Gamecocks 2022

[TC22]

Would love to see that. She’s that 3 point specialist that we have been missing. She can shoot it from way back.

 

[Heytherego]

Hoping it's Emma Hirsch as she is on campus

Kk Arnold was also there

 

[Gamecockfan77]

I can’t see Amihere spending significant amount of time at the 3, but I can see her there in a pinch in lineups that are meant to get her the ball.

I think the long term vision for Amihere is for her to be a face up forward. In the mold of A’ja. She has good shooting motion and is really good off the bounce. At this point in their careers, I think A’ja was a better midrange shooter, but I think Amihere is the better dribbler, and her first step is MUCH quicker. Amihere has some of the quickest feet I’ve seen in a forward in a long time. If she can put a 1 dribble pull up together (something A’ja mastered by her senior year) with her quick first step and ball handling she will be a dangerous forward facing the basket.

I'm not sure what's wrong with letting forwards be forwards.

being a guard is more fun and that's why the kids want to be wings instead of bigs, but it's the rare case that someone of size is actually great on the wing.

I do not Amihere really makes sense there.

Even if Beal brings nothing more offensively she's going to out defend Amihere.

to me, Carolina can live with one low performing offensive position, but maybe not two and win a title.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Kk Arnold was also there

I too would rather have the shooter, though a point guard (at least backup quality) is important for this class.

 

[SCGamecock]

I remember some people scoffing when SC first offered Risch well over a year ago.. Now she’s a stock riser with offers from most of the SEC/ACC

 

[Creature]

Hoping it's Emma Hirsch as she is on campus

Risch not Hirsch my friend

 

[Creature]

Would love to see that. She’s that 3 point specialist that we have been missing. She can shoot it from way back.

I think Emma has an evolved skillset beyond just spot up 3s. She is 3 level player- 3pt-mid range -drive score drive kick imo.

 

[mikeboss550]

Risch not Hirsch my friend

Autocorrect strikes again, I spelt risch. Oh well you all knew who it was meant to be.

 

[SCspur]

Big time for LA!! Playing in the Olympics will be huge for her going into her last two seasons.

Canada selects versatile Olympic women's squad that's ready to contend

Fast, versatile, athletic. These are three words that most appropriately describe the roster for the Canadian women’s national basketball team roster that will be heading to the Tokyo Games later this summer.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[SCGamecock]

Big time for LA!! Playing in the Olympics will be huge for her going into her last two seasons.

Canada selects versatile Olympic women's squad that's ready to contend

Fast, versatile, athletic. These are three words that most appropriately describe the roster for the Canadian women’s national basketball team roster that will be heading to the Tokyo Games later this summer.

www.sportsnet.ca

Article had great things to say about Amihere specifically. Love it.

 

[TC22]

Article had great things to say about Amihere specifically. Love it.

Spectacular is a great word! Cant wait to watch her play.

 

[GamecockFam]

Way to put in the hard work LA!

It's really easy to see Dawn's fingerprints on her development. All the compliments she received in the Americup I believe were due to the work she has put into Dawn Staley's system. Her toughness and working through contact are direct results of being a big in the Gamecock basketball program. I remember she would get sooo annoyed as a freshman when she would get dog-piled under the basket. Now she uses that anger as fuel and it really showed when compared against her counterparts on the Canadian Americup team.

I hope Canada gets silver (USA! USA! USA!) and LA has a part in it!

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Article had great things to say about Amihere specifically. Love it.

Laeticia has so much talent and potential.

 

[Dwilliams02]

Laeticia has so much talent and potential.

Can't wait to see how much she sprouts this year. Hopefully she shows out.

I may get heat for this, but her ceiling is higher than Boston. That does not mean she's the better player. Just could be if she reaches it

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Can't wait to see how much she sprouts this year. Hopefully she shows out.

I may get heat for this, but her ceiling is higher than Boston. That does not mean she's the better player. Just could be if she reaches it

It's a common sentiment that I don't happen to agree with.

Boston could reshape her body a tad and become a more dominant post scorer while continuing to expand her range. All of those things are works in progress.

 

[GoChips20]

It's a common sentiment that I don't happen to agree with.

Boston could reshape her body a tad and become a more dominant post scorer while continuing to expand her range. All of those things are works in progress.

Genuine question because I’m truly not sure: if the WNBA draft were tomorrow, where would Boston be taken? For purposes of this exercise, exclude Bueckers/Clark from eligibility (I know that’s senseless, but they’re both guards and will clearly go 1-2 when it’s their time).

I think last year she would have been the #2 overall pick after Ionescu.

 

[GamecockFam]

Genuine question because I’m truly not sure: if the WNBA draft were tomorrow, where would Boston be taken? For purposes of this exercise, exclude Bueckers/Clark from eligibility (I know that’s senseless, but they’re both guards and will clearly go 1-2 when it’s their time).

I think last year she would have been the #2 overall pick after Ionescu.

I would argue that she has the best resume of all 2-year players. That would indicate her as the #1 draft prospect in her class at this point in their careers. Depending on future team needs and prospect development over their final two years I could see Haley Jones eventually moving up the draft boards ahead of Boston. If the draft was today and every college prospect were available, I think she would be taken second behind Paige.

I definitely don't see her going further down than the #3 draft pick no matter how other players develop over the next two seasons.

 

[shiverz45]

Can't wait to see how much she sprouts this year. Hopefully she shows out.

I may get heat for this, but her ceiling is higher than Boston. That does not mean she's the better player. Just could be if she reaches it

Myself and a few others thought she would be the best pro in the 2019 class when it was all said and done. I expect both Boston and Amihere to be top 5 picks in a couple of years.

 

[JDuro]

Not the birdie in the nest but USC is in her Top 12.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Genuine question because I’m truly not sure: if the WNBA draft were tomorrow, where would Boston be taken? For purposes of this exercise, exclude Bueckers/Clark from eligibility (I know that’s senseless, but they’re both guards and will clearly go 1-2 when it’s their time).

I think last year she would have been the #2 overall pick after Ionescu.

I'm definitely not an expert in the WNBA draft, but if you are excluding Bueckers/Clark, probably Rhyne Howard (but maybe not). Maybe if you had a continued Haley Jones breakout. Cunane maybe. Nalyssa Smith?

#2 or #3 is certainly reasonable guess.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Myself and a few others thought she would be the best pro in the 2019 class when it was all said and done. I expect both Boston and Amihere to be top 5 picks in a couple of years.

I'm slowly working through some of the Americup games.

I see a very similar Amihere who is given a lot more of a green light to create plays from the perimeter who was also not facing any defenses that were trying to take charges.

She got herself into many of the same bad spots and took some of the same ill advised shots. Can't deny she was blowing past the Brazilian front line though. Again, I'm not sure that college defenses aren't better than that though.

Cardoso on the other hand was basically asked to set high screens on offense and just about nothing else. They seemed to prioritize putting their veterans on the floor. I think Dawn is going to help her tremendously with her defense (right now her footwork looks bad) and you can be sure that she'll get more touches.

 

[ConwayGmck]

Can't wait to see how much she sprouts this year. Hopefully she shows out.

I may get heat for this, but her ceiling is higher than Boston. That does not mean she's the better player. Just could be if she reaches it

Amihere has a skill set that enables her better than Boston to create her own shot opportunities. Boston has been developing her perimeter shooting more, but its a skill set that she will have to work on to adapt and add to what she already has, while Amihere looks like a player who developed her game more as a guard or face-the-basket player who then sprouted to her length, than a true back-to-the basket post like Boston. Kind of in the vein of A'ja Wilson, who once was a guard and then all a sudden was 6-5.

Now, Boston's ceiling is very high as well - especially if she is able to get her close-range shooting efficiency back more like what it was as a freshman. Aliyah has tremendous touch from either side of the basket making it very hard to body her out of her strengths, and her rebounding and shot-blocking is exceptional. If she can start hitting the square on the backboard with greater consistency, she's virtually unstoppable in the paint. Last season she basically defended herself as well as anyone else did against her.

But the age-old basketball truism applies to Boston much more than it does with Amihere: Boston is dependent on the kindness of whomever guards playing with her to feed her the ball, to generate her offense.

And while Amihere is a more streaky player that can explode in rebounding and blocks close to what Boston can generate, she's also more inclined to have games where those numbers don't materialize, although we must remember that she's been a bench reserve thus far in her college career, and hasn't averaged the minutes that Boston has.

But Amihere is better able to dribble-drive and slash and dash with the handles than Boston is at this stage, and I think always will be unless Boston changes herself into something other than what she's been to this point. And that gives Amihere the better upside to develop into a major offensive threat, without having to give a damn about her teammate's willingness to pass her the ball......

 

[cancontent]

Way to put in the hard work LA!

It's really easy to see Dawn's fingerprints on her development. All the compliments she received in the Americup I believe were due to the work she has put into Dawn Staley's system. Her toughness and working through contact are direct results of being a big in the Gamecock basketball program. I remember she would get sooo annoyed as a freshman when she would get dog-piled under the basket. Now she uses that anger as fuel and it really showed when compared against her counterparts on the Canadian Americup team.

I hope Canada gets silver (USA! USA! USA!) and LA has a part in it!

It's also great to see her finally rounding into what people thought she could be when she was in high school. Losing one season to an ACL sucks. Losing a second due to another can be devastating for a lot of players. Had she not suffered those injuries, it's scary to think what she'd be like now.

I think her making the team is a testament not only to what Dawn and the coaching staff have done, but her mental toughness and commitment to get better. I recall there being chatter in Canada that she sometimes didn't want to listen or take recommendations from CB and coaches. Can't say that now based on what we've seen late during the NCAA and Americup.

Now, my hope is that she doesn't put too much pressure on herself. This is a Canadian team that have probably the highest expectations for a program in some time (men's / women's, depending on how the men's do at qualifiers). She just needs to continue trusting herself and playing how she is. Canada and USC fans are proud regardless in my opinion.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Amihere has a skill set that enables her better than Boston to create her own shot opportunities. Boston has been developing her perimeter shooting more, but its a skill set that she will have to work on to adapt and add to what she already has, while Amihere looks like a player who developed her game more as a guard or face-the-basket player who then sprouted to her length, than a true back-to-the basket post like Boston. Kind of in the vein of A'ja Wilson, who once was a guard and then all a sudden was 6-5.

Now, Boston's ceiling is very high as well - especially if she is able to get her close-range shooting efficiency back more like what it was as a freshman. Aliyah has tremendous touch from either side of the basket making it very hard to body her out of her strengths, and her rebounding and shot-blocking is exceptional. If she can start hitting the square on the backboard with greater consistency, she's virtually unstoppable in the paint. Last season she basically defended herself as well as anyone else did against her.

But the age-old basketball truism applies to Boston much more than it does with Amihere: Boston is dependent on the kindness of whomever guards playing with her to feed her the ball, to generate her offense.

And while Amihere is a more streaky player that can explode in rebounding and blocks close to what Boston can generate, she's also more inclined to have games where those numbers don't materialize, although we must remember that she's been a bench reserve thus far in her college career, and hasn't averaged the minutes that Boston has.

But Amihere is better able to dribble-drive and slash and dash with the handles than Boston is at this stage, and I think always will be unless Boston changes herself into something other than what she's been to this point. And that gives Amihere the better upside to develop into a major offensive threat, without having to give a damn about her teammate's willingness to pass her the ball......

Amihere can't consistently keep herself in the lineup at the college level. It's sort of ridiculous to say she is better at getting off a shot than an All American, particularly when she has so many attempts stripped, blocked or jammed into the bottom of the rim.

 

[SCspur]

Amihere can't consistently keep herself in the lineup at the college level. It's sort of ridiculous to say she is better at getting off a shot than an All American, particularly when she has so many attempts stripped, blocked or jammed into the bottom of the rim.

She was literally coming off ACL surgery and playing with a brace her first year and this year being the actual first time she’s been healthy since her sophomore season. She’s definitely improving and has her best basketball ahead of her.