She WAS shut down in the first half. I am happy she won. I DO NOT WATCH BASKETBALL. But yesterday at halftime I signed up for ESPN+ just to watch a game I was listening to. This is the only month for ESPN+ cause I don't think they have women's elite cyclocross.
Held her well under her pts average, and with her primary defender needing to play the entire game. With a more reasonable rotation, UConn would probably have won, considering they had Azzi Fudd and Aubrey Griffin on the bench, with Aubrey being able to guard CC nearly as well as Nika did. And DKM had it right about fouls. Again, a reasonable rotation would have solved that.
Across both teams she was second highest in points and first in rebounds and assists. Based on points and assists she contributed to half of Iowa's points. It shows how good she is when that kind of performance is considered "stopping" her. In the first half Uconn slowed her down by fouling her but that strategy is desperate when your rotation is 6 players.
@SusanStorm217 ... That's just an uninformed comment from an uninformed source. If UConn was fouling her the refs would have been quick to call it That's the best defender Caitlin has faced all year. UConn knew they couldn't keep Caitlin from scoring but they could make it extremely difficult and that's just what they did.
The fouls did start piling up, which is why UConn had to stop playing prison ball defense in the 2nd half. That first half the Huskies had their hands all over Caitlin.
@@guitarzerotohero9124 Had UConn pulled it out, Muhl (#10), in particular, would have deserved the game ball IMO. She demonstrated that D is all about heart and dogged effort. She picked up Clark in the parking lot and never let go. Great game from her on both sides of the ball. That said, I mostly agree with @SusanStorm217 in the sense that CC demonstrated once again that she is a real baller, not just a scorer, with that total stat line and fearless impact in H2. Especially after having had the rough first half that she did (once again), very few could have regained their poise and aggressiveness the way she did.
You clearly didn’t watch the game. If UConn fouled her during the 1st half the game would be disqualified for not having enough player. Defense locked her down the first half 0-8 from 3 and like 3 assist. Great players you can’t completely stop but this is a shutdown for someone that averages 32 per game. Luckily her team stepped up. Also Caitlin only got more points once Muhl twisted her ankle and was slower.
A clear offensive foul, blocking the defender from following the player with the ball. She stuck her elbow out, extending her leg, it is obvious and stupid. Good call.
nice recap! In the live game it looked like a bad call by the ref, but in your replay, it showed an obvious moving screen by Unconn player. Good gusty call by the ref in such a big game.
.... and that moron Barkely tried to sell the idea that the ref's should manage their calls in accordance with the importance of the situation. That mentality is what's wrong with sports today - "don't make a critical call if it might change the outcome of the game"........ RULES ARE RULES - this isn't Washington DC - in honest competition you don't get to make it up as you go.
And they didn't really contain her. They forced her to be a distributor. She generated more points than anyone on the entire court by a significant margin.
Funny how people may say that Clark was “shut down”😂 😂😂. If she put up 21 9 and 9…. You didn’t shut her down, you got lucky 😂😂😂😂. lol that’s almost a triple double. wtf???
Great analysis mate -- Glad you showed Paige's airball at the end that no one talks about. And Caitlin missed her free throw! It's the OTHER players that came up clutch down the stretch on both teams. Muhl's 3-pointer and Arnold's steal were so clutch for Uconn...wow! And Katie's offensive rebound sealed it for Iowa. Amazing game . . . tomorrow should be another classic. (i don't even know whose playing in the mens side, haha)
Caitlin missing the free throw, might havw won Iowa the game since they got rebound. Still can't believe Iowa actually won the game after the situation from early in the game and at the very end
@@nafnaf0 well it did win them the game! so even when she's wrong, she's right. haha. Would love to have been in the Iowa locker room at half, cuz they commited zero TOs in the 3rd. Good coaching.
Caitlin is a volume shooter. The more shots she puts up, the higher her shooting percentage gets.Example : she may only go 1-5 but then she will go 4-10 and then 12-20. Her shooting percentage climbs as she shoots more. UCONN did good by keeping the ball out of her hands. As UCONNs "hack-a-shaq" fouls amassed their defense softened and her touches increased, her shots increased, and it was a rap. Some costly TOs late in the game and UCONNs expert ability to cash-in made it close the last minute but IOWA did not quit. Clark finished with 21 and 8 after only having 6 in the first half. AND Iowa won the game. That is better than hitting 55 and losing. IOWA is a TEAM that does not quit even when it looks bad.
... and more than a few non-calls go their way as well. The were setting illegal screens through out the game. They did it, didn't get called on it, kept doing it, and got caught with their hand in the cookie jar at a bad time. That is the problem with cheating, the cheater thinks they will always get away with it. SURPRISE !!
Did nobody notice that at 12:20 Gabby Marshall was illegally screened and pushed on the ground while Paige missed the shot terribly. UCONN got away with a lot of no calls, until they didn’t. Those huskies were put to sleep. Night night!
Normally they don't check for the 3 or 2 until there is a break in the game, but they stopped the game to check it! It gave the teams another quick timeout and obvious chance to stop momentum, I think. If her foot is on the line, then it should be a 2, but don't stop the game to verify it in the middle of a run! They should have waited til there was a foul. There was still 5 minutes left in the game, it's not like the game was almost over. All in all, things turned out, but it was a definite puzzler.
@@cobra7282 First, her foot wasn’t over the line. Maybe 1/8 inch of the toe of her shoe was touching the line. Not saying it shouldn’t have been called, it seemed that at least a sliver of her shoe was on the paint, but to those arguing that the blocking foul was tricky tack or close, so was that call on Marshall.
At 14.2 million viewers, last night's Iowa-UConn game averaged more viewers than: • Any women's CBB game ever • Every 2023 NBA Finals game • Every 2023 World Series game • The 2023 Orange Bowl • The 2023 Big Ten Championship • The 2023 Cotton Bowl • The 2023 Pac-12 Championship • The 2023 Big-12 Championship • The 2023 ACC Championship • The 2023 Peach Bowl • The 2023 Masters Final Round • The 2023 Daytona 500 • The 2023 Indianapolis 500 • Every tennis grand slam final (men's & women's) • Every 2023 CFB regular season game except one Even crazier, there is a legitimate chance that this year's women's national championship game draws more viewers than the men's. That's incredible.
@@jamesfreeman2258 Not Catlin Clark. Vierership went up cause the media constantly talked about CC. Also, the championship game was shown on regular television helped boost viewership. Inaddition to the ending of Iowa and LSU championship gamesdt year. Bottom line, majority of the women NCAA games have been more exciting to watch than the men NCAA games. If you don't believe me, checkout the Saturday Night Live sketch with Chuck, Kenny, and Ernie😂😂😂😂😂
@@mscm4592 really? missed 6 3 pointers, if her teammates make more shots on perfect passes she gets at least 12 assists, 10 boards. That is a 30 plus point triple double. That's with Connecticut throwing everything at her.
Uconn has great one on one and help defense, from its players, on Clark. They also had height on Iowa, at almost every position. They also managed to negate Iowa's running game for most of the game. Those were keys to their success for the first half and into the third quarter.
It was an obvious illegal screen. I agree with the call. It's just like if you speed and you don't get caught, you are still breaking the rules, and sucks when you get caught.
...ask the clown Barkely whether it was a foul. According to him it is called a foul only when it doesn't affect the outcome of the game. Somebody please remind him that rules are rules. What a moron.
That was an offensive foul 10 ways to Sunday but the refs might have let it go if Edwards didn't knock her back 5 ft like a tight end blocking a cornerback on a sweep play.
Great game. The two players of the game were Muhl and Marshall. They both drew the toughest assignments in the game. Marshall played her usual great game against Beukkers and Muhl was spectacular against Clark. She was so tight on Clark that I would not be surprised if at breakfast Clark was looking for the pepper shaker.... and ..Muhl would have blocked her out! Nika got worn down and she was gassed late in the game. Though she made a huge 3 late. Iowa had more turn overs in the first half than an Amish bakery ...but as Geno said at the break we are not getting enough points off the steals and stops. He further said we cannot stop them forever and he was right. To me Muhl was both the difference and the player of the game. Defensive battle. The final will be different. SC are HUGE! So Iowa will have no hope inside or on rebounds .. On the other hand if they can run and gun and shoot the lights out outside they my have a chance. The hope if there is one is for Marshall and Martin to knock it down from the outside ,......or for transition to stress the bigger , slower, SC players. Marshall is streaky shooter. Who knows? I do not see a SC player who can guard Clark......BUT..if she has to drive the lane she will get snuffed out. Too big and too many from SC.
Couldn't agree more about Muhl's game. As a long-ago point guard from the 60's, total respect for the effort that lockdown took. And she played a strong game on both sides of the ball as well.
Wait a doggone minute! The great Taurasi warned that Caitlin won’t be playing 18-year olds, but seasoned professionals. How then, did this rookie drop 21 points against these seasoned professionals?! How?!
Nika Mühl stuck to Clark like Velcro. It was intimidating - which was the idea, of course. Not a pretty game, but both teams had their plans and both executed well. -- Thanks for the insights and straight commentary. The refs did not decide the outcome - if anything, Clark's assists and composure under intense pressure, plus Iowa's team, did it. A game to remember, and next the Final.
Excellent analysis excellent comments. UConn had a great game plan against a team that should win 9 out of 10 times. Caitlin’s tenacity and more importantly her ability to let other team members rise to the occasion after being frozen out for almost 3 quarters won the game.
I'd say the exhaustion of running an 8 man rotation from the end of the season, through the championship and entire tourney, finally caught up with everyone. Paige had played EVERY SINGLE MINUTE, IN EVERY GAME OF THE TOURNEY. That takes a toll eventually. Not to mention the nonsense decision to call that after establishing a looseness with screen all game long until that moment.
Shooters have bad games. If Steph Curry goes 1/9 we don’t say teams “figured out” Curry because we know he just missed shots, and the very next game he might go 10/12 and drop 40+. Not to compare her to Curry, but just trying to show that all shooters, even the greatest one, have bad games where they just miss shots. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been “figured out.”
She didn’t choke. That was a purposeful miss which allowed Iowa to have the ball. I know everyone has their own opinions and that’s fine. Why is everyone beating Iowa up for the win. The correct call is the most important at the last minute or seconds than in the first 10 minutes. CC still got 21 points but the Iowa team has more players than just her. They also must have a good defense or UCONN would have beaten them furiously as most wanted. Just let the winning team in this game enjoy this win. They still have work to do and there’s only going to be one champion team in the end. Cheer on the girl’s basketball teams. And you NBA players, just stay out of it. This isn’t about you and you guys cry, whine and have tantrums over everything you don’t like and still make millions.
UConn lost last night and won this morning by getting the #1 recruit in the nation Sarah Strong. This was the tale of the game UConn 3/4 Iowa 10/14 the free-throw stat line
My guess is that SC will win. But what Iowa proved the other nite was that basketball is STILL a TEAM game. Even should Iowa lose, they deserve a ton of credit beating LSU and UConn, two programs that are chock full of high talent recruits, SC also. The reason CC is so good is that she is a throwback to the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird type of player, a player that is great by themselves, but ALWAYS puts TEAM FIRST and makes all the players around them BETTER. That is legendary greatness, not individual greatness.
She had a lot of help from the referees. Iowa went to the line 14 times to UCONN's 4. That was the difference in the game - thank the refs for that and that B.S. call at the end.
@@taharqa332Don’t thank the refs, thank UConn and their coach for playing aggressive full court defence and driving the basket a lot. It’s not the refs fault You always pick up more fouls that way. Doesn’t matter who you are. Once UConn players got into foul trouble they stopped taking chances of fouling or actually fouling and Iowa picked up steam. UConn got more fouls because, they committed more fouls. Sometimes the truth is hard to handle.
1. You cant put a team away in the 1st quarter 2. While yes, technically any 3 players on one team standing equal distance from each other form a triangle, thats not the triangle offense, its called Horns. 3. thank you for a great vid as i didn't get to see the game 4. algorithm 5. it was an illegal screen 6. i dont think page will be back
Your description to Paige is the defining point - "was" the best player. Stopping and locked her up with 21 points, 9 assists lol. How many points and assist did Paige get? I doubt you can shoot as well as Caitlin. Being a good or great player doesn't only mean playing well but also keeping healthy.
Paige is and will be the better player than Clark, there's no doubt about that to anyone who knows basketball. Her game is far more complete. playing every minute of every game for twenty games straight, catches up to you.
That was great recap of the game… and yeah, that was definitely a foul when she put up her elbow. The ref had to call. It doesn’t matter if it happens at the beginning or at the end she had kept her elbow down. I think it probably would’ve passed but thrown the elbow, sealed it.
It was a moderate scoring game with the primary scorers being covered very effectively. Game could have gone either way up to the last 2nds. The great screen by Cait's teammate was a perfect screen that led to the defender slipping and falling down giving Caitlin a brief moment to launch a 3 and she made it!
If Iowa prevails over South Carolina, it will be because Caitlin Clark got tested hard by a great defensive plan. If they had encountered no serious resistance in this or any other game, they would be more ripe for getting blown out in the championship. They needed a challenge to remind them that nothing is given. They may still lose, but without this test, they would likely be more flummoxed by their first taste of adversity in the final.
@@kathy0698 not to take anything away from the teams they have played, nor from Iowa themselves - just saying it's good to have your mettle tested before going into a final, rather than cruising.
Uconn had Clark in check in the first half. The problem was that Uconn did not score points. With the turnovers Uconn forced, they should have been up by at least 20 points at the half.
I'm glad Iowa and Clark played like crap this game and still won. Because I don't see them playing this bad in the national title game vs South Carolina. They will shoot way better and not turn the ball over a bunch.
I dont think iowa played that bad in the first half, they were just very tight,nervous. They got a lot of good looks and put up good shots that just barely missed. If they just made two of those missed 3 pointers when they were 1 of 8 it would have been very close in first half.
I dont know what game this guy watched, I believe he is just creating controversy to get views and comments..congratulations on this matter…CC was too much for UCON , and Paige developed first as basketball player, understandably so since she is a few months the elder and dedicated/committed to basketball earlier . However, CC has catch up and there is not going back on that matter..the only thing UCON accomplished was get CC work so hard that she was tired after the first Q against SC…considered the final 4 schedule to be to tight…If the championship game had been played a week later or so…CC would be champion by now…She is either way now, the best college player to ever step in a basketball court..
@BettyR-qd2zr ... That was a defensive master class no matter how you want to fantasize it. Nika Muhle stayed in Caitlin's face all evening and there was no holding or anything else you made up in your mind. That was the best defender Caitlin has faced all year and even Caitlin should have acknowledged that.
Ima say you didn’t watch this game and just watch replays because she was getting her shot she just was missing them and the reason they were still in it was Stuelke 23/3 and Caitlin put up some good numbers 21/9/7 I think that’s pretty good
Do they still call hand checking in women's basketball? If they let a close defender use her hands to grab and push and check than it becomes very difficult to get free.
You said two things I agree with, in not hitting her first several threes was to keep coming, and their D kept them within 6 at half. Shooters shoot … that she did so much else when she wasn’t hitting is testament to her supreme game. She makes a 1-2 of her first three pointers, the rest of your comments go away. She is leading a team of women playing in an orchestra with her, offense and defense, enjoy it! After all that, UConn up only six at half …
I'm going to support Caitlin no matter what because I've never seen anyone in the NBA or in the WNBA fight with such passion and such professionalism. Everybody has off days but I really hope that she doesn't let this get to her and that she's able to continue down the road to greatness
She exposed all of y’all and made adjustments and what nobody is talking about. They fact she is in excellent shape and third quarter she owns it she don’t get tired, her mental is off the chart!!! You can tell she trains at a higher peak she is pushed to max limitation…..
She went in at half and fugured it out. Hannah, Kate, Lindsey and that defensive sparkplug, Gabby made what Cait had to do work. Yeah that was a well played foul by Gabby. She did all season. Always gotta have those haters. Go Hawks.
Yes, big secret, hope that she goes cold for a little bit and then while she precisely gives dimes to her teammates they fail to make layups. That's not going to happen for a whole game
That no secret double and triple team anyone you will stop them, but you also leave 2 or more person open, and most of the time ppl in foul trouble as was seen in the game
And they didn't stop her but just slowed her down because she still had over 20 and a few assists. I felt like Iowa played better as a team this game compared to the game against LSU
The call at the end was legitimate. UCONN was grabbing Clark all game and no call. Plus many offensive fouls uncalled as usual. UCONN did a hell of a defensive job and they're a great team with a great coach.
That last-second illegal screen was . . . an illegal screen. Edwards is twice Marshall's size. She could have set a clean screen, but she basically blew Marshall off her feet. Marshall was trailing over the top of the screen and she was in prett close pursuit.
This isn’t a secret Caitlyn, doesn’t do well with defenders her size. So goes from unstoppable to very good. People forget she is 6’. A 6’ point guard in women’s college basketball is lethal. UConn had the size, but with a depleted team of only 6 in rotation, they didn’t have the stamina at the end. I’ll say Iowas is lucky UConn ran out of gas at the end. 4th quarter nothing was dropping, fatigue factor. This team played full minutes the entire tournament.
@@nijoelgreene851 I think if it was less blatant, it would not have been called. Many people throw their hip out on a screen and it doesn't get called. This was a full body check
I only watched women's college basketball because i discovered Paige while still in Hopkins uniform. The problem with Uconn was that they failed to protect their early lead.
From what I saw of Caitlin I think she has been battling a cold, she doesn’t quite look herself. She had some good looks on her first half shots but they just didn’t fall. Yes, I credit UCONN defense, but if CC would have really been on, she would have put up another 12 to 15.
