Elite 8

[nwhoopfan]

Baseball?

Go Beavers!

My dad is a HUGE OSU baseball fan.

 

[bballnut90]

I picked UConn over Southern Cal in my bracket and I'm still kind of amazed they're going to pull this off. This must be what it was like to watch Geno when he was building the program.

Bueckers is legendary and Edwards is a very very good forward. Bueckers has been overshadowed this year by Clark but is an all time great whether she wins a title in her career or not.

 

[The deacon]

Outside of juju and Forbes, usc s starters went 5-22 incl 1-7 from 3

Yeah, and Forbes and Watkins were just 17 of 47. Nobody could shoot for USC.

JuJu was 17 of 53 for the last two games.

 

[Reypl21]

I had UConn coming out of this bracket to go to the FF. USC was a very suspicious number 1 seed IMO, and it stems from Gottlieb. This game their offense seemed like it was just hero ball. Deb Antonelli was saying a lot of ideas that she thought USC needed to do. I don't think any of those schemes were going through Gottlieb's head. The coaching gap was massive.

 

[The deacon]

I had UConn coming out of this bracket to go to the FF. USC was a very suspicious number 1 seed IMO, and it stems from Gottlieb. This game their offense seemed like it was just hero ball. Deb Antonelli was saying a lot of ideas that she thought USC needed to do. I don't think any of those schemes were going through Gottlieb's head. The coaching gap was massive.

Well said, Reypl21. Never throughout the game did it seem USC ran plays on offense or had any clue where each other were on the court.

 

[bballnut90]

I had UConn coming out of this bracket to go to the FF. USC was a very suspicious number 1 seed IMO, and it stems from Gottlieb. This game their offense seemed like it was just hero ball. Deb Antonelli was saying a lot of ideas that she thought USC needed to do. I don't think any of those schemes were going through Gottlieb's head. The coaching gap was massive.

The better coached team clearly won tonight. UCONN's execution ran circles around USC's. USC had many plays where there was no intention offensively. Just players playing hero ball, taking poor shots, and no ball movement or cutting.

USC deserved the #1 due to games they won (2x vs Stanford and UCLA, Ohio State, Colorado, Oregon State), but I thought they were a soft #1 in that they had many close games against mediocre teams. Lost to Washington, double OT vs. Arizona, 1 point win vs Penn State and another 3 point win over Arizona. Great season overall for USC and they're building a good thing in LA.

 

[jdote33]

Fun pair of games tonight. Can't lie I'm pretty ecstatic as a Uconn fan. It's gonna be hard to go to sleep. But I wanted to say, USC is in a really good place. Obviously great coach. But Juju, is right there with Clark as one of the scariest players to watch when ur team is going against her. I know her percentages aren't great at times, but every time she had the ball I was petrified. And in the open court she's special. I really don't know too many players who put pressure on the rim like she does. I guess Cotie McMahon from OSU does, and has the killer spin move, but I just think Juju is a bit better in transition. Anyways, they have a super talented freshman class coming in. So the Ivy trio did a great job of being like a bridge, but now they have a top recruiting class that Juju will grow with.

 

[Vowelguy]

Bueckers is legendary and Edwards is a very very good forward. Bueckers has been overshadowed this year by Clark but is an all time great whether she wins a title in her career or not.

Bueckers has gotten better as the year has gone on. I think she was still recovering.

She has learned to assert herself more. Before she wanted to try to get others involved. Now she knows she has to take greater control.

 

[Plebe]

I gotta say I'm pretty disappointed overall by the performance of the Pac 12. Plenty of good teams, no great teams. And now the conference no longer exists (well after baseball and softball wrap up), so bah humbug!

I thought for sure the Pac-12 would get at least one team into the final weekend, but alas, if the last spot had to come down to the Pac-12 or the Big East ... I'm glad the good guys won this one.

And of all the P12 teams who could have gone through, it shouldn't have been USC or UCLA whose surprise departure triggered the whole immolation of the conference.

 

[Plebe]

The better coached team clearly won tonight. UCONN's execution ran circles around USC's. USC had many plays where there was no intention offensively. Just players playing hero ball, taking poor shots, and no ball movement or cutting.

That's how USC played this entire season, and I was forever amazed they were so successful in big games against good teams with that style of play.

 

[jdote33]

I also wanna say, and no excuses, but I'm not sure if Angel Reese ever recovered from her ankle injury. She was 6-8 and dominating. Then she tweaked her ankle and they kinda lost the momentum. But as far as Reese goes, I get all the critiques as far as her skillset. But. anyone think she could be a Draymond Green type. With her ball skills and her defense. IDK. I can't think of another player like that in the W. I guess Alyssa Thomas but it's totally different. But as much as she can develop, her competitiveness and overall ballskills seem like they would allow her to make an impact at the next level. Also there are so many W teams with a lot of size at different positions. So I'm thinking a team like Dallas that has Satou or even Minnesota that has Diamond Miller and Phee who she played with, they can allow her to play like a unique positionless role.

 

[bballnut90]

I also wanna say, and no excuses, but I'm not sure if Angel Reese ever recovered from her ankle injury. She was 6-8 and dominating. Then she tweaked her ankle and they kinda lost the momentum. But as far as Reese goes, I get all the critiques as far as her skillset. But. anyone think she could be a Draymond Green type. With her ball skills and her defense. IDK. I can't think of another player like that in the W. I guess Alyssa Thomas but it's totally different. But as much as she can develop, her competitiveness and overall ballskills seem like they would allow her to make an impact at the next level. Also there are so many W teams with a lot of size at different positions. So I'm thinking a team like Dallas that has Satou or even Minnesota that has Diamond Miller and Phee who she played with, they can allow her to play like a unique positionless role.

I could see a Draymond or a Dennis Rodman type. I've mentioned Glory Johnson as an example in the WNBA of a high motor, very athletic but kind of a frenzied player that isn't very smooth offensively. Her shot is likely her worst attribute, but she's quite good in all other areas. Incredible rebounder, great defender, passes well and is unselfish. Her handle is good for her size but she's a high dribbler and really shouldn't be handling the ball much at the next level. If she goes pro this year I think people are foolish to let her drop past 6-7. If she sticks around another year I think she's a lottery pick in 2025 along with Morrow, Bueckers and Iriafen.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

LSU ran out of the arena for the National Anthem…have the done that all year?

Possibly. Back in the day, most teams did. Then, it became a political statement to line up for the anthem. Arizona teams (and back when we were following Rutgers) the team started lining up because the fans wanted it. But we had a couple visiting teams that left the court for the national anthem this year. We actually had one that left the court to huddle up during player introductions.

Unless teams are doing it to make a statement, I'm perfectly ok with them leaving. However, if a team is representing the USA, that's a whole different situation.

 

[bballnut90]

LSU ran out of the arena for the National Anthem…have the done that all year?

Kim was asked about it during the press conference, sounded like it was purely a coincidence rather than a statement like we've seen with other teams in the past.

 

[JstVisiting]

Bueckers is legendary and Edwards is a very very good forward. Bueckers has been overshadowed this year by Clark but is an all time great whether she wins a title in her career or not.

I know. Like I said, I picked them on the day the brackets came out, but it was purely on faith in the best player and best coach in that region. There still doing this with six players, made tougher tonight by an unforgiving whistle. Three players going 40 minutes two days after a grueling sweet sixteen rock fight is crazy. And let's not pretend they were competitive with elite opponents in the regular season.

Honestly, can only imagine what this must be like for UConn fans. It's been a quarter-century since they were anything but the Big Bad, and string of terrible injury luck has made this particular team into overachievers and favorite of many neutrals.

 

[cancontent]

Fun pair of games tonight. Can't lie I'm pretty ecstatic as a Uconn fan. It's gonna be hard to go to sleep. But I wanted to say, USC is in a really good place. Obviously great coach. But Juju, is right there with Clark as one of the scariest players to watch when ur team is going against her. I know her percentages aren't great at times, but every time she had the ball I was petrified. And in the open court she's special. I really don't know too many players who put pressure on the rim like she does. I guess Cotie McMahon from OSU does, and has the killer spin move, but I just think Juju is a bit better in transition. Anyways, they have a super talented freshman class coming in. So the Ivy trio did a great job of being like a bridge, but now they have a top recruiting class that Juju will grow with.

Watkins has a more well rounded game compared to McMahon, but they both have insane motors. The thought of those two competing against each other at least once a year for the next couple seasons sounds like fun.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Impressed with McKenzie Forbes. She looks like a pro to me.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

What's Van Lith's next move? The LSU move has not been kind and she can't guard anyone. Shooting is down this year, but that's probably temporary.

 

[Geew1992]

What's Van Lith's next move? The LSU move has not been kind and she can't guard anyone. Shooting is down this year, but that's probably temporary.

Rumor is the portal. She also isn't ready for the W

 

[JstVisiting]

What's Van Lith's next move? The LSU move has not been kind and she can't guard anyone. Shooting is down this year, but that's probably temporary.

Feel like she has to leave LSU. They done her wrong all year.

 

[cancontent]

Rumor is the portal. She also isn't ready for the W

Dang, and it hasn't been 24 hours before the portal comes up.

 

[Geew1992]

Dang, and it hasn't been 24 hours before the portal comes up.

I don't know how true, but what else can she do? LSU isn't it for her.

 

[cancontent]

I don't know how true, but what else can she do? LSU isn't it for her.

In agreement with you on that. It's just how quickly those rumours start, regardless of there's any truth to it.

 

[Vowelguy]

This is funny

 

[cancontent]

This is funny

The shooting percentage versus volume talking point is tired. Especially when her season stats prove it to be incorrect.

Not a Clark stan, as they say. Have a hard time with narratives that are nowhere close to being accurate. These types of posts don't help things regardless who the player is.