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Another one bites the dust (merged)

Good win for TCU but these games that take place in places like the Caymans are not really big-time college venues. It's Thanksgiving time and you're playing in a matchbox gym with a hundred people in the stands? I can see teams being flat under those circumstances.
 
Prince looks much quicker than she did in Oregon. In one comical series, she grabbed a rebound and led the break, and she looked good doing it.
I am loving her fadeaway shot! Her footwork in the high, mid, and low post area would make Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon proud.
 
ND falls again! This time to Utah. 78 - 67 back-to back losses.
I don't know what excuse will be made for this game. Yesterday's loss was because of Prince. Utah didn't have anyone close to Prince at center, so ND fans were confident about today's game. Unfortunately, ND didn't show up for the second half. As desultory play as I've ever seen from ND.
 
I think Gottlieb has obviously shown her ability as a recruiter recently, but at least so far, early in this season, the whole has not been as good as the sum of the parts. That may change, but her coaching ability with a ton of talent is still an unanswered question IMO.
Call me judgmental and bitter, but I think her coaching ability is not unanswered - the answer is just not that favorable. She's a top 25ish X's and O's coach, and maybe top 30 player development coach, but now recruiting like a top 5 coach at U$C, and has always been a top 10 mentor. So because she now recruits so well, and has always been very well liked, she will seem to underperform much more than at Cal, where her recruiting ability was pretty limited.

Unless and until the on-court performance changes my mind, nothing of her time in U$C has changed my conclusion from her time at Cal, other than that NIL and JuJu and Kiki being from LA were really fortuitous for Gottlieb
 
At least ND has football
Speaking of which, Triad, your Blue Devils just edged the Deacons, 23-17, for Duke's ninth win. It is Wake's weakest football team in quite a while. That said, I offer you my congratulations. Good luck at whichever bowl you'll be headed.:cool:
 
Call me judgmental and bitter, but I think her coaching ability is not unanswered - the answer is just not that favorable. She's a top 25ish X's and O's coach, and maybe top 30 player development coach, but now recruiting like a top 5 coach at U$C, and has always been a top 10 mentor. So because she now recruits so well, and has always been very well liked, she will seem to underperform much more than at Cal, where her recruiting ability was pretty limited.

Unless and until the on-court performance changes my mind, nothing of her time in U$C has changed my conclusion from her time at Cal, other than that NIL and JuJu and Kiki being from LA were really fortuitous for Gottlieb
I agree.
 
I haven’t had a chance to watch the ND-Utah game, so this is a very ill-informed guess. I thought Sonia looked a little off her usual game in the 4th quarter against TCU. I guess I’m worried that she may have aggravated her injury. How did she look against Utah?
 
Call me judgmental and bitter, but I think her coaching ability is not unanswered - the answer is just not that favorable. She's a top 25ish X's and O's coach, and maybe top 30 player development coach, but now recruiting like a top 5 coach at U$C, and has always been a top 10 mentor. So because she now recruits so well, and has always been very well liked, she will seem to underperform much more than at Cal, where her recruiting ability was pretty limited.

Unless and until the on-court performance changes my mind, nothing of her time in U$C has changed my conclusion from her time at Cal, other than that NIL and JuJu and Kiki being from LA were really fortuitous for Gottlieb
Calling you judgemental and bitter; and you raise very valid points about Coach Gottlieb’s accomplishments at Cal and so far at Southern California. She did manage to land the generational talent Juju along with the transfers All American Iriafen and TVO (who I think benefited immensely from her fit with Scott Rueck’s system). Add to that the #1 recruiting class and one can understand (though you and I remain skeptical) how and why the Media anointed Gottlieb and USC as the new wbb power on the block.

So now Gottlieb has to prove she can deliver. She hasn’t started off particularly well.
 
Yes. It is not basketball related and doesn’t belong on here.
Correct.

Not to mention the fact that for some reason there's a discussion about UConn "missing" on Prince in 2019 (yes, 5 years ago) based on how she is playing today. UConn "missed" on the Prince who played at Oregon who was a far cry from the Prince playing in 2024 for TCU.
 
Any time ND loses, it's a good day. I didn't see the game but have to wonder why they unraveled in Q4. I watched the highlights, but it wasn't clear there either.
 
When I look at the top contenders, they all appear to have a few challenging games remaining on their schedule, though UCLA looks to have the easiest remaining run.
  • SC could lose to Texas once or even twice as well as to TCU and Oklahoma. I'm leaving UConn off the list on purpose. Or they could run the table.
  • Texas could lose to SC, ND, LSU and Oklahoma.
  • Oklahoma could lose to Texas, SC, LSU and Tennessee.
  • ND could lose to Texas, Stanford, Duke and maybe even NC State.
  • USC has challenging games coming up with tOSU, UCLA and MD
  • LSU faces challenges from Texas, SC, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
  • And of course, UConn faces challenging games from ND, USC and SC.
  • UCLA, however, has no significant challenges remaining on its schedule other than two games with USC, and one each against tOSU and MD. I think there's a good chance they will go undefeated in the regular season.
Of course, upsets are always possible here. A team like Ole Miss or Tennessee, for example, could very well upset a number of these teams. But right now the schedules of all the top teams really favor UCLA remaining the #1 ranked team throughout the season and entering the tournament as the top overall seed. And going undefeated in the regular season is no guarantee of winning an NC.
 
I haven’t had a chance to watch the ND-Utah game, so this is a very ill-informed guess. I thought Sonia looked a little off her usual game in the 4th quarter against TCU. I guess I’m worried that she may have aggravated her injury. How did she look against Utah?
You've likely already seen this, Bone Dog, but Sonia was the Irish's best player in defeat today: 22 points on 9 of 14 shooting, five rebounds, four steals and no TOs. She didn't have her best game vs. TCU, but it surely seems she's pretty close to 100 percent... her team, on the other hand, appears to be operating at a somewhat lower rate of efficiency.
 
I haven’t had a chance to watch the ND-Utah game, so this is a very ill-informed guess. I thought Sonia looked a little off her usual game in the 4th quarter against TCU. I guess I’m worried that she may have aggravated her injury. How did she look against Utah?
Actually she looked the only player on that team who remembered they had a game vs Utah. Good on offense, maybe a step slower than you’d expect on defense, but the whole team looked slow. They all looked tired and checked out. I remember she was still fighting for loose balls at the end when it was clear they were going to lose, which was pointless, but more than anyone else was doing.

Miles and Hidalgo did not look good at all especially in the second half. Miles seemed to give up. Koval was truly struggling, ending up with one of the worst statlines you will ever see. 0 points and 7 turnovers. She was benched even though they don’t even have any other post players, that’s how much she struggled. They got called for more offensive fouls than I’ve ever seen in one game. Rather weird officiating.

They would obviously get blown out by UConn playing like this. But somehow in true ND fashion I’m sure they will bring their A-game for that one. :rolleyes:

I feel like I should add their lack of depth was obviously a factor. I’m sure the entire team didn’t just decide to phone in these two games. They desperately need their injured post players to return.

Box score
 
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When I look at the top contenders, they all appear to have a few challenging games remaining on their schedule, though UCLA looks to have the easiest remaining run.
  • SC could lose to Texas once or even twice as well as to TCU and Oklahoma. I'm leaving UConn off the list on purpose. Or they could run the table.
  • Texas could lose to SC, ND, LSU and Oklahoma.
  • Oklahoma could lose to Texas, SC, LSU and Tennessee.
  • ND could lose to Texas, Stanford, Duke and maybe even NC State.
  • USC has challenging games coming up with tOSU, UCLA and MD
  • LSU faces challenges from Texas, SC, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
  • And of course, UConn faces challenging games from ND, USC and SC.
  • UCLA, however, has no significant challenges remaining on its schedule other than two games with USC, and one each against tOSU and MD. I think there's a good chance they will go undefeated in the regular season.
Of course, upsets are always possible here. A team like Ole Miss or Tennessee, for example, could very well upset a number of these teams. But right now the schedules of all the top teams really favor UCLA remaining the #1 ranked team throughout the season and entering the tournament as the top overall seed. And going undefeated in the regular season is no guarantee of winning an NC.
This. It's easy to be gleeful about ND losing two in a row but every one of these programs can and will likely have bad games this season. Parity is a heck of a thing. How these teams react and move forward will be the key. Last season UConn had uninspired play during their Thanksgiving tournament and ended up in the Final Four. Which of these teams learn from their mistakes this season to do the same is what I'm focused on.
 
When I look at the top contenders, they all appear to have a few challenging games remaining on their schedule, though UCLA looks to have the easiest remaining run.
  • SC could lose to Texas once or even twice as well as to TCU and Oklahoma. I'm leaving UConn off the list on purpose. Or they could run the table.
  • Texas could lose to SC, ND, LSU and Oklahoma.
  • Oklahoma could lose to Texas, SC, LSU and Tennessee.
  • ND could lose to Texas, Stanford, Duke and maybe even NC State.
  • USC has challenging games coming up with tOSU, UCLA and MD
  • LSU faces challenges from Texas, SC, Tennessee and Oklahoma.
  • And of course, UConn faces challenging games from ND, USC and SC.
  • UCLA, however, has no significant challenges remaining on its schedule other than two games with USC, and one each against tOSU and MD. I think there's a good chance they will go undefeated in the regular season.
Of course, upsets are always possible here. A team like Ole Miss or Tennessee, for example, could very well upset a number of these teams. But right now the schedules of all the top teams really favor UCLA remaining the #1 ranked team throughout the season and entering the tournament as the top overall seed. And going undefeated in the regular season is no guarantee of winning an NC.
If UConn defeats ND, USC, along with Louisville and ISU it wouldn’t surprise if the writers vote the Huskies #1 before conference play starts in earnest.
 
ND is a contender. Let's get that out of the way. They just got clipped by the perfect storm. Holiday tournament. Neutral venue with a small crowd. Turkey hangover. Key injuries. Starters playing heavy minutes....which I think is significant, physically and mentally. They're still plenty dangerous and just need an energy reset and one or two of the injured to return. Van Lith was blowing by ND guards....that's how I know they're tired.
 
When I ws in college, one of the teams in the IM league had a very effective strategy. They'd leave a cold case of beer by the opposing team's bench a half hour before game time.
That was consumed by benchwarmers. I know a thing or two about warming benches...during pregame drills even. Should write a book.:(
 
Call me judgmental and bitter, but I think her coaching ability is not unanswered - the answer is just not that favorable.
Humorous will be watching U$C go 33-5 the next three seasons, and we will still be claiming Coach Gottlieb could have done better.
 

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