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View Full Version : WBB: Husky Girls 61, Duke Women 45



wandalee
01-26-2012, 12:15 PM
Big game coming up on Monday, January 30. I got this from Athletics today.

Blue Devil Fans,

Coming off a huge win over eighth-ranked Maryland on Sunday, the fifth-ranked Duke Women's Basketball Team remains undefeated in ACC play and moves to 16-2 overall.

The Blue Devils have a tough home stretch coming up as they will host national power third-ranked UConn on Monday, January 30th at 7:00pm and ACC rival 25th-ranked North Carolina on Monday, February 6th at 7:00pm.

Limited tickets are available for both of these marquee games, with individual tickets starting at just $6. We anticipate selling out both games quickly, so call now to reserve your seats!

To purchase tickets, stop by the Duke Athletics Ticket Office located in Cameron Indoor Stadium, call 919-681-BLUE, or visit www.GoDuke.com/tickets.

#5 Duke vs. #3 UConn
Monday, January 30, 7:00pm
FREE Foam Sticks!

#5 Duke vs. #25 UNC
Monday, February 6, 7:00pm
FREE Pom Poms!

Two Big Monday basketball nights are coming up for the Blue Devils, you won't want to miss them! Hope to see you in Cameron on game day!

Duvall
01-26-2012, 12:24 PM
Big game coming up on Monday, January 30. I got this from Athletics today.

Blue Devil Fans,

Coming off a huge win over eighth-ranked Maryland on Sunday, the fifth-ranked Duke Women's Basketball Team remains undefeated in ACC play and moves to 16-2 overall.

The Blue Devils have a tough home stretch coming up as they will host national power third-ranked UConn on Monday, January 30th at 7:00pm and ACC rival 25th-ranked North Carolina on Monday, February 6th at 7:00pm.

Limited tickets are available for both of these marquee games, with individual tickets starting at just $6. We anticipate selling out both games quickly, so call now to reserve your seats!

To purchase tickets, stop by the Duke Athletics Ticket Office located in Cameron Indoor Stadium, call 919-681-BLUE, or visit www.GoDuke.com/tickets.

#5 Duke vs. #3 UConn
Monday, January 30, 7:00pm
FREE Foam Sticks!

#5 Duke vs. #25 UNC
Monday, February 6, 7:00pm
FREE Pom Poms!

Two Big Monday basketball nights are coming up for the Blue Devils, you won't want to miss them! Hope to see you in Cameron on game day!

That's not Duke's next game... (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22760&SPID=1846&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205368332&DB_OEM_ID=4200)

WakeDevil
01-26-2012, 01:57 PM
I hope this one is a bit more entertaining than the last time.

killerleft
01-26-2012, 03:35 PM
That's not Duke's next game... (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22760&SPID=1846&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205368332&DB_OEM_ID=4200)

But Duke is the one sending out the marketing stuff! I hope the Blue Devils crush Clemson and then come back home to whup up on the Conns. I have my tickets to both the UConn and UNC games. See y'all there!

wandalee
01-26-2012, 08:55 PM
That's not Duke's next game... (http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22760&SPID=1846&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205368332&DB_OEM_ID=4200)

No, but it's the next home game. And Duke is trying to get Cameron filled to the banners. They're also working hard to get the UNC game (on Feb 6) filled.

elvis14
01-26-2012, 10:27 PM
I was able to buy tickets today for $5 a piece (thanks to an Iron Dukes member forwarding an email with a discount). It'll be my first women's game and I'm bringing my wife and 2 daughters. I'm looking forward to it and I really hope my girls have fun! A couple of weeks ago my oldest daughter went on a tour of CIS as a field trip with the YMCA during track out. She got to meet some of the coaches and wanted to know when I would take her to a game. I'm pretty excited about it!

uh_no
01-26-2012, 10:33 PM
i did my part and bought tickets.....but i'm sure there are a lot of people here that wish I would stay away from this one

CameronBornAndBred
01-27-2012, 09:07 AM
i did my part and bought tickets.....but i'm sure there are a lot of people here that wish I would stay away from this one
Hate to say it, but your signature is now outdated.:(
As far as the women's game goes, I strongly recommend for anyone who hasn't been to one to go! They are a great experience, and when Cameron is packed as it will be for those two big games the drama and intensity can be just as insane as a men's game. (Unfortunately I myself can't go, this will be the first season in years I've missed a women's game.:()

uh_no
01-27-2012, 10:03 AM
Hate to say it, but your signature is now outdated.:(
As far as the women's game goes, I strongly recommend for anyone who hasn't been to one to go! They are a great experience, and when Cameron is packed as it will be for those two big games the drama and intensity can be just as insane as a men's game. (Unfortunately I myself can't go, this will be the first season in years I've missed a women's game.:()

Second this 100%. You hear so much of "oh they're not athletic and are terrible"

CODSWALLOP

Tis true they can't dunk, but the moves these girls make are every bit as impressive....and watching uconn's offense (not to toot the horn here...) but its just beautiful. Too many people see the games where the top teams beat the middling ones by 30-40 points and think that it looks terrible, and you're right, but they ignore the fact that when 2 good teams get together (like either duke or uconn against ND this year, or baylor, or stanford) its really good basketball, and all of you should check it out if you're able.

Sahoosan
01-27-2012, 12:09 PM
Yes, big fan of WBB. Great to see Cameron packed for Women's games. Duke's women have been so close so many times in the last 10 years, but never quite "won the big one." This is the sort of game that makes a mark, if we win. That gets remembered. And it'll very possibly have a seeding impact come March.

Go Duke!

CameronBornAndBred
01-27-2012, 01:10 PM
Cool article (and video) by Michelle Voepel on ESPN about Elizabeth Williams. She talks a bit about UCONN coming to town as well.

"One of the interesting statistics in a paper I did was that people who had a positive outlook on life would live an average of 7.6 years longer than people who didn't," Williams said. "People who thought that growing old was a negative thing, their lifespan was shorter. I took that and thought it applies to me at a young age, too: 'Think of all these opportunities you're given, and really embrace them.'"
http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7509970/duke-blue-devils-elizabeth-williams-grow-fast

wandalee
01-27-2012, 01:17 PM
Great article on Elizabeth! Thanks for posting. And thanks to all of you who are buying tickets. Both games should be great and the women's team deserves good support!

devildeac
01-27-2012, 10:11 PM
Somehow it just doesn't seem right that we are referring to our opponents as the Husky Women:rolleyes:.

Indoor66
01-28-2012, 11:19 AM
Somehow it just doesn't seem right that we are referring to our opponents as the Husky Women:rolleyes:.

Maybe it should be uconvictesses?

DU82
01-28-2012, 07:49 PM
Maybe it should be uconvictesses?

In fairness to Geno's team, I don't recall any such problems, unlike Calhoun's group of "gentlemen". You may not like Geno, but by all appearances his team plays by the rules, and are fine citizens.

(That being said, I still want Chelsea, Elizabeth and team to beat the crap out of them!)

wandalee
01-30-2012, 09:25 AM
According to the ticket office, there are still some tickets available for tonight's game.

sagegrouse
01-30-2012, 09:56 AM
Somehow it just doesn't seem right that we are referring to our opponents as the Husky Women:rolleyes:.

Actually, I thought it was in error, in that you usually see the word as "Huskies," and I thought the singular was Huskie. Not so, apparently, or at least the Wikipedia article is titled "Siberian Husky," derived from a Russian word.

So, Husky Women it is!

sage

killerleft
01-30-2012, 10:38 AM
Actually, I thought it was in error, in that you usually see the word as "Huskies," and I thought the singular was Huskie. Not so, apparently, or at least the Wikipedia article is titled "Siberian Husky," derived from a Russian word.

So, Husky Women it is!

sage

Let's just scream and help the team turn them into my favorite word for visitors to Cameron: Losers!

-bdbd
01-30-2012, 07:07 PM
Go Duke Women's Basketball! This is a big game and a chance for revenge for last year's loss at U-con.

Game just about to get underway on ESPN2...

:eek::rolleyes:;):p

CameronBornAndBred
01-30-2012, 07:52 PM
Down 8 at the half...Williams had to sit early with 3 fouls (third one was totally bogus). Not a bad showing at all, should be a good second.

Bluedog
01-30-2012, 08:39 PM
11+ minutes without a field goal is never good...the movement without the ball on the offensive end needs some major improvement. Obviously, UConn's defense is good, but not THAT good. Shooting has just been painful to watch. Hopefully, we can get it back together and go on a nice run to get back in this.

miramar
01-30-2012, 09:02 PM
17/69=24.6%

Two point shooting was 12/54=22.2%

WBB has been doing better in this area so I hope they can recover quickly.

Kfanarmy
01-30-2012, 09:19 PM
17/69=24.6%

Two point shooting was 12/54=22.2%

WBB has been doing better in this area so I hope they can recover quickly.

The Duke ladies were continually rushing shots...one sequence in the 1st half, Duke got thee offfensive boards on the same posession and never once seemed even close to making the shot...as soon as they had control of the ball, they just jacked something up in an apparent attempt to avoid UCONN blocking them...not that it shouldn't have been a concern, but at no time was there a serious fake, attempt a short pass or throw the ball out to a mid-range shooter...really looked tight. I think the shooting percentage was at least a reflection of extremely poor and rushed shooting as it was to actual UCONN defense, which was good.

So on to another complaint. Are all the officials in the women's game this blind? I mean wow, you can run a player over on the floor as long as you don't have the ball no foul is going to be called...half the time I don't think they had more than an educated guess on who last touched the ball before it went out of bounds. Is there such a call as a reach-in in the women's game. I was frankly shocked UCONN shots as many fouls as they did in the 1st half; I was having real difficulty understanding what the officials would/would not call....

OH well...represents a step forward from last year and shows there is still a tremendous amount of work to do before March.

uh_no
01-30-2012, 10:02 PM
Thoughts:

Duke Defense: possibly the best in the country...without a doubt...the only other team to hold uconn to this few was baylor, who also held them to 61....and you may notice that baylor is the best team in the country...They stymied everything uconn tried to do.

DUke offense....ugly....17-69...that's just a lot of bad shoots...the turnovers were low, the offensive rebounds were high....just too many long long stretches without scoring....not even sure what it is....duke was down in the shot clock almost every time down the floor, and credit them if they were trying to prevent uconn from running, they did that successfully, but again, if you don't score...especially when you get 2-3 chances....you're not gonna win

duke transition: uconn was faster down the floor in general, they made a lot of dumb plays (forced by duke often) which prevented them from converting on the fast break more often, but duke can't have their players being slower than the opposition running with the ball....that shouldn't happen

Elliot Elizabeth williams did a whale of a job without fouling for the second half.

anyway, really good defense on both sides, uconn found ways to score and duke didn't....duke's offensive problems are similar to ones that have pervaded the P era....they just have to find more ways to score

great game to be at.

Bluedog
01-30-2012, 10:09 PM
Elliot williams did a whale of a job without fouling for the second half.

Elliot came back to Duke to play for the women? Sweet! ;) I'm just joking with you, obviously. I've mixed up many a names on various Duke teams for sure.

Lid
01-30-2012, 10:13 PM
Elliot williams did a whale of a job without fouling for the second half.

Dude, Elliot transferred a few years ago. It would have been impressive if he did manage to foul.
eta: Bluedog beat me to it! That's what I get for writing about the game, too.

As someone who hasn't missed a game this year, this was an incredibly frustrating game to watch. As uh_no said, the offense looked typical for the P era... except that it's been looking so much better this season in general. This felt like last year's offense, and it's a real shame for the women. I was hoping this would be the year to send the Huskies home with their tails between their legs.

Oh well, I'll be back on Thursday and I'll still be loud. I really like this team, and I think they're going somewhere special. (Hopefully more special than Chipotle.)

DU82
01-30-2012, 10:50 PM
Thoughts:

Duke Defense: possibly the best in the country...without a doubt...the only other team to hold uconn to this few was baylor, who also held them to 61....and you may notice that baylor is the best team in the country...They stymied everything uconn tried to do.

DUke offense....ugly....17-69...that's just a lot of bad shoots...the turnovers were low, the offensive rebounds were high....just too many long long stretches without scoring....not even sure what it is....duke was down in the shot clock almost every time down the floor, and credit them if they were trying to prevent uconn from running, they did that successfully, but again, if you don't score...especially when you get 2-3 chances....you're not gonna win

duke transition: uconn was faster down the floor in general, they made a lot of dumb plays (forced by duke often) which prevented them from converting on the fast break more often, but duke can't have their players being slower than the opposition running with the ball....that shouldn't happen

Elliot Elizabeth williams did a whale of a job without fouling for the second half.

anyway, really good defense on both sides, uconn found ways to score and duke didn't....duke's offensive problems are similar to ones that have pervaded the P era....they just have to find more ways to score

great game to be at.

Good summary.

In the first half, UConn's press took 10+ seconds out of the offensive play, not giving the time to set up much. Their coverage was really good, and way to many shots were forced. It seemed that only Chelsea and Richa were the only two really looking for their shot (Chelsea forced a few by dribbling at the top of the key until the shot clock was close to zero.) Elizabeth tried to set up low, but was double-teamed and pushed out too often. She forced up too many, although she drew a few fouls (not that a lot were called overall. I thought at least a few screens weren't called in the first half.) Once again, Tricia was covered, and she didn't force things, but she also didn't work enough to try and get open (and missed when she did shoot.) Haley did OK, with 9 points and 9 bounds, and was the only one fouling at the end when we needed to...we only had 3 team fouls with two minutes left, so Haley fouled 4 straight times, unfortunately the last one was her 5th overall. After Haley went out, Allison fouled ten feet above the 3 point line to put them on the line after 24 seconds went off the clock (not a smart play.) When open, the team missed a lot of open jumpers, especially at the foul line (not foul shots, just the location.)

As mentioned, the defense was there, they didn't press much until the end, which UConn broke easily for quick baskets. They had 21 TOs to "only" 15 for Duke. I was surprised to see UConn actually outrebounded Duke, 44-38, I thought it was closer than that.

Bottom line is that if you only score 22/23 points in each half, you're not going to win many games.

-bdbd
01-30-2012, 11:02 PM
Now I know how MD's men feel about a team that always seems to have their number (in Duke). Very frustrating. And the Duke WBB team have played so much better this year... Argh! Give U-con a lot of credit for coming in focused and determined, especially on D. My sense was that for about ten minutes this was a good, competitive game that could have gone either way. But U-con gained a little separation and the fouls (at least the foul calls) started mounting, and we just seemed to lose confidence and any rhythm. I thought losing Elizabeth Williams quickly to foul problems was huge in this regard. And things just steamrolled from there late in the first and throughout the second. I didn't sense much if any confidence.


The Duke ladies were continually rushing shots...one sequence in the 1st half, Duke got thee offfensive boards on the same posession and never once seemed even close to making the shot...as soon as they had control of the ball, they just jacked something up in an apparent attempt to avoid UCONN blocking them...not that it shouldn't have been a concern, but at no time was there a serious fake, attempt a short pass or throw the ball out to a mid-range shooter...really looked tight. I think the shooting percentage was at least a reflection of extremely poor and rushed shooting as it was to actual UCONN defense, which was good.

So on to another complaint. Are all the officials in the women's game this blind? I mean wow, you can run a player over on the floor as long as you don't have the ball no foul is going to be called...half the time I don't think they had more than an educated guess on who last touched the ball before it went out of bounds. Is there such a call as a reach-in in the women's game. I was frankly shocked UCONN shots as many fouls as they did in the 1st half; I was having real difficulty understanding what the officials would/would not call....

OH well...represents a step forward from last year and shows there is still a tremendous amount of work to do before March.

No doubt a better result than a year ago, and you can always point to this being a very young team, that will learn to battle better when all of the early calls and breaks are going against them. Clearly U-con plays great D, and prevented Duke from ever getting a good look in the first 10-15 seconds of the shot clock, but we just shot horribly, even on unguarded shots. I too was just astonished by some of the ridiculous calls in the first half - just look at the first half foul count as but one example - but to the ladies' discredit they allowed it to bother them more than it should (even with Williams having to sit on the bench).

Question: Who was the color commentator on ESPN? I missed the first few minutes/introductions, but am guessing that she was a former U-con player, as she never could stop gushing about U-con, said nary a word about the uneven foul tally throughout the first half (a couple times even questioned the rare call that went Duke's way), and literally giggled for a few seconds on a couple of big breaks that went U-con's way. Again, I felt like a Terp fan grating at Dick Vitale gushing over Duke and Coach K. Ha! :rolleyes:


Dude, Elliot transferred a few years ago. It would have been impressive if he did manage to foul.
eta: Bluedog beat me to it! That's what I get for writing about the game, too.

As someone who hasn't missed a game this year, this was an incredibly frustrating game to watch. As uh_no said, the offense looked typical for the P era... except that it's been looking so much better this season in general. This felt like last year's offense, and it's a real shame for the women. I was hoping this would be the year to send the Huskies home with their tails between their legs.

Oh well, I'll be back on Thursday and I'll still be loud. I really like this team, and I think they're going somewhere special. (Hopefully more special than Chipotle.)

Agreed. Very, very frustrating to watch given the improvement we've all seen this year, especially on the O end of things. Chalk it up to a learning experience for a young, young team. They will be better come March for having gone through it, and hopefully will react better next time. Also, this is a team that will welcome two new stud players - Henson and the coming freshman PG (maybe a third if everyone comes back who started in Nov....) Things will continue to improve. But congreats to U-con on a very well played game.

burnspbesq
01-30-2012, 11:07 PM
UConn's defense is good, but not THAT good.

Actually, it is that good. Number one in scoring defense and FG% defense.

Of course, part of the reason their defense is so good is that they commit about 3.5 fouls per possession. Someday, watch a UConn game and focus on what happens away from the ball for about five possessions. Then come back and tell me I'm wrong.

As long as the refs refuse to call it I can't argue with them doing it.

uh_no
01-30-2012, 11:08 PM
Good summary.

In the first half, UConn's press took 10+ seconds out of the offensive play, not giving the time to set up much. Their coverage was really good, and way to many shots were forced. It seemed that only Chelsea and Richa were the only two really looking for their shot (Chelsea forced a few by dribbling at the top of the key until the shot clock was close to zero.) Elizabeth tried to set up low, but was double-teamed and pushed out too often. She forced up too many, although she drew a few fouls (not that a lot were called overall. I thought at least a few screens weren't called in the first half.) Once again, Tricia was covered, and she didn't force things, but she also didn't work enough to try and get open (and missed when she did shoot.) Haley did OK, with 9 points and 9 bounds, and was the only one fouling at the end when we needed to...we only had 3 team fouls with two minutes left, so Haley fouled 4 straight times, unfortunately the last one was her 5th overall. After Haley went out, Allison fouled ten feet above the 3 point line to put them on the line after 24 seconds went off the clock (not a smart play.) When open, the team missed a lot of open jumpers, especially at the foul line (not foul shots, just the location.)

As mentioned, the defense was there, they didn't press much until the end, which UConn broke easily for quick baskets. They had 21 TOs to "only" 15 for Duke. I was surprised to see UConn actually outrebounded Duke, 44-38, I thought it was closer than that.

Bottom line is that if you only score 22/23 points in each half, you're not going to win many games.

I thought rebounding might be an issue. I know duke does that very well, and it's a huge part of their offensive and defensive gameplan, which is okay, but they just have to be ready when they run into a team that can rebound as well as or better than they can, and that's true for any team. There is no team in the country that is so much better at rebounding than everyone else that you can depend on it to win games against other tough teams.

Coach P said in her presser that the offense didn't do what she expected them to, and that the team would be kicking themselves when they see the tape. I can imagine that to be true, especially seeing how well they've played against the rest of the competition this year. While they have a couple decent games left on the schedule, we probably won't have any other real good data points to judge this team on until they hit someone in the tournament, and by that I mean running into ND or BU in the final four, and this team OUGHT to be in the final four (given they'll probably be a 2 seed and have one of the 4 top teams to play in the elite 8....if I were uconn I'd hope to goodness they don't end up with duke as the 2.....as they're clearly the 5th best team in teh country in my opinion

Kedsy
01-30-2012, 11:59 PM
UConn's D was better than our O tonight. I really like this Duke team and hope they don't lose confidence from what was in my opinion a respectable loss.

CameronBornAndBred
01-31-2012, 08:17 AM
While not thrilled with the outcome, I also was not overly dissapointed either. As many have noted, the D was there, and for whatever reason the O was not. Put them together and we've got a great game. The stat that stood out so much for me was the zero points from the bench...ugh. So often this team walks off the court with EVERYONE having at least scored a point, so to have those three walk away with zip was troublesome. They also weren't too impressive with the other stats either...only 7 rebounds (and only 2 of those were to AV), no assists, no blocks, and only one steal. (I'm willing to overlook the assists..if the person you throw the ball to misses the bucket it don't show up in the box score. :rolleyes:)


Still...much better than last year, and also much better than the heels played them this year. I'm thinking the ladies are going to have fun on the 6th.

Edit...just read this so maybe I don't feel quite the same as I did...looks like it's not just Duke that suffers their defensive wrath....

In fact, UConn this season might be an even better defensive team, at least statistically, than in Moore's four seasons. Through Monday's game, UConn is allowing opponents an average of just 45.1 points per game and holding them to 30 percent shooting from the field. The best numbers of Moore's career in that regard were in her junior season of 2009-10, when UConn's opponents averaged 46.2 points and also shot 30 percent.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7521994/connecticut-huskies-look-cohesive-beating-duke-blue-devils

killerleft
01-31-2012, 10:43 AM
The UConn defense was indeed very good. And Duke, whether pressured or not, very often (like most of the time) never got set to even run their offense with more than 15 seconds on the clock. It was a recipe for disaster, and I'm not sure how we stayed as close as we did.

Next time there must be more movement of both the ball and the players BEFORE the clock is running out. If we want to limit possessions, fine, but keep the players moving and ready to roll - don't just stand there.

roywhite
01-31-2012, 10:55 AM
The UConn defense was indeed very good. And Duke, whether pressured or not, very often (like most of the time) never got set to even run their offense with more than 15 seconds on the clock. It was a recipe for disaster, and I'm not sure how we stayed as close as we did.

Next time there must be more movement of both the ball and the players BEFORE the clock is running out. If we want to limit possessions, fine, but keep the players moving and ready to roll - don't just stand there.

Seems like the 30-second shot clock in the women's game vs 35-second shot clock in the men's game really makes a difference.
UConn defense takes great advantage of this and has teams playing "beat-the-clock" instead of running full plays and making an extra pass or two.

gadzooks
01-31-2012, 11:30 AM
Question: Who was the color commentator on ESPN? I missed the first few minutes/introductions, but am guessing that she was a former U-con player, as she never could stop gushing about U-con, said nary a word about the uneven foul tally throughout the first half (a couple times even questioned the rare call that went Duke's way), and literally giggled for a few seconds on a couple of big breaks that went U-con's way. Again, I felt like a Terp fan grating at Dick Vitale gushing over Duke and Coach K. Ha! :rolleyes: That was Rebecca Lobo, who you surmised correctly is a UConn alum.

CameronBornAndBred
01-31-2012, 02:56 PM
Duke only suffered a one spot drop in the rankings, being leapfrogged by Kentucky.

elvis14
02-01-2012, 10:48 AM
I went to the game with my wife and daughters. It was my daughter's first live basketball game. They loved it. It was my first women's game and I liked it. A few takeaways:

UConn's spacing and passing was excellent. They looked like a really well coached team.
UConn looked much faster than Duke, #14 could fly (and who doesn't like a player wearing my number?)
To me it looked like the Duke women were running very little offense. The ball movement wasn't great, lots of pounding the ball which turned into shot clock problems repeatedly. My wife, who's not a basketball fan, eventually said to me "why don't they run any plays?".
Despite the disparity in the way the teams handled spacing and ball movement, we still had our chances. We just missed lots and lots of shots, quite a few of which were open.
I agree with kfanarmy in that I had no idea what was going to be called a foul and what was not called. The game was very physical and I saw so many things (from both teams) that I thought would be called that weren't. Since I don't watch the women's team much I didn't know what to think since I don't know what is 'normal'.
I was sitting in section 9 and was surrounded by UConn fans. I found them to be nice, knowledgeable and appropriately loud for their team.
Mostly, I had a really good night with my family at the game. My girls were jumping around at every break trying to get on the jumbo tron and they really had a good time.

killerleft
02-01-2012, 12:11 PM
I went to the game with my wife and daughters. It was my daughter's first live basketball game. They loved it. It was my first women's game and I liked it. A few takeaways:

UConn's spacing and passing was excellent. They looked like a really well coached team.
UConn looked much faster than Duke, #14 could fly (and who doesn't like a player wearing my number?)
To me it looked like the Duke women were running very little offense. The ball movement wasn't great, lots of pounding the ball which turned into shot clock problems repeatedly. My wife, who's not a basketball fan, eventually said to me "why don't they run any plays?".
Despite the disparity in the way the teams handled spacing and ball movement, we still had our chances. We just missed lots and lots of shots, quite a few of which were open.
I agree with kfanarmy in that I had no idea what was going to be called a foul and what was not called. The game was very physical and I saw so many things (from both teams) that I thought would be called that weren't. Since I don't watch the women's team much I didn't know what to think since I don't know what is 'normal'.
I was sitting in section 9 and was surrounded by UConn fans. I found them to be nice, knowledgeable and appropriately loud for their team.
Mostly, I had a really good night with my family at the game. My girls were jumping around at every break trying to get on the jumbo tron and they really had a good time.


I'm not at all surprised that you and your family had a good time. I don't have kids myself, but I have noticed that kids and their parents seem to really enjoy the Duke women's games and the atmosphere Duke has engendered.

I really think Duke Marketing does a great job with the women's games, and an excellent job overall. I bet a lot of families have attended a game on a lark and found that it's been hard to miss games since.

Dukehky
02-01-2012, 07:54 PM
Can't win when your best player goes 3-15 from the field (Elizabeth Williams). Liston couldn't get open and Gray, who was the only person who could create a shot worth more than a plugged nickel, started throwing up a ton of shots.

Hate to blame the refs for a loss, and don't think the outcome would have changed if they were better, but they were terrible. UCONN reaches in and fouls 4 times every possession. Just a little silly.

For as poorly as I thought the girls played on the offensive end, I expected this game to get way more out of hand. I also think that Geno is in P's head a little bit, and that transfers to the players. Don't want to see them again in March.

I am looking forward to the UNC game. Unlike the men's teams which have friends on the other team, the girls freaking hate each other, which I feel makes for much more entertaining games, especially since we've had their number the past couple of seasons.

uh_no
02-01-2012, 08:33 PM
Can't win when your best player goes 3-15 from the field (Elizabeth Williams). Liston couldn't get open and Gray, who was the only person who could create a shot worth more than a plugged nickel, started throwing up a ton of shots.

Hate to blame the refs for a loss, and don't think the outcome would have changed if they were better, but they were terrible. UCONN reaches in and fouls 4 times every possession. Just a little silly.

For as poorly as I thought the girls played on the offensive end, I expected this game to get way more out of hand. I also think that Geno is in P's head a little bit, and that transfers to the players. Don't want to see them again in March.

I am looking forward to the UNC game. Unlike the men's teams which have friends on the other team, the girls freaking hate each other, which I feel makes for much more entertaining games, especially since we've had their number the past couple of seasons.

I would like to point out that the foul count was 7-1 in the second half advantage duke......so i'm not sure duke can complain about not getting calls

that said, the refs were terribly inconsistent...the one older chubby guy was perhaps one of the worst refs i've seen...downright awful...

THe game didn't get out of hand because duke plays one heck of a defense....and it aught to put them in great position for a final 4, probably having to knock off one of the top 4 teams in the country to do so.

Duvall
02-01-2012, 08:38 PM
I would like to point out that the foul count was 7-1 in the second half advantage duke......so i'm not sure duke can complain about not getting calls.

Depends on whether UConn committed more than seven fouls during that stretch.

(Which they did, though it was hardly decisive. UConn is the most physical team in the country, and Duke just has to be ready for that when they play them. I don't understand why they never are.)

uh_no
02-01-2012, 08:42 PM
Depends on whether UConn committed more than seven fouls during that stretch.

(Which they did, though it was hardly decisive. UConn is the most physical team in the country, and Duke just has to be ready for that when they play them. I don't understand why they never are.)

I think (and this is unfortunate) that there is just so much bad basketball played by women's teams (and nothing against the women, just that the talent is hyper concentrated and not as deep as the mens game) that some of these refs just don't have the experience calling big physical games with two great teams. We talk about the game being too fast for incoming freshman, and I think the same can be said for a lot of the refs, when they see good teams, like uconn and duke, the game just moves too fast for them, certainly faster than they're used to.

msdukie
02-01-2012, 11:53 PM
Can we set up the filter to prohibit the team being called the girls' team? Or can we make every other thread into the "Duke Boys Team"?

This isn't high school.

Devilsfan
02-02-2012, 02:35 AM
Sounds like the women were wearing the visitors jerseys.

uh_no
02-02-2012, 08:55 AM
Can we set up the filter to prohibit the team being called the girls' team? Or can we make every other thread into the "Duke Boys Team"?

This isn't high school.

The coaches often refer to them as "girls" in the press conferences, ("our girls did this, she's a big girl..." etc) so I see no reason they can't be referred to as such by commentors.

killerleft
02-02-2012, 10:04 AM
The refs who do women's games are just not very good, even at their best. Everybody who chirps about the men's refs should just watch a few of the girls' games. Sometimes all you can do is shake your head and laugh. High school refs are not even that good.

Referees at the men's games are much, much better. They certainly don't get everything right, but the calls do seem to follow some rhyme or reason. There is a consistency, even when they're wrong, that shows that they are trying to follow the rules.

Let's face it. There is abundant evidence that basketball's rules are just about impossible to police very well.

Lid
02-02-2012, 12:40 PM
The coaches often refer to them as "girls" in the press conferences, ("our girls did this, she's a big girl..." etc) so I see no reason they can't be referred to as such by commentors.
My understanding from your posts is that you're a Duke alum, and frankly, I'm shocked to think that you got a world-class education and yet cannot conceive of a plausible reason to refer to the two teams equitably.

Or perhaps you were exaggerating for comic effect.

In any case, perhaps Coack K would also refer to his team as "boys" if there weren't clear cultural issues that would make that hugely insulting, I have no idea. I do know that I see no reason, as a fan, not to give the women's team the similar respect of calling them by their official name (it's DWB, not DGB, after all). I guess, then, that is my question for you: What is the downside to making the switch to referring to them as women? Why would you not do so?

-bdbd
02-02-2012, 02:01 PM
I would like to point out that the foul count was 7-1 in the second half advantage duke......so i'm not sure duke can complain about not getting calls

that said, the refs were terribly inconsistent...the one older chubby guy was perhaps one of the worst refs i've seen...downright awful...

THe game didn't get out of hand because duke plays one heck of a defense....and it aught to put them in great position for a final 4, probably having to knock off one of the top 4 teams in the country to do so.

Fair enough uh_no. And please don't take this at all personal, b/c it is a theme I harp on quite often (not just vs your Huskies)... But:
1. Foul calls early are MUCH more important than foul calls late.
2. I doubt the early-2H disparity was coincidental either. I've seen it too many times to think it coincidence - when the foul totals gets way out of wack, as they were for the entire first half Monday, then there is a strong tendency among refs to "even things out." I'd be very surprised if these 3 refs didn't take note of the difference at halftime and on some level, consciously or subconsciously, try to even things out some in the second half. It's just human nature.
3. But, while you point out that E. Williams did eventually play over 30 minutes, not picking up a foul in 2H, that was b/c she was playing WAY less aggressive than she had been - as she HAD to be with 3 early fouls (BTW the third was just a horrible, inconsistent "blocking" call right after she'd just been reinserted at about 5 min in 1H) - and THAT (beyond just her removal for the rest of the half) changed the whole game by changing how aggressive she/they could play the rest of the way.
4. To Duke's discredit, I think there was also an element of "shell shock" once the fouls piled up in 1H and UC began to create a little working margin, and we never fully recovered from that.

Honestly, I'm not Terping and blaming the refs for Duke losing the game, but just that the 1H foul disparity clearly affected the game for Duke. And to my untrained eye (and I think Coach P even commented on the resulting decrease in aggressiveness) the entire team was less aggressive in the 12-0 minute range in 1H, and in 2H. But, as I've said, as a player you have to adapt to how the game is being called. And we didn't do that well. Also, unlike U-con, Duke unfortunately lacks quality depth inside, and so the loss of an aggressive E. Williams, I think, really affected their overall game. It probably wasn't a decisive factor. But I do hope these two teams meet up again - say in late-March - and we see how things work out with better quality reffing. :rolleyes:

uh_no
02-02-2012, 05:02 PM
Fair enough uh_no. And please don't take this at all personal, b/c it is a theme I harp on quite often (not just vs your Huskies)... But:
1. Foul calls early are MUCH more important than foul calls late.
2. I doubt the early-2H disparity was coincidental either. I've seen it too many times to think it coincidence - when the foul totals gets way out of wack, as they were for the entire first half Monday, then there is a strong tendency among refs to "even things out." I'd be very surprised if these 3 refs didn't take note of the difference at halftime and on some level, consciously or subconsciously, try to even things out some in the second half. It's just human nature.
3. But, while you point out that E. Williams did eventually play over 30 minutes, not picking up a foul in 2H, that was b/c she was playing WAY less aggressive than she had been - as she HAD to be with 3 early fouls (BTW the third was just a horrible, inconsistent "blocking" call right after she'd just been reinserted at about 5 min in 1H) - and THAT (beyond just her removal for the rest of the half) changed the whole game by changing how aggressive she/they could play the rest of the way.
4. To Duke's discredit, I think there was also an element of "shell shock" once the fouls piled up in 1H and UC began to create a little working margin, and we never fully recovered from that.

Honestly, I'm not Terping and blaming the refs for Duke losing the game, but just that the 1H foul disparity clearly affected the game for Duke. And to my untrained eye (and I think Coach P even commented on the resulting decrease in aggressiveness) the entire team was less aggressive in the 12-0 minute range in 1H, and in 2H. But, as I've said, as a player you have to adapt to how the game is being called. And we didn't do that well. Also, unlike U-con, Duke unfortunately lacks quality depth inside, and so the loss of an aggressive E. Williams, I think, really affected their overall game. It probably wasn't a decisive factor. But I do hope these two teams meet up again - say in late-March - and we see how things work out with better quality reffing. :rolleyes:

All great points. I think the early fouls on E Williams was 100% responsible for the lack of agresiveness. I think it made duke less likely to get the ball to her, for fear she'd pick up another foul. I'd like to point out, also, that Stephanie Dolson, Uconn's center played but 13 minutes being in foul trouble all game. THe difference, though, was that kiah stokes came in and had 12 rebound and 4 points, being very much serviceable. Duke's only choice was to leave EW out there to play gingerly and not foul. So from some perspective, depth won the game for connecticut.

duke09hms
02-02-2012, 05:34 PM
My understanding from your posts is that you're a Duke alum, and frankly, I'm shocked to think that you got a world-class education and yet cannot conceive of a plausible reason to refer to the two teams equitably.

Or perhaps you were exaggerating for comic effect.

In any case, perhaps Coack K would also refer to his team as "boys" if there weren't clear cultural issues that would make that hugely insulting, I have no idea. I do know that I see no reason, as a fan, not to give the women's team the similar respect of calling them by their official name (it's DWB, not DGB, after all). I guess, then, that is my question for you: What is the downside to making the switch to referring to them as women? Why would you not do so?

Actually [uh no] said this: "The coaches often refer to them as "girls" in the press conferences, ("our girls did this, she's a big girl..." etc) so I see no reason they can't be referred to as such by commentors."

Meaning: If the coaches call them girls, I don't see why commenters CANNOT also call them girls. He did not say, "there is no reason to call them women." Two different things. No one is advocating that they should not be called "women." Sometimes people simply choose not to.

Why so sensitive?