B1G 25-26 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

B1G 25-26

DRR25 said:
Anybody know what happened to assistant coach Jillian Dunston at Michigan? I didn't see anything about her leaving but she's gone and Jordan Reese was just hired as an assistant.
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Glad to see that Jillian Dunston is still in WBB. She's now the Director of Player Relations with the Phoenix Mercury.
 
YoDore said:
Dribble Drive has started its team previews. The first of 18 is on Maryland and features Brenda Frese.

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Thank you for sharing. One of my favorites to watch. Austin and Dalton do a decent job on their coverage, and I will check out this episode. Brenda Frese is still one solid coach. Can't wait to hear what she has to say.
 
Watching Canada vs Portugal in U19 pool play. Forgot there were more teams than Michigan with players on this roster.

Michigan: Swords, Holloway and Achonwa as an AC
Washington: Howell
Illinois: Parchment (incoming freshman)
 
YoDore said:
Next preview: USC

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USC is going to be filled with a lot of questions because they are a mystery team right now without Juju. I will be curious to see how they adjust without her. In this podcast, they want to rank USC #2 in the Big Ten. SMH. I can see UCLA being #1 and then after them it is wide open.
 
JellyBean said:
USC is going to be filled with a lot of questions because they are a mystery team right now without Juju. I will be curious to see how they adjust without her. In this podcast, they want to rank USC #2 in the Big Ten. SMH. I can see UCLA being #1 and then after them it is wide open.
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It’s more than Juju they’ve lost. Also Kiki, TVO and Rayah, as well as all the freshmen. Jazzy seems to be the main known commodity.
 
Bone Dog said:
It’s more than Juju they’ve lost. Also Kiki, TVO and Rayah, as well as all the freshmen. Jazzy seems to be the main known commodity.
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True but it is still the Juju Show. She is the engine.
 
JellyBean said:
True but it is still the Juju Show. She is the engine.
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Probably not for this coming season. Is she likely to return before February? And even if she can, will she burn a year of eligibility (and stats for the record book) to do so? It looks like an interesting decision faces Juju.

If she decides to redshirt, what is the team? Jazzy, Kennedy, Londynn, Malia and Vivian. Anyone else?
 
The U19 bronze medal match has a fair bit of BIG10 flavour with Canada going up against Spain. Howell and Swords have been consistent scorers, Parchment has been a solid post presence and Holloway has been decent off the bench. Concerned about Parchment as she suffered an injury early in the game against Australia.

Spain has Ines Sotelo from Michigan State on their roster. She was a pleasant surprise for the Spartans as a freshman and has been a key starter for the Spanish squad. Should be a fun game.
 
Bone Dog said:
Probably not for this coming season. Is she likely to return before February? And even if she can, will she burn a year of eligibility (and stats for the record book) to do so? It looks like an interesting decision faces Juju.

If she decides to redshirt, what is the team? Jazzy, Kennedy, Londynn, Malia and Vivian. Anyone else?
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Nah. She is not expected back this season, just based on the timing of her injury. However, the miracle of modern medicine and each person's body heals differently. Who knows. But I am would not expect Juju back this season. I hope that everyone is on the same page when it comes to her playing again. No need to rush back.

As far as the rest of the team, nobody knows what to expect and trying to pre-season rank the team is kind of a no-win situation. If you rank them too high. Critics will say "They don't have anyone. Why rank them that high?" Or if you rank them too low critics will say "They have a veteran coach with a decent roster of talent. They should have been ranked higher" So, USC is kind of in a sweet spot with little to no expectations going into the season. UCLA is the favorite to win the Big Ten and then it is everyone else.
 
Right now, I would consider myself a "deep skeptic" of USC's prognosis heading into the 2025-26 season. There are just too many question marks, and many are attributable to the way Lindsey managed the team/schedule last season.

Of returning Trojan players, only Kennedy Smith and Malia Samuels saw more than end-of-the game minutes against Big Ten opponents. However, in the 21 Big Ten games Samuels played in, she rarely scored: zero points in ten of the games, and no more than four in the rest - until the BG10 tournament when she had games of 8 and 6 points. Her lack of offensive contributions also included seven blowouts of 20+ points.

Of the other returning players, Vivian Iwuchukwu had the most minutes: but averaging just 7.1 in just 19 games. Additionally, like the other USC bench players, she was rarely used in BG10 play - she only saw time in the last minute of a game once victory was assured, or during the Trojan's 20+ blowouts (but never more than 9 minutes). I don't think she will be in the starting line-up once the season commences - Dayana Mendes (French transfer from Washington State) will be there instead.

The Trojans are a revamped team. Not only do they need to learn to play together quickly, they also need to learn how to play x-country away games. Only Kennedy Smith, Malia Samuels and Londynn Jones had any significant experience in that regard last season.

IMHO, they will be challenged this year offensively, defensively and logistically. A 9-9 record in conference would be a very positive achievement. I hope Lindsey can pull it off. We'll see.
 
YKCornelius said:
Right now, I would consider myself a "deep skeptic" of USC's prognosis heading into the 2025-26 season. There are just too many question marks, and many are attributable to the way Lindsey managed the team/schedule last season.

Of returning Trojan players, only Kennedy Smith and Malia Samuels saw more than end-of-the game minutes against Big Ten opponents. However, in the 21 Big Ten games Samuels played in, she rarely scored: zero points in ten of the games, and no more than four in the rest - until the BG10 tournament when she had games of 8 and 6 points. Her lack of offensive contributions also included seven blowouts of 20+ points.

Of the other returning players, Vivian Iwuchukwu had the most minutes: but averaging just 7.1 in just 19 games. Additionally, like the other USC bench players, she was rarely used in BG10 play - she only saw time in the last minute of a game once victory was assured, or during the Trojan's 20+ blowouts (but never more than 9 minutes). I don't think she will be in the starting line-up once the season commences - Dayana Mendes (French transfer from Washington State) will be there instead.

The Trojans are a revamped team. Not only do they need to learn to play together quickly, they also need to learn how to play x-country away games. Only Kennedy Smith, Malia Samuels and Londynn Jones had any significant experience in that regard last season.

IMHO, they will be challenged this year offensively, defensively and logistically. A 9-9 record in conference would be a very positive achievement. I hope Lindsey can pull it off. We'll see.
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I disagree—this past year they were a #1 seed with a completely new roster aside from Watkins. The previous year they went from nobody to #1 seed too. Juju’s great but she often wasn’t carrying the team, others were stepping up.

Looking at the roster this year, they have the #1 recruit in Davidson plus one of the nation’s best freshmen back in Kennedy Smith. Kara Dunn is also an impact transfer that isn’t getting talked about enough. Their post game leaves a lot to be desired, but the B1G doesn’t look that strong to be honest. I think they’ll finish top 3-4 going into next season.
 
bballnut90 said:
I disagree—this past year they were a #1 seed with a completely new roster aside from Watkins. The previous year they went from nobody to #1 seed too. Juju’s great but she often wasn’t carrying the team, others were stepping up.

Looking at the roster this year, they have the #1 recruit in Davidson plus one of the nation’s best freshmen back in Kennedy Smith. Kara Dunn is also an impact transfer that isn’t getting talked about enough. Their post game leaves a lot to be desired, but the B1G doesn’t look that strong to be honest. I think they’ll finish top 3-4 going into next season.
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Bballnut90, fair enough. I respect your opinion.

I agree that Kara Dunn will be an impact player - she has improved each of her three years at Georgia Tech. I also agree that others stepped up, especially in the fourth quarter of games that mattered - it was not a one (or two) man show. Still, it's one thing to integrate new players into a line-up centered around JuJu and anchored by Rayah, but it's another thing altogether to build a team around one returning starting sophomore guard averaging less than ten points a game.

A challenge for sure, but as you pointed out, Lindsey Gottleib has proven successful at building and developing the Women of Troy into NCAA tournament teams. A lot of moving parts this year - we shall see.

Just for my clarification, what do you mean by "top 3-4" for next season? Top 3-4 in the Big Ten, I presume?
 
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