held practice on the game court when the men's team wasn't using it, but for the most part they shared the floor where they must have noticed a lot of bad basketball going on next to them. I rarely got to see a men's practice because they usually put up a privacy screen around the court. When they were not practicing we'd play on that court as well. Back in my day the Field House was open to the public and the woman had it no better than me, a middle school student. I was able to use everything, except that the weight room was off limits. Those were wonderful times, but not for women's basketball. The woman did catch my interest however, but not for their basketball. Not until I saw the likes of Debbie Bascom and Debbie Baer. There was no physical attraction there to catch my interest, just admiration for their game. They were scrappy and fun to watch. They lost but I still fell in love with them.

Anyway, I rarely miss a men's game and I'll watch it regardless of the score, but NO DOUBT the best games are the close ones. Sometimes I'll get so disgusted I can not watch. During our 2006 tournament loss to George Mason, my 8 yr old son wouldn't stop whining (same thing as "complaining" by the way) about my Huskies so I showed him the door and made him stay outside and think about it awhile. I was depressed for days after losing to Duke in 1990, but was so proud of them. Winning is a must, I kid you not. But it isn't everything, or how else can I explain my passion for Uconn football?

I understand where Glaston Tim is coming from, I really appreciate the Men as well. It's been rocky, but I really like these guys.

 

[CTBasketball]

The only reason why the women are so successful is because there are 3-4 competitive women's college basketball teams. They are consistently better than 95% of the trashy teams that schools put together because of equal rights and such.

That's pretty much my problem with women's collegiate basketball. The only good games of the year come during March Madness. And at that point most people are watching the men and it develops to be white noise. But I agree to a poster above. Why would you want to know the outcome of an entertainment event? I wish I knew the outcome of entertainment events, that way I would go to the casino every once and a while. But for basketball it is about overcoming adversity and the odds in order to stun the nation with an upset. That never happens in women's college basketball. The 16 thru 16 seeds don't even have the ability of UConn's walk-ons.

 

[Huskyforlife]

The only reason why the women are so successful is because there are 3-4 competitive women's college basketball teams. They are consistently better than 95% of the trashy teams that schools put together because of equal rights and such.

That's pretty much my problem with women's collegiate basketball. The only good games of the year come during March Madness. And at that point most people are watching the men and it develops to be white noise. But I agree to a poster above. Why would you want to know the outcome of an entertainment event? I wish I knew the outcome of entertainment events, that way I would go to the casino every once and a while. But for basketball it is about overcoming adversity and the odds in order to stun the nation with an upset. That never happens in women's college basketball. The 16 thru 16 seeds don't even have the ability of UConn's walk-ons.

Not to mention keeping 3 top ten recuits for four years

 

[CTBasketball]

Not to mention keeping 3 top ten recuits for four years

That too.

 

[BearJWS]

Wow, can't we just wish both teams well? Give our women some respect. They have 8 National Championships! Geno is a great coach & get's his players to play hard every game. Kevin & Geno have a great relationship and Kevin looks to Geno for advice, just like with Calhoun. AND our men's & women's players support each other. Yeah, they are friends. Why knock our men for supporting their women friends? That's just poor taste. Sorry.... We are UConn... we support all our teams, not just in baskeball, but all sports! Grrr....

 

[jleves]

This just in - people on the Internet like different things... and the other side is wrong!

 

[UConnDad]

Have to weigh in. I watcH all the games. Like them both. If you attend the games totally different crowd. And like someone said after a men's loss it's great to then watch the women destroy someone. It's soothes the hoop anguish until the next men's game.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I prefer the women's violent dismembering of their opponents to the water torture wins of the recent men's teams.

I like forgone conclusions and 40-point wins. Give me more of them.

If you've ever coached any margin less than 40 is a nail biter.