Saturday, March 29, 2014
Elite Eight!
Here are some tidbits - UConn lost their only meeting with Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament, in the 2009 Final Four played in Detriot.
No, No. 7 seed advanced to the Final Four.
UConn has never advanced to the Final Four from the East Region. The Huskies lost a heartbreaker to Duke in 1990 in the Meadowlands. Then again, UConn lost to North Carolina in Greensboro in 1998. Also, UConn lost to Maryland in Syracuse in 2002. Most recently, UConn lost to George Mason in Washington, DC in 2006. In two of those three games, UConn was the higher seed and twice they played the regional final in the opponent's backyard.
UConn has advanced to the Final Four the four times in the last six appearances in the Elite Eight.
The crowd at Madison Square Garden will be again a pro-UConn crowd. This is amazing since the fans did not show up earlier this season when they played in the 2K Sports Classic. I was there for the championship game and in a half fulled MSG, it was a very pro-Indiana crowd. I felt like it has been that way the past few times UConn has played a preseason tournament there and even the last few St. John's games. If UConn fans want to make some noise, they need to appear again next year at Yankee Stadium for the football game vs. Army and again when there is a UConn men's./women's doubleheader. I remember the day that Metro North always had extra cars and trains when UConn was in town - this needs to happen again and often.
Go Huskies!
PS: Today is the 15th anniversary of the greatest win in UConn basketball history. 77-74!
Gameday Preview: UConn women set for BYU in Sweet 16 showdown
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sweet Sixteen!
Well, the Huskies know how to turn it on in March.
Last week they proved they belonged when they defeated Memphis and Cincinnati to advance to the American championship game. The Memphis win was significant because it was a true road game. The Cincinnati win was just an old school grind.
Then past Thursday, the Huskies were playing awful in the first half. Down by as many as ten, then they fought back. Being down late, it was the freshman center who made the biggest shot and free throw in this career to force overtime. As we have become accustomed to, OT is Napier time. Nothing changed as UConn advanced to the Round of 32.
Saturday night primetime was interesting. UConn looked like they were going to get blown out of the building early on. Napier with two quick fouls and plenty of time on the bench, and Husky bench stepped up. Villanova was forced to live and die by the three and they did die. Napier took over in the second half and helped lead UConn to the East Regional semifinals at Madison Square Garden in NYC.
MSG is a UConn homecourt. The Huskies beat BC and Indiana there back in November. They won Big East tournament championships there and always gave St. John's a battle. The Garden will be rocking on Friday night.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
American Semifinals - Journal of Day 2
C. Vivian Stringer described UConn as a prize fighter who throws a knockout punch early in the game and they shadow box throughout the rest of the half. Then after halftime, they throw that next punch and usually the opponent can't withstand it. If you can't survive either punches, it is a TKO.
USF came so close to an upset bid - but lost the game in the final seconds. The Schimmel sisters played a key role in the Cardinals win - Shoni with the go ahead bucket and Jude with the steal and two free throws with 3.3 seconds left.
Jeff Walz and Jose Fernandez are the most animated coaches I have seen on a sideline in a long time.
USF has some ugly uniforms. What are the people at Under Armor thinking?
$43.30 for a ticket to Monday's championship game is well worth it. This will be Part Three between No. 1 UConn and No. 3 Louisville. If the Cards win, UL is the No. 1 seed in the Louisville Region and UConn will be the No. 1 seed in Lincoln. If the Huskies win, there is a 51% chance UConn is the top seed in Louisville region and Louisville is the two seed. Still, how is Louisville not a one seed - two losses to UConn and one loss to SEC runner-up Kentucky? The NCAA should forget about their regional rules and do the right thing and place these two teams away from each other.
Best line of the day - Geno was asked if he thought it was odd that Rutgers did not attempt a three during the game. His answer - why shoot threes if you are going to miss. Stringer agreed.
Of note, 2014-15 season - UConn and Rutgers may meet in either Madison Square Garden or the Barclays Center. This all depends if Stringer wants to play a neutral site game. Also, UConn will visit Notre Dame. UConn an Louisville will continue to play their series in the 2015-16 season.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
UConn women advance to AAC Semifinals
What a mess in Louisville!
The defending national champions made some noise, playing at a higher level and hope to get back to the Final Four next month.
Kevin Ollie took full responsibility for the way his team played. It was honestly embarrassing. I am not sure if the loss against Houston was worst. The Huskies were outplayed and outcoached. I really hope the Huskies learn to play against zone and some pressure defense and learn some patience on offense or it will be a quick end to March.
Ollie was asked if he saw this coming and he said no. As of fan, I saw it happening. Last Wednesday, they struggled to beat Rutgers. There were many times this season where they were lucky to win games. Still it would be great if there was another consistent option or two besides Shabazz Napier. And post play, including rebounding, is key.
UConn will play Memphis on Thursday night in Memphis in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference. UConn will be the home team by seed, but Memphis will be playing on their home court. The winner will most likely take on Cincinnati in the semifinals.
Finally, anyone else notice the happy music ESPN has during the 30 for 30 commercial on the Big East? It is like they are happy they destroyed the Big East. However, I did notice on the new Big East website, they control all the records and the AAC (which is technically the Big East before it was renamed the American) has nothing. Sad to see the likes of Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor, 6 OTs and UConn's 2011 run controlled by a bunch of Catholic schools who purchased it. So is the Big East dead or just dead to ESPN? Still want to know what UConn does with the Big East banners in Gampel Pavilion?
AAC Women's Tournament - Quarterfinal Journal
Friday, March 7, 2014
The American Women’s Tournament Preview
Thursday, March 6, 2014
American announces women’s regular season awards
Stefanie Dolson, UConn, Sr., C
American Most Improved Player of the Year
Asia Taylor, Louisville, R-Sr., F
American Sportsmanship Award
Stefanie Dolson, UConn, Sr., C
Tia Gibbs, Louisville, R-Sr., G
American Sixth Player of the Year
Rateska Brown, Temple, Jr., G
All-Conference First Team
*Stefanie Dolson, UConn, Sr., C
*Bria Hartley, UConn, Sr., G
Moriah Jefferson, UConn, So., G
*Breanna Stewart, UConn, So., F
Sara Hammond, Louisville, Jr., F
Asia Taylor, Louisville, R-Sr., F
*Shoni Schimmel, Louisville, Sr., G
Ariel Hearn, Memphis, So., G
Kahleah Copper, Rutgers, So., G
Courtney Williams, USF, So., G
*Keena Mays, SMU, Sr., G
All-Conference Second Team
Jeanise Randolph, Cincinnati, Sr., F
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, UConn, Jr., F
Kiah Stokes, UConn, Jr., C
Bria Smith, Louisville, Jr., G
Betnijah Laney, Rutgers, Jr., G/F
Tyler Scaife, Rutgers, Fr., G
Alisia Jenkins, USF, So., F
Inga Orekhova, USF, Sr., G
Akil Simpson, SMU, Sr., F
Feyonda Fitzgerald, Temple, Fr., G
Natasha Thames, Temple, R-Sr., F
All-Freshman Team
*Zykira Lewis, UCF, Fr., G
Bianca Quisenberry, Cincinnati, Fr., G
Saniya Chong, UConn, Fr., G
Emmonnie Henderson, Louisville, Fr., F
Breigha Wilder-Cochran, Memphis, Fr., G
Mooriah Rowser, Memphis, R-Fr., G
*Tyler Scaife, Rutgers, Fr., G
Ariadna Pujol, USF, Fr., G
*Kiara Perry, SMU, Fr., G
*Feyonda Fitzgerald, Temple, Fr., G
Taylor Robinson, Temple, Fr., C
[*] denotes unanimous pick
Ties are not broken
Monday, March 3, 2014
UConn women look to clinch top seed in AAC Tournament
Tonight, they meet again for another championship at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Ky. (7pm ESPN2). This time it is for the inaugural American Athletic Conference regular season title. If UConn wins, they will win the outright conference championship and will be the top seed in this weekend’s American tournament at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. If Louisville wins, both teams will share the regular season title and a coin flip will determine the top seed in the tournament.
The No. 1 Huskies defeated No. 25 Rutgers, 72-35, to earn a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship last Saturday. In a game where they never trailed, top-ranked and unbeaten UConn (30-0 overall, 17-0 AAC) used a stifling defense to keep the Scarlet Knights at bay. Rutgers was held to a season-low 35 points scored. They played without their leading scorer Kahleah Cooper who missed most of the game Breanna Stewart and Bria Hartley led the Huskies in scoring. They both scored 20 points each. Stewart and Stefanie Dolson (six points) had 10 rebounds apiece. Kia Stokes pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench.
Last month, UConn defeated the No. 3 Cardinals 81-64 and ended a 16 game winning streak in front of soldout crowd at Gampel Pavilion. Since then, the Cards (28-2, 16-1) have won five in a row, most recently a 75-51 victory against Cincinnati.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz is known for his aggressive game plans. In the last meeting, his team was physical and they opted to leave Moriah Jefferson open. However, offensively they struggled against the UConn defense and Stewart just took over. Stewart had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Jefferson scored a career-high 18 points. The Huskies forced 14 turnovers and held the Cardinals to 36% shooting.
Expect Walz and his team to learn from the previous meeting and come with another game plan to contain Stewart and Hartley. It is without question that Walz will use some type of full-court pressure defense to tire out the Huskies who only have eight scholarship players. They will also use a combination of a two-three or three-two zone. Expect Stewart to be double or triple teamed in the post.
The Cardinals are led by a pair of All-American candidates in guard Shoni Schimmel (17.2 point per game) and forward Sara Hammond (11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds). In the last meeting, the UConn defense was able to contain and limit both players on offense. Forward Asia Taylor (12.2 points) had 18 points in the last meeting and guard Antonia Slaughter is a three-point threat.
Both teams are pretty much at full strength. UConn saw the return of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis on Saturday afternoon. Although she scored only seven points, she did play 27 minutes. Geno Auriemma expects Lewis to have a better shooting performance than she did last Saturday. Lewis sat out the past two weeks with mononucleosis. Louisville will have guard Bria Smith, who missed the last meeting with the Huskies due to a knee injury.
The Cardinals are undefeated at home this season (17-0) and this is their senior night.