Battle 4 Atlantis Final on ESPN2

[BlueSkyGLW]

But Gabby Williams is a little big so is she a bigger a little?

She jumps higher than most bigs!

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

Without getting in the weeds, your closing point makes no sense. SC didn't win the NC by beating UConn. In fact the Huskies beat the Gamecockies on SC's home floor by double digits that season. It's impossible to predict who might have won had UConn faced SC in the NC, but at that point the Huskies had never been beaten by SC and had never lost a championship game. Odds are?
Now, seriously, for what big anywhere would you trade PB?

RE: your last sentence. Are you suggesting that BB is an individual sport? To win championships, you need balance among guards, wings and post with sufficient bench depth. Recent UConn WBB history and immediate post DT years tell you that. I know you know it is a team sport and you are simply besotted by PB but she alone without a balanced team won't win you championships. The four straight NCs with Stewie show that: balance!

Do you really want to make a choice between Stewie and Paige to win an NC? PB is already down one because of lack of balance and depth (and team experience).

This year, they do......so let's see how well PB & Co. will do.

 

[Kurebeach50]

Not too sure Cardoso will be able to run the floor like the Husky’s bigs, or team for that matter.
IMHO, superior guard play, talented, active front line with little drop of among them is the recipe for UCONN.

Guard play rules every level of basketball from HS to the (W)NBA.

 

[Kurebeach50]

UConn did not win against Mississippi State because of two trees: McGowan (6'7") and Okorie (6'5") and front court players no shorter than 6'1". Even guard Vivians is 6'1" The irony is it was the shortest player of their team that took the last shot to beat UConn. But it was the bigs that gave UConn the most trouble scoring, despite the heroics of one Gabby Williams.

My point simply was and still is the use to bigs: whether 1 or 2 in the front court. It has worked for UConn and has worked against UConn.

As to South Carolina not beating UConn for the 2017 NC, Their bigs got them to the title game AND their size matched Miss State's size that beat UConn to win the title. Do you still insist on "so much for bigs?"

You can win without bigs, you can’t win without guards.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

You can win without bigs, you can’t win without guards.

What does that even mean? A BB team without guards or bigs? You think a team of 5 guards has a gamblers chance to win an NC? Very long odds indeed.....maybe if they were all 6' to 6'2" athletic guards....but that would make them all borderline bigs.

Not even the Wooden UCLA teams of Hazzard and Goodrich were all guards. And DT's last 2 NCs had bigs, though not the best to play at UConn, still bigs to rebound and defend.

OK, I'll pick the guards from among the teams in recent drought for UConn, then I might agree with you: Gabby Williams came in as a guard, Katie Lou Samuelson was also a guard coming in, Christyn Williams, Kia Nurse, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Evina Westbrook, Nika Muhl and Saylor Poffenberger. Gabby would have to play the post as in her junior and senior years and the two PGs can play 1, 2 but all the rest can be rotated at 2, 3, 4. All after their sophomore years.....Oh, Megan Walker played guard in HS, too....and, of course, there was Crystal.

If that's who I can have, then I agree that there's a gambler's chance to win the NC in the past six years, against anybody. This team can full-court press, they can pass, they can play positionless (unless Crystal is part of the team) and they have at least two lockdown wing defenders. They play in waves to stay fresh while running the other team ragged.

 

[Stymie]

You can win without bigs, you can’t win without guards.F

Have had plenty of guards.
Haven’t won it since before Azure’ bolted early.
That was the shiv.
Coulda shoulda woulda...
JMHO

 

[huskyd]

RE: your last sentence. Are you suggesting that BB is an individual sport? To win championships, you need balance among guards, wings and post with sufficient bench depth. Recent UConn WBB history and immediate post DT years tell you that. I know you know it is a team sport and you are simply besotted by PB but she alone without a balanced team won't win you championships. The four straight NCs with Stewie show that: balance!

Do you really want to make a choice between Stewie and Paige to win an NC? PB is already down one because of lack of balance and depth (and team experience).

This year, they do......so let's see how well PB & Co. will do.

Of course I meant NOW. I would never compare Paige to Stewie or to any historically excellent big. There is only one Breanna Stewart.
So my question is: For whom would you trade Beuckers at this time?

 

[hoophuskee]

You can win without bigs, you can’t win without guards.

We need "enough" of both. Need some type of balance.

 

[TeamFirst!]

South Carolina beat NC state recently by 9: Cooke, No. 1 South Carolina women beat No. 5 NC State 66-57 - University of South Carolina Athletics

 

[Kurebeach50]

What does that even mean? A BB team without guards or bigs? You think a team of 5 guards has a gamblers chance to win an NC? Very long odds indeed.....maybe if they were all 6' to 6'2" athletic guards....but that would make them all borderline bigs.

Not even the Wooden UCLA teams of Hazzard and Goodrich were all guards. And DT's last 2 NCs had bigs, though not the best to play at UConn, still bigs to rebound and defend.

OK, I'll pick the guards from among the teams in recent drought for UConn, then I might agree with you: Gabby Williams came in as a guard, Katie Lou Samuelson was also a guard coming in, Christyn Williams, Kia Nurse, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, Evina Westbrook, Nika Muhl and Saylor Poffenberger. Gabby would have to play the post as in her junior and senior years and the two PGs can play 1, 2 but all the rest can be rotated at 2, 3, 4. All after their sophomore years.....Oh, Megan Walker played guard in HS, too....and, of course, there was Crystal.

If that's who I can have, then I agree that there's a gambler's chance to win the NC in the past six years, against anybody. This team can full-court press, they can pass, they can play positionless (unless Crystal is part of the team) and they have at least two lockdown wing defenders. They play in waves to stay fresh while running the other team ragged.

What this means is a team of five guards (pick any five) has a MUCH better chance to win (a game or national championship) than a team of five posts !! Ball handling and quickness are what wins in the game of basketball, NOT size. Of course BOTH are nice but as I said in the post you couldn’t understand, you CAN win with all guards, you can NOT win with all posts. P.S. - UCLA’s ‘64 team did not have any size - Keith Ericson was a 6’4 volleyball player who was the Gabby Williams of his day. Per my post, five Keith Ericsons would not have won it all.

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

What this means is a team of five guards (pick any five) has a MUCH better chance to win (a game or national championship) than a team of five posts !! Ball handling and quickness are what wins in the game of basketball, NOT size. Of course BOTH are nice but as I said in the post you couldn’t understand, you CAN win with all guards, you can NOT win with all posts. P.S. - UCLA’s ‘64 team did not have any size - Keith Ericson was a 6’4 volleyball player who was the Gabby Williams of his day. Per my post, five Keith Ericsons would not have won it all.

I assure you however, that there is NO coach on Mother Earth who would construct a team without a balance between guards and bigs. It has never happened and it certainly won't in the foreseeable future. It doesn't even happen in the playground. Certainly, not 5 players with none who can handle the ball. There are, however, bigs who did handle the ball exceptionally well: Magic Johnson, Ben Simmons, Luka Doncic (big body), all of whom would qualify as bigs (even if the last one is only 6'7" - Draymond Green is considered a big at 6'6")

However, though he could handle the ball you put a cap possibilities from those UCLA teams by choosing Keith Ericson as the model for the 5 bigs from that team.

In Magic Johnson's playing days, there was a lot of conversation about what would constitute an ideal team and many proposed a team of 6'9" players like him and there were two of them in that team: James Worthy was the other one.

I would even go with 5 of Luka Doncic - he can play any position, just as Magic Johnson did.

You need to define you big and your guard.......for the women, too.

Actually, it is possible to construct a team of 5 bigs for the women if we define bigs as someone 6 ft or taller. I would start with Stewie, Candace Parker and Katie Lou Samuelson - all three can handle the ball.....then there are a lot of excellent ballhandling and playing-making wings between 6" to 6'2" to round out the team. I assure you that team would win the UC.

I think we have come to the end of this conversation and your assertion has been put in doubt with players who qualify either as a big or a guard.

 

[Kurebeach50]

I assure you however, that there is NO coach on Mother Earth who would construct a team without a balance between guards and bigs. It has never happened and it certainly won't in the foreseeable future. It doesn't even happen in the playground. Certainly, not 5 players with none who can handle the ball. There are, however, bigs who did handle the ball exceptionally well: Magic Johnson, Ben Simmons, Luka Doncic (big body), all of whom would qualify as bigs (even if the last one is only 6'7" - Draymond Green is considered a big at 6'6")

However, though he could handle the ball you put a cap possibilities from those UCLA teams by choosing Keith Ericson as the model for the 5 bigs from that team.

In Magic Johnson's playing days, there was a lot of conversation about what would constitute an ideal team and many proposed a team of 6'9" players like him and there were two of them in that team: James Worthy was the other one.

I would even go with 5 of Luka Doncic - he can play any position, just as Magic Johnson did.

You need to define you big and your guard.......for the women, too.

Actually, it is possible to construct a team of 5 bigs for the women if we define bigs as someone 6 ft or taller. I would start with Stewie, Candace Parker and Katie Lou Samuelson - all three can handle the ball.....then there are a lot of excellent ballhandling and playing-making wings between 6" to 6'2" to round out the team. I assure you that team would win the UC.

I think we have come to the end of this conversation and your assertion has been put in doubt with players who qualify either as a big or a guard.

My point was to put an end to this inane emphasis on BIGS !! My point is GUARDS control basketball at ANY and ALL levels !!! I don’t propose anybody in their right mind would construct a team of all of one or the
other !!!

 

[Alydar]

SC will be tough. Their bigs are better than UConns. Point, blank, period. Luckily their guards can’t grasp that and often forget about the bigs. Of the two possible matchups this season, I think they will split the games, with the tie breaker coming in April.

Not better scorers. Bigger? Stronger? For sure. But I think Edwards is going to be a serious offensive threat. She should be single covered and can score with power or with quickness. A matchup nightmare. And Juhasz seems smart and has high level experience. I think she'll do for UConn what Shepard did for NDame.

 

[FormerCTrez]

SC has used twin towers against UConn before and has never beaten the Huskies with 2 bigs. Aja Wilson played 4 years v. UConn and never won a game. So much for bigs.

I will never rule out Dawn Staley’s squad, especially this early, mainly because:
A) Boston has vastly improved her conditioning and skill sets. She’s also talented.
B) Cardoso is also talented, she ru s the floor, and she was recruited by UCONN.
C) Staley has a better troop of guards today, than when Wilson and Coates played

 

[BlueSkyGLW]

Of course I meant NOW. I would never compare Paige to Stewie or to any historically excellent big. There is only one Breanna Stewart.
So my question is: For whom would you trade Beuckers at this time?

If you said that in the beginning, we would never have had this conversation. Why even think of trading players when they have to fit into the rest of the team, which I assume you mean this UConn team.

What a silly thought regarding team building.....

 

[Longtime fan]

Glad ESPN saw the potential, now they need to add the Maryland, Stanford, NC State matchups.

How does Flo hoops work? Is it a stream on I-Pad or Mac?

 

[Centerstream]

How does Flo hoops work? Is it a stream on I-Pad or Mac?

If you look on the Apple App Store there should be an app for the I-Pad.

 

[Oracle9]

I agree. They better get their act together before next week.

SC will be tough. Their bigs are better than UConns. Point, blank, period. Luckily their guards can’t grasp that and often forget about the bigs. Of the two possible matchups this season, I think they will split the games, with the tie breaker coming in April.

 

[Longtime fan]

If you look on the Apple App Store there should be an app for the I-Pad.

Many thanks.

 

[CB360]

OH BOY!!!! I can watch a game LIVE!!

 

[Cuango]

UConn did not win against Mississippi State because of two trees: McGowan (6'7") and Okorie (6'5") and front court players no shorter than 6'1". Even guard Vivians is 6'1" The irony is it was the shortest player of their team that took the last shot to beat UConn. But it was the bigs that gave UConn the most trouble scoring, despite the heroics of one Gabby Williams.

My point simply was and still is the use to bigs: whether 1 or 2 in the front court. It has worked for UConn and has worked against UConn.

As to South Carolina not beating UConn for the 2017 NC, Their bigs got them to the title game AND their size matched Miss State's size that beat UConn to win the title. Do you still insist on "so much for bigs?"

I beg to differ. UConn lost that game on a buzzer beater. I don’t agree that that loss can be attributed to the post players alone. As for the value of bigs it is simply silly to contend that they can’t be (in some cases) just as/or more important than guards. Those are questions whose answers can only be determined by who they are, how their team is set up/style of play, and individual performances in big games! Finally, with regard to your last statement/question, that is like saying; if A beats B and B beats C, then A will always beat C. This is patently false. Also there is the inconvenient fact that SC never came close to beating UConn with that lineup in four years. Could they have won? Obviously, but they certainly would not have been favorites to do so!

 

[bballer]

Roku has flosports for free as part of there package Now

 

[visitingcock]

Everything you need to know about the inaugural women's Battle 4 Atlantis

 

[nutmegger]

Roku has flosports for free as part of there package Now

Where is it on ROKU? I could not find it.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Tell me you don't watch Cardoso without tell me you don't watch Cardoso.

She runs extremely well for a big.

I agree. She is not quick but she does have excellent run the floor speed. However, the few times she has played with Boston on the floor it does not appear to me SC has a plan to utilize them as a twin tower combination.

 

[Centerstream]

Where is it on ROKU? I could not find it.

You have to search for FloSports on the Home page and then add it. And FloSports (FloHoops) is a subscription service on Roku.

 

[Dynastic]

What? People don't like FloHoops?

What is a Flo Hoops? Oh wow I see