What was learned from the regionals

[Kibitzer]

"Sylvia's assistant"--Andrew Caldwell--took a team of mostly freshman and sophomore that could have lost in the first round of the tournament to the Elite 8 and was up 1 on Stanford's home court with 4min to go. I'd say UNC had an excellent season, and while he kept saying how inadequate he was without Hatchell, I'd say he did an excellent job in a very difficult situation.

I concede the point. I think you are correct and that I sold Coach Caldwell short. I SHOULDA limited my comment to the uncertainty that prevails with the coaching at UNC. From game to game, I hear the announcers say that Sylvia "might" be on the bench next game, or next week. Had I stayed with that, I might have nailed it. But I erred (no, not "aired") in my implied assertion of Caldwell's inadequacies in a difficult situation.

Thanks for calling me out. I deserved your criticism.

 

[UcMiami]

OK - I'll take a whack at some of this:
1. Kib - I think a good point. ND/Baylor was bad reffing, but the other regional games were just typical - some bad calls, but fairly balanced and not egregious. BUT I think it is important to note the two teams involved. If coaches and players are going to work/game the refs as hard as those two teams do, then they are asking for bad results. And it is interesting to note that probably the two worst officiated regional games in the last two years had one team in common! And perhaps the next worst game by officials was last night in the MD/Louisville game - I do not thing either team in that contest 'games' the officials with histrionics, but Louisville does like to push the envelop to the edge and beyond and that is always tough on even good refs who really do not want to become the story.
2. VAU - on DD - she is a very exciting player to watch, but her calling card is her athleticism and not her statistical output at this point. She shot .429 from the field and .283 from three this year with 91 assists and 119 TOs (A/TO of 0.76) on a team that shot .445/.319 overall with an A/TO of 0.90 and she took 218 more shots than the next highest on the team. She is a freshman and you expect that kind of stuff, but the truth is when UNC was on offense they were more likely to score if someone other than DD shot, and when she passed the ball they were more likely to have turnover than an assist. Mad talent and exciting to watch, but ...
3. VAU - and we seem to be going back and forth lately, but I am not 'picking on you' - I love watching a player like Maya who was so physically gifted and exciting that you never knew when there would be a 'did you just see that' moment, feel the same about Loyd and Stewart and a number of other players or watching Uconn or ND or Louisville when they are cooking in transition, or Showtime with the Lakers. Have never felt that way about Simmons or Shonni or Prahalis, or Oregon or most UNC teams of the past. The difference is discipline and basketball IQ and playing complete games (having the same wow factor on defense as on offense.) I will probably watch the McDonalds game today, but like all other all star games it will not be pleasurable but I want to see the Uconn recruits. And it will not be pleasurable because it will be bad basketball.
4. As an example of #3 - in the Baylor game this year, I enjoyed watching Davis more than Sims - less wow, but a really good player playing with great skill.
5. VAU - totally agree on point #10 re ND - Willis Reed anyone? They are deeply wounded but also very talented and while I can't root for them, in this one upcoming game I will not be rooting hard for MD.
6. VAU - agree about Brenda - don't like her, don't think she is a good game coach. But I was really impressed with how they dealt with adversity last year and seemed to discover defense for the first time since Walz left. I thought they would be a contender before the season started and then they disappointed fairly consistently. But they just played two really good games in hostile territory and can't be taken lightly - not the same team we saw early in the year (few teams are, but ...)
7. I think Uconn has some very exciting prospects coming in next year and with hopefully a healthy Morgan we should be very very good, but ... Stef and Bria are going to be missed. And there are a lot of good teams out there. No cake walk next weekend and definitely a new season next year.
8. Kib - we all have this image of DT and the DTettes winning two championships and it really is false. Diana scored 17.9 ppg in the 2003 season and 16.2 in the 2004 season representing 24% and 21% of Uconn's offense output in those two years. In 2003 there were 4 starters averaging 10+ ppg and four other players that average 6-8 ppg. In 2004 that went down to 3 and 2 but the point is Diana was not playing 1 on 5 - she had a lot of help from a very good supporting cast. Stanford certainly rode Chiney throughout this season (34% of total scoring) but if 4 other players hadn't stepped up last night to score in double digits they would not have won that game. (Besides Chiney, only Orrange at 10.1 is averaging in double digits scoring YTD) And while Thomas is the 'star' on Maryland she is scoring only 23% of MD's points while leading the team in assist (sort of DT like) and while only Brown scores in double figures for the year eight other players who average at least 14 minutes and 6 of those are averaging 6 ppg or better.
8.a Baylor was the only other 'Star' driven team I think this year (I just don't put Schimmel or Simmons in the same category) and she suffered from two things - Davis, the other really good player on her team having a DT freshman-year-like meltdown in the NCAAs and playing against one of the two far superior teams in this years tournament. Does anybody not think that Baylor would have had a better chance of going to the FF playing in either Stanford/UNC or Maryland/Louisville than playing ND in South Bend.
9. A google thought - I do a fair amount of visits to other teams sites and my typical search in google is '[team name] basketball'. The results are always changing but I am always curious to see if google will bring back a direct link to the women's basketball page in the top ten or so results or if it will only bring back a men's direct link. It just gives an indication of how at that moment in time the general public is balanced between men's and women's teams. Stanford, Louisville and ND probably win the contest for frequency of women's direct links. Just find it interesting and others might want to take notice if they do those searches.

 

[asuwish]

Feel free to comment/criticize away. Just some observations that stuck out to me that I thought I'd share.

1. The refs in this tournament have been simply awful. The Notre Dame game was a disaster, I also thought Louisville got the short end of the stick on 90% of the calls in their game tonight. Hopefully it will be better in the Final Four.

2. It will take a miracle for Stanford to be able to compete with Connecticut next weekend. Ogwumike's bread and butter is sealing off her defender, creating space and getting an uncontested layup. This will not work against UCONN's post trio. Additionally, Samuelson is not going to get wide open looks like she's had all tournament long, and I don't really see anybody capable of putting up big numbers against UCONN. On the flip side, UCONN put up 83 on Stanford earlier this year, and that was with Jefferson, Dolson, Stewart and KML combining to shoot 9-29 from the floor.

3. Natalie Achonwa proved herself to be one of the best players in the nation. In the two regional games, she averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3 blocks. She has the size and strength to bang down low, excels at making timely passes to open teammates for good looks and finishes around the rim (16-22 FG). She is the only player Notre Dame couldn't afford to lose. It's a shame her collegiate playing career ended the way it did, she was playing her best basketball and led her team to the Final Four with a 36-0 record. I'm not sure how Notre Dame responds without her.

4. Shoni Schimmel and Meighan Simmons are the two most up and down players in the NCAA. One night, they can carry their team with a huge scoring output and lead their team to victory. Any other night, they can't throw the ball into the ocean yet will continue to jack up bad shot after bad shot. For Simmons, her poor shot selection/failure to involve teammates led to an early exit in the Sweet 16. For Schimmel, her hot hand had Louisville in a great spot at halftime against Maryland. She went ice cold in the second half, continued to jack up bad shots and turned the ball over. Maryland got a big lead and at the end she went on a rampage, nailing three straight incredibly difficult three pointers in the last 30 seconds to give Louisville a chance before missing a wide open look at the buzzer to tie the game.

5. UCONN can play their "C" level of basketball for a half and still win by 15-20 no problem. Their interior size makes it virtually impossible for opponents to score around the basket. The only way a team is going to score 60+ on UCONN will be if they can spread the floor, hit mid range/perimeter jumpers and have great ball movement.

6. Jewel Loyd quietly had the best weekend of any player in my opinion. 20 points, 12 boards, 3 assists and 0 TOs in the regional semi, then had 30 points and 5 rebounds in the regional final. She has somehow flown under the radar this year (McBride has earned more attention for Notre Dame's success, and Stewart has received a lot more publicity for being the best sophomore in the nation) but this weekend Loyd proved to us she is a match up nightmare. She can hit perimeter shots, beat you off the dribble, hit pull up jumpers, finish in traffic at the rim and she excels as a rebounder and a defender. Even without Achonwa, as long as Loyd/McBride are on, Notre Dame will be tough out.

7. Diamond Deshields is going to be really really good if North Carolina becomes disciplined. She is incredibly talented, plays under control and will be a contender for POY the rest of her career. Diamond does a really good job of trying to involve her teammates when she could take open shots herself. I thought she was too unselfish tonight but if North Carolina becomes more disciplined (which honestly I don't think will happen), I think Diamond will emerge as one of the nation's best and UNC could become a title contender.

8. Alaina Coates will be an All-American for years to come. She has a great frame to play in the post. She reminds me a bit of Kia Vaughn when Vaughn had her great sophomore season at Rutgers. Big, strong, physical post player who can block shots and finish around the rim. I think she'll see more playing time next season and will emerge as South Carolina's go to player (unless Wilson chooses SC.)

9. Maryland does not handle full court pressure well. They had multiple turnovers from Louisville's full court pressure in the final minutes--if I'm Notre Dame or Connecticut, I'd defend Maryland the length of the court for 40 minutes. With defenders like Loyd and Jefferson, I think they could easily rattle Maryland's offense and force many turnovers.

10. After all the hoopla about Louisville getting robbed for a 2 seed/1 seed by the NCAA committee, they still finished the season without a win against a top 6 seeded team. They were dominant against teams that didn't make the tourney or were seeded 6th and lower (33-0) but never proved themselves against ranked foes (0-5 vs. teams seeded 4th and higher.) How good of a team Louisville was this season still remains a mystery to me.

Anyway, was fun to watch most of the regionals this year, looking forward to the Final Four and hopefully a showdown between Notre Dame and Connecticut.

Louisville is like SC in that they really didn't beat anybody. I think SC was 1-7 against teams that ended the year in top 25.

 

[winlots]

To BBAL who started this meaty thread, and the others of you who took time to make substantial and interesting responses, just want to express my appreciation. Wish I had more time now to weigh in, but I don't, other than to say I agree with most of the major points, from the refs on down...or up! And, SONNY, I picked up on your Dolson comment just when and as you did....jumped out at me when it happened.

 

[UcMiami]

May I add one more thing we should have learned from this and other posts?

Breanna Stuart is a superstar Basketball player. She is not a Goddess as all the writers and award presenters have made her in the press, the magazine covers, etc. Even at half time during the St. Joe's game [I think] when Stef was asked what the problem was, my beloved favorite blurted out the doltsome comment that "Breanna needs to play better". What about the rest of the team?

Could it be that all of this has mounted such huge pressure on Breanna that it affects her game?

An interesting point, but I have to respond ... No. This is not new territory for her she has spent the last 5 or more years being the superstar on every team she has been on. In fact playing for Uconn this past weekend is the new territory - Uconn won when she wasn't playing her best (and she didn't play as badly as she did in the whole mid-section of last year when Uconn was still winning most of their games.) No idea what happened this weekend, could have been a bad bed in the hotel for all I know. I think the pressure she puts on herself is greater than anything she gets from outside and given her consistency this year I think it was an aberration that will be righted this week in practice - maybe a few one on ones with CD at 5:30 AM.

 

[easttexastrash]

1. I also thought Louisville got the short end of the stick on 90% of the calls in their game tonight.

I guess what goes around comes around.

 

[PacoSwede]

...

Breanna Stuart is a superstar Basketball player. She is not a Goddess ....

Could it be that all of this has mounted such huge pressure on Breanna that it affects her game?

Yes

 

[easttexastrash]

In all seriousness, the state of referring in women's basketball is horrible.

 

[UcMiami]

1. The refs in this tournament have been simply awful. The Notre Dame game was a disaster, I also thought Louisville got the short end of the stick on 90% of the calls in their game tonight. Hopefully it will be better in the Final Four.
Agree - However, the worst ref'd game I have seen so far was the St. Johns v USC game in round one. 54 fouls called(more than the ND v Baylor game)
Ocho - good point. I commented on the regional reffing which with the exception of Baylor/ND was not too bad. If you go back to the first two rounds I thought there were some really bad games which was more expected as the ref talent (what there is of it) was stretched very thin. UNC might never have gotten out of NC had their game against UT Martin had a better crew working.

 

[PacoSwede]

Jewel Lloyd will fly under the radar no longer. She is having her coming out moment ...

Flying under the radar? She was ROY last year!!! And recognized as a AA-level player all of this year!

 

[UConnCat]

2. It will take a miracle for Stanford to be able to compete with Connecticut next weekend. Ogwumike's bread and butter is sealing off her defender, creating space and getting an uncontested layup. This will not work against UCONN's post trio. Additionally, Samuelson is not going to get wide open looks like she's had all tournament long, and I don't really see anybody capable of putting up big numbers against UCONN. On the flip side, UCONN put up 83 on Stanford earlier this year, and that was with Jefferson, Dolson, Stewart and KML combining to shoot 9-29 from the floor.
I think the game will be competitive, barring foul trouble on either team(see subject #1). By the way the last time that Stanford played UConn in the final 4 was back in 2010. UConn won the OOC game that year 80-68 and won the NC game 53-47. Both teams have developed since the earlier game this season. Also, who is going to be guarding Samuelson?

Probably KML as I think Stewie will be on Ruef. Samuelson can't be left open but it's not like she's that difficult to guard. She doesn't move a lot and doesn't run defenders off a lot of screens. She's tall and hangs out at the 3-point line. She'll drive on occasion but that's not her game. I think the bigger question is: who does Samuelson guard?

 

[ctdad]

There will be no Willis Reed moment. This is Women's College Basketball, not the NBA, and Reed had a torn thigh muscle, not an ACL injury.

The only way Achonwa will see the court is if there is a blowout one way or the other and she checks in so she can say she "played" in 4 Final Fours. And even that has about a 1% chance of happening.

 

[bballnut90]

Flying under the radar? She was ROY last year!!! And recognized as a AA-level player all of this year!

True-but whenever anyone spoke of Notre Dame last year, the focus was Diggins and McBride. This year McBride and is getting more of the accolades/publicity, and Achonwa is getting credit for being the team's leader/heart and soul (and even more focus is on her after her great regional performance and ACL injury) while Loyd's 50 points in 2 games is barely spoken about by announcers/analysts. I don't think she is being overlooked by any coaching staff or by posters, but she isn't getting the publicity she deserves IMO.

 

[Geno-ista]

Feel free to comment/criticize away. Just some observations that stuck out to me that I thought I'd share.

1. The refs in this tournament have been simply awful. The Notre Dame game was a disaster, I also thought Louisville got the short end of the stick on 90% of the calls in their game tonight. Hopefully it will be better in the Final Four.
Agree 100%

2. It will take a miracle for Stanford to be able to compete with Connecticut next weekend. Ogwumike's bread and butter is sealing off her defender, creating space and getting an uncontested layup. This will not work against UCONN's post trio. Additionally, Samuelson is not going to get wide open looks like she's had all tournament long, and I don't really see anybody capable of putting up big numbers against UCONN. On the flip side, UCONN put up 83 on Stanford earlier this year, and that was with Jefferson, Dolson, Stewart and KML combining to shoot 9-29 from the floor.
Agree 100%

3. Natalie Achonwa proved herself to be one of the best players in the nation. In the two regional games, she averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3 blocks. She has the size and strength to bang down low, excels at making timely passes to open teammates for good looks and finishes around the rim (16-22 FG). She is the only player Notre Dame couldn't afford to lose. It's a shame her collegiate playing career ended the way it did, she was playing her best basketball and led her team to the Final Four with a 36-0 record. I'm not sure how Notre Dame responds without her. Agree she is great, not sure they can beat Md, and didn't think they could really beat us with her, but I think the loss of LLoyd would be marginally worse- either devastating- splitting hairs probably. I don't think ND matched up with us great with healthy Natalie- not that we couldn't lose the game.

4. Shoni Schimmel and Meighan Simmons are the two most up and down players in the NCAA. One night, they can carry their team with a huge scoring output and lead their team to victory. Any other night, they can't throw the ball into the ocean yet will continue to jack up bad shot after bad shot. For Simmons, her poor shot selection/failure to involve teammates led to an early exit in the Sweet 16. For Schimmel, her hot hand had Louisville in a great spot at halftime against Maryland. She went ice cold in the second half, continued to jack up bad shots and turned the ball over. Maryland got a big lead and at the end she went on a rampage, nailing three straight incredibly difficult three pointers in the last 30 seconds to give Louisville a chance before missing a wide open look at the buzzer to tie the game.
Agree 100%

5. UCONN can play their "C" level of basketball for a half and still win by 15-20 no problem. Their interior size makes it virtually impossible for opponents to score around the basket. The only way a team is going to score 60+ on UCONN will be if they can spread the floor, hit mid range/perimeter jumpers and have great ball movement.
Agree 100%

6. Jewel Loyd quietly had the best weekend of any player in my opinion. 20 points, 12 boards, 3 assists and 0 TOs in the regional semi, then had 30 points and 5 rebounds in the regional final. She has somehow flown under the radar this year (McBride has earned more attention for Notre Dame's success, and Stewart has received a lot more publicity for being the best sophomore in the nation) but this weekend Loyd proved to us she is a match up nightmare. She can hit perimeter shots, beat you off the dribble, hit pull up jumpers, finish in traffic at the rim and she excels as a rebounder and a defender. Even without Achonwa, as long as Loyd/McBride are on, Notre Dame will be tough out.
Agree 100%

7. Diamond Deshields is going to be really really good if North Carolina becomes disciplined. She is incredibly talented, plays under control and will be a contender for POY the rest of her career. Diamond does a really good job of trying to involve her teammates when she could take open shots herself. I thought she was too unselfish tonight but if North Carolina becomes more disciplined (which honestly I don't think will happen), I think Diamond will emerge as one of the nation's best and UNC could become a title contender.
Agree 100%- she and Stewie will battle for POY for next two!

8. Alaina Coates will be an All-American for years to come. She has a great frame to play in the post. She reminds me a bit of Kia Vaughn when Vaughn had her great sophomore season at Rutgers. Big, strong, physical post player who can block shots and finish around the rim. I think she'll see more playing time next season and will emerge as South Carolina's go to player (unless Wilson chooses SC.)
Agree 100%

9. Maryland does not handle full court pressure well. They had multiple turnovers from Louisville's full court pressure in the final minutes--if I'm Notre Dame or Connecticut, I'd defend Maryland the length of the court for 40 minutes. With defenders like Loyd and Jefferson, I think they could easily rattle Maryland's offense and force many turnovers.
Great Observations- I think Md will just beat ND without Natalie. I don't think we have enough players to pressure full court to expose that- unless we go different and start the game with Banks and maybe even Stokes and even sub in Chong in early first half and really throw them off. But I am not sure our starting 5 can full court press and play an effective 30-35 minutes. Next year I hope and think we will have the team to employ these strategies when we think they can be effective.

10. After all the hoopla about Louisville getting robbed for a 2 seed/1 seed by the NCAA committee, they still finished the season without a win against a top 6 seeded team. They were dominant against teams that didn't make the tourney or were seeded 6th and lower (33-0) but never proved themselves against ranked foes (0-5 vs. teams seeded 4th and higher.) How good of a team Louisville was this season still remains a mystery to me.
Agree 100%

Anyway, was fun to watch most of the regionals this year, looking forward to the Final Four and hopefully a showdown between Notre Dame and Connecticut.

This was an awsome post bballnut..- thanks for taking the time to do this----great points and observations!!!!
I am looking forward to being at my first FF and think it will be UC vs MD and winning #9!

 

[ochoopsfan]

Probably KML as I think Stewie will be on Ruef. Samuelson can't be left open but it's not like she's that difficult to guard. She doesn't move a lot and doesn't run defenders off a lot of screens. She's tall and hangs out at the 3-point line. She'll drive on occasion but that's not her game. I think the bigger question is: who does Samuelson guard?

Zone defense, is my guess

 

[UConnCat]

Zone defense, is my guess

Interesting. Stanford doesn't play a lot of zone but did some in the 2nd half last night. Will be worth a shot to see if UConn will struggle to make shots. For all the talk about UConn's shooting woes, UConn made 48% of its shots and 7-18 three-pointers against A&M. That's not too shabby. Stewart's and Dolson's size and skill allow UConn to attack zones better than most teams, and certainly better than UNC did last night.

 

[bballnut90]

This was an awsome post bballnut..- thanks for taking the time to do this----great points and observations!!!!
I am looking forward to being at my first FF and think it will be UC vs MD and winning #9!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to watching the games, this season really flew by quickly.

 

[easttexastrash]

Flying under the radar? She was ROY last year!!! And recognized as a AA-level player all of this year!

Yeah, this is not Malaysia Airlines....we all know about this girl.

 

[msf22b]

There will be no Willis Reed moment. This is Women's College Basketball, not the NBA, and Reed had a torn thigh muscle, not an ACL injury.

The only way Achonwa will see the court is if there is a blowout one way or the other and she checks in so she can say she "played" in 4 Final Fours. And even that has about a 1% chance of happening.

You can put a big brace on and be pretty stable (if the pain and swelling goes down).
My wife re-nabbed (no operation) both knees after skiing mishaps, puts on her braces
and slashes down the blacks in a good Mikaela Shiffrin imitation

 

[VAUConnFan]

Interesting. Stanford doesn't play a lot of zone but did some in the 2nd half last night. Will be worth a shot to see if UConn will struggle to make shots. For all the talk about UConn's shooting woes, UConn made 48% of its shots and 7-18 three-pointers against A&M. That's not too shabby. Stewart's and Dolson's size and skill allow UConn to attack zones better than most teams, and certainly better than UNC did last night.

If past seasons are a barometer, then Stanford, statistically(smart school that they are), would be wise to consider trying to play zone against UConn. Last year UConn shot 19/40 in the Final four and this is pretty much the same team returning. But, going back as far as the website will go with archived records, UConn has been, at best, average from three point range:
2001 - 4/15
2002 - 7/26(0/9 in the championship game)
2003 - 16/35
2004 - 12/31
2008 - 7/26(against Stanford)
2009 - 12/35(4-14 championship game)
2010 - 12/38(6-20 championship game against Stanford)
2011 - 6/18
2012 - 3/13

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

You can put a big brace on and be pretty stable (if the pain and swelling goes down).
My wife re-nabbed (no operation) both knees after skiing mishaps, puts on her braces
and slashes down the blacks in a good Mikaela Shiffrin imitation

I hope this was in jest..if not , my nominee for Post Of The Dazed.

 

[ChicagoGG]

True-but whenever anyone spoke of Notre Dame last year, the focus was Diggins and McBride. This year McBride and is getting more of the accolades/publicity, and Achonwa is getting credit for being the team's leader/heart and soul (and even more focus is on her after her great regional performance and ACL injury) while Loyd's 50 points in 2 games is barely spoken about by announcers/analysts. I don't think she is being overlooked by any coaching staff or by posters, but she isn't getting the publicity she deserves IMO.

Thank you - that is what I meant by flying under the radar.

 

[UcMiami]

There will be no Willis Reed moment. This is Women's College Basketball, not the NBA, and Reed had a torn thigh muscle, not an ACL injury.

The only way Achonwa will see the court is if there is a blowout one way or the other and she checks in so she can say she "played" in 4 Final Fours. And even that has about a 1% chance of happening.

Didn't mean she would play - but Reed meant more as an emotional inspiration to his team than as a basketball player.

 

[UcMiami]

You can put a big brace on and be pretty stable (if the pain and swelling goes down).
My wife re-nabbed (no operation) both knees after skiing mishaps, puts on her braces
and slashes down the blacks in a good Mikaela Shiffrin imitation

Problem is timing if you go that route - it takes a while for your muscles to learn to stabilize the joint and compensate for the missing ligament - and for an athlete that intends to pursue a professional career it would be stupid as the other damage that you can do even in a big bulky brace could really kill those dreams. And Basketball is not an individual pursuit so you cannot control the forces that will be acting on your leg nor be effective with limited range of motion.

 

[hoopingcrane]

If past seasons are a barometer, then Stanford, statistically(smart school that they are), would be wise to consider trying to play zone against UConn. Last year UConn shot 19/40 in the Final four and this is pretty much the same team returning. But, going back as far as the website will go with archived records, UConn has been, at best, average from three point range:
2001 - 4/15
2002 - 7/26(0/9 in the championship game)
2003 - 16/35
2004 - 12/31
2008 - 7/26(against Stanford)
2009 - 12/35(4-14 championship game)
2010 - 12/38(6-20 championship game against Stanford)
2011 - 6/18
2012 - 3/13

What does the three point average of past teams have to do with the current team?