March Madness Discussion (Men's Nat'l Championship Game: Mon 4/8: Purdue vs UCONN)

[___Rand___]

South Carolina is too big for Iowa though. They're gonna blitz Clark I'm sure. 10 deep roster.

That was true last year And Iowa won.

I'm worried Geno laid out a blueprint though. He seems like one of the only coaches who can coordinate a defense in this league.

Yes and no. I don't know if SC has a quick guard who's 6' tall like that girl on Clark. I know they got a 5'11" forward but she's slow footed compared to Clark. The rest of their guards are shorter, so Clark can shoot over them. BUT SC has a ton of bodies they can throw at Caitlin. I'm sure they'll be doubling her.

Ok just checked. they got a 6' guard in Bree Hall. I have to go back and watch her play and see if she can stay with Clark. If she's as quick then they can use the same strat.

SC's center Cardoso is just too big and also fairly quick on her feet; well be tough to guard for Iowa's forwards. Iowa's guards not named Clark will have to shoot well in this game. SC's got good guards.

[azcatz11]

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Clearly rigged ending.

There’s really no other explanation. You have potentially tens of millions on the line marketing Clark in the championship game vs UConn who is just a regular women’s team.

Now you have Clark vs USC (undefeated) as a main storyline.

I think the women’s national championship will outdraw the men’s. Business decision

[2weekswithpay]

Not a fan of the call but that was a moving screen.

[Decipher]

Hot take time

I seriously doubt that Clark is a better player than 42yo Lauren Jackson with shot knees

[shi-woo]

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Even worse on the reply In real time I thought she pushed off with her forarm, which she clearly didn't.

What a horrible way for a game to end. It's sad because while it makes for more $$ having Clark in the title game, the NCAAW missed out on a moment like Butler at the goalline or like Villinova a few years ago. Those are the moments that make fans want to come back for more.

Sure they get to talk about Clark on sportcenter all week, but they missed out on a potential highlight that would have outlived all of us

Sports in general is just getting too scripted these days

[EH15]

It was a moving screen. If you don't call that then there is no sense to have any rules at all. We all hate seeing it go down like that but that's a great learning moment for Edwards.

[___Rand___]

Read on Twitter

?s=46

Clearly rigged ending.

There’s really no other explanation. You have potentially tens of millions on the line marketing Clark in the championship game vs UConn who is just a regular women’s team.

Now you have Clark vs USC (undefeated) as a main storyline.

I think the women’s national championship will outdraw the men’s. Business decision

So you sayin ESPN rigged this.

[___Rand___]

It was a moving screen. If you don't call that then there is no sense to have any rules at all. We all hate seeing it go down like that but that's a great learning moment for Edwards.

They didn't call crap most of the game, and it was physical.

I actually think Refs swallowing the whistles was to help UConn who plays tough D but don't have the players to sub in. I noticed as soon as Uconn's key players got 3 or 4 fouls they just stopped calling fouls on both sides. Clark was getting grabbed hacked whole game, they didn't call a thing.

[azcatz11]

Clearly rigged ending.

There’s really no other explanation. You have potentially tens of millions on the line marketing Clark in the championship game vs UConn who is just a regular women’s team.

Now you have Clark vs USC (undefeated) as a main storyline.

I think the women’s national championship will outdraw the men’s. Business decision

So you sayin ESPN rigged this.

I would say if the roles were reversed that call wouldn’t have been made

[picc]

There’s really no other explanation. You have potentially tens of millions on the line marketing Clark in the championship game vs UConn who is just a regular women’s team.

Now you have Clark vs USC (undefeated) as a main storyline.

I think the women’s national championship will outdraw the men’s. Business decision

So you sayin ESPN rigged this.

I would say if the roles were reversed that call wouldn’t have been made

Not a chance.

[___Rand___]

There’s really no other explanation. You have potentially tens of millions on the line marketing Clark in the championship game vs UConn who is just a regular women’s team.

Now you have Clark vs USC (undefeated) as a main storyline.

I think the women’s national championship will outdraw the men’s. Business decision

So you sayin ESPN rigged this.

I would say if the roles were reversed that call wouldn’t have been made

I think refs swallowed the whistles entire game to help UConn stay in the game knowing they don't got the bench to deal with foul troble. This is the legendary coach after all. They stopped calling the fouls the minute a couple of UConn players got to 3 fouls. Otherwise UConn would never have had a chance in 2nd half. They swallowed the whistle for Gino. and did a mea culpa call right at the end for keeping UConn in the game. Horrible timing, but it balanced out at the end. It was the right call. Still terrible optics.

[SweaterBae]

It's very clearly a moving screen.

[jkvonny]

These girls Final 4 games were fun and neat. No lie. lol

[Nate505]

Not a fan of the call but that was a moving screen.

I'm missing the outrage here. It was blatant, unless one is of the belief that moving screens should never get called at the end of a game.

[tmorgan]

100%. That was a blatant moving screen. This isn’t the pros, they call every one of those they see at any time. And no, screens like that were NOT happening earlier in the game. They were letting players hold Clark, and they were letting Clark push off, but they weren’t allowing players to shoulder each other without setting their feet.

If you don’t call that because of the moment, end of game plays with the game on the line are going to end up with injuries like concussions and separated shoulders.

You notice Geno wasn’t pissed at the call. He was pissed at Edwards. She either didn’t get to her spot, or she didn’t realize she was already causing Marshall’s closeout to be late. And Iowa played it well, they already had Stuelke closing out on Bueckers anyway from the other side.

[jc23]

I would not have called it.

[Clemenza]

One thing for sure the Nat'l media needs to end that GOAT conversation. This young lady is about to enter the best of the best in the WNBA. I would hate to see her get targeted every night. That GOAT tag comes with a lot of responsibility. She simply doesn't deserve that. For her sake I hope the hype dies down.

Don't worry, the WNBA will make sure this happens.

-Ugly and awful way to end a Final Four game tho. NCAA and ESPN wanted to squeeze the final ounces out of the Caitlyn Clark hype.

[Jedi32]

There’s really no other explanation. You have potentially tens of millions on the line marketing Clark in the championship game vs UConn who is just a regular women’s team.

Now you have Clark vs USC (undefeated) as a main storyline.

I think the women’s national championship will outdraw the men’s. Business decision

So you sayin ESPN rigged this.

I would say if the roles were reversed that call wouldn’t have been made

I agree 1000%. Gotta feel for Uconn.

[Jedi32]

I would not have called it.

I don't believe the refs would have called it on Iowa either.

[jc23]

Caitlin definitely has some haters now; thats a good thing. Indifference is the death of sport.