Gamecocks 2022, Part II

[triaddukefan]

Scrimmages are not about winning or losing. It's about seeing different setups and combinations. The score is not even a factor.

I understand.. But lemme have some fun pecking at the chickens while I still can. Got a few more days

 

[JDuro]

Thread

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

I understand.. But lemme have some fun pecking at the chickens while I still can. Got a few more days

Be careful pecking or you might get egg on your face.

 

[triaddukefan]

Be careful pecking or you might get egg on your face.

I've had a bird poop on my head before, so an egg in the face would be a walk in the park.

 

[triaddukefan]

Is it too early to hope for snow on Dec 15? Asking for a friend.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

That's a more than acceptable start to the season.

Hopefully will be a little but probably not much looser with playing time in South Dakota, then empty the benches for the tater mashing of Clemson.

Then back to tight lineups for the Islands.

 

[GamecockFam]

I thought that Cooke looked like the most improved player. She made really good shot choices.

I'm excited any anyone else to see the freshmen but I think it was unrealistic to think that they would get playtime against a top 5 opponent in the first game of their career.

The defense looks like it is picking up from where it stopped at the end of the last season. I think the problem here will be the ability to substitute new players without them becoming a liability.

Littleton looks to have improved over the off-season. It looks like she'll be the first off the bench when we need a 3-point threat.

Boston, Amihere, Henderson and Beal look to be continuing where they stopped. Nothing much to say at this point. I'll be excited to see how Saxton's and Beal's offensive output will increase as the season progresses. We saw some signs that they worked on their jump shots. I hope that we see their confidence grow in those shots as the season progresses.

Overall it was a good start to a season! We're going to be a defensive nightmare for the majority of th teams we play. I think the story this season will be about the progression of the freshmen and Cardoso. I expect Dawn will want a few of them to develop and become major contributors by the tournament. Go Gamecocks!

 

[GoChips20]

I thought that Cooke looked like the most improved player. She made really good shot choices.

I'm excited any anyone else to see the freshmen but I think it was unrealistic to think that they would get playtime against a top 5 opponent in the first game of their career.

The defense looks like it is picking up from where it stopped at the end of the last season. I think the problem here will be the ability to substitute new players without them becoming a liability.

Littleton looks to have improved over the off-season. It looks like she'll be the first off the bench when we need a 3-point threat.

Boston, Amihere, Henderson and Beal look to be continuing where they stopped. Nothing much to say at this point. I'll be excited to see how Saxton's and Beal's offensive output will increase as the season progresses. We saw some signs that they worked on their jump shots. I hope that we see their confidence grow in those shots as the season progresses.

Overall it was a good start to a season! We're going to be a defensive nightmare for the majority of th teams we play. I think the story this season will be about the progression of the freshmen and Cardoso. I expect Dawn will want a few of them to develop and become major contributors by the tournament. Go Gamecocks!

I thought Amihere looked much better and Boston much fitter and faster.

 

[visitingcock]

Okay.

Next up a solid South Dakota program.

 

[JDuro]

 

[Tank]

Amihere is going to be the breakout player this year, the super recruits will need to bide their time and wait for opportunities to play. Saxton is a great team player, but Amihere is dynamic and super elite athlete, expect Saxton to lose playing time. Would love to see Rivers develop as the number 2 at the 3 spot and take minutes from Beal as season progresses, Beal is glue but nothing special on offense. Raven will spot duty Henny and Cooke some. Feagin will wait and develop behind the experienced bigs this year. Hall is a likely defensive type sub for the 2 and 3 spots at certain times. Will take a month or more for Staley to juggle and decide how the team looks down the stretch lineup wise, but Amihere is likely going to be playing in the crunch minutes and not Sexton.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I agree that Cooke especially and Amihere made good decisions.

Cooke is maybe always going to be a bit of a difficult shot maker but I didn't have any objections to her selection yesterday.

Hall I think has been running ahead of Rivers all along and it's likely the defense. I think we will see Rivers more though.

Saxton being a captain and senior might not fall out of starting lineup but I think we are at the point where minutes might go down.

I will say that in game 1 there was a big difference in the defense with Boston anchoring vs Cardoso.

Getting the newcomers playing great defense will be a process but it will be fine.

 

[Tank]

I think based on the ACCN games I watched after she committed that you are right that she has work to do defensively, especially when she has to hedge to the perimeter.

not sure about conditioning.

but man she can run, and catch, and convert buckets in transition smoothly. A little bit of post game too I thought.

not sure how much dedicated weight work she's gotten with the travel this summer.

coach will improve her defense or we'll continue to see Saxton/Amihere a fair amount.

she's a decent bet for the All American center at some point.

Wasn’t she ACC def poy?

 

[Tank]

When SC plays Boston, Cooke, Henderson and Amihere (4 best currently) that leaves Staley a choice to either play Beal, Rivers or Cordosa in the last spot during crunch time, depending on if she wants speed/offense (Rivers), size/post D (Cordova) or smarts (Beal).
If she gets it right, watch out. Rivers needs a month or more to make that move, but she is that good. Raven will spot duty Henny and Cooke all year. Amihere can play 3 or 4.

 

[ConwayGmck]

I thought Amihere looked much better and Boston much fitter and faster.

I really think that Laeticia's involvement in the Americup and Olympics is going to do wonders for her development this season. She was with her national team as a freshman, but with wearing the leg brace and really being more of a student with that team than an equal, I don't think she got a lot out of it. But this past offseason being more of a leader on her national teams I think gave her a huge boost of confidence. She's gong to want to be more of a leader with the Gamecocks this season, and compete for sixth-player of the year honors, if not starter's minutes......

 

[ConwayGmck]

When SC plays Boston, Cooke, Henderson and Amihere (4 best currently) that leaves Staley a choice to either play Beal, Rivers or Cordosa in the last spot during crunch time, depending on if she wants speed/offense (Rivers), size/post D (Cordova) or smarts (Beal).
If she gets it right, watch out. Rivers needs a month or more to make that move, but she is that good. Raven will spot duty Henny and Cooke all year. Amihere can play 3 or 4.

And playing Saxton, Hall, even Littleton more for defensive purposes - although Littleton looks like she wants to score points too - when heavy defense is needed.

It gives Staley the opportunity to rotate all the above without there being much of a drop-off in game production, to keep those top players fresher so that when there IS a "crunch time" in tight games, Staley can put those top players back in the game, and they won't be saddled with fouls, or be gassed when they are needed most to execute and produce.

As you point out here, Staley has plenty of options.....

 

[GamecockFam]

Minor pet peeve of mine right now but it's spelled Cardoso on the back of her jersey...not Cardosa, Cardozo, Cordova or whatever other spelling I'm seeing being tossed around this board at the moment. Everyone please take note! Thank you!

You're all forgiven of your sins, now go forth and spread the gospel of the Gamecock!

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Minor pet peeve of mine right now but it's spelled Cardoso on the back of her jersey...not Cardosa, Cardozo, Cordova or whatever other spelling I'm seeing being tossed around this board at the moment. Everyone please take note! Thank you!

You're all forgiven of your sins, now go forth and spread the gospel of the Gamecock!

I'll take all those variations of Cardoso over Silva like they did during the Americup. It was really confusing to me.

 

[JonathanXIV]

Amihere is going to be the breakout player this year, the super recruits will need to bide their time and wait for opportunities to play. Saxton is a great team player, but Amihere is dynamic and super elite athlete, expect Saxton to lose playing time. Would love to see Rivers develop as the number 2 at the 3 spot and take minutes from Beal as season progresses, Beal is glue but nothing special on offense. Raven will spot duty Henny and Cooke some. Feagin will wait and develop behind the experienced bigs this year. Hall is a likely defensive type sub for the 2 and 3 spots at certain times. Will take a month or more for Staley to juggle and decide how the team looks down the stretch lineup wise, but Amihere is likely going to be playing in the crunch minutes and not Sexton.

I find your post, and others on this topic, interesting in light of the preseason projections. For instance, virtually every preseason artoc;e about South Carolina mentioned their #1 recruiting class as a key reason for their high rating. Particularly since many of the recruiting class rankings place considerable value on the number of recruits in the class.

Let's face it. South Carolina was a Final Four team last year and returns everyone. They were going to be a top ranked team with no recruits, let alone five highly ranked players. But, as noted above, improvement for this year's team will likely rely more on the improvement of returning players, such as Amihere, and a transfer than on the contributions of the freshman.

I also think that the number of freshman recruits is over valued. Generally significant contributions from freshman are more likely from one outstanding freshman (see Bueckers, Clark) than contributions from a number of freshman. In the case of South Carolina, I think it more likely that your freshman contributions will come disproportionately from Rivers, as opposed to a number of your freshman making significant contributions.

Of course, all of this applies to UConn as well. And it's not to say that many of these freshman will not eventually make enormous contributions to their programs. But relying on numerous freshman for a team's improvement is usually an unlikely proposition. This should serve to temper expectations when projecting huge improvements based on a recruiting class. A remind us that often the sought after improvements are already in the locker room.

 

[ConwayGmck]

I find your post, and others on this topic, interesting in light of the preseason projections. For instance, virtually every preseason artoc;e about South Carolina mentioned their #1 recruiting class as a key reason for their high rating. Particularly since many of the recruiting class rankings place considerable value on the number of recruits in the class.

Let's face it. South Carolina was a Final Four team last year and returns everyone. They were going to be a top ranked team with no recruits, let alone five highly ranked players. But, as noted above, improvement for this year's team will likely rely more on the improvement of returning players, such as Amihere, and a transfer than on the contributions of the freshman.

I also think that the number of freshman recruits is over valued. Generally significant contributions from freshman are more likely from one outstanding freshman (see Bueckers, Clark) than contributions from a number of freshman. In the case of South Carolina, I think it more likely that your freshman contributions will come disproportionately from Rivers, as opposed to a number of your freshman making significant contributions.

Of course, all of this applies to UConn as well. And it's not to say that many of these freshman will not eventually make enormous contributions to their programs. But relying on numerous freshman for a team's improvement is usually an unlikely proposition. This should serve to temper expectations when projecting huge improvements based on a recruiting class. A remind us that often the sought after improvements are already in the locker room.

From all the articles I've read, the addition of the #1 class was just one of several aspects why the team was ranked so highly. I can't say I've read one where the class was a "key" reason, as in, a or THE primary reason.

As you've already pointed out, the team returns all of its starters - in fact, all of its entire roster - from a team that itself was pre-season ranked #1 for 2020-21, that reached the 2021 Final Four and was a tip-in away from playing for the 2021 national title. That was mentioned in all the articles. In addition to that returning cast, South Carolina added a transfer big in Cardoso that was highly regarded - most were already recognizing that Boston, as talented a post as she is, was often over-burdened against many opponents last season, and thus to add a quality all-Power Five Conference post to the depth to spell Boston some minutes was perceived as nothing less than a coup of sorts for Staley and her staff. That was mentioned in those articles too.

And then finally, the addition of the #1 class to add quality depth to that team overall that was lacking in such depth, was also mentioned. Cardoso went a LONG ways in adding depth to the frontcourt, but the backccourt behind Henderson and Cooke was also sorely needing, as well as more consistent contributions from the 3 spot. The class at the minimum seemed to provide that depth.

So I think there was very little thought process in the articles that ANY of the class of freshmen were expected to come in and earn starting roles, or even starter's minutes. But that the sheer TALENT of the class may very well provide it just the same. At the least, it makes an already stout team worthy of national title contention even more worthy. And I think THAT was what those articles I read, were all saying.....

But coming into this season, the team needed an unquestioned #2 at PG behind Henderson, and an unquestioned #2 at the SG position behind Cooke. Staley wants to run a fast-paced up-tempo offense to capitalize on the team's speed, and with Henny and Zia being top scoring options for the team they can't be expected to be running all game long and average 40 mpg. We didn't really have that consistently last season for them.

At the 3, Beal developed and established herself as a top defensive stopper, but was a bit challenged offensively. She took strides forward from her freshman season, but still playing defense can be tiring.

Raven is the heir-apparent for the time being to Henderson's job, and is the #2 PG. She's where Henderson was behind Ty Harris 2 years ago. Rivers is expected to start rotating in for Cooke but right now senior Littleton has been stepping up, albeit for just one game. Rivers is an outstanding offensive talent but needs some refining of her defensive game. She'll get planty of playing time as the season progresses. Bree Hall was always sort of slotted in to possibly rotating with Beal - as it is, she's seemingly gotten an inch or two taller than she was perceived to be as just a signee of the class, and she's pleasantly surprised Staley with her defensive skillsets, so if anything she's sort of a Brea Beal v.2. So she's gotten early PT thus far for that, and that helps keep Beal fresher, but we're still waiting on the offensive aspect for the position.

Those three (3) freshmen were all expected to factor in for substantial minutes this season off the bench, with only Feagin buried a bit further down the depth chart, and this was the case even before Cardoso became an element to the equation. But overall it gives the staff more options, gives the veteran starters more rest and relief of pressure, and keeps the pressure on opponents for a full 40 minutes a game as the team is better able to keeping coming in waves, as opposed to taking portions of the game off where the production subsides with a talent drop-off from reserves coming into the game in critical junctures, where normally they should come in only for mop-up duty.....

 

[Tank]

I find your post, and others on this topic, interesting in light of the preseason projections. For instance, virtually every preseason artoc;e about South Carolina mentioned their #1 recruiting class as a key reason for their high rating. Particularly since many of the recruiting class rankings place considerable value on the number of recruits in the class.

Let's face it. South Carolina was a Final Four team last year and returns everyone. They were going to be a top ranked team with no recruits, let alone five highly ranked players. But, as noted above, improvement for this year's team will likely rely more on the improvement of returning players, such as Amihere, and a transfer than on the contributions of the freshman.

I also think that the number of freshman recruits is over valued. Generally significant contributions from freshman are more likely from one outstanding freshman (see Bueckers, Clark) than contributions from a number of freshman. In the case of South Carolina, I think it more likely that your freshman contributions will come disproportionately from Rivers, as opposed to a number of your freshman making significant contributions.

Of course, all of this applies to UConn as well. And it's not to say that many of these freshman will not eventually make enormous contributions to their programs. But relying on numerous freshman for a team's improvement is usually an unlikely proposition. This should serve to temper expectations when projecting huge improvements based on a recruiting class. A remind us that often the sought after improvements are already in the locker room.

Never said the freshmen would be integral, said a few might find a role. And yeah, Amihere and Cordosa have alot to do with that.

You spoke out of both sides tbh in your post. You contradicted yourself, look and see.

I said it straight. Yourself? You “prosed” and “fluffed” for what, 4 paragraphs? Only to circle back and contradict your own self?

I’m just trying to understand WTH you were trying to communicate.

 

[GamecockFam]

I think one of Dawn's recent interviews gives her perspective on the role she expects the freshmen to fill this year -- or at least at this point. She said that she wants them to "hold serve", which to me meant that she isn't expecting them to win the game for us but she also won't play anyone who is a liability. It seems their role is be inserted to give the starters a breather and just maintain what the starters have produced.

I think she has more expectations for Raven as she is the heiress to the throne next season or if Henny gets injured this season. She will probably get the most playing time just because of that. Obviously, things can change and it seems that Rivers is the most likely candidate to go from "holding serve" to bonafide playmaker as a freshman. But all of that is conjecture right now. I, for one, cannot wait to watch them grow before our eyes!

 

[visitingcock]

Never said the freshmen would be integral, said a few might find a role. And yeah, Amihere and Cordosa have alot to do with that.

You spoke out of both sides tbh in your post. You contradicted yourself, look and see.

I said it straight. Yourself? You “prosed” and “fluffed” for what, 4 paragraphs? Only to circle back and contradict your own self?

I’m just trying to understand WTH you were trying to communicate.

This ain't Taternet. We are welcomed here.

 

[TC22]

Never said the freshmen would be integral, said a few might find a role. And yeah, Amihere and Cordosa have alot to do with that.

You spoke out of both sides tbh in your post. You contradicted yourself, look and see.

I said it straight. Yourself? You “prosed” and “fluffed” for what, 4 paragraphs? Only to circle back and contradict your own self?

I’m just trying to understand WTH you were trying to communicate.

You might want to temper it down a bit. We are guests here. Don't ruin it for the rest of us. And it's Cardoso.

 

[JDuro]

Already announcing a year in advance.