What was learned from the regionals

[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?

 

[j66kicker]

http://espn.go.com/espnw/video/10712275/mcgraw-achonwa

Here is Muffet...

"...and now we're back to that underdog role that we did so well in."

 

[Sonny44]

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.

I see your point Uc, but everyone has a limit. The kid's barely out of her teens.
Anyway, I have no doubt that she'll be a factor when it counts the most.

 

[VAUConnFan]

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

To indicate that even great shooters and great teams can go cold at the wrong time, UConn no exception. and that two of these untimely cold shooting Final Four performances came against Stanford. Statistically, one year has nothing to do with another, you are absolutely right to call me on it. However, history, as the saying goes, tends to repeat itself.

 

[Geno-ista]

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

They always fly by- it's such a letdown!

 

[winlots]

They always fly by- it's such a letdown!

GENO: tell it! Ain't that the truth! Was just looking at my pocket UCONN schedule today and thinking, "Man , that was quick.....and that marks another several months of LIFE itself flying by as well." Guess the thing is to keep havin fun and trying to do some good things for folks.

 

[Geno-ista]

GENO: tell it! Ain't that the truth! Was just looking at my pocket UCONN schedule today and thinking, "Man , that was quick.....and that marks another several months of LIFE itself flying by as well." Guess the thing is to keep havin fun and trying to do some good things for folks.

We are getting a bit mushy, but between working hard, playing hard(fly fishing) , quality family time ,and UConn womens B ball is one of the things we all love!!!
There are worse things in life!

 

[bballnut90]

GENO: tell it! Ain't that the truth! Was just looking at my pocket UCONN schedule today and thinking, "Man , that was quick.....and that marks another several months of LIFE itself flying by as well." Guess the thing is to keep havin fun and trying to do some good things for folks.

I think this season in particular has flown by quickly because it was evident early in the season that the championship was a 2 horse race between Connecticut and Maryland. Since Notre Dame won by 16 at Tennessee it was pretty clear that Connecticut/Notre Dame were head and shoulders above everyone else. As a result, the focus of women's college basketball since then has been on the potential match up of these 2 powerhouses in the championship game.

I think overall it has been a down year for women's college basketball compared to years past. Outside of UCONN/Notre Dame, there haven't been any other consistent teams this year. It's rare you see nearly every top 10 team have 1-2 really bad losses throughout the season. Outside of the Maryland-Notre Dame game, and Baylor-Connecticut, no one has challenged the top dogs.
On the other side of it, it's worth pointing out that Notre Dame and Connecticut are both truly exceptional teams this year. I believe both teams are vastly improved compared to a year ago and have earned their right to be considered "one of the best teams ever" even though only one of them will take home the trophy. The clear separation of Notre Dame/UCONN and the rest of college basketball has made this season predictable, and I think most people have been waiting for the epic showdown on April 8th rather than the focusing on the rest of the season.

There were some other good headlines this season (ex. who deserved 1 seeds, how good/not good was the SEC, how good was Louisville, Sims chasing Stiles, Chiney breaking the Pac-12 record), but at the end of the day there were really only 2 teams that anyone could see winning the championship so hopefully we'll get the matchup everyone is dying to see.

 

[UConnCat]

"...and now we're back to that underdog role that we did so well in."

I can not believe she actually said that.

 

[ThisJustIn]

I think overall it has been a down year for women's college basketball compared to years past. Outside of UCONN/Notre Dame, there haven't been any other consistent teams this year.

Funny - I had just the opposite reaction - I thought it was an UP year BECAUE of the upsets and unpredictability. I guess I'm thinking there's more talent spread around, some of the under-the-radar coaches are struttin' their stuff, and so on. Parity (expect for the freaks that were ND and UConn.) It used to be you could get a win simply because you had better athletes (oh, how Geno has railed about that)... not so easy this season. You don' t play a complete game - mental and physical, you got took down....

 

[AndyCT]

[Muffet] "...and now we're back to that underdog role that we did so well in."

I can not believe she actually said that.

Come on, admit it, you can -

Besides, it's got to go better for her than that Overdog thing did last year.