Women's Final Four

[ChrisP]

Ok, I will admit, it totally slipped by me that the women were playing tonight. Texas A&M upset Standford in the first game and I just tuned into the last 11 or so minutes of ND vs. UCONN. I'm pulling for the Irish.

But anyway...what in the heck is up with this court? It hurts my eyes to look at it - yikes!!! Is the women's game really that much less popular that they have to resort to cheesy antics like this?

[terrih]

The court isn't bothering me so much. Little strange- I wish the key wasn't colored in. My questoin is do they always interview players and coaches during the game? At halftime, instead of interviewing a coach on the way to the locker room, they interviewed Maya Moore. At the start of the 2nd half they interviewed a player from ND. Just a few minutes ago- with around 10 minutes to go, they interviewed Gino.

I don't watch the women that much, is this common? Can you imagine ESPN talking to K Walker at halftime Monday night and then at the start of the second half- S Mack?

-TerriH

[uh_no]

The court isn't bothering me so much. Little strange- I wish the key wasn't colored in. My questoin is do they always interview players and coaches during the game? At halftime, instead of interviewing a coach on the way to the locker room, they interviewed Maya Moore. At the start of the 2nd half they interviewed a player from ND. Just a few minutes ago- with around 10 minutes to go, they interviewed Gino.

I don't watch the women that much, is this common? Can you imagine ESPN talking to K Walker at halftime Monday night and then at the start of the second half- S Mack?

-TerriH

women's games aren't terribly frequently televised (relative to men)...the head coach is by far a more frequent interview...but people want to hear Maya this and Maya that...she transcends the game a bit right now

[ChrisP]

I don't know if it's common to do those in-game interviews - I also thought it was odd. I think they do that in the NBA, right? I don't watch enough women's hoops to know if it's a regular thing.

But that court hurts my head. And yeah, what in the world is that weird coloring in the lane. It looks like some kind of "throwback" attempt. Hey, maybe that's it - maybe this court was designed for the era of black & white TV. Yeah, that MUST be it.

Love seeing UCONN struggle though!

[uh_no]

I don't know if it's common to do those in-game interviews - I also thought it was odd. I think they do that in the NBA, right? I don't watch enough women's hoops to know if it's a regular thing.

But that court hurts my head. And yeah, what in the world is that weird coloring in the lane. It looks like some kind of "throwback" attempt. Hey, maybe that's it - maybe this court was designed for the era of black & white TV. Yeah, that MUST be it.

Love seeing UCONN struggle though!

I think the key has flowers in it...if so, not exactly the best way to market the sport to the general populace...

[ChrisP]

One thing that is a constant in women's hoops seems no less true tonight - the officiating is horrendous. In the roughly 1/4 of this game that I've watched, I've seen at least 4 egregious fouls that went uncalled. Doesn't seem to favor one team over the other so...I guess that's good, right?

[uh_no]

One thing that is a constant in women's hoops seems no less true tonight - the officiating is horrendous. In the roughly 1/4 of this game that I've watched, I've seen at least 4 egregious fouls that went uncalled. Doesn't seem to favor one team over the other so...I guess that's good, right?

That's not exclusive to the women's game....

[DukeGirl4ever]

One thing that is a constant in women's hoops seems no less true tonight - the officiating is horrendous. In the roughly 1/4 of this game that I've watched, I've seen at least 4 egregious fouls that went uncalled. Doesn't seem to favor one team over the other so...I guess that's good, right?

I will agree with this statement that the officiating is horrible. The refs took Stephanie Dolson out of the game on fouls that were not fouls at all.

Trust me, it has definitely favored ND...they have been pushing UCONN at will. At one point the foul discrepancy was 10 UCONN fouls and 3 ND.

I know people on this board don't like the UCONN men's team, but I have great respect for Geno and Maya Moore. Maya has handled herself in an unbelievable fashion over the last four years. I'm sorry that people enjoy seeing them lose. I have nothing but respect for those women athletes and I don't get any enjoyment out of seeing any senior end their career.

[ChrisP]

Let's hope that this is just the first of a pair of disappointing hoops losses for UCONN in as many days. So glad to see teams NOT named Tennessee or UCONN play for the women's championship.

[ChrisP]

I will agree with this statement that the officiating is horrible. The refs took Stephanie Dolson out of the game on fouls that were not fouls at all.

Trust me, it has definitely favored ND...they have been pushing UCONN at will. At one point the foul discrepancy was 10 UCONN fouls and 3 ND.

I know people on this board don't like the UCONN men's team, but I have great respect for Geno and Maya Moore. Maya has handled herself in an unbelievable fashion over the last four years. I'm sorry that people enjoy seeing them lose. I have nothing but respect for those women athletes and I don't get any enjoyment out of seeing any senior end their career.

Ok, fair enough - I don't watch a ton of women's bball and didn't watch this whole game. I'm not that sad for these UCONN seniors - they DO have 2 championships under their belt, after all. I have a ton of respect for Moore, too but agian, she's already got a couple of rings. I'm happy to see ND advance.

[M B Walker]

Hallelujah! Notre Dame wins. No UConn in women's final.

[DukeGirl4ever]

Ok, fair enough - I don't watch a ton of women's bball and didn't watch this whole game. I'm not that sad for these UCONN seniors - they DO have 2 championships under their belt, after all. I have a ton of respect for Moore, too but agian, she's already got a couple of rings. I'm happy to see ND advance.

You have to think of it from the perspective of our fan base. A lot of people hate Duke because we win and we do things the right way. Our kids go to class and they are great contributors to the community.
I see the same kinds of things with the UCONN women's program. They win (and they dominate) and they have great young gals that represent their school.


I understand your thinking that it's nice to see someone else win. I will agree with that. But my goodness, wouldn't you have loved to see a UCONN/Tennessee or UCONN/Baylor, or better yet UCONN/Stanford national championship game? Those match-ups would have been intriguing given the past history.

I hate to say it, but those are the match-ups people talk about. The ND and Texas A&M winner will probably get lost in the shuffle over the few years, and I do think that's a shame. Unfortunately, that's where the women's game is...a few powerhouses that attract national attention.

[throatybeard]

I didn't want to post during the game for fear of unjixing UConn.

President Obama's WBB bracket just got killed tonight. Raise your hand if you had both underdogs.

Moore's untimely career end reminds me of us taking out Holdsclaw and UTK in the Region Final twelve years ago.

Is coach McGraw's name really Muffett? Really?

Yeah, that lane is odd. That's a real, old-school "key" inside the lane.

Last but not least, I find Carolyn Peck and her east TN dialect rather fetching.

[MCFinARL]

You have to think of it from the perspective of our fan base. A lot of people hate Duke because we win and we do things the right way. Our kids go to class and they are great contributors to the community.
I see the same kinds of things with the UCONN women's program. They win (and they dominate) and they have great young gals that represent their school.


I understand your thinking that it's nice to see someone else win. I will agree with that. But my goodness, wouldn't you have loved to see a UCONN/Tennessee or UCONN/Baylor, or better yet UCONN/Stanford national championship game? Those match-ups would have been intriguing given the past history.

I hate to say it, but those are the match-ups people talk about. The ND and Texas A&M winner will probably get lost in the shuffle over the few years, and I do think that's a shame. Unfortunately, that's where the women's game is...a few powerhouses that attract national attention.

You're right, of course, but isn't that just why having two up-and-coming teams in the final is a good thing? If they can build on this, they can expand the pool of teams that draw attention in the women's game.

[DukeGirl4ever]

You're right, of course, but isn't that just why having two up-and-coming teams in the final is a good thing? If they can build on this, they can expand the pool of teams that draw attention in the women's game.

Oh I totally agree with your thinking that it should attract more people, but I'm not sure it will. The only school that I can think of recently that won it all and attracted a new fan base was Baylor...and for that school, that is a great thing given some of the events with the men's program.

I love to watch basketball at any level. Heck I sit around on the weekends sometimes and watch high school girls game just to learn something new about the game. I really wish more people would watch the women's game because I find it to be very intriguing due to some of the rules (i.e. no 10 sec. rule to get across the timeline). I really think that rule should be changed - it would open up a whole new world for the women's game and I think it would attract more fans as the tempo of the games would pick up, IMO.

[uh_no]

You're right, of course, but isn't that just why having two up-and-coming teams in the final is a good thing? If they can build on this, they can expand the pool of teams that draw attention in the women's game.

Not sure ND counts as up and coming...this is their third final 4 in the past 15 years and they won the championship just 10 years ago.

[DukeGirl4ever]

Not sure ND counts as up and coming...this is their third final 4 in the past 15 years and they won the championship just 10 years ago.

I also try to look at it this way - if the school has a successful men's bball program or a football program, the women's program will usually get their support.

ND has a pretty wide fan base as a result of the football program, so I'm not sure how much we are "expanding the horizon" with them being there but MCFinARL's point is good in theory.

Good discussion - great points by all. Thanks for feeding my obsession...I have felt like something's been missing in my life this weekend as I haven't been able to watch the proper shade of blue and white on the hardwood!

[Lid]

I don't watch the women that much, is this common?

It's not something I've seen during the games I watched in the regular season, but they've been doing it during the tournament quite a bit. I also think it's bizarre -- really, Gonzaga's star player has to not only carry her team, she has to stop and talk to a reporter on her way to the locker room at halftime?

About people being happy that ND beat UConn: I'm definitely not a fan of UConn's women's team, because I'm a Duke fan, and I generally don't have super-fuzzy feelings about teams that are in the habit of beating the tar out of my favorite team. So, I'm not happy to see players finish their careers, but I also don't see any reason to look forward to ND's players seeing the ends of their careers, either. But again, my loyalties are entirely to Duke's team.

I know that uh_no is fond of reminding us how UConn's goal is to beat the crap out of every team they face (to the point of keeping the starters in with a 30-point lead and 5 minutes left), which is fine, but I'm sure the team doesn't now want our sympathies for their own loss. And frankly, they don't have mine. I won't cheer for them to lose, but I'm also not sad to see that their seniors only have 2 rings, not 3. Poor babies.

[stillcrazie]

Just wanted to chime in and say that it's the only time I remember watching both Final Four games when Duke was not in it and thoroughly enjoyed both games. Exciting upsets, great finishes, hard fought games, new stars emerging. I had not heard of Skylar Diggins until ESPN did a story on her right before the game - she grew up in South Bend and idolized the woman who is now her coach. Just a great story. Danielle Adams of A&M also became a favorite. I had planned to root for Stanford thinking they had the best chance vs. UConn, but fell in love with A&M's hard nosed play.

Sometimes women's bball can be hard to watch because of poor shooting, but for me, these were two games that were fun to watch from start to finish. (I did fall asleep at the beginning of the second half of UConn/ND but woke up in time to see the finish!

I'd love nothing more than to see Duke there next year - Chelsea Gray as the star guard, Amber Henson and EWill as forces in the paint.

[uh_no]

Sometimes women's bball can be hard to watch because of poor shooting, but for me, these were two games that were fun to watch from start to finish. (I did fall asleep at the beginning of the second half of UConn/ND but woke up in time to see the finish!

Isn't it amazing when you get really good women's teams to play eachother? One of the reasons that a small number of teams can dominate all the rest and make it un-fun to watch, is that so many teams just play terrible ball...throwing the ball away, not runninng offense...whatever. Nobody wants to watch that. Then when you get a uconn or stanford who play well, they can rip and shred teams in the rest of the country...I think the problem is that the talent pool just doesn't exist for women's basketball, so its harder to fill more than a large handful of teams with all good players, whereas in mens where there are hundreds and hundreds of really good players out there.