True but my point is all but three UConn Freshman had been here (and beyond) before. Miss State also had three Freshman but no one on that team had been past the Sweet 16 until now.
i think his point was that losing 3 first team all americans and the tight rotation he has used the last couple of years didn't setup well to run the table this year. UConn was not an experienced on the court team. But man did he do a great job coaching this group. I always thought the potential achilles heel could be foul trouble because they were so young and Geno played such a short bench. Congrats to MSU..they played great but honestly after game ended I could not help thinking of the scene from Kill Bill #2 between Bud and Elle about any regrets.....lol....wish it was Longhorn Nation celebrating last night..LOL
Who else had a team where the majority of players (all but 3) had won at least one if not multiple national titles? They lost because they play powder puff all conference and an intense, competitive game like this pushed them to their limit. Not questioning that he is a great coach. I just don't buy into his young team explanation. It has no merit.
I didn't hear the quote. But, it is possible for a "mature" team to not play with "maturity" in a game or two. You could basically say they didn't play with "poise" or "calmness". Our team had 4 upperclassmen in the starting lineup most of the season, and we didn't exemplify "maturity" in several of them UConn has depended on Napheesa Collier for a lot of scoring this season. I do recall Geno stating that she didn't play on Friday like she normally does, and that was due to Miss. State's defense. Regardless, UConn didn't make enough plays to win. And, Miss. State did.
With all due respect WCBBNUT, UConn is not responsible for their weak conference. Uconn does not avoid any major powers in the womens game. They play anyone, anywhere so I'm not really understanding your point. They won 111 games in a row...36 in a row with this young team. I am Longhorn Nation along with you but I respectfully disagree with your assessment here.
Cannot understand Schaefer kept William on the bench the entire 4th quarter unless she was ill and just couldn't go.
I have often wanted us to face guard various players who were dominating games, dating back to Conradt's days, but I don't remember us ever doing it. To me, it's one of those defensive options that can completely change a game, but we stick with our trusty pressure man to man. That defense really blew MSU's changes tonight.
Stupid question but what does face guarding mean? Putting a hand in a player's line of sight so that their vision is obstructed? Or is it something else?
I think he's talking about what we called 'denying them the ball'. Staying between the player and the ball rather than the player and the basket (standard man-to-man defense). The goal is to make it difficult to put the ball in the player's hands no matter where they are on the court. Correct me if I'm wrong @JoeDallas .
Thanks DFW! That makes sense. I agree with JD that it could be effective (and quite surprising) to change our D up occasionally.
Thanks, DFW. That's what I meant exactly. Your only concern is keeping them from getting the ball, taking them out of the game. You don't worry about helping. The girl from South Carolina did a superb job of it. William did get the ball some, but the defender was so quick that she could do very little with it. I think it has a huge psychological effect, too. The player gets so flustered that, when they do get shots off, they are often clunkers. I believe it was Iowa State who did that to us part of the game this year. Someone did. It shut Brooke down bad and Coach eventually pulled her out of the game. I guess you can't do this with a well-balanced team, only when there is one main player who has got to be shut down, either from shooting or playmaking.
