SEC Preseason Media Picks

[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.

 

[SimpleDawg]

@SCspur - There wasn't any offense taken, but as an objective discussion, I don't think you can leave Danberry off of the list of offensive contributors at MSU and the SEC if you're going to include Harrigan and Harris as part of the conversation. Danberry averaged more points than Harrigan and Harris (13.1 vs 10.9 and 10.4). Shot 48% - that's way better than Harris' and a little bit better than Harrigan's. Her 65 steals are above Harris' and way above Harrigan's.

Though she has a nonexistent 3 point shooting percentage and her free throw shooting is way below both, but those aside, an average person could deduce Danberry is indeed a stronger offensive contributor than anyone returning we're seeing on the stat sheets from SC of last year.

Harrigan and Harris' stats are closer to Bibby's if you ask me. Though Harris' assists are off the charts and neither Bibby or Danberry could compare to her assists.

 

[bballnut90]

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.

Why would Danberry's scoring go down when she's the returning leading scorer? She was excellent at getting in the lane and hitting from midrange and averaged 13ppg.

Also, I don't see her needing to add range on her shot (although it certainly would help) for Mississippi State to be very good. Bibby/Scott/AEH all shot around 40% from 3 a year ago, plus Rickea Jackson can crank from deep too.

 

[stwainfan]

 

[SCspur]

Why would Danberry's scoring go down when she's the returning leading scorer? She was excellent at getting in the lane and hitting from midrange and averaged 13ppg.

Also, I don't see her needing to add range on her shot (although it certainly would help) for Mississippi State to be very good. Bibby/Scott/AEH all shot around 40% from 3 a year ago, plus Rickea Jackson can crank from deep too.

I don’t think it will go down at all I just don’t think she will be the leading scorer or a big time scorer. I’m almost 100% sure she came back to raise her WNBA stock and if that’s true she will definitely need to improve that area of her game no matter how many shooters she can defer to. Danberry got a lot of looks because of the attention Howard and McCowan garnered. I’m interested to see if she can step into that go role for her team.

 

[SCspur]

@SCspur - There wasn't any offense taken, but as an objective discussion, I don't think you can leave Danberry off of the list of offensive contributors at MSU and the SEC if you're going to include Harrigan and Harris as part of the conversation. Danberry averaged more points than Harrigan and Harris (13.1 vs 10.9 and 10.4). Shot 48% - that's way better than Harris' and a little bit better than Harrigan's. Her 65 steals are above Harris' and way above Harrigan's.

Though she has a nonexistent 3 point shooting percentage and her free throw shooting is way below both, but those aside, an average person could deduce Danberry is indeed a stronger offensive contributor than anyone returning we're seeing on the stat sheets from SC of last year.

Harrigan and Harris' stats are closer to Bibby's if you ask me. Though Harris' assists are off the charts and neither Bibby or Danberry could compare to her assists.

Well it wasn’t I who said Miss St won’t have as many weapons. I do think Danberry is good and will be a big contributor and last season stats do add facts but she did play Alongside the second best front court in the country last year which made her job much easier. IMO teams will force her to shoot more from range than she’s used to. If she adjusts she could be one of the best in the SEC, if not I think Vic will defer to his younger players. I do think your statement is a bit premature, while Danberry had a better scoring average last year that doesn’t necessarily mean she will be better this year. A player that will turn everyone’s head this year is Destanni Henderson. Remember I said this, she’s going to make a lot of noise this year.

I will say Herbert Harrigan can be the best overall player in the SEC. She is the leading returning shot blocker and has the highest midrange percentage of any retuning bigs. The sky is definitely the limit for her.

 

[bballnut90]

I don’t think it will go down at all I just don’t think she will be the leading scorer or a big time scorer. I’m almost 100% sure she came back to raise her WNBA stock and if that’s true she will definitely need to improve that area of her game no matter how many shooters she can defer to. Danberry got a lot of looks because of the attention Howard and McCowan garnered. I’m interested to see if she can step into that go role for her team.

What constitutes a "big time scorer?" 13.1 is pretty big time for a third option, especially since she had Howard/McCowan ahead of her like you said. That's more PPG than several of the preseason All-SEC players, including both Harris and Herbert-Herrigan.

And I don't think Danberry has her sights on the WNBA, but I could be wrong. She was a top notch student in undergrad and is coming back to get her MBA per her MSU profile.

I like Danberry a lot but don't think she has WNBA potential with her size and skill set. 5-8 shooting guard without a 3pt shot doesn't sound like WNBA material to me, although we'll see what happens.

 

[bballnut90]

Well it wasn’t I who said Miss St won’t have as many weapons. I do think Danberry is good and will be a big contributor and last season stats do add facts but she did play Alongside the second best front court in the country last year which made her job much easier. IMO teams will force her to shoot more from range than she’s used to. If she adjusts she could be one of the best in the SEC, if not I think Vic will defer to his younger players.

I will say Herbert Harrigan can be the best overall player in the SEC. She is the leading returning shot blocker and has the highest midrange percentage of any retuning bigs. The sky is definitely the limit for her.

MHH is good but that's definitely a big leap. She has good range and shot blocking skills but is far from being the best overall player in the SEC. Definitely suggest you watch more of Rhyne Howard, Chelsea Dungee, Rennia Davis or Chennedy Carter before saying something like that.

 

[DaBball]

If Danberry plays PG for Mississippi State, she’ll be near the top of the league for assists per game as well. She averaged 3.5 APG in a role where she was mostly asked to score and Holmes was asked to facilitate, and was second in APG at 5.6, behind Taja Cole’s 7.0 APG.

I believe Vic wants her playing both PG and SG, so I think we’ll see her in both roles. She gives Vic a guard he knows can hang with Chennedy Carter and Ty Harris.

She was working a full time job, so I don’t believe her return had much to do with raising her WNBA stock.

 

[SCspur]

What constitutes a "big time scorer?" 13.1 is pretty big time for a third option, especially since she had Howard/McCowan ahead of her like you said. That's more PPG than several of the preseason All-SEC players, including both Harris and Herbert-Herrigan.

And I don't think Danberry has her sights on the WNBA, but I could be wrong. She was a top notch student in undergrad and is coming back to get her MBA per her MSU profile.

I like Danberry a lot but don't think she has WNBA potential with her size and skill set. 5-8 shooting guard without a 3pt shot doesn't sound like WNBA material to me, although we'll see what happens.

In his preseason presser Vic stated Danberry has WNBA potential and he would make sure she works hard this season to achieve that. I would guess he’s told her to expand to have that dream realized.

She has to take on the scoring load like McCowan and Howe’s did last year. Is she capable? Yes but I don’t think her scoring will rise as much with her being the target of other opponents. That’s just my opinion.

 

[SCspur]

MHH is good but that's definitely a big leap. She has good range and shot blocking skills but is far from being the best overall player in the SEC. Definitely suggest you watch more of Rhyne Howard, Chelsea Dungee, Rennia Davis or Chennedy Carter before saying something like that.

Rhyne Howard would probably be my pick for best overall player and Carter can be in the conversation as well. Davis is a good rebounder but she still isn’t assertive enough and Dungee is mainly a scorer. This may be my biased eye but MHH definitely has potential to be in that conversation with these players. She just has yet to put together a full strong season. She averaged 17 ppg and 2.9 bpg in the tournament last season and if she can keep a steady production like that I think she will be a force.