Miller tells UConn to Stick It!

Redwingtom · Post by **Redwingtom** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:43 am

Nice Job Curt!!

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /803280384

tiznow · Post by **tiznow** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:05 am

That tournament in Dayton could be interesting. Your right. Gino is a douche.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:08 am

Ryan does a very good job of recapping the season and what we can look for in the future.

I would love to play UConn...but I understand why Coach told them no thanks. If UConn came to AA, the place would be packed 5,000 strong. They would have to roll out the bleachers in the upper level again. UConn is one of the best so a chance to play them would have been cool. Like playing Duke two years ago...Why won't they come to AA?? Notre Dame did...Indiana did.

Great to see we will play Temple, St. Bonnie and Hartford next year. Quality teams...

FIVE PEAT...GO FALCONS!

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:37 am

Falconfreak90 wrote:Why won't they come to AA?? Notre Dame did...Indiana did.

UCONN is the standard by which all women's team are measured. I would have been SHOCKED if they would have agreed to play at BG. At best, we could have offered them a chance to open up the new Stroh Center in a couple of years. Indiana and ND certainly are not in the same class as UCONN.

Personally, I think it is a mistake to tell them no, we won't do a one and done at their place. In the words of the immortal Ric Flair, "To be the best, you have to beat the best." Getting good matchups with teams like Hartford, Temple, ND, Indiana et al is all well and good. But we can never be considered a truly elite program until you step up to the table and take on the big dogs. Also, a game like this would be a HUGE benefit come tournatment time. If you go to UCONN and compete with them, that gets the attention of the tournament committee. And it gives the ladies a ton of confidence. When they go to the sweet 16 again, they won't have to be awestruck by the circumstances and they will know they belong on the court with any other team in the country.

Just my opinion, but I would have liked to seen us go up against the Huskies.

fredthefalcon · Post by **fredthefalcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:38 am

Falconfreak90 wrote:Ryan does a very good job of recapping the season and what we can look for in the future.

I would love to play UConn...but I understand why Coach told them no thanks. If UConn came to AA, the place would be packed 5,000 strong. They would have to roll out the bleachers in the upper level again. UConn is one of the best so a chance to play them would have been cool. Like playing Duke two years ago...Why won't they come to AA?? Notre Dame did...Indiana did.

FIVE PEAT...GO FALCONS!

Why would one of the top 2 programs in Women's Basketball want to come to AA and play before 5,000 people when they can play at home all the time before adoring throngs with no travel expense? What would they have to gain coming to BG right now? It's not going to happen and Michigan and Ohio State aren't coming to play at the Doyt either. No disrespect just good business.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:44 am

Yeah, sure it's good business. Fine. But if UConn is the best, they can show up on any court in the nation and play, right? Do it, then. I get tired of this BS about the "big schools" dictating everything. Grow a pair and play at AA.

BGSUE · Post by **BGSUE** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:01 am

I too would have travelled to UCONN for a game. Just sitting in the stands & trying to cheer for BG in that atmosphere would have been fun. Is it ever quiet?

Having info of who we play next season is great. Going back to Greensboro is a plus--wish we had an idea who's in the tourney field. Any guesses or inside knowledge? Looks like the travel will be reasonable. Last December's schedule really sapped the women's energy.

IMO don't think we need that travel stress again. Looking forward to next season but first want to honor this year's team & Whit/ Kate for the tremendous run they had & all the fun.

Redwingtom · Post by **Redwingtom** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 10:16 am

UConn @ San Diego State
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/boxscore?gameId=273550021

Attendance = 5,271 - Granted we don't have San Diego weather in December, but....

UConn @ Old Dominion
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/boxscore?gameId=273270295

Attendance = 1,932 - I realize that ODU has a huge "ancient" history in Women's Bball, but...

VDub26Falcon · Post by **VDub26Falcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:44 pm

It does suck that "bigger schools" with nicer arenas pretty much can dictate who they want to play and where they want to do it. It would've shown something if the HuskieDon'ts would've agreed to a home and home and that would have been AWESOME to see a team like that make the trip to AA...it would already be sold out if it happened.

fredthefalcon · Post by **fredthefalcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:45 pm

Redwingtom wrote:UConn @ San Diego State
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/boxscore?gameId=273550021

Attendance = 5,271 - Granted we don't have San Diego weather in December, but....

UConn @ Old Dominion
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/boxscore?gameId=273270295

Attendance = 1,932 - I realize that ODU has a huge "ancient" history in Women's Bball, but...

Nice Pickup Tom, but wrong. The Old Dominion game was played in the Virgin Islands. I can see your mistake if you look at UConn schedule which shows it as an away game but it was one of those warm weather pre-Thanksgiving tourneys. Here's another link that shows the location.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/recap?gameId=273270295

San Fran Falcon · Post by **San Fran Falcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:22 pm

I'm with Warthog. If we want to be considered elite, we need to play the UCONN's of women's b-ball when we get a chance. Yeah, yeah...it does suck that they get to make the rules, per se. However, those types of match-ups don't pop up for BG very often.

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:49 pm

fredthefalcon wrote: What would they have to gain coming to BG right now?

The experience of playing a quality team in a hostile environment.

Their coach is not helping to advance the womens game he and his program have worked so hard to popularize with tactics like this.

fredthefalcon · Post by **fredthefalcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:31 pm

JoeFalcon wrote:
fredthefalcon wrote: What would they have to gain coming to BG right now?
The experience of playing a quality team in a hostile environment.

Their coach is not helping to advance the womens game he and his program have worked so hard to popularize with tactics like this.

Ok you don't like the guy. But they played a quality team in LSU in a very hostile environment already and I'm sure most of their league games have that environment. So again why come to BG where you have nothing to win and everything to lose unlike playing a top 10 team. Some of you may remember when Jud Heathcote brought MSU to BG and lost years ago. He promised that MSU would never come back, and they never did even if the coach is now Izzo.

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:52 pm

I actually have always liked coach Auriemma, but I think he's wrong to be playing hardball like this with BG. Such a game would be good preparation for his team and good for the sport.

In terms of having "everything to lose," I don't think many people outside of the womens basketball community would notice or care if they lost to BG. It's not like it would lead SportsCenter or be one of the topics discussed the following evening on PTI.

LSU is a tough place to play, but it's one game every other year, and I highly doubt most of the Big East road games they play are half as intimidating as stepping into a jam packed Anderson Arena.

HoustonFalcon · Post by **HoustonFalcon** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:52 pm

While I wish that Geno would guarantee a return game, I don't think that we are in any position to say no one of the top two programs in the country. Why wouldn't we want to go to UCONN and play. You never know, if we keep up the success of the last few years, and the new arena gets done, then we might get to later on propose a home and home. But to say that Geno doesn't popularize the women's game is crazy. He has gone to Tennessee in the regular season, he has gone to LSU in the regular season. Those are two of the toughest places to play. He has built his program from nothing and now UCONN has sold out every home game since 1997. He has 5 national championships. I think for a first meeting he can call the shots. But that is just me. That response of his team getting to play a good team in a hostile environment as something to gain is crazy. Tennessee, LSU, Rutgers. Those three alone bring hostile environments every game. And you don't think that UCONN doesn't draw good crowds to the other places they have to play, just because they are UCONN? They have a target on their back everywhere they go. I really wish Coach Miller would have said yes to going to UCONN, and just hoping down the road there could be a 2-1 worked out.