Does South Carolina enter the NCAAs undefeated? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Does South Carolina enter the NCAAs undefeated?

Does South Carolina enter the NCAAs undefeated?

  • Yes

    Votes: 34 61.8%

  • No

    Votes: 21 38.2%
  • Total voters
    55
cockhrnleghrn said:
I think Fulwiley decided, years ago, that she was going to be a Gamecock. With us adding Tac, Edwards and McDaniel and likely losing Kardoso and Pao Pao, we should be even better next season due to maturation of the other players. I'd also expect Dawn to add another post out of the transfer portal.
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Are there rumblings that Pao Pao is going pro? It makes sense from a standpoint of having Fulwiley transition into a starting role, but Pao Pao fits in so darn well and seems to be thriving in Columbia, so part of me would be surprised to see her leave after just 1 year.
 
Darwin said:
I doubt SC goes clean before the tourney, so hard to do. How many times has that happened? But even with 1-2 losses they are a sure #1 seed, and I would not bet against them on a neutral court. At LSU tomorrow is likely the hardest challenge, I could see a loss there, but even then it would be close imo.
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In recent times South Carolina last year was the only squad to pull it off going back to 2018. We've seen a lot of 1 loss squads though, which is likely how I see SC entering the tournament this year.
 
bballnut90 said:
Are there rumblings that Pao Pao is going pro? It makes sense from a standpoint of having Fulwiley transition into a starting role, but Pao Pao fits in so darn well and seems to be thriving in Columbia, so part of me would be surprised to see her leave after just 1 year.
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She hasn't declared her intentions, yet, but I'd be surprised if she uses her Covid year. I certainly hope she stays.
 
bballnut90 said:
Are there rumblings that Pao Pao is going pro? It makes sense from a standpoint of having Fulwiley transition into a starting role, but Pao Pao fits in so darn well and seems to be thriving in Columbia, so part of me would be surprised to see her leave after just 1 year.
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Didn‘t Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis have another year of eligibility (though they had to sit a year)? Maybe winning, or not winning, a title could be the deciding factor.
 
Bone Dog said:
In my view, Dawn should have won 3 NCs (maybe 4) in the Boston years. Only malign fortune prevented it. Yes, the perimeter shooting was a weakness on those teams, and Iowa exploited it. But it wouldn’t have taken much to go their way for the results to have been very different.

…Dawn may make a few more questionable decisions than her peers. Of course, what I think are mistakes may also be what she has to do to keep a long, very talented bench happy. I haven’t run the numbers, but I think she doesn’t lose much talent to the portal. In fact, even recruiting to a team as loaded as SC takes a sort of genius.
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The COVID panic was bigger than a lost chance at a title as a unanimous #1. It cost the Boston class a chance to experience the postseason with a senior All American at point.

Whatever happened in 2020, I’ve always felt a postseason with Ty Harris, who had already won a title, would have helped the then-freshman enough that they would have been more settled in the 2021 Final Four with Stanford.

Tough to say “more questionable decisions than her peers” when her only peers are Geno, VanDerveer, and Mulkey. Dawn’s only 53. She’s a full generation behind Geno and V, and nearly a decade younger than Mulkey.

Geno had established his dynasty by then, but surely he’s learned something since 2008. Fwiw, he had four Naismith+WBCA COY awards at that age. If Dawn wins this year, it would be her fourth composite COY, and a third championship would put her ahead of Mulkey and VanDerveer at the same age.

Believe me, I’m much more critical among Carolina fans than here. But it took a single upset to go from shooting as an Achilles Heel to arguably the best shooting team in the country. Roy Williams retired before making the adjustment. To whatever extent it’s necessary, she’s got time to catch her peers
 
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Topdawg said:
In my world, upsets do happen. Last night, I watched a great game where #16 Utah beat #2 UCLA. Massey odds are 2:1 that South Carolina wins, with a margin of 5-6 points. A 35% chance of a UConn win makes the game exciting.
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Pat Summit had two 3 game winning streaks against Geno. Has anybody ever beaten him four times in a row?
 
@Bone Dog I think Dawn would agree she should have won three championships.

It would take sci-fi truth serum to get this out of her because of how it would be received, but if you gave her the magic truth serum, she’d say 2020 was taken by NCAA administrators and 2023 was taken by… other NCAA employees.

Things that are never said in public are sometimes said in closed locker rooms though, and I think that’s one reason this team has appeared to be so incredibly focused from Game 1.
 
darrell said:
Didn‘t Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis have another year of eligibility (though they had to sit a year)? Maybe winning, or not winning, a title could be the deciding factor.
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That is correct.
 
JstVisiting said:
@Bone Dog I think Dawn would agree she should have won three championships.

It would take sci-fi truth serum to get this out of her because of how it would be received, but if you gave her the magic truth serum, she’d say 2020 was taken by NCAA administrators and 2023 was taken by… other NCAA employees.

Things that are never said in public are sometimes said in closed locker rooms though, and I think that’s one reason this team has appeared to be so incredibly focused from Game 1.
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Oh that’s not the take. Not at all. I hope Dawn doesn’t think those things, it’s not a winning mindset.
 
darrell said:
Didn‘t Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis have another year of eligibility (though they had to sit a year)? Maybe winning, or not winning, a title could be the deciding factor.
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True. Both already sat out a year so they spent 2 years in Columbia, even though each only played 1 season. The 2017 draft was also significantly weaker than 2018 so it made sense for both to go early and get drafted higher, though IIRC, Davis in recent years made some statement alluding to the fact that she wishes she stayed in college the extra year or that it's so hard to stick in the WNBA.

Pao Pao is listed as a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick on most sites I've seen. Assuming that players like Edwards, Cardoso, Clark and Brink all go pro, 2025 looks like a much weaker draft board. Time will tell, I think she'll be a solid pro though.
 
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cockhrnleghrn said:
She made such a big impression on me, I don't remember her.

Back to the question; after the games at UNC and Duke, I probably would have said no, but they've proven to be pretty good teams. Since SEC play started, the Gamecocks have had little drop off in road games compared to home, especially at A&M. Because of that, I think we'll eke out a win at LSU. LSU has not played much of a schedule, TBH. UCONN has been playing great, lately, but I still don't see them beating the Gamecocks in Columbia.
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How about without Cardoso? I think it would level the playing field a little bit.
 
shiverz45 said:
How about without Cardoso? I think it would level the playing field a little bit.
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It would, but I think Ashlyn can capably fill the role as long as she stays out of foul trouble.
 
hoopsnloops32 said:
Oh that’s not the take. Not at all. I hope Dawn doesn’t think those things, it’s not a winning mindset.
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Lol if you don’t think “they’re out to get us!” works as a motivator, I doubt you’ve ever been inside a locker room.
 
JstVisiting said:
Lol if you don’t think “they’re out to get us!” works as a motivator, I doubt you’ve ever been inside a locker room.
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It only works to a point imo. If that is their mindset, the Iowa games makes a lot more sense in hindsight.
 
darrell said:
Didn‘t Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis have another year of eligibility (though they had to sit a year)? Maybe winning, or not winning, a title could be the deciding factor.
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They did.
 
JstVisiting said:
Pat Summit had two 3 game winning streaks against Geno. Has anybody ever beaten him four times in a row?
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Muffett -- if you're wondering why she isn't a favorite around here.

She actually won 7/8.
 
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hoopsnloops32 said:
It only works to a point imo. If that is their mindset, the Iowa games makes a lot more sense in hindsight.
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I agree it would be a poor strategy to motivate your team for Iowa with “they don’t want us to have it! Remember what they did with Iowa!”

If she can see the future, that would be pretty incredible though.
 
How is it that SC and LSU play each other only once in the regular season? It seems like a major scheduling faux pas--or a plan to give them the best records possible.
 
MilfordHusky said:
How is it that SC and LSU play each other only once in the regular season? It seems like a major scheduling faux pas--or a plan to give them the best records possible.
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Lol there's always somebody on tBY that asks this every time SC has a rising challenger in the league. Back then the ask was about MSU. The SEC only plays a 16 game conference schedule, most other P5 conferences play more (around 18) games. The Pac 12 plays a 18 game schedule but their league only has 12 schools, so you see more teams playing multiple times. The SEC has 14 schools on a shorter conference schedule.

Every team in the SEC has a conference rival that they play twice, for SC it's Kentucky. In a perfect world for TV viewership, the conference rival would change every year, matching up the strongest teams to play twice.. but then how fair would that be. Unless they add games to the conference schedule then you can expect conference rivals to go away next year too when Texas and OU join the league.
 
SCGamecock said:
Lol there's always somebody on tBY that asks this every time SC has a rising challenger in the league. Back then the ask was about MSU. The SEC only plays a 16 game conference schedule, most other P5 conferences play more (around 18) games. The Pac 12 plays a 18 game schedule but their league only has 12 schools, so you see more teams playing multiple times. The SEC has 14 schools on a shorter conference schedule.

Every team in the SEC has a conference rival that they play twice, for SC it's Kentucky. In a perfect world for TV viewership, the conference rival would change every year, matching up the strongest teams to play twice.. but then how fair would that be. Unless they add games to the conference schedule then you can expect conference rivals to go away next year too when Texas and OU join the league.
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The $EC better go to 18 conference games next season. It makes no sense to stay at 16.
 
MilfordHusky said:
How is it that SC and LSU play each other only once in the regular season? It seems like a major scheduling faux pas--or a plan to give them the best records possible.
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There are a total of 16 SEC games, so only room to play 3 teams twice. Kentucky is the every year 2 game opponent and the rest rotate. This year, the other 2 are Tennessee and Georgia. It is a rotation and not a, "who's good at the moment". Through the years, Kentucky has usually been good and we had a lively rivalry. In most sports, Georgia is our biggest rivalry within the SEC, but no rivalry matches Clemson, overall.
 
cockhrnleghrn said:
There are a total of 16 SEC games, so only room to play 3 teams twice. Kentucky is the every year 2 game opponent and the rest rotate. This year, the other 2 are Tennessee and Georgia. It is a rotation and not a, "who's good at the moment". Through the years, Kentucky has usually been good and we had a lively rivalry. In most sports, Georgia is our biggest rivalry within the SEC, but no rivalry matches Clemson, overall.
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Tennessee and Missouri are our rotating rivals this year.
 
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SCGamecock said:
Tennessee and Missouri are our rotating rivals this year.
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The ACC does it so much better than the SEC and Big 10. 3 geographic pods of 5 teams each. Every team plays their biggest rival twice a year (except for poor Wake Forest and Pitt). One game each vs the other pods, alternating home and away each season.
 
triaddukefan said:
The ACC does it so much better than the SEC and Big 10. 3 geographic pods of 5 teams each. Every team plays their biggest rival twice a year (except for poor Wake Forest and Pitt). One game each vs the other pods, alternating home and away each season.
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Maybe the ACC should spend more time negotiating tv contracts than engineering their “pods”, seeing how teams are suing to exit that poorly led conference. I can think of 35 million reasons why each SEC and B1G school doesn’t give a rip about anything the ACC does.
 
MilfordHusky said:
How is it that SC and LSU play each other only once in the regular season? It seems like a major scheduling faux pas--or a plan to give them the best records possible.
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The SEC has rarely had the best teams on a home and home, which seems foolish to me.

I'd be in favor of making the big matchups home and home depending on expectations.

Texas entering the league will make it even more fun.
 
Gamecockfan77 said:
The SEC has rarely had the best teams on a home and home, which seems foolish to me.

I'd be in favor of making the big matchups home and home depending on expectations.

Texas entering the league will make it even more fun.
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Vic is already worried about me being behind their bench. ;)
 
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