She is always looking for call. duke played great defense as if they studied how she plays. In general the calls she normally gets could go either ways depending on the refs. the pause didn’t help Iowa but duke deserves credit. They played great team defense. Iowa also haven’t faced anyone remotely good to this point.
I know Rutgers is struggling this year, but are we really calling them a cupcake? The Cats get Texas in a couple weeks, right before they start conference play, so that might give us a better idea of who they are.
@DefenseBB : I'm with you. The Hawkeyes were supposed to play Drake, Seton Hall and USC during those two weeks, which sure as heck would've helped them get in fighting sync for a game in Durham. Clark, particularly on the long range shot, was obviously off, as was Gabbie Marshall, who laid a goose egg and didn't seem to shoot at all. They'll get a chance to get tough fast with games against Michigan State and then Iowa State. And if there's a repeat of Duke-Iowa, I'll take CC & Company.
@LwercasefaN and @cancontent : Clark can be a bit, err, single-minded, shall we say.
As someone who watched her tapes for years in the hope she'd be playing for the Fighting Irish, I've seen these kinds of games before. She starts pressing and has such belief in herself, she can't leave well enough alone. Sometimes she shoots herself back into it -- a few times, nada. This was one of those. And will she work the refs? Oh yeah. Once again, same deal: that rabbit hole is pretty twisty.
She's got good teammates, as have been pointed out. The best teammates I"ve seen for her recently are ones who are very competent themselves, but calming in the way they go about their business. Seems to have a good effect on Caitlin. Unfortunately for her, Azzi Fudd and Sonia Citron don't play in Iowa!
The Iowa team and staff have a 100% vaccination rate, so that line of accusation is uncalled for. You may have heard of something breakthrough infections. Just, wow, can't believe you would be so callous as to frame it like that.
Yeah, but that's kinda the point, stated in reverse!
Emily Engstler makes Louisville a much better team. Her rebounding, defense, ability to handle the ball, and can score. She is the best player on that team. The best transfer from Syracuse.
No one is unbeatable, but we should not kid ourselves. This South Carolina team is capable of running the table, as long as they stay healthy enough. Their toughest remaining regular season games -- Maryland, Stanford, UConn -- will all be at home. And it would take a considerable upset for anyone in the SEC to beat them. I'm not saying they will go undefeated, but they're certainly capable.
If SC goes undefeated it will be in no small part because Dawn has become a much better coach in recent years, particularly when it comes to in game adjustments. A few years ago if UConn went on a 20-2 run against the Gamecocks it would have been game over. In the Bahamas when that happened, Dawn didn’t panic, she settled the team down, made a few adjustments, slowly but surely SC got back in the game and eventually pulled away.
Frankly, that might as well be ancient history at this point. UConn used to be known for its patented backbreaking "runs" against any and all teams, not just SC. But those were UConn teams of a different caliber than the current one, and the SC roster of the past 3 years is of an entirely different caliber than the days of Tina Roy and Asia Dozier and Bianca Cuevas-Moore and Alexis Jennings. The better your team, the more capable you are of recovering from an opponent's run, especially when it's only the 1st quarter.
It's remarkable how having comparable talent to the other team makes you look like a better coach than being hopelessly outgunned.
Certainly, Dawn has as strong a team as she has ever fielded this year, if you don’t include the summer Olympics. I would make the argument that SC had better talent than UConn in both the 2016-17 and 2020-21 seasons and still lost their head to head matchup.
As a proud Carolina fan, I don’t want this team to go undefeated. Losses make Dawn Staley’s teams so much better, and I’m still haunted by the memories of the Gonzaga men last year. It’s not that I think the Gamecocks aren’t mentally tough enough to handle the pressure, but a tough reminder that you’re beatable is good every now and again.
i think Tennessee matches Up with us well and could give us a game but our depth will be the difference. We also play them at home….Duke will be a good game - away - and you know the Crazies will show up. Dawn said when she made up this schedule she wanted this team exposed to all different types of play. I think she has that covered. I agree that Stanford will be a good test and hate that it’s played on Dec 21 when campus is shut down for the holidays. Should be a fun season.
don't compare Sc to Gonzaga. Gonzaga plays in a garbage conference that they rack up cheap wins. My champ was Baylor, they played in the brutal big 12.
Why does everything have to be so hyperbole negative for you? Gonzaga Men's program would be good in any conference. They play a strong OOC and have had significant success in the NCAAT so regardless of the conference, they perform.
Wow...let's flip what you just said to 2020-2021 WBB. "UConn plays in a garbage conference that they rack up cheap wins. My champ was Stanford, they played in the brutal Pac 12."
I think the women's program should also be acknowledged here. They do their best to have a challenging OOC schedule as well. Had a good battle with Stanford already. Looking forward to seeing how they fare against Washington State on Wednesday.
Not comparing on that basis at all. Simply saying that top teams (MBB and WBB) that play in "garbage" conferences can somewhat make up for their weak conference schedules by scheduling tough non-conference games. Both Gonzaga men and UConn women are prime examples of how that is done.
