I was honest asking the question. We all know they were good, but good is different than 100+ game winning streak good.
Ladies Are a 9
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I was honest asking the question. We all know they were good, but good is different than 100+ game winning streak good.
IMO what has happened is they have stayed a very good team while the rest of the field goes from good to mediocre. You have your ND, Baylor, South Carolina, Miss State this year but they just can't compete year after year on the same level.
I'd say better now in the context of the competition this season. They have already played and beaten the other #1 seeds and also beat Maryland who is ranked #4 or #3 in the country but got screwed into a 3 seed for some reason (rpi or whatever they used to explain it away versus coaches that had them #3 in the country).
If big upsets are avoided and the best teams make the Final four I could see UCONN losing though. No super teams this year and that includes UCONN so they could be upset later. They are probably better then the others but not 20 points no chance they lose better.
Note, just opinion.
I do not have time to look up a link but I do know they got their hand slapped for their recruitment of Maya Moore (multiple time national player of the year) because they took her on a tour of ESPN while on an unofficial visit when she was an underlassman in high school. That is the one that was the most publicized that I know of.
I love how UCONN and the NCAA downplayed getting ESPN to offer her an internship while in college at UConn, "a tour." I think having alumni attend recruits games is a bit over the line as well. Look, Baylor hired Griner and Sims AAU coach, and fired him when Sims graduated. I guess all is fair when trying to win a National Championship.
Do not like the Volunteers. Rode down an elevator with some of their team in PHX in 2000. I was there for the bowl game and got on the elevator with some members of our athletic department (was at team hotel). The Volunteers were dressed for their game (outdoor game even) with Arizona State and did not like sharing the elevator with mere mortals. They were rude and obnoxious enough that it was embarrassing to one of the older staff members they were riding down with and she actually tried to be nice. We got off and wished them good luck in their game that evening and said maybe we would be lucky enough to play them in the NCAA's. Got a dismissive "Yeah, whatever" and some mumbles in response. Players like the coach.
So, not a fan. Always root against them. Aways.
I was there the last time that we played Uconn... That was NOT fun. Down 30 at half and 50 in the second. That team was WAY better than this one too... Lacey, Bolte, Prins, Poppens. But stranger things have happened.
Not the same interaction I have had with Pat, she is not that way, and is known for going out of her way to help strangers, but a lot of her players over the years have had some definite attitudes of self-importance. That was Catchings era, and she is probably one of the most humble likable players there was.
Of course, I don't think I could take being in the same room with Lobo or Taurasi either with their egos.
Or Kara Lawson for that matter....
Big if in us beating Syracuse. IF we do it will be a rerun of the last time we played UCONN as a speed bump in the Tourney.
Gino saying he has raised the level of WBB is a paradox.
Where are the competing teams that have come to knock UCONN off then after decades? He has a formula for getting top players, overachieving, dominating and that is the way it is. Between God and man he will probably retire before anyone else claims "his" WBB summit.
When our Cyclone Ladies last played the Huskies there was no positive feedback, as far as I could see it was a Big Nothing. (But, when we BEAT UCONN there was.)
Gino has himself in a corner as the 800-pound Gorilla He can not bear to lose and is it really that great for WBB for him to keep winning. What is the point? A Hoosier's-type movie of their 300th win in a row? Won't buy those tickets.
Gino saying he has raised the level of WBB is a paradox.
Where are the competing teams that have come to knock UCONN off then after decades? He has a formula for getting top players, overachieving, dominating and that is the way it is. Between God and man he will probably retire before anyone else claims "his" WBB summit.
When our Cyclone Ladies last played the Huskies there was no positive feedback, as far as I could see it was a Big Nothing. (But, when we BEAT UCONN there was.)
Gino has himself in a corner as the 800-pound Gorilla He can not bear to lose and is it really that great for WBB for him to keep winning. What is the point? A Hoosier's-type movie of their 300th win in a row? Won't buy those tickets.
I really don't know where to look or have the time, but I wonder what the TV numbers are for the games on ESPN that UCONN plays? The money they get is really important to the program, I have to believe. I have zero interest in watching them play, though. I couldn't tell you the names of any of their players. I watch women's bball all the time, too. I have to believe TV sets across this nation are going "click" to any game they play this year. Who wants to see it?
I think the thing I like least is when they talk up whatever winning streak uconn is on. I don't care how many wins they've had in a row. Does anyone even care at this point?
I laugh to myself every time Auriemma hints at how he's responsible for the rise in popularity in women's basketball, because it's a joke. I mean, sure, there probably is some tiny segment of the population that loves the fact that for the last 3+ years UConn hasn't lost a game and probably won't anytime soon, but if you're not a UConn fan, what fun is it for the rest of us?
I generally don't even follow the Iowa State women anymore, either. I did for years when I was still living in Iowa, but it's gotten too hard living so far away now. And, considering the state of the game where only one team matters, what's the point anyway?
I generally don't even follow the Iowa State women anymore, either. I did for years when I was still living in Iowa, but it's gotten too hard living so far away now. And, considering the state of the game where only one team matters, what's the point anyway?
I have to be honest in saying I had NO idea the women's tournament had started yesterday. I never heard or saw one word about it and I was on ESPN during the day all day watching the men's games. Granted, I would have known when the first day was had ISU been playing then instead of today. But I still found it odd that there is simply no buzz. I believe that UCONN has almost single-handedly killed interest in the women's NCAA tournament. Geno can stroke his own ego all he wants, but that program has done more to hurt the women's game than anything else over the last decade. It used to be remarkable how consistent their success was. Now, it's just old news. "UCONN won again? Oh. What's on QVC?" The only people who think 100+ game winning streaks, etc., are good for the sport are either UCONN fans or people who know little to nothing about women's basketball.
That's freakin' ridiculous. After the 1st weekend, these sites need to be moved around. Make UCONN prove it on a true neutral court.
