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Message: [QUOTE="Bjbod, post: 4589421, member: 11196"] Lots of good points by all as usual at The Boneyard. Although these hypotheticals are fun to debate I can guarantee Iowa's team and coaches are focusing 100% on the Colorado Buffaloes; everyone still alive is both good and playing well. I'm sure they have some staff members accumulating film and info on Ole Miss and Louisville, but that won't be presented unless they win Friday. Iowa's margin for error is razor thin, and they know it. I posted prior to the Georgia game that I'd happily take a one point win vs the Bulldogs, and that was before I knew Hannah Stuelke was out. Okay, disclaimers out of the way, let's speculate about an Iowa/South Carolina match up. There's no question the Gamecocks are the superior team, and it's not even close. There's been some chatter about Iowa having some players that could match USC's quickness: NO WAY! Caitlin Clark is fairly quick, but her main asset is speed down the court. The rest of the team isn't close to USC, and many other teams as well. If they played in the Final Four the chance of South Carolina winning would be easily above 90%. Villanova beat Patrick Ewing's Georgetown team in 1985, but it will take something similar for Iowa to win that match up. IF it were up to me, I'd play conservative defense....at least in the 1st half: always play behind your player, try to box out on the shot, and pray they have an off night shooting. Push the pace relentlessly in an effort to get shots before South Carolina can get everyone back on D. IF Iowa could stay within 10 rebounds AND shoot > 40% on 3's, they could potentially be within 10 points after 3 quarters. With a wild card in Caitlin Clark, there's always the chance of some craziness on the offensive end; while South Carolina is experienced and I wouldn't expect it, you never know what might happen in a close game with an undefeated season on the line. Darwin is correct that Clark could potentially put up 25+ shots in a game like this, but it wouldn't be because she was baited into it; her basketball IQ is actually quite high. If she did shoot that often it would be out of necessity: since South Carolina is more athletic at every position except perhaps vs Caitlin, she could be the only Hawkeye that can get a shot on many possessions. There are a lot of posters that criticize Clark by labeling her a 'volume shooter'. She does average 18 shots per game this year, but Maddy Siegrist shoots 20 times/game for Villanova. I don't recall seeing many comments labeling her the same. None of her (Clark's) teammates feel she shoots too much; it's incredible how much she elevates everyone's game around her. Looking forward to all the great basketball this weekend. Outside of South Carolina's games and perhaps UConn's, pretty much every game could go either way. Monday night's conversations should be good! [/QUOTE]

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