How good was Sarah Strong in the Nationalchampionship game? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

How good was Sarah Strong in the Nationalchampionship game?

I've watched both SCar games several times and the Gamecock most abused was Joyce Edwards. Staley had Edwards defending the top of the paint while Kitts stayed down low. Edwards is a really good offensive paint player and shot blocker but it seemed that she got schooled in over half of the UConn baskets in the highlight videos. This isn't meant as a critique of her, she is a freshman and will learn, but it should stop all the Strong-Edwards comparisons from ESPN's braintrust. (But it won't).
 
Sarah, I'm talking Sarah again now. Well, I believe it was sometime in the Final Four during play that Holly allowed as how Sarah would be a lottery pick in this year's draft.
 
Samoo said:
She caused that despondent look from Staley barely into the second quarter.
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Was Sarah looking at South Carolina as a potential school?
 
Dove said:
Was Sarah looking at South Carolina as a potential school?
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Yes. Sarah's mom and Staley played on the same team in the WNBA and are good friends so the assumption was that it would give SC an advantage in recruiting Sarah. Joyce E. was as well trying hard to recruit Sarah to SC.
 
dtbtbtb said:
Yes. Sarah's mom and Staley played on the same team in the WNBA and are good friends so the assumption was that it would give SC an advantage in recruiting Sarah. Joyce E. was as well trying hard to recruit Sarah to SC.
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That was Staley's assumption. Sarah's final 3 were Uconn, Duke and UNC. And from what Sarah said, it was always Uconn.
 
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Do you think Sarah is glad she chose UConn? The answer is obviously YES for me, but sometimes it helps to pose a question with an obvious answer to bring an issue into high relief. The hottest freshman talent in the country chose a school that would encourage team play over individual achievement and I suspect she couldn’t be happier. Not every super talented high school kid could make that choice. Geno has a knack for recognizing them when he sees them.
 
dtbtbtb said:
Yes. Sarah's mom and Staley played on the same team in the WNBA and are good friends so the assumption was that it would give SC an advantage in recruiting Sarah. Joyce E. was as well trying hard to recruit Sarah to SC.
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No wonder Dawn was dropping F bombs. She was watching what could have been.
 
Rowdy831 said:
No. She played on a team this year with other superstars and she was somewhat the third option as teams prepared for UConn. Next year she will be the ONE that teams prepare for so unless she has sufficient help around her her stats could suffer even if she is a better player. To me she is very good but what separateds her from the others is she doesn't shy away from the big moments.
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I didn’t see any indication that Sarah will be anything but unstoppable no matter what is asked of her. Poise galore. She knows how to play and excels in every facet. She was the only player that could have possibly been chosen ahead of Paige in this last draft. At her age and potential? Two WNBA teams would have been very happy! And yes, Azzi was great but Sarah was the FF MOP this year.
 
Alydar said:
I've watched both SCar games several times and the Gamecock most abused was Joyce Edwards. Staley had Edwards defending the top of the paint while Kitts stayed down low. Edwards is a really good offensive paint player and shot blocker but it seemed that she got schooled in over half of the UConn baskets in the highlight videos. This isn't meant as a critique of her, she is a freshman and will learn, but it should stop all the Strong-Edwards comparisons from ESPN's braintrust. (But it won't).
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I agree with you here. But I believe Dawn used Joyce in this position because she was probably the only player who could possibly combat UCONN’s players. Also, I’d said it in an earlier post that UCONN was determined to win this game, because they weren’t going to be denied, again.
And finally, similarly to the Feb 16 game at the CLA, UCONN was the better team, and so they won both games pretty handily. The Gamecocks had a great season, but are naturally disappointed in the NC loss. But they should not hang their heads in shame, because they did well. And Dawn Staley can now admit that both her and Geno’s programs share a commonality in NC games — 1 loss.

Have a great summer everyone. Stay safe! Stay healthy!
 
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The more I watch the final game — really the entire season — the more struck I am by how speedy Sarah is. She gets down the court after a steal or a block faster than any guards. She may not have the quick feet of Hidalgo or Harmon, but she can move in the open court better than any big in D1. It’s really quite impressive once you look for it.
 
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