Impressions of UConn: The March To Madness

[mntncougar]

HNan...

Like the new mask. Stylish.

Boots whips and chains next?

 

[mntncougar]

FanHam said: ↑
A bit strange. Lots of Geno, Gabby, Kia, Chris and Katie Lou; some of Crystal, zero of Pheesa. The action footage was disappointing. Interviews were vacuous. The camerawork was jerky. Geno came across as a bit of a mystic - lots of scenery chewing, as they say. Also, the first episode takes the season from preseason to almost the present, so a lot of territory was skimpily covered.

The players were engaging. There was a charming scene near the beginning where seemingly the whole team met at Gabby's and Kia's apartment for a group dinner. Katie Lou got an inordinate amount of screen time, to my mind. Liev Schreiber's narration tone was credible.

Personalities aside, the true charm of this year's team is its stunning ball movement, efficient inside play and aggressive defense, none of which came across in the episode. A few feeds and a few outlets were shown, but to nowhere near the effect they could have been.

There is to be another new episode next Wednesday, same time, so maybe they've delve a little more into actual game play with less time to cover.

All in all, I'd rate it a C. Lacking, but acceptable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First of all, this is a re-post. 1st one seems to have vanished.
Having now watched it 2.5 times I'm not enamored of it as much as I first was. As already mentioned, I think the snub to Pheesa and literally not mentioning Chong are both glaring errors.
But I also think that not mentioning either the FSU game or the 2nd Tulane game were serious omissions. The FSU game gave a good perspective on where this team started out this year, and the Tulane game showed that the team still has some vulnerabilities, but the following games showed that they are quickly corrected.
Overall, C+ - B-.

 

[FASTEDDY]

I LOVED IT - Such an awesome advertisement of UCONN.

The program comes off looking fantastic and the campus looks great and the UCONN BBALL facilities look absolutely phenomenal. Really 1st Class.
when you are UCONN Royalty, you expect that we have great facilities with cool motivational quotes.

I can see this having a really great impact on our recruiting in the coming years. Just 1st class all the way around.

BTW, I got HUNGRY watch Gabby do a masterful job on the Shrimp and Grits dinner. Really nice. (I had grits in AL recently and OH SO DELICIOUS!)
Gabby can really cook in the kitchen and on the court - She truly has GAME!

I agree with hose who have said that the nonexistent mentions of 'Pheesa and Saniya were surprising. However, I think that this will be thoroughly addressed w/in the next 2 episodes. Keep in mind, the remaining episodes will only be 30 minutes each (I would have loved them all to be 60 minutes) so it may take 2 episodes for them to more thoroughly cover other key team members (Players and Coaches). I'm thinking 'Pheesa, Saniya, Natalie, Shea, and the other assistant (forgot her name -sorry I'm having brain freeze).

Overall, really happy with it and UCONN comes off looking like the envy of college bball.

Can you imagine how envious the likes of ND, Tenn, Baylor, MD etc are over how UCONN is being portrayed and the huge advantage we are getting? !

 

[DefenseBB]

I can just picture Muffet rolling her eyes and shaking her head, bemoaning the woulda, coulda and shoulda's over the past 15 years as the bane of her existence...I am loving it!

....sorry Dillon, Artichoke

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The best part was CD goading Geno to screw with Danger. "Notice how she never picks up full court?" "Yeah." "Hey Crystal, why don't you pick up full-court. You just run down to the other end because it is easy.."

The look on her face like "what the hell just happened" was classic!

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I can just picture Muffet rolling her eyes and shaking her head, bemoaning the woulda, coulda and shoulda's over the past 15 years as the bane of her existence...I am loving it!

....sorry Dillon, Artichoke

If I am running another program..........I would be pissed!! This will go out to thousands of families and live On-Demand virtually forever.

 

[UC10NN]

So glad I was able to watch this online this morning before work. I thought about waiting to really enjoy it after work but recalled someone posting how quick HBO has been about taking their materials offline.

Big thanks to you know who while it lasted!

 

[tomcat]

FanHam said: ↑
A bit strange. Lots of Geno, Gabby, Kia, Chris and Katie Lou; some of Crystal, zero of Pheesa. The action footage was disappointing. Interviews were vacuous. The camerawork was jerky. Geno came across as a bit of a mystic - lots of scenery chewing, as they say. Also, the first episode takes the season from preseason to almost the present, so a lot of territory was skimpily covered.

The players were engaging. There was a charming scene near the beginning where seemingly the whole team met at Gabby's and Kia's apartment for a group dinner. Katie Lou got an inordinate amount of screen time, to my mind. Liev Schreiber's narration tone was credible.

Personalities aside, the true charm of this year's team is its stunning ball movement, efficient inside play and aggressive defense, none of which came across in the episode. A few feeds and a few outlets were shown, but to nowhere near the effect they could have been.

There is to be another new episode next Wednesday, same time, so maybe they've delve a little more into actual game play with less time to cover.

All in all, I'd rate it a C. Lacking, but acceptable.
.....................................................-------
First of all, this is a re-post. 1st one seems to have vanished.
Having now watched it 2.5 times I'm not enamored of it as much as I first was. As already mentioned, I think the snub to Pheesa and literally not mentioning Chong are both glaring errors.
But I also think that not mentioning either the FSU game or the 2nd Tulane game were serious omissions. The FSU game gave a good perspective on where this team started out this year, and the Tulane game showed that the team still has some vulnerabilities, but the following games showed that they are quickly corrected.
Overall, C+ - B-.

That's an interesting perspective, and something I missed the first time around. Why wouldn't they do something with the FSU game, since its score lent credibility to the fragility of the team? It would have set up the rest of it.

 

[rugbymate]

If I am running another program.....I would be pissed!! This will go out to thousands of families and live On-Demand virtually forever.

To the victors go the spoils

 

[ochoopsfan]

Curious.
At the 18 minute mark of the video they show 3 flag poles on the UConn campus. The middle flag is at half staff. Anyone know why?

video can also be seen at

 

[hawksnest102]

I can not remember the show containing any footage from SNY games, just the ESPN2/U games. Could it be that SNY did not give HBO permission to record any of their games? I am hoping that the next session will be about Collier. This show went to the end of the regular season and Collier had a 39 point game and they did not even mention it.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

The HBO presentation of UCONN basketball is extraordinary, as the producers correctly discerned that Gestalt(whole more than the sum of the parts)is indeed real story line. Singular individual snippets of life on and off the court were woven into the “we” fabric, wining was neatly made the servant of hard work and team success, while players past and present were seen as a community with sustained culture. Coaching was established as the glue holding all together, adding context and perspective along with demand for excellence. Final goals were characterized as the byproduct of team effort, not as individualized road to victory. What a fun watch!!!

 

[JordyG]

Just curious, did anybody saw this on a 4k TV? Pretty sure the source is not 4k, but the TV can upscale the HD source to almost 4k. I thought some of the shots were phenomenal. Great documentary offering perspectives not usually available.

Yeah, I watched it on a 4K LG. It looked good. OK, I'm lying. It looked great, and this TV is the best TV decision I've ever made.

 

[Bajan Best]

I can not remember the show containing any footage from SNY games, just the ESPN2/U games. Could it be that SNY did not give HBO permission to record any of their games?

At the very end in the credits it does state "Footage provided by ESPN, NCAA, SNY and The University of Connecticut."

 

[HoopsFan21]

I can not remember the show containing any footage from SNY games, just the ESPN2/U games. Could it be that SNY did not give HBO permission to record any of their games? I am hoping that the next session will be about Collier. This show went to the end of the regular season and Collier had a 39 point game and they did not even mention it.

There was definitely footage from SNY. Some parts of it were taken from the All Access show that aired two months ago. Some players may have wanted less exposure than others which may explain why some players were on more than others. Maybe Napheesa and Saniya just didn't want to, or couldn't, participate as much. Overall I thought it was good. Complaining about the cinematic or theatrical quality is just silly to me when many top teams can't even get their games on TV.

 

[Jimbo]

I can not remember the show containing any footage from SNY games, just the ESPN2/U games. Could it be that SNY did not give HBO permission to record any of their games? I am hoping that the next session will be about Collier. This show went to the end of the regular season and Collier had a 39 point game and they did not even mention it.

The Baylor game was on SNY, as strange as that may seem.

I'm speculating here, but my guess is that HBO didn't send a crew around to cover all 29 games. It's more likely that they looked at the schedule, picked a handful of games they figured would be the closest or most compelling matchups, and allocated their resources accordingly. This would go a long way toward explaining why the documentary focused its energies on the Baylor, Notre Dame, Maryland, and South Carolina games, with only a passing reference to Florida State and nary a mention of Tulane.

 

[oldude]

The Baylor game was on SNY, as strange as that may seem.

I'm speculating here, but my guess is that HBO didn't send a crew around to cover all 29 games. It's more likely that they looked at the schedule, picked a handful of games they figured would be the closest or most compelling matchups, and allocated their resources accordingly. This would go a long way toward explaining why the documentary focused its energies on the Baylor, Notre Dame, Maryland, and South Carolina games, with only a passing reference to Florida State and nary a mention of Tulane.

If you notice the credits at the end of the show, both ESPN & SNY provided film to HBO and the Huskies radio network provided audio as well, so it appears to me that HBO could basically include coverage of any game they wanted in the documentary.

 

[CMC'72]

Now this is what I'm talking about!!!!! Thanks, now the rest of us that don't have, or refuse to buy HBO, can see the piece.

Foul!

 

[bizarro aj]

I watched it again and one of my favorite parts was nurse trying the alley oop dunk from gabby at the basketball HOF.

 

[Carnac]

The HBO presentation of UCONN basketball is extraordinary, as the producers correctly discerned that Gestalt(whole more than the sum of the parts)is indeed real story line. Singular individual snippets of life on and off the court were woven into the “we” fabric, wining was neatly made the servant of hard work and team success, while players past and present were seen as a community with sustained culture. Coaching was established as the glue holding all together, adding context and perspective along with demand for excellence. Final goals were characterized as the byproduct of team effort, not as individualized road to victory. What a fun watch!!!

As I gaze into one of my crystal balls, I see a "compilation" set of CD's of this entire production by HBO, that will become available for purchase by the general public later this spring. This would be a must have for a UConn fan, or the perfect gift.

 

[Jimbo]

If you notice the credits at the end of the show, both ESPN & SNY provided film to HBO and the Huskies radio network provided audio as well, so it appears to me that HBO could basically include coverage of any game they wanted in the documentary.

I get that, and I imagine that's why they were able to toss in a few highlights of some other games such as win #91 at SMU and the last game at USF. From that standpoint, they certainly could have included some game highlights from Florida State or Tulane as well.

But I don't buy the theory that HBO simply recycled SNY's behind the scenes footage from the Huskies All-Access show and stuck it in The March to Madness. First, we don't know for sure that SNY granted HBO access to every piece of film that SNY shot all season; SNY's permission could have been limited to game footage. Second, SNY had tons of behind the scenes footage from the Florida State game, probably the most thrilling game UConn has played all season, so it would strike me as a very odd choice if HBO had permission to use all that stuff and left it out anyway. Third, even when SNY and HBO showed the same exact same locker room speech, the footage is different. Take the video ochoopsfan posted above and pause it at 14:43, and then pause the SNY All-Access video here at 34:54.



That's the same sentence in the same halftime speech, but clearly shot by two different cameras. I think it's safe to conclude that SNY and HBO both had cameras in the room. (I suppose it's theoretically possible that SNY had multiple cameras there, both trained on Geno at the same time, but I find that unlikely.)

So that's why I believe HBO sent its camera people to a select few games and, as a result, focused disproportionately on those games in the first episode of The March to Madness. There are ESPN/SNY highlights from other games here and there but, tellingly, no behind the scenes things.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The best part was CD goading Geno to screw with Danger. "Notice how she never picks up full court?" "Yeah." "Hey Crystal, why don't you pick up full-court. You just run down to the other end because it is easy.."

The look on her face like "what the hell just happened" was classic!

Didn't he finish with : 4 years of full court (Mo), now we get this. Ouch! But we know already that Dangerfield has had difficulty accepting the need for total commitment in practice. In some respects her performance in the Baylor game may have confused her on that score.

 

[oldude]

Chris Dailey looks tired to me. I hope she is ok health wise.

After watching CD go toe to toe with Geno to prevent him from getting T'd up in the MD game, it's no wonder that she's tired. I suspect part of her job description includes "lion tamer."

 

[my2cents]

I thought the dinner that Gabby and Lou made looked really delicious.
Also, wondering why the pre game instructions on the "whiteboards" were blurred out?

 

[Scotter]

I don't think HBO itself started filming until after the Baylor game and before the Notre Dame game. The HBO show was announced on 12/6 and the Notre Dame game was 2/7 and the HBO cameras were traveling with the team to Notre Dame. So they used SNY footage exclusively for the Baylor game and preseason that we had already seen.

The focus on the series is obviously now March Madness itself so the first show was designed as an introduction.