Geno, let's not basketball anymore!

[DEpup]

This thread isn’t to complain about the South Carolina game. It’s specific to Lou and how she’s been treated the entire season.

Completely agree. As soon as folks discovered she is the real deal for us after Azzi went down, it is every team's strategy. For me this treatment is in conflict with freedom of movement. A few early fouls by the refs followed by feedback such as I saw the shirt tug or mind your shoulder so cut it out or I'll keep calling them will see it go away.

 

[toadfoot]

Several years ago the NCAA rules committee promoted the idea of “freedom of movement” by cracking down on “hand checking”, “moving screens” and other tactics designed to impede player movement on the court.

Smart coaches, including Dawn Staley, Geno and others began emphasizing “bodying up” opponents on defense. There is, of course. a fine line between playing tight defense and impeding player movement.

What I witnessed on Sunday was Zia Cooke frequently using her shoulders and hips to impede Lou’s movement on the court, with an occasional tug on her uniform. It was not unlike what you see watching NFL CB’s covering receivers. I think there was only 1 foul called, and that was when Lou went sprawling on the court after a hip check by Cooke that would have impressed any NHL player.

I can understand Geno’s frustration as he watches one of the best shooters in WBB get beaten up on the court. Whatever happens during the remainder of this season, for the good of the game, it is incumbent on the NCAA rules committee to revisit the subject of freedom of movement to eliminate the practice of body checking and jersey grabbing in basketball

I remember when the NCAA announced they were going to put an emphasis on “freedom of movement”. As I recall that lasted half a season at most. I’m beginning to think the only solution to the rugby style of defense is to have at least 1 more referee prowling the sideline watching the play away from the ball and specifically paying attention to players being grabbed, pushed, etc. while cutting, running the baseline, etc.

 

[DEpup]

Do you want a foul called on every possession?

I don't think that is necessary because as previously said the players and coaches will learn quickly after the first couple.

I've seen games where a team comes out hacking to test the refs and if a couple fouls are called then the play gets cleaner for the rest of the game. It's the refs job to start off consistent so everyone knows what is considered a foul.

 

[ME Husky Fan]

Regardless of any rule, the mantra from every coach is put a body on them until they call a foul…

 

[DEpup]

I remember when the NCAA announced they were going to put an emphasis on “freedom of movement”. As I recall that lasted half a season at most. I’m beginning to think the only solution to the rugby style of defense is to have at least 1 more referee prowling the sideline watching the play away from the ball and specifically paying attention to players being grabbed, pushed, etc. while cutting, running the baseline, etc.

Or put them in volleyball uniforms so there isn't anything loose to grab.

 

[toadfoot]

Completely agree. As soon as folks discovered she is the real deal for us after Azzi went down, it is every team's strategy. For me this treatment is in conflict with freedom of movement. A few early fouls by the refs followed by feedback such as I saw the shirt tug or mind your shoulder so cut it out or I'll keep calling them will see it go away.

Agree. I often hear people complain that calling every such foul would result in the refs ”taking over the game” but if all it would take is a few quick whistles as you point out and that nonsense would cease. If it doesn’t keep blowing the whistle until it does.

 

[MSGRET]

Or put them in volleyball uniforms so there isn't anything loose to grab.

I think the Australian Women's National Basketball team already wears those type of uni's.

 

[DEpup]

It would be an amazing experiment and statement to put Lou in a Uconn volleyball uniform and see what happens....

 

[SVCBeercats]

I see bruising and abuse - no excuse. Just my opinion…

In high school we always had 3-4 football players on the basketball team who took care of the bruisers and abusers ... harshly. Personally I accelerated when someone wanted to take charge aiming for the softer parts. Our coach said make them not want to do it again.

 

[90BSEE]

This thread isn’t to complain about the South Carolina game. It’s specific to Lou and how she’s been treated the entire season.

But she isn't the only one. In this game, maybe, because neither Azzi or Paige were in the game. But our best players have been getting this treatment for a VERY long time.

Do you want a foul called on every possession?

Yes. If it is in the rule book, call it. It won't end up being every possession because the players WILL stop fouling.

Is everyone aware that UConn is a physical team? Calling every foul is a double edged sword

You can play physical without fouling. Certain contact is allowed. Stronger players will and should have an advantage. Certain contact is not allowed. Faster and more skilled players should have an advantage.

UConn has shown that they can play good D without fouling. Other teams should be forced to do so as well. There were seasons when we barely committed fouls all season and then, suddenly, got called for a ton in a national semifinal game. Interestingly, our opponent in said game barely got called for any fouls while being overly physical. The 2018 semifinal game is one of the most recent and most egregious examples.

That was 5 years ago so this isn't new. I think Geno has tried to deal with this problem diplomatically for a VERY long time. And he has tried to prepare his teams to deal with it. Sometimes he succeeds (Taurasi era and Stewie era) and sometimes he fails. (2018-????) But I think he has abandoned diplomacy. The refs WILL respond negatively so we should expect blowback. So long as he keeps complaining publicly, the spotlight will get too bright and the refs will eventually fall in line. I think he is doing the right thing.

 

[BBallF]

Completely agree. As soon as folks discovered she is the real deal for us after Azzi went down, it is every team's strategy. For me this treatment is in conflict with freedom of movement. A few early fouls by the refs followed by feedback such as I saw the shirt tug or mind your shoulder so cut it out or I'll keep calling them will see it go away.

Could not agree more. That's what refs used to do.

 

[MSGRET]

I think "posting a body" is quite generous.

She did it against a possible NPOY canidate Caitlin Clark for 40 minutes and got only two fouls called. Clark was heard on a hot mike that someone needs to get #11 off of her. The fouls against Nika in the SC game were less aggressive than the ones NOT CALLED on Zia. Nika was not grabbing the jersey, hip checking or physically impeding freedom of movement.

 

[oldude]

Not sure you can mention Zia,and not mention Nika in the same breath. I think she gets away with a lot of contact.

I do mention that both Dawn & Geno emphasize “bodying up” on defense, and yes Nika plays defense similarly to Cooke. But there is a difference. Nika is much better at moving her feet than Cooke, allowing her to stay in front of her opponent. In Cooke’s case, a lot of what she was doing to Lou on Sunday entailed bumping and grabbing from behind once Lou had beaten her.

There was one play in the 2nd qtr when Lou made a hard cut on the baseline that should have lead to a backdoor layup. Nika threaded what would have been a perfect bounce pass leading Lou towards the basket.

Cooke, who was beaten dipped her shoulder and threw out her left arm slightly knocking Lou off stride. As a result, Lou wasn’t able to catch Nika’s pass in stride and the ball went off her hands out of bounds.

To my amazement, the ref signaled SC basketball, completely missing the foul committed by Cooke on the play.