Lindy's preseason top 25

[VolFan]

FWIW, I do no think Mercedes Russell will be the FOY. The frontcourt is too deep for her to get the kind of minutes required to boost her stats for that kind of award. That said, she will probably easily win SEC FOY. She may not even start over Isabelle Harrison. When she was healthy, she was easily one of the premier post players in the SEC. AA watch for UT: Cierra Burdick has all the tools and has put in considerable work. She will be go-to on the wing. She is due for a breakout year. Ariel Massengale gained tremendous experience this summer and has been a capable floor general both years without having a back-up causing her stats to be not as good because of the wear and tear of 30+ minutes a game. With Carter back, her numbers will improve. And obviously Meighan Simmons and Bashaara Graves will be in contention for AA awards. You all will dog me for this, but if Meighan plays like she did in the SEC schedule before the tournament, averaging 19 points a game, improves her defense and cuts down on her turnovers again as much as she did last season and adds in some more rebounding, don't be surprised to see her on the short list for National POY, especially if she leads Tennessee to a #1 Seed and SEC Championship.

 

[johnnyc]

Can't see Duke at 2, and can't see Cal at 3. But, we will see

I think Duke is legitimate #2 but ND is right there too. Not sure Cal is even top 10.

 

[Fightin Choke]

FWIW, I do no think Mercedes Russell will be the FOY. The frontcourt is too deep for her to get the kind of minutes required to boost her stats for that kind of award. That said, she will probably easily win SEC FOY. She may not even start over Isabelle Harrison. When she was healthy, she was easily one of the premier post players in the SEC. AA watch for UT: Cierra Burdick has all the tools and has put in considerable work. She will be go-to on the wing. She is due for a breakout year. Ariel Massengale gained tremendous experience this summer and has been a capable floor general both years without having a back-up causing her stats to be not as good because of the wear and tear of 30+ minutes a game. With Carter back, her numbers will improve. And obviously Meighan Simmons and Bashaara Graves will be in contention for AA awards. You all will dog me for this, but if Meighan plays like she did in the SEC schedule before the tournament, averaging 19 points a game, improves her defense and cuts down on her turnovers again as much as she did last season and adds in some more rebounding, don't be surprised to see her on the short list for National POY, especially if she leads Tennessee to a #1 Seed and SEC Championship.

I seriously doubt that Simmons will win NPOY. There are many players ahead of her right now and I cannot see them all faltering. I would guess it's far more likely that Simmons falters.

Also, if Mercedes Russell doesn't start (or log significant minutes) for Tennessee, then I doubt she wins SEC FOY, as I expect great things out of Linnae Harper, who should get significant minutes for Kentucky and should SHINE in their pressure defense. Linnae is a beast!

 

[Sonny44]

Notre Dame will beat Duke any day.

 

[DobbsRover2]

You all will dog me for this, but if Meighan plays like she did in the SEC schedule before the tournament, averaging 19 points a game, improves her defense and cuts down on her turnovers again as much as she did last season and adds in some more rebounding, don't be surprised to see her on the short list for National POY, especially if she leads Tennessee to a #1 Seed and SEC Championship.

Yes, I certainly will Husky you for that statement. But if under the current circumstances Holly can put Meighan's head in a vice and make her a NPOY candidate, I will definitely be willing to concede that all those UFO sightings in the Blue Ridge Mountains are gospel truth and not based on moonshine.

 

[stwainfan]

Wow!

Lots of miscues there!! Gennifer Brandon will be a SR this year as well!

Mercedes Russell, FOY, not sure about that! Haven't seen her play yet but??


These folks need to do their research! I went to Barnes and Noble to pick it up, but there were so many errors in the write ups, I just put it back on the shelf!

I know more than those writers!

I think they did make a lot of mistakes in ranking.
As for Russell I think she will be one of the top freshman.

 

[doggydaddy]

I think they did make a lot of mistakes in ranking.
As for Russell I think she will be one of the top freshman.

You are really going out on a limb there, Sparky.

 

[Fightin Choke]

You are really going out on a limb there, Sparky.

I agree that he didn't make a very bold statement, but you have to admit that his hands are tied, as if he were any more enthusiastic in his assessment, he would have been skewered by many posters (including you).

 

[UConnCat]

FWIW, I do no think Mercedes Russell will be the FOY. The frontcourt is too deep for her to get the kind of minutes required to boost her stats for that kind of award. That said, she will probably easily win SEC FOY. She may not even start over Isabelle Harrison. When she was healthy, she was easily one of the premier post players in the SEC. AA watch for UT: Cierra Burdick has all the tools and has put in considerable work. She will be go-to on the wing. She is due for a breakout year. Ariel Massengale gained tremendous experience this summer and has been a capable floor general both years without having a back-up causing her stats to be not as good because of the wear and tear of 30+ minutes a game. With Carter back, her numbers will improve. And obviously Meighan Simmons and Bashaara Graves will be in contention for AA awards. You all will dog me for this, but if Meighan plays like she did in the SEC schedule before the tournament, averaging 19 points a game, improves her defense and cuts down on her turnovers again as much as she did last season and adds in some more rebounding, don't be surprised to see her on the short list for National POY, especially if she leads Tennessee to a #1 Seed and SEC Championship.

That's a lot of "ifs" you've attached to Meighan's Simmons and her chances for Nat'l POY (improve defense, reduce turnovers, improve rebounding). I think you left off improving shot selection and playing like an AA in games against elite opponents. Other than that, she's right there in the conversation. I posted in another thread that Tenn needs Simmons to play her best when her best is most needed: in the NCAA tournament. Her shooting percentage in elite 8 games over her career is 18%. As a junior, when you would expect her to be comfortable playing in the NCAA tournament, she shot 5-31 combined in the S16 and E8 games against Oklahoma and Louisville. That's not what you expect from a Nat'l POY candidate.

Burdick is a nice, skilled player. Her lack of foot-speed hurts her as a wing player on both sides of the ball. Still, she's a terrific passer and has a nice mid-range shot. I think her skills could be utilized more in Tenn's offense.

Massengale surely has been an enigma. I'm not sure what experience she gained from USA BB other than that her star has fallen a bit from her play for other USA BB teams (U-17, 18, 19). She plays too passively, particularly against elite opponents. Holly called her out after the Stanford game last year but she did it again in the NCAA tournament. She averaged 28 mpg as a freshman and 31 mpg as a soph and I highly doubt fatigue was a factor in either year. She's very strong and should be able to handle the minutes.

 

[stwainfan]

I have heard comments from coaches and teammates. Burdick talked about for example that Russell blocks a lot of shots and changes a lot of shots. So I am just waiting to see her play.

 

[Fightin Choke]

Notre Dame will beat Duke any day.

I love your assessment, and wish my were as rosy for my Irish. Duke has a lot of talent but I think ND has a better coach. I'm glad the meetings are not OOC, as Muffet will have time to adjust the team to life without Skylar before the 2-4 meetings with Duke this year. But I doubt that ND will dominate Duke the way UConn seems to do each year. While the Irish have won the past couple of meetings with Duke, the games were far more competitive than the Huskies/Blue Devils games.

 

[Icebear]

Lindy's optimism for Maryland is slightly worse than mine.

 

[kat0189]

Stanford lost starting guard Toni Kokenis who medically retired. Her absence was the reason they got upset in the Sweet 16. "Only" the 4th leading scorer last year, but 3rd as a soph and a great ball handler/distributer. Stanford also loses 2nd leading scorer Joslyn Tinkle, which may be a bigger loss than some may think -- she is currently playing (albeit sparingly) for the Seattle Storm, though was undrafted. Prize recruit Aly Beebe also may be out for good after suffering her 3rd consecutive ACL tear I believe. She was expected to start as a RS-Frosh. With a couple exceptions, many Stanford stars were only eased in as freshmen (Nneka, Jayne, even Chiney was not relied heavily upon though she did get more minutes IIRC than the other two). Tara will probably have to use her two freshman bigs more than she'd like, but the focus will be ALL Amber Orrange and Chiney. Chiney will probably average something crazy like 25 and 15, but she can't do it alone.

Cal, with Brandon out, will not come roaring out of the gates in the pre-season looking like a top 3 team, but their schedule is conducive to a good seed. If Stanford can avoid any significant upsets, and if Cal or Stanford manages to sweep the other, then you'd think a "West" #1 seed will be awarded to that team for NCAA's. If Brandon makes a strong return for Cal, it is very possible they sweep Stanford and claim that #1 seed, thus giving them a solid shot at a second consecutive Final Four by the end of the year.

 

[HGN]

I also found it intresting that there was no UNC in the Top 25.....With such an outstanding recruiting class coming in and the returning ACC FOY in the X-Girl that UNC would be in the Top 15. Maybe Lindy knows something that he isn't telling us.

 

[Vowelguy]

Maybe Lindy knows something that he isn't telling us.

Yeah, Lindy hasnt told us that he knows jacksh- about wcbb.

 

[triaddukefan]

I also found it intresting that there was no UNC in the Top 25.....With such an outstanding recruiting class coming in and the returning ACC FOY in the X-Girl that UNC would be in the Top 15. Maybe Lindy knows something that he isn't telling us.

Maybe Lindy is related to me

 

[Icebear]

I hear he is a great dancer. Very light on his feet with good hops.

 

[Fightin Choke]

I hear he is a great dancer. Very light on his feet with good hops.

Mmmmm. Hops......

Those resinous flowers of delight, sticky with bitter loveliness.