Women hang on to win by one. 57-56,
now 7-3 in big east
now 7-3 in big east
SJU VS GEORGETOWN
- Thread starter BrooklynRed
- Start date
Don’t want to jinx them but playing much better in BE play than the preseason. I am sure Joey wishes he could have a few games back.
Keep it up ladies.
Would be amazing if they could dance again this season.
Keep it up ladies.
Would be amazing if they could dance again this season.
Problem is BE might only get 3 bids and UConn, Marquette, and Creighton seem locks. UConn rolling very easily through the BE and then getting spanked pretty good by ND Saturday did not help the conference perception at all. Very strange game to say the least, refs fingerprints all over it, but………
ND freshman Hannah Hidalgo is an absolutely terrific player and torched UConn all game. Auriemma’s stubbornness and refusal to adjust to game situations hurt UConn big time. ND is totally vulnerable to a zone but Auriemma only used it to go ahead by a deuce in the first half of the 3rd after being down 9 at the half and then went man for the rest of the game and lost by 16.
Uconn absolutely got torn apart by top of the key pick and roll, sound familiar?
ND freshman Hannah Hidalgo is an absolutely terrific player and torched UConn all game. Auriemma’s stubbornness and refusal to adjust to game situations hurt UConn big time. ND is totally vulnerable to a zone but Auriemma only used it to go ahead by a deuce in the first half of the 3rd after being down 9 at the half and then went man for the rest of the game and lost by 16.
Uconn absolutely got torn apart by top of the key pick and roll, sound familiar?
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Watched the game and did not see the "refs fingerprints all over it". Thought the issue for UConn was not giving the keys to the game to Buekers. She needs to have the ball in her hands more than not. Curious to see how they do against South Carolina in a few weeks.
Bueckers took the most shots on the team, was 5 for 17; she is a terrific player but shies away from “taking games over.” That is why if you took notice Auriemma sat her twice for her lack of aggressiveness in hunting shots In the 2nd qtr, when UConn went from 7 up at the end of the 1st to 9 down at the half. It was a recurring theme in both of UConn’s tournament losses her first two years.
The refs imprint on the game were the at least three very questionable calls on Nika Muhl, starting with a ridiculously soft touch foul on the 2nd play of the game, that had her in foul trouble the whole game. Her own very stupid 5th foul a minute into the 4th with ND up a couple ended UConn’s chances. They were outscored by 13 from then on (I was wrong on the above MOV, they actually lost by 15 not 16).
Stats aside Muhl is by far UConn’s most important player, acknowledged by the whole team and coaching staff as the unquestioned team leader (most of the time she is the only player who speaks in player huddles), probably the best perimeter defender in the country and provides a very tough, aggressive persona on the court the rest of the team follows. In addition, she sets up their offense as evidenced by her putting Sue Bird’s single season assist record in the rear view mirror last year.
I don’t want to be a hypocrite with + - stats but UConn was plus 13 in her 19 minutes, minus 28 in the 21 she didn’t play. One other set of data points, playing 19 minutes Muhl tied for second on the team in rebounds and tied for the most assists. To add, while she does not look to score, she can, shooting 50% from the floor, 43% from 3.
If you couldn’t tell, I am an unabashed fan, love her approach and game, very much tough old school player, where winning is all that matters. In the post game, Auriemma acknowledged the team was lost on the court without her.
Logen, if true regarding Muhl, a la Jenkins with us, that's a bit surprising. I have multiple friends who are UConn women's fans, and not one of them holds her in that high a regard. But I agree on Bueckers. She needs to be a bit more selfish with the ball, if you ask me. Surprised Geno hasn't ben able to get through to her in 3 years, although one year out injured.
Not surprising at all, UConn fans are incredibly spoiled with their string of superstar driven championships and Muhl just does not fit the mold. The bias against her started when Muhl and Bueckers came in together as freshman and when UConn struggled, Auriemma had Muhl start alongside her, with Muhl running the point and Auriemma’s asking Bueckers to hunt shots because that is what UConn needed her to do. UConn took off but many fans were appalled that Auriemma took their “ generational player” off the ball.
It kind of came to a head in the NCAA’s when Muhl got hurt in the opening round game, UConn made the FF but got upset big time by Arizona, who most thought had no chance. UConn had trouble scoring points but Bueckers played 40 minutes but took only 13 shots, made 5 but never tried to assert herself. Muhl played hurt for 21 minutes and UConn needed Bueckers to score but she remained very passive. UConn fans hung their hat on the fact she was named POY and many actually blamed the loss on Auriemma playing Muhl.
The fact is UConn is a much better team with Muhl on the court, it really is irrefutable. Go to the 1:55 minute mark of the video below and hear it from Auriemma himself. It is from last season.
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I will add, I posted on the UConn WBB Boneyard for a few years and got embroiled in the Muhl “bashing” that went on there. That is where my “generational player” comes from because many on the Boneyard insist Bueckers is just that, I don’t.
Like you did to a degree saying Bueckers needed the keys to the game, it is always someone else’s fault when in reality Bueckers has complete freedom. In fact Auriemma has done everything but begged her to be more selfish, it just hasn’t happened. And I don’t consider that a knock, she is an absolutely terrific player but like all of us she is just not what she is not.
Like you did to a degree saying Bueckers needed the keys to the game, it is always someone else’s fault when in reality Bueckers has complete freedom. In fact Auriemma has done everything but begged her to be more selfish, it just hasn’t happened. And I don’t consider that a knock, she is an absolutely terrific player but like all of us she is just not what she is not.
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The “ controversy”, if you will, started with some UConn fans even before either Muhl or Bueckers stepped on campus. Muhl was a relative unknown from Croatia, who was expected to go to South Florida, when she was invited to an international high school “clinic” in Florida. I am not completely sure of the logistics but some high powered coaches, including some from the NBA, participated. Bueckers was there and as it turned out, Muhl went out of her way to match up with Bueckers as much as she could, as Bueckers was viewed by far the most elite HS player in, certainly the US, but really the world.
Gregg Popovich was there and amongst others, raved about Muhl; her competitiveness, her unselfishness, her intensity, her defense, her leadership. When she decided to go to UConn, many thought, especially many UConn fans, Muhl was nuts because she would get no time playing behind Bueckers. They proved wrong.
Another aside to the story is that Bueckers and Muhl became close friends and very much remain so. They termed themselves “slimes” their freshman year which I surmise was a term describing their close friendship, that term got much play that year on the Boneyard. Bueckers herself has shared publicly more than once that Muhl is the teams leader; the only place the “controversy” lives is in fans like your friends, who have just never taken to Muhl’s “style” and the vital role she has earned at UConn.
Sorry to babble but I find the whole Bueckers/Muhl dynamic fascinating in it‘s origin, it‘s evolution and the insight it provides for the ”fan” point of view. Much like Jenkins here this year, fans can just absolutely put blinders on and not let the facts, or more to the point in both situations, the viewpoints of those directly involved, get in the way of their judgements from afar. And the passion those judgements create can be something to behold!