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Soooo, this UCONN game is interesting…

If Clark has a good game, we win. Regarding possible matchup w/ South Carolina, see last sentence.
 
Geno, is not the all time winningest coach. She already got knocked out of the tourney......
thanks! i learned something.
i had assumed the guy who has coached 40 years at the same place and won the most number (11) of national titles at a 88% clip would be the all time winningest. impressive that tara vanderveer has him beat.
 
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Clark is going to have to take a facilitator approach this game, just like Colorado. I think UConn will key on her as if their lives depended on it. If Gabbie, Kate, and Hannah are hot, the game is ours to win.
Hannah could be a wild card here. I would guess she was pretty frustrated at being sidelined more than expected with LSU. How she channels that frustration could really benefit us... hopefully she comes out motivated and sprinting the floor with even more energy than usual.
 
I really don’t know what to think. On the one end I think we’re the better team, and I think we’re the better team by a 10 point plus margin.

I also realize we’re dealing with one of the 10 best coaches in the history of all sports in my humble opinion, and I’m not a fan per se. And they have copious amounts of talent.

I also think we’ve been undervalued and underappreciated most of the season.

I noticed ESPN has four of our players in the top 13 of the 25 best still in the final four. Yet they have us as the dog…🤷‍♂️

I really think HS is going to have a monster game and for those of you that don’t know… UCONN has five double digit losses to ranked teams throughout the season.

But they have also been playing very well as of late, although still not as dominant.

The PAC12 did have a hell of a season, but you’ll notice none of them. Made it to the final four. So I’m not really sure that USC win is that impressive?!

I think we are, at least as deep, I think we are actually a lot more experienced. I believe outside of PB I am not sure their next best players are as good, or at least playing as good as Kate Martin and Sydney Affolter.

Yes Edward’s is terrific and the Arnold girl can fly.

But they don’t rebound better, they don’t shoot better, I’m pretty confident they can’t keep up the pace, and I don’t think they’re nearly as physical as 10 other teams. We’ve already played this year, and beaten.

But it is UCONN and they are dangerous.

Most of you know, I’ve been high on this team all year, and I’ve consistently said the best team in the country is South Carolina and then we’re next.

I believe in this whole heartedly, and I still believe it, South Carolina, and then us. But I honestly don’t know what to tell you guys about this game…?

Thoughts….

BCMOORE says UConn by 1 (kind of an interesting site, especially if you follow Iowa HS basketball)

LINK

And we better hope defense does NOT win championships.
 
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I have really enjoyed the back and forth in this thread and mostly the interaction I’ve had with you fellas (some ladies maybe 😊) on ladies b-ball all year.

Thanks…

Something I believe that is worth saying, and I know there are quite a few on here that have agreed with this…

We are not the little sisters of the blind, we don’t have to play a “perfect game” to win…

Yes we have had a couple games this year, where we absolutely shot the ball like shit and lost….2 games I remember for sure, 2nd Indiana & 1st K-st

We have also had games where we turned the ball over a ton, didn’t rebound as good as we normally do and especially early in the year played some pretty miserable defense and won…

We got beat on the glass by 18 versus LSU, and as positive as I’ve been on this team all year, if you had told me that pregame, I’d have been very very very concerned, and yet as a few of you have mentioned that game was on its way to a 15-20 point blowout…

We have had several games down the stretch where CC although still putting up Fantastic numbers, looked all out of sorts all game long and we’ve all talked about it and we can all agree about it…yet we won most of them.

We’ve had games where the supporting cast didn’t necessarily shoot great, but they still played hard. They still rebounded hard, and they still went to the rack….and we won.

We don’t have to be A+, Iowa and UCONN be C UCONN for us to win this game…

We have 4 legitimate 20 pt scorers. CC, KM, AF & HS…

We have 4 legitimate long range bombers , 5 & 6 if you count Feurbach & McCabe…

We have Edinger who has proved she can play in important spots and AO has turned into someone that can play extended minutes well.

Our defense, although not great can get stops when we need them..

And this team is a very good rebounding team.

They have also become an ELITE passing team all up and down the lineup.

We have 3 girls I am Uber confident can take it to the rack and that’s not counting HS, who fellas….

I’m gonna tell you something, that young lady still doesn’t realize how great a basketball player she can be. She is a plus, plus athlete.. I took a little heat from some of my “Real, non-message board friends“ when I said she was the best athlete on the floor early in the year.

Yes, I understand. CC is a great athlete but if you watch that girl she’s had moments where you Go…”holy shit she is so bouncy & she has such an electric first step. She could almost do anything she wants if she just truly believed!!

There was a time late second half where she got the ball up top and finally turned and took it to the hole and her first step was so long and so fast I was like holy shit…

There was also a game several back where she started in the middle of the lane, went clear to the right, and then leapt back across to the left in one fluid movement to lay it in…😊

I’m not sure anyone on the team could’ve done it… Understand what I’m saying. She did this in two steps. One of those steps was from the middle lane clear to the right line back across almost completely to the left line….😳
 
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I have really enjoyed the back and forth in this thread and mostly the interaction I’ve had with you fellas (some ladies maybe 😊) on ladies b-ball all year.

Thanks…

Something I believe that is worth saying, and I know there are quite a few on here that have agreed with this…

We are not the little sisters of the blind, we don’t have to play a “perfect game” to win…

Yes we have had a couple games this year, where we absolutely shot the ball like shit and lost….2 games I remember for sure, 2nd Indiana & 1st K-st

We have also had games where we turned the ball over a ton, didn’t rebound as good as we normally do and especially early in the year played some pretty miserable defense and won…

We got beat on the glass by 18 versus LSU, and as positive as I’ve been on this team all year, if you had told me that pregame, I’d have been very very very concerned, and yet as a few of you have mentioned that game was on its way to a 15-20 point blowout…

We have had several games down the stretch where CC although still putting up Fantastic numbers, looked all out of sorts all game long and we’ve all talked about it and we can all agree about it…we won most of them.

We’ve had games were the supporting didn’t necessarily shoot great, but they still played hard. They still rebounded hard, and they still went to the rack….and we won.

We don’t have to be A+, Iowa and UCONN be C UCONN for us to win this game…

We have 4 legitimate 20 pt scorers. CC, KM, AF & HS…

We have 4 legitimate long range bombers , 5 & 6 if you count Feurbach & McCabe…

We have Edinger who has proved she can play in important spots and AO has turned into someone that can play extended minutes well.

Our defense, although not great can get stops when we need them..

And this team is a very good rebounding team.

They have also become an ELITE passing team all up and down the lineup.

We have 3 girls I am Uber confident can take it to the rack and that’s not counting HS, who fellas….

I’m gonna tell you something, that young lady still doesn’t realize how great a basketball player she can be. She is a plus, plus athlete.. I took a little heat from some of my “Real, non-vestige board friends“ when I said she was the best athlete on the floor early in the year.

Yes, I understand. CC is a great athlete but if you watch that girl she’s had moments where you Go…”holy shit she is so bouncy & she has such an electric first step. She could almost do anything she wants if she just truly believed!!

There is a time late second half where she got the ball up top and finally turned and took it to the hole and her first step was so long and so fast I was like holy shit…

There was also a game several back where she started in the middle of the lane, went clear to the right, and then leapt back across to the left in one fluid movement to lay it in…😊

I’m not sure anyone on the team could’ve done it… Understand what I’m saying. She did this in two steps. One of those steps was from the middle lane clear to the right line back across almost completely to the left line….😳

Good post. The season has been fun

I would argue we have 1 legit 30 point score and a bunch of other players who can score because everyone is so focused on the first player.
 
A team almost needs to have a defensive specialist that you can sacrifice on CC to be effective. UConn does not have that luxury and I believe this is why Mulkey put Van Lith on CC. Mulkey is a bitch, but she is not dumb. I think she knew she needed Flaujeueayuey (however you spell it) to score and Van Lith was that sacrificial player. If she could have slowed down CC at all, done something like either run her off the 3 or keep her out of the lane it would have allowed LSU's two best players to score.

That is why I think UConn tries it with Muhl. She was the primary on JuJu from what I saw, but JuJu is a different kind of player too. She is a great scorer but she is really not the straw that stirs the drink like CC is for Iowa. No matter what it is a huge challenge to try to guard a 6' pg that has court vision like Magic and can shoot like Steph.
After the adjustment to go inside halfway through the first quarter, Mulkey had a plan that would win. It wasn't until Iowa put O'Grady in could we manage Angel Reese under the basket. I know Bluder tried to keep Hannah in the game but she just doesn't have the skill set to keep up with Reese and she isn't big enough to be an obstacle. Reese couldn't push O'Grady off her spot and that was the difference in the game (at least as far as Reese's performance). Mulkey deserves credit for having a game plan that would win, Bluder deserves credit for countering the move. Although it seemed like O'Grady was playing more because of foul trouble on Stulke than any strategic move by Bluder but it ended up working out.
 
After the adjustment to go inside halfway through the first quarter, Mulkey had a plan that would win. It wasn't until Iowa put O'Grady in could we manage Angel Reese under the basket. I know Bluder tried to keep Hannah in the game but she just doesn't have the skill set to keep up with Reese and she isn't big enough to be an obstacle. Reese couldn't push O'Grady off her spot and that was the difference in the game (at least as far as Reese's performance). Mulkey deserves credit for having a game plan that would win, Bluder deserves credit for countering the move. Although it seemed like O'Grady was playing more because of foul trouble on Stulke than any strategic move by Bluder but it ended up working out.


I’ll say this…. I’m a huge Hannah Stuelke fan and believe she will have a long professional women’s basketball career. With that said, I was shocked and I do mean literally shocked that Reese had such a hard time pushing Addie O’Grady around. In fact, I watched AO push Angel up the lane on numerous occasions.

Good post!
 
Personally I think it is a 75 to 25 advantage Iowa.

1. How affective is Iowa at pushing the tempo and getting some fast break points. If that number is over 10, advantage Iowa.
2. If the tempo remains high it is likely an advantage Iowa. Iowa has conditioned at a higher pace than UConn has. If they can affect UConn's conditioning advantage Iowa.
3. Iowa has more players specifically in the post that have more fouls to give than Uconn. If Bueckers, Edwards or Muhl get in deep foul trouble especially early or foul out it it is game over.
4. Rebounding currently would be a slight advantage to Iowa, unless they go zone then may open up some offensive board opportunities.
5. Iowa has more offensive options than just clark or USC - pick your poison on how you want to defend Clark.
6. Clark has learned driving to the basket allows for more easy baskets and less variability on performance of her 3 point shot, plus can increase fouls.

Neither team can control a hot or cool night shooting. That can occur although Iowa can weather a poor shooting night likely much better than Uconn.

In the USC game, Uconn did the same play over and over again, a screen at the high post with bueckers coming around and either taking the jump shot, driving to the hoop or passing into the post. USC, never hedged their post defender and pushed Bueckers out effectively allowed her to get to her spot every possession. I really think you can do a better job defending that play.

Beyond that play it really didn't seem like they could create their own shot other than Beuckers.

I do think Uconn may have a slight advantage in coaching (however not significant), 2 Beuckers does seem like a player that can elevate her game when the lights are brightest.
 
This has really been an amazing back-and-forth guys. My vision is this is what message boards are supposed to be about… And listen, I get it, people don’t always have to agree on things, but this has been a real blast. All season actually!!!

You can probably see I’m starting to get emotional as this season winds down…

Those of you that don’t know me, and I know some of you get irritated by my “over-sharing”..😳 I’m actually an extremely emotional guy at 53 years of age…

Yes, plenty of people on here can see I clearly can be a pompous, self-righteous asshole or at least come off that way and I’ll sadly admit it is a purposeful part I play sometimes…

But in reality, I cry, quite a bit anymore, I care for people deeply, sometimes complete strangers, and of course sometimes I take personal affront to people taking potshots at those that aren’t here to defend themselves…

But I truly am a lover of people and how difficult life can be…

This basketball team has really pulled on my heart all season long and I’ve actually enjoyed sharing it with many of you…
 
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I’ll say this…. I’m a huge Hannah Stuelke fan and believe she will have a long professional women’s basketball career. With that said, I was shocked and I do mean literally shocked that Reese had such a hard time pushing Addie O’Grady around. In fact, I watched AO push Angel up the lane on numerous occasions.

Good post!

Whoa Doc….have you ever liked anything I’ve said 😊 I’m feeling sappy today.

I apologize to you for all my vitriol on the football board…🤓
 
I have really enjoyed the back and forth in this thread and mostly the interaction I’ve had with you fellas (some ladies maybe 😊) on ladies b-ball all year.

Thanks…

Something I believe that is worth saying, and I know there are quite a few on here that have agreed with this…

We are not the little sisters of the blind, we don’t have to play a “perfect game” to win…

Yes we have had a couple games this year, where we absolutely shot the ball like shit and lost….2 games I remember for sure, 2nd Indiana & 1st K-st

We have also had games where we turned the ball over a ton, didn’t rebound as good as we normally do and especially early in the year played some pretty miserable defense and won…

We got beat on the glass by 18 versus LSU, and as positive as I’ve been on this team all year, if you had told me that pregame, I’d have been very very very concerned, and yet as a few of you have mentioned that game was on its way to a 15-20 point blowout…

We have had several games down the stretch where CC although still putting up Fantastic numbers, looked all out of sorts all game long and we’ve all talked about it and we can all agree about it…yet we won most of them.

We’ve had games where the supporting cast didn’t necessarily shoot great, but they still played hard. They still rebounded hard, and they still went to the rack….and we won.

We don’t have to be A+, Iowa and UCONN be C UCONN for us to win this game…

We have 4 legitimate 20 pt scorers. CC, KM, AF & HS…

We have 4 legitimate long range bombers , 5 & 6 if you count Feurbach & McCabe…

We have Edinger who has proved she can play in important spots and AO has turned into someone that can play extended minutes well.

Our defense, although not great can get stops when we need them..

And this team is a very good rebounding team.

They have also become an ELITE passing team all up and down the lineup.

We have 3 girls I am Uber confident can take it to the rack and that’s not counting HS, who fellas….

I’m gonna tell you something, that young lady still doesn’t realize how great a basketball player she can be. She is a plus, plus athlete.. I took a little heat from some of my “Real, non-message board friends“ when I said she was the best athlete on the floor early in the year.

Yes, I understand. CC is a great athlete but if you watch that girl she’s had moments where you Go…”holy shit she is so bouncy & she has such an electric first step. She could almost do anything she wants if she just truly believed!!

There was a time late second half where she got the ball up top and finally turned and took it to the hole and her first step was so long and so fast I was like holy shit…

There was also a game several back where she started in the middle of the lane, went clear to the right, and then leapt back across to the left in one fluid movement to lay it in…😊

I’m not sure anyone on the team could’ve done it… Understand what I’m saying. She did this in two steps. One of those steps was from the middle lane clear to the right line back across almost completely to the left line….😳
Their passing has become ridiculous.

Watching CC pass has become contagious and it's every bit as enjoyable as a logo three. Unreal.
 
Their passing has become ridiculous.

Watching CC pass has become contagious and it's every bit as enjoyable as a logo three. Unreal.

Totally agree with this, yes, a 30 foot bomb is mesmerizing, but this passing on this team is nothing short of remarkable
 
Totally agree with this, yes, a 30 foot bomb is mesmerizing, but this passing on this team is nothing short of remarkable
The vertical passes after a make or miss are the prettiest, and the best to completely demoralize opponents.

Late q3, early q4, (as you posted earlier) v. LSD was a track meet and the passing was f'ing sublime.
 
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Guys, we are on page 3 of a post about Iowa women's basketball. Kudos to Bluder, Clark, and co.

I've been thinking about the last 2 massively huge games Iowa has won.

1. Final Four vs South Carolina '23. Staley didn't give CC the respect she deserved, believed her guards could shut her down m2m. The perimeter defenders didn't sag in to cut off drives. They stayed on shooters. CC carved up the guards for repeated layups off the dribble. GENO SAW THAT.
2. Elite Eight LSU '24. Mulkey never once doubles CC. On ball screens, the defender either went under and CC hit a 3 (first 3), or tried to get over in drop coverage, where CC hit 3s going to her left. GENO SAW THAT.

I will be shocked in Geno dares CC to beat his guards with no help. SC's guards were better defensively as a group than UCONN's are as a group and CC had herself a day. We'll know early on after the first ball screen what the plan is. Hard hedge, double, drop coverage. We have seen about everything.

I'm wondering if the key won't be the next pass after CC gives it up. When CC passes to a wing, can they make the next pass to HS rolling or CC cutting? Are they skilled enough to make passes that will hurt whatever UCONN is doing?

I don't think Geno is going to stand there and let Caitlin work against 1 player. I hope he does, because CC can destroy drop coverage/ball screen unders Friday night just like she did vs LSU.
 
I’m a huge Hannah Stuelke fan and believe she will have a long professional women’s basketball career. With that said, I was shocked and I do mean literally shocked that Reese had such a hard time pushing Addie O’Grady around. In fact, I watched AO push Angel up the lane on numerous occasions.

Looked to me like Reese's re-sprained ankle changed her game significantly,.. Addie played well, but I think she benefited from that...
 
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Looked to me like Reese's re-sprained ankle changed her game significantly,.. Addie played well, but I think she benefited from that...

I would agree with this wholeheartedly. The game changed the instant Reese went out. They could never quite get back to that point.
 
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You mean that ankle that never was taped up?

If you are talking to me, yeah I suppose. Don't know if it was taped up or not and honestly don't care. I just know LSU was a different team without her immediately and they could never get that flow back.
 
If you are talking to me, yeah I suppose. Don't know if it was taped up or not and honestly don't care. I just know LSU was a different team without her immediately and they could never get that flow back.
Injuries are part of the game.

She couldn't have lasted at the pace all night anyway. Her and a couple of her teammates were sucking wind hard in the second half.
 
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Injuries are part of the game.

She couldn't have lasted at the pace all night anyway. Her and a couple of her teammates were sucking wind hard in the second half.

Of course they are. My point was not an excuse, just an observation.
 
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Hmmm…yes, now that you mention it, they did not do anything therapeutic.

So I’ll say this… It couldn’t have helped but it certainly wasn’t a game changer their conditioning and being ran up and down the floor all game was the game changer

Poor timing could be at play to… It is true they were never the same, but it may not have been because of a bum ankle🤷‍♂️
 
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Yes…but, if Gabby truly is 5-9 that is a significant difference than 5-7 HVL. She is also quicker and just in general a better defender than HVL.

Also I’m a PB fan, followed her pre college much like CC. She isn’t as quick or explosive as CC.

Granted Gabby isn’t guarding Cc, but I’ll confess. One of the things I hate about these message boards is the negativity begins to weigh on you and you start to think maybe the critics are right…

Case in point, I’ve seen it suggested that Gabby wasn’t “that great” a defender, and it certainly wasn’t enough to offset any other weakness that the board thought she had.

This tournament has shown she is a borderline game changing defender.

Thank goodness Lisa didn’t take the boards advice and bench her. She has been absolutely crucial down the stretch !

Paige will want to get in the lane, she isn’t going to pull up and hit 10 bombs in this game. Likely won’t even shoot 10. She has shot 194 on the season at a 41% clip.
And I could have stated it better by saying Gabby has the quickness and defensive ability to deny her the ball, which is what I meant by denying PB the ball. No ball , no score
 
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Who guards Paige? Gabbie "Lockdown" Marshall? ;) Should be fun. They can try to take the ball out of CC's hands by double teaming her, but Iowa has shooters and that would be dangerous for them.
 
thanks! i learned something.
i had assumed the guy who has coached 40 years at the same place and won the most number (11) of national titles at a 88% clip would be the all time winningest. impressive that tara vanderveer has him beat.
Well its not like he's far off though. He and Tara have been pretty close for sometime. I believe Lisa is top five amounst active coaches, so that something as well.
 
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Could have sworn when she came back on the court the camera panned her ankle and showed it taped up.
Commentators even mentioned it I think.
They actually just showed that she had changed shoes at the half, and that they assumed she had taped it.
 
So far in this tournament UCONN has beaten in net rankings…

#10 USC BY 7
#20 Duke by 8
#44 Cuse by 8
#100 Jack St by 18

Us…

#7 LSU by 7
#16 CU by 19
#21 West Va by 10
#186 Holy Cross by 26

The 2nd highest 1 seed should play a relatively easier schedule than any number three seed, but as you can see above, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

UConn can definitely win this game but there’s a reason why Vegas favored us. We actually have the better numbers.
 
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They actually just showed that she had changed shoes at the half, and that they assumed she had taped it.

Yes, as far as that goes, I think it only logical they probably did retape it at halftime. I mean they would’ve surely taken the tape off to look at it, but I think his point is valid they didn’t re-tape it on the sidelines like they often times do with a significant scenario.
 
As an aside… As high, strong and emotional, as I can be, I do try hard anymore to keep my emotions in check…

But I am all jacked up and will probably go semi dark when the game starts.

It’s kind of funny many of us in this very thread have been accused of not caring enough or “settling” for mediocrity when it comes to the football team & men’s basketball….

But nothing could be further from the Truth, I am jacked up, and I will be sad and frustrated if we lose. I just won’t lose my shit and yell and scream about the coaches…

But I want these girls to win BAD!!!!!!!!

Here’s to winning!
 
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FWIW… USC was far from a defensive juggernaut.

I believe they were 98 in field-goal percentage defense, and the 170s on three-point field-goal percentage defense and in the 170s internal forced.

To be fair, Iowa really isn’t better than that but they played much better defense the last 10 games and USC also doesn’t put the kind of pressure on teams offensively like Iowa does.

There’s an narrative out there that because they played USC and juju, it will be similar playing Iowa with CC…

But they are giving JuJu, admittedly, one hell of a player, way too much credit in comparing her to CC and our girls.
 
FWIW… USC was far from a defensive juggernaut.

I believe they were 98 in field-goal percentage defense, and the 170s on three-point field-goal percentage defense and in the 170s internal forced.

To be fair, Iowa really isn’t better than that but they played much better defense the last 10 games and USC also doesn’t put the kind of pressure on teams offensively like Iowa does.

There’s an narrative out there that because they played USC and juju, it will be similar playing Iowa with CC…

But they are giving JuJu, admittedly, one hell of a player, way too much credit in comparing her to CC and our girls.
I see U Conn doubling CC, forcing her to dish to others who are more open

The key is:

Do the others then MAKE THE SHOT? (often a 3). If yes, I think we win. If no, we won’t. It may be as simple as that

We MUST make them pay if they double-team Caitlin. If not, we lose
 
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