Watching the analysis on the SVP Sportscenter, the analyst onsite and Van Pelt both said that call "sucked".
She was in Clarks jersey all night long. That’s a full time job.Nika Muhl is a black hole offensively
I'll be with you. Edwards did move into Marshall. It was particularly obvious on the one camera angle from behind Marshall that Edwards stepped out and only set her feet when Marshall hit her.I’ll be the contrarian. In real time I thought it was a foul. The tell to me is that Geno wasn’t angry at the refs, he was angry at Edwards.
Cheap for that point on a National semi? Sure.
Nika Muhl is a black hole offensively
She also made a ginormous 3 near the end of the game.She was in Clarks jersey all night long. That’s a full time job.
Or Al Horford, who pulls like John Hannah when setting screens.Sources familiar with the thinking of Bam Adebayo say he thinks that screen was perfectly legal. Back to you.
I mean, it’s like the holding call on the decomposing corpse of JuJu Smith-Schuster in the Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl that can be metaphysically defended since the player isn’t as still as a Buckingham Palace guard, but isn’t really called.I'll be with you. Edwards did move into Marshall. It was particularly obvious on the one camera angle from behind Marshall that Edwards stepped out and only set her feet when Marshall hit her.
Normally they don't make that call and then it gets argued endlessly the other way.
FTR, they rarely make this type of call in this situation in the mens game and it's a big source of contention among W fans that men "get away with more" than women do. Or, that the womens game is officiated differently. I can see the counterarguments but I'm just calling attention to many fans' and analysts' frustrations of how technical and exacting the womens game is called compared to mens.She also made a ginormous 3 near the end of the game.
I don’t 100% hate that call. In slo-mo it looked totally awful but in real time (which the refs are watching) it looked like Edwards threw her elbow out – just a bit but hard. It was just enough so that with Marshall coming hard around the screen she was kind of redirected, which the refs are going to see.
Even still not a call I probably ever make in that situation.
The game didn’t end on a make/miss because Connecticut couldn’t rebound a missed free throwIt is as bad to decide a game with a no call of a call that should be made as to call a foul that did not happen, and I don’t know which that was but it is so disappointing the game did not end with a make or miss attempt. If the call is there you have to make it, but darn was that a momentum stopper in a situation that was tracking to be classic.
I guess nobody will care on Sunday.
Agreed. But if it was hockey, Edwards would have gotten 5 minutes and a game misconduct for boarding.I mean, it’s like the holding call on the decomposing corpse of JuJu Smith-Schuster in the Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl that can be metaphysically defended since the player isn’t as still as a Buckingham Palace guard, but isn’t really called.
This. All that terrible call did was take away a UConn chance to win it at the end. But even with the call, UConn had a chance for the rebound down two with several seconds left and a time out. Get the rebound, call TO, get the ball at half court, and you still have time to run something.The game didn’t end on a make/miss because Connecticut couldn’t rebound a missed free throw
One point game is way more exciting. It’s like practically the most exciting thing in sports when the ball is in the air at the buzzer in a one-point game.The game didn’t end on a make/miss because Connecticut couldn’t rebound a missed free throw
I was not able to pay much attention to the whole game, but it would actually be kind of interesting to know how many offensive fouls were called in the first 39:55 of the game. If it was like four or five, the game end would be a little easier to take than if it was like 1.A few minutes earlier Clark lowered her shoulder and blasted Arnold off the ball and made a pull up jumper. Does anyone think for one second that if Clark set that screen that she'd be called for the foul in that situation?
Zero. Point. Zero. Percent. would that be called against Clark.
Looks like 2 offensive fouls called (per the play-by-play), both in the first half.I was not able to pay much attention to the whole game, but it would actually be kind of interesting to know how many offensive fouls were called in the first 39:55 of the game. If it was like four or five, the game end would be a little easier to take than if it was like 1.
At 6:06 of the 2nd quarter they called an illegal screen on Nika Muhl, who wasn't moving at all.I was not able to pay much attention to the whole game, but it would actually be kind of interesting to know how many offensive fouls were called in the first 39:55 of the game. If it was like four or five, the game end would be a little easier to take than if it was like 1.
Same boat but I believe all illegal screens were called on UConn despite Iowa setting a bazillion of them.I was not able to pay much attention to the whole game, but it would actually be kind of interesting to know how many offensive fouls were called in the first 39:55 of the game. If it was like four or five, the game end would be a little easier to take than if it was like 1.
Man, Geno approached the game like we all knew he would. Unlike, LSU, he had them get up in Clark's face at 50-feet and face guard her. Force her right when she had the ball bc she shoots best off her left hand dribble just like KD (and many great right-handed shooters). Maybe give up a drive or two but with active help and backside rotation force the others to beat you. It's not brilliant but it's necessary and doable and he did it unlike Mulkey. The key is that he got them motivated to do it and you could tell. Their bounciness of defense was electric right from the get-go.It was an objectively awful call to make in any situation let alone there. The officiating benefited Iowa most of the night. KK Arnold gets called for a foul when she touched nobody. Ruined what was one of Geno’s great coaching jobs of his career.
Yeah the game plan tonight was great, but my bigger point was that he got a team with basically 3 players in Paige-Aaliyah-Muhl to the brink of a national title. That team was devastated by injuries but he did a great job.Man, Geno approached the game like we all knew he would. Unlike, LSU, he had them get up in Clark's face at 50-feet and face guard her. Force her right when she had the ball bc she shoots best off her left hand dribble just like KD (and many great right-handed shooters). Maybe give up a drive or two but with active help and backside rotation force the others to beat you. It's not brilliant but it's necessary and doable and he did it unlike Mulkey. The key is that he got them motivated to do it and you could tell. Their bounciness of defense was electric right from the get-go.
AgreeYeah the game plan tonight was great, but my bigger point was that he got a team with basically 3 players in Paige-Aaliyah-Muhl to the brink of a national title. That team was devastated by injuries but he did a great job.
Sure but you’re not giving enough credit to KK who played her ass off from the jump, hit foul shots and got jobbed by the refs, all as a freshman. Arguably the best player on the court tonight.Yeah the game plan tonight was great, but my bigger point was that he got a team with basically 3 players in Paige-Aaliyah-Muhl to the brink of a national title. That team was devastated by injuries but he did a great job.
No doubt she stepped up tonight.Sure but you’re not giving enough credit to KK who played her ass off from the jump, hit foul shots and got jobbed by the refs, all as a freshman. Arguably the best player on the court tonight.
It did get her open, though, and forced another player to rotate off their woman.By the absolute letter of the law, it was probably a foul, but the great Bill Raftery calls a cheap foul a "nickel-dimer." That wasn't even nickel-dime. That was penny-nickel. It's like a cop giving a ticket to someone driving 58 mph in a 55 mph zone on a dry highway.
It should be a no-harm, no-foul. As Diana Taurasi said, "It didn't even get her open."
This tracks. Had a player a couple years ago who went on to play in college in Canada and she has said she was treated way better there as an athlete there than she was here.In Canada it is the opposite in many ways. If the women's team is more successful there is no qualms giving them more money, etc. If the men's team is better it is suicide for an AD to not provide equal budgets.
As long as the TV audiences are like this year the NCAA will throw money at the women's game. I expect in time the women's NCAA game may be a bigger deal than the men. The best male players will always be one and done. The incentive for the best female players to stay in college. Caitlin Clark may earn less money by going pro. It is a fools errand to ever expect the WNBA to compete with the NBA, and as a business it is ridiculous for players in league that loses money to expect same money as a league that generates billions in profits. I also think there is a 50-50 chance the WNBA blows the chance to capitalize on CC's popularity. The chance the resentment of the current WNBA players towards a straight white media darling bubbles over into some (more) ugly bad publicity is pretty good.
But the same way the NBA has destroyed much of the rooting interests of the men's game, the chance to develop rivalries like LSU/Iowa, with actually the same players is marketing gold. I was far more interested in seeing LSU Iowa than the 30th reboot of NC-Duke men's games. Similar to how the Olympics and word cup generate equal, or at least closer to equal interest and opportunities for female athletes the NCAA hoops hype could belong to women. An example to explain this is that the most accomplished Senior in the Men's final four probably won't even make the NBA, while the best female players is the consensus #1 pick.
I have a feeling that this may change/is changing. Any AD or college president would have to be a fool to not see what’s going on in womens sports and especially college hoops. The men’s tournament is an afterthought this year. The buzz is all on the women’s side and the numbers will bear that out.This tracks. Had a player a couple years ago who went on to play in college in Canada and she has said she was treated way better there as an athlete there than she was here.
The men’s side is becoming less and less one and done because of NIL as well.I have a feeling that this may change/is changing. Any AD or college president would have to be a fool to not see what’s going on in womens sports and especially college hoops. The men’s tournament is an afterthought this year. The buzz is all on the women’s side and the numbers will bear that out.
plus, with the WNBA (stupidly imo) at only 12 teams, so there are fewer spots for graduating seniors, and the advent of NIL, the incentives for women to stay in school longer are there- it will probably give schools more bang for the buck, recruiting-wise, to prioritize a good women’s squad that will stay for 4 years over a bunch of one and done men.
I’ve noted that I’ve seen a lot less of this kind of condescending “this is not bad for women’s sports” kind of thing. The guys that I hear, in my office, out and about, friends etc are talking about Clark and the women’s tourney generally no differently than if it were NFL NBA etc. including many Clark admiration societies but also general appreciation of SC’s dominance, UConn’s overachieving to get here, Reese v Clark as a great story etc. I’ve got a whiff of the kind of thing you mention but it’s been noteworthy by how little of it I’ve seen.Watching PTI on YT from Tuesday and Tony called Caitlin an ok three-point shooter but not great. And, he made it a point of emphasis: "She's not a great shooter. She's not Steph Curry."
I can't even tell you how her range is what it is, how she can shoot off balance and leaning, and shoot vs. perfectly coached contests. I rooted hard for UConn tonight but... I mean, men, come the F on. WTF? Just go away dinosaurs.
True but not only are there more spots for men in the NBA, there are currently more competing options for 18 yo men. For now, good women are probably dollar for dollar higher yield recruiting targets, now that women’s hoops is paying off in serious buzz, attendance, and eyeballs, just because women have fewer options.The men’s side is becoming less and less one and done because of NIL as well.
This was such a physical game. SC would be favored against anyone in any circumstance but with them coasting and Iowa and UConn beating each other up all night, yeah.So proud of the UConn team. They did an amazing job all season and it was an incredible performance just getting to the Final Four. Getting robbed of a chance to win it in the end (zero guarantee they pull it out but it would have been nice to see them get a chance) hurts, but maybe saves them from a serious beatdown by South Carolina in the title game, which I'm 98% sure would have happened.
Losing Muhl and Edwards will hurt next year but they've got a really good recruiting class, they're returning Paige and all the injured players, and hopefully they'll be one of the top teams in the country again.
This and I’m surprised at the reaction. It’s a huge drag that it basically decided the game, but it’s an obvious foulI was rooting for UCONN but that was 100% a foul. Even in slow motion, this was a no-brainer call:
https://twitter.com/SportzAssassin/status/1776460338591920545
He's also mellowed a bit, which is nice to see. I can't imagine him saying this 15 years agoGreat chat back and forth. I don't have much to add besides this: Iowa committed 8 turnovers in the first quarter (16 total). In any sport, if I see a team play below their level for a segment of game, and their opponent does not take full advantage, it's an awful omen. It's safe to think that Iowa would not finish with 30+ turnovers and their total performance gets closer to the mean.
If Gino rewatches the game, I believe he will see being up 5 after the 1st quarter as the big missed opportunity they needed to bury Iowa early.
I have so much respect for him. To get so close to another title with 6 players injured is not surprising based on his career. A real GOAT in sports history for coaching.
100%. My daughter is an assistant D1 BB coach and she’s at the final four right now and we were texting during the game and we were both absolutely rueing the fact that UConn didn’t have like a 15 point first Q lead. Clark was way off and Iowa had so many TOs and yes UConn had the lead but it should have been so much more.Great chat back and forth. I don't have much to add besides this: Iowa committed 8 turnovers in the first quarter (16 total). In any sport, if I see a team play below their level for a segment of game, and their opponent does not take full advantage, it's an awful omen. It's safe to think that Iowa would not finish with 30+ turnovers and their total performance gets closer to the mean.
If Gino rewatches the game, I believe he will see being up 5 after the 1st quarter as the big missed opportunity they needed to bury Iowa early.
I have so much respect for him. To get so close to another title with 6 players injured is not surprising based on his career. A real GOAT in sports history for coaching.
I thought Clark brought the ball up a lot more in the second half? Martin did it in most of the first half and I thought was kind of responsible for a lot of those turnovers. With Clark taking it up, at least you ensured she got a touch, could drive, etc.BJ pointing out that UConn had twice the number of fouls, and VT that UConn had Iowa staggered early and didn’t knock them out- different facets of the same story- UConn had a brilliant game plan to frustrate Clark and Iowa defensively that depended on being extremely physical.
But can you keep that up for 40 minutes, with a) stamina, b) foul trouble c) Iowa adjusting. On an and b, Geno didnt use his bench - Brady play 15 minutes as the only sub and otherwise his starters were in the whole game. Iowa adjusting, it was a simple change to start the second half- Clark wasn’t bringing the ball up the court anymore- that threw UConn, you can’t key off Clark as easily if shes moving without the ball.
I could be wrong but I noticed that immediately at the start of the second half.I thought Clark brought the ball up a lot more in the second half? Martin did it in most of the first half and I thought was kind of responsible for a lot of those turnovers. With Clark taking it up, at least you ensured she got a touch, could drive, etc.