Too Good -- But Still True
Was the 2008-09 UConn team the best team ever? Like many, I’m partial to the 2002 Huskies, though I’d love to see Sue Bird match up against Renee Montgomery. The Huskies weren’t terribly compelling to watch at any point this season, but they were a marvel at playing the game.
The Huskies whip the ball around with remarkable precision with few dribbles in half-court. They rarely foul. Here’s a team that blew out the opposition all season despite losing top recruit Elena Delle Donne. Nobody mentioned that on the ESPN on championship night, but how would there have been room on the roster for last year's National High School Player of the Year?
Questions and Answers
Holly Rowe got raked over the coals on some message boards for asking Courtney Paris if she was going to make good on her guarantee to pay back Oklahoma if the Sooners didn't win the national title. The ESPN commentator asked the four-time All-American the difficult question just moments after the Sooners were stunned by Louisville in the national semifinal.
Kudos to Rowe. ESPN has been known to play cheerleader for the sport, which demands the same type of professionalism a journalist would pay any subject. Paris answered with remarkable aplomb, promising to someday return her scholarship money. No surprise that the university doesn’t want it. It’s classy of Paris to set up a fund for the state’s needy instead.
We’re not in Kansas Anymore
For the first time since 1992, the Final Four was not a sellout -- or then again, was it? The NCAA announced the game as a sell-out on its own web site, but as anyone could see, there were plenty of empty seats available in the Scottrade Center, which can seat as many as 22,612 for basketball events.
After the game, the NCAA acknowledged that the semifinals' attendance of 18,621 had ended the streak of consecutive NCAA Women's Final Four sell-outs at 16, but prior to the final game, issued a press announcement maintaining that the final game was indeed sold-out. After the game, it had to concede once again that it was not -- to the contrary, the final-game attendance figure of 18,478 was marginally worse. The finals attendance ranked as the 10th highest for a women's championship game dating back to 1982.
At first, the word was that the empty seats belonged to blocks that had been set aside for teams that didn't make it all the way to the Final Four. But that happens every year, and to the degree the availability of last minute seats is predictable, the NCAA shoots itself in the foot by publicizing the game as sold-out when it could be hawking the newly released tickets.
Blame the economy or the automatic-win factor that most assumed would happen with UConn. Though NCAA vice president Sue Donahoo blamed the hard economic times, consider that the men's game did not have the same experience. Though attendance was low at many of the regional and subregional games, Detroit actually set a new Final Four attendance record of 72,456 fans at the national semifinal games. The Ford Center in Detroit broke the previous record by more than 5,500, using a new configuration of in-the-round seating that allowed for a greater number of quality seats for fans and better views of the court, as well as 2,000 court-side end-zone seats for students at a cost of less than $7 per game.
All of women’s basketball should take note of the WNIT, which drew a Big 12 record 16,113 fans to Lawrence, Kansas, to see South Florida defeat the Jayhawks in the championship. These are the same Jayhawks that averaged 2,555 during the regular season. The game was the first Kansas basketball game to be played at Allen Fieldhouse in April.
Looking Ahead
It’s never too early to start thinking about next year. Here’s my isn’t-this-ridiculous, too-early stab at a Top 25 for 2010:
1. UConn: Losing Montgomery hurts, but returning Moore and Charles helps – a lot.
2. Stanford: Appel’s terrific postseason sets the stage for the Cardinal.
3. Baylor: Did you see Brittney Griner’s line in the WBCA All-American game?
4. California: Despite the loss of Ashley Walker and Devanei Hampton, Boyle’s recruiting class is a gem of a frontline.
5. North Carolina: Speaking of frontlines, the Tar Heels boast a great one with two Top-25 recruits, plus coveted guard prospect Tierra Ruffin-Pratt.
6. Oklahoma: They don’t have the Paris sisters anymore, but they still have Robinson and Hand.
7. Notre Dame: Incoming frosh Skylar Diggins, MVP of the McDonald's All-American game and co-MVP (with Griner) of the WBCA All-American game, was the most sought-after point guard in the country.
8. Louisville: No more Angel. But Jeff Walz hasn’t stopped building a program.
9. Virginia: They have more than Monica Wright, including China Crosby, who plays as good as her name.
10. Tennessee: Don’t expect them to lose in the first round this year.
11. Duke: Another marquee class and last year's prize catch, guard Shay Selby, may finally see more significant time.
12. Maryland: Toliver and Coleman will be missed but Kizer will be a super soph.
13. South Carolina: Kelsey Bone and Dawn Staley are a formidable combo.
14. Ohio State: Say no more than Lavender and Prahalis.
15. Georgia: Four Top-50 prospects mean Andy Landers’ team is back in the hunt.
16. Illinois: They’ve got Destiny, as in Williams.
17. Texas A&M:Losing Gant hurts, but new recruits have size.
18. South Florida: Impressive Bulls won the WNIT on the road.
19. LSU: Incoming class has loads of talent starting with Bianca Lutley.
20. Texas: Center Cokie Reed can make an impact if torn ACL heals well.
21. Middle Tennessee: Nation’s leading scorer Clark will carry Raiders.
22. West Virginia: Haven’t heard that name in a while but Mountaineers are loaded with young talent.
23. Rutgers: They might not win early, but does anyone ever want to play them?
24. Georgetown: Program’s on the rise behind point guard named Sugar.
25. Michigan State: Painful NCAA tournament loss will only be a memory.
Rim Shots
- I lost count how many times the ESPN folks commented on the physical transformations of both Ashley Paris and Jayne Appel.
- Is anyone better at keeping a ball alive than Maya Moore?
- Did you hear Geno’s postgame after the national championship? It was a case study in how not to speak in cliché.
- What a writer Alysa Auriemma is. Don’t miss her behind-the-scenes blog.
- It was appropriate that the title game ended with Louisville missing a layup.
- Did you know UConn set a record for three-pointers in the Final Four?
- How many schools are going to be banging down Waltz’s door?
- Here’s betting on Abby Waner in the ESPN studio next year.
- Sad to see so few jobs in the WNBA and all that talent.
- Is it October yet?