I got the impression during her original recruitment that there were some bridges burned between Williams and Arkansas. I was not surprised she didn't end up back in Fayetteville, but ... I share your surprise about her final destination. I sort of expected her to end up at one of a couple other in-state schools. Wish her very well at PVAMU.
Early SEC 23-24 season predictions
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No slight taken. I'm thinking that there will be noticeable dropoffs between #7 & #8 as well as #9 & #10. Maybe I should consider bumping Vandy, but I believe that they are losing Harbison, Garraud, Williams (previously alluded mid-season suspension), & Chambers from a not so good team. I know they are getting Cambridge (yr 6) & Moore back as well as adding Oliver & Pissott, but YoDore do you think that they are (significantly) better than the other 4 predicted cellar dwellers?
I really like Matharu, but FL has been depleted too. Auburn picked up some nice pieces through the portal and high school. Really surprised how quickly KY (yes losing Howard and to a lesser extent Edwards is kinda significant) & Mizzou have fallen in less than 2 years. After all, they were the only 2 teams to defeat SC during their title season.
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Significantly better than Missouri, Florida, Kentucky and Auburn? No way. Better? Maybe. A decade worth of disappointment has made me very cautious about my expectations. I’ll white knuckle a 10-point lead with a minute left in the game.
This could be coach Ralph’s best all-around team. Her first season she started with 10 players on a team that lost three starters to transfer before Shea was hired. Most of the players she inherited had actually played very little college basketball due to injuries and a season shortened to eight games because of covid. Taking all that into account, I’ve said what coach Ralph faced was more build than rebuild. I stand by that. This program was in dire condition.
Year two she started with nine players (eventually eight with the loss of Williams), and this time it was a team that lost four starters to transfer (Brinae Alexander), and pre-season injury (Cambridge, Moore and Kaylon Smith). It’s not like rebuilding at a school like Vandy isn’t already tough enough. She faced some enormous and unexpected obstacles.
I say all this just to demonstrate why I feel this could be her best team in her three-year tenure. For one thing, she has 13 players. For another, she finally will have some size with six of the 13 players listed at 6’2 or more. Also, and this is my favorite thing, she has some shooters. Some combination of Iyana Moore, Justine Pissott, Agata Makurat, Jada Brown and Ryanne Allen should be on target in any given game. I’m hoping that allows the coaches to be a bit more creative on offense.
Questions abound. After yet another surgery (3 for ACL tears, 1 for torn achilles), Jordyn Cambridge will try again to play her final season of college basketball. Will she still have the quickness and strength to be a defensive stopper? Will Iyana Moore, an elite three-point shooter, return to form after missing all last season following ACL surgery. Nine of the 13 players are freshmen and sophomores. How will those youngsters fare against the physical specimens of the SEC? There is much to be settled, but I feel the true rebuild, in terms of personnel, can start this year.
So, I have the tiniest seeds of optimism. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe. Please.
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Thank you for the in-depth response and the appropriate mix of objectivity and subjectivity that you exhibit in your posts. Size and shooting is never a bad place to start and hopefully most stay through their senior year, so the youth can be developed together.
Some people on this board might not remember how they produced quality teams for a couple of decades under Foster & Balcomb, but were overshadowed by various conference rivals, especially their neighbors to the east. It would be fun to have Vandy soar back to prominence, but it will be even more difficult with the SEC arrival of Vic & Jennie in '24.
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Due to the Alisa Williams transfer announcement (
jk), I'm flipping #1 & #2 (also moving Vandy to #11 based on @YoDore analysis).Actually, the more I think about it, #1: I'm guessing that Dawn takes the leash off Raven and allows her to run the most fast-paced and exciting (not best) SC team ever. She will be in amazing condition and they have an abundance of talent that can be shuttled in to run with her, #2: extrapolating Cardoso's vast improvement from year #1 to #2 in Columbia, & 3: maybe most importantly, when 2 teams are very close, it is psychologically advantageous to be the hunter instead of the hunted.
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Coler
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Alisa Williams was a freshman who hardly played last year and wasn't going to see the floor this season either.
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SCGamecock
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Not sure the Alisa Williams transfer announcement moves the needle for LSU.
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I edited it -- better? I did start my next paragraph with "Actually." I thought it was obvious-- glory be.
Alisa Williams was a freshman who hardly played last year and wasn't going to see the floor this season either.
I was hoping to elicit conversation from my 2nd paragraph.
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I’ll just put my 2 cents in here: I think SC is still the team to beat in the SEC. I expect them to finish undefeated in conference. I’m not sure how may more years this will be true, but I find it hard to bet against them for the present.
Although I have been critical of her in-game coaching, I think Dawn is supremely good at program-building and developmental training, and she’s done it all mainly in the old fashioned way, through recruiting. This bodes extremely well for the near future.
Although I have been critical of her in-game coaching, I think Dawn is supremely good at program-building and developmental training, and she’s done it all mainly in the old fashioned way, through recruiting. This bodes extremely well for the near future.
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I completely agree with your assessments regarding Coach Staley. I think that an undefeated season is a bold prediction as 3 through 7 look much better this year (and obviously LSU is loaded with a great in-game coach).
Looking at my predicted 3 & 4 teams, I think that Tennessee will incorporate their transfers more seamlessly than last year, especially Destinee, who I anticipate being a fan favorite as both a facilitator as well as a scorer with a high basketball IQ and a comfortable Rickea should have an incredible year, helping her WNBA stock. I have been critical of Coach Purcell's in-game coaching, but I think that having Lauren Park-Lane as a 5th year point guard will cover-up some of those deficiencies and they have a really nice blend of returnees, transfers, and freshmen.
Very interesting. I think they lost a lot of talent. I wouldn't be surprised if they finished 3rd.
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They did lose a lot. But I think Cardoso is ready for a breakout senior season, maybe to be the best 5 in D1, and she's got a heckuva supporting cast, and Raven looks like she's ready. I don't think anyone in the SEC can compete with Dawn's front court, and her backcourt is at least competitive with everyone else's.
Now, you may think I'm a dreamer... but if you're surprised by this, you haven't been paying attention to my other posts.
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I don't see us going undefeated. First, we would have to beat LSU in Baton Rouge. I could see us losing that one. However, I could see us beating them in the SEC Tournament (in Greenville) when we will have been honed by experience.
We did lose a lot of talent, but there's still an abundance of talent. Probably as much or more McDonald's All Americans than anybody else even with Kitts (World Cup U-19 selection) being ineligible due to early entry into school. All 12 on the roster were top 50 with more at the top of that range and only two below top 25.
Experience is what we lost and that IS important.
My prediction is that we will split the regular season and tournament titles with LSU.
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Any other in-conference losses predicted? Don't forget their great team 2 years ago lost to Mizzou & KY.
But your comments and my (overlooked) 2nd paragraph are pretty much making the same arguments for SC overcoming losing an incredible amount of experienced talent. (no more joking on this thread for me, but I do plan to add analysis of my opinions regarding Ark, OM, and A&M in the next few weeks which will hopefully spur further discussion)
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@visitingcock is speaking cautiously here, and rightly so, because his heart is with SC and he doesn't want to jinx it. I'm speaking disinterestedly and with nothing to lose by being wrong. And I absolutely could be wrong. SC could indeed lose a game or two in conference, but I doubt it.
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Losing a “game or two” is a probabilty more than mere possibility. One can win the conference with two losses / and a national championship too (as has been shown the past two years.)
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I think SCar should be the favorite, but I doubt it will be an undefeated season.
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I think LSU will be the favorite, but I do think SC will be scary good and can absolutely beat LSU.
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LSU will finish behind SC and Tennessee.
Coler
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That would be awesome but I think you are selling them short. It will be interesting to watch it all play out. There’s only one ball so somebody’s stats will take a hit. The key will be if they are all ok with that.
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I think the pundits will pick LSU.
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My favorite SCar team was the one that didn't get to play it out, because they made shots.
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After watching AmeriCup, I think you have to slide LSU in the 3 to 5 spot in the SEC (with Ole Miss and Miss St). Yes LSU may finish as low as 5 with this roster. Reese just isn’t going to carry lsu vs better teams. She has regressed under Mulkey so far. Morrow wasn’t even good enough to make the team so doubtful she will elevate anything but will get her points. Hailey Van Lith is a volume shooter who is mostly inefficient and doesn’t play defense. Williams is an unknown if she can play at a high level. Kim has gotten by so far by mostly out talenting SEC teams but the conference continues to get stronger so she won’t be able to get away with it this year
The path to the SEC title runs through Knoxville or Columbia. Both teams have elite caliber players and a pro ready stud ready to lead their perspective teams and the coaching is superior IMO Xs and Os to the rest of the conference if you are honest with yourself
The path to the SEC title runs through Knoxville or Columbia. Both teams have elite caliber players and a pro ready stud ready to lead their perspective teams and the coaching is superior IMO Xs and Os to the rest of the conference if you are honest with yourself
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Reece won't face the same level of experience like she did in the Americup. She for sure struggled against the veteran forces in that competition. IMO only South Carolina, Tennessee and possibly Texas A&M can challenge Reece under the basket in the same way she was challenged. Honestly, of the few games I caught, she seemed out of practice. Like, she missed a few free throws that were not even in the same zipcode as the basket. I have a feeling she took some down time and was not in peak form during the tournament. Hopefully that isn't a trend for next season and she gets back to her routine. I think LSU will be just fine. I agree there are chinks in the armor, but every team has them.
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You really can’t judge players on the basis of all star teams, the players do not know one another well and do not function optimally as a team. Any team that has players that have functioNed together on a regular basis should have the advantage over a group of very good players who are learning to play as a team. I suspect LSU will be better next season than they were last season. LSU will be, in my opinion, the leading candidate for the SEC champions and I believe they will be in the mix for the NC.
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I thought Kamila’s performance was a wake up call to the rest of the SEC. The full range of her skills was on display. The only question concerns the team Dawn can put around her. I think this is Raven’s year, but 3 pt shooting is not her best thing, and this will be a weakness all season. But the team actually looks like an upgrade to me defensively — still bigger and quicker than every other team in the SEC. Can Kitts or Tessa make a contribution? That’s the same question we should ask about Mikayla Williams or del Rosario. But we know Hall and PaoPao can contribute.
LSU has a lot of offense, and some of their new pieces from last season showed they can play serious D, like Poole and Flau’jae. Whether the team can mesh is an open question, but this is Kim’s super power.
Tennessee without Horston may be stronger with Powell and Walker at the top, Rickea at the wing they look to be pretty strong. And Rickea has shown she’s ready to play D with her defensive rebounding. If Key is ready to play she’ll be tough with Hollinshead next to her. They lose a lot of offense and that puts the pressure on Rickea. Can she handle it? I can’t wait to see.
This looks to be the best season for the SEC in recent memory.
LSU has a lot of offense, and some of their new pieces from last season showed they can play serious D, like Poole and Flau’jae. Whether the team can mesh is an open question, but this is Kim’s super power.
Tennessee without Horston may be stronger with Powell and Walker at the top, Rickea at the wing they look to be pretty strong. And Rickea has shown she’s ready to play D with her defensive rebounding. If Key is ready to play she’ll be tough with Hollinshead next to her. They lose a lot of offense and that puts the pressure on Rickea. Can she handle it? I can’t wait to see.
This looks to be the best season for the SEC in recent memory.
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Something also needs to be said about the fact this roster had a lot of inexperienced players when it comes to international/FIBA competition. An All-NCAA team won in 2021 against a lot of these same teams, however that roster included players much more familiar with FIBA and the physicality that comes with it. With the exception of Betts and Barker, most of these players were in their first FIBA competition ever (if memory serves correct).
Another area of adjustment are the rules as sometimes it looked like players weren't clear on what they could do in certain situations. One example, Reese went down with the ball in one game and made the gesture for a time out thinking they would retain possession like the college game. Time outs can only be called by coaches and when play has been stopped. Not having media time outs also could have thrown some players off thinking they'd get a breather.
And to your point about all-star teams, this LSU roster has similar challenges with who is joining the squad. There's no guarantee that they'll come out of the gates like a well oiled machine. Granted they'll have more time than a few weeks, but I wouldn't be surprised if they experience some hiccups during the earlier portion of the season.
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Aw, shuudup ur po’mouthin’
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