What to think after this loss

[tomcat]

Well, wasn't that something?

I thought Rebecca, without blaming anyone, hit the nail on the head: Hartley is a 2 trying to play the 1. I give her a lot of credit for doing as well as she did, but in another year, the analysis of her career, sadly, may well be: "As good as she was, think what she could have been if she'd played with a major-league point guard."

In these big games, Doty just cannot play for long, if at all competitvely. Moriah, as good as she is going to be, is not ready for full-time duty yet. You gotta love Kelly, who does everything Geno asks of her, and mostly does it well. But sometimes Hartley's the one who gets the call , and as Rebecca says, she does not have the best judgment, does not make the best decisions, and is not the best ball-handler.

I'll tell you how I'm going to deal with the NCAAs: I sure hope Notre Dame and UConn do not play again this season. (The only reason to like the end of the BE, IMHO, is not having to play a team four times in one season, which has happened to UConn more times than I like to think about). So in the tournament, I'm with UConn all the way, if course. But except if/when ND plays UConn or one of my mid-major faves (Green Bay and the Zags, among a few others) I'll cheer for Notre Dame, especially if they make it to a final against Baylor. I don't find any of ND's players, especially Diggins, to be appealing. But for my money, three incredibly gritty performances demonstrating great coaching, the kind of blue-collar work ethic UConn fans have always liked, and an amazing will to win causes me to think they are deserving of admiration and support. I may say this through gritted teeth, but I have to say it.

And I hate to admit this as well, but McBride may be the best nemesis UConn has ever seen, and as tough a player as has come through women's basketball in years.

 

[UCweCONN]

I'm thinking next year is our year after Griner's gone from Baylor and Diggins and crew are gone from ND. They're in our girls' heads and our team lacks composure. How many times did they force hard bounce passes tonight rather than moving the ball to find open teammates?

 

[tomcat]

I certainly hope so, but please remember that UConn will be playing with relatively few players. They may be wonderful, but if there are any injuries at all -- never mind an injury-plagued season like this one -- I think UConn will be a flawed team again. Like I say, I hope not, but the numbers do not argue for winning against the toughest teams.

 

[Kait14]

I'm thinking next year is our year after Griner's gone from Baylor and Diggins and crew are gone from ND. They're in our girls' heads and our team lacks composure. How many times did they force hard bounce passes tonight rather than moving the ball to find open teammates?

While I agree with this, it saddens me to think it will only be our year because 2 of the best players in WCBB will be gone and not because we could beat them.

 

[ASweet3781]

While I agree with this, it saddens me to think it will only be our year because 2 of the best players in WCBB will be gone and not because we could beat them.

Agreed. Especially because our own errors prevent us from doing it.

 

[Tenspro2002]

We clearly have the talent to play with Baylor and ND. We even have the moxie to fight back from a 10 point lead.

However, we clearly do not have that crunch-time go-to player that those two do. We do not have the poise, confidence, or toughness required to make winning plays at the end of close games. The panic we displayed in the last 18 seconds is a microcosm of our season. That is our identity at this point, the story that will be told about this group.

Fortunately we still have one more chance to correct that. But if this group of players suffers another loss like this one, that will absolutely be their legacy.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Edit: sorry about the double post. Internet problems here.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Edit: triple post. wtf

 

[blackbird]

I think for the most part, it's true. Hartley isn't a point, and she's being forced to play one.

But that didn't lose us this game. In fact, Hartley made two plays to tie the game, as well as playing fantastic defense on Diggins at the end of the game.

I'd argue, it was the decision to go away from Bria that resulted in the loss in regulation.

This isn't about talent. This isn't about inability to play with these teams. They can compete. This is about being mentally tough. And the whole team collapses. KML disappears, Hartley doesn't touch the ball, and Faris and Dolson do their best "chicken with the head cut off" impression. Mental toughness and confidence is the problem.

 

[OneTrickPony]

McBride is a revelation...deal with it. We went down early and out-toughed a very tough team to claw back...big plus. Breanna played clutch in a very big game...without her, we weren't there at the end...that's broad shoulders for anyone...but a freshman...superb game! Bria getting her mojo back...big positive. We need to get more looks for Kaleena and more time from Morgan to out score this team...let's get some sets Muffet hasn't worked on. The high low between Stef and Breanna has to result in some kicks on the collapse...it's coming too fast...there should be mid- range jumpers. We missed a lot of good looks this time..,we'll make them next time. Moriah can't play Skylar one-on-one on defense at this point...design some help.

All-in-all...very positive for 2013...more so for beyond...

 

[UConnCat]

UConn's guards looked uncomfortable with the ball all night. They didn't respond well to pressure (too many turnovers or near-turnovers) and made bad passes even without pressure (Hartley and Faris on the break). I'm not sure where Kelly was going with the ball on the last possession.

Still, I'd love nothing better than to see another game against ND.

 

[Fiftyish]

Still, I'd love nothing better than to see another game against ND.

Really??? The last team I would ever want to see this year is ND. What will it take before the UConn diehards accept that ND is a better team this year?

 

[UConnCat]

Really??? The last team I would ever want to see this year is ND. What will it take before the UConn diehards accept that ND is a better team this year?

Yes, really. I'm not a "diehard," whatever that is. I'm a fan who wants the team to exorcise the demons and prevail over ND. They've lost by 1 point, 2 points and in a 3OT thriller. If that means ND is better, it's not by much and certainly not enough to think UConn can't beat them. I think ND may want to avoid a rematch more than UConn.

I'm sure many thought UConn was the better team in 2011 after 3 wins over ND. I'm sure many thought Baylor was better than Texas A&M in 2011 after beating them 3 times.

 

[blackbird]

Well, for them to beat us without us being stupid. That would help.

 

[Bestiarius]

You'd think we lost all the ND games by 30 the way folks are so downtrodden. We lost the games by a handful of points. It's not an indication ND is better than UConn.

I don't even think the last inbounds play was a bad one. The odds were good that we could have hit an easy layup. Perhaps even getting fouled in the process. It just didn't work out.

I'd rather be up 2 with 17 seconds left than to hold the ball to take a less than 50% chance of hitting last second shot to win. Better to be up by 2 and force ND to take the less than 50% odds shot to go into OT.

We can beat this team. Hopefully, we'll get one more chance. Our team competed well. Nothing to be ashamed of just because the games were a little too long.

 

[Tenspro2002]

You'd think we lost all the ND games by 30 the way folks are so downtrodden. We lost the games by a handful of points. It's not an indication ND is better than UConn.

It's worse that we've lost all 3 games in the fashion that we have. I don't mean worse in terms of being a gut-punch for fans, which they all were.

I mean it's worse in that it's not a coincidence or luck or chance. The fact is that Notre Dame knows how to win close games, and we don't. It's a skill, a trait that they possess, which we do not.

It's no different than if they routinely beat us by shooting, rebounding, or defending better than us. They routinely beat us by virtue of their having more toughness and mental fortitude, and our skittishness.

 

[Wbbfan1]

IMHO we cannot beat ND this year. ND has far superior guard play then UConn has and that's why UCOnn lost three close games. ND has the guards that can make plays even when they're not open or the shot clock is expiring. They know how to make plays and for the most part play within their offense. UConn guards so many times tonight tried to make the exceptional pass/play that led to turnovers when it wasn't necessary.

IMHO even with Skylar graduating, I might be tempted to take ND's guards over UConn's guards next year, unless Saniya turns out to be an exceptional players. Geno missed out on some PG's in the 2013 class that might have helped next year. I hope the same doesn't happen in the 2014 class. I'm not saying Moriah won't be a good if not a great PG, she'll need more help.

What shocked me about tonight that KML did not attempt a three point shot.

 

[Fiftyish]

IMHO we cannot beat ND this year. ND has far superior guard play then UConn has and that's why UCOnn lost three close games. ND has the guards that can make plays even when they're not open or the shot clock is expiring. They know how to make plays and for the most part play within their offense. UConn guards so many times tonight tried to make the exceptional pass/play that led to turnovers when it wasn't necessary.

IMHO even with Skylar graduating, I might be tempted to take ND's guards over UConn's guards next year, unless Saniya turns out to be an exceptional players. Geno missed out on some PG's in the 2013 class that might have helped this year. I hope the same doesn't happen in the 2014 class. I'm not saying Moriah won't be a good if not a great PG, she'll need more help.

What shocked me about tonight that KML did not attempt a three point shot.

I am not even going to try to name all the reasons why ND was superior to UConn this year, but each and every game came down to the last possessions and we lost. Sometimes, it's just wasn't meant to be. Fate? Divine intervention? All were great games to watch but in the end ND was better. Nothing to be ashamed about. A great man once said " Some times you bite the bear and sometimes the bear bites you?" Can't remember who that great man was.

 

[gandydancer]

I don't get all the resignation I see that we can't beat ND or BU. All four games were winnable. We had leads or last shot possessions in all four games. Remember the year we whipped up all year on ND until the tourney when it really counted and it "sucked to be us"? Well I see that breaking for us this year. Now I'm just a fan who buys a ticket and plunks his fanny in a seat, but I think GA made some unfortunate player decisions early on. He insisted on playing Doty because he said he just felt better having her on the court, but it was obvious she couldn't cut with the better guards. I wish he had played MJ more even if it meant foregoing a blow out or even picking up a lose or two. Now, he doesn't have a point guard. KF did absolutely yeoman duty tonight, but making her run the point wastes her talents. If BH is then the shooting guard, she has to knock down shots. My other wish was that he had continued to play BS even when she hit her rough patches. I think a confident BS is the best offensive freshman in the country. This tourney is just a hint of what she can do. Oh, and did I mention that UCONN sets poor perimeter screens and hardly ever sets interior screens? But that's just me, buying my ticket and putting my fanny in the seat.

 

[Gurleyman]

You'd think we lost all the ND games by 30 the way folks are so downtrodden. We lost the games by a handful of points. It's not an indication ND is better than UConn.

I don't even think the last inbounds play was a bad one. The odds were good that we could have hit an easy layup. Perhaps even getting fouled in the process. It just didn't work out.

I'd rather be up 2 with 17 seconds left than to hold the ball to take a less than 50% chance of hitting last second shot to win. Better to be up by 2 and force ND to take the less than 50% odds shot to go into OT.

We can beat this team. Hopefully, we'll get one more chance. Our team competed well. Nothing to be ashamed of just because the games were a little too long.

It was a high-risk crosscourt lob. Odds weren't good of anything. It required perfect execution to result in a basket - pass goes too far, it's out of bounds for a turnover. Pass is too short, it's stolen for a turnover. Pass is caught but isn't perfect and your big is hemmed in on the baseline with nowhere to go - could be 3 seconds, a forced shot, a stolen kickout pass, etc. It ended up none of that since Stewart made a good catch and was poised enough to dribble out of danger, but then obviously since we spent our effort in the timeout drawing up that inbounds play, we had nothing in mind for the last possession, so we segued into night at the improv.

You have a 100% chance of not losing in regulation if they don't get the ball back. That's the most important odds of all.

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

I certainly hope we play ND again. We have been close enough to win them and to win 4 in a row, thats a tough thing to do.

I am more concerned about the future. Not so much next year and the following but recruiting. Right now ND has our number, unlike any team, even Tenn. They are going to the ACC. While we will have a conference name at some point, I think this is going to help ND's recruiting even more.

 

[Danzz]

They make poor judgements with the ball and just aren't a very good passing team. They still almost beat ND the last 2 times they played.

 

[luckyhusky7]

I'm not thinking after the loss but everybody else seems to be overthinking the loss

 

[msf22b]

I've consistently thought that the kids, nor the Vets were not used to the best advantage this season by the staff and have bellyached about it till the cows come home.

No one will ever know if it would have changed the outcome of any of our losses but it surely seems to have effected the confidence of two of the freshman (Bri and Mo...Morgan seems tougher) at times. If Mo and Stewie were given reason to be more confident, it is possible that the team's play might have been significantly better (please note that I am not definitely saying that it would be better, just prognosticating).

The season began with Breanna starting... some games in she was pulled for Caroline and seemed to lose her sense of self...for quite a long time.

Recently...Let's see if I get the order right: Morgan started, followed by Mo, followed last night by Stewie again. And Caroline, a trusted starter for most of the season (with all the explanations of how she steadies the team), never even got into the game last night? Weird.

I thought Mo was pretty confident as a starter at point and made some good plays with few turnovers. Everyone complained that Syracuse hounded her and fretted about that but she didn't turn the ball over.
Last night after being pulled from the starting line-up she was seemed more tentative.

Moreover, Morgan, who starred in one of the Notre Dame overtime periods, came in, made a shot, drew a foul and seemed to be guarding McBride as well or better than anyone else...was then pulled and sat. All at a time that Kaleena was having problems finding or making her shots and possibly would have been helped by some rest (likely it would have helped more in the last 5 or 10 games).

I don't sense that these moves (or lack of them) were coherent, much helped the team (I know, that I'm leaving out Stewie's terrif game) The Vets became fatigued, the freshmen were undervalued and the team lost 4 heartbreakers that they might have won (or at least some of them).

I'm proud of the way the kids fought last night and in all these close games but it was heartbreaking to see possible victory turn into defeat time after time.

I don't believe that this is about injury or practice.

This season will be the first crack in Geno's legacy; where he was uncertain and to a certain extent miscalculated.
He's human, gone through (and is going through) a lot. Happens to the best of em.

I've said before as well, that at a certain point, he'll own up to it.

And of course, the season's not over, he's got one last chance to pull a rabbit out of the hat; watch out, he just might do that.

Having mades these points too many times, I'm finished on this subject....Promise.

 

[DaddyChoc]

UConn's next coach ^^^^^^