Gamecocks basketball, 2023 part I (merged thread)

[SCGamecock]

I am VERY excited about Raven Johnson. I haven’t felt this optimistic about a freshmen point guard since Ty Harris. Raven just has it.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Her and Cardoso are a good duo to start with that’s for sure! I said it in April Saxton should’ve moved on and I still stand by that statement. Feagin and Watkins really could’ve been getting those minutes and possibly could’ve been thriving in them.

South Carolina really didn't play many more people than UConn, but I suppose the knowledge that we could have was helpful.

But yeah, I'd rather have developed the forwards more than see Saxton legacy minutes, no offense intended to her.

 

[Creature]

South Carolina really didn't play many more people than UConn, but I suppose the knowledge that we could have was helpful.

But yeah, I'd rather have developed the forwards more than see Saxton legacy minutes, no offense intended to her.

Yeah..the downside of V coming back is that she is no better than last year and she is killing the development for Watkins and Feagans

 

[Heytherego]

Really solid win for SC despite not playing their best game. Started slow in the first but just wore out UCONN by the end, despite the Huskies making a final push.

In terms of players:

Boston-started slow, absolutely dominated the second half. I think Clark is the clear cut POY but I’m not sure any other player’s impact on both ends is as significant as Boston. She just draws so much attention and makes the most of her opportunities.

Cooke-poor shooting night and had some really bad choice of shots in the early second half. Once SC went away from her they thrived. I thought she played really solid defense on LLS.

Raven Johnson-brilliant game for her and I think she’s cemented herself as the top point guard. 14 points, 7 assists, 0 TO in 36 minutes and played great defense. I thought she was baited into too many perimeter shots in the second but overall this was the best game I’ve seen from her all year.

Cardoso-played well, got the brunt of make up fouls at the end of the game and had the tech. Really good game aside from the T. She’s really coming into her own, and the combo of her and Boston is darn near unstoppable with how good both are on the glass and finishing around the rim.

I was surprised with how short SC’s bench was. Probably a good sign for them though since they still have a multitude of weapons and depth available if there’s foul trouble or if a star has an off game. The team needs to close out games better—too many fouls down the stretch, a bad T by Cardoso and they created a window for UCONN to fight back.


For UCONN I thought they really battled and came out swinging. Aaliyah Edwards was stellar offensively, Aubrey Griffin was terrific on both ends and I thought Lopez-Senechal also battled and proved to be a really capable scorer despite getting hounded all night. Foul trouble and Geno’s technical were costly. Lots of things to feel good about for UCONN fans. I think they’re probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in basketball right now with Indiana being comparable. Adding Fudd undoubtedly impacts chemistry so the sooner she returns the better for UCONN.

Overall I thought the reffing was not consistent on either end. Some bad calls followed by bad make up calls. Not sure how Zia Cooke getting bashed in the face is a foul on her, or how the refs missed the handoff late in the game. Hope it improves, but overall a really solid game and atmosphere for a marquee matchup.

Great write up. Totally agree with everything besides your Zia Cooke comment. She wouldn’t have gotten hit in the face if she wasn’t already fouling Lou. Players needs some freedom of movement. It was just incidental contact from Cooke’s foul.

 

[JDuro]

 

[TC22]

Great write up. Totally agree with everything besides your Zia Cooke comment. She wouldn’t have gotten hit in the face if she wasn’t already fouling Lou. Players needs some freedom of movement. It was just incidental contact from Cooke’s foul.

Except that we've seen too many times that when Aliyah has incidental contact to somebody's face it's called on her - many times. Actually on that screen Aaliyah could have been called for a moving screen because she hip checked her. But....we all will just continue to disagree on the foul calls. Most teams are going to play as physical as possible and adjust to the officiating, which is what you should do. Sort of like pitchers and batters adjusting to the call of balls and strikes. Everybody knows where the strike zone is...but it fluctuates between umpires.

 

[azfan]

Where would the currenturrent USC team fall cn the list of 10 greatest women's college basketball squads of all time? They certainly would be within the top 10 I just wonder where.

I was very surprised not to find a thread debating the top 10 women's teams of all time although I did find this link

The top 50 women’s college basketball teams of all-time

From UConn to Tennessee, we ranked the best teams of all-time.

www.sbnation.com

 

[GamecockFam]

Where would the currenturrent USC team fall cn the list of 10 greatest women's college basketball squads of all time? They certainly would be within the top 10 I just wonder where.

I was very surprised not to find a thread debating the top 10 women's teams of all time although I did find this link

The top 50 women’s college basketball teams of all-time

From UConn to Tennessee, we ranked the best teams of all-time.

www.sbnation.com

Well if the 2017 team is truly the #15 best team all-time, then this squad should be somewhere above it. I also wonder if the 2020 squad would be up there. The starting 5 of Boston, Herbert-Harrigan, Beal, Cooke, and Harris was one of the best balanced offensive teams Dawn has produced. I've only been following women's basketball for the past decade so I don't think I have the skills to even hypothesize where they sit on an all-time list.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Well if the 2017 team is truly the #15 best team all-time, then this squad should be somewhere above it. I also wonder if the 2020 squad would be up there. The starting 5 of Boston, Herbert-Harrigan, Beal, Cooke, and Harris was one of the best balanced offensive teams Dawn has produced. I've only been following women's basketball for the past decade so I don't think I have the skills to even hypothesize where they sit on an all-time list.

That list doesn’t even have the best UConn team of all time on it so I wouldn’t pay it much mind. Putting 2016 UConn as number team of all time, let alone #1 UConn team off all time is a travesty.

 

[ThatCG1801]

Henny in the house playing for the Highlighters today.

 

[visitingcock]

Well if the 2017 team is truly the #15 best team all-time, then this squad should be somewhere above it. I also wonder if the 2020 squad would be up there. The starting 5 of Boston, Herbert-Harrigan, Beal, Cooke, and Harris was one of the best balanced offensive teams Dawn has produced. I've only been following women's basketball for the past decade so I don't think I have the skills to even hypothesize where they sit on an all-time list.

I agree that the 2020 team was our best. Much better valve than any of our others - though not as deep as this year or last year, with bigs. 2020 guards were better than this year.

 

[triaddukefan]

Henny in the house playing for the Highlighters today.

What the heck is a Highlighter

 

[Cockygirl]

The highlighters are the men’s practice squad. Highlighter bc of the neon yellow shirts they wear.

 

[triaddukefan]

The highlighters are the men’s practice squad. Highlighter bc of the neon yellow shirts they wear.

Oh ok. Y'all have special names for everything, don't yall

 

[The deacon]

Great write up. Totally agree with everything besides your Zia Cooke comment. She wouldn’t have gotten hit in the face if she wasn’t already fouling Lou. Players needs some freedom of movement. It was just incidental contact from Cooke’s foul.

Agreed re Raven Johnson. For long stretches she took Nika Muhl out of the game. Dawn's got to be happy to have such an unrefined but talented point guard for years to come.

 

[temery]

If you want to discuss Dawn Staley's comments do so in a DM. Same goes for links if Geno replies.

''It's a waste of bandwidth getting in the middle.

 

[SCspur]

Tessa scores her 2,000th point!

 

[HuskyNan]

We are not allowing the postgame controversy here. Period

UConn fans - move along. If you troll here you will get bounced