South Carolina vs Maryland

[FormerCTrez]

Maybe we have different definitions of pretty because I thought that was a very ugly win.

But the wins don’t have to be pretty. I believe the goal of each team is the final result — WIN. However, it’s still so early in the season that there’s plenty of time left for all team’s improvement of aesthetically pleasing wins.

 

[FormerCTrez]

You don’t “find” your shot. Their technique and form aren’t good across the board. The problems they have are ones that need to be solved in the off season not during the season. South Carolina was my favorite womens team last year it’s a shame they have such issues this year because I don’t think they’ll be much fun to watch.

I sense your frustration with your favorite WCBB team, but......, it’s the beginning of the season. This is SCar, lead by Dawn Staley, who will have her players figure it out sooner, rather than later. They will be okay. Again, it’s the beginning of the season, and they have the talent and confidence to kick everyone’s butt, including my Huskies, so I’m not concerned about their “ugly” win.

 

[FormerCTrez]

South Carolinas team last year shot in the 40% range most of the season so their offense is never that pretty. It’s their defense that wins games. I’m ok with whatever works to get the win! If you want to watch pretty basketball pick another team but you may not be watching that team come late March!

Ouch!!!

 

[bballnut90]

I just can't picture Stanford taking on any contact. They are more of a finesse team.

Aside from SC, Stanford has the most physical front court in the country with Brink/Bellini. Brink especially is an absolute beast inside. Haven’t seen much of Betts but she’s a big body and 6-7.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I think Stanford will have an edge. Iriafen is a studlet and a very important part of this years team ( So far their top scorer and shooting over 80% ). Consider this: through 3 games, Betts is shooting over 70% and scoring about a point a minute and a rebound a minute, and she's just starting to get her feet wet. Stanford doesn't turn the ball over a lot and they have lots of depth. Not even mentioning Brink or Haley Jones.

Not impressed with SC's guard play. Clog the middle and make them shoot outside. Eventually you will win some. That's a prescription for not making it through the tournament. They are going to miss Hennie. Lots of athletic players who are not high percentage shooters from outside. SC is great but they are not as good as last year at least yet. They may never be.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

South Carolina was the lowest scoring champion in history last year.

They don't really need offense to win.

Stanford if anything has been the more physical team the last two years. At least in the first half.

That's how you have to be to beat SC.

 

[Cockygirl]

Ouch!!!

I personally love everything about SC’s style of play. I was referring to the poster who said are guards are terrible. It is definitely too early to make that assessment but SC is a defense first team.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Compared to SC's front court, the guards are their relative weakness. They are particularly strong defensively. I don't see any team beating SC in the paint except maybe Stanford and even that is probably a stretch right now. Boston is a special player and then they also have so many others. The Stanford matchup should be very interesting though. The only chance a team like Uconn has is to hit 3 pointers at a high rate and force SC to shoot well from outside by clogging the middle. SC. does have some players who are very hesitant to shoot at all from 3. Other teams are going to slack off such players and clog the middle. So far Raven Johnson is struggling from 3 and some SC players won't shoot open 3's much at all..

 

[GCKSFN4L]

I think Stanford will have an edge. Iriafen is a studlet and a very important part of this years team ( So far their top scorer and shooting over 80% ). Consider this: through 3 games, Betts is shooting over 70% and scoring about a point a minute and a rebound a minute, and she's just starting to get her feet wet. Stanford doesn't turn the ball over a lot and they have lots of depth. Not even mentioning Brink or Haley Jones.

Not impressed with SC's guard play. Clog the middle and make them shoot outside. Eventually you will win some. That's a prescription for not making it through the tournament. They are going to miss Hennie. Lots of athletic players who are not high percentage shooters from outside. SC is great but they are not as good as last year at least yet. They may never be.

Stanford hasn't really played anyone with a strong defense yet, so it's a bit premature to assume any player is going to be as effective when faced with a more challengings opponent. I mean SC still has 4 players shooting 70% or better, but I realistically don't believe those shooting percentages will hold against steeper competition and teams with more length.

Again it's only the 2nd game of the season, I don't see how you can say a team is better or worse. The PG's are still on minutes restrictions and the coaching staff is experimenting with lineups. Even in a competitive first half on the road, SC still managed to play 12 of it's 13 players in Maryland the game. SC so far has managed 20 assists in back to back games, a number they had only managed to get to only 4 times last season. As for shooting from the outside that was never their strong suit, the most 3's they made in a game last season was 8, the same amount they made against Maryland.

It's way too early to manifest this doom and gloom, especially when most of the stats say otherwise. SC will be fine as usual.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Of course South Carolina will be fine but they aren’t far and away the best team in the country. They run into a team that is shooting hot from three in the tournament they will be exchanging 3’s with 2’s.

There best players rely on their worst players to create shots for them or get them the ball. The loss of Henderson is being greatly diminished here and I think y’all are in for a rude awakening once competition gets stiffer.

 

[GCKSFN4L]

Of course South Carolina will be fine but they aren’t far and away the best team in the country. They run into a team that is shooting hot from three in the tournament they will be exchanging 3’s with 2’s.

There best players rely on their worst players to create shots for them or get them the ball. The loss of Henderson is being greatly diminished here and I think y’all are in for a rude awakening once competition gets stiffer.

You have made it clear how you felt about SC throughout your many posts in this thread alone. You're talking about the tournament but we're not even a week into the regular season. There's plenty of time for any team to learn and get better.

SC has often struggled with trading 3's with 2's, including last season (when they were the favorite) but they hang their hats on defending and rebounding so it is not as big as problem as some are hoping it will be. Losing a senior PG in Henny will definitely hurt, but there are still some capable PG's and potential 3 point shooters on this team. Perhaps let's wait a few weeks or a couple of months before we write any team off.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Is it Gooke or Cooke? I don't want to get her name wrong.

It's Cooke.

 

[ConnecticutBB]

Is the South Carolina vs Maryland game televised?

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Of course South Carolina will be fine but they aren’t far and away the best team in the country. They run into a team that is shooting hot from three in the tournament they will be exchanging 3’s with 2’s.

There best players rely on their worst players to create shots for them or get them the ball. The loss of Henderson is being greatly diminished here and I think y’all are in for a rude awakening once competition gets stiffer.

^ This one is going to be mad all year.

^^beamed straight out of 2014.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Is the South Carolina vs Maryland game televised?

It was.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

You have made it clear how you felt about SC throughout your many posts in this thread alone. You're talking about the tournament but we're not even a week into the regular season. There's plenty of time for any team to learn and get better.

SC has often struggled with trading 3's with 2's, including last season (when they were the favorite) but they hang their hats on defending and rebounding so it is not as big as problem as some are hoping it will be. Losing a senior PG in Henny will definitely hurt, but there are still some capable PG's and potential 3 point shooters on this team. Perhaps let's wait a few weeks or a couple of months before we write any team off.

When did we struggle with trading 3s for 2s?

 

[GCKSFN4L]

When did we struggle with trading 3s for 2s?

Actually, good point. I guess I'm conflating certain games in which the opposing teams gets hot from 3 for a quarter or a half but it normally doesn't last for a whole game. Especially in some of those old Arkansas games over the years, that kept the game a little closer than they should be for a bit.

 

[shiverz45]

Of course South Carolina will be fine but they aren’t far and away the best team in the country. They run into a team that is shooting hot from three in the tournament they will be exchanging 3’s with 2’s.

There best players rely on their worst players to create shots for them or get them the ball. The loss of Henderson is being greatly diminished here and I think y’all are in for a rude awakening once competition gets stiffer.

Teams do not hit a high percentage or get a lot of attempts from the three against SC. SC plays a tight man to man and athletic enough to switch at all positions including Boston. It is very hard to get 3s in the halfcourt set. You may get them in transition, but you usually don't get good looks in the halfcourt. Every time SC graduate a point guard, in the beginning of the season the naysayers think it is going to be a weakness. You are making a lot of assumptions off of 1 game.

 

[Alydar]

Maryland didn't do much today to enhance Scar's win the other day by having to struggle to beat mid-major Fordham 83-76.

 

[hoopsnloops32]

Exactly what anyone wifi watched them last week would expect. Maryland is not a top 25 team right now.

 

[sharris25]

Exactly what anyone wifi watched them last week would expect. Maryland is not a top 25 team right now.

First of all, this seems to be a biased take and more subjective in terms of your likes. Instead of the positionless basketball that most teams are trying to play these days, South Carolina plays a traditional style based on specific shots and rebounding. This does not look as pretty as the princeton offense, you may desire but South Carolina over the past years have beaten the lovely offensive style you desire. Secondly, South Carolina has shut down the best three point shooting teams in the country over the past three years, so they welcome the so called great three point shooting teams you seem to mention in your rants. You keep referencing Stanford, whose three point shooting was woeful last year leading to their lost in the semis if I remember correctly. South Carolina is just fine and dominant. A few years ago, Baylor won the National Championship without taking a three in the final game. I as a SC fan, like their style because they not only win, but seem to completely overwhelm opponents.

 

[TeamFirst!]

If Maryland has their top player back they are probably top 15.

I think SC is probably still favored but I think Stanford is probably the better team now from the early data. There are some valid points above, for example, SC defending the 3 very well as they do. Cardosa is having a great year so far and there is a ton of depth. If you look closely at Stanford they may have the bigs needed now to at least compete with SC's interior. They may have an advantage in 3 point shooting. SC's overall defense and physicality may obviate Stanford's advantages though as they just have a team of tremendous athletes. We will see. I think it's very close.

I think the wild card though is that they may never face each other in the tournament. If SC's guards get cold, and the other team controls their tournovers, rebound acceptably and shoot well, SC can potentially lose, as any team can potentially lose.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

If Maryland has their top player back they are probably top 15.

I think SC is probably still favored but I think Stanford is probably the better team now from the early data. There are some valid points above, for example, SC defending the 3 very well as they do. Cardosa is having a great year so far and there is a ton of depth. If you look closely at Stanford they may have the bigs needed now to at least compete with SC's interior. They may have an advantage in 3 point shooting. SC's overall defense and physicality may obviate Stanford's advantages though as they just have a team of tremendous athletes. We will see. I think it's very close.

I think the wild card though is that they may never face each other in the tournament. If SC's guards get cold, and the other team controls their tournovers, rebound acceptably and shoot well, SC can potentially lose, as any team can potentially lose.

Sort of like Stanford lost to an inferior team last year.

 

[shiverz45]

If Maryland has their top player back they are probably top 15.

I think SC is probably still favored but I think Stanford is probably the better team now from the early data. There are some valid points above, for example, SC defending the 3 very well as they do. Cardosa is having a great year so far and there is a ton of depth. If you look closely at Stanford they may have the bigs needed now to at least compete with SC's interior. They may have an advantage in 3 point shooting. SC's overall defense and physicality may obviate Stanford's advantages though as they just have a team of tremendous athletes. We will see. I think it's very close.

I think the wild card though is that they may never face each other in the tournament. If SC's guards get cold, and the other team controls their tournovers, rebound acceptably and shoot well, SC can potentially lose, as any team can potentially lose.

I agree. South Carolina is not unbeatable.

 

[visitingcock]

Sort of like Stanford lost to an inferior team last year.

Easy now. Our trolls own this board