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Message: [QUOTE="oldhusky, post: 4303680, member: 9844"] I think some are too hung up on the rebound differential. Of course you don't win games very often when you are out-rebounded by 24, but why would anyone think that is the normal difference between the two teams. Liv was injured, Dorka was missing, Aubrey missed the whole season, and Aaliyah all season had rebounding numbers that were not even close to her freshmen season. South Carolina's main strength as a team is rebounding. I think they averaged out-rebounding their opponents by 17 a game which is huge. But we are an above average rebounding team too but not by anywhere close to their margin. I don't have it in front of me but I think our margin was closer to 7 or somewhere in that ballpark. So if we had last year's team healthy with Dorka available and Liv not injured, I might have expected us to get out-rebounded by SC by 8-10 or something like that. Now looking at next year our best rebounder per minute from last year (Dorka) will likely see more minutes per game as a starter at C. If our PF Aaliyah plays like she did as a freshmen instead of her sophomore year, that is a major boost to rebounding. Aubrey if she returns is a great rebounder. Ayanna and Ice have physical skills that should translate to good rebounders, and maybe Amari will help there. In short there are many reasons why we could be a better rebounding team next year. Better than South Carolina on the boards? maybe not, but much much closer than the championship game, and in other areas we have the advantage. [/QUOTE]

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