Official Selection Show thread

[Monte]

I have no idea as to the quality but there is a Holiday Inn in Bridgeport which is within walking distance of the arena. I’ve parked there and once ate there. The food was okay and the place looked clean, Ralph and Rich’s is a good restaurant choice near the arena.

I believe I saw an article a few weeks ago that this Inn is closed.

 

[shiverz45]

I understand your points, Plebe, but I think Clark won't have as much trouble with SC's smallish guards as she has with bigger defenders, such as Maryland's this winter. I'd also expect Iowa's Warnock, Martin and O'Grady to help Caitlin and Czinano on the boards. They're not as big as the Gamecocks but they are feisty...

As I've heard others opine, a key will be whether refs let Boston get away with fouls on Czinano. To date, she seems to get away with a lot, but Monika is a tough cover.

I'd bet on SC, but wouldn't be shocked if Iowa makes it a tight game.

First, however the Hawkeyes would need to beat Iowa State, no easy task.

SC has the number 1 defense in the country with the two small guards leading the way. They are small but super athletic. If we need to go bigger the majority of our backup guards are 6'0 over. SC defensive stopper is Brea Beal, and I would not be surprised if she is guarding Caitlin in the halfcourt set. I am curious whether Iowa will force the tempo or try to pack it in like everyone else and dare SC to shoot. Should be an interesting game, nonetheless.

 

[JordyG]

I wouldn't call Taurasi or Bird stellar defenders and they've each won a zillion titles. I don't see Iowa as a realistic title threat, but their defense is much much better this year if you've watched their games. They aren't a great defensive team but they are far more active on defense than they were a year ago.

The difference were they weren't as ball dominant as Clark.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

I believe that was a fair assessment. While I don't agree that Geno purposedly developed UConn this way, i do agree in part with what Peck said--it was a one-woman show, and UConn didn't acquire their beautiful balance until after Paige was injured--and I daresay had not this occurred, I serious doubt whether UConn would have developed in their great team tapestry, and certainly not to the level that we're seeing now. I mean Geno openly said as much in pressers: that he didn't like the way the offense went without Paige, and he didn't have anyone else in the line up to depend on. And he pretty much wanted Paige to shoot it every time. You have to admit, this isn't ringing endorsement of a whole team concept...

The premise of Peck's comment was that this is Geno's practice, which is quite untrue because he develops everyone or tries to, in any case. And, although Geno encouraged Paige to shoot instead of pass and that she did, she was not alone on offense: Christyn and, often enough, Evina were. True that in crucial moments, Paige dominated the offense but the fact that he averaged high enough with the assists tells you she involved others...

My objection to the comment is that it was a swipe at Geno's alleged standard coaching practice that is patently untrue. It just happened to be more that way because there were not too many options with last year's team. Well, those same players are not hesitant any more about shooting, except Nika.

 

[shiverz45]

Only one team could be the #1 seed in Greensboro. That head-to-head loss was likely a difference maker.

18 Quad 1 wins (SC) to 13 is the difference.

 

[GoChips20]

they can beat anybody when playing well but are not a great offensive team........... definitely less threatening than South Carolina or Stanford

It does kind of look that way at times, but statistically NC State is one of the top offensive teams in the country. 76.8 PPG, #6 in Massey offensive efficiency. Not too far behind in defensive rating. I agree with the assessment that they’re the “third” threat but they are very much in the title conversation. Bowed out early last year and returned their entire core. Seem to be on a mission.

 

[chuck.r]

The "first four" games, as they've existed on the men's side for some time now, consist of two games between the bottom four teams in the field (teams 65-68, seeded 16) plus two games between the last four at-large selections, which are usually 11 seeds.

To add a bit of refinement to the "First Four" question: the eight teams composing the First Four are split evenly between the four lowest seeded Automatic Qualifiers (practically all mid-major conference tournament winners) and the four lowest At-Large Bid seeds (11-13 seeds, usually). This is for equity across the tournament field - if it was just the eight lowest seeds, then they would all likely be from mid-major qualifiers. The tournament itself is fairly evenly divided between AQ and At-Large bids.

As far as which brackets these play-in games are situated, I'm less sure of the procedure.

 

[Cuango]

There's a good possibility that the entire "bonus coverage" may not contain a single analysis of any potential matchups.

Very poor.

This is what ESPN has become! Pretty sad. A bunch of phony people talking about everything except what they really should be talking about. Painful, is the word that comes to mind.

 

[GoChips20]

That was the year after A'ja. Dawn's worse team in the last 8 years.

I saw a really interesting interview this season where Dawn spoke about that year and said she called Destanni and V into her office to ask them to stick with her and ride it out. She knew they weren’t a good basketball team and had off-court issues (Dawn didn’t say this, but based on the Herbert-Harrigan almost-transfer and T’ea Cooper issue before transferring again, I think Cooper was at the root of it). I remember thinking that team looked super disjointed and out of sync with one another.

 

[Redux]

This is what ESPN has become!

ESPN didn't make a whole lot of money when they were good. So they make a little less now, with not even an effort; who cares? There's no real motivation to be good; you just do the minimum possible to get by. As an individual executive these days, you actually get bonuses for plans to do that: the minimum possible to get by.

 

[Cuango]

Lawson must have declined their bid. There's no way they didn't get an invite.

Why would a new coach, with a relatively inexperienced team, (tournament wise) turn down an opportunity for her team to get all that valuable extra experience and practice? If she did decline, I wonder why?

 

[Cuango]

I think it's fair. I wonder if UCF has memories of UConn dominating them in their conference. How about AE on Rhyne Howard. She's shut down. Let's go!

Let’s just hope Howard doesn’t foul her out.

 

[tchalla1]

Why would a new coach, with a relatively inexperienced team, (tournament wise) turn down an opportunity for her team to get all that valuable extra experience and practice? If she did decline, I wonder why?

If Dawn did decline, perhaps she might have felt the WNIT invite was beneath their bar of expectation.....

 

[jonson]

Recalling Brenda complaining bitterly about ending up in Bridgeport in 2017, particularly the fact that MD fans couldn’t purchase additional tickets outside of their meager allocation, as UConn fans had already purchased everything in sight.

Unfortunately, MD didn’t even make it to the Elite 8, as a young freshman named Ionescu lead a 6-seed to an upset win over the Terps. At the end of that game, MD fans couldn’t sell their tickets to the Elite 8 game fast enough.

Kindly UConn fans, including yours truly, helped Terp fans out by taking Elite 8 tickets off their hands at a considerable discount.

I believe that the Oregon team was seeded 10th.

 

[tchalla1]

Let’s just hope Howard doesn’t foul her out.

Certainly, that's the risk of putting AE on Howard, if we play Kentucky, but I can't think of anyone else to guard her. Maybe we go to a zone and use an iso on Howard. Howard deploys a guard mentality when she has the ball, she will start her attack well beyond the 3-point line and AE may have trouble guarding her on the perimeter, that's why we might need to zone KY. On the other side, KY is very venerable to fast break opportunities, so if we can hold down their shooting percentage. get some rebounds, and get into the open court, we can hurt KY mightily...

 

[Cuango]

The premise of Peck's comment was that this is Geno's practice, which is quite untrue because he develops everyone or tries to, in any case. And, although Geno encouraged Paige to shoot instead of pass and that she did, she was not alone on offense: Christyn and, often enough, Evina were. True that in crucial moments, Paige dominated the offense but the fact that he averaged high enough with the assists tells you she involved others...

My objection to the comment is that it was a swipe at Geno's alleged standard coaching practice that is patently untrue. It just happened to be more that way because there were not too many options with last year's team. Well, those same players are not hesitant any more about shooting, except Nika.

Well said! Her comment said a lot more about her than it did Geno.

 

[sun]

Anybody know where you can go to rewatch the segments?

I was able to watch 2 of the segments on the NCAA website.
Perhaps they didn't have enough time to finish loading the rest of the show when I watched it.

Women's championship game set: It'll be South Carolina vs. UConn

Live updates and scoring for NCAA women's tournament.

www.ncaa.com

Connecticut's #15 Fairfield was selected to travel to Spokane to be the first to play #2 Texas.

 

[FormerCTrez]

That’s true, of course. But I would be HOT if I were an NC State fan after tonight’s Bracket reveal. As stated in other posts/threads, they have been a clear Top-3 team all season & strong #1 seed only to “earn” a hostile Elite 8 road game in UConn’s home state.

I’m a huge Huskies fan, & UConn is loaded when now healthy, but they have had a down year by any reasonable standard & do not deserve such homecooking, so to speak. They may well prove ultimately so deserving, but this would be after-the-fact. Bracket reveal should be predicated on empirical results to-date— not potential nor paper projection.

Curious why the Committee couldn’t have simply swapped 1/2 pairings b/w Bridgeport & Wichita, thereby eliminating this disparity. Not like NC State & Louisville playing near home, respectively, as-is, & Baylor arguably should have lost their awarded regional edge by losing the Big-12 Final today.

Finally, UConn staying in Bridgeport is doing nothing to calm bias allegations discussed by select prominent NCAAW figures this year. This was the year to pull them out of New England yet they are still set-up to play de facto home Tournament games until Final Four, regardless. Missed opportunity in name of parity tagline for women’s game, particularly considering 50th anniversary of Title IX narrative backdrop.

Aaaweee! If UCONN had won all their games, they’d have earned the #1 seed in Bridgeport. And if NC State had won the SC game, they’d be the #1 seed in the Greensboro region. Both teams had significant losses, so this is where they end up. I’m happy for the Bridgeport placement, but it means squat, if the team only shows up. They have to play, and win the games. And....... Geno will make sure they are ready for the big stage.

 

[FormerCTrez]

So, with the "bonus coverage:", we were treated to segments about Aaliyah Boston, Dawn Staley and South Carolina, Tara Vandeveer and Stanford, a long segment about UCONN, and a segment on Iowa with Lisa Bluder and Caitlyn Clark.

Hardly a mention about NC State or any of the other top seeds. NC State got a mention in the first minute, that they had a potential tough matchup with UCONN to get to the Final Four.

If you want the sport to grow, mention needs to be given to some of the other teams.

If you want the sport to grow, mention needs to be given to all of the other teams.

 

[triaddukefan]

Maybe it was the different types of Schnitzel?

Never had it before, but darned if I'm not currently googling on where to find Schnitzel in Greensboro.

 

[TB12]

Just my opinion….Shame on ESPN…no cameras on UCONN when the school was announced to be in the Bridgeport region..

Too far from the ESPN Warehouse

 

[FormerCTrez]

If Dawn did decline, perhaps she might have felt the WNIT invite was beneath their bar of expectation.....

If “Kara” did decline........

 

[TB12]

This is going to be Aliyah Boston's tournament

No. She will have foul trouble.

I have enjoyed last years image of her crying everytime ESPN has played it, unlike the images of the overtime buzzer beaters against UConn. At least most people can't tell UConn is being beaten.

We will see last years tears for 3 more weeks. Surprised she was not shown after losing to Kentucky.

She should have come to UConn, Especially all the free tickets she took.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Never had it before, but darned if I'm not currently googling on where to find Schnitzel in Greensboro.

If you ever come to Washington to get some apples and Pacific salmon, you can make your way to Leavenworth, which is a faux Bavarian village. Probably half of the restaurants in town have schnitzel. Several bratwurst joints as well, where you can get just about every kind of sausage known to man.

 

[hoophuskee]

The premise of Peck's comment was that this is Geno's practice, which is quite untrue because he develops everyone or tries to, in any case. And, although Geno encouraged Paige to shoot instead of pass and that she did, she was not alone on offense: Christyn and, often enough, Evina were. True that in crucial moments, Paige dominated the offense but the fact that he averaged high enough with the assists tells you she involved others...

My objection to the comment is that it was a swipe at Geno's alleged standard coaching practice that is patently untrue. It just happened to be more that way because there were not too many options with last year's team. Well, those same players are not hesitant any more about shooting, except Nika.

I agree with you.

There is no way no way UCONN was just a 1 player team. It's not only wrong but insulting to the players that performed (as well as the insult to Geno.).

Secondly, a healthy Paige Buckers playing all year would've only made the team stronger. Great players which are unavailable that can defend, pass, and shoot don't make your team stronger when they are out. There's a reason why Paige is great.

Third, we hear what I feel as a myth that UCONN wouldn't have developed it's 9 player bench if Paige was in. IMO a complete myth. Many of us felt that the bench was going to be at least 8 players anyway even with Paige. Ducharme broke through as the 9th. But she broke through in just two games after the Azzi injury, CD broke through. In other words they were already at near full strength before the Azzi injury, and CD was so good 2 games later that she would have inevitably broke through. And you'd have to think Geno is an idiot if he couldn't see that. Look at the 2nd game vs ND (A Quality Opponent) - she comes in when the offense was sputtering in 2nd quarter and team goes on a 10-2 run. Then in the 2nd half she pours in 14. In other words, she showed right from the get-go that she was a player.

So with the history of early this year at the start of the season the offense was sputtering, and last year there were issues with the offense, that Geno wouldn't have played her any more? Geno is not an idiot. CD showed early on she was a beast. But what is she right now? The healthier Paige gets, CD is the 9th player. A terrific 9th player just as valued in that ND game as she is now.

And if we want to get really picky, we might be able to say that CD wouldn't have had the concussion if she wasn't playing as many minutes as she has. Which Chris D has eluded to her struggling a bit down the stretch.

Bottom line is that the team would've been stronger with a healthy Paige, and would still be a 9 player deep rotation.