Next year's #1 | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Next year's #1

Shmermerer said:
I think there’s definetly immediate impact in Boston and if Amihere is healthy. Amihere arguably could be the best in that class. The past two classes have been pretty weak in talent IMO. The next two classes have by far way more talent in them IMO. And again, the top teams this year lose so much except for Oregon and Maryland.
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We'll see. As I said, the Walker, E-H, Coombs, Gordon class had almost no impact. The year prior CD had her share of excellent games and moments but couldn't be counted on consistently against the better competition. And this year's class has been ONO rarely getting off the bench and a killer start by CW followed by struggles and no impact in the Baylor or Louisville games. A rare exception would be KLS who started slowly and then finished with impact.
 
shiverz45 said:
The concepts and expectation of playing in UConn system is probably more difficult to grasp than at most places in the country. You see freshmen all the time make an impact at other places.
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Might be true, but SC will probably need multiple freshmen to make impacts to be a top-5 team.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Might be true, but SC will probably need multiple freshmen to make impacts to be a top-5 team.
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Yes but the fact that Ty Harris, Maybe Cooper and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan will return for a team that is playing well bodes well. Jackson, who was a starter as a freshman available leave basically a spot for Boston to come in and get great playing time at the 5. You still will have Destiny Henderson, who has played well in limited minutes off the bench with two forwards in Grissett and Saxton who are great bangers and ultra athletic. The freshman coming in will be able to play to their talents and this should bode very well for South Carolina. With the way that Dawn is running tempo now, this depth will only make this team more dangerous in the future. imo
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Might be true, but SC will probably need multiple freshmen to make impacts to be a top-5 team.
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It is too early to tell. Probably best to revisit this after this season is over. If SC continues this climb and make a deep run in the tournament, an initial top 5 ranking is a strong possibility.
 
willtalk said:
I was curious about Oregon's 2019 commits because they did not seem to be getting any top rated high school players. Well that is because all three of their commits are from over seas. They bring in two Aussies both of which played on the national team. One is a 6'5" center. The third player is a Brit guard. When you add the younger Sabally they have some good talent coming in. Even if they lose Sabrina they will be weaker at guard because they also lose Cazorla. This is where the loss of Ayuso going pro will really hurt them . Greaves should have given her more court time. I think her lack of playing time influenced her decision much like the others who transferred out. They do not miss them but they will miss Ayuso who many thought was better than Cazorla. Still they will be stronger at every other position. They should be solid in the middle. If Sabrina comes back they should be the unquestioned favorites.

Stanford will add 3 McDonalds ( including top player in the nation )+ another five star recruit to an already strong team. Of course they will be losing their center Smith who is a beast. Smith will be a big loss and it depends how quickly their five start center recruit develops to determine how much of a loss it might turn out to be.

Now Oregon St adds a slew of talent to their position of weakness. They add two 5 star posts and Aquino who is red shirting this year due to a foot issue. The two players they lose are McWillaims and Grymek. However they will get back Kat Tudor who should make up for McWilliams loss and who actually is more comfortable in the higher speed game they play now with Slocum. They have plenty of parameter players who can shoot the ball. Grymek is improving every game, but with the groups of posts they will have available to them they should actually be stronger with the addition of the two 5 stars and farther development of their present 6'7" frosh.

And most important - All three teams have top level coaches who know how to make the most of their available talent.

If Baylor would have gotten Morris back ( who decided on transferring to Rutgers ) they would have been really scary as well. She was important because they lose the grad senior Jackson who was filling in at the Point. They also lose Brown and we do not really know how well the present frosh class will be able to fill those slots, especially at point. They should be really good and possibly better than this year, but it is not just about being better but how they compare to improvements that other teams make.

I believe that the comparison to other teams improvement is what those that have conservative expectations in respect to to Uconn this coming season. They do lose a lot of key players. Geno will make sure the available players improve but how much will that compensate for the improvements of other teams?. Parity is becoming a reality. There are now more teams that have elite level players on their rosters. When you combine more teams with elite players on teams with elite coaches, then wiggle room for missing out on recruits diminishes and more critical. It isn't anymore about just recruiting a lot of blue chippers but filling in any weak spots in the roster.
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Assuming that Ionescu returns, I agree that replacing Cazorla will be the biggest challenge for Graves. Of the roster exits last summer, losing Ayuso to the pros was/is really unfortunate, although I do not think it was because she didn't get decent minutes as a freshman. Playing college BB just wasn't a good fit for her. That said, Chavez has played very well as a freshman this year--she has very quick hands, passes well, and (for a Duck) is a good defender--and I think she will be very good as a sophomore.

Both of the Aussies played a major role in Australia's victory over the US in the U17 FIBA Tournament--Shelley at guard and Cochrane, who was very young and is now 6'6", more than holding her own against O. Nelson-Ododa and Aquira DeCosta. Don't know much about the Brit but Graves is clearly very good at evaluating talent from overseas. Nyara Sabally is, like her sister, 6'4" and a very versatile player--but thicker (more like Hebard on the Oregon roster). She has had a very impressive track record in Europe--MVP of two consecutive FIBA European tournaments--and Satou has said she's the better player of the two. I used to (sort of) believe/hope that, but after what the elder Sabally has done this year, I think it's likely a bit of a stretch: just as good or almost as good would be just fine.

So Oregon should stronger inside next year and very good at the 3/wing as well. If Ionescu stays and Chavez/Shelley can mostly fill Cazorla's shoes, they should certainly be a contender for the Final 4. If Ionescu leaves, they'll still be a good team imo, but very much a work in progress. But I also have faith in Graves's ability to get the most out of what he has.
 
Shelley is a much better 3 point shooter than cazorla and an elite defender. Her playmaking skills are well behind cazorlas though.
 
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I'm gonna take a wait and see approach on Oregon's Aussies. Jasmine Simmons had done well in international play prior to arriving at Oregon St. As a Fr. she has had a few flashes but thus far has not really looked ready to contribute yet. I don't think Shelley is regarded as a better prospect than Simmons was.
 
nwhoopfan said:
I'm gonna take a wait and see approach on Oregon's Aussies. Jasmine Simmons had done well in international play prior to arriving at Oregon St. As a Fr. she has had a few flashes but thus far has not really looked ready to contribute yet. I don't think Shelley is regarded as a better prospect than Simmons was.
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For what it's worth, Bibby at MSU has indicated that the speed and athleticism at the higher levels of the US college game is shocking at first. Takes some time to adjust.
 
IWearShoes said:
For what it's worth, Bibby at MSU has indicated that the speed and athleticism at the higher levels of the US college game is shocking at first. Takes some time to adjust.
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Alanna Smith at Stanford has improved incrementally each year until really blossoming this season as a Sr. She's the best Aussie playing in US college that I can think of off the top of my head.
 
Shelley is a better 3pt shooter than Simmons and Greaves is far less concerned with defense than Scott. It is usually their defensive liabilities that keeps rookies off the floor at Oregon St. And to add to that Oregon St has far more experienced guards on the roster already. Shelley will certainly get more time with Oregon than Simmons gets this season.

Jonson--- I am not saying that lack of playing time was the only factor for Ayuso departure, just that it probably played a part. She got very little time on court and that surely might have played a role. Ayuso was very good and Greaves could and should have given her more minutes. Under the circumstances with both Sabrina and Cazorla returning this year it makes sense that Ayuso felt she again wouldn't get enough time this year to justify her presence, since she had pro ball as her other option.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Alanna Smith at Stanford has improved incrementally each year until really blossoming this season as a Sr. She's the best Aussie playing in US college that I can think of off the top of my head.
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Tiana Mangakahia for Syracuse is a really nice player.

Staying with the theme of incredibly difficult to pronounce Aussie BBall players, Florida is terrible, but their best player is an Aussie, Funda Nakkasoglu.
 
nwhoopfan said:
Alanna Smith at Stanford has improved incrementally each year until really blossoming this season as a Sr. She's the best Aussie playing in US college that I can think of off the top of my head.
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Mangakahia may mean more to Syracuse than Smith to Stanford.
Mangakahia- 16p/8a/5r/2s (90 ft/35 3 pt%)
Smith- 21p/2a/8r/2b (75 ft/46 3 pt%)

Pac-12 over ACC though.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
We'll see. As I said, the Walker, E-H, Coombs, Gordon class had almost no impact. The year prior CD had her share of excellent games and moments but couldn't be counted on consistently against the better competition. And this year's class has been ONO rarely getting off the bench and a killer start by CW followed by struggles and no impact in the Baylor or Louisville games. A rare exception would be KLS who started slowly and then finished with impact.
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Different classes and recruits vary in terms of adjusting to College. Tennessee’s #1 class last year made a impact while Baylor’s this year looks like they need more time to adjust. Just because UCONN’s recruits are struggling don’t mean everyone else will. Walker has certainly made a jump from barely playing last year to being a big provider this year. CW has hit a wall but she has been far from a disappointment and will without a doubt get better going forward. It’s obvious ONO is struggling with strength of other post players. She’s used to being the tallest and strongest on the court but I expect those woes to be behind her next year. While UCONN hasn’t had the impact of an entire class yet it’s still getting big contributions from young players.

As to SC I won’t settle our class short. I think all could come in and impact. They don’t have to be double figure scorers they could do it in many different ways. One for example would be rebounding. Boston, Amihere, and Beal are all outstanding rebounders who will come in and help our biggest deficiency this year. Cooke will also provide another playmaker with the loss of Cuevas-Moore. While I don’t think we’ll be top 5 to start I think we’ll be top 10 and with the growth and chemistry of our veterans next year we could definitely be in the conversation to be top 5.
 
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SimpleDawg said:
We've been really underrated this year, and here we are sitting at 20-1.

Both Louisville and Mississippi State have been seriously counted out this year. And in regards to Louisville, what happened last night again?


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Mississippi State was the overwhelming pick to win the SEC by the media and coaches. McCowan was nearly the unanimous choice for preseason SEC POY.

I can’t say I thought for sure you’d be 20–1 at this point in the season, but underrated? No. You’re appropriately rated at this point... if you were 20-1 with SC’s schedule up to this point you’d be the #1 team in the country probably, at least top 3 (at 20-1 with our schedule you probably would’ve played Clemson, Maryland, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Baylor, Purdue and maybe even Duke before Christmas)..
 
SCGamecock said:
Mississippi State was the overwhelming pick to win the SEC by the media and coaches. McCowan was nearly the unanimous choice for preseason SEC POY.

I can’t say I thought for sure you’d be 20–1 at this point in the season, but underrated? No. You’re appropriately rated at this point... if you were 20-1 with SC’s schedule up to this point you’d be the #1 team in the country probably, at least top 3 (at 20-1 with our schedule you probably would’ve played Clemson, Maryland, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Baylor, Purdue and maybe even Duke before Christmas)..
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Some people cling to their victim complex like a security blanket. I don't know how anyone can claim they've been "underrated" and "seriously counted out" when they've literally been the favorite in every game they've played—including in the one game they lost.
 
Holy......

I didn't expect my post would excite 6 people. That's the amount of alerts I got after checking this morning.

Fair enough your points are all valid. I'll try not to read into things I observe too much. From my impression, a lot of people think we're just gliding by our cupcake schedule and nothing we do seem to impress people that much. I get that our win vs Marquette was a close one, but Marquette is an elite 8 team who's averaging about 25+ point scoring margin which is about #6 in the country, and that is about their overall ranking if I had to make one. They have a starting lineup full of pure scorers. Every single one.

Everything else we've done operated by expectation if not exceeded some, all except that weird one vs Georgia. I admit I underestimated Oregon, they're better this year. Did just see Utah tighten the ship on them a little bit... but in the end Utah didn't have enough great players to make it a 40 minute game. Megan Huff would start for Vic, but the 4 other players would be riding the bench in Starkville, so I can definitely see that Oregon and Mississippi State are at least a tier better.

I also get the impression that people think Louisville is worse this year. However, as Thursday night proved, they don't look like they've skipped a beat from the team that took Mississippi State down to the goal line stand last year.

I hope I clarified, ya'll! I just enjoy talking basketball, ya'll!


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SimpleDawg said:
Holy.

I didn't expect my post would excite 6 people. That's the amount of alerts I got after checking this morning.

Fair enough your points are all valid. I'll try not to read into things I observe too much. From my impression, a lot of people think we're just gliding by our "cupcake" schedule and nothing we do seem to impress people that much. I get that our win vs Marquette was a close one, but Marquette is an elite 8 team who's averaging about 25+ point scoring margin which is about #6 in the country, and that is about their overall ranking if I had to make one. They have a starting lineup full of pure scorers. Every single one.

Everything else we've done operated by expectation if not exceeded some, all except that weird one vs Georgia. I admit I underestimated Oregon, they're better this year. Did just see Utah tighten the ship on them a little bit... but in the end Utah didn't have enough great players to make it a 40 minute game. Megan Huff would start for Vic, but the 4 other players would be riding the bench in Starkville, so I can definitely see that Oregon and Mississippi State are at least a tier better.

I also get the impression that people think Louisville is worse this year. However, as Thursday night proved, they don't look like they've skipped a beat from the team that took Mississippi State down to the goal line stand last year.

I hope I clarified, ya'll! I just enjoy talking basketball, ya'll!


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Hines-Allen was a big loss for them, some people may have overestimated the loss though, but the Cardinals still have Fuehring and Dunham.. two very tough forwards to mitigate her loss. Jazmine Jones is also a very good blue collar rebounder at guard.

Louisville’s step back will likely come next season when Durr leaves. Unless Evans takes another step forward, which she’s capable of. Either way, I still think they’ll be a top 12 or so team next year.

This current team almost had Yacine Diop.. just think about how good she could’ve been for them.

The Baylor loss surprised me more than the Louisville loss. Being a SC fan, I’ve seen time and time again how Geno is able to take bigs out of a game with gameplanning and floor spacing.. I figured he’d have Collier and KLS ready for Cox/Brown... but they are no Gabby/Tuck. Post play got the better of Geno for once.
 
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Our visiting friends need to remember that immediately after a loss is NOT a good time to come and point out flaws in the UConn team or wax enthusiastically over their teams in a thread about UConn. A gentle reminder - the Boneyard is first and foremost a UConn fan board.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
Depth sure. How much immediate impact? UConn is still struggling to get that out of this year's class and last year got almost none outside of Walker's game against UCLA. It's not that simple to plop freshmen into a team and hope they make you a contender.
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Need one post ready to rebound and defend.

Other than that the team can handle improvement with returning players and take the freshmen for whatever they can give.

Not the #1 team but I suspect it starts in top 5.
 
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vowelguy said:
Blah blah blah.

"Yes I antagonized my hosts but but but but I had a perceived reason blah blah blah"
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Don't ask for clarification if - as I expected as much - nothing I say is going to end up satisfying you.


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SimpleDawg said:
Don't ask for clarification if - as I expected as much - nothing I say is going to end up satisfying you.
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Don't spout a bunch of rude nonsense if—and I expected as much—you don't want to be called out on it.
 
Plebe said:
Don't spout a bunch of rude nonsense if—and I expected as much—you don't want to be called out on it.
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Ok. Sorry. Is there anything else? If not....... bye.

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SimpleDawg said:
Don't ask for clarification if - as I expected as much - nothing I say is going to end up satisfying you.


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Lol
"Nothing I say"
Did I miss you saying everything?

Even 0.1% contrition would've satisfied.
 
Sluconn Husky said:
We'll see. As I said, the Walker, E-H, Coombs, Gordon class had almost no impact. The year prior CD had her share of excellent games and moments but couldn't be counted on consistently against the better competition. And this year's class has been ONO rarely getting off the bench and a killer start by CW followed by struggles and no impact in the Baylor or Louisville games. A rare exception would be KLS who started slowly and then finished with impact.
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This nets out my thoughts as well. I have to factor down any team that is depending on 2+ frosh to play key roles as either starter or sub.
 
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