So for now, can we maybe put to bed the "SC would really challenge UCONN" discussions? | Page 2 | The Boneyard

So for now, can we maybe put to bed the "SC would really challenge UCONN" discussions?

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Im not sure what playing up to their potential is because in 3 competitive games SC has not won easily. Against South Cal South Carolina won by 9 at home, against a weaken Cuse SC won by 4 on a neutral court and against Duke by 1 on the road. It is very apparent to me that SC is talented and big but against top teams they struggle. Most good teams who play good teams will struggle and most good teams who play lesser talented teams will look much better. Matching 2 good teams against each other shows teams their weaknesses. Stanford showed UConn they were starting the wrong players and Geno made that adjustment now UConn looks almost unbeatable. SC has had 3 good games and not stepped up to win them handely.

UConn may not lose another game (barring injuries) for the rest of the season. SC on the other hand will. The SEC has alot of ranked teams but none overwhelming where a number 1 team shouldnt handle them easily. From what Ive seen a Duke team without great guards and a Cuse team missing a top player and SC doesnt put them away leaves unanswered questions of how good SC really is. SC being undefeated and already ranked 1 should hold on to that number 1 spot but UConn is by far the best team in WCBB and the team to beat. SC is a good team but not a great team. SC TAM ND TX Baylor are all top teams with talent. They will all fight it out to gain a one seed in the NCAAs. UConn will be there and the biggest fear at the end of the season will be who gets put in UConns bracket. Height is needed to win games however quickness, good guard play, confidence, continuity, and team chemistry is very important but not as important as team defense.
 
CLE802A said:
Duke only averaged under 5000 fans per home game last season....they are right at 4,000 now, but that should likely increas as their conference schedule begins, unless they fall off the map. That has been about what to expect for their home games. And Duke lost 2 games - not 3 - which were their previous 2 that Williams missed, and she played the entire game today, so not really the same thing. Williams is easily their top player, and both previous losses were to ranked opponents, so not exactly what your post implies I'm sure....
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My bad Cle ...Site I checked and looked too quick, you are 100% right they only had two losses. Still #1 beat #9 by one at the buzzer. Not a pig pile occasion in my eyes but who am I to take away anyones joy. I did find the game good for the sport. Not so much the we just won the NC celebration this early in the season.
Just curious does your fan base have a board like this? You spend enough time here to lead me to believe you are a closet UCONN fan! I can only hope as to make it exciting that the Cocks are still number one on 2/9/15 . Look forward to seeing that change the next week. Good luck....
 
USC deserves to be ranked #1 based on being undefeated BUT UConn is the best team right now. Only these rabid USC fans with their "rose colored glasses" can't see that right now which is understandable. They have a good coach and a good young team. UConn will beat them in February and reality will set in. Unfortunately they probably won't be undefeated when they play us because they're not that good-certainly not in ND class.
 
Tonyc said:
After watching SC struggle against a Duke team who is lacking a bit at the guard spots there is no doubt in my mind UConn is the team to beat. Its UConn and everybody else barring injuries. Beating ND at ND with 24 turnovers and a 28pt turnaround gives me a lot of confidence. Who should be number 2? Good question. There are a lot of good teams TAM SC TX ND but still any of these teams can lose to each other or to some other team in the top 10 or a team in the top 20 that gets hot. UConn wont. The emergence of Tuck and Nurse who will both be around for a few more years and looking ahead Butler and next years class means UConn will be the team to beat for at least 5 more years. Getting back to this season. We have DePaul and UCLA then Duke and later SC. I don't see any of these teams within double digits of UConn. In fact if UConn gets hot it could get ugly. So when the polls come out this week it should be an Undefeated SC at number 1 in some polls and UConn 2 but UConn will be the best team in the country until SC loses.
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Tony, I love ya but it seems that in a good portion of your posts you seem to feel the need to project us "being the team to beat" five years out or so instead of keeping us in the realm of our "present" season. I know you and I and others can get a bit excited in the immediate wake of a new impressive signee or two (or three) but after that, I would think we can focus on the current season. Just saying!
 
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CLE802A said:
Meh....


Interesting comparison can be made here:

In one scenario, the #1-ranked team in wcbb goes on the road in an early-season game of interest against an opponent who is ranked below them but still in the top 10, to play them on their home court. A tough, physical game where the #1 plays below it's standards, and the game comes down to the wire. And the #1-ranked team LOSES....

In the other scenario, the #1-ranked team in wcbb goes on the road in an early-season game of interest against an opponent who is ranked below them but still in the top 10, to play them on their home court. A tough, physical game where the #1 plays below it's standards, and the game comes down to the wire. And the #1-ranked team WINS....

And yet, according to this site, the 1st scenario was regarded as a blessing in disguise to the losing, former #1 team, and one which they can only move on from and improve. And strangely, the 2nd scenario was regarded as proof that the current, still #1 team is undeserving of the #1 ranking, and that they were shown to be the frauds that they are.

It's interesting to observe how those 2 scenarios are playing out. Don't you think??
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Did you take into account that in the first scenario, the top ten team hosting the number one team actually played a very good ball game and helped contribute to the number one team who played kind of okay despite some mental errors losing while in the second scenario, the number one team and the hosting top ten team both embarrassed themselves and women's college basketball with pathetic performances that set back basketball for those that tuned in and thought that a high level of basketball was going to be on display? There is no one who enjoys women's basketball who enjoyed the performances on display Sunday while I can guarantee y0u that wasn't the case in the first scenario. All you have to do is read the followups or listen to the halftime analysis and end of game analysis for both games. No comparison whatsoever!
 
UConnLen said:
USC deserves to be ranked #1 based on being undefeated BUT UConn is the best team right now. Only these rabid USC fans with their "rose colored glasses" can't see that right now which is understandable. They have a good coach and a good young team. UConn will beat them in February and reality will set in. Unfortunately they probably won't be undefeated when they play us because they're not that good-certainly not in ND class.
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I hope you know that in college football there is only one division one team that's undefeated and they are the defending champs and YET, they are NOT number one. The reason for that is they have convinced many voters that they ARE NOT the best team in the country, DESPITE their being undefeated. Alabama, who has one loss, is rated for and way as the superior team and Florida State isn't even the number 2 team in the country. You know why, because these people don't PRESUME that just because a team is undefeated and another one isn't, that the UNDEFEATED team is the better team. I love that and believe it and I'm not alone!
 
CLE802A said:
"A team that's much better than Duke".why? Because they hadn't lost their top player in Williams yet to go undefeated until they played y'all? They lost their #2 top player in Turner.and lost.

All I took from this game was USC came out against a top-10 caliber opponent on their home floor with unprecedented pressure and expectations placed on themselves, and struggled in the 1st half. Played uncharacteristically poor. And yet only trailed by 4 pts. Our offense was poor, but our defense was stellar. We could've been down by 20 otherwise...

South Carolina came out the 2nd half and shot 14 for 25 (56%). A much better improvement. USC beat Duke despite getting poor performances from it's top 2 players in Mitchell and Welch, who went a combined 6-21 and scored 15 pts. That won't happen often this season.

And yet it's a great learning experience for USC - much like the loss to Stanford was for UConn, according to posters here. We passed our 2nd biggest test and was left still standing. I doubt the voters will penalize USC heavily for one poor half of basketball that they STILL came away from unscathed. The other teams are playing each other and losing, regardless of how they looked on the court. We've yet to do that....
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CLE802A- - - I think what the Huskies fans are saying is UCONN has beaten good Duke teams by 30 to 40 points in the last 4 years at home and at Duke and your SoCar girls at #1 barely beat a bad Duke team and UCONN will slaughter Duke again Dec. 29th! Beating Duke the way SoCar did was not a highlight! It's a win but shows WBB SoCar may NOT be ready for the top step yet!
This was SoCar's highlight game so far this season and they came up lacking. Yes UCONN lost to Stanford by 2 in 2OT but they've proven recently that was UCONN throwing it away more that Stanford dominating!
SoCar has great potential but so does every player and every team. Until you perform on the BIG stage and succeed you haven't done it!
 
Buzzyboy said:
Did you take into account that in the first scenario, the top ten team hosting the number one team actually played a very good ball game and helped contribute to the number one team who played kind of okay despite some mental errors losing while in the second scenario, the number one team and the hosting top ten team both embarrassed themselves and women's college basketball with pathetic performances that set back basketball for those that tuned in and thought that a high level of basketball was going to be on display? There is no one who enjoys women's basketball who enjoyed the performances on display Sunday while I can guarantee y0u that wasn't the case in the first scenario. All you have to do is read the followups or listen to the halftime analysis and end of game analysis for both games. No comparison whatsoever!
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I dunno I thought that last 10 minutes or so of the South Carolina-Duke game was pretty exciting, and I'll bet the rest of basketball watching Anerica would rather watch that than a game that's over 10-12 minutes in like the UConn-ND game.
 
HoopsFan21 said:
I dunno I thought that last 10 minutes or so of the South Carolina-Duke game was pretty exciting, and I'll bet the rest of basketball watching Anerica would rather watch that than a game that's over 10-12 minutes in like the UConn-ND game.
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10 minutes in, ND was ahead 28-21, but I don't think it was over.

I mean was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
 
Facutal error; it was actually 28-18, before the Stoking began.
 
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cockhrnleghrn said:
...or for us to play twice - once in Storrs and once in Columbia.
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2 losses would be bad for you, though
 
HoopsFan21 said:
I dunno I thought that last 10 minutes or so of the South Carolina-Duke game was pretty exciting, and I'll bet the rest of basketball watching Anerica would rather watch that than a game that's over 10-12 minutes in like the UConn-ND game.
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Oh I don't know - I was wanting Duke to win so badly that I was pretty disappointed
 
RadyLady said:
Oh I don't know - I was wanting Duke to win so badly that I was pretty disappointed
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dog-high-five.gif
 
HoopsFan21 said:
I dunno I thought that last 10 minutes or so of the South Carolina-Duke game was pretty exciting, and I'll bet the rest of basketball watching Anerica would rather watch that than a game that's over 10-12 minutes in like the UConn-ND game.
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Yes standards are lowering everywhere. The UConn/ND game would only draw those interested in good basketball.
 
HoopsFan21 said:
I dunno I thought that last 10 minutes or so of the South Carolina-Duke game was pretty exciting, and I'll bet the rest of basketball watching Anerica would rather watch that than a game that's over 10-12 minutes in like the UConn-ND game.
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Well, the Notre Dame/UConn game was tilted in Notre Dame's favor after ten minutes so I'm inclined to think that since UConn ended up winning the game handily, that they might feel a lot differently than you do. I do concede that the last ten minutes of the Duke/SC game was appreciably better, you first had to live with the first 30 minutes of game time or so and being appreciably better than PURE STINKO isn't saying a great deal.
 
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RadyLady said:
wishful thinking by south carolina
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It will happen; maybe not this year, but certainly in the near future. It may take a couple of years, but at some point, being in an also ran conference is going to start costing you recruits; especially after Geno retires. As for this season, we will play on the court once, maybe twice. May the best team win.
 
baggerbob said:
They barely beat Syracuse without their best player, Sykes who might be back in a couple weeks.
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Everyone forgets Syracuse Sykes class was one of the highest rated recruiting classes that season - I think.
 
CLE802A said:
Meh....


Interesting comparison can be made here:

In one scenario, the #1-ranked team in wcbb goes on the road in an early-season game of interest against an opponent who is ranked below them but still in the top 10, to play them on their home court. A tough, physical game where the #1 plays below it's standards, and the game comes down to the wire. And the #1-ranked team LOSES....

In the other scenario, the #1-ranked team in wcbb goes on the road in an early-season game of interest against an opponent who is ranked below them but still in the top 10, to play them on their home court. A tough, physical game where the #1 plays below it's standards, and the game comes down to the wire. And the #1-ranked team WINS....

And yet, according to this site, the 1st scenario was regarded as a blessing in disguise to the losing, former #1 team, and one which they can only move on from and improve. And strangely, the 2nd scenario was regarded as proof that the current, still #1 team is undeserving of the #1 ranking, and that they were shown to be the frauds that they are.

It's interesting to observe how those 2 scenarios are playing out. Don't you think??
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So now you are against Hypocracy & Double Standards???? Blasphemer!!!!! :)
 
cockhrnleghrn said:
It will happen; maybe not this year, but certainly in the near future. It may take a couple of years, but at some point, being in an also ran conference is going to start costing you recruits; especially after Geno retires. As for this season, we will play on the court once, maybe twice. May the best team win.
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The best team will win, and it will be UConn. And things may change when Geno retires, but that's not happening in the near future, so that argument for the next 5 years or more is weak. Top recruits are still considering and if I am not mistaken, signing LOI for UConn, "also ran conference" not withstanding. And regardless of the aforementioned "also ran conference" we still play and beat top competition and are looking at winning what...our 10th National Championship in due course. So....

UConn is THE standard for Women's College Basketball, and at the end of the day, I, as are many of the fans on this board, am very proud of this team and their accomplishments.


You know, I get that you are a fan of another team. Oddly enough, I don't go over to your board - if you have one - and crow about my team on your board. I just don't.
 
WRT "weak conference"... That used to be said about the Big East, and then it wasn't.

IME, a player who truly wants to be their best/reach their potential isn't too concerned about the conference games except as learning experiences. They are much more interested in playing in the last game of the season.

I remember when the orange folks used to come around here and ramble on about how next year, or the year after that was going to be different for one reason or another, and that their team was going to win, and UCONN would end up an also-ran for several years running. Well, they were right about that, except that they got the teams reversed.
 
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Why do we have to tear others down to make us better? That's what makes folks insufferable front-runners (and what we hate about Vols fans). i.e. "no matter what you do you can never be as good as us."

We should just be happy with the way UConn is playing and know that in Feb (and later, in April) that all will be decided on the court. Good for USC now...but watch out in two months.
 
At some point Geno will retire and I believe UConn learned from Tenn that they need to have a plan in place for when that happens and they will. As far as comparing teams. To many fans think about offense and height. The game comes down to the team working as a unit and team defense. UConn has continually won because they play Team Defense. Everybody is plugged in and on the same page. That is part of the reason why when last season Geno had Tuck and KML out of the lineup they beat Stanford, Duke, MD, Ohio St and Penn St. It was defense for the most part. I see teams pre season ranked in the top 5 which are no longer there. They were ranked there why? They are no longer there because of lack of defense. Those teams ranked high had height but still lost. Why Defense. Geno has implemented a strong defense. You don't play unless you can play defense. Its defense first. Geno has some height and quickness too but its all about defense. You cant win big games consistently without defense. That's why UConn has won so many NCs and big games.

This season once again it is UConn and everybody else because they play Team Defense. Because the play as a team and team comes first, I don't believe UConn will lose another game this season (barring injuries). UConn will get better as will every other team but UConn as a team will get better as a team because they play as an unselfish team...team first individual second, because basketball is a team game. In the ND game it was proven that one player can not win the game for you against a good team. UConn did it with balance. With Stewie and KML slowed down plays ran through Nurse and Tuck. UConn made the necessary adjustments. Stewie and KML still had very good games with great stats. They didn't dominate the game but they didn't have to because the team worked as a unit and won the game.

There are a lot of good teams in WCBB this season, but there is a very big difference between every other team and UConn. There is parity and they there is UConn. Being UConn good is going to take a lot more then having a great player or a couple of great players. Geno didn't get UConn here over nite. It took years. Fans say well Geno gets all the top players. Why is that? Because he wins NCs and UConn is the best team in WCBB. Geno is also a great motivator, coach, teacher of the game. Kids want to be part of UConn because it is special. Other teams can lose but when UConn loses it makes headlines why because UConn isn't suppose to lose. With that said when SC comes to town and Im sure there will be a lot of SC fans coming to CT for the game get ready because you will see what Im talking about...which is UConn good.
 
Part of the reason for Nurse in the starting lineup, was Stanford guards kept scoring on layups, which is why they scored so many points. The thing about Kia is yes, as with anyone she gets beat sometimes, but not often, and doesn't go, and commit a stupid foul when she does get beat. The other thing is when you do score, she is pushing the ball the other way as soon as it comes out of the basket.
 
connboy77 said:
I wonder if you will be posting here after the February Game! Its not going to be pretty for SC.
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Hey, I continued to post here after Baylor suffered the biggest upset in WCBB history, and there was a lot of celebrating going on. It hurt, but I survived.
 
easttexastrash said:
Hey, I continued to post here after Baylor suffered the biggest upset in WCBB history, and there was a lot of celebrating going on. It hurt, but I survived.
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I was responding to the SC Fan not you.
 
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