Anyone see South Carolina at Kentucky?

[Blakeon18]

Got any thoughts about the game. SC 59-50 winner. I know that SC is down a couple of their talented [back-up?] bigs.
A bit surprised that it was reasonably close. Did Kentucky have a realistic shot with 4 minutes to go?
SC guards...trouble shooting this game? I assume Boston was her usual self? I confess that I'm searching for weaknesses here in anticipation of The Dance and a possible upset of
the #1 ranked team. Having said that....beat LadyVol a week from Sunday....pretty please!

 

[visitingcock]

Got any thoughts about the game. SC 59-50 winner. I know that SC is down a couple of their talented [back-up?] bigs.
A bit surprised that it was reasonably close. Did Kentucky have a realistic shot with 4 minutes to go?
SC guards...trouble shooting this game? I assume Boston was her usual self? I confess that I'm searching for weaknesses here in anticipation of The Dance and a possible upset of
the #1 ranked team. Having said that....beat LadyVol a week from Sunday....pretty please!

Meh performance.
Road game. Lead by as many as 18. 11 players (not Amihere or Cardosa who were out eith their national teams) got PT time. 4th quarter closure against all subs. No. Not a realistic shot in last 4 minutes.

Georgia on Sunday - still without our top two subs.

Last sentence agreed.

 

[GamecockFam]

We tried to get all the subs some good minutes for the majority of the fourth. Rhyne Howard went to a tear and closed the gap, so we put back in the starters for the last 2-3 minutes. It would have probably been a 20+ point victory if we had kept the starters in the game.

 

[eebmg]

I saw a big 1st Q lead (22-8) I think and went over to much more competitive games. Mich - Mich St and NC State - BC

 

[bballnut90]

Got any thoughts about the game. SC 59-50 winner. I know that SC is down a couple of their talented [back-up?] bigs.
A bit surprised that it was reasonably close. Did Kentucky have a realistic shot with 4 minutes to go?
SC guards...trouble shooting this game? I assume Boston was her usual self? I confess that I'm searching for weaknesses here in anticipation of The Dance and a possible upset of
the #1 ranked team. Having said that....beat LadyVol a week from Sunday....pretty please!

I watched the first half and it wasn't very competitive, though SC looked sluggish. Looking at the boxscore, South Carolina led by 15+ most of the 2nd half. With about 5 minutes left Kentucky went on a scoring run and got the margin down to 8. Not to mention SC shot only 10-25 from the line. Wasn't a competitive game despite the final margin being just 9.

And good luck finding a weakness in Boston. The only thing I've noticed is that she has a tendency to take more perimeter shots when playing against better defensive bigs. If you can bait her into perimeter shots it keeps her out of the paint but she can knock them down so pick your poison.

 

[JellyBean]

Pretty much the same as @eebmg I was flipping channels between the South Carolina/Kentucky game and Michigan/Michigan State. Like @GamecockFam said, South Carolina had the game in hand. I agree, they would have won by 20 plus if Coach Staley would have kept the starters in but she gave the bench players some minutes, while Kentucky pretty much had their A team out there against the South Carolina's bench and that got the game close. I am hoping that when they play Tennessee, South Carolina has that laser like focus and Coach Staley plays her starters as long as it is needed, the players stay safe, and they get the win.

 

[Plebe]

Got any thoughts about the game. SC 59-50 winner. I know that SC is down a couple of their talented [back-up?] bigs.
A bit surprised that it was reasonably close. Did Kentucky have a realistic shot with 4 minutes to go?
SC guards...trouble shooting this game? I assume Boston was her usual self? I confess that I'm searching for weaknesses here in anticipation of The Dance and a possible upset of
the #1 ranked team. Having said that....beat LadyVol a week from Sunday....pretty please!

SC was always in control of this game. Jumped out to a huge lead early, then KY did just enough to keep the score somewhat respectable as SC at times did struggle to score.

No need to continue searching for weaknesses: SC has already demonstrated that it's not unbeatable (just ask Missouri, of all teams!). But I do think it will require an off night from them.

 

[visitingcock]

SC was always in control of this game. Jumped out to a huge lead early, then KY did just enough to keep the score somewhat respectable as SC at times did struggle to score.

No need to continue searching for weaknesses: SC has already demonstrated that it's not unbeatable (just ask Missouri, of all teams!). But I do think it will require an off night from them.

"Missouri of all teams" doesn't fit. There's a bit of a bitter rivalry between the two schools.

 

[UConnCat]

No need to continue searching for weaknesses: SC has already demonstrated that it's not unbeatable (just ask Missouri, of all teams!). But I do think it will require an off night from them.

We know what the weakness is: perimeter shooting. Cooke is second to Boston in FGAs and she is shooting 35/28. SC's defense and rebounding are outstanding and will keep them in every game and may well bring them a championship. They are not the offensive juggernaut I expected to see this year.

 

[SCGamecock]

"Missouri of all teams" doesn't fit. There's a bit of a bitter rivalry between the two schools.

Missouri consistently plays over their head in that matchup.. and SC is consistently in their head during that matchup. That series is more competitive than it should be because of that.

 

[GoChips20]

We know what the weakness is: perimeter shooting. Cooke is second to Boston in FGAs and she is shooting 35/28. SC's defense and rebounding are outstanding and will keep them in every game and may well bring them a championship. They are not the offensive juggernaut I expected to see this year.

I agree completely. Elite in those two areas but this offense should look more like Stanford’s or NC State’s given the talent and personnel on the roster.

I can’t necessarily explain it - the offense actually looks worse to me this year even though the team as a whole makes a more concerted effort to play through the post (whereas last year they tended to play through Cooke more often than not). Cooke’s shooting percentages have never been what you’d like from your 2-guard but they’re particularly bad this year so perhaps that’s made the offense look worse despite fewer looks for her.

The thing I will say for South Carolina (and this is pretty much a paraphrase of your observation) is that while the offense often ends the evening in the 50s or 60s, the Gamecocks very seldom allow their opponents to get past the 30s or 40s when that happens. It feels like SC can keep their opponents 15-20 points away most nights regardless of whether the Gamecocks are scoring 55 or 75.

 

[GoChips20]

Missouri consistently plays over their head in that matchup.. and SC is consistently in their head during that matchup. That series is more competitive than it should be because of that.

Yup. Missouri is a super interesting team to me. One of the top FG% teams in the nation, play tough, rebound reasonably well, don’t seem to play beyond themselves — on paper that reads like a top 15-20 team, but they’re a shade or two outside that still. I think their coach does a great job given they don’t have the talent of the perennial powerhouses, but I guess I’m wondering why they don’t have a better record and/or aren’t ranked given those fundamentals. Has anyone seen Missouri play a bit who can weigh in? I’ve only seen them in spurts.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

If you want to know what really happened, Dawn took Brea Beal out during the 4th quarter and Rhyne Howard took advantage.
Howard's points in the first 3 quarters -6
Howard's points in the 4th while Beal sat-15

It wasn't our best offensive day but it really wasn't much of a game until that 4th quarter run with our bench on the floor.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Yup. Missouri is a super interesting team to me. One of the top FG% teams in the nation, play tough, rebound reasonably well, don’t seem to play beyond themselves — on paper that reads like a top 15-20 team, but they’re a shade or two outside that still. I think their coach does a great job given they don’t have the talent of the perennial powerhouses, but I guess I’m wondering why they don’t have a better record and/or aren’t ranked given those fundamentals. Has anyone seen Missouri play a bit who can weigh in? I’ve only seen them in spurts.

I feel they have gotten worse down the stretch than they were towards the beginning of conference play. Not sure why exactly but they are struggling to take care of the ball and key players aren't stepping up when it matters. Their defense over the years has been suspect to me although they can be capable offensively. They have some good players (Frank, Blackwell, Hansen).

They played Baylor, SC and LSU good, although LSU shouldn't be a great metric since they are trash defending the 3 ball and allowed Missouri to hit 15 wide open 3's in Baton Rouge.

 

[Plebe]

If you want to know what really happened, Dawn took Brea Beal out during the 4th quarter and Rhyne Howard took advantage.
Howard's points in the first 3 quarters -6
Howard's points in the 4th while Beal sat-15

It wasn't our best offensive day but it really wasn't much of a game until that 4th quarter run with our bench on the floor.

LOL I can't even count the number of times I've seen Howard pad her stats in meaningless garbage time of a one-sided loss. Ho hum par for the course.

I didn't watch the game (other than the last 90 seconds of the first half, waiting for the reveal), but I was watching the scoreboard. Similar thing happened late in 2Q, KY closed the gap to single digits as SC went on a scoreless drought.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

LOL I can't even count the number of times I've seen Howard pad her stats in meaningless garbage time of a one-sided loss. Ho hum par for the course.

I didn't watch the game (other than the last 90 seconds of the first half, waiting for the reveal), but I was watching the scoreboard. Similar thing happened late in 2Q, KY closed the gap to single digits as SC went on a scoreless drought.

She can really turn it on when she wants too but I doubt she would have surpassed 10 points with Beal on her to finish the game.. But yeah those scoring droughts is what really kept the game from being a blowout.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Howard is a good player but it feels like she often goes through the motions when she plays. Then again I can say that about most of Kentucky's team.

 

[ConwayGmck]

UK out-scored USC 24-17 in the 4th qtr. to get to that final 9-pt. deficit in Lexington. USC beat them by 20 pts earlier in the season in Columbia. It was a typical road game in the SEC.....

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Got any thoughts about the game. SC 59-50 winner. I know that SC is down a couple of their talented [back-up?] bigs.
A bit surprised that it was reasonably close. Did Kentucky have a realistic shot with 4 minutes to go?
SC guards...trouble shooting this game? I assume Boston was her usual self? I confess that I'm searching for weaknesses here in anticipation of The Dance and a possible upset of
the #1 ranked team. Having said that....beat LadyVol a week from Sunday....pretty please!

SC had a big lead (20ish) that UK whittled down when the last reserves were in the game.