Missouri Sophie Cunningham | The Boneyard

Missouri Sophie Cunningham

shizam

shizam

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i sure enjoy watching Mizzou play. Not flashy but play in rhythm and enough skill to have an upside to go deep in the tourney. Nice smart ball movement. Sophie C. had a Miss. player trip her intentionally on her bad leg. Sophie fell to the floor and stuck her leg out trying to return the favor. Both got called for fouls but not techs. Boy I like Sophie’s game. (Not the tripping ha!). She is a UConn player if I ever saw one.
 
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I think you are saying she plays with an “edge”. Most in the SEC say she is a “tad” aggressive or quasi “dirty”. I have only seen her twice and tend to agree with the “tad” aggressive assessment. Not so sure I think she is UConn material per se but understand your perspective, she’s a gamer but does need to tone down her “enthusiasm”.
 
But for the three-point loss in their first game and a four-point loss to LSU when Cunningham was out and they'd be undefeated. But the SEC is loaded and Mizzou has to play a lot of teams with much more overall talent. They took down SC, but still have TN, Miss St. and road battles with SC, Georgia, and Tex A&M. Plus Auburn, Ky and even Arkansas are capable of upsets.
Six of the top 16 teams in the big NCAA reveal tonight are from the SEC. It's going to be tough for all these teams to maintain those positions when they have to play each other. As a Mizzou alum and admirer of Coach Pingeton, I'd love to see them get two home games in the Tourney -- it would be another building block in the program she's building.
Sometimes, when Mizzou is playing its best, and the ball is whizzing around, they look a bit like UConn. They had 25 baskets tonight against Ole Miss and 24 assists.
 
shizam said:
i sure enjoy watching Mizzou play. Not flashy but play in rhythm and enough skill to have an upside to go deep in the tourney. Nice smart ball movement. Sophie C. had a Miss. player trip her intentionally on her bad leg. Sophie fell to the floor and stuck her leg out trying to return the favor. Both got called for fouls but not techs. Boy I like Sophie’s game. (Not the tripping ha!). She is a UConn player if I ever saw one.
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Sophie plays with an attitude and I love it. That and a plethora of talent and determination. Definitely WNBA 1st round material. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy the rest of this season and next to the max. Go Tigers!
 
Bliss said:
Sophie plays with an attitude and I love it. That and a plethora of talent and determination. Definitely WNBA 1st round material. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy the rest of this season and next to the max. Go Tigers!
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If Sophie is a Sr that sure did fly by. Remember just seeing her make a splash with a huge scoring game early in frosh year
 
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shizam said:
If Sophie is a Sr that sure did fly by. Remember just seeing her make a splash with a huge scoring game early in frosh year
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She is a junior.
 
DefenseBB said:
I think you are saying she plays with an “edge”. Most in the SEC say she is a “tad” aggressive or quasi “dirty”. I have only seen her twice and tend to agree with the “tad” aggressive assessment. Not so sure I think she is UConn material per se but understand your perspective, she’s a gamer but does need to tone down her “enthusiasm”.
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I wike cawzy players, welly welly cawzy --
 
Bliss said:
Sophie plays with an attitude and I love it. That and a plethora of talent and determination. Definitely WNBA 1st round material. Meanwhile, we'll enjoy the rest of this season and next to the max. Go Tigers!
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You must have seen--being from the "show-me" state.
 
BroadwayVa said:
Yea--Geno could use 3 or 4 like that.
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Well, I am not sure what to make of some of these comments as yes, we already have a highly competitive engine in the form of Ms. Kia Nurse who plays with an edge and walks the fine line of incurring CD and Geno’s wrath when/if she exceeds the parameters. To say Gabby or KLS don’t have that edge is a bit, how to say this politely, wrong as they do. The young woman that you refer to is a very hardworking and talented player, who I have noted above and at least one other times boarderimg on “dirty”. Note I said boarders on it. Saying she plays with an edge is a tad soft in my estimation. Kia plays with an edge and walks away when tangled, Cunningham and even A’ja Wilson take it beyond a competitiveness that Geno and in particular CD would not condone as it takes away from the team and the program.

That said, trying to establish your program forces you to step on the “established toes” and I am ok with Coach Pingeton muscling her way into the Top 16 discussion as that’s what Geno and CD had to do. Just be careful on being too aggressive.

I like Cunningham, not sure yet I would say she’s a first round pick, there’s only 12 of them and her class is pretty talented. However she also has another year improve her all around skills and make an AA team.
 
DefenseBB said:
Well, I am not sure what to make of some of these comments as yes, we already have a highly competitive engine in the form of Ms. Kia Nurse who plays with an edge and walks the fine line of incurring CD and Geno’s wrath when/if she exceeds the parameters. To say Gabby or KLS don’t have that edge is a bit, how to say this politely, wrong as they do. The young woman that you refer to is a very hardworking and talented player, who I have noted above and at least one other times boarderimg on “dirty”. Note I said boarders on it. Saying she plays with an edge is a tad soft in my estimation. Kia plays with an edge and walks away when tangled, Cunningham and even A’Adams Wilson take it beyond a competitiveness that Geno and in particular CD would not condone as it takes away from the team and the program.

That said, trying to establish your program forces you to step on the “established toes” and I am ok with Coach Pingeton muscling her way into the Top 16 discussion as that’s what Geno and CD had to do. Just be careful on being too aggressive.

I like Cunningham, not sure yet I would say she’s a first round pick, there’s only 12 of them and her class is pretty talented. However she also has another year improve her all around skills and make an AA team.
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The comment was simply admitting that which Geno acknowledged: The starting 4 -5 are hurting. If you read more than that into it--you dug too deep. Superficial--as it may be.
 
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Tough and competitive as Nurse is, Cunningham would be tops on the Huskies in terms of feistiness. Cunningham plays with an edge not really seen around Storrs since maybe Maya. Certainly DT had it.
 
BroadwayVa said:
The comment was simply admitting that which Geno acknowledged: The starting 4 -5 are hurting. If you read more than that into it--you dug too deep. Superficial--as it may be.
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Broadway, let me back up a bit here, when I referred to "some of the comments" I was referring to many on this thread, not solely yours and I did not mean to "lump your comment as my retort". My point was that everyone was overly complimenting Cunningham and implying we needed more of it and I politely disagree as we have a "badass" in Kia and Gabby. I prefer CD's view of a silent assassin vs. the DT mentality of it's okay to be overly brash. That's all. Why I chose your post to reply and not make it clearer was solely my error.

Always enjoy your perspective as it makes me think-sometimes it makes head hurt but mostly it does make me assess my views which is always a good thing.
:cool:
 
DefenseBB said:
Broadway, let me back up a bit here, when I referred to "some of the comments" I was referring to many on this thread, not solely yours and I did not mean to "lump your comment as my retort". My point was that everyone was overly complimenting Cunningham and implying we needed more of it and I politely disagree as we have a "badass" in Kia and Gabby. I prefer CD's view of a silent assassin vs. the DT mentality of it's okay to be overly brash. That's all. Why I chose your post to reply and not make it clearer was solely my error.

Always enjoy your perspective as it makes me think-sometimes it makes head hurt but mostly it does make me assess my views which is always a good thing.
:cool:
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I'm not all hurt, angry, insulted, by what you wrote--I was simply (hopefully) just stating the obvious. No problems from me--or for me. Thanks for the nice reply.
 
donalddoowop said:
She is a junior.
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A junior who qualifies to declare early for the WNBA draft. I can't see her doing that unless Missouri does well enough in the tournament this year that she's content to go.
 
DefenseBB said:
I like Cunningham, not sure yet I would say she’s a first round pick, there’s only 12 of them and her class is pretty talented. However she also has another year improve her all around skills and make an AA team.
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Definite first round pick and guaranteed to stick on a roster. Ultra-competitive on the court and well spoken and classy off the court.
 
Shades said:
A junior who qualifies to declare early for the WNBA draft. I can't see her doing that unless Missouri does well enough in the tournament this year that she's content to go.
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I’d be absolutely shocked if she left early. She loves Mizzou, it’s in her family’s blood, and her bond with her teammates is extremely strong. Vegas couldn’t offer odds good enough to get me to bet on her leaving.
 
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To me, she has more to benefit by staying another year even though her class is stacked with talent. She’s near the 9-13 range among this group of Juniors/RSJrs:
Samuelson
Durr
Collier
McCowan
BRown
Shepard,
Higgs-Tex
Anigwe-Cal
Ogunbowale
Stevens-Z
Laksa-UsF
Gustafson-Iowa
Cunningham
As you can see, that’s a pretty impressive list of players. Sophie is listed as a guard and I think there are quicker guards and better sharpshooters in there. So it will come down to positional need for the WNBA team. Just because you’re not a 1sr round pick doesn’t mean you are not good. She is very good but we need to be aware of all the other talent who has made USA Basketball teams and have international experience.
 
Wow, that's quite a class. Samuelson, Durr, McCowan, possibly Collier, Brown, and Stevens could all potentially be the top pick. There's often a clear top player, but next year there could be several right at the top, so for the first time in awhile, the top pick may just come down to team needs.

Count me in as one who thinks Cunningham will be successful in the WNBA -- big, strong, smart, tough, and a pretty good shooter all seem to indicate she has a future.
 
Farney said:
I’d be absolutely shocked if she left early. She loves Mizzou, it’s in her family’s blood, and her bond with her teammates is extremely strong. Vegas couldn’t offer odds good enough to get me to bet on her leaving.
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I totally agree. She won't leave.
 
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DefenseBB said:
As you can see, that’s a pretty impressive list of players. Sophie is listed as a guard and I think there are quicker guards and better sharpshooters in there. So it will come down to positional need for the WNBA team. Just because you’re not a 1st round pick doesn’t mean you are not good. She is very good but we need to be aware of all the other talent who have made USA Basketball teams and have international experience.
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Well if you don't believe me even though I live, breathe, and sleep WNBA, let's see what Stephanie White (who used to coach in the WNBA) thinks about her....

“She’s tough. She’s hard-nosed. She’s competitive,” Vanderbilt’s Stephanie White said. “When she walks on the floor, you know she’s there. She’s got swag. She’s got the Diana Taurasi attitude. I love that about her.”

“When you’re a player like that and you’ve got the size and skill set that she has, she’s a matchup nightmare,” White added. “She can take smaller guards and and post them up. She can bring them down and has counter moves to go against them and also has the range. If you guard her with a bigger player she’s going to take them off the bounce. It’s her versatility, her toughness, but more than anything it’s her mindset.”
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She's right on.
 
Shades said:
Well if you don't believe me even though I live, breathe, and sleep WNBA, let's see what Stephanie White (who used to coach in the WNBA) thinks about her....



She's right on.
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Shades-I like Cunningham too, I just think there are other as talented or more talented players in her class and at her position. She is good, just not sure where she will be drafted at this point. Low 1st round at best in my mind, that’s all I am saying.
As for using Stephanie White as a point of reference, given her track record coaching and recruiting, you might want to find another source. She’s been abysmal at Vandy and I don’t see it getting better.
 
DefenseBB said:
Shades-I like Cunningham too, I just think there are other as talented or more talented players in her class and at her position. She is good, just not sure where she will be drafted at this point. Low 1st round at best in my mind, that’s all I am saying.
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We don't seem to be differing that much, except although Sophie isn't lacking talent, you seem to think it's all about talent and not about these qualities she possess. Those qualities are somewhat rare in a player which is why I consider Sophie a keeper no matter where she goes in the draft... as long as she can stay healthy.

DefenseBB said:
As for using Stephanie White as a point of reference, given her track record coaching and recruiting, you might want to find another source. She’s been abysmal at Vandy and I don’t see it getting better.
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She's definitely struggling trying to rebuild Vandy, but she's had success in the WNBA. She even coached her team to the WNBA Finals in 2015. I have no doubt that she can recognize WNBA-level talent.
 
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