Sweet 16 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Sweet 16

FanFromMaine said:
DT went 1-15 in the national semifinal in 2001 against ND.
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She sure did. Of course, she was the regional MVP too. She played a huge role in getting UConn to the FF that year but played like a freshman in the semis. That game no doubt fueled her the rest of her college career.
 
Caught together in Portland..

GJ3sQz9asAECL5k.jpg
 
Vowelguy said:
Holy Cow. Thought it was over when I saw the 49-32 halftime score. Just looked and it was 74-72.
WTH happened?

Raven with a huge 3 to pretty much seal it for SC.
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They were down as much as 22 and cut it to 2. Indiana had a shot at the end, but it shows why if you get off to a bad start you likely go home this time of year.
 
Vowelguy said:
Holy Cow. Thought it was over when I saw the 49-32 halftime score. Just looked and it was 74-72.
WTH happened?

Raven with a huge 3 to pretty much seal it for SC.
Expand ...

I had the same reaction. When I saw the halftime score, I figured this game was over and also didn't look again til it was 74-72. Close game for SC.
 
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After the first 2 games, I thought SC might challenge for largest margin of victory. Anything possible, but getting to 200 would be a challenge now.

SC at 103 after 3 games
  1. 2016 UConn (+239)
  2. 2010 UConn (+214)
  3. 2013 UConn (+208)
  4. 2015 UConn (+197)
  5. 2000 UConn (+187)
  6. 2002 UConn (+161)
  7. 2019 Baylor (+159)
  8. 1982 Louisiana Tech (+158) **
  9. 2014 UConn (+156)
** Only 5 games. Average of 31.6 is 5th best. Given weakness of 1st round opponent, probably would've been 2nd or 3rd highest if a 64-team field.
 
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Of this year's sweet 16, I would say 10 are favored to make a return appearance next year.
Iowa and Indiana not so much.
Probably not Gonzaga.
Not sure about Baylor, Colorado, NCSt.
But the others yes. (OreSt, Stan, UCLA, USC, Tex, LSU, SC, Duke, ND, UConn)

Leading contenders to replace: IowaSt, Oklahoma.
 
Vowelguy said:
Holy Cow. Thought it was over when I saw the 49-32 halftime score. Just looked and it was 74-72.
WTH happened?

Raven with a huge 3 to pretty much seal it for SC.
Expand ...
Overlooked weaknesses of South Carolina is we don’t know how to step on a team’s throat when they’re down.

Think back to the UConn game. I’ve been on the other side of that when Geno had the nation’s best at home and we were the overmatched visitor. The Huskies pour it on and win those games by 35+. We lost focus, kind of dillied around, and ended up with an 18 point (or so, idk) margin that flattered the losing side.

It’s happened several times in SEC play, but usually results in a team losing by 25 instead of 50. So if you just check the final score, we seem to be rolling. But very rarely, a very talented team like Tennessee (down 23) or Indiana (22) doesn’t know they’re supposed to stop at make it respectable and gets a chance to win.

I think it’s 75% youth/25% coaching. Youth is obvious. This team is a year early. While they have been the nation’s best, they haven’t learned the coaching mantra of play every possession like you’re tied.

That’s where the coaching comes in. I have no doubt that Dawn says the right things and is concerned about it. But she is a little too worried about the other team’s feelings. We routinely run the shot clock to the final seconds for the last four or five minutes of blowouts. Multiple games we’ve scored 98 or 99 because we dribble out possessions with over a minute to play.

I don’t get it. I’m not saying press and RUTS (cough-cough tigers), but I’ve always thought it’s more disrespectful to treat the other team like they deserve headpats and You tried! I’m proud of you! than to run your normal halfcourt offense and defense. Seems especially weird when you’re trying to teach the lesson of the previous paragraph.
 
And fwiw, that’s compounded by some of our lineups with a big lead, no doubt necessitated by the many mouths to feed.

Indiana got rolling today with Cardoso and Feagin sharing the court. Feagin is great. She’s a high level 5 who is waiting her turn. But she can’t really complement Cardoso like Watkins or Kitts, or even like Cardoso shared the court with Boston in the high post last year. Their skills overlap too much.
 
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Vowelguy said:
Probably not Gonzaga.
Not sure about Baylor, Colorado, NCSt.
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Not sure about all these teams, but Gonzaga and Colorado will both lose a lot to players using up eligibility.
 
Vowelguy said:
Of this year's sweet 16, I would say 10 are favored to make a return appearance next year.
Iowa and Indiana not so much.
Probably not Gonzaga.
Not sure about Baylor, Colorado, NCSt.
But the others yes. (OreSt, Stan, UCLA, USC, Tex, LSU, SC, Duke, ND, UConn)

Leading contenders to replace: IowaSt, Oklahoma.
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Stanford? You don’t see them with a significant drop-off? I know they’ll be lead by another top 5 draft pick, but they’re going to miss Brink and Jump.

Also wonder how they will adjust to the travel and a tougher conference schedule than their historical baseline - not this year, but definitely their ten or twenty year average. And at least half their games will likely be with crews likely much more familiar with the opponent than Stanford. That will matter.
 
And allow me to rant again:
Oregon St picked 10th in the PAC, finished top 4 and now in the E8.
Stanford picked first and finished first thanks to an easy unbalanced sked.
And based on this Scott Rueck isn’t coach of the year. Makes perfect sense.
 
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Only one 2 seed left ! (UCLA)
Not sure we have ever had zero 2 seeds in the E8.

3 games sp far: average margin 6.3. That is mighty close for WCBB.
 
I'm perfectly content that both the NC State men and women won tonight. But, that will need to be balanced by having both the Gonzaga men (already lost to Purdue) and women lose tonight! :D
 
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