4 Games / 4 Upsets

[Fairfield Fan]

OMG!!! Nobody saw this coming. 4 games, 4 upsets. Anybody that wanted to go to the final four, and could not get a ticket, Ticket have just became available. Contact any Notre Dame, or South Carolina fan. They won't be using theirs. I sure hope the UConn player ALL too note of today's action, and conduct themselves accordingly tomorrow.

I didn't think any of the 1 seeds were going to be beaten. I sure didn't think Tennessee would get to the great 8. I guess ALL of the members of Vol nation can back off of Holly now. She should be good for a least 1 more year without any second guessing from the fan base. Go Huskies.

Actually, while I was shocked that South Carolina and Notre Dame lost, the truth is that Tennessee has been playing very, very well. A completely different team. Holly Wharlick has stopped screwing around with Diamond Deshields, and put her in the starting lineup. And perhaps DD has stopped screwing around and begun playing again. Shows that the kid can really play when she wants to. She has now led two different teams to- what?- the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight, and as a freshman and a redshirt sophomore. Pretty impressive.

Saved Wharlick's job for another year. Maybe not more than that, though.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

One of those four teams will be in the championship game. The de jure championship game.

If, as everyone expects, Baylor and UConn play in one semifinal, that game will be the
de facto championship game - much like several years ago when UConn and Notre Dame
battled in the semis for the right to demolish an overmatched Louisville team who had
improbably beaten Baylor.

But then, everyone expected South Carolina and Notre Dame to be in the other semifinal,
so who knows?

Exactly. Watch out when everyone thinks the top teams will just waltz to a championship, and those lowly, pesky upstarts are supposed to just roll over. Those pesky upstarts have a way of just being hot enough and sharp enough to knock off the over-confident top teams.

 

[msf22b]

Oh this is great..... with Tennessee, we get to play them if they get to Final 4, and Tennessee gets drunk ion Holly's success and keeps her as Head Coach for a while longer, what could be better?!!!!!!!!

Maybe, just maybe...she isn't quite as bad as we (and a lot of UTenn fans think).

Let's get back to potty mouth Dawn...who I kept asking about...
Why is everybody taking her so seriously when she hasn't won anything?

While quietly, Tara develops a team and surely can put together a winning plan.
If anyone knows that it's Geno.
And has demonstably won.

In Notre Dames's case...This year's team is just not very athletic
And if the best forward in America has a somnambulant game,
they're in deep doggy do.

 

[VAUConnFan]

IIRC, there was a player back in the 80's who went to Final Fours with two different programs(I will look it up, but believe it may have been with La Tech and Old Dominion). Diamond DeShields going to two Elite Eights with two different programs is quite an accomplishment.

The Final Four will have either Syracuse or Tennessee. WOW!

Whether Ms DeShields is deserving of the credit for her second elite eight appearance is a matter of opinion. However, it is not as if she sat on the bench at North Carolina and Tennessee. One would be hard pressed to find a basketball player with an impeccable playoff resume. But, that is the nice thing about a team sport like basketball - A team can still find ways to win when an individual player(s) is not having a particularly good shooting performance(ie: Maya Moore and Renee Montgomery in the Elite 8 game against Rutgers in 2008).

The player about whom I was thinking was a local product, Tracy Claxton, who actually started at Kansas before transferring to Old Dominion; Which, in turn, makes Ms DeShield's accomplishment uniquely remarkable.

A better UConn example of a team finding a way to win despite subpar offensive performances from star players is the 2002 national championship game against Oklahoma when Sue bird and Diana Taurasi shot a combined 8 for 25 while the team went 30 for 57.

 

[Hongster]

Too see ND went down was a pleasure for me, the rest I could careless with the exception of Washington. Go Huskies!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Magy Cannon]

You are astonishingly generous and civil. You are treating this is as a sport that brings out the best in talented, committed student-athletes, rather than as conflict in which past hurts and slights remain unresolved from generation-to-generation. How odd!

Great post Bags27

 

[HoopsFan21]

Oh to see Gabby guarding Diamond! That would be one for the ages.

If Gabby is guarding Diamond, you can guarantee Diamond will be guarded and that will be that. If those SEC teams think they play great defense, they've never had Mo face guard them. Ask Tiffany Mitchell about that.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I guess parity arrived with a thud.

More like a whimper.

 

[Waquoit]

ND should be ashamed of themselves. Stanford plays no defense.

 

[Huskie78]

Some thoughts about Friday's games.

Did I hear it correctly -- that SC shoot more 3's than 2's? With Coates and Wilson, what were they thinking?

On an ESPN kick-off show, Muffet clearly stated that her Brianna (Turner) was the "best basketball player in. . .the country/conference." (Not sure which.) Anyhow, Ms Turner didn't play against UConn and she didn't bother playing in the first half against Stanford.

That miracle late trey by Karlie evoked eerie memories of That One last season against UConn to send the game into overtime.

You can bet that Holly and Hillsmann will greet each other with huge smiles before Monday's game.

The VolNation faithful will swallow all past nasty words as they gobble up available tix from sad folks in Columbia and Terre Haute.

Meghan Culmo should be happy. Apparently their no longer is a three-second rule. (If it's still valid, I never saw it called.)

While I'm sure there are many ND fans in that part of the state (they seem to be everywhere), the majority are here in my neck of the woods... South Bend.
Now perhaps I should take a stroll over to the campus in full Husky gear and see if anyone offers to sell me tickets.
Or, maybe they will have something else for me.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Oh this is great..... with Tennessee, we get to play them if they get to Final 4, and Tennessee gets drunk ion Holly's success and keeps her as Head Coach for a while longer, what could be better?!!!!!!!!

Better would be sending them off to the dust bin of history. The fact that it is Tenn is irritating, but the bigger factor is they loafed/slacked through the season and somehow now they are being rewarded for good to better play, which only emphasizes the slackers they have been.

 

[Hongster]

While I'm sure there are many ND fans in that part of the state (they seem to be everywhere), the majority are here in my neck of the woods... South Bend.
Now perhaps I should take a stroll over to the campus in full Husky gear and see if anyone offers to sell me tickets.
Or, maybe they will have something else for me.

Make a video while you're strolling

 

[Blakeon18]

Reminder: Capital Prep senior [in Hartford] Desiree Elmore is headed to Syracuse next year....kind of a 2/3 player.
Given that they are losing some key players I wonder if Desiree will be in the rotation. She has put up consistently huge numbers this year against
good regional competition...won the state crown too.

 

[Huskie78]

Ouch!

 

[Carnac]

While I'm sure there are many ND fans in that part of the state (they seem to be everywhere), the majority are here in my neck of the woods... South Bend.
Now perhaps I should take a stroll over to the campus in full Husky gear and see if anyone offers to sell me tickets.
Or, maybe they will have something else for me.

If you want to poke the bear, take that stroll. They'll have something else for you alright, a lot of one finger salutes. There's no joy in South Bend today. ALL of them are PO'ed. The streak is broken. There were a lot of ND fans that left the arena last night in shock. Holding their heads, as they kept asking themselves "WHAT HAPPENED"? This is exactly what I was hoping for.

And yes, anybody that needs tickets to the final four, a huge number of tickets just became available. Contact any Notre Dame fan. They'll no doubt give you a good deal just to get their money back.

 

[bballnut90]

Ouch!

Wow, that's pretty rough. If anyone follows Taya on social media, they know a lot of drama seems to follow her. I think her quitting midway was a big motivator for everyone else to step up their game, and in turn in allowed Notre Dame to put together a monster season even if they fell short last night.

Notre Dame's biggest issues were on the defensive end. They have a collection of good defensive players, but lack cohesion playing team defense. Defense has never been McGraw's strong suit, and it burned them tonight. They also really need Turner to develop a better face up and back to the basket game. Id love to see her do more than sit exclusively in the post. She has pretty decent handles and is capable of taking players off the dribble. If you watch any of her high school or AAU highlights, it's all of her taking players off the dribble and playing more as a wing than a forward.

Notre Dame will be LOADED next year with everyone back besides Mabrey and Cable. Patberg is a very good guard who will be healthy, and Boley is a heck of a player who could be a double digit scorer from day 1. Haven't seen a lot of Young, but she comes with her own slew of accolades and could be a contributor early.

Last night paved the way for potential another Tennessee-UCONN or Stanford-UCONN title game. Not quite as intimidating, but Tennessee was the best team out of the 8 last night on both ends of the ball, and Stanford has a masterful coach who has proven she can put together great game plans to upset UCONN. I think it'll be a cake walk for the Huskies, but what an entertaining night of basketball.

 

[Carnac]

Ouch!

I guess we don't have to wonder if she left on good terms or not.

 

[schmendrick]

I'm betting on Washington against all-comers. Plum, Osafor, Walton, Coach Neighbors. They are on a roll and no one seems to consider they might beat Stanford, and Tennessee.

 

[Buzzyboy]

The player about whom I was thinking was a local product, Tracy Claxton, who actually started at Kansas before transferring to Old Dominion; Which, in turn, makes Ms DeShield's accomplishment uniquely remarkable.

A better UConn example of a team finding a way to win despite subpar offensive performances from star players is the 2002 national championship game against Oklahoma when Sue bird and Diana Taurasi shot a combined 8 for 25 while the team went 30 for 57.

You would have thought that Diana had the game of a lifetime against Oklahoma in retrospect because she had that shot late that beefed up UConn's cushion and also fouled out Stacy Dales. Obviously that wasn't the case but it's funny how one shot can totally change the image in a lot of peoples minds. From what I saw of the game highlights, Ohio State played horribly, particularly on the defensive end and particularly on the interior. Some of those assists should have been given to the Ohio State defense because often Mercedes Russel was all by herself underneath, just waiting for any kind of pass for an easy layup. To commend Diamond for bringing two teams to a regional final (seemingly on her back) suggests performances much different than the one that I saw last night. She was just a small part of it and doesn't deserve the type credit that's suggested by stating that she LED them to the regional final. A Notre Dame player who hadn't scored all night the other day made a layup at the end of the game that was the winning basket but it was his only basket of the night and did he LEAD Notre Dame to the victory???? It distorts the reality of the entire game though I know it has SOME significance. Lets keep everything in proportion with reality, okay?

 

[Buzzyboy]

I'm betting on Washington against all-comers. Plum, Osafor, Walton, Coach Neighbors. They are on a roll and no one seems to consider they might beat Stanford, and Tennessee.

I'd love it to death. I hope it happens.

 

[msf22b]

How do you gobble up tickets?
Gobble, gobble, gobble.

 

[VAUConnFan]

You would have thought that Diana had the game of a lifetime against Oklahoma in retrospect because she had that shot late that beefed up UConn's cushion and also fouled out Stacy Dales. Obviously that wasn't the case but it's funny how one shot can totally change the image in a lot of peoples minds. From what I saw of the game highlights, Ohio State played horribly, particularly on the defensive end and particularly on the interior. Some of those assists should have been given to the Ohio State defense because often Mercedes Russel was all by herself underneath, just waiting for any kind of pass for an easy layup. To commend Diamond for bringing two teams to a regional final (seemingly on her back) suggests performances much different than the one that I saw last night. She was just a small part of it and doesn't deserve the type credit that's suggested by stating that she LED them to the regional final. A Notre Dame player who hadn't scored all night the other day made a layup at the end of the game that was the winning basket but it was his only basket of the night and did he LEAD Notre Dame to the victory???? It distorts the reality of the entire game though I know it has SOME significance. Lets keep everything in proportion with reality, okay?

Your response is appreciated, but it seems obvious you are unwilling to extend credit where it is due. It is OK to dislike a player, even a good player, for reasons wholly your own. It could very well be a lucky coincidence that Ms DeShields has found herself playing in her second regional final with as many teams. However, both North Carolina and Tennessee had extensive gaps between Elite 8 appearances and neither team was seeded to reach the regional final, especially not Tennessee. There were many on this board willing to argue that their 7 seed was overly generous.

I am more than willing to keep everything in proportion to reality even if our respective realities might differ to varying extents.

As for Ms Taurasi against Oklahoma, even when she was not playing up to par, she is still the best player on the floor and the one in whom you place your trust because she never loses faith in her own abilities.