SC goes down!

[ClifSpliffy]

Pressure. Couldn’t put the ball in the hole when it counted. Same reason L’ville lost to Miami. Missed uncontested open looks in final minute. Players feel the added pressure. Very common.

sweaty palms are a very real thing.
thought bubble over a huskies head:
'i can do this. im a top player playing at the top program which constantly wins championships. i can do this.'
thought bubble over an angry birds' head:
'i think i can becuz i .... wait, what was i thinking? is my lace unraveling again? i really should double knot them...'

 

[TC22]

It’s not that SC is so good it’s are there enough other teams good enough to keep it close to the end of the game. SC folds like a cheap suit with pressure. Look at what happened on the final play in the semi final against Stanford last year. Kind of like the UConn syndrome the last few years before Paige. You aren’t used to being in down to the wire games. Geno didn’t even look like the same confident coach at the end of Miss St. Collier felt it. It was not something that team had enough experience with.

I think what has happened to SC is that pressure to win takes over the joy in winning. we will see how it goes. This is still an incredibly gifted team and is 2 made buzzer beaters away from being undefeated. we’ll see how it goes. Should be a fun tournament.

 

[oldude]

While SC’s basic strategy of tough defense, pound the ball inside and crash the boards has been a dependable recipe for victory this season, there is also a risk for the Gamecocks that manifested itself yesterday. SC wins tight, low-scoring games. Run into a team on a roll, with a hot shooter or two, a team like KY, or a team like any one of a number of potential opponents in the Big Dance, and SC is ripe for an upset.

Dawn is a great coach. But I don’t know if she has built a versatile team capable of reacting to anything opponents throw at SC. When I see a lineup with 3 players all 6’4” or better on the court at the same time, it’s pretty damned intimidating. But it lacks the ability to spread the floor, push tempo or guard the perimeter. It also puts a ton of pressure on SC’s 1-2 guards to hit their shots, feed the posts and make plays.

SC may still win it all this year. But as yesterday’s game vs KY clearly demonstrated, the Gamecocks are most assuredly vulnerable to another upset during the Big Dance.

 

[visitingcock]

Has anyone heard from the many SC fans who inhabit this board?

Here.

 

[Jim R]

Pressure. Couldn’t put the ball in the hole when it counted. Same reason L’ville lost to Miami. Missed uncontested open looks in final minute. Players feel the added pressure. Very common.

Pressure. You hit the nail on the head....and, it's when true superstars shine - Jordan, Bird, Taurasi & Moore (yep, Stewie as well), just to name a few!

 

[jaundicedeye]

Dawn is a great coach.

Enjoyed your observations Old Dude and agree wholeheartedly. I believe, however, that this loss falls on Dawn's shoulders. SC had a 12-pt. lead at the end of the third and failed to adjust to a hot-shooting Dre'una Edwards. The 21 fourth quarter points given up by a reputably strong defensive team is more concerning than their cold shooting. Good defense should be a constant and enable you to hang in there when the shots aren't dropping.
Voepel's brief summary piece on the ESPN site avoids commenting on this and simply cites Dawn's remark "... It's the fact that we give up 21 points in the fourth quarter. We've (my emphasis) got to go back and see where our defense is failing us."
Dawn did graciously give credit to Kyra Elzy and a hot Kentucky team.

 

[BRS24]

From an article in The Athletic - How Kentucky rebuilt its season to beat No. 1 South Carolina for SEC title

"Edwards knocked down a 3, assisted by Jazmine Massengill, for the game’s final score. As Edwards’ shot went up, Howard said it felt like a sports movie, when time slows down and everything but the ball and the hoop fades out of focus. Without a timeout, South Carolina couldn’t draw up a play and was left with a final two-point deficit."

Said to my hub and maybe somewhere on this board, how does a coach not prep a team for multiple things happening? The decision tree hinged on those last 2 free throws -

1. make both, up by 3, play defense, give the 2 or 3 (?) fouls to eat up the clock
2. make one, up by 2, same as above, use the fouls to give
3. miss both, up by 1, use the fouls (did they try and miss?)
4. If KY makes either a 2 or pt shot, have a inbound plan to advance the ball and force them to foul

Dunno. I cannot imagine being a player in this situation but still seems that they were unprepared for the final minute.

 

[npignatjr]

…yes. This has happened many times before. Both Notre Dame and Mississippi State in 2018; Louisville in 2019.

Did not those teams lose in the conference tournaments to ranked highly seeded teams?

 

[npignatjr]

UConn was a no 1 in 2013, won neither the reg season or conference tournament. SC's resume speaks for itself.

But not The #1. No losses to unranked teams.

 

[npignatjr]

While SC’s basic strategy of tough defense, pound the ball inside and crash the boards has been a dependable recipe for victory this season, there is also a risk for the Gamecocks that manifested itself yesterday. SC wins tight, low-scoring games. Run into a team on a roll, with a hot shooter or two, a team like KY, or a team like any one of a number of potential opponents in the Big Dance, and SC is ripe for an upset.

Dawn is a great coach. But I don’t know if she has built a versatile team capable of reacting to anything opponents throw at SC. When I see a lineup with 3 players all 6’4” or better on the court at the same time, it’s pretty damned intimidating. But it lacks the ability to spread the floor, push tempo or guard the perimeter. It also puts a ton of pressure on SC’s 1-2 guards to hit their shots, feed the posts and make plays.

SC may still win it all this year. But as yesterday’s game vs KY clearly demonstrated, the Gamecocks are most assuredly vulnerable to another upset during the Big Dance.

Great, word too often used when not earned, yet.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

SC loss didn't surprise me. They are the better team...just not yesterday. TBH...they looked tired and down. If they place too much on that loss...they will lose again. Just say...next. Couple of observations regarding Amihere. She's been used so many different ways that she doesn't seem settled in any of them. Best defense against her...is make her a jump shooter.

 

[cancontent]

SC loss didn't surprise me. They are the better team...just not yesterday. TBH...they looked tired and down. If they place too much on that loss...they will lose again. Just say...next. Couple of observations regarding Amihere. She's been used so many different ways that she doesn't seem settled in any of them. Best defense against her...is make her a jump shooter.

Interesting observation. Usually being able to play multiple positions is a good thing. There were some times when she was coming up the court with the ball, I didn't understand her decision making yesterday.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Interesting observation. Usually being able to play multiple positions is a good thing. There were some times when she was coming up the court with the ball, I didn't understand her decision making yesterday.

Basketball skill development it's definitely a plus. I just thought that as her role changed in the offense...she wasn't sure about which of those skills to emphasize and where to be on the floor.

 

[shiverz45]

SC loss didn't surprise me. They are the better team...just not yesterday. TBH...they looked tired and down. If they place too much on that loss...they will lose again. Just say...next. Couple of observations regarding Amihere. She's been used so many different ways that she doesn't seem settled in any of them. Best defense against her...is make her a jump shooter.

Either you are very observant, or you have been listening to Dawn's press conferences. She admitted multiple times to the fact she has used Amihere to the point where she cannot get comfortable at a particular position.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

Either you are very observant, or you have been listening to Dawn's press conferences. She admitted multiple times to the fact she has used Amihere to the point where she cannot get comfortable at a particular position.

lol...I don't do press conferences, preshows, or watch most games with the sound on. Sometimes I will rewatch a game and just take notice of the reactions and postures on the bench. They tell you more than Twitter and rehearsed answers in front of the camera. Not that Amihere smiles a lot, but she looked frustrated on the bench and me being the King of OCD tried to figure the why. lol My latest tool is the skycam view of the games on ESPN. I wouldn't watch an entire game this way, but the views give you an idea of the physicality of these games...AND a better feel for how far players are spaced apart. The views are limited though...some far corners aren't visible and when someone is at the free-throw line...you see the basket or the shooter, but not both.

 

[shiverz45]

lol...I don't do press conferences, preshows, or watch most games with the sound on. Sometimes I will rewatch a game and just take notice of the reactions and postures on the bench. They tell you more than Twitter and rehearsed answers in front of the camera. Not that Amihere smiles a lot, but she looked frustrated on the bench and me being the King of OCD tried to figure the why. lol My latest tool is the skycam view of the games on ESPN. I wouldn't watch an entire game this way, but the views give you an idea of the physicality of these games...AND a better feel for how far players are spaced apart. The views are limited though...some far corners aren't visible and when someone is at the free-throw line...you see the basket or the shooter, but not both.

Amihere rarely smiles but Cardosa smiles all the time.

 

[Alydar]

I think what has happened to SC is that pressure to win takes over the joy in winning. we will see how it goes. This is still an incredibly gifted team and is 2 made buzzer beaters away from being undefeated. we’ll see how it goes. Should be a fun tournament.

Very good observation. The media has a habit of anointing the national champion in November.

 

[ThatCG1801]

Has anyone heard from the many SC fans who inhabit this board?

We are here. We will be fine. We are still #1 even with the loss.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

A poster on the UConn board raised an interesting question. Can a team that IS NOT an automatic qualifier be a 1 seed?

I don't really understand how a human being that follows basketball could think being an AQ is a requirement for being a 1 seed.

South Carolina has the same vulnerability it began the season with and that it had last year. It gives major minutes at two positions to players that can't consistently score.

That's who this team is. Most nights it doesn't matter because it's dominant defensive and rebounding team.

It's absolutely going to be a reason they lose if they lose.

 

[ThatCG1801]

Maybe it's just me, but I think this loss only galvanizes this team going forward. I had SC winning the NC before today. I still do. This loss only hurts their pride and ego.

They will still be a one seed. They’ve got a maximum of 6 games left in their season. I say they take one game at a time. Assume nothing and take nothing for granted. I think the championship is theirs to lose. I first made this observation at the beginning of the season.

Honestly I think that L will end up being a good thing. They'd been trending towards sloppy 4th quarter play for a while. Collapsed in the 4th vs Ole Miss the day before. Pretty certain that loss slapped them back into reality and they'll be motivated for the NCAAT. Kentucky was on a mission. I truly believe they'd have beat anyone they played yesterday. I'm happy for them. That team has grit and no quit in them. It hurt like a b*tch to lose but I can't be mad about it. They earned it.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

While SC’s basic strategy of tough defense, pound the ball inside and crash the boards has been a dependable recipe for victory this season, there is also a risk for the Gamecocks that manifested itself yesterday. SC wins tight, low-scoring games. Run into a team on a roll, with a hot shooter or two, a team like KY, or a team like any one of a number of potential opponents in the Big Dance, and SC is ripe for an upset.

Dawn is a great coach. But I don’t know if she has built a versatile team capable of reacting to anything opponents throw at SC. When I see a lineup with 3 players all 6’4” or better on the court at the same time, it’s pretty damned intimidating. But it lacks the ability to spread the floor, push tempo or guard the perimeter. It also puts a ton of pressure on SC’s 1-2 guards to hit their shots, feed the posts and make plays.

SC may still win it all this year. But as yesterday’s game vs KY clearly demonstrated, the Gamecocks are most assuredly vulnerable to another upset during the Big Dance.

SCar rarely puts those kinds of lineups on the floor.

When Coach thinks she's in a battle she leans heavily on the starters experience.

I think that you could argue that she would be better off trying something different.

But who knows. It's late in the game to be experimenting and I think you just go with what's made you the team of the year to this point.

No shock if SCar gets beaten by a team that packs it in. They've never been that kind of dominant.

 

[oldude]

SCar rarely puts those kinds of lineups on the floor.

When Coach thinks she's in a battle she leans heavily on the starters experience.

I think that you could argue that she would be better off trying something different.

But who knows. It's late in the game to be experimenting and I think you just go with what's made you the team of the year to this point.

No shock if SCar gets beaten by a team that packs it in. They've never been that kind of dominant.

Admittedly, I don’t see as much of SC as you do. But I have seen multiple times this season when SC played Boston, Cardoso & Amihere together, even having Amihere out top running the point. That doesn’t make much sense to me.

 

[Carnac]

I don't really understand how a human being that follows basketball could think being an AQ is a requirement for being a 1 seed.

South Carolina has the same vulnerability it began the season with and that it had last year. It gives major minutes at two positions to players that can't consistently score.

That's who this team is. Most nights it doesn't matter because it's dominant defensive and rebounding team.

It's absolutely going to be a reason they lose if they lose.

Hey Cockfanfan, don't get your BVD's in a bunch. Don't try and psychoanalyze these fans. Across the broad spectrum of fans here in the yard, there are some that are extremely knowledgeable about ALL THINGS WCBB, and some that are merely "casual" recliner chair fans who really don't know some of the many things YOU take for granted. You've got new fans coming to the Boneyard everyday, then you've got your "old codgers" that have been here since the dawn of man. I'm somewhere in the middle. I know what I don't know.

My post really was a reprint of a question asked by a poster here. I was not me. If I don't know something, I'm not afraid or ashamed to ask. Momma said "if you don't know, ask." That was a question I did not know the answer to. I'm not a historian. I've only been a WCBB fan since I retired in 2008. Didn't have the free time while I was working. Anyone that has been following WCBB this year knows that SC is the most dominant team in the country. It's a given that SC will still get a 1 seed despite their loss yesterday.

They loss that battle, but will win the war. If I had to bet everything I own on one team to win the NC, my meager holdings would be on South Carolina. They've lost all the games they're going to lose this year. I thought SC was the best team in the country at the begging of the season, and I think so now!! I watched that game. To me it was a simple case of SC taking their foot off the gas in the 4th quarter (only scoring 7 points), and Kentucky putting theirs on it, and not conceding (including the loss) anything.

I'm won't lie. I was glad to see Kentucky win yesterday. I'm ALWAYS glad to see any team lose that beat us. Let the Wildcats have their 15 minutes of fame and glory. We all know who is going to be holding up the trophy after the horn sounds in championship game in Minneapolis. The only thing that loss did was to galvanize your team, and made them re-focus their attention and resolve on these last 6 games. I'd congratulate you on winning the NC, but my team is still in the running.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Admittedly, I don’t see as much of SC as you do. But I have seen multiple times this season when SC played Boston, Cardoso & Amihere together, even having Amihere out top running the point. That doesn’t make much sense to me.

I'd be pretty surprised if those three have gotten more than 20 minutes of court time together all season.

It's never happened in contested crunch time that I recall.

I don't think Amihere has played much point guard in the last month and a half.

She was the starting pg briefly when SC didn't have a healthy pg available.

These are not things SC does very often now (though you are right that the three bigs did play together recently in a game).

The problem to the extent it's a problem is playing Beal, Saxton and struggling Cooke together at the same time for extended minutes. Dawn leans on their experience and defense. I think they're often the reason the offense struggles but who am I to say that it isn't outweighed by their defense or that the alternative would not be worse.

 

[cancontent]

Admittedly, I don’t see as much of SC as you do. But I have seen multiple times this season when SC played Boston, Cardoso & Amihere together, even having Amihere out top running the point. That doesn’t make much sense to me.

I believe most of the time we saw this was when Henderson was injured. Amihere was the closest thing to a PG that they had at the time with the freshman still getting up to speed.

 

[BobbyJ]

Hey Cockfanfan, don't get your BVD's in a bunch. Don't try and psychoanalyze these fans. Across the broad spectrum of fans here in the yard, there are some that are extremely knowledgeable about ALL THINGS WCBB, and some that are merely "casual" recliner chair fans who really don't know some of the many things YOU take for granted. You've got new fans coming to the Boneyard everyday, then you've got your "old codgers" that have been here since the dawn of man. I'm somewhere in the middle. I know what I don't know.

My post really was a reprint of a question asked by a poster here. I was not me. If I don't know something, I'm not afraid or ashamed to ask. Momma said "if you don't know, ask." That was a question I did not know the answer to. I'm not a historian. I've only been a WCBB fan since I retired in 2008. Didn't have the free time while I was working. Anyone that has been following WCBB this year knows that SC is the most dominant team in the country. It's a given that SC will still get a 1 seed despite their loss yesterday.

They loss that battle, but will win the war. If I had to bet everything I own on one team to win the NC, my meager holdings would be on South Carolina. They've lost all the games they're going to lose this year. I thought SC was the best team in the country at the begging of the season, and I think so now!! I watched that game. To me it was a simple case of SC taking their foot off the gas in the 4th quarter (only scoring 7 points), and Kentucky putting theirs on it, and not conceding (including the loss) anything.

I'm won't lie. I was glad to see Kentucky win yesterday. I'm ALWAYS glad to see any team lose that beat us. Let the Wildcats have their 15 minutes of fame and glory. We all know who is going to be holding up the trophy after the horn sounds in championship game in Minneapolis. The only thing that loss did was to galvanize your team, and made them re-focus their attention and resolve on these last 6 games. I'd congratulate you on winning the NC, but my team is still in the running.

We ALL do??

 

[Britt87]

Very good observation. The media has a habit of anointing the national champion in November.

So do the fans.

 

[Carnac]

We ALL do??

You’re right. I’ve got to stop using words that are all inclusive. I should have said “many of us.” Or many of us do.

 

[Carnac]

We ALL do??

Would you bet everything you have against them winning it all?

 

[BobbyJ]

Would you bet everything you have against them winning it all?

I never bet. I'm smarter than that. I would only bet on something I have control of.