ACC Champions: Duke 92, Carolina 73

[OldPhiKap]

When she's won, she's won by running and pressing and she's not about to change.

Does that make Roy "the flexible coach" in Chapel Hill?!?

[dukelifer]

Jones named tournament MVP. Joined on 1st team by Williams, Peters, TRP and Alyssa Thomas.

Liston on second team, along with Rolle, Coleman, Chelsea Douglas and Tianna Hawkins.

Duke shot 56.9% from the the field, the best in a title game since 1984.

Hatchell said in post-game that she thinks Duke is better with Jones at point then with Gray at point.

Still would like to have Gray but Jones is special - she has a great feel for the game. Duke's O is much more fluid. They will need a big game to beat one of the 1 seeds- but they are not going to be an easy out.

[davekay1971]

Congrats to the Duke women! Wonderful championship, beating the Holes in the process. Now, on to another championship aspiration for them.

[OldPhiKap]

Congrats to the Duke women! Wonderful championship, beating the Holes in the process. Now, on to another championship aspiration for them.

Agreed. Big congrats, now on to the next challenge!

[uh_no]

Does anyone know what's going on here? Does UConn have so much talent stockpiled that this year's senior class decided to stay away, or are Duke and Notre Dame (and UNC, I hate to say) starting to catch up in the recruiting wars?

I think two things are at work here:

Uconn has a good amount of talent coming back, and the players they are losing (kelly faris and caroline doty) is not the kind you can replace simply by taking the top off the rankings. To some degree, I think that Geno probably didn't see a great fit for many of the players at the top of this year's class.

Second, I'm sure they probably did miss on some recruits.


Like Duke men, Uconn women don't like to stack the bench with walk ons (ala UNC men) or necessarily fill their scholarship allocation. As such, they will take players that they think fill a specific need.

so anyway, I think it's both a combination of not choosing to pursue a lot of this year's top recruits, and missing on the top recruits they did pursue.

[roywhite]

When she's won, she's won by running and pressing and she's not about to change.

I've seen a lot of teams who play that way and coaches who coach that style.

Till watching Sylvia, I don't recall seeing teams who press full court and foul intentionally when down by 20 points or more in the last few seconds. It's ridiculous, absurd, and poor sportsmanship; when the sport is showcased in a televised conference championship, such a display frankly hurts the product.

There's really no excuse for her behavior.

[burnspbesq]

Texas A&M took care of Kentucky in the SEC championship game.

UCLA leads Stanford by one with 2:59 to go.

[burnspbesq]

Stanford pulls it out by two. UCLA had a good look to force overtime, but it didn't drop.

[rogermortimer]

When she's won, she's won by running and pressing and she's not about to change.

Yes, but Hatchell's strategy nevertheless makes little sense. It is not like she wasn't apprised before this game of the likely consequences of UNC's chosen style of play.

I grew up watching Knight's first IU teams on grainy UHF channels in Chicago. There was a reason he rarely pressed on defense. It is all about costs and benefits. Gary Williams liked to press, but he knew how to control and throttle it as well. This is not the case with UNC's women's team. Yes, their physical 90 foot play makes them an uncomfortable opponent, but Duke scored often when they overplayed, and in any event, the physical court to court play prevents UNC from getting any sort of rhythm on offense. UNC is a good team - they just beat Maryland - another very good team - there is no reason they should play an uncompetitive final against Duke (and foul intentionally with 20 seconds under the guise that the team plays with intensity).

[Duke_92]

I was upset about the fouls at end if the game. Just poor sportsmanship. Tried to get my own first class (point at our bench) -- no class (point at their bench) chant going, but couldn't get the crowd to follow along.

[killerleft]

I wouldn't have been surprised if any of the Duke foursome of Jones, Liston, Peters, or even Williams and the trouble her very presence causes, had been named the top tourney player. These women got game!

A thoroughly enjoyable tournament.

[jimsumner]

Yes, but Hatchell's strategy nevertheless makes little sense. It is not like she wasn't apprised before this game of the likely consequences of UNC's chosen style of play.

I grew up watching Knight's first IU teams on grainy UHF channels in Chicago. There was a reason he rarely pressed on defense. It is all about costs and benefits. Gary Williams liked to press, but he knew how to control and throttle it as well. This is not the case with UNC's women's team. Yes, their physical 90 foot play makes them an uncomfortable opponent, but Duke scored often when they overplayed, and in any event, the physical court to court play prevents UNC from getting any sort of rhythm on offense. UNC is a good team - they just beat Maryland - another very good team - there is no reason they should play an uncompetitive final against Duke (and foul intentionally with 20 seconds under the guise that the team plays with intensity).

Sylvia has an image of herself and her basketball team. Tough, athletic, never-say-die. Run and press. Tough, athletic, never-say-die teams don't concede, even when they're 20 points behind with eight seconds left.

Ironically, Hatchell complained about the officiating in the post-game. Not this game specifically but a more general call for a looser, more flowing game, with less physicality allowed in the post region.

The irony did not escape us.

There's another aspect of yesterday's game that I found intriguing. As a general rule, the team that is 20 points behind is called for more fouls than the team that is 20 points ahead.

That was most emphatically not the case yesterday. Most curious.

[Lid]

Ironically, Hatchell complained about the officiating in the post-game. Not this game specifically but a more general call for a looser, more flowing game, with less physicality allowed in the post region.

The irony did not escape us.

Goodness, I just now read some of her post-game quotes.

“I know last year I talked about how physical it was,” Hatchell said. “I decided this year, hey, we’re just going to match everybody else with how physical we are.”

Is that a joke? Poor Sylvia, with her finesse players, previously unwilling to sully themselves by trying to beat the crap out of other players. How rude of Duke to have dragged them down into the muck.

That's what I get for thinking that she was much more gracious after the first two wins this year than she normally is. I guess she showed me.

[Duvall]

Should Duke have let the Heels stay a little closer on Sunday? Starting to worry that Notre Dame's ownership of UConn might get Duke shipped to Bridgeport as a #1 seed.

[dukelifer]

Should Duke have let the Heels stay a little closer on Sunday? Starting to worry that Notre Dame's ownership of UConn might get Duke shipped to Bridgeport as a #1 seed.

Notre Dame may have given it away.

[dukelifer]

Notre Dame may have given it away.

Great ending. Notre Dame steals the ball with a few secs left and get a layup on a great pass by Diggins

[Duvall]

Great ending. Notre Dame steals the ball with a few secs left and get a layup on a great pass by Diggins

Notre Dame steals its first Big East title and will carry it with them as they leave the league.

[burnspbesq]

Should Duke have let the Heels stay a little closer on Sunday? Starting to worry that Notre Dame's ownership of UConn might get Duke shipped to Bridgeport as a #1 seed.

Right now, Creme has us as the two seed in Norfolk, opposite Notre Dame, which makes no sense. We're clearly the number five team on the S-curve. We should be the two seed in Spokane opposite Stanford.

There is no good scenario for the committee in which Duke is a one seed. If we move up to number four on the S-curve and UConn moves down to five, we're lined up for a rematch, and it's inconceivable that it would be in Norfolk instead of Bridgeport. If we move up to number four and UConn gets knocked all the way down to number six, then we get Norfolk, but with a potential rematch with Cal in the Elite Eight (and Stanford gets hosed by having to go to Bridgeport, and either Baylor or ND has to go to Spokane). The only way to make us a one seed without a potential rematch is to depart from the S-curve and give us Kentucky, Tennessee, or Penn State as the two.

Let's go to Spokane and get some payback for last year.

[Bob Green]

Right now, Creme has us as the two seed in Norfolk, opposite Notre Dame, which makes no sense. We're clearly the number five team on the S-curve. We should be the two seed in Spokane opposite Stanford.

Let's go to Spokane and get some payback for last year.

Perhaps I'm guilty of not looking at the big picture (okay, I'm definitely guilty of not looking at the big picture), but I hope to see Duke at the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk.

[Merlindevildog91]

The Ted (Constant Center) would be a homecoming for Elizabeth Williams, who's from Virginia Beach.