March 11th, 2008

BET Liveblog - Semifinal Wrap-up

1:20 a.m.

Just as a reminder, to get all of the liveblogging action from Hartford, check out http://blogs.dailycampus.com/category/womens-basketball/. Click ‘previous entries’ at the bottom of the page to get all of those great, great words, written well before I knew what I was getting in to.

Life at the Hilton during Big East Tournament week is a lot like those Sportscenter commercials from the mid-90s. On consecutive nights, I’ve ridden elevators with one Ms. Stringer, one Mr. Hillsman and one West Virginia basketball player I think I correctly identified.

Tonight tops all that.

I was fortunate enough to meet up with Mountaineer Man in the elevator. It wasn’t a long meeting or anything - basically me recognizing him and some idle chit-chat - but it was most awesome because the Mountaineer Man divulged that his trademark beard is absolutely real.

Yet another reason you’ve got to love West Virginia. They go ALL out. I doubt the guy in the UConn mascot has four legs for realz.

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We’re down to the final game here at the Big East tournament, and it will be the No. 1 seed UConn taking on a surprise opponent, No. 7 Louisville. You can catch the game at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, and the DC blog will be begin its coverage some time around 5:30 or 6.

Since there’s only one game - and since I’m under a very loose deadline, what with there being no paper - I expect to blog fairly often. Hopefully all goes according to plan, because the internet problems of Saturday seem to be under control.

 

Without further adieu, let’s talk about the Maya Moore Memorial Bests of Day 3 (new readers, make sure to check out the Days 1 and 2 editions so you’re up to date):

 

Day 3 MVP: Angel McCoughtry, Louisville. The junior wins her second MMMB MVP award on the basis of her 24-point output in Louisville’s upset win over West Virginia. Every time the Mountaineers tried to cut it close, McCoughtry would come up with a big play of some sort, none bigger than her 16-footer with 1:12 to go, expanding UL’s lead to three possessions and salting the game away.

If Louisville can somehow pull out a win over UConn Tuesday, she’s the obvious choice for tournament MVP. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, but there it is. Just remember that the Daily Campus blog had it first on Saturday night.

Interestingly enough, McCoughtry was quoted by the Louisville Courier-Journal as saying “we can get to the Big East tournament championship” after UConn’s 92-71 win over Louisville in January. So she’s a prophet, as well.

 

Team of Day 3: UConn. This may be very repetitive if what I think is going to happen Tuesday, happens. But UConn is simply playing a different game and, as Geno Auriemma said, it would be very surprising for them to come out flat after two focused - if sloppy at times - demolishings of NCAA Tournament teams.

 

Play of Day 3: Lorin Dixon’s phenomenal layup in the waning moments of UConn’s 74-47 win over Pitt. It was one of the most spectacular plays of the weekend, despite it having no real impact on anything. Any time you have a 5′4 (on stilts) point guard going up and under to avoid getting her shot blocked, and still converting, it’s gotta be the best play of the day. Even Skittles Mowins seemed impressed.

Also, regarding the Brandie Radde play that won Play of Day 2, apparently the Louisville Courier-Journal sees what it wants to see, because they changed the playmaker from Radde to Lauren Terry. My first instinct was that the play was made by Radde, and then it was later confirmed by video. So nyah, LCJ.

 

Pep Band of Day 3: This is getting tough to pick, because once you’ve seen the pep band perform one day, you’ve seen their routine. So I’ll go with Pittsburgh, who dusted off “Jenny (867-5309)” with a pep band twist.

 

Fan of Day 3: It’s gotta be the “THAT’S NOT RIGHT” kid (see UConn-Pitt liveblog). Such comedy at such a young age.

Honorable mention as always to the USF Bull Man, who is sticking it out here in Hartford despite the Bulls’ elimination Sunday night. It still cracks me up when the arena gets quiet and he starts chanting “U! S! F!” Apparently, he’s become something of a legend among the fans sitting around us.

Also, dishonorable mention to the young kid who took my pen ostensibly to get an autograph and never returned it. Do you not know who I am, kid? I am a sports writer! People are scared of me! I drive…I drive…I DRIVE AN OLDSMOBILE INTRIGUE!

Also, if anyone would like to lend me a pen so I don’t have to steal one from the Hilton, that’d be cool.

 

Amusing Press Conference Moment of Day 3: I’m liking Louisville coach Jeff Walz the more I hear him. During games, he’s probably the loudest coach I’ve ever been around. How he keeps his voice amazes me. I don’t think he’s been at a press conference with a full complement of vocal cords. At the conferences he’s got my kind of humor - complete and utter sarcasm at all times - and it takes a few meetings to really understand that.

“We throw it up and miss it quite well,” Walz said. “You can’t call many plays that have Brandie Radde airball a 3 to the other side of the rim, have it bounce to Candyce, pass to Patrika and she makes a 3. I don’t know if you knew, but that was a set play.”

Very fun. I can only imagine the sarcasm to come when he speaks with Geno Auriemma.

 

Amusing-only-to-me mascot run-in of Day 3: The mountaineer man, as explained above. My life is a fairy tale to many.

 

That should just about wrap it up for Monday night. I’ve lost track of time, but apparently it is Tuesday and we are just hours away from UConn-Louisville.

My opinion? I don’t get paid for opinions (mostly), but it seems as if Louisville’s success has come because they’ve outrebounded their opponents by a great margin and McCoughtry has done just enough to win. However, they haven’t played a team as big and athletic as UConn, with a player who can go step-for-step with McCoughtry (that’d be one Maya Moore, who one can assume will have a chip on her shoulder after such a lousy game).

 

Also of worry for the Cardinals? Check out McCoughtry’s stat line after a great 9-for-13 night against St. John’s in the quarterfinals:

vs. Rutgers — 20 points, 25 FG attempts

vs. West Virginia — 24 points, 18 FG attempts

Total – 44 points, 43 FG attempts

 

Yes, McCoughtry is Louisville’s best player and yes, she’s going to get her points. But when people talk about why Louisville has come up short against the big teams, here’s why. Against great offensive teams, every one-and-done jumper by McCoughtry could be a four-point swing. You can’t win games when your dominant scorer is shooting erratically. 

There is no way Louisville can survive with McCoughtry coming up empty on so many possessions, and it’s not likely that they’ll be as successful on the offensive boards against the Huskies. UConn is so ridiculously efficient on offense that Louisville is going to have to match them basket for basket and hope to hit a couple big shots late.

So the prediction will be UConn 86, Louisville 73. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Louisville try some sort of gimmick to slow the game down, but it doesn’t seem like they’re efficient enough to try it. Perhaps they can win if they can force the tempo out of control.

No matter what happens, stay with us at the Daily Campus blog for the final liveblog of the tournament, as I strive to achieve my goal of 10,000 words. War and Peace? Move over.

KM, signing off. Good night from Hartford, the city which pretends it cared about hockey years ago.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 12:20 am and is filed under All Sports, Women's Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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