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TerpWomenFan said:
I think the two players instead of Robinson (not on Maryland's roster) are Diamond Miller and Angel Reese (the two most talented players on the roster). They mentioned the other three (Bibby, Benzan and Collins). Faith Masonius is the ultimate glue player. You just place her in there somewhere and she performs. She had an outstanding game against Alabama in the tournament. The Terps lose Alaysia Styles who went to Syracuse and gain two very talented player in freshman Shyanne Sellers and gifted international player Emma Chardon.

Iowa, Indiana and Michigan will be good but if Maryland plays their game, they should beat all three of them. But I think all three of these teams reach the Sweet 16 with Iowa with a shot at the Elite 8.

As for Maryland being in the Big 10. it was money for both sides. The Big 10 wanted that lucrative Washington-Baltimore media market (and New York for Rutgers) and Maryland need to get out of debt after some poor revenue years preceding the Big 10 move.
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I'm very curious if Reese will move into Maryland's starting lineup this year. Remember after the Sweet 16 loss when Reese was liking a bunch of tweets complaining about how she wasn't starting and/or getting more playing time?

IMO Maryland is a final four team while Iowa/Michigan/Indiana all pretty much neck and neck. In terms of who actually makes a tournament run, it's such a crapshoot based on matchups and who gets hot at the right time and/or is healthy. Not to diminish their achievement, but Indiana may have not made the Elie 8 had #1 seed NC State been at full strength. (Kayla Jones was injured.) Of course you can help yourself out by playing well in the regular season and getting a favorable seed, but the selection committee can make some ... interesting ... decisions, as we all know.

Iowa will be interesting to watch. In the middle of last season they really struggled to close out some close games, losing twice to Indiana, Ohio State, and Northwestern. All games were essentially within 10 points the whole time. But as they showed with their run at the end of the season, the potential is there. It's just that offenses can be hot and cold, especially when relying so much on one star player to catalyze everything. Good news is they return 99% of their scoring, and added depth with Kylie Feuerbach (transfer from Iowa State) and a trio of top-100 recruits will hopefully help with defense and rebounding to take some pressure off the offense.

I'll be very interested in what Iowa's defense looks like in some of their early non-conference games against so-called "easier" opponents. For example, Iowa barely beat Drake in a 103-97 shootout early last season. If they yet again give up 90+ points (or even 70-80) to Drake, it could be a bad omen for the rest of the season.
 
undersized said:
I'm very curious if Reese will move into Maryland's starting lineup this year. Remember after the Sweet 16 loss when Reese was liking a bunch of tweets complaining about how she wasn't starting and/or getting more playing time?

IMO Maryland is a final four team while Iowa/Michigan/Indiana all pretty much neck and neck. In terms of who actually makes a tournament run, it's such a crapshoot based on matchups and who gets hot at the right time and/or is healthy. Not to diminish their achievement, but Indiana may have not made the Elie 8 had #1 seed NC State been at full strength. (Kayla Jones was injured.) Of course you can help yourself out by playing well in the regular season and getting a favorable seed, but the selection committee can make some ... interesting ... decisions, as we all know.

Iowa will be interesting to watch. In the middle of last season they really struggled to close out some close games, losing twice to Indiana, Ohio State, and Northwestern. All games were essentially within 10 points the whole time. But as they showed with their run at the end of the season, the potential is there. It's just that offenses can be hot and cold, especially when relying so much on one star player to catalyze everything. Good news is they return 99% of their scoring, and added depth with Kylie Feuerbach (transfer from Iowa State) and a trio of top-100 recruits will hopefully help with defense and rebounding to take some pressure off the offense.

I'll be very interested in what Iowa's defense looks like in some of their early non-conference games against so-called "easier" opponents. For example, Iowa barely beat Drake in a 103-97 shootout early last season. If they yet again give up 90+ points (or even 70-80) to Drake, it could be a bad omen for the rest of the season.
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Good question. I can appreciate her being disappointed she wasn't a starter, but was she at full strength/health at that point yet?

The Maryland fans will likely need to correct me here, but with the fracture (broken foot?) weren't there different estimates on when she'd be back? I thought it was just good to see she could even play during the tournament.
 
bballnut90 said:
Correct, Diamond Miller. She's going to be an absolute beast as a WNBA player.
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So on a carat scale where Diamond DeShields is 1 carat, how good will Diamond Miller be?
 
Dillon77 said:
Completely agree. Diamond reminds me of a slightly taller Jewell Loyd. Had that feeling when I saw her play HS ball in NJ and she continues to get better.
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She reminds me of Angel McCoughtry--long, lanky, extremely athletic with good handles and able to score from anywhere. Brenda is turning her into a stud offensively, a good defensive W coach could help her become an All-WNBA defensive player.
 
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eebmg said:
So on a carat scale where Diamond DeShields is 1 carat, how good will Diamond Miller be?
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I think Miller could be better than Deshields based on Deshield's inconsistent production so far. Miller doesn't appear to be quite as athletic but is better at attacking the basket and has more size and plays with a lot more fire. If Deshields gets healthy and returns to her All-WNBA form from a couple of years ago, the sky is the limit for her.
 
cancontent said:
Good question. I can appreciate her being disappointed she wasn't a starter, but was she at full strength/health at that point yet?

The Maryland fans will likely need to correct me here, but with the fracture (broken foot?) weren't there different estimates on when she'd be back? I thought it was just good to see she could even play during the tournament.
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I'm not sure if she was 100% healthy or not but she played horribly vs Texas which is why she was benched. She was back for the last month of the season and looked good but she was quite raw in terms of skill development. Brenda is one of the better coaches as developing talent so I'd expect Reese to make a big jump this year if she's worked hard and buys into Brenda's system.
 
bballnut90 said:
I'm not sure if she was 100% healthy or not but she played horribly vs Texas which is why she was benched. She was back for the last month of the season and looked good but she was quite raw in terms of skill development. Brenda is one of the better coaches as developing talent so I'd expect Reese to make a big jump this year if she's worked hard and buys into Brenda's system.
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Thanks. This confirms what I recall from last season.

I remember her playing late in the season, but hadn't realized it was only with a month to go in the season.
 
Maryland should win the conference again but Iowa could be close behind if they improve defensively. I’m excited to see how my Gophers do with returning all but 1 player. They need to get a good post player since we have so many talented guards. It should be a much better year for Minny.
 
I watched a fair number of games last year due to the pandemic and the convenience that I have the B1G network. During lunch, I jotted down what team/players stuck with me and went back to the team's websites to see who is back. With that in mind:

  • Should be Maryland's to lose. A lot of WNBA-level talent on that team (Miller, Owusu, Reese, etc.) and some excellent role players A(Faith Masonius is my pre-season B1G Glue Player of the Year).
  • Ali Patberg (back for her 17th season ;) ), Grace Berger, Aleksa Gulbe and MacKenzie Holmes - the marvel from Maine -- are all back from the Eliite 8 team to play defense and a deliberate half-court offense that gets it done.
  • Michigan also went deep into the tourney before bowing by three to Baylor. The most efficient player in America (I recall reading), Naz Hillmon, returns, as does Leigha Brown, who had one heck of an NCAA tourney. Amy Dilk and others need to step up.
  • Can Iowa play a little D or will it be pedal to the medal offensive all day, all night? In either case, it will be entertaining to watch Caitlin Clark, Monika Czinano, McKenna Warnock and newcomers transfer Kylie Feuerbach and frosh Sydney Affolter from Chicago. Both newcomers have played on Clark's AAU team.
  • While I don't expect Penn State to be up with these teams, I will be watching for some improvement from Carolyn Kieger's team. She's got most of her scoring back, including guard Kelly Jekot, the grad transfer from Villanova who got injured early on. Guards Makenna Marisa, Niya Beverly and Maddie Burke are all back and they're joined by ND transfer Alli Campbell who will hopefully get a chance to see the court and show her stuff. Ali Brigham, a 6'4" center, comes over from GW after averaging just under 12 ppg. Could be an interesting team to watch.
 
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Dillon77 said:
I watched a fair number of games last year due to the pandemic and the convenience that I have the B1G network. During lunch, I jotted down what team/players stuck with me and went back to the team's websites to see who is back. With that in mind:

  • Should be Maryland's to lose. A lot of WNBA-level talent on that team (Miller, Owusu, Reese, etc.) and some excellent role players (Faith Masonius is my pre-season B1G Glue Player of the Year).
  • Ali Patberg (back for her 17th season ;) ), Grace Berger, Aleksa Gulbe and MacKenzie Holmes - the marvel from Maine -- are all back from the Eliite 8 team to play defense and a deliberate half-court offense that gets it done.
  • Michigan also went deep into the tourney before bowing by three to Baylor. The most efficient player in America (I recall reading), Naz Hillmon, returns, as does Leigha Brown, who had one heck of an NCAA tourney. Amy Dilk and others need to step up.
  • Can Iowa play a little D or will it be pedal to the medal offensive all day, all night?
In either case, it will be entertaining to watch Caitlin Clark, Monika Czinano, McKenna Warnock and newcomers transfer Kylie Feuerbach and frosh Sydney Affolter from Chicago. Both newcomers have played on Clark's AAU team.
and
- While
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I believe she wasn't at the BIG10 or March Madness tournaments too. While she had an up and down season, it's a shame she wasn't available as the guard play was by committee because of it.
 
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visitingcock said:
Are you old enough to remember SCar leaving the ACC?

My comments about the Tobacco Road Cabal (especially UNC) would not be permitted on a family website either.

While the Tobacco Road Cabal (joined by UVA) doesn't hold a majority anymore, it is still a powerful voting bloc. Swofford treated Clemson and FSU like outsiders for decades. (I laughed)
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I wasn't around when South Carolina was in the ACC...
 
Dillon77 said:
  • Ali Patberg (back for her 17th season ;) ), Grace Berger, Aleksa Gulbe and MacKenzie Holmes - the marvel from Maine -- are all back from the Eliite 8 team to play defense and a deliberate half-court offense that gets it done.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice that Patberg has been around for a godawful long time. What is she, about 25?
 
Ha, It's only been 50 years.

I think hating on the ACC is one of the stranger things younger USC fans do.

honestly, I'm used to pulling for most of the ACC to beat Clemson so it's hard to hate. Even if at least half raised to.
 
Bigboote said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one to notice that Patberg has been around for a godawful long time. What is she, about 25?
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Ali Patberg:

2015-2016 Tore ACL in preseason at Notre Dame
16-17 2nd/3rd string PG at ND
17-18 Sat out due to transfer rules
18-19 First year at Indiana, starting PG
19-20 Second year at IU, her personal best season, 1st Team All-Big-Ten and Nancy Lieberman Award Finalist
20-21 Led IU to first Elite 8 in program history (doesn't count against her four years of eligibility due to COVID)
21-22 Bonus year of eligibility

The bold years count against her four years of eligibility. She received news early in the 19-20 season that the 15-16 year would not count against her NCAA eligibility "clock."
 
visitingcock said:
There doesn't seem to be much discussion on the board of Big Ten women's basketball.

Maryland, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa all seemed pretty good last year, but Maryland's NCAA loss kinda took of some of the conference luster. Clarke shone brightly for a bit

Are these four the favorites to win it this year? Who suffered attrition to transferitis?
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Good point. The Big Ten doesn't get much discussion on the board. I think that when the Big Ten does get mentioned, it is along the lines of a player or team and not the whole conference. However, with many of the top teams in the Big Ten returning most if not all of their starters, the Big Ten is going to make some noise this season. I think we had six teams ranked in the "way too early" poll. But great point overall. Maryland, since they joined the Big Ten, I wanna say in 2015, has pretty much ran the table. They have been the gold standard of the Big Ten. Since joining the Big Ten, Maryland has won the Big Ten Tournament Championship four or five times. Big Ten regular season champs five times. This season, the Big Ten is up for grabs. Iowa is returning all of their starters. Indiana shocked everyone and has been a solid team in the Big Ten and they are returning all of their starters. The Big Ten is going to surprise some people this season.
 
undersized said:
Ali Patberg:

2015-2016 Tore ACL in preseason at Notre Dame
16-17 2nd/3rd string PG at ND
17-18 Sat out due to transfer rules
18-19 First year at Indiana, starting PG
19-20 Second year at IU, her personal best season, 1st Team All-Big-Ten and Nancy Lieberman Award Finalist
20-21 Led IU to first Elite 8 in program history (doesn't count against her four years of eligibility due to COVID)
21-22 Bonus year of eligibility

The bold years count against her four years of eligibility. She received news early in the 19-20 season that the 15-16 year would not count against her NCAA eligibility "clock."
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Thanks for the specifics.
@Bigboote is probably not far off on her age: Patberg was part of the same ND recruiting class as Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale (probably one of MM's better recruiting classes, btw), both of whom just finished their third year(s) in the WNBA. Been a different road traveled for Ali.
 
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Dillon77 said:
Thanks for the specifics.
@Bigboote is probably not far off on her age: Patberg was part of the same ND recruiting class as Marina Mabrey and Arile Ogunbowale, both of whom just finished their third year(s) in the WNBA. Been a different road traveled for Ali.
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I am reminded of the late Rodney Dangerfield’s remarks to the graduating class in the movie Back to School.

“Don’t go! It’s a jungle out there!”
 
Gamecockfan77 said:
Ha, It's only been 50 years.

I think hating on the ACC is one of the stranger things younger USC fans do.

honestly, I'm used to pulling for most of the ACC to beat Clemson so it's hard to hate. Even if at least half raised to.
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I started classes at Carolina the semester after we left the ACC.

Football wise, we stepped up by becoming a major independent.

Basketball-wise, it killed us from a scheduling and attendance point of view. Joining the Metro later on didn't cure the problem,
 
gophers1995 said:
Maryland should win the conference again but Iowa could be close behind if they improve defensively. I’m excited to see how my Gophers do with returning all but 1 player. They need to get a good post player since we have so many talented guards. It should be a much better year for Minny.
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Minnesota always puzzles me. I think they should be better than their record indicate most years. I remember one year Maryland went to Minnesota and the Gophers destroyed them by 20+ points. I thought they would sustain that level but never did.
 
I sure wished that Maryland would have gotten a better opponent for the Big10/ACC challenge. Facing Miami will be nothing more than a scrimmage



visitingcock said:
I started classes at Carolina the semester after we left the ACC.

Football wise, we stepped up by becoming a major independent.

Basketball-wise, it killed us from a scheduling and attendance point of view. Joining the Metro later on didn't cure the problem,
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You had me confused at first.
 
triaddukefan said:
I sure wished that Maryland would have gotten a better opponent for the Big10/ACC challenge. Facing Miami will be nothing more than a scrimmage





You had me confused at first.
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Oh yeah, y'all are next to UN-Carolina
 
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TerpWomenFan said:
Minnesota always puzzles me. I think they should be better than their record indicate most years. I remember one year Maryland went to Minnesota and the Gophers destroyed them by 20+ points. I thought they would sustain that level but never did.
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They just lack consistent post presence and Stollings before Whalen would play 5 guards if she could get away with it. I’m optimistic that Whalen can get some quality post players but that is still to be seen. 2022 class is very good and that should be a good measuring point if they don’t produce.
 
Maryland had a lot of success switching on defense 1-5 with the 2019-20 team, but most every contributor on that team (besides Mikesell) was strong enough to defend in the post. Kaila Charles, Blair Watson and Ashley Owusu were all long, strong guards.

Benzan's an awesome player, but smart teams took advantage of Maryland's lazy switches and got her stuck on a big. Maybe Sellers is a good enough shooter and a versatile enough defender to cut into Benzan's minutes and help Maryland be more versatile, but that's asking a lot for a freshman.

Brenda can be stubborn, but I think it's in her best interest to play more conventionally. Doubt we see it, though, especially with how she wants Reese and Miller to play.
 
sweetspot said:
Maryland had a lot of success switching on defense 1-5 with the 2019-20 team, but most every contributor on that team (besides Mikesell) was strong enough to defend in the post. Kaila Charles, Blair Watson and Ashley Owusu were all long, strong guards.

Benzan's an awesome player, but smart teams took advantage of Maryland's lazy switches and got her stuck on a big. Maybe Sellers is a good enough shooter and a versatile enough defender to cut into Benzan's minutes and help Maryland be more versatile, but that's asking a lot for a freshman.

Brenda can be stubborn, but I think it's in her best interest to play more conventionally. Doubt we see it, though, especially with how she wants Reese and Miller to play.
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The 2019-20 team used the Texas Tech men defensive scheme for the first time and it was a huge success after the Northwestern blowout loss. The thing I didn't like about that defense was it took Shakira Austin away from the basket therefore removing their rim protector ability. I feel the same thing will happen with Angel Reese.
 
TerpWomenFan said:
Minnesota always puzzles me. I think they should be better than their record indicate most years. I remember one year Maryland went to Minnesota and the Gophers destroyed them by 20+ points. I thought they would sustain that level but never did.
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Minnesota, like many programs in college basketball, just never seems to have an identity. Some programs have had an identity forever. Minnesota, at one point when we had Pam Borton, had an identity. Family like commitment to the team, a dedication to hard work, solid leadership, and a healthy dose of good old fashion defense. Hopefully Coach Whalen is getting those pieces in place. Gonna take some time.
 
This past summer all Iowa worked on was defense and making some changes per the players. The coaches spoke to other coaching staffs, watched film of other teams and their own, then went to work improving their schemes. Caitlin Clark said their activity on that end of the court is something all fans will notice right away and they didn't work on offense as a group at all this summer. Despite their backup post Sharon Goodman tearing her ACL recently, there is more front court depth than I can ever recall in the Lisa Bluder era along with good length in the backcourt too.
 
Matthew1589 said:
This past summer all Iowa worked on was defense and making some changes per the players. The coaches spoke to other coaching staffs, watched film of other teams and their own, then went to work improving their schemes. Caitlin Clark said their activity on that end of the court is something all fans will notice right away and they didn't work on offense as a group at all this summer. Despite their backup post Sharon Goodman tearing her ACL recently, there is more front court depth than I can ever recall in the Lisa Bluder era along with good length in the backcourt too.
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Scheme can help only so much when you're as relatively athletically limited as Iowa is (or was last year). No rim protection inside and not a lot of players you'd trust to defend for 94 feet. Maybe the new recruiting class and a summer of S&C helps, but I don't see Iowa's defense going from "one of the worst in the country" to "pretty dependable."
 
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