Contenders & Pretenders | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Contenders & Pretenders

Very good post by OP. Can't disagree with any of it. All 5 power conferences have must see games.
Miss St. vs South Carolina
Texas vs Baylor
Oregon vs UCLA
Notre Dame vs Louisville
Ohio State @ Maryland

I can include UConn vs USF plus DePaul vs Villanova.

Should be a great 2018 for WCBB.
 
When Boothe/Holmes/Sutton touch the court together watch out for Texas.

Vs Tennessee Karen decided to not play Boothe and Patterson (highly recruited freshman). Both played the next two games vs Northwestern st and Florida State. Personally I think she wants them to develop while Holmes is on the court.

Texas will win the Big 12.
 
TerpWomenFan said:
Very good post by OP. Can't disagree with any of it. All 5 power conferences have must see games.
Miss St. vs South Carolina
Texas vs Baylor
Oregon vs UCLA
Notre Dame vs Louisville
Ohio State @ Maryland

I can include UConn vs USF plus DePaul vs Villanova.

Should be a great 2018 for WCBB.
Expand ...
I honestly wish that UConn vs USF was truly a “must see” game, but the Bulls did not match up well with the Huskies in 3 meetings last season and it’s unlikely to change this season.
 
BroadwayVa said:
That is not a Match I would like to see repeated. That is a good team, with fire power, plays more than good defense, and their coach is way underrated. No, that's not a game I want to see. CD is an excellent scout and has produced many victories on her ability to dissect potential opponents. She was being generous and accepting--- to accept the loss as her own. It wasn't her loss. Without a bench, without a big the loss was possible. This year Z--tends to foul on defense, Napheesa and Gabby do too. If foul trouble isn't controlled --who negates Ms State McGowan, and their other big not as effective but good big. Uconn will have to cover the boards and the mid and long range and corner shots from William and Vivians. Mcgowan can score from the top of the key to the basket. I hope they get knocked off before any Uconn rematch.
Expand ...
Won't Miss St. have to cover the boards, the long, mid range, and corner shots from Kia, KLS, Dangerfield, and Collier? Can't KLS, Collier, and Z, score from the top of the key to the basket? McGowan is prone to foul trouble and she will have to come away from the basket to guard Z because, I believe Z's outside shot will be accurate by NCAA Tournament time. How many times have Gabby and Collier fouled out this season? Collier will be hard to guard come tourney time.
 
oldude said:
I honestly wish that UConn vs USF was truly a “must see” game, but the Bulls did not match up well with the Huskies in 3 meetings last season and it’s unlikely to change this season.
Expand ...

True. Huskies vs. Bulls was must see when UConn was going for their 4th Consecutive National Championship and USF had Courtney Williams on its team. These days, not so much. Still the high point of AAC Conference play, though.
 
.-.
Old Dude...nice job as usual. You nailed the contenders and what an exciting final four that would be. IMO, the dream seeding in the final four would be 1) UCONN, 2) MSU, 3) ND and 4) SC....would love to see MSU smother ND while we do a number on "defending champion " SC. That sets up a MSU/UCONN final and there is no doubt in my mind that we would win going away. By playoff time, we will be better at every starting position over last year plus we have Z off the bench vs Butler. Add in MW and hopefully CB we will be in fantastic shape with great depth. Assuming the team makes a commitment to win the NC...and IMO they will....then zero worries.
 
Of the 4 contenders listed in my OP, I believe ND is the team most likely to be upset prior to the FF. I base that belief on the fact that size and athleticism can sometimes make up for a lack of execution. ND has less size and athleticism than UConn, SC or MS St, therefore less margin for error.
 
cbraarj said:
Uconn played horrible against Miss. St. in the FF with the Bulldogs out rebounding and out hustling the Huskies! Uconn also got Uconned in the 1st half especially that first quarter! Mississippi State also controlled tempo the whole game. IMO Uconn was way to over confident going into the game after the 60 pt. drubbing they gave them the year before in Sweet 16! If they play this year Uconn by 25 at least!!
Expand ...
That is a spot on analysis.
 
rugbymate said:
Old Dude...nice job as usual. You nailed the contenders and what an exciting final four that would be. IMO, the dream seeding in the final four would be 1) UCONN, 2) MSU, 3) ND and 4) SC....would love to see MSU smother ND while we do a number on "defending champion " SC. That sets up a MSU/UCONN final and there is no doubt in my mind that we would win going away. By playoff time, we will be better at every starting position over last year plus we have Z off the bench vs Butler. Add in MW and hopefully CB we will be in fantastic shape with great depth. Assuming the team makes a commitment to win the NC...and IMO they will....then zero worries.
Expand ...
Who is CB?
 
oldude said:
I honestly wish that UConn vs USF was truly a “must see” game, but the Bulls did not match up well with the Huskies in 3 meetings last season and it’s unlikely to change this season.
Expand ...

The Bulls do not match up well with us. They do not have an inside game to challenge us. Henshaw at 6' 1" can't compete inside with Gabby or Pheesa or Z. Ferriera, though a tough player, is not enough inside. Keep Jespersen and Laksa in check and that's all she wrote. We will be there on 1/6 to watch!!
 
.-.
stwainfan said:
Can Tennessee make the FF? I think it depends on if there are any injuries, the seed the team gets, and what teams are in the regional bracket.
Expand ...
Of course Tennessee can make the Final Four. Even two years ago, when the team often looked bad during the season and suffered a bunch of losses, they made the Elite Eight and were leading at halftime against Syracuse. To say that they're not capable of making a Final Four is just wrong.

The potential with Tennessee has always been there. This year they're playing closer to their potential than they have in several years. Perhaps that's not saying a lot, given the way the last two years have transpired, but still.
 
MSU has been pretty good so far. McGowan and Vivians are carrying the load. I knew this team wouldn't have the depth of last year due to graduation of 4 regular contributors. The bench isn't bad but there is a considerable drop off in talent after the starters. Foul trouble and/or injury is a concern of mine as the team gets in to SEC play. Some fans on this board love to hate the SEC but it's a tough conference and there aren't many easy wins.

UT is much better than the last two years and could make a run under the right circumstances. SC relies a ton on Aja but she's the best player in the country and is tough to stop. I'm inclined to say ND is the 2nd best team even with their lack of depth. Texas looked not too great against Tennessee but everyone knows the talent is there and Holmes coming back gives them another weapon.

UConn is number one by far and I'm not sure any of the above teams could hang with them in the FF or NC. I don't think any of the above team are "pretenders" but none have as many weapons as UConn.
 
Miss St is the contender for the title. They'll be ready if they make the Championship game and will have no fear if their Opponent is UConn. They have a balance of inside and outside scoring. A dominant post player in Tearia McGowan and Victoria Vivians outside shooting and drives to the basket. Not sure what their rallying phrase is for this season, but I'm sure its something along the lines of Let's Finish what we started Last Year. The Finish is Winning the National Championship.

Miss St has the advantage of only playing South Carolina and the Lady Vols once this season and I think they win the SEC Conference Title and will end up as a #1 Seed.
 
.-.
Wbbfan1 said:
Miss St is the contender for the title. They'll be ready if they make the Championship game and will have no fear if their Opponent is UConn. They have a balance of inside and outside scoring. A dominant post player in Tearia McGowan and Victoria Vivians outside shooting and drives to the basket. Not sure what their rallying phrase is for this season, but I'm sure its something along the lines of Let's Finish what we started Last Year. The Finish is Winning the National Championship.

Miss St has the advantage of only playing South Carolina and the Lady Vols once this season and I think they win the SEC Conference Title and will end up as a #1 Seed.
Expand ...

I've been saying all season that MSU really needs to win the SEC championship this year. Finally beating SC in conference is an essential precursor for this group if they want to make the Final Four again and have a shot at winning it all.
 
hoophuskee said:
She fouled out one game vs Syracuse.
She had 2 fouls in 1st half vs Az State. (only played 5 minutes)
She had 4 fouls vs Okie State.

***Would love to get a crack at their backups. :):):)
Expand ...
Do the same stats for Azura in minutes played.
I love your Uconn pride.
 
BroadwayVa said:
Do the same stats for Azura in minutes played.
I love your Uconn pride.
Expand ...

But that wasn't my point. I wasn't comparing AZ vs McCowan. I was disputing your point that McCowan doesn't get into foul trouble -- and just bringing up that McCowan is also "foul prone." She is, right? Nor is the game one-on-one. UCONN's two other posts (Collier/Gabby) are imo far superior to the "what else" other than McCowan. McCowan has shown when she plays against some of the top tier teams she has been in foul trouble (though she wiped out Oregon). Sure so has AZ gotten into foul trouble - but it doesn't mean McCowan doesn't. And if they both get into foul trouble who has the advantage (ofc it depends how early-- but if they both get into foul trouble near the same time?)? In addition, UCONN's players of Collier and Gabby can put more pressure on McCowan to foul than other post players on Miss State can do to AZ.

And if we compare minutes-to-minutes we also have to compare strength of schedule. Playing the tougher schedule which UCONN has also means a higher probability to commit more fouls.

I'm just bringing the other side to the argument that's all. On the thread listing top 5 at every position I had McCowan 2 and AZ 3 as of this moment. All I was saying was "McCowan can get into foul trouble too because she has several times already and she would be guarding/playing against the best team this year she has already played."
 
Last night Miss State played Massey #342 and 0-12 Mississippi Valley State University. MSU defeated the Devilettes 112-36 and looks ready for SEC play.
 
TerpWomenFan said:
Very good post by OP. Can't disagree with any of it. All 5 power conferences have must see games.
Miss St. vs South Carolina
Texas vs Baylor
Oregon vs UCLA
Notre Dame vs Louisville
Ohio State @ Maryland

I can include UConn vs USF plus DePaul vs Villanova.

Should be a great 2018 for WCBB.
Expand ...
UConn has Texas, South Carolina, Louisville, and USF twice in the second half of the 2017-2018 season.
 
.-.
BostonCanuck said:
I really like that we have three tough out-of-conference matchups in the new year. I seem to recall there normally being only one or two of those once conference play begins.
Expand ...
Those tough games in Jan & Feb are Geno’s bellwether games to see where his team is heading into the Big Dance. Over the past few years it’s really only been SC. This year, with 3 top 10 matchups, 2 of which are on the road, the Huskies will certainly be battle tested come tournament time.
 
oldude said:
One of the comments I made after the MS St upset is that Geno would never again allow his team to get caught in a game where the other team was walking the ball up the court and limiting the number of Husky posessions. Chalk that up to Vic out coaching Geno, bad play or lack of depth. If the two teams meet again, UConn will most definitely push the pace to get MS St into a track meet.
Expand ...
I go with the lack of depth option. This year Notre Dame doesn’t really have a point guard. Yet Geno let them come up court with no pressure. One might assume that, if UConn had a third guard this year or last, he might have pushed both these teams.
 
rugbymate said:
Old Dude...nice job as usual. You nailed the contenders and what an exciting final four that would be. IMO, the dream seeding in the final four would be 1) UCONN, 2) MSU, 3) ND and 4) SC....would love to see MSU smother ND while we do a number on "defending champion " SC. That sets up a MSU/UCONN final and there is no doubt in my mind that we would win going away. By playoff time, we will be better at every starting position over last year plus we have Z off the bench vs Butler. Add in MW and hopefully CB we will be in fantastic shape with great depth. Assuming the team makes a commitment to win the NC...and IMO they will....then zero worries.
Expand ...

Why are there quotes around "defending champion" SC. SC is the defending national champion. Now obviously they lost A LOT from last years' defending national championship team, but they still have arguably the best player in the country and pretty good talent around her.
 
oldude said:
While I know that the Sooners stumbled out of the gate this season, I saw some real talent on the court when they played the Huskies at the Mohegan Sun. OK could be a real sleeper this season. It will be interesting to see how they do tonight at home vs TX.
Expand ...

Texas always seems to come out of the gate fast and strong, but tends to get tired and sloppy in the last quarter. "Contenders" would beat Texas; "To Early To Tell" would beat Texas if they have more stamina. The TX vs Baylor game will be interesting. UConn wins over Texas by 20.
 
skilz said:
Texas always seems to come out of the gate fast and strong, but tends to get tired and sloppy in the last quarter. "Contenders" would beat Texas; "To Early To Tell" would beat Texas if they have more stamina. The TX vs Baylor game will be interesting. UConn wins over Texas by 20.
Expand ...
Really good point. Brings to mind my observation last season when TX played UConn at the Mohegan Sun, and appeared to run out of gas in the 4th qtr as UConn pulled away.
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,389
Messages
4,570,269
Members
10,476
Latest member
dd356


Top Bottom