ACC 2024-25 Season

[CalWBBfan]

The ACC finished the day going 2 - 3 so over the last 5 days overall the conference was a respectable 20 -7 (74% win rate).

WF gave a good fight but bowed in the end to a decent Fairfield team with a good new coach(Carly Thibault-DuDonis).

BC was a disappointment losing to a re-built Oregon State team. Coaching matters.

A predictable outcome for an NC state squad that is both offensively and defensively challenged in the post area. If they continue to shoot 40% of their shots as 3-pointers they better hit more of them with that kind of offensive imbalance. Trouble ahead for the Pack.

Cal lost to Vandy their previous game due to their big fouling out with 5 minutes left. This time it was Arizona's turn as their best player Jada Williams was sitting early in the 3rd quarter with 4 fouls. Cal took care of it from there although it was very competitive till late in the game.

Duke surprised by getting in to an offensive scoring fest with Oklahoma which is their strength and I would have thought favored the Sooners. But apparently Oklahoma plays no defense to speak of and Duke's duo of Richardson and Jackson made them pay. Duke left the door open a crack and what should have been a win in regulation went to OT. Duke finished on a tear in OT.

A few thoughts. Duke had no answer for Beers on the inside or even really for Verhulst. They were a combined
17/26(65%). If not for one of Oklahoma's starters going 0-for-7 there may have been a different outcome. I also don't expect Duke to have many games where they shoot a blistering 55% from 3(11/20). I have not seen the overall stellar defense that Duke has become known for under Lawson much in evidence this year.

Having said that I think at this point Duke is further along than we thought they would be. They beat the #9 and #8 teams in successive games on a neutral court. Can the pollsters please stop screwing them over and put them ahead of both KSU and Oklahoma where they belong?!!!

Cal lost to MSU, not Vandy. They defeated Arizona the following day 74-62.

 

[Rooster C.]

Cal lost to MSU, not Vandy. They defeated Arizona the following day 74-62.

Yeah, my bad. And I even watched the games so I must have been thinking about Turkey.

 

[Rooster C.]

So the ACC finished the day 2 - 1 bringing their total over the past 6 days to 22 - 8 overall. Not bad.

Virginia over Green Bay in a very competitive game. Virginia's bigs didn't have the dominant game I expected them to have (a combined 14 points). Not sure what to make of that since they were 7/15 and not in any foul trouble either.

Pitt played much better against Kansas than expected. Either Pitt is better than I thought or Kansas is worse than I thought.

FSU hasn't changed much. Up and down from game to game. They only outscored Texas Tech in one quarter - the first. I've seen too many games where the team that gets off to a fast start in the first quarter goes on to hang on the next three quarters and win. FSU ultimately won it as they do most of their games at the free throw line. They are entirely too dependent on Latson and a lesser degree on Timpson and Gordon. Timpson had a bad game but Gordon picked up the slack. Outside of those three they are offensively challenged. And since they don't play much defense they need all three to perform well nearly every game in order to win.

 

[Rooster C.]

Fridays slate:

Charlotte(3 - 3) vs Miami(5 - 0) Miami win
Auburn(4 - 2) vs Pitt(5 - 2) Edge to Auburn
NC Central(0 - 8) at #16 NC(6 -1) Good practice I guess?
VT(5 - 1) vs Davidson(3 -3) VT should win
#3 ND(5 -0) vs #17 TCU(6 - 0) Big advantage inside for TCU but ND is just too good overall. ND wins big.
UC San Diego(1 - 6) at Stanford(6 - 1) Good practice?
Wash.St.(3 -3) vs Virginia(6 -1) Virginia win but close
FSU(6 - 1) vs Missouri St.(4 - 1) FSU should win but ??
UT Arlington(2 - 4) at SMU(4 - 3) SMU

The ACC should have another good day losing only one or two games at most. I will be keeping an eye on the big game between ND/TCU

 

[FanInNC]

Really interested to see TCU and ND. Mostly because I want to see how far away TCU is. I think ND is as good as anyone in the country and their main downfall is depth at the moment with injuries. I was impressed with TCU against State earlier this year but it was also at home and they were able to exploit States major weakness. Notre Dame, despite injuries, doesn’t have the same ineptitude in the post as the Pack. And as much as I like States guards, no one is a pest on defense the way Hidalgo is - very interested to see how the pick and roll works with her disrupting things on the ball. Can Hailey Van Lith handle that level of physicality?

 

[CAbballfan2]

Really interested to see TCU and ND. Mostly because I want to see how far away TCU is. I think ND is as good as anyone in the country and their main downfall is depth at the moment with injuries. I was impressed with TCU against State earlier this year but it was also at home and they were able to exploit States major weakness. Notre Dame, despite injuries, doesn’t have the same ineptitude in the post as the Pack. And as much as I like States guards, no one is a pest on defense the way Hidalgo is - very interested to see how the pick and roll works with her disrupting things on the ball. Can Hailey Van Lith handle that level of physicality?

I believe I read somewhere that Scherr may be out for today’s game. Haven’t watched much of TCU this year, but I think that is a significant part missing for them in this game vs ND.

 

[cancontent]

Really interested to see TCU and ND. Mostly because I want to see how far away TCU is. I think ND is as good as anyone in the country and their main downfall is depth at the moment with injuries. I was impressed with TCU against State earlier this year but it was also at home and they were able to exploit States major weakness. Notre Dame, despite injuries, doesn’t have the same ineptitude in the post as the Pack. And as much as I like States guards, no one is a pest on defense the way Hidalgo is - very interested to see how the pick and roll works with her disrupting things on the ball. Can Hailey Van Lith handle that level of physicality?

This will be big test for Koval as she hasn't faced anyone like Prince to date. That could be an interesting match up.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I believe I read somewhere that Scherr may be out for today’s game. Haven’t watched much of TCU this year, but I think that is a significant part missing for them in this game vs ND.

I don't think she's played yet this year. They have plenty of depth at guard.

 

[CAbballfan2]

I don't think she's played yet this year. They have plenty of depth at guard.

Gotcha. The post I saw made it seem like this was something new.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Really interested to see TCU and ND. Mostly because I want to see how far away TCU is. I think ND is as good as anyone in the country and their main downfall is depth at the moment with injuries. I was impressed with TCU against State earlier this year but it was also at home and they were able to exploit States major weakness. Notre Dame, despite injuries, doesn’t have the same ineptitude in the post as the Pack. And as much as I like States guards, no one is a pest on defense the way Hidalgo is - very interested to see how the pick and roll works with her disrupting things on the ball. Can Hailey Van Lith handle that level of physicality?

Me too. And can I say, on behalf of anyone interested in watching this match, f&ck Flo Sports! Cannot possibly be bothered to sign up for yet another streaming service...

 

[cancontent]

Me too. And can I say, on behalf of anyone interested in watching this match, f&ck Flo Sports! Cannot possibly be bothered to sign up for yet another streaming service...

Tell us how you really feel. (psst - I'm with you though ).

 

[TheFarmFan]

Tell us how you really feel. (psst - I'm with you though ).

With this Stanford fan,

 

[triaddukefan]

Are you proud of yourself Chapel Hill?

In case their coach reads this forum.

 

[FanInNC]

Wow. FloSports so didn’t watch but checking out the box score … Prince with another dominant showing.

Prince 20 points 20 rebounds 8 blocks 4 assists 3 steals 0 turnovers.

Koval 0-9 from the field. 0 points. Fouled out.

After watching Prince against State my knee jerk reaction was she was the best big I had seen State play in the last 2 years. Then I questioned myself because maybe it’s just how bad State is down low - I know ND is beat up there a bit too but Prince is putting up video game numbers. Impressive.

 

[Rooster C.]

well then. The ACC goes 6 - 3 on the day so one more loss than I expected and by a single point. So after 7 days the conference is now 28 - 11 overall. Not even sure we should count that ridiculous NC "victory".

I still think Virginia should have won. As for ND they had a double-digit lead for most of the game. They were exposed at the post but I don't think Koval had much of a chance against Prince. Koval will be able to hold her own up to a point but that was asking too much. Had Westbeld been healthy things may have played out differently.

Still the result demonstrates the general equity among many of the top teams this year. Who ends up as one-through-four seeds at the end of the season as well as which bubble teams get in or not will be determined by the slimmest of margins imo

 

[Rooster C.]

Saturday's games:

N.Iowa(3 -3) vs Pitt(5 - 3) I think Pitt will lose again
Virginia(6 - 2) vs Wyoming(3 - 4) Who wins? Idk
#24 Louisville(4 - 2) at Colorado(6 - 1) Who wins? Idk
#3 ND(5 - 1) vs Utah(5 -2) ND needs to be on guard for this one. I wouldn't call it a "trap game" ....unless it is
Michigan(6 -1) vs VT(6 - 1) Michigan
FSU(7 -1) vs Gonzaga(4 - 4) FSU

ACC likely to go 3 - 3


As an aside I'll be interested in some battles of the unbeatens:

#10 MD vs George Mason
#12 WV vs Boise State
Richmond vs Okla.St.

Also interesting:
Middle Tenn.(6 - 1) vs Iowa St.(5 - 2)

 

[Stagnant]

I was thinking of this thread when I saw that Pittsburgh was getting smoked by Northern Iowa.

Edit: I think that is a bad loss for Virginia too. Fertig best player on the floor.

 

[FanInNC]

And here I thought the Irish were the cream of the crop. ACC perhaps wide open?

 

[Rooster C.]

The ACC goes 2 - 4 on the day. Last 8 days the conference is now 38 - 15 (71.7%) overall which is still solid.

VT performed better against Michigan than expected and Virginia performed worse than expected against Wyoming.*
Louisville took care of business but ND did not. Koval isn't ready yet but hopefully taking her lumps now will pay off down the road. ND really misses Westbeld. Citron played very well but Miles is struggling a bit and Hidalgo at times tries to do too much. Still, I expect ND will likely be in the thick of things for the ACC title as the other primary contenders (NC, Louisville, and Duke) do not have a super-dominant post player to take advantage of the situation.

* Just noticed Lattimore didn't play for Virginia for some reason. Her absence definitely made a difference in a 5-point loss.

 

[Rooster C.]

Sunday's game slate:

Columbia(6 - 2) at Duke(7 - 1) Duke should win
Yale(1 - 7) at Syracuse(3 - 4) Syracuse should get the win
Gardner-Webb(2 - 6) at WF(4 - 3) WF gets a win
Kennesaw St.(2 - 3) at Clemson(4 - 2) Expect Clemson to win
Florida A&M(0 - 7) at GT(6 - 0) GT remains undefeated
Quinnipiac(6 - 0) vs Miami(6 - 0) Toss up. Miami needs to start showing us something.

The ACC "should" go undefeated today. It all depends on the Miami game.

 

[FanInNC]

The ACC goes 2 - 4 on the day. Last 8 days the conference is now 38 - 15 (71.7%) overall which is still solid.

VT performed better against Michigan than expected and Virginia performed worse than expected against Wyoming.*
Louisville took care of business but ND did not. Koval isn't ready yet but hopefully taking her lumps now will pay off down the road. ND really misses Westbeld. Citron played very well but Miles is struggling a bit and Hidalgo at times tries to do too much. Still, I expect ND will likely be in the thick of things for the ACC title as the other primary contenders (NC, Louisville, and Duke) do not have a super-dominant post player to take advantage of the situation.

* Just noticed Lattimore didn't play for Virginia for some reason. Her absence definitely made a difference in a 5-point loss.

The only grievance I’ll file with this post is the omission of NC State as an ACC contender. I’m disappointed in the Pack for sure and they are clearly not playing up to their potential at this stage - but it’s a long season and I trust Coach Moore to figure some things out about his team. More than anything I just object to UNC being listed and State not .

If you asked me a week ago I’d have said ND and a pretty big gap and then Duke, State, Louisville, UNC etc. Today - idk, Duke looks as impressive as anyone. But things change quickly. The one team and coach I don’t trust though is UNC. But I DO have a bias.

 

[triaddukefan]

We aren't the strongest WCBB conference, but without a doubt we reign supreme in wsoc. The college cup will consist of Chapel Hill vs Duke in one semi, and Wake vs Stanford in the other. Yesterday Duke beat VPI in the last round to advance, so an all ACC final 4 was guaranteed either way.

This years cup is being held again on Tobacco Road (Cary) so Stanford will be the outsider next weekend. @TheFarmFan

 

[WBBTakeover]

And here I thought the Irish were the cream of the crop. ACC perhaps wide open?

I've gone from accepting that ND would run away with the ACC (and even somewhat embracing their conference hegemony) to believing that Duke could actually get that coveted ACC double (regular season and conference tournament titles).

Still a ton of basketball to be played, however.

 

[Rooster C.]

The only grievance I’ll file with this post is the omission of NC State as an ACC contender. I’m disappointed in the Pack for sure and they are clearly not playing up to their potential at this stage - but it’s a long season and I trust Coach Moore to figure some things out about his team. More than anything I just object to UNC being listed and State not .

If you asked me a week ago I’d have said ND and a pretty big gap and then Duke, State, Louisville, UNC etc. Today - idk, Duke looks as impressive as anyone. But things change quickly. The one team and coach I don’t trust though is UNC. But I DO have a bias.

Ordinarily I would have included them but felt that the lack of any real post presence is too big of an obstacle to overcome. They have at least 3 first rate guards in and out of the conference but the ACC is a very guard-heavy conference so it's not enough on its' own. FSU is similar but NC State has better coaching and plays very good defense. As for NC I am inclined to agree (objectively). I don't trust their over-rated coach to win games they should.

 

[sivad40]

Ordinarily I would have included them but felt that the lack of any real post presence is too big of an obstacle to overcome. They have at least 3 first rate guards in and out of the conference but the ACC is a very guard-heavy conference so it's not enough on its' own. FSU is similar but NC State has better coaching and plays very good defense. As for NC I am inclined to agree (objectively). I don't trust their over-rated coach to win games they should.

UNC's problem is more of they lose to the teams that they shouldn't have to lost to. In recent seasons, with the exception of Virginia Tech, they have had success in beating the top tier teams in the ACC. It's the middle tier and and a team or two in the lower tier of the ACC that they have struggled with. I will have a better read on them when they play at home against Kentucky on this coming Thursday.