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On Women's Basketball

Greetings from St. Louis

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 12:54 PM

Hello from St. Louis, where tonight Connecticut will preside over the long-expected coronation of its undefeated season. Louisville is the opponent and the foil, but the Cardinals are likely in for another whipping, which isn't anything to be ashamed of, for that matter.

Connecticut has beaten Louisville twice this season, and the Cardinals just aren't equipped to deal with the Huskies' multiple weapons. UL is a terrific defensive team and Jeff Walz is as good a coach as there is in the sport, but UConn is on another level. My guess: UConn 77, Louisville 56.

Other thoughts on the Final Four, the Big Ten in the NCAA tournament and women's college basketball as it winds down for 2008-09:

--You have heard, and will continue to hear, a lot of chatter asking if this UConn team is the best ever in college basketball. It is not. I can't speak to the undefeated Texas team in 1986, but I have no doubt that the current Huskies team would lose to the 2002 UConn team by double digits. It's no comparison. The 2002 undefeated team had one of the best backcourts in the history of the sport in Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi. And its frontcourt was steady and underrated on a national basis.

--Walz has appropriately received acclaim for the work he's done with his team during this tournament. You can't find a better Xs-and-Os coach in America. I love his game-planning skills. In fact, my favorite game plan of his was one that didn't even work, as it turned out. And it was against UConn.

In the teams' first matchup, Walz basically said, "I'm not going to let Renee Montgomery, Maya Moore and Tina Charles be the players that beat me." So, he essentially left Kalana Greene and Tiffany Hayes and the other Huskies unguarded. He dared them to shoot. I thought it was a brilliant plan ... but it didn't work. Hayes and Greene and the others did burn him, and the Huskies won easily, but I still loved the plan. Why? Because to beat UConn you have to give up something. And there's no question you would rather give up open looks to Hayes and Greene and Co. If they beat you, they beat you. But if you play Moore straight up, she'll destroy you. Same way with Montgomery and Charles. Make the other Huskies be the ones to beat you, and sell out at all costs when executing your plan in that regard. If I was Walz, I'd take the same approach tonight. I'd say to Tiffany Hayes, "Here you go, Tiff. Shoot all you want. Wide open looks. But I'm not letting Maya Moore get wide open looks."

--Tough loss for Oklahoma in Sunday's semifinals. I was hoping the Sooners would win because A) I picked UConn over Oklahoma in the national championship game in my News-Gazette bracket; and B) because Oklahoma's Whitney Hand is tremendously fun to watch. No player in America plays with the expression and joy that Hand shows. She smiles on the court more than any player than I can recall in the last 10 years. It's just really nice to see a player appearing as if she's having a great time on the floor.

--The nice thing about watching the Final Four on TV: No Nancy Lieberman. Someone, please end our long national nightmare. The women's game deserves better. Leave her on the NBA.

--Nice showing by the Big Ten in this tournament, but let's not go overboard. Some perspective:

Michigan State played its first two games on its home floor, a HUGE advantage. Yes, the Spartans beat Duke, but that was two days after they were gifted a victory against Middle Tennessee, which simply gave away the game. And if you witnessed MSU's last-minute meltdown against Iowa State in the regional semis, it's hard to get excited over the way the Spartans exited the tournament.

Ohio State wasn't on its home floor, but it did play its first two games in Columbus at Nationwide Arena. The Buckeyes were expected to get to the Sweet 16, and they did, but bowed out in a lopsided loss to Stanford in which Jantel Lavender didn't really show up. It's progress for OSU, which didn't flame out early as it had in recent tournaments, but only baby steps.

Purdue deserves credit for its NCAA tournament run. The Boilermakers, who underachieved all season (that roster is stacked with top-100 recruits), finally lived up to their billing in March, falling to Oklahoma in a competitive regional final in Oklahoma City. They were, by far, the most impressive BIg Ten team in the postseason.

As for Minnesota, the Gophers did beat Notre Dame in South Bend in what was their best game of the season. Two days later, they were walloped by Texas A&M. That's a wash.

In all, it was an encouraging postseason by the league, and perhaps it was underestimated this season. But let's not go crazy here. When you play on your home court, or in your home city, you're supposed to win. That's largely what the Big Ten did.