SC Gamecocks off-season, Part 2

[GamecockFam]

I'd love to hear from those who were at them game. Looking at the stats, it seems like Cardoso, Fulwiley, Hall, Kitts, R. Johnson, Watkins and Feagin had good performances.

It looks like we had a bunch of fast break points too, so I wonder if that will be a bigger focus this season.

On the negative side, I see we gave up 18 offensive boards. That's a little concerning but I bet some of it has to do with experimental lineups. Kitts looks to be our best rebounder.

 

[ConwayGmck]

Gamecocks win 100-55. Gamecocks shoot 43-85 (50.6%) from the field, 10-27 (37.0%) from the 3, and 4-14 (28.6!!!) from the FT line. We need to work on our FT shooting, lol - they WERE 1-5 at one point, then shot 3-9 the rest of way, so there was improvement, hahah.

Cardoso finished with 17 pts on 8-11 shooting in 19 minutes, with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. She played very little in the 2nd half. Fulwiley had 16 pts on 6-13 shooting - 4-9 from behind the arc - in 25 minutes, with 6 boards, 5 assists, and 3 steals.

Chloe Kitts added a double-double in 18 minutes, with 10 pts on 5-9 shooting, with 10 boards and 3 blocks. Bree Hall added 10 pts on 4-8 shooting and 2-4 behind the arc in 21 minutes, and 3 rebounds.

Other notable contributors: Raven Johnson led the team with 9 assists to go with 7 pts, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals in 20 minutes. Tessa Johnson added 9 pts with 4 steals and 3 assists, Starter Sania Feagin played little throughout the game and attempted fewer shots, but towards the end of the game her teammates got her the ball and she ended with 8 pts on 4-4 shooting, with 3 assists. Ashlyn Watkins had 6 pts on 3-6 shooting with 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. Te-Hina Paopao added 6 pts and 4 boards, and Sakima Walker also scored 6 pts. Sahnya Jah scored 5 pts to go with 4 rebounds.

Rutgers was overwhelmed all game long, although they made a more competitive game of it in the 2nd half. They shot 23-74 (31.1%) overall and 3-26 (11.5%) from the 3-pt. line. They had 8 total assists to 25 turnovers, compared to the Gamecocks finishing with 32 assists to 14 turnovers......

 

[visitingcock]

Just watching the live stat line, Chloe appeared to be the dominant Big on the floor while she was in the game. Of course, Kamilla and Ashlynn weren’t on the floor so . . ..

I’m guessing that Ashlynn is Kamilla’ first backup and Sania’s. Gonna be serious contested minutes for Chloe though.

Milaysia pressing too hard for the steal? Maybe. But you can’t say she’s only offensive - minded.

Foul shooting was pathetic. Get ‘em coach

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Just watching the live stat line, Chloe appeared to be the dominant Big on the floor while she was in the game. Of course, Kamilla and Ashlynn weren’t on the floor so . . ..

I’m guessing that Ashlynn is Kamilla’ first backup and Sania’s. Gonna be serious contested minutes for Chloe though.

Milaysia pressing too hard for the steal? Maybe. But you can’t say she’s only offensive - minded.

Foul shooting was pathetic. Get ‘em coach

Kitts is perhaps the fourth big currently and played 4 and 5. I actually her more at five than the perimeter. She puts her nose in it down there, but struggled badly when double teamed. Guessing the bulk of her stats were in second half with reserves.

Raven and Cardoso looked the best, Fulwiley was the excitement and breakout and looked great. Not too many if any crazy decisions. She is definitely not 5'7.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I'd love to hear from those who were at them game. Looking at the stats, it seems like Cardoso, Fulwiley, Hall, Kitts, R. Johnson, Watkins and Feagin had good performances.

It looks like we had a bunch of fast break points too, so I wonder if that will be a bigger focus this season.

On the negative side, I see we gave up 18 offensive boards. That's a little concerning but I bet some of it has to do with experimental lineups. Kitts looks to be our best rebounder.

You have to understand that we played reserves for the bulk of the second half.

4 of the offensive boards were on same possession late.

With that said we'll probably shed some of our rebounding margin this year. But this is still pretty big team.

 

[GamecockFam]

You have to understand that we played reserves for the bulk of the second half.

4 of the offensive boards were on same possession late.

With that said we'll probably shed some of our rebounding margin this year. But this is still pretty big team.

That's why I stated "but I bet some of it has to do with experimental lineups"

 

[SCspur]

Just got home from the game.

Cardoso will be an First Team All American, Raven will make everyone a fool for not voting her preseason All-SEC, Fulwiley is already in contention for NFOY and Sania Feagin will be one of the most improved players in the country.

Team needs to work on FTs badly! Even Tessa left two at the line. Speaking of Tessa, beautiful shot and game. Once she gains confidence watch out. Chloe shocked me, definitely didn’t get bullied even at the 5, but against better teams highly doubt she plays there. Sakima is solid and moves very well for her size. You can tell she’s still trying to get comfortable. Jah is a WORKER! Felt like she had way more rebounds than credited and she kept a lot of plays alive. Te-Hina has a very smooth shot and game, once her shots start falling consistently it’ll be a wrap. I really like her minutes as backup PG. Lastly Ashlyn Watkins ladies and gentlemen will be the tremendous for SC this year! Her take no prisoners attitude will light a fire within this team and they won’t back down from anyone! She will be this teams Mad KiKi! All in all I’m super glad SC Basketball is back and excited to see this season unfold.

 

[TC22]

This team has the pieces to play a lot of different ways. Fulwiley, Hall, Tessa and PaoPao all shoot 3s and you have to guard them. Cardoso looks like a different player from when she got here. She’s got AA potential for sure. Raven is just a beast. This is her team.

 

[JDuro]

 

[cjdd]

Just got home from the game.

Cardoso will be an First Team All American, Raven will make everyone a fool for not voting her preseason All-SEC, Fulwiley is already in contention for NFOY and Sania Feagin will be one of the most improved players in the country.

Team needs to work on FTs badly! Even Tessa left two at the line. Speaking of Tessa, beautiful shot and game. Once she gains confidence watch out. Chloe shocked me, definitely didn’t get bullied even at the 5, but against better teams highly doubt she plays there. Sakima is solid and moves very well for her size. You can tell she’s still trying to get comfortable. Jah is a WORKER! Felt like she had way more rebounds than credited and she kept a lot of plays alive. Te-Hina has a very smooth shot and game, once her shots start falling consistently it’ll be a wrap. I really like her minutes as backup PG. Lastly Ashlyn Watkins ladies and gentlemen will be the tremendous for SC this year! Her take no prisoners attitude will light a fire within this team and they won’t back down from anyone! She will be this teams Mad KiKi! All in all I’m super glad SC Basketball is back and excited to see this season unfold.

My main takeaway: It's going to be fascinating to see if Dawn stretches her usual rotation of seven or eight players to nine or 10 players. There is so little drop-off from the starters (and really Watkins is like a sixth starter) to the backups. Other thoughts: Cardoso's passing has taken a big step forward. Kitts needs to get a better feel for when to pass quickly out of the double team instead of trying to bull her way through it, but my gosh her motor is amazing. Fulwiley's handle and passes are spectacular in the open court, but she needs to clean up the turnovers in the halfcourt offense (losing playing time will be the great teacher, just like with Raven at times last season). When the guards (rarely) got beat on the perimeter, the scramble help defense still never allowed easy shots. This team might not be as good as last year's team (or maybe it will be), but it definitely will have a more interesting growth curve.

 

[GoChips20]

I think this team has a lower floor and a higher ceiling than last year’s. I know that might sound crazy but this team is faster, more athletic, and has better overall scoring ability. Zia, Brea, and V meant the world to our program, but they all had either scoring or efficiency issues. I don’t see that being an issue for this year’s squad.

We’re probably not ready to compete with UConn or LSU out of the gate but I think we’ll get there.

 

[cancontent]

I think this team has a lower floor and a higher ceiling than last year’s. I know that might sound crazy but this team is faster, more athletic, and has better overall scoring ability. Zia, Brea, and V meant the world to our program, but they all had either scoring or efficiency issues. I don’t see that being an issue for this year’s squad.

We’re probably not ready to compete with UConn or LSU out of the gate but I think we’ll get there.

Not crazy at all. Totally see where you're coming from. Makes a lot of sense based on this roster.

 

[Fowlball]

 

[GamecockFam]

Some of my expectations were way off on the positions where players may be playing. Feagin looks like she'll be playing the 3/4, and based on Dawns comments, she'll be playing a lot at the 3 because I get the impression she has more of a guard mentality that Dawn can't seem to shake and that she is resistant to posting up.

Jah and Kitts look like they'll get tons of time at the 4 and Tessa looks to be mainly playing the 3.

Based on that video, I think this will be our main lineup

1 R. Johnson, Paopao, Fulwiley
2 Paopao, Fulwiley, Hall
3 Hall, T. Johnson, Feagin
4 Feagin, Watkins, Kitts, Jah
5 Cardoso, Watkins, Walker

 

[visitingcock]

Any recruits there?

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I think this team has a lower floor and a higher ceiling than last year’s. I know that might sound crazy but this team is faster, more athletic, and has better overall scoring ability. Zia, Brea, and V meant the world to our program, but they all had either scoring or efficiency issues. I don’t see that being an issue for this year’s squad.

We’re probably not ready to compete with UConn or LSU out of the gate but I think we’ll get there.

Don’t think Zia actually had efficiency issues last year.

i Think it’s very hard to win forfeiting offense at two positions. If Beal had improved her shot to something dependable at all times then it would have been enough To win last year though.

with that said, being completely dominant on the boards is the best super power you can have, so seeing that regress would open up some losses we didnt have to worry about before

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I think Tessa needs some time, but pretty much has to play because of the low guard numbers.

Feagin has always been more of what people want Kitts to be. with the handle and the nice jumper. She’s not as aggressive though for better and worse.

Dawn pulled her quick in both halves for Watkins who is more our style. and Kitts will mix it up inside. So pt there will be interesting.

 

[JDuro]

Any recruits there?

Not that I could see in the RESERVED sections around the GC bench. Did see who we thought for sure was Kylee Kitts. She wasn’t w/ family, sat w/ 2 AA gentleman. Was pretty expression less throughout the game and didn’t go down to the court to be with Chloe at the end of the game, staying in her seat. Seemed pretty dour in her demeanor.

 

[JellyBean]

I know it is only an exhibition game but to the folks that are underestimating South Carolina and Coach Dawn this season, they will be in for a rude awakening. That Rutgers/South Carolina exhibition was revealing. If they stay healthy and focused, I can see South Carolina playing for another title, this season.

 

[GamecockFam]

I know it is only an exhibition game but to the folks that are underestimating South Carolina and Coach Dawn this season, they will be in for a rude awakening. That Rutgers/South Carolina exhibition was a revealing. If they stay healthy and focused, I can see South Carolina playing for another title, this season.

We have the players, just lack the experience. Of course, hopefully they'll have the experience by the tournament! The preseason version of me feels like this is UConn's year to win it all but I think South Carolina will be a dark horse candidate.

I'm kind of thinking we have a poor man's version of the NY Liberty this season. Teams are going to have to pick their poison when defending us because we have the capability of raining threes on you but then that means Cardoso will have 1-on-1 matchups with someone who is much shorter than her, so teams will want the guards to sag off their man to help defend the paint leaving the likes of Paopao, R. Johnson, Hall, T. Johnson, and Fulwiley to rain threes. Also, like JJ, Cardoso looks like an improved passer out of the post. During the exhibition she had a few pretty passes to Watkins who was crashing the boards when she was double/triple teamed under the basket.

We have the chess pieces to counter pretty much every type of defense this season. Last year we had to stick to the script of feeding Boston/Cardoso and while I think Dawn will always have an inside-out mentality, I think we have the capability to switch things up to counter how teams are defending us.

I'm trying to think of teams that could lock down Cardoso and they are far and few between. I could see teams with a plethora of bigs bodies (Tennessee , UConn, etc.) being the most effective against her or teams with an All-American big on their team (Utah, UCLA, etc.).

We shot 37% from 3 during the exhibition (10-27) with Paopao having an off night. I hope we stick around that number for the season. That would make us a top 10-15 team in the 3-point % category -- we shot 31% from 3 last season, for comparison.

 

[JellyBean]

We have the players, just lack the experience. Of course, hopefully they'll have the experience by the tournament! The preseason version of me feels like this is UConn's year to win it all but I think South Carolina will be a dark horse candidate.

I'm kind of thinking we have a poor man's version of the NY Liberty this season. Teams are going to have to pick their poison when defending us because we have the capability of raining threes on you but then that means Cardoso will have 1-on-1 matchups with someone who is much shorter than her, so teams will want the guards to sag off their man to help defend the paint leaving the likes of Paopao, R. Johnson, Hall, T. Johnson, and Fulwiley to rain threes. Also, like JJ, Cardoso looks like an improved passer out of the post. During the exhibition she had a few pretty passes to Watkins who was crashing the boards when she was double/triple teamed under the basket.

We have the chess pieces to counter pretty much every type of defense this season. Last year we had to stick to the script of feeding Boston/Cardoso and while I think Dawn will always have an inside-out mentality, I think we have the capability to switch things up to counter how teams are defending us.

I'm trying to think of teams that could lock down Cardoso and they are far and few between. I could see teams with a plethora of bigs bodies (Tennessee , UConn, etc.) being the most effective against her or teams with an All-American big on their team (Utah, UCLA, etc.).

We shot 37% from 3 during the exhibition (10-27) with Paopao having an off night. I hope we stick around that number for the season. That would make us a top 10-15 team in the 3-point % category -- we shot 31% from 3 last season, for comparison.

The knock against South Carolina has been their shooting, especially that outside shooting. If you guys can stay in that mid 40% range on 3 point shots this year, oh y'all are going to be a handful! Watching Cardoso over the summer during whatever version of the summer games, she was pretty impressive. Watching her yesterday, VERY impressive! Did she grow an inch or two? She is going to be a nightmare on pick & roll action or zoom action. Same with the guard play. If they get into any type of downhill action, it is going to fun to watch. The way the guards attacked the gaps yesterday, pretty impressive. That SEC is going to be fun to watch.

 

[JDuro]

The knock against South Carolina has been their shooting, especially that outside shooting. If you guys can stay in that mid 40% range on 3 point shots this year, oh y'all are going to be a handful!

Mid 40’s would place them among the all time record books for season long team 3 point shooting. High 30’s from three for the season is more than where they realistically and effectively need to be. For example, Iowa shot 38% last season. Indiana shot 37% and UConn shot 35.7%. Gonzaga led the nation at 40.5%.

 

[visitingcock]

Mid 40’s would place them among the all time record books for season long team 3 point shooting. High 30’s from three for the season is more than where they realistically and effectively need to be. For example, Iowa shot 38% last season. Indiana shot 37% and UConn shot 35.7%. Gonzaga led the nation at 40.5%.

Yeah, but that free throw percentage .

 

[JellyBean]

Yeah, but that free throw percentage .

 

[Darwin]

I'd love to hear from those who were at them game. Looking at the stats, it seems like Cardoso, Fulwiley, Hall, Kitts, R. Johnson, Watkins and Feagin had good performances.

It looks like we had a bunch of fast break points too, so I wonder if that will be a bigger focus this season.

On the negative side, I see we gave up 18 offensive boards. That's a little concerning but I bet some of it has to do with experimental lineups. Kitts looks to be our best rebounder.

Fulwiley and Kitts need to be on the floor a bunch even at the expense of PaoPao and Feagin. PaoPao is SC’s worst defender by a mile, she better hope her offense is on this year and Feagin is still not a willing rebounder/defender/banger in the paint in spite of her stellar offensive skills. She may have to move to the 3. Nobody works the boards harder on this team than Cardoso and Kitts, and both of them defend well and have offense also.

Fulwiley is already a way better defender, faster, quicker, better offensive player than PaoPao. Fulwiley is electric, give her some more experience at this level and watch out, PaoPao not in the same zip code, she is flat footed, fairly slow and plays defense like she is in low level HS.

Hall and Watkins look excellent so far. Raven is back to her 100% form, she is going to be huge this year imo, 9 assists in 20 minutes….