#1 South Carolina goes down, as well as (3) Kentucky to Washington

[ScarletteK80]

to (4) Syracuse!!!! What a great, great game. They both deserved to win. And Staley vs Hillsman was a war of the coaching minds.
Final was 80-72, a genuine dog fight.

Other upset was Washington beating Kentucky.

 

[RU old timer]

Maybe Staley will be our coach in 2 years.

 

[ScarletteK80]

Maybe Staley will be our coach in 2 years.

Will never happen for many reasons. She reminds me of a young CVS also. We have neither the $$, nor facilities to attract her. She has made a real dominant team in just 8 years, and of course the kids want to play for her, so unless something dramatic happens we will have to probably go with a younger, cost efficient choice. Hillsman is another one I would love to have. Don't know much about him.

 

[RUClassof67]

I can't believe some of the comments here. Quentin Hillsman? You must be kidding.

 

[Scarletwoman]

I can't believe some of the comments here. Quentin Hillsman? You must be kidding.

He has outcoached CVS in recent years. And I think he is out recruiting her in the tri-state area. They want to play for him.

 

[BeKnighted]

It's looking like a bad night for favorites all around, although there's time for things to change in the late games.

Not that my bracket looked any good to this point, but it's totally shredded now.

 

[ScarletteK80]

Before I hit the sack...Tenn just beat Notre Dame, so another 1 goes down. Poor ND, and Muffet. Sleep well all.

 

[MGSA99]

Before I hit the sack...Tenn just beat Notre Dame, so another 1 goes down. Poor ND, and Muffet. Sleep well all.

They just saw how UConn has been winning lately and want no part of that beat down.

 

[ecojew]

Stanford defeated ND, the Vols knocked Ohio State (and the B1G) out of the tournament.

Surprised not to see any mention of what happened up in CT this afternoon. I read the preview of the UConn-Mississippi State game this morning and noticed that MSU had never ever played the Huskies. My thought was that they have no idea of what was about to hit them and they would likely lose by 40. But I was insulting the Huskies with that prediction. UConn won by 60 in what must have been an embarrassing game to be a part of. Evidently that was a tournament record of some kind - not sure if it is a record margin for all NCAA women's tournament games or just for Sweet 16 games. But no matter how you slice it, it was pretty awful. I'm not even sure you can call losing by 60 "a learning experience."

 

[MGSA99]

Stanford defeated ND, the Vols knocked Ohio State (and the B1G) out of the tournament.

Surprised not to see any mention of what happened up in CT this afternoon. I read the preview of the UConn-Mississippi State game this morning and noticed that MSU had never ever played the Huskies. My thought was that they have no idea of what was about to hit them and they would likely lose by 40. But I was insulting the Huskies with that prediction. UConn won by 60 in what must have been an embarrassing game to be a part of. Evidently that was a tournament record of some kind - not sure if it is a record margin for all NCAA women's tournament games or just for Sweet 16 games. But no matter how you slice it, it was pretty awful. I'm not even sure you can call losing by 60 "a learning experience."

When the Miss St. Coach heard of the two No. 1 seeds getting upset, his quote could be paraphrased as "Oh shiat." Seriously, NCAA, just have a tournament for everyone else but UConn and save us the formalities.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Washington and Cuse 2 more programs that have blown by us recently.

 

[RU old timer]

The fact that Wash and Cuse (and numerous other teams) have blown by us obviously does not matter to those in authority. Being poltically correct and having a 1,000 win ceremony here is obviously more important (Lol).

 

[Turtle31]

Yesterday's Uconn score is more of an indictment of the current state of WCBB than it is against Uconn (not that anyone said it reflected badly on Uconn).
I just can't fathom how it's in any way interesting to their team members to continue to play these totally non-competitive games. I can only guess that the lure of telling their grandkids that they were a multi-year national champions is what keeps drawing in the top recruits year after year.
I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I still can't wrap my mind around the glaring disparity. It's a real problem that isn't going to go away any time soon.

 

[shields]

Women's bb with UCONN is not watchable.

 

[RUJMM78]

Women's bb with UCONN is not watchable.

I admire the UConn womens team because of the consistency of success at the highest level of competition.The rest of the teams are spectators because of recruiting and coaching .When they play UConn they are psyched out before the game is even played.

Credit Geno and blame the other teams for being stuck in mud.I can't understand the hatred toward UConn other than pure jealousy.

 

[MADHAT1]

I admire the UConn womens team because of the consistency of success at the highest level of competition.The rest of the teams are spectators because of recruiting and coaching .When they play UConn they are psyched out before the game is even played.

Credit Geno and blame the other teams for being stuck in mud.I can't understand the hatred toward UConn other than pure jealousy.

I dislike UConn and admit it's partially jealousy on my part, but will praise Geno for building the type of program fans of every school's WBB program want their school to have and the type I would like to see for every RU sports program including club sports.

 

[ecojew]

I don't think any hatred toward UConn was intended in any of the above. Everyone is saying that they are just so good that they are head and shoulders above everyone else. They also come ready to play no matter who the opponent is. I credit Geno for that. I wish more coaches could accomplish that.

But the point people are making is that having such a dominant program has not been good for the sport. Men's bball went through an era like that during the 1960s and 70s, when UCLA was virtually untouchable. Once that era ended, men's college bball started to blossom, the NCAA (and NIT) tournaments expanded and the sport progressed. One wonders when this will happen with women's bball.

 

[BeKnighted]

I admire the UConn womens team because of the consistency of success at the highest level of competition.The rest of the teams are spectators because of recruiting and coaching .When they play UConn they are psyched out before the game is even played.

One thing that the results of the NCAA tournament so far show is that, below UConn, parity seems to be increasing significantly. We're going to have a 4-7 matchup in one of the Final Four games, which is pretty close to unheard of. (The RU-LSU matchup was a 3-4 game, which was pretty unusual. The last time a 7 seed made the Final Four was 2004; it's been several years since there was a 4 seed.)

That actually makes what UConn is doing more impressive - in an era when the top players are spread out more (and, to be frank, it's harder to count on ongoing success for a program because of that), he still gets a lot of great players and convinces them to conform to his requirements. That said, I will be interested to see what happens when Stewart graduates; she's such an incredible talent that there may be more opportunities once she's gone. (Or maybe not, but it's worth noting what happened at UConn after Taurasi graduated - no Final Fours until 2008.)

 

[shields]

Calhoun said this morning he likes to see competitive games. not the fault of UCONN but would like to see them in a game that is 60-57 with 4 minutes left.

 

[MGSA99]

Might not happen until Geno retires. Even after Stewart graduates, they will get to pick whoever they want. The only team they play against are the UConn teams of the past.

 

[bac2therac]

its stunning the Cuse program with really nothing to sell but playing in a cavernous Carrier Dome has totally blown by RU..this was a nothing program before he arrived

I will say that the Cuse coach even though many dont like his demeanor should be a candidate for the RU job in the future. He got players to go up to nowheresville where womens hoops is not supported like mens hoops plus he has shown he is a decent coach

 

[bac2therac]

I can't believe some of the comments here. Quentin Hillsman? You must be kidding.

and please tell me why besides just disliking his demeanor?

 

[RUClassof67]

and please tell me why besides just disliking his demeanor?

That's enough for me.

 

[bac2therac]

except winning and recruiting matters and he is doing both and he was beating CVS at both in the latter years of the BE

 

[BeKnighted]

I'll be honest - I don't want RU to hire a jerk to be the next head coach, and my sense is that Hillsman fits that bill. There are plenty of other choices who are very good and who aren't obvious jerks.

 

[bac2therac]

well he must be doing something to get those high school girls to play there and they must not think he is a jerk..thats all that counts these days

 

[BeKnighted]

bac, does Courtney Banghart know about your roving eye? ;-)

 

[RUClassof67]

Sounds like anyone not named CVS fits bac's bill.

 

[APKnight]

I don't think we will reach .500 next year unfortunately. Bac is just throwing out ideas. No need to scoff. Hillsman is a terrific coach. So is Stanley. Bangart too. Any of the above would be great hires in the likely event we need one next year. It is just sad too sit back and watch our once proud program falter.

 

[APKnight]

I don't think we will reach .500 next year unfortunately. Bac is just throwing out ideas. No need to scoff. Hillsman is a terrific coach. So is Stanley. Bangart too. Any of the above would be great hires in the likely event we need one next year. It is just sad too sit back and watch our once proud program falter.

Staley not Stanley...

 

[BeKnighted]

Staley not Stanley...

I was just teasing him. I know that Banghart really is his first choice (and she'd be high on my list, too).

It's hard to see Staley leaving South Carolina, and harder to see RU paying enough to get her to do it even if she were open to the idea. (This season, she was paid $1.1 million before any bonuses - $550K base and $500 "media compensation," and her contract has annual escalators, so she'll be getting more next year.)

 

[bac2therac]

Sounds like anyone not named CVS fits bac's bill.

false

 

[bac2therac]

bac, does Courtney Banghart know about your roving eye? ;-)

yes

 

[Knight Time Fan]

Part of the problem - faced by every program when they make a new hire - is evaluating all aspects of the new hire.

I'm another one who doesn't care for Q's demeanor. Plenty of coaches out there with various negatives in public personality. Doesn't mean they can't coach - or even that they can't be liked by their players.

There are just so many intangibles. Gail failing at Texas - who would have thought it. Kevin Borseth - who was really about as successful as KBA has been at Michigan - going back to a non-P5 job. The success of the new coach at Georgia (rookie coach of the year by the WBCA). And etc. You don't know how they are going to turn out.

I want the coaches for teams I root for - not just RU WBB - not to be folks I perceive as "jerks". As BeK said, there are plenty of coaches out there who fill the bill (and who knows what the selection will look like when the time comes).