I find it intriguing that the overall story board was the same for both games -- except for the last 20 seconds.

Any theories?

Good teams find a way to get it together? ;)
How about Brittany Jackson's three?

Tenn was only down 5 when UConn got that last offensive rebound. I there were almost 25 seconds left, why didn't they foul? :confused:

They tried to foul, but weren't able to get good enough contact for the crew to call fouls. I was surprised though that fouls were not called.

I agree, Drake. Did you work NCAA before you were in the WNBA? what was the attitude toward end-of-game-stop-the-clock fouls?

Some shot!! I thought I might have seen the hand of God sort of poke it toward the basket. But does that mean He favors Tennessee? or the underdog? or just loved the shot? or was it my imagination?

Favor the "Evil Empire?" :D

That Airenema guy has got some nerve. :p

Definitely should change his name to Anderson, or something!

I like to think God was otherwise engaged. Probably had one of his local district managers there tho, some yong angel on the fast track! :)

So was I, from where I sat in my living room it looked like they had at least 1, maybe 2 opportunities to blow the whistle.

Hmmmm...what's the over/under on how long it will take JR to dig up a picture to add to your post? ;)

"Air enema"- hmmmm.....very cute! Implying that he's a sh*tty coach?

Forget him. Anybody else think that Pat Summit should be on the "Jim Boheim All-Time List of Whiny Coaches"?

great defensive substitution by UConn for that final UT throw-in.... Battle comes in and steals the inbound pass!
What a game! (And yes, even though my daughter goes to UT, I agree with JR about Coach Summit's whining at the officials. That's not to say that Gino didn't do his share of whining also.)

She sure likes to scream, doesn't she? Remember that sequence when there was a "cheap" handcheck foul on Tenn, followed by a held ball on a shot under Tenn basket? She was screaming at the official (Lisa Mattingly?), pointing downcourt, screaming...pointing...walked down to the endline & got in Mattingly's face prior to the throw-in...
I thought she was gonna have a stroke.

Free throws win games
 

At least the women know how to make their free throws...

Syracuse wouldn't have made the finals if TX could hit from the line. And then KS shoots 40% from the charity stripe. Think about it. KS shot better with defenders doubling on them. :eek:

At the risk of being labelled a sexist pig(of which I happen to be one anyway):
http://www.eaudrey.com/myth/images/harpy.gif

According the TriggerMN, shouldn't that be the "Roy Williams All-Time List of Whiny Coaches"?

Just kiddin', Trigger! :p

Juulie,

I did not work D1 before the WNBA, but two of the three officials in the Title game are WNBA officials.
There WERE opportunities to blow the whistle, but no one was tackled or murdered, and with the score basically out of reach of UT, I quess they wanted a CLEAR-CUT foul.
I think the philosophy is if the team behind has an opportunity to still win the game, give the quick foul.
Why let someone get hurt?
On the other hand, Tennessee didn't do a very good job FORCING the officials to blow the whistle in that situation.

Oh - you mean Geno Auriemma?

I went to public schools in Connecticut for 9 years - it's a required word on the annual statewide spelling and reading tests. :p

Drake -- I see your point. By the way, you got into the WNBA WITHOUT doing any D1 ?!? I'm even more impressed than before. Just for the edification of us peons, can you give us a precis of your career?

And are you doing WNBA this year?

Excellent point! Now let me throw this out for discussion:
The way that I saw the situation at the end of the game was that the Tenn. players were making contact with the UConn girls AFTER they had made their keep-away pass.It looked to me that the ball was usually about 6-8 feet out of the passer's hands before the Tenn. girl was able to get there and make contact.Over the years,I've been in many discussions about this exact same play,and the best way to call it.The way that I personally like to see it called is pretty much the same way that I thought the officials actually handled it in this game.
-call the foul on the "touch" if the offensive player still has the ball in their hands when contact is made.
-have a slow whistle IF the ball has left the passer's hands.Take a look and see where the pass is going.If there is no chance of the defense stealing the pass,ignore the foul as "incidental contact" and let the play proceed.If you think that there might be a chance of the pass being intercepted by the defense,then call the late contact on the passer a foul.

I personally think that doing it this way falls in line with the spirit and intent of the rules.If the ball is gone on the pass,the D is basically gaining a heck of an advantage if you blow the play down on a good pass.You also then have the question of the D fouling a player without the ball.According to the rules,you should be considering an intentional foul in cases like this.Do you really want to get into anything like that?:eek:

Comments?