Is SCar at UConn threadworthy?

[visitingcock]

How long is Ducharme supposed to be out? Of all the injuries this one has been difficult to grasp. Hope she is doing better.

Word is she practiced yesterday. Speculation is she will get evaluated today and COULD see SOME minutes Sunday. We’ll see!

Her presence would present Dawn with the dilemma of putting Beal on her or Lou.

Best of luck to her.

 

[baggerbob]

Word is she practiced yesterday. Speculation is she will get evaluated today and COULD see SOME minutes Sunday. We’ll see!

Her presence would present Dawn with the dilemma of putting Beal on her or Lou.

Best of luck to her.

Mercedes Russell missed almost all last year in the WNBA with chronic headaches, so it could be a long time.

 

[hoopsfan22]

Word is she practiced yesterday. Speculation is she will get evaluated today and COULD see SOME minutes Sunday. We’ll see!

Her presence would present Dawn with the dilemma of putting Beal on her or Lou.

Best of luck to her.

She was wearing a special jersey indicating light contact only. I'd be shocked if she could go into a game any time soon. UConn is super cautious about returning players from injury, and has a pretty lengthy protocol/schedule.

 

[visitingcock]

She was wearing a special jersey indicating light contact only. I'd be shocked if she could go into a game any time soon. UConn is super cautious about returning players from injury, and has a pretty lengthy protocol/schedule.

Two seconds left. Trailing by 3. Lou on the bench fouled out. Who do you want in? Patterson, Deberry or Ducharme?

Two seconds of PT for the entire game. Is it worth the risk?

 

[hoopsfan22]

Two seconds left. Trailing by 3. Lou on the bench fouled out. Who do you want in? Patterson, Deberry or Ducharme?

Two seconds of PT for the entire game. Is it worth the risk?

If she's cleared to play in a game, of course I'd want Ducharme in that scenario. She won us a game that way at DePaul last year. But it's ultimately not up to the coaches when it comes to players returning from injury - that decision is out of Geno's hands.

 

[CTinLA]

How long is Ducharme supposed to be out? Of all the injuries this one has been difficult to grasp. Hope she is doing better.

In one of his pregame interviews Geno said that he hopes she’ll be back for Marquette or Georgetown. So hopefully within a week.

 

[The deacon]

South Carolina has a deep and talented team with most of the important players returning. We took our team from last year's beat down and removed Paige, Azzi, and 3 others who were essentially professional players. As much as I love this team, this is the kind of game that could get ugly fast.

And removed Caroline, who was UConn's second-best player to Paige in the final.

 

[Bone Dog]

Here’s my gist of the entire thread. SC has way more talented depth. The starting 5s are roughly comparable talentwise, but asymmetrically so. That’s actually a sad thought for both teams — this isn’t even UConn’s best unit but it’s still comparable to SC’s best unit. Lots of room for quibbling about this last bit. The one thing all can agree on is that Dawn and Geno have managed to attract and coach a bunch of tremendous young people.

 

[SCGamecock]

Here’s my gist of the entire thread. SC has way more talented depth. The starting 5s are roughly comparable talentwise, but asymmetrically so. That’s actually a sad thought for both teams — this isn’t even UConn’s best unit but it’s still comparable to SC’s best unit. Lots of room for quibbling about this last bit. The one thing all can agree on is that Dawn and Geno have managed to attract and coach a bunch of tremendous young people.

I don't know if it's sad or honest. Most Gamecock fans will tell you that SC's best point guard and probably power forward options are coming off the bench this year. Love Saxton and I respect Fletcher, but that's just the truth. Fletcher is steady, but not nearly as dynamic as Johnson off the bench. Saxton has elite BBall IQ and has been in so many big games that she rarely gets rattled, but probably not the scoring chops of a Watkins, Amihere or Feagin. Beal is no doubt one of the best defenders in the country and has shown she can hit the three, but Hall comes in and can give you the same exact thing at very little drop off, if any.

That's why it's hard playing SC. When you see the starting 5 begin to sub out and expect a moment to catch your breath, Dawn subs in another 5 that are near, on, or in some cases, surpassing the starters.

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[TC22]

Just wanted to give FOX a thumbs up. Fantastic job of previewing the game.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I don't know if it's sad or honest. Most Gamecock fans will tell you that SC's best point guard and probably power forward options are coming off the bench this year. Love Saxton and I respect Fletcher, but that's just the truth. Fletcher is steady, but not nearly as dynamic as Johnson off the bench. Saxton has elite BBall IQ and has been in so many big games that she rarely gets rattled, but probably not the scoring chops of a Watkins, Amihere or Feagin. Beal is no doubt one of the best defenders in the country and has shown she can hit the three, but Hall comes in and can give you the same exact thing at very little drop off, if any.

That's why it's hard playing SC. When you see the starting 5 begin to sub out and expect a moment to catch your breath, Dawn subs in another 5 that are near, on, or in some cases, surpassing the starters.

This, I don't believe our starting 5 is our best 5 but more so our baseline to get the ball rolling. Then we sub in some of our better players based on how the game is going and what's needed.

 

[CL82]

I’m listening to the Dawn Staley interview on Fox. I just like her. She’s humble. She sees the big picture and she is an extraordinarily talented coach.

 

[GamecockFam]

Good game! It went about as I expected, except more points. I hope that we see each other in the Natty once again!

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I definitely think both teams will be in Dallas. Great game and grit from UConn, even shorthanded they can hang with anyone.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Shocked UConn kept it so close. Good game to South Carolina.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

My thoughts:

Beal looked out of it at times but calmly knocked down a three at a critical time which is an evolution in her game. So important.

Dawn wisely sat Fletcher and rolled with Raven. She doesn't make as many as she's going to in the future. But a legit star, I think.

UConn can't really hold the boards in this matchup and it killed them.

South Carolina took a quarter to figure out what it needed to take away and from there it was just a matter of grinding away. Still a pretty disappointing defensive performance. Way too many layups allowed.

Edwards was great. Most improved player in the country if it isn't Muhl or Fudd.

I could have done with more fouls called on both ends but seemed relatively even.

Boston puts up 26 and 11 vs a defense designed to take her away and it seemed quiet. What a player.

There was a bit of a debate at one time about how much Cardoso would help SC and I think we understand that one now.

My recording lost the last minute and a half so I guess I can't weigh in on the end.

 

[SCGamecock]

Good game from UConn. I knew it wasn't going to be a blowout.

Edwards has improved tremendously. Lopez Senechal was mostly held in check today (she can really go off if you let her) but her shot making ability is super impressive. Connecticut really found a diamond in the rough with her.

 

[Zanzman]

Good game from UConn. I knew it wasn't going to be a blowout.

Edwards has improved tremendously. Lopez Senechal was mostly held in check today (she can really go off if you let her) but her shot making ability is super impressive. Connecticut really found a diamond in the rough with her.

If the defense didn’t hold her back we would have been glad to let her go off

 

[hoopsnloops32]

My thoughts:

Beal looked out of it at times but calmly knocked down a three at a critical time which is an evolution in her game. So important.

Dawn wisely sat Fletcher and rolled with Raven. She doesn't make as many as she's going to in the future. But a legit star, I think.

UConn can't really hold the boards in this matchup and it killed them.

South Carolina took a quarter to figure out what it needed to take away and from there it was just a matter of grinding away. Still a pretty disappointing defensive performance. Way too many layups allowed.

Edwards was great. Most improved player in the country if it isn't Muhl or Fudd.

I could have done with more fouls called on both ends but seemed relatively even.

Boston puts up 26 and 11 vs a defense designed to take her away and it seemed quiet. What a player.

There was a bit of a debate at one time about how much Cardoso would help SC and I think we understand that one now.

My recording lost the last minute and a half so I guess I can't weigh in on the end.

The only thing I’ll disagree with is that the defense was designed to take Boston. It wasn’t imo, we just played her straight up with one defender and the occasional help defense coming down. The defense was designed to take away Cook, and did so effectively.

Otherwise per Genos post game they don’t expect to win the boards or stay even in the boards with South Carolina. Their game plan was to neutralize that with 3’s which South Carolina very effectively took away. They gave up layups to take away our advantage behind the arc, which was a smart game plan. Might be harder next time if we play again with Azzi and Caroline but I’m sure there are adjustments Dawn will make as well, like find a better defensive match up for Edwards.

 

[Dynastic]

I imagine it will be a blow out, so not sure it's thready worthy.

Wrong , duh

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Wrong , duh

Really shocked. Thought the gap between South Carolina and the current healthy players UConn has available was much greater.

 

[CL82]

My recording lost the last minute and a half so I guess I can't weigh in on the end.

Um… UConn pulled off a stunning comeback winning at the buzzer. Sorry.

 

[CL82]

Lopez Senechal was mostly held

Agree.

 

[SCspur]

Beating a team, refs, and the crowd is tough. Proud of how SC played despite those circumstances. I’ve never seen a coach physically throw an object at a ref and not get tossed. On any level, let alone College. Oh well. I think this game mentally prepared them for what’s to come in March. On a neutral court with more SC fans and different refs, SC should win by more if there’s a rematch.