Opening Day games of interest (11/6)

[DaBball]

Realized that neither Horvat nor Drummer have played yet for UCLA. Vandy and Florida don't shock me

 

[Shades]

I thought she was a good hire but not working out so far.

Will be really interesting to see how Whalen does at Minnesota. Could be great, but no guarantee.

Whalen benefits from some nice players who weren’t her recruits.... Bell, Pitts, Hubbard (injured), Bello, Brunson. It’ll be a few years before we can see how well her recruits do. Of course, if she can land Bueckers, a parade will likely be thrown for her.

 

[Shades]

Huge game for Sophie Cunningham (30 points, 8 boards) in Mizzou's rout.

And WIU isn’t the worst competition. I believe they beat Stanford last year.

 

[donalddoowop]

Ohio State shot under 30% from the floor, 16% from three, 57% from the line, and had 6 assists to 13 turnovers.

If the Huskies don't beat them by 40 Sunday we'll know it's going to be a long season.

Not necessarily. You know how teams get up for UConn and tOS may have just been very, very off. However, I do believe that if they struggle with tOS it could be a long season.

 

[geewago]

And in other news, Baylor squeaks by traditional rival Nichols 100-39.

Twas lopsided. At halftime the bench had more points than the starters. Baylor has good players all the way down the bench this year. You usually have one or two that make you cringe when they come in but not so this year.

I also went up to Ft Worth today and watched TCU take on Duquense. Frogs won by 13 but it was far from impressive. I sure thought they would have a little better team this year. At this point I'm afraid they may have slipped a notch. In fact I never could figure out if they even have a designated point guard or not. Just whoever had the ball seemed to be the point including the posts a time or two.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Cal holds on 80-79 over Houston

LMU first win ever over UCLA 69-63

 

[Shades]

Not necessarily. You know how teams get up for UConn and tOS may have just been very, very off. However, I do believe that if they struggle with tOS it could be a long season.

It’ll be OSU’s 3rd game of the regular season to UConn’s first.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Cal holds on 80-79 over Houston

LMU first win ever over UCLA 69-63

The AAC had a good night, despite this loss. These PAC-12 teams did not impress.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Cal holds on 80-79 over Houston

LMU first win ever over UCLA 69-63

Utah St. beat Wazzu by 11 thanks to a 28-13 4th quarter. Not the best opening night for the Pac 12. Colorado and USC picked up W's.

 

[triaddukefan]

Elon only got 1,622 for the first game in their arena. I expected a bit more.

Utah St. beat Wazzu by 11 thanks to a 28-13 4th quarter. Not the best opening night for the Pac 12. Colorado and USC picked up W's.

Colorado beat the real UNC

 

[triaddukefan]

And in other news, Baylor squeaks by traditional rival Nichols 100-39.

They should have saved a few of those points and given them to Baylor's men's team last night They needed them

 

[ucbart]

I was at the Syracuse-North Dakota game, which Syracuse won, 85-49.

*North Dakota played them evenly in the first quarter and then the Syracuse press got working and North Dakota had a miserable rest of the game.
*In the first half, I thought Q used too many players and Syracuse couldn't get anything going on offense. He let the D take over and then shortened up the rotation in the second half. Syracuse is pretty good....and pretty deep.
*Syracuse freshman, Emily Engstler struggled on D in the first half, but you could just tell shes an absolute stud. She is listed at 6'1" but she looks and plays bigger than that. She has it all! She can shoot from the outside(she hit 3's), she can drive, and post up. It's clear she's their best player and when she figures out college hoops, watch out. She is that good. A future AA, IMO.

 

[LoTrader]

And in other news, Baylor squeaks by traditional rival Nichols 100-39.

Looking forward to the ASU vs Baylor game on Sunday (ESPN2). ASU also plays Louisville on Nov. 23.

 

[LoTrader]

Utah St. beat Wazzu by 11 thanks to a 28-13 4th quarter. Not the best opening night for the Pac 12. Colorado and USC picked up W's.

Not a good opening night for the PAC-12 for sure. I don't know anything about Houston's club, but if Cal is really the 24th best team (preseason ranking), then Cal better start playing defense. Giving up 79 points is a lot. I did see ASU won handily. Big game for ASU on Sunday (vs Baylor).

 

[eebmg]

I was at the Syracuse-North Dakota game, which Syracuse won, 85-49.

*North Dakota played them evenly in the first quarter and then the Syracuse press got working and North Dakota had a miserable rest of the game.
*In the first half, I thought Q used too many players and Syracuse couldn't get anything going on offense. He let the D take over and then shortened up the rotation in the second half. Syracuse is pretty good....and pretty deep.
*Syracuse freshman, Emily Engstler struggled on D in the first half, but you could just tell shes an absolute stud. She is listed at 6'1" but she looks and plays bigger than that. She has it all! She can shoot from the outside(she hit 3's), she can drive, and post up. It's clear she's their best player and when she figures out college hoops, watch out. She is that good. A future AA, IMO.

I saw the game on ESPN+ and I totally agree. Engstler is also very strong. I am not a big fan of the helter skelter trap style over such extended periods and real good teams will slice their press like butter but they are definitely interesting to watch.

 

[LoTrader]

The AAC had a good night, despite this loss. These PAC-12 teams did not impress.

The PAC-12 teams that didn't lose last night: Oregon, Stanford, OSU, ASU, USC, Colorado, Cal. Of course the 1st 3 teams listed didn't play last night! UCLA losing was not surprising to me. Cal winning by 1, and giving up 79 points was surprising

 

[jonson]

The PAC-12 teams that didn't lose last night: Oregon, Stanford, OSU, ASU, USC, Colorado, Cal. Of course the 1st 3 teams listed didn't play last night! UCLA losing was not surprising to me. Cal winning by 1, and giving up 79 points was surprising

Actually, Oregon did have a game last night--at Alaska-Fairbanks, of all places, so as to provide Ruthy Hebard with the opportunity to play in her home town. The score was 115-36, and there were 6 Ducks in double figures, led by Satou Sabally with 23 points. Ionescu had another triple double: 18 points (7-9), 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.

Just as an aside, this technically was not an exhibition game, since those apparently must be home games. It also counts as an "extra" game per NCAA rules since it was played in Hawaii or Alaska.

Oregon plays Syracuse on Saturday.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Oregon did have a game last night--at Alaska-Fairbanks, of all places

Triad and I just went off on a tangent about Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks in another thread recently.

Another triple double for Ionescu. She's gonna put that record so far out of reach by the time she's done...

 

[triaddukefan]

Actually, Oregon did have a game last night--at Alaska-Fairbanks, of all places, so as to provide Ruthy Hebard with the opportunity to play in her home town. The score was 115-36, and there were 6 Ducks in double figures, led by Satou Sabally with 23 points. Ionescu had another triple double: 18 points (7-9), 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.
y.

Triad and I just went off on a tangent about Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks in another thread recently.

..

UA-F has a great looking mascot .... UAA has a great color scheme..... like the Seattle Sonics.

 

[wallman]

Triad and I just went off on a tangent about Alaska-Anchorage and Alaska-Fairbanks in another thread recently.

Another triple double for Ionescu. She's gonna put that record so far out of reach by the time she's done...

That should be easy when your coach plays you 10 more minutes than the leading scorer in a game where you are up 80 points and you are still in the game with 2 mins left

 

[stwainfan]

Will Stephanie White ever gain traction at Vandy? This is year 3.

Maybe have something to do with that crazy gym. I have been in there. I don't like the way it's setup.

 

[jonson]

That should be easy when your coach plays you 10 more minutes than the leading scorer in a game where you are up 80 points and you are still in the game with 2 mins left

Then I guess all the other guards nationwide who have played 31 minutes in blowouts (or not) must have been really unlucky not to have met such an easy benchmark time and time again.

 

[triaddukefan]

Maybe have something to do with that crazy gym. I have been in there. I don't like the way it's setup.

Its nice to have unique arena's in the college game.

 

[Plebe]

Utah St. beat Wazzu by 11 thanks to a 28-13 4th quarter. Not the best opening night for the Pac 12. Colorado and USC picked up W's.

I think the Pac-12 will be quite strong at the top (Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, ASU) but mediocre to bad elsewhere. Basically how the ACC has been.

 

[hugefan]

Then I guess all the other guards nationwide who have played 31 minutes in blowouts (or not) must have been really unlucky not to have met such an easy benchmark time and time again.

Maybe you should stop insulting the other guards, whoever they may be, maybe those other guards don’t selfishly try to increase their own stats but want to get their other team mates involved when they are clearly playing a very over matched opponent. Maybe the coaches of those other guards actually play their bench to get them minutes rather than play 1 player just to satisfy an ego.

 

[Rixxx]

Stwainfan, I had the same thought about the gym.

 

[jonson]

Maybe you should stop insulting the other guards, whoever they may be, maybe those other guards don’t selfishly try to increase their own stats but want to get their other team mates involved when they are clearly playing a very over matched opponent. Maybe the coaches of those other guards actually play their bench to get them minutes rather than play 1 player just to satisfy an ego.

I certainly didn't intend to insult other guards; I simply wanted to point out that triple doubles don't grow on trees. I also believe that assists are one way to get other teammates involved and Ionescu had 11. She also took only 9 shots. There are currently 3 other guards on the Oregon roster--one of them a freshman, another returning from a back injury that sidelined her all of last year, the third a senior and multiple-year starter. Their minutes were 21, 22, and 27, respectively. To me, that counts as playing the bench.

 

[LoTrader]

And in other news, Baylor squeaks by traditional rival Nichols 100-39.

Just listened to Kim Mulkey's presser. Kim is very optimistic. Kim is singing the praises of Chloe Jackson (formerly with LSU) running the point. Kim is also very happy with the longer range shooting skills Baylor has this year. Now I'm really looking forward to the ASU vs Baylor game Sunday. ASU is a solid defensive team, so this "should" be an enjoyable game to watch, and measuring stick for both clubs.

 

[Alydar]

Ohio State is abysmal. Got waxed by a reduced USF team. And Laksa--also overrated, sorry--was just 4-16 and the Buckeyes lose by 24 anyway. At home.

Without having watched the game I'd guess that tOSU focussed on stopping Laksa, did a good job of it, but forgot to guard the rest of the team and forgot to score themselves.

 

[gipke1]

Lions Take Down No. 23 UCLA In Season Opener - Loyola Marymount University