SEC Preseason Media Picks

[MSSportsGuy]

Myah Taylor didn't really show me very much last season, considering she was a redshirt and had been with the team the previous season. She looked timid and unsure of herself at times. For a player as decorated as her coming out of high school it just wasn't what I was expecting. Hopefully she's improved.

Realistically 3rd could be high bar for MSU in the SEC this year. There is talent on the team but it's very young and there are so many new faces. It sounds like Carter is the new Arike to some of the board posters here. Carter is a scorer and a pretty darn good one.

 

[bballnut90]

You're talking about Promise, right?

I should say, however, that based on what I hear on Bulldog forums - it looks like Vic is going with Myah Taylor as his starting point guard - due to his belief that Danberry's skills are better displayed when she's in 2 guard position.

...

Yep, Promise Taylor. Starting Myah Taylor at PG scares me if I'm an MSU fan. Seemed a little out of control in games I saw and the vast majority of her experience was playing in blow out wins against Vic's cupcake schedule, yet she didn't put up good numbers still. Danberry is a MUCH better fit based on last year's play. Very steady player (hit double figures in 30/36 games last year), good defender and passer at the guard spot. Unselfish and overall a solid decision maker. 5th year senior. Just what you'd want from a PG.

I actually just looked at stats again and am surprised she was left off the preseason teams. She'd be on at least 2nd team if I had a vote. She averaged 13 points, 3.5 assists and shot 48% from the field for the dominant #1 team in the conference a year ago.

Going into this year, MSU has the pieces to be excellent if players are healthy/as good as advertised. A rotation of:
C-Taylor, 6-5 transfer from Ole Miss with 7-0 wing span
F-Bibby, 6-1 (coming off ACL)
F-Jackson, 6-2 highly touted freshman
G-AEH, 5-11, stand out 3pt shooter who started half of the year
G-Danberry, top returning player who averaged 13ppg and was incredibly consistent

Bench:
Sidney Cooks-if eligible, an athletic 6-4 inside out player with range to 3pt. Was rated as high as 5th in her class, but also rated in the 20-30 range by other services. Based on performance thus far, 20-30 range is probably more accurate.

Myah Taylor-quick PG who could be a burst of energy off the bench, very different intangibles than Danberry but could compliment her well.

Bre-Amber Scott-another good perimeter threat who shoots lights out.

Jessika Carter-big, physical 6-5 center who can block shots and be a good sub off the bench


The potential is there for MSU, but the lineup looks incredibly different. Time will tell how they pan out.

 

[bballnut90]

Myah Taylor didn't really show me very much last season, considering she was a redshirt and had been with the team the previous season. She looked timid and unsure of herself at times. For a player as decorated as her coming out of high school it just wasn't what I was expecting. Hopefully she's improved.

Realistically 3rd could be high bar for MSU in the SEC this year. There is talent on the team but it's very young and there are so many new faces. It sounds like Carter is the new Arike to some of the board posters here. Carter is a scorer and a pretty darn good one.

I think most posters have felt this way about Carter but are more vocal about it now that A&M is being spoken about as a potential national power this year. And basketball wise I think most would take Arike over Carter in a heartbeat. Carter takes 20+ shots per game while shooting a mediocre percentage from the floor, and has a negative A/TO ratio. Not at all what you want from a primary ball handler and decision maker. When she gets hot anything can happen, but the opposite is true when she isn't hitting shots. The top 6 SEC teams all have potential to win the conference, but it'll come down to how the pieces fit together for each program. Lots of talent in the conference this year even if there isn't an obvious standout team in the preseason.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I think most posters have felt this way about Carter but are more vocal about it now that A&M is being spoken about as a potential national power this year. And basketball wise I think most would take Arike over Carter in a heartbeat. Carter takes 20+ shots per game while shooting a mediocre percentage from the floor, and has a negative A/TO ratio. Not at all what you want from a primary ball handler and decision maker. When she gets hot anything can happen, but the opposite is true when she isn't hitting shots. The top 6 SEC teams all have potential to win the conference, but it'll come down to how the pieces fit together for each program. Lots of talent in the conference this year even if there isn't an obvious standout team in the preseason.

I tend to agree that Carter doesn't do a good job taking care of the basketball and is a a high volume shooter. I honestly don't know where A&M will wind up fitting with the powers that be this year. They looked good at times last year and not very good at others.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

Yep, Promise Taylor. Starting Myah Taylor at PG scares me if I'm an MSU fan. Seemed a little out of control in games I saw and the vast majority of her experience was playing in blow out wins against Vic's cupcake schedule, yet she didn't put up good numbers still. Danberry is a MUCH better fit based on last year's play. Very steady player (hit double figures in 30/36 games last year), good defender and passer at the guard spot. Unselfish and overall a solid decision maker. 5th year senior. Just what you'd want from a PG.

I actually just looked at stats again and am surprised she was left off the preseason teams. She'd be on at least 2nd team if I had a vote. She averaged 13 points, 3.5 assists and shot 48% from the field for the dominant #1 team in the conference a year ago.

Going into this year, MSU has the pieces to be excellent if players are healthy/as good as advertised. A rotation of:
C-Taylor, 6-5 transfer from Ole Miss with 7-0 wing span
F-Bibby, 6-1 (coming off ACL)
F-Jackson, 6-2 highly touted freshman
G-AEH, 5-11, stand out 3pt shooter who started half of the year
G-Danberry, top returning player who averaged 13ppg and was incredibly consistent

Bench:
Sidney Cooks-if eligible, an athletic 6-4 inside out player with range to 3pt. Was rated as high as 5th in her class, but also rated in the 20-30 range by other services. Based on performance thus far, 20-30 range is probably more accurate.

Myah Taylor-quick PG who could be a burst of energy off the bench, very different intangibles than Danberry but could compliment her well.

Bre-Amber Scott-another good perimeter threat who shoots lights out.

Jessika Carter-big, physical 6-5 center who can block shots and be a good sub off the bench


The potential is there for MSU, but the lineup looks incredibly different. Time will tell how they pan out.

Yeah I think we could be very good again yet a lot will depend on player health. Lots of new faces. We MSU fans have had a run of steady players who became familiar faces (Vivians, William, Schafer, McGowan and Holmes) and now we have more of an unknown lineup. Danberry is good. AEH hit shots when she was open last season, Scott played well at times off the bench. Our post game and PG are where the question marks are. They may work out well. They may also struggle at times. I suppose we will see soon enough.

 

[Bigboote]

Yeah I think we could be very good again yet a lot will depend on player health.

I was encouraged to see that Bibby has been cleared for full contact just 8 months after ACL surgery. If she’s 95% by the league season, that bodes well for y’all.

 

[stwainfan]

What team will be the most surprising? An what team will be the most disappointing?

 

[DeeHusky]

They’ve released the sec media days clips on the ESPN app. I love watching these every year. Vic talked about Jackson; I think she’ll be on those all sec teams

 

[militarydog]

They’ve released the sec media days clips on the ESPN app. I love watching these every year. Vic talked about Jackson; I think she’ll be on those all sec teams

I was a little surprised by his comment that if they had played another game in Italy that J Hemingway and J Mingo-Young were playing well enough that he would have started them at the three and two respectively.

 

[DeeHusky]

I was a little surprised by his comment that if they had played another game in Italy that J Hemingway and J Mingo-Young were playing well enough that he would have started them at the three and two respectively.

I said that’s interesting because I don’t see anyone starting over Jackson, I think she’s the best player on team after seeing what she did this summer. The other 2/3 interchangeable player I thought of is Espinoza-Hunter so yea that’s surprising to say the least. The SEC will be REALLY interesting this year..can’t wait

 

[SECbbfan24]

I said that’s interesting because I don’t see anyone starting over Jackson, I think she’s the best player on team after seeing what she did this summer. The other 2/3 interchangeable player I thought of is Espinoza-Hunter so yea that’s surprising to say the least. The SEC will be REALLY interesting this year..can’t wait

I personally think the freshmen will play a significant role this year, too many good players to just sit on the bench for MSU. I think outside of Jackson, Hemingway is a shoe in for big minutes because she is a great defender, rebounder, and she showed her ability to score on the trip.

To be fair to AEH, I thought her defense was dramatically better in Italy. She obviously worked hard to improve her agility and defense. I think we see her break out a lot more, she just needs to be more proactive in terms of her defense and rebounding. We know she is a good shooter who can fill it up on any night.

In terms of getting the BEST players on the floor, I am not sure M. Taylor fits the bill but we will see soon. No doubt her defense is superb but I need to see more of her ball handling and shooting. Both of those aspects looked extremely rough last year. She did look a little better in Italy. As much as Vic may hate it, he might have to have Danberry running the point so they can get another good player on the floor who can shoot.

 

[bballnut90]

What team will be the most surprising? An what team will be the most disappointing?

Any of the top 3 could go be the most disappointing:

Texas A&M-they have the horses to be excellent, question is can they put it together and can Carter play unselfishly to get her team to the next level?

South Carolina-another team that has the horses, but they're quite young.

Mississippi State-a very new but talented roster but will be preseason top 10 once the polls come out. Can they live up to it or is the program going to have a down year?

For most surprising, I think it'll be one of

Tennessee-another squad with the horses to win it all despite being picked 6th. Green/Davis/Horston could be an excellent trio, and if Harper can coach em up they could threaten for the SEC crown.

Kentucky-Howard may be the best least talked about player in college basketball. If she has a massive year they could be an SEC title threat.

Arkansas-they finished the year strong despite not making the tournament. Dungee is fantastic and they have a good coach. It'd be a big jump to go from not an NCAA team to SEC champs, but if other teams struggle to mesh together and they start the year how they left off, they could be in the mix.

 

[Boxerpups4me]

should be a fun year in the sec..so many unknowns. on paper, south carolina and tennessee seem to have the most talent. ppl will be watching to see how sc's highly talented freshman class pans out and all eyes will be on kelly harper and freshman horston and how well the lady vols rebound from last year. rickea jackson will be a all american before its said and done..she is so fun to watch and just a freshman. a and m will be right in the thick of things as long as chennedy carter plays well. all in all, its anybodies guess who wins the sec this year. there are really no clear cut favorites IMO

 

[stwainfan]

 

[Gamecockfan77]

They’ve released the sec media days clips on the ESPN app. I love watching these every year. Vic talked about Jackson; I think she’ll be on those all sec teams

The usage she was getting overseas suggests that she will probably be the freshman of the year at least.

Offensively, I'm not sure Miss State has a whole lot of other first options.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

should be a fun year in the sec..so many unknowns. on paper, south carolina and tennessee seem to have the most talent. ppl will be watching to see how sc's highly talented freshman class pans out and all eyes will be on kelly harper and freshman horston and how well the lady vols rebound from last year. rickea jackson will be a all american before its said and done..she is so fun to watch and just a freshman. a and m will be right in the thick of things as long as chennedy carter plays well. all in all, its anybodies guess who wins the sec this year. there are really no clear cut favorites IMO

Listening to Staley at media days (and knowing what she has done in past years with Coates and Wilson) I suspect that the freshmen will largely start off the season on the bench.

Coach praised the veterans saying that they have improved and suggested that playing time for freshmen would depend on who best fit in the vets. Singled out LeLe Grissett for being the hardest working player in practices.

Then she said she thought her second unit could be more productive than her first unit.

I'm thinking that there might be a spot for one freshman in the starting lineup, but the bulk will come off the bench.

I'm really fired up to see what it all looks like.

I had pencilled in Boston and thought Beal might have a chance to start. But I could also see something like Harris, Henderson, Grissett, Herbert-Harrigan, Saxton, which I think is a lineup that could be pretty good defensively and on the boards.

Then sort of run the freshmen as a line change more or less.

 

[Jmsdawg]

The usage she was getting overseas suggests that she will probably be the freshman of the year at least.

Offensively, I'm not sure Miss State has a whole lot of other first options.

Vic, at SEC Media day, said MSST would be very good offense wise, he is concerned about defense. As for offensive options, MSST appears to me to have an abundance of shooters, I am concerned we may not have the physicality that we had for the last 3 years. I just hope our weak OOC schedule does not come back to bite us when we start SEC play. SEC this year has a lot of tough teams.

 

[DeeHusky]

The usage she was getting overseas suggests that she will probably be the freshman of the year at least.

Offensively, I'm not sure Miss State has a whole lot of other first options.

The usage she was getting overseas suggests that she will probably be the freshman of the year at least.

Offensively, I'm not sure Miss State has a whole lot of other first options.

She seems and look likes the player that can and wants to lead a team offensively and defensively in my opinion.

Freshman of the year is always unknown unless your referring to SEC freshmen of the year. With the nat’l freshman of the year you never know who could get it. Sometimes there’s a player like Kelsey Plum or Rhyne Howard who separates themselves from everybody else. Since 2013 the standout freshman have been:

2013) Kelsey Plum
2014) Kelsey Mitchell
2015) Asia Durr, Arike Ogunbowale, Kristine Anigwe and more
2016) Ionescu
2017) Chennedy Carter
2018) Rhyne Howard

 

[SimpleDawg]

Gamecockfan77

Danberry offensively > any returning player on South Carolina.

 

[SCspur]

Gamecockfan77

Danberry offensively > any returning player on South Carolina.

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[DeeHusky]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I don’t even think he or she had intent to throw shade at Miss St’s offense. I think they were saying there are not a lot of go-to players on the roster.

 

[DaBball]

In recent years, Dawn has placed freshmen in roles far more than Vic, who has had the luxury of predominantly upperclass teams, has.

I was very impressed with Bianca Jackson’s play as a freshman in 17-18 when Spann went down, and both Henderson and Saxton showed flashes of all-SEC careers being not too far away.

On the other hand, Chloe Bibby’s transformation was ridiculous. She went from looking like a decent role player (yes on an NC finalist team) as a freshman to a really good W/F as a sophomore. I’m betting Vic hopes Jessika Carter does something similar.

It’ll be interesting to see what Vic can do with a younger, but potentially more talented team. The good news for them is their sole loss is Danberry, and they’ll add Cooks, Hayes, and Gaston. The losses of Harris and Herbert-Harrigan should be fairly easy for Dawn to overcome.

 

[biobioprof]

They’ve released the sec media days clips on the ESPN app. I love watching these every year. Vic talked about Jackson; I think she’ll be on those all sec teams

 

[SECbbfan24]

I think Miss St has PLENTY of offensive firepower. They will be very good offensively this year. I question their defense and presence in the post though. Carter will need to step up her game, truth be told Promise is a long way from being an everday contributor with her injury.

 

[SCspur]

I don’t even think he or she had intent to throw shade at Miss St’s offense. I think they were saying there are not a lot of go-to players on the roster.

I don’t think @Gamecockfan77 said anything malicious or hurtful that led to that statement. The way Vic ran the ball through Jackson in Italy clearly shows that she will be their go to from day 1. I think Danberry is very good but without the help she had last year I don’t see her as a big time scorer or State’s go to player. She needs improve big time on her shooting from range. I can see atleast 2-3 players on SC this year that could have a better year.