This horse has been pretty much dead and buried, but the "dismiss hand" thing deserves a comment. What's funny about it is that the defense was already sagging off Johnson and leaving her wide open. It's been well-established among fans, teams, and commentators that leaving a player wide open on the perimeter and daring them to shoot is a very public sign of disrespect. The little wave off was just an extra psyching out move to put extra pressure on Johnson and mess with her confidence. Again, like the "too small" gesture. Mind games & challenges.
And here's the thing. The way to stop that is to hit the open shots. And, to Johnson's credit, that's exactly what she did. Same way to quiet a hostile crowd. If Johnson had done a little wave off of her own or the ol' shoulder brush off, everyone watching would have understood. And I doubt either Clark or Johnson would have taken offense.
Honestly, it seems that if any Tiger players had any bragging rights, it would have been Carson or Morris. Reese had a subpar game in terms of points and rebounds, while Clark doubled up on Reese's output. Reese's bizarre actions just feeds into the narrative that she's all about getting attention. I mean, if Iowa had guaranteed a win or dissed LSU in interviews leading up to the game, the rubbing it in aspect might be understandable.
I can still hear Pat Summit calling Shannon Bobbitt over and scolding her for a very minor taunt. "We don't do that!!" And Shannon replying hastily, "Yes, ma'am."
We miss Pat.
