Team USA aka Mississippi State Bulldogs.... Napoli, Italy in July | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Team USA aka Mississippi State Bulldogs.... Napoli, Italy in July

MSU moves on to the Finals with an 89-84 comeback win vs Japan in the semis. Rickea Jackson had 28 pts today.
Streaming did not work for me. I did follow the score on MSST twitter site. Every time I got an update Japan was ahead. That was the case for most of MSST games, guess we are a 4th qtr team! Rickea has been great in this tournament. Any word on who we play for the Gold Medal?
 
Granted it's not the best indicator but Rickea Jackson has been putting up good numbers this tournament. I hope it is a sign of things to come.
 
I watched the last 5-minutes. It was a 1 or 2 point game and Japan ran two high pick and roll and the defense didn’t react and I had flash backs of Oregon... Japan didn’t go back to it and had trouble scoring the rest of the game. Rickea Jackson is going to be the best player to ever wear the Maroon and White if she stays healthy. Espinoza hit a big three to push the lead out to four. Hemingway & Morris has been a pleasantly good surprise.
 
Jackson is averaging 23 points per game in 27 minutes per game.

Australia beat Portugal to move to the finals as expected. They were the pre-tourney favorites. It was a close game that the Aussies pulled out towards the end.

The average age of our players is 19. The average age of the Japanese team is 21.5.

The defense today was horrid until the 4th quarter. We were really lazy getting back on defense after made baskets. I am sure Vic wanted to pull out his hair.
 
Myah Taylor was wonderful today. Really happy with her performance handling the ball and distributing it. If she can build on that, I'm excited.

Hemmingway, Morris, Jackson and Ming-Young were terrific as well. They may be young but the talent and ability is there. T

The biggest need for improvements based off the games so far is obviously the defense and shot selection. The team is essentially a bunch of freshmen and sophomores so we have seen a lot youth mistakes with kids forcing things offensively.
 
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Allow me to fanboy over Rickea Jackson.

She was the missing piece of last year. No wonder we needed a dominant center last year, because our best offensive creator apart from T was Jordan Danberry. Nobody will dare clog the lanes this year. Rickea looks like a machine out there. She stops, reloads, changes course, keeps the defense guessing, and finally puts up the shot anytime she gets any daylight. This is a program changing talent. Call me a Mississippi State slobberer but my eyes don't deceive me here... she's probably even going to be bigger than Vivians once she's finished.

I truly think we can survive without a dominant center this year. And it helps that based on early glimpses there's not that much separating our #1 and #2 (Carter and Morris). Morris is not T, but it looks like with her in the game she can create some loose ball situations, have the ball bounce around hands, and at least impact where people go. So we don't need to worry about foul trouble next year in the Center position, going 3 deep. I think Carter can do a little more with the ball than Morris, but Morris impacts the game more or changes it more... especially on defense.

I'm also surprised how much Hemingway looked to impose. Pretty much every play ended up being either Jackson finishing the play or Hemingway. Hemingway looks comfortable with contact. It seems like that's how she likes to play, but Japan can't play any contact ball at all. They play away with it. We had that advantage in this game, and a lot of it was because of Hemingway. Just saying. Hemingway is probably not Anriel Howard yet, but her strength seems to be contact ball in the paint (not Anriel's game at all)..... I wonder how she'll challenge better players in Divison I.

Overall, quite pleased with this group of new talent. They look really skilled and varied. There were only 4 players who played against Oregon in the Elite 8 that's playing in this tournament. Holmes, Carter, Scott, and Espinoza-Hunter. Holmes will not be here much longer, Scott has been injured (not sure if she'll play in the final game), Espinoza hasn't been used a lot at all, and Carter has seen a leap but didn't do much against Oregon. So we're doing this without most of our key contributors last year.

These are just my thoughts at this point. Nothing much more than that.


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Allow me to fanboy over Rickea Jackson.

She was the missing piece of last year. No wonder we needed a dominant center last year, because our best offensive creator apart from T was Jordan Danberry. Nobody will dare clog the lanes this year. Rickea looks like a machine out there. She stops, reloads, changes course, keeps the defense guessing, and finally puts up the shot anytime she gets any daylight. This is a program changing talent. Call me a Mississippi State slobberer but my eyes don't deceive me here... she's probably even going to be bigger than Vivians once she's finished.

I truly think we can survive without a dominant center this year. And it helps that based on early glimpses there's not that much separating our #1 and #2 (Carter and Morris). Morris is not T, but it looks like with her in the game she can create some loose ball situations, have the ball bounce around hands, and at least impact where people go. So we don't need to worry about foul trouble next year in the Center position, going 3 deep. I think Carter can do a little more with the ball than Morris, but Morris impacts the game more or changes it more... especially on defense.

I'm also surprised how much Hemingway looked to impose. Pretty much every play ended up being either Jackson finishing the play or Hemingway. Hemingway looks comfortable with contact. It seems like that's how she likes to play, but Japan can't play any contact ball at all. They play away with it. We had that advantage in this game, and a lot of it was because of Hemingway. Just saying. Hemingway is probably not Anriel Howard yet, but her strength seems to be contact ball in the paint (not Anriel's game at all)..... I wonder how she'll challenge better players in Divison I.

Overall, quite pleased with this group of new talent. They look really skilled and varied. There were only 4 players who played against Oregon in the Elite 8 that's playing in this tournament. Holmes, Carter, Scott, and Espinoza-Hunter. Holmes will not be here much longer, Scott has been injured (not sure if she'll play in the final game), Espinoza hasn't been used a lot at all, and Carter has seen a leap but didn't do much against Oregon. So we're doing this without most of our key contributors last year.

These are just my thoughts at this point. Nothing much more than that.


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Love the post and agree with most but I believe Bibby and P. Taylor will both be starters (assuming recovery from injury). The only weakness I have seen so far is 3 point shooting and hopefully Bibby can help solve that issue. Just wondering how Bibby feels about the matchup with Australia, hopefully she more Dawg than Australian!
 
Reading these tidbits about Jackson makes me really bummed that she'll be wearing any color other than scarlet. Nice to hear she's playing so well, though.
 
Definitely a good looking line for Rickea Jackson.

I thought she was one of the top 3-4 players in the class and might well end up being the best player in the class.

Miss State is going to have a lot of size. Might be a year away defensively and I am curious about the offense this year. But I think they're definitely a threat in the SEC.
 
Allow me to fanboy over Rickea Jackson...

...Call me a Mississippi State slobberer but my eyes don't deceive me here... she's probably even going to be bigger than Vivians once she's finished.

I truly think we can survive without a dominant center this year. And it helps that based on early glimpses there's not that much separating our #1 and #2 (Carter and Morris). Morris is not T, but it looks like with her in the game she can create some loose ball situations, have the ball bounce around hands, and at least impact where people go. So we don't need to worry about foul trouble next year in the Center position, going 3 deep. I think Carter can do a little more with the ball than Morris, but Morris impacts the game more or changes it more... especially on defense.

I'm also surprised how much Hemingway looked to impose. Pretty much every play ended up being either Jackson finishing the play or Hemingway. Hemingway looks comfortable with contact. It seems like that's how she likes to play, but Japan can't play any contact ball at all. They play away with it. We had that advantage in this game, and a lot of it was because of Hemingway. Just saying. Hemingway is probably not Anriel Howard yet, but her strength seems to be contact ball in the paint (not Anriel's game at all)..... I wonder how she'll challenge better players in Divison I.

Overall, quite pleased with this group of new talent. They look really skilled and varied. There were only 4 players who played against Oregon in the Elite 8 that's playing in this tournament. Holmes, Carter, Scott, and Espinoza-Hunter. Holmes will not be here much longer, Scott has been injured (not sure if she'll play in the final game), Espinoza hasn't been used a lot at all, and Carter has seen a leap but didn't do much against Oregon. So we're doing this without most of our key contributors last year.

These are just my thoughts at this point. Nothing much more than that.


...
44652
 
If I didn't know better, you are becoming a closet Bulldog fan ;-)

Myah Taylor was wonderful today. Really happy with her performance handling the ball and distributing it. If she can build on that, I'm excited.

Hemmingway, Morris, Jackson and Ming-Young were terrific as well. They may be young but the talent and ability is there. T

The biggest need for improvements based off the games so far is obviously the defense and shot selection. The team is essentially a bunch of freshmen and sophomores so we have seen a lot youth mistakes with kids forcing things offensively.
 
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Miss St trails Australia 23-15 after one

A really terrible decision by M. Taylor gave Australia a free layup to end the quarter. Morris, Young and Hemmingway have been very impressive so far. Jackson has had some nice moments as well. Too many missed layups and a lot of unnecessary fouls.
 
Miss St trails Australia 37-34

R. Jackson has been on the bench most the game w/ foul trouble. J. Young leads the team with 9 points.
 
Miss St trails Australia 37-34

R. Jackson has been on the bench most the game w/ foul trouble. J. Young leads the team with 9 points.
How do you think Australia compares to an SEC team?
 
How do you think Australia compares to an SEC team?


Australia is definitely the best team Miss St has played so far and probably the most realistic when comparing with a quality NCAA/SEC opponent. They have a few very good players with some size, especially Lauren Scherf (6'5 post player). Australia is no slouch though at all, very well coached group and have some nice talent.
 
State has completely fallen apart in the 3rd quarter, too many turnovers and bad decision making


This one is over pretty much, State down 66-48 heading into the 4th
 
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State has completely fallen apart in the 3rd quarter, too many turnovers and bad decision making


This one is over pretty much, State down 66-48 heading into the 4th
Down by 18 with 1 qtr to go, that is deep hole. We will have to have great 4 qtr. streaming not working for me at all so guess I can only wait for final score. GO DAWGs!
 
Miss St falls to Australia 80-72


This game really showcased a lot of the youth and inexperience they had. On a positive note, Jackson, Hemmingway, Young, and Morris were the major highlights of this tournament for Miss St. I think getting Bibby and Promise back will help make a difference. I do think Rickea Jackson is one of the few true freshmen capable of leading a team. She can do it all, sure she makes ill advised decisions at times but thats what true freshmen do at times. Young has a sweet stroke from 3 and is great on the defensive end. Hemmingway will draw a lot of fouls and be hard nosed on the defensive end. I think Morris brings more to the table right now than Carter but that is just my impression watching State play the better teams in this tournament.

Defensively is where they will need the most work possibly. A lot of break downs on that end and they could not stop the pick and roll the entire tournament.
 
I wonder how far Mingo-Young and Hemingway will push AEH and Wiggins for minutes this year?
 
Taking a closer look at that box score, I'm seeing some familiar names on the gold-medal Australia team:
  • Keely and Alicia Froling, both of whom played at SMU.
  • Stephanie Reid, the PG who led Buffalo to the Sweet 16 in 2018.
  • Ezi Magbegor, a name the Boneyard recruiting staff are well acquainted with.
  • Alex Sharp, who was Wake Forest's second-leading scorer this past season (12.7 ppg in 15 games played; she missed the second half of the season with a broken hand).
  • Anneli Maley, who had an abortive US college career, with short-lived stops at Oregon and TCU.
 
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From the mean streets of Detroit to the first lady of Mississippi!


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From the mean streets of Detroit to the first lady of Mississippi!


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I’ll be interested to see how she does with C Bibby on the perimeter as an option. It should open up the lanes even more. I didn’t realize the field goal percentage was that high. That is very encouraging especially playing against older and much more experienced players.
 
I’ll be interested to see how she does with C Bibby on the perimeter as an option. It should open up the lanes even more. I didn’t realize the field goal percentage was that high. That is very encouraging especially playing against older and much more experienced players.
Me too, Bibby will certainly make us stronger if she can regain her performance. Bibby makes us more physical, hopefully Promise Taylor will recover and also add physicality. Really looking forward to next season.
 
Me too, Bibby will certainly make us stronger if she can regain her performance. Bibby makes us more physical, hopefully Promise Taylor will recover and also add physicality. Really looking forward to next season.
I agree regarding the physicality. I’m concerned fans don’t realize just how strong and physical a player we had in T McCowan.
 
I was pretty impressed with what Yemiah Morris was able to do during the trip. She still has work to do but rebounding and some of her post moves impressed me a lot. Excited to see where they have her in another 3 months. Very raw basketball player.

I think adding Promise back to this group will help a lot. She supposedly was doing really well in the scrimmages/practices prior to her injuries. I don't think its possible to replace the physicality and intimidation that T brought but there are certainly some very capable bodies that can do really well there. Post is going to be very inexperienced/youthful, so its going to take time to develop.

I think Bibby, Jackson, JaMaya Young, Hemmingway, and AEH will give MSU more threats from deep this year.
 
I would have Promise-Rickea-Bibby-Myah.......

And our last spot is SG by committee between J'Mya Young, Espinoza-Hunter, and Bre'Amber Scott. Whoever is hot should be our main SG whenever they're hot. I can see why Vic chose to play Andra so much during the stretch near the end of last year, because she was on fire shooting over 50% from 3.

I have Promise because I'm hoping her volleyball days mean she has better agility to stop that pick-and-roll which gave T a lot of trouble.

I also noticed our team looks different when Myah Taylor is in vs when Holmes is in. Examples are Texas A&M and Australia where the whole team played differently once Myah was subbed in. We won the 2nd quarter in both those games where Myah played the 2nd quarter yet lost the 1st where Holmes played.

Lastly I think we have an easier hill to climb this year compared to last year. A few reasons for that, but mostly I think McCowan is our only big loss. I think the others will be reloaded up pretty fast with this stacked roster, so I'm not worried.


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