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wandalee
01-15-2010, 08:34 AM
UConn comes to CIS on Monday night. We need a huge Duke crowd (especially lots of students) to help out the team. Tickets are still available. On paper, we look like a huge underdog, but maybe Jaz will play the role of Jessica Foley to get the win!

MHTorringjan
01-15-2010, 10:26 AM
I like that the students were apparently heard to cheer at the men's BC game during the announcement, hopefully, that means we'll have a good showing (and hopefully, they won't be able to leave at halftime because the game will be exciting enough for them!). Everybody who's here and has a couple of hours free on Monday night should be there! Go, DUKE!

miramar
01-15-2010, 10:34 AM
UConn has beaten Stanford 80-69, FSU 78-59, and UNC 88-47, so graduation has not affected them at all. Nevertheless, UConn is playing #3 Notre Dame on Saturday before traveling to Cameron, so the timing is as good as it's going to get.

Duke struggled mightily at times last night against Miami, but Katie Meier's team has improved significantly this year and they deserve their #25 ranking. Krystal Thomas played a very strong game (7/10 15 pts and 12 boards) and Jasmine really stepped up after scoring only 1 point in the first half. She hit two big threes and finished with 15 points on only 4/19 shooting. Joy Cheek had a really rough game offensively (3/17) but pulled down 11 rebounds.

Miami's Riquana Williams (22.4 PPG coming in, with 27 vs. FSU last Sunday) started off hot with back to back threes, as the Duke defense was MIA. Then the women started bearing down and Williams missed 12 straight and finished with 10 on 4/23.

Duke was moving the ball well on offense, but they often ended up taking bad shots, unfortunately. But after falling behind 20-11 Duke slowly started taking control. Duke had an 8 point lead with a few minutes left, only to let Miami come back to only three points down in the final minute. Duke finally pulled away with free throws and solid defense to win by 7, but the game should have been in the refrigerator by then.

It was a good road win against an improved Miami team, but Duke will need to put together 40 minutes of good basketball on Monday, something they only showed in spurts last night.

heyman25
01-15-2010, 10:46 AM
They will have to give 40 minutes of effort or it will be over before they know what happened.

CameronBornAndBred
01-15-2010, 12:35 PM
I think you can put less impact on their drubbing of unc, as the heels are not looking like a very good team right now. They got beat by double digits last night by VT, and the Hokies are not a good team.

burnspbesq
01-16-2010, 12:58 AM
Interesting that there was a piece on goduke.com today talking about how hard our women work in the weight room and how that translates into a different style of defense. It's very noticeable on the court this season. The contrast between this year's team and past Duke teams is not subtle. I expect we'll hear a lot of complaints from Sylvia about thug-ball.

Monday could be the most physical women's game you've ever seen, because neither of these teams will back down.

It will be interesting to see how UConn reacts when they have to take the same stuff that they dish out.

miramar
01-16-2010, 09:54 PM
UConn is beating undefeated Notre Dame by 23. At the half.

Does anyone remember how the Gipper speech goes?

Gargoyle
01-16-2010, 10:03 PM
UConn is beating undefeated Notre Dame by 23. At the half.

Does anyone remember how the Gipper speech goes?

6'4" Tina Charles has 17 points and 9 rebounds. I cannot imagine leaving Krystal Thomas out of the starting lineup.

wolfpackdevil
01-16-2010, 10:09 PM
Let's just all remember that this UCONN women's program is the strongest program in any sport right now. they are unstopable in a lot of peoples mind. and Mya Moore is simply amazing.


A Duke win would be a upset for the century.

SCMatt33
01-16-2010, 10:18 PM
Let's just all remember that this UCONN women's program is the strongest program in any sport right now. they are unstopable in a lot of peoples mind. and Mya Moore is simply amazing.


A Duke win would be a upset for the century.

I'd contend that Penn St. women's volleyball with 102 straight wins and 3 straight NC's is better right now, but after those two there is a big drop off before reaching 3rd place.

Verga3
01-16-2010, 11:23 PM
Our team will battle and are peers to the Huskies in terms of the physicality that the game will likely feature. I will be very surprised if our young women do not rise to the occassion and compete. After an impressive win v. Notre Dame tonight and a travel day tomorrow, UConn will be confident....but maybe a little tired. Coach P will have Duke ready. Stay tuned for a terrific women's college basketball game.

I hope Cameron is PACKED for this nationally televised contest!

wandalee
01-18-2010, 08:27 AM
OK, show of hands. Who is going to tonight's game?? I'll be there with my husband and his sister. I'm also working to get several co-workers there.
According to goduke.com, there are still tickets available. They are only $10 for adults and $5 for children; Duke students are free. We need a huge crowd to cheer on the ladies!

miramar
01-18-2010, 10:36 AM
WBB has often been offensively challenged the last two and a half years, but they have shown real improvement this season. Comparing this year's 17 games to last year's 33-game season, 2PT shooting is up from 43.4% to 48.1%. 3PT shooting has declined slightly, 32% to 30%. Scoring has increased from 72.1 to 76.3 PPG.

The team has also improved in assists and turnovers. This year they have 15% more turnovers than assists, which is about par for women's teams, compared to a really horrible +41% last year. Assists are up from 13.6 to 15.1 per game, while turnovers are down from 19.1 to 17.5 per game. Several of the women have a solid assist to turnover ratio (Jasmine Thomas, Keturah Jackson, Shay Selby), something that has not been seen since Emily Waner left the team about two years ago.

On the down side, the two leading scorers have pretty low shooting percentages: Jasmine Thomas (38.1%) and Joy Cheek (38.7%). I suspect that these results have more to do with shot selection than ability, so there is no reason why they can't improve dramatically.

Fortunately, several of the regulars are shooting over 50% (Bridgette Mitchell, Krystal Thomas, Allison Vernerey). Karima Christmas is only shooting 44.7%, but that is because she has been ineffective from 3PT range (27.9%). She is shooting 52% on 2PT shots.

That may or may not be enough tonight, but I expect that this game will settle once and for all the question of whether offense is truly overrated. I'm pretty sure that the answer is a definite no.

Finally, the biggest difference between last year and this year is that Duke WBB has the opportunity to play the first round in Cameron in March, which would be a far more hospitable environment than Lansing MI.

zingit
01-18-2010, 02:32 PM
Does anyone know if General Admission tickets are still available? I tried purchasing them online, and it looked like GA tickets were still available, but it gave me the message "unable to secure tickets at this price level." Does that mean they're out, or there's just a glitch online, or what? The ticket office opens at 4 today (according to their phone message), so I guess I'll try again then, but I was just wondering if anyone had any information.

Gargoyle
01-18-2010, 02:58 PM
Statistics can be misleading. It looks like Duke has improved this year in shooting but in the two games they have lost, the team shot 33.3% and 28.4%. JT and JC combined to shoot 19 of 67 (28.4%). Now, it may be that Duke is just not a good shooting team away from CIS but it also may be that they just aren't so good when matched up against comparably talented players who do not allow transition layups or uncontested mid-range jump shots.

Duke is definitely a strong rebounding team but so is CT. Against Stanford, Duke was +5 but CT was +14.

IMO, in order to be competitive, duke must:

break even on the boards (especially the defensive boards)
shoot 40% or better
have 16 or fewer turnovers
not lose their poise
hope that CT continues its shooting slump from behind the arc

This is a big game for Duke. If we are competitive, recruits will take notice (are any recruits going to be at the game?) and a good showing will go a long way toward getting a favorable seed in the Tournament.

Rudy
01-18-2010, 09:15 PM
Just got in to see the last three minutes. 81-48. Ouch.

uh_no
01-18-2010, 09:19 PM
great to see a sellout, but the uconn train keeps rolling, with no end in sight

57 straight baby

Welcome2DaSlopes
01-18-2010, 09:28 PM
Uconn is an unstoppable force.

wandalee
01-18-2010, 09:41 PM
What a great crowd. Special thanks to all the students, especially the huge contingent of Duke fball players next to the band. Please continue coming to games - we usually play better than we did tonight.

It was a rough game and Duke held on through the 1st half, but just didn't stop UConn's 3s in the 2nd half, plus we could not get any baskets. UConn is a great team with lots of great players. They look unbeatable!

Verga3
01-18-2010, 10:10 PM
Great game for UConn. Lots of weapons. Congratulations.

Our girls fought hard, but it was just not to be tonight. There seemed to be a "total belief/freeflow play" aspect to our game that was absent tonight. Hope this game will be a growing and toughening experience for this special group. I believe this Duke WBB team is VERY good and will do some significant damage in the ACC and NCAA this year.

burnspbesq
01-18-2010, 11:03 PM
UConn hasn't shot threes like that all season. Based on their body of work, it was entirely logical to dare them to make threes. Alas, they made them.

Next play.

mapei
01-18-2010, 11:30 PM
They also made oustanding entry passes one after another, and forced turnovers all night. The second half was a clinic.

devildownunder
01-18-2010, 11:33 PM
believe me when I say this, I detest, I mean DETEST Geno Auriemma, but he teaches offense to collegiate women's basketball players better than anyone I've ever seen. I cheer for the other team against HIM -- not UConn, HIM -- every time his teams take the floor but I just have to accept that he's not going to lose too often.

Here's hoping the women's game continues to expand so he won't be able to recruit so well down the road.

ChicagoCrazy84
01-19-2010, 12:03 AM
I agree with the post above. The problem with women's basketball is that there is no parody whatsoever. Right now, there is no such thing as cinderellas because there are so few great prospects and all 50 of them choose to go to UCONN, Duke, Tennessee, Stanford, or whoever. You look at box scores and you never see upsets and there are tons of blowouts. Congrats to Auriemma and what he has been able to do, but I'll tell you what, women's basketball is going to become more and more uninteresting as long as they keep winning. What is the point in watching when the #1 team is beating the #3 and #7 team in the country by 30+ on the road?

Taco
01-19-2010, 12:13 AM
I agree with the post above. The problem with women's basketball is that there is no parody whatsoever.

Yeah, those ladies need to lighten up.

A little satire wouldn't hurt either.

ChicagoCrazy84
01-19-2010, 12:22 AM
Yeah, those ladies need to lighten up.

A little satire wouldn't hurt either.


Oops, I mean parity:o

devildownunder
01-19-2010, 12:23 AM
Yeah, those ladies need to lighten up.

A little satire wouldn't hurt either.

* chuckle *

yeah, that was a good one.

duketaylor
01-19-2010, 12:24 AM
"A little satire wouldn't hurt either."
That's just too damn funny, well done.

Jim3k
01-19-2010, 12:44 AM
You would think P could permit her players to set an occasional pick. A freed-up shooter is more likely to hit the shot than one who has a defender in her face.

Gargoyle
01-19-2010, 09:15 AM
a very disappointing night.

In order to be competitive, I thought Duke had to:

break even on the boards (especially the defensive boards) -- we did this, +4 on the boards, only 11 second chance points for CT (on the other hand their shooting % was so high that they didn't have many opportunities)

shoot 40% or better -- we shot 33.9%

have 16 or fewer turnovers -- 23 Tos/7 assists; CT had 14 Tos to 24 assists

not lose their poise -- lost poise badly in the 2nd half

hope that CT continued its shooting slump from behind the arc -- CT was 13/25 from 3; we did a bad job of finding the shooters

I guess the outcome was to be expected. CT has 2 All America players (one of whom will be NPOY), a third who will be all BE and the best womens' (redundant?) coach. Duke has one potential all ACC player.

We need to put this one behind us and concentrate on winning the ACC. I think we have a fairly good chance.

JG Nothing
01-19-2010, 09:59 AM
You would think P could permit her players to set an occasional pick. A freed-up shooter is more likely to hit the shot than one who has a defender in her face.

Living in the Midwest, I rarely get to see the women play these days. Was last night typical of their offense? I watched most of the game (except when putting the kids to bed) and did not see one on or off the ball screen. From what I recall, there was the occasional rotation and a lot of standing around. What is McCallie's offensive philosophy in the half court?

stillcrazie
01-19-2010, 10:06 AM
I don't know what the offensive strategy was last night, but it seemed to me that the shot selection was often poor, and that they lost their cool and just missed a lot of shots. I can't even say that UConn's defense forced all of the misses, because some of the shots were not contested.

DoubleDuke Dad
01-19-2010, 11:06 AM
While the outcome of the game was what I expected, I was a little put off by the poor sportsmanship of the U Conn team. Did you see the cheering on the beach near the end of the game for a basket by a U Conn player when they were up by about 25 points? One of their players ran down the beach slapping the hand of each of the players as they cheered wildly. If he had been a spectacular play maybe I could see the cheering. However it was just a three point shot off of a screen.

stillcrazie
01-19-2010, 11:36 AM
While the outcome of the game was what I expected, I was a little put off by the poor sportsmanship of the U Conn team. Did you see the cheering on the beach near the end of the game for a basket by a U Conn player when they were up by about 25 points? One of their players ran down the beach slapping the hand of each of the players as they cheered wildly. If he had been a spectacular play maybe I could see the cheering. However it was just a three point shot off of a screen.

I believe this happened on UConn's last possession, so they had all their subs in, the crowd was on Duke not to let UConn score, and the 3 came at the shot-clock buzzer, so it was a pretty dramatic moment. I can see how they would get emotional. While some of the players seemed over-typed, I thought their fans were pretty low-key and polite.

DoubleDuke Dad
01-19-2010, 12:12 PM
I believe this happened on UConn's last possession, so they had all their subs in, the crowd was on Duke not to let UConn score, and the 3 came at the shot-clock buzzer, so it was a pretty dramatic moment. I can see how they would get emotional. While some of the players seemed over-typed, I thought their fans were pretty low-key and polite.

No it happened a few minutes before then. I wouldn't have mentioned it if they had only cheered for the player, but I felt that the celebration was way out of line. I am sure somebody (not me) can find a tape of it to show so that you can see what I mean by excessive celebration.

stillcrazie
01-19-2010, 12:38 PM
No it happened a few minutes before then. I wouldn't have mentioned it if they had only cheered for the player, but I felt that the celebration was way out of line. I am sure somebody (not me) can find a tape of it to show so that you can see what I mean by excessive celebration.

I was annoyed by so many things at the game that it is hard for me to single out this particular moment. I do remember a big moment toward the end over a 3 at the buzzer, and a couple of their players seemed a bit cocky, but I've seen a lot worse in the ACC, e.g. MD, UNC. The main thing I took away from the game is that UConn is dishearteningly good and we have a lot of work to do.

CameronBlue
01-19-2010, 01:00 PM
You would think P could permit her players to set an occasional pick. A freed-up shooter is more likely to hit the shot than one who has a defender in her face.

Yup. Duke competed fiercely from start to finish and it seems evident that the team wants to play for this coach. The team lost its focus toward the middle of the second half but never its intensity. Coach P should be credited for inspiring a team ethic and a desire to win.

However this team has plenty of experienced players (JT, KC, KT, JC, BM) and there's no excuse for being so inept against UConn's fairly passive zone. When UConn did apply pressure it was to trap on the wings. There was minimal ball movement, side to side or inside-out passing, not much dribble and dish penetration, ball reversal, off-ball screens, those easy to teach time-tested strategies you employ against the zone. Give the team an A+ for effort but Coach P a C- for strategy and execution. Disappointing.

DukeBlueNikeShox
01-19-2010, 01:26 PM
While the outcome of the game was what I expected, I was a little put off by the poor sportsmanship of the U Conn team. Did you see the cheering on the beach near the end of the game for a basket by a U Conn player when they were up by about 25 points? One of their players ran down the beach slapping the hand of each of the players as they cheered wildly. If he had been a spectacular play maybe I could see the cheering. However it was just a three point shot off of a screen.

So it's "poor sportsmanship" to be happy and celebrate for a teammate who made a great play?! Each time UConn hits a three, a player goes down and back, high-fiving the bench. They have done this tradition for many years.

Is it "poor sportsmanship" when a team chest bumps after an And1?

DoubleDuke Dad
01-19-2010, 01:40 PM
So it's "poor sportsmanship" to be happy and celebrate for a teammate who made a great play?! Each time UConn hits a three, a player goes down and back, high-fiving the bench. They have done this tradition for many years.

Is it "poor sportsmanship" when a team chest bumps after an And1?

Thanks for the information. I did not know that this was standard operating procedure for UConn. It was only toward the very end of the game that the camera showed the bench reacting to a made three point shot. Maybe it is just me, but I think there is a point at which you tone down the celebration - like when the opposition is being slaughtered and there is less than five minutes to go in the game. I sure hope that the designated hi-fiver was not worn out or injured since she had to do this 13 times during the game.

killerleft
01-19-2010, 01:49 PM
Our great crowd never let up, just like the players.

UConn has lots of weapons. The Duke offense did not look good at all, but I thought the UConn defense was very good.

If UConn hadn't been so hot from behind the arc, we might have at least been competitive against them.

DukeBlueNikeShox
01-19-2010, 02:20 PM
Thanks for the information. I did not know that this was standard operating procedure for UConn. It was only toward the very end of the game that the camera showed the bench reacting to a made three point shot. Maybe it is just me, but I think there is a point at which you tone down the celebration - like when the opposition is being slaughtered and there is less than five minutes to go in the game. I sure hope that the designated hi-fiver was not worn out or injured since she had to do this 13 times during the game.

It was funny because the Duke football players were beside the band, and every time the player went down the line for high-fives, the football players yelled at her: "SIT DOWN!!! You don't even play! Sit down!!!"

UConn has a ton of rules and traditions which include:
No visable tattoos, no fingernail polish, no jeans in public, no ipods or phones in public, high-fiving all teammates when going through lines, rushing to pick up a teammate when she's on the court, no headbands, wristbands, or sleeves, all socks must be white and mid-length, shoes must be white w/ blue secondary, etc. Associate head coach Chris Dailey even monitors and approves their hairstyles...

CameronBornAndBred
01-19-2010, 02:20 PM
What a great crowd. Special thanks to all the students, especially the huge contingent of Duke fball players next to the band. Please continue coming to games - we usually play better than we did tonight.

I didn't know those guys were football team guys, that's great. Even when the show on the floor wasn't the best, the show they put on in the stands was hilarious.

CameronBornAndBred
01-19-2010, 02:23 PM
Obviously Duke was outmatched last night, but it's too bad they didn't play the second half like they did the first. The outcome would have still been a loss, but you have to wonder how narrow the margin would have been. Also, with UCONN shooting over 70% of their threes in the second half, it made the Blue Devils' lesser performance look that much worse...the shooting clinic that the Huskies put on was insane.

jv001
01-19-2010, 04:28 PM
UConn has a ton of rules and traditions which include:
No visable tattoos, no fingernail polish, no jeans in public, no ipods or phones in public, high-fiving all teammates when going through lines, rushing to pick up a teammate when she's on the court, no headbands, wristbands, or sleeves, all socks must be white and mid-length, shoes must be white w/ blue secondary, etc. Associate head coach Chris Dailey even monitors and approves their hairstyles...

Man, it sure works for them. They are in another world in women's college bb. I don't see anyone threatening them this year. Go Duke!

uh_no
01-19-2010, 05:26 PM
Obviously Duke was outmatched last night, but it's too bad they didn't play the second half like they did the first. The outcome would have still been a loss, but you have to wonder how narrow the margin would have been.

Probably 20 points :P

Anyway

uconn's 3 point shooting made duke look worse than they really are.....uconn doesn't usually shoot that well

in my opinion duke did a good job on defense, they shut down maya.....given she had 20 points....but none of them came off the dribble...and she just shot the lights out....they held charles to well below what she is capable of...they did a great job keeping the ball away from her....or as well as you could hope for

duke also showed by the transitive property that they are 8 points better than carolina! hooray!

anyway...the person who talks about geno being the best womens coach is spot on in my opinion, given i'm a bit biased, but...here's a little tidbit...after uconn waxed undefeated UNC last year at the dean dome, ole roy, who was in attendance, liked uconn's sets so much that he called geno up and roy has worked some of uconn's sets into his own offense (all the good its done him this year :) )

one last thing.....imagine if uconn had been able to retain elena della donne (the #1 recruit last year who bailed and went to delaware).....nobody'd come within 25 of them

miramar
01-19-2010, 06:11 PM
I don't think that any other team would have done much better against UConn last night, so what can you do? The only scary thing is that Geno was saying afterwards that his guards were still improving, so who knows what they will be capable of in March.

It's disappointing to have the opposing starting five in double figures when Duke had only one, but sometimes it's easier to get over a blowout than a close game, so I hope they come out strong against VT on Thursday. The women could certainly use another big crowd to help them forget this game.

DU82
01-19-2010, 06:27 PM
While the outcome of the game was what I expected, I was a little put off by the poor sportsmanship of the U Conn team. Did you see the cheering on the beach near the end of the game for a basket by a U Conn player when they were up by about 25 points? One of their players ran down the beach slapping the hand of each of the players as they cheered wildly. If he had been a spectacular play maybe I could see the cheering. However it was just a three point shot off of a screen.

I'm pretty sure the player hitting that three was a deep sub. Watch our bench when a player like Jordan Davidson or STeve Johnson scores (or Carolina's bench for their subs) and you'll see similar reactions. Personally, I thought it was great that the stars and main players for UConn kept cheering for their teammates like that. You don't see that on all teams.

REgarding another comment, yes we try to set picks, and did so often last night. Once our player rolled off the pick, a UConn player was right there. I've never seen a women's team cover the pick better than they did last night.

jimsumner
01-19-2010, 06:39 PM
UConn's last three was by Lorin Dixon, their first guard off the bench. It was her first three of the season. But she plays 16 mpg, so she's not an end-of-bench player.

CameronBornAndBred
01-19-2010, 06:45 PM
UConn's last three was by Lorin Dixon, their first guard off the bench. It was her first three of the season. But she plays 16 mpg, so she's not an end-of-bench player.
And she got fouled on that shot(Made the FT to top it off :mad:). Up until then, she had one point the entire game, from a free throw.

uh_no
01-19-2010, 10:05 PM
And she got fouled on that shot(Made the FT to top it off :mad:). Up until then, she had one point the entire game, from a free throw.

Don't misunderstand, Lorin is by no means a minor player....she is the next guard in line and is incredibly fast....she is coming off an injury that made her miss a month of the year....depending on the game she can put up different numbers, but the fact is that uconn high fives up and down the bench on every three pointer....either way....

Uconn never shows letdown at the end of the year, and presumably carrying the same attitude into games is part of the reason why....they play hard and they don't stop playing hard

geno has said its very touchy because he's trying to do his job while trying not to intentionally run up the score, but he continuously maintains (though this might not apply to duke as strongly as to other teams) that if you don't want to lose by 40, then get better....he's already in a tough situation as it is where often times his best players only get 20 mins a game, and play sparingly in the second half....how does that translate to tourney time when they might be pushed to play the whole game?

I don't think you can criticize uconn by any stretch of the imagination....they come in, they do their thing, they leave....its the same whether its stanford, duke, UNC, or ND....

btw, charles putting a three pointer off the shotclock with like 3 seconds left was one of the best moments of the night

DoubleDuke Dad
01-19-2010, 10:06 PM
I'm pretty sure the player hitting that three was a deep sub. Watch our bench when a player like Jordan Davidson or STeve Johnson scores (or Carolina's bench for their subs) and you'll see similar reactions. Personally, I thought it was great that the stars and main players for UConn kept cheering for their teammates like that. You don't see that on all teams.


I have no objection to a spontaneous celebration. However, according to DukeBlueNikeShox the celebration is choreographed.


Each time UConn hits a three, a player goes down and back, high-fiving the bench. They have done this tradition for many years.

uh_no
01-19-2010, 10:24 PM
I have no objection to a spontaneous celebration. However, according to DukeBlueNikeShox the celebration is choreographed.

and obviously that means the players aren't excited....

DukeBlueNikeShox
01-20-2010, 01:20 AM
A lot of people argue that women's basketball is boring because the same teams are always dominating, resulting in many games, often against top competition, being blowouts. They believe that there should be parity in the sport. I call BS on this for several reasons:

There are a lot of upsets in the game. Virginia Tech, a team picked to finish last in the ACC, blew out UNC, holding a 23 point lead with 8 minutes left and winning by about 16. Miami knocked off top 15 Florida State. Unranked Vanderbilt beat #6 Georgia by 20. Unranked UCLA took #2 Stanford down to the wire before losing by 4. #3 Tennessee needed a last second layup to beat unraked Florida. It's just that UConn is on a different level, mainly due to the fact that they have the best coach in the game and two future WNBA #1 picks and potential Olympians.

There are only a handful of players who can dictate whether you can multiple championships or be a Final Four team. It started with the great Cheryl Miller, who led U$C to two championships, en route to earning NPOY three times. Then it became Chamique Holdsclaw, who led Tennessee to three rings. Next came Diana Taurasi, who won three championships at UConn and carried the team on her back for the last two. Afterwards came Candace Parker, who got a ring two out of her three years at Tennessee. And now, we're in the Maya Moore era, who already has a ring and is in a good position to get two more.

If you're THE elite player, why wouldn't you want to spend your time in college playing for a coach who has proven that he or she can win championships and has a history of producing NPOYs and Olympians?! The 2008 Olympic team had 2 players from UConn, 3 players from Tennessee, 2 players from LSU, and 2 players from U$C.

There has been some great players who went to other programs, trying to dethrone the top dog. Nicole Kcazmarski went to UCLA, who was coming off an Elite Eight run, under the premise that Kathy Olivier was bringing in monster recruits (probably hometown girl Taurasi and Iciss Tillis). Alana Beard and Iciss Tillis came to Duke. Seimone Augutus and Sylvia Fowles went to LSU. Candice Wiggins went to Stanford. With the exception of Kaz, all had great careers, earned multiple All-American and NPOY honors, and rewrote the record books at their respective schools. However, none of them were able to win a ring.

Also, it's not as easy to be top dog like many people believe. In fact, UConn and Tennessee has to work even harder to get recruits to come to their program, especially given the amount of negative recruiting that goes on. It's very common for their recruits to hear: "Why would you want to go there and ride the bench, when you came here and get 35 minutes a game?!" ; "Why would you want to play for a coach who's just going to recruit over you and bring in monster class after monster class?!" ; "That coach does nothing but scream, and he or she will work your rear end off non-stop!" These coaches don't just get a ranking sheet and say "I want the #2, #5, #11, and #13 players in this class. Give me a verbal and sign your LOI..."

The good thing about playing the top dog (UConn this year and last year) is that you can see exactly what you're lacking and how far from the top you really are. For Duke, it was clear that it was a lack of offensive weapons and scorers (both perimeter and post). For Stanford, it was a lack of perimeter speed and being able to play transition defense. For Notre Dame, it was lack of post defenders. For UNC, it was a lack of a coach with a clue...

uh_no
01-20-2010, 01:36 AM
For UNC, it was a lack of a coach with a clue...

I can't agree more with this statement.....the way they win and lose games is horrendous....when they beat us in DD last year, they were blown out in one half and had to come back.....one of the reasons uconn wins so many games in a row (this is twice now they've had a huge streak) is becasue their coach puts them in a position to win every time they step on the floor....I'm not sure UNC gets that.....they shouldn't be playing as terribly as they are with the team they have.....they shouldn't lost by 40 to uconn....30 maybe....but that's two years in a row they've been absolutely demolished by CT....stanford learned their lesson and was leading at the halftime and was only down 22 when uconn pulled the starters.....unc

sylvia hatchell needs to go to a school for coaching.....

Indoor66
01-20-2010, 08:24 AM
sylvia hatchell needs to go to a school for coaching.....

...and hire a personal shopper and personal wardrobe manager.