Would a 50 Point Margin of Victory have been Overkill?

[Billybonggg]

Somebody, whose arithmetic I will trust, said that our average margin of victory during the NCAA tournament was 37.5 points. If we had EDD and Samurai, what would it have been? At some point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in because there's only one ball.

 

[ju6381]

EDD would not have still been around this year w/out transferring.

 

[semper]

That's right, she would not have been here...but I think we probably would have had 4 NC's during her UConn years. That's OK, that's OK....

 

[VAMike23]

Somebody, whose arithmetic I will trust, said that our average margin of victory during the NCAA tournament was 37.5 points. If we had EDD and Samurai, what would it have been? At some point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in because there's only one ball.

If we had Samurai, we would have been unbeatable!!!

Samurai Delicatessen[link]

 

[alexrgct]

If Uconn had EDD, it is quite possible that UConn would have gone all four years of her college career without losing a game. And although The Streak was good for WBB, a streak that lasted in the vicinity of 170 games would not have been.

 

[HGN]

A 50-point margin of victory would have been overkill I think.........Geno would have pulled all the starters off the floor and not tried to run the score up. Especially against someone he liked , like Jeff Walz. With victory clearly in hand he would have called the dogs ( Huskies in this case ) off.

But if it had been against the Tennessee of old a few years ago , I am not so sure.

 

[Phil]

Count me among those who wistfully wonder what would have been had she stayed, but remember, in any what if, that there are other dominoes. Maybe someone else doesn't come. Maybe the team dynamic changes. I guess if it is a hypothetical, you can ask, "what if everything else had transpired the same way, except that EDD stayed?" but if she actually had stayed, not everything else would have been the same.

 

[Blakeon18]

I am not sure about it but my impression was that Breanna did not play many minutes in the second half of the title game.
Does anyone have any facts on that? I know she had 18 points in the first half and only 5 in the second. I wonder if Geno might have been calling off the dogs at some point....and/or....whether he had some concern about that shoulder that she banged in the ND game which may have led to her wearing that tape in the finals....something I don't recall her ever wearing before.

 

[alexrgct]

Count me among those who wistfully wonder what would have been had she stayed, but remember, in any what if, that there are other dominoes. Maybe someone else doesn't come. Maybe the team dynamic changes. I guess if it is a hypothetical, you can ask, "what if everything else had transpired the same way, except that EDD stayed?" but if she actually had stayed, not everything else would have been the same.

If EDD played for UConn, my suspicion is that the following changes would have occurred:

• UConn wins NCs in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
• With Maya's departure, 2012 would have been different insomuch as Stef and Bria wouldn't have been put through the crucible that was the 2010-11 season. EDD would have been the central star, but her supporting players wouldn't have had the pressure they did on them the previous season. However, there's a very good chance UConn challenges Baylor for all the marbles.
• UConn probably DOESN'T win it all this season.
• With UConn consistently pulverizing ND, it's possible Reimer makes a different recruiting decision. Not sure if any other recruits do.

 

[Phil]

I am not sure about it but my impression was that Breanna did not play many minutes in the second half of the title game.
Does anyone have any facts on that? I know she had 18 points in the first half and only 5 in the second. I wonder if Geno might have been calling off the dogs at some point....and/or....whether he had some concern about that shoulder that she banged in the ND game which may have led to her wearing that tape in the finals....something I don't recall her ever wearing before.

She played 30 minutes, so had ten at least, and probably more, in second half. However, moving from fact to impressions, my recollection is that, with a big lead, Stewart wasn't as much the focus in the second half.

She took ten shots in the first half (per pbp, which doesn't list shots attempted when fouled, so I think there are two more). She only took four shots in the second half.

 

[EricLA]

Both Phil and Alex make some good points regarding "what if". But I'm not sure if any of the recruiting "dominos" would have actually fallen. I'm not sure how EDD's departure date matches with Kelly's verbal (which one came first), but I doubt Kelly's decision was affected either way. Given the position EDD plays, I'm also doubtful that Samarie, Stef, Michala, Lauren or Bria would have made different decisions. Perhaps Lauren might have at the time, but I don't think the others would have. But I'm just guessing.

And then freshmen coming in - KML, Banks and Stokes - doesn't seem like their decision would have been effected either. But we will never know - all just speculation. I'm betting EDD would have been more fit and strong had she come to UCONN, and certainly would have scored less points. It would have been an unprecedented run and I'm betting Alex is right in that we would already have NC #10 or 11 if she'd been at UCONN for 4 years...

The biggest impact the recruitment of EDD had was on HER class - Geno held a schollie for her at the expense of others he could have been recruiting. I think Sykes ended up no great shakes, but Chelsey Lee wanted to play with her and Sykes was supposedly interested in UCONN. If EDD made her mind up sooner, possibly we could have landed Sykes, and then Lee may have followed. Just WAG's on my part tho...

I do disagree that a 100-something win streak would have been "bad" for the game. I don't mean this directed at Alex, but at the UCONN haters who felt the 90 game streak was "bad" for the game. What a bunch of hogwash. This past year ESPN and the NCAAW promoted the snot out of the "3 to see". How much did it raise the consciousness of the average fan? Not much. But a streak of 170 games would have put UCONN on ESPN almost after every single game. Sure people might have gotten "sick" of the success, but it certainly would have been way more newsworthy than any other WCBB story over the past 4 years... Bad for the game? Only if you are a UCONN hater...

 

[alexrgct]

Eric, I think 90 was great for the game. Unfortunately, one of the reasons why was that there was a men's CBB precedent to relate to it. If UConn came close doubling UCLA, the talk of a complete lack of competitive balance in the sport would have been amplified. Those stories would have started to drown out the "what an amazing accomplishment" stories.

 

[Tonyc]

One thing keep in mind. If EDD had stayed at UConn who wouldn't we have had? Look at our roster this year. Pretty powerful lineup. The only recruit we have coming is Chong. If Stewart Tuck and Jefferson weren't here who would've replaced them? Would UConn have a bigger class next season? You see when you get a lineup line UConn has and has had its tuff to get other great players to sign without telling them they will play. We lost Hammond to LVille and a couple of others. I believe its because we have such a great lineup kids think it would be tuff to crack into a starting role.