Thoughts on SC vs UCLA? | Page 5 | The Boneyard

Thoughts on SC vs UCLA?

Few thoughts:
*it's amazing how much better the game of basketball looks when the refs whistle over the back and holding of players (yes, i'm bitter about the refs from the UConn SC game)
*Great job by UCLA...they were in control the whole game...6 seniors who can actually play and all will be drafted to the WNBA...and great job by C. Close...she was keeping the team fresh by rotating players in an out and called the time outs when she needed to and clearly prepared the team very well for this game.
*Practically all AA had mediocre games in this final 4 (Azzi, Sarah, Edwards and Booker). Lauren B. was great!
*I really like Tessa Johnson from SC. A great player.
*Have to wonder how hard UCLA will hit the portal and try to get a lot of stars.
*Agot M. will be scary good by the time she is a junior/senior.
*I was in the game and was cheering for UCLA. Wanted them to beat SC bad and they did a wonderful job at that.
Cognates to UCLA and on to the next season (6 month away...arggg)
 
Basingstoke said:
Congrats to UCLA. A well-earned title. Aside from their great rebounding, the one accomplishment I'd like UCONN to emulate in the future is having 6 players comfortable in stepping up and scoring the ball as opposed to over-emphasising just a couple of stars.
One other observation: IMO Makeer, not Edwards, will be SC's major star next season.
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Joyce made major major steps this year. Getting consistent rebounding and defense and a little less tunnel vision are the next steps, but she was so much better at all of it this year.

We will see what kind of offseason Makeer has. If she’s maniacal then she could be the best player on team. If an average one then probably not.

Finding out where Kitts and Watkins are will be interesting and Tournebize looked fine winging it. Once they incorporate her in the flow and get her stronger, we will see. Tac too could be valuable if she’s healthy.

McDaniel
Tessa
Makeer or Kitts
Edwards
(Watkins or Tournebize?


?
Jerzy
McDowell

Andrews or Winn ?
Tac
 
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I clearly recall UConn fans deprecating Close’ coaching ability...
Sure looked like a well-coached team today

Am amazing display...
[/QUOTE]
Don’t worry it’s the same ppl deprecating our own coach too
 
Lauren Betts is a huge key here. But the other key that is largely ignored…Raven Johnson is GROSSLY overrated. She is a combined 2-14 for 5 points and 0 assists in the last TWO NC games. How does a senior/5th year senior, AA(still makes me laugh) PG, perform that terribly in back to back NC games? UCLA has Betts, but like UCONN last year, had FAR BETTER guard play.
 
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Whatever our stripes we can all agree UCLA was the likeable, least offensive team to root for if our team couldn’t win. Plus we know they won’t be threatening anyone again for awhile.
 
husky98 said:
Whatever our stripes we can all agree UCLA was the likeable, least offensive team to root for if our team couldn’t win. Plus we know they won’t be threatening anyone again for awhile.
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We’ll see what the portal brings them. With all their seniors, the check book should be pretty free and many will want to play for the defending champs.
 
bballnut90 said:
Gave her a hug and complimenting words.
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Dawn, ever the opportunist! I can’t wait till she speaks about the suta
visitingcock said:
We’ll see what the portal brings them. With all their seniors, the check book should be pretty free and many will want to play for the defending champs.
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I didn't watch UCLA that much, but did Sienna Betts not really crack the rotation because she started out the season injured, she just isn't as good as expected, or something else? UCLA really only played 7 players. Have we ever seen something like this UCLA team in WCBB. They go from National Champs to.....despair
 
ucbart said:
Dawn, ever the opportunist! I can’t wait till she speaks about the suta

I didn't watch UCLA that much, but did Sienna Betts not really crack the rotation because she started out the season injured, she just isn't as good as expected, or something else? UCLA really only played 7 players. Have we ever seen something like this UCLA team in WCBB. They go from National Champs to.....despair
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I think UCLA's seniors were better than her.

She's good, I think.
 
JstVisiting said:
Maddie is only our starting PG if we miss on everybody in the portal. And if she is, we are not a Final Four team.
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If everything else is great and we have some depth at guard it would be ok, I think.

Can't afford any other weaknesses though.
 
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ucbart said:
Lauren Betts is a huge key here. But the other key that is largely ignored…Raven Johnson is GROSSLY overrated. She is a combined 2-14 for 5 points and 0 assists in the last TWO NC games. How does a senior/5th year senior, AA(still makes me laugh) PG, perform that terribly in back to back NC games? UCLA has Betts, but like UCONN last year, had FAR BETTER guard play.
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Could make a similar argument about Azzi Fudd being grossly overrated based on her last two games at UCONN. Cherry picking 1-2 games doesn’t represent how good a player is.
 
Gamecockfan77 said:
If everything else is great and we have some depth at guard it would be ok, I think.

Can't afford any other weaknesses though.
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She is fine against 95% of teams and overmatched against everybody that matters.

Staley seems to agree. In the post-game press conference, she said "obviously, we got to add some guard play, definitely some lead guard play, some more athleticism in the guard department."
 
bballnut90 said:
Could make a similar argument about Azzi Fudd being grossly overrated based on her last two games at UCONN. Cherry picking 1-2 games doesn’t represent how good a player is.
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Agreed. And I'd say as far as draft stock, Azzi's took a bigger hit than Raven's. Not that W evaluators are basing their pick on 1-2 games.
 
DRR25 said:
Agreed. And I'd say as far as draft stock, Azzi's took a bigger hit than Raven's. Not that W evaluators are basing their pick on 1-2 games.
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Raven projects as a good backup, below average starting point. Nothing in the tournament really changed that projection. But I would have concerns about some players relative to their (rumored) projection.
 
GoChips20 said:
If you don’t like South Carolina, there’s plenty you can draw from today for your post without making this up lol
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I did not make it up. Did you see the pics of Dawn when she got the commitment? The way she was talking made me think that. I
 
donalddoowop said:
I did not make it up. Did you see the pics of Dawn when she got the commitment? The way she was talking made me think that. I
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You are basing it on pics? What do you mean by “the way she was talking? “ Can you provide some specificity?
 
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ucbart said:
I didn't watch UCLA that much, but did Sienna Betts not really crack the rotation because she started out the season injured, she just isn't as good as expected, or something else? UCLA really only played 7 players. Have we ever seen something like this UCLA team in WCBB. They go from National Champs to.....despair
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When the average age of your 6 seniors is 23, I think you lose a lot putting in an 18/19 yr old. UCLA's team was a unicorn. Luckily the portal exists and UCLA has the funds to rebuild. I'll be interested to see what Close's strategy will be....go for some experience or a lot of experience or a combo of both.
 
bballnut90 said:
Could make a similar argument about Azzi Fudd being grossly overrated based on her last two games at UCONN. Cherry picking 1-2 games doesn’t represent how good a player is.
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DRR25 said:
Agreed. And I'd say as far as draft stock, Azzi's took a bigger hit than Raven's. Not that W evaluators are basing their pick on 1-2 games.
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That's because Raven has no draft stock. She is a guard who can't shoot. She will be an end of the bench team bouncer for her entire career.
 
Ladeeeeda said:
When the average age of your 6 seniors is 23, I think you lose a lot putting in an 18/19 yr old. UCLA's team was a unicorn. Luckily the portal exists and UCLA has the funds to rebuild. I'll be interested to see what Close's strategy will be....go for some experience or a lot of experience or a combo of both.
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Yes, she has three thinsg going for her-

1. Strike while the iron is hot
2. PT
3. Money

And one other thing, weather. What college kid wouldn't want LA weather. Yes, I live in Syracuse, so I would. LOL
 
ucbart said:
I didn't watch UCLA that much, but did Sienna Betts not really crack the rotation because she started out the season injured, she just isn't as good as expected, or something else?
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Ladeeeeda said it well: Sienna Betts is a freshman and was noticeably worse than her sister in a similar role. But, she is 3 years behind those teammates in development AND she missed considerable time with an injury that would have affected her conditioning and speed. So, she was often a step slow, particularly on defense (where her inexperience really showed up), and out of position.

That said, freshman Lauren Betts got less playing time at Stanford, behind Cameron Brink, et al, than freshman Sienna Betts, and Lauren's progression during her 4 years was phenomenal. Let's check back in on Sienna in a couple of years before we write her off.
 
Zanzman said:
Didnt watch the game how did Dawn handle the hand shake today
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I am not trying to beat a dead horse but I am wondering about something concerning handshake traditions.
I watched the replay of the 2015 NC game where UConn beat the Golden Domers. I also started to watch the replay of yesterday's game.
In the 2015 game, player introductions were done "the old fashioned way", alternating teams. First they announced a ND player who sprinted to half court and then announced the UConn player who went to half court and they shook hands.
After the starting player introductions, they introduced Muffet and Geno, who met and shook hands.
In yesterday's game, they introduced the SoCar starters, then the UCLA starters, then Cori and then Dawn. No greetings of the other team.
When did this tradition change?
My replay of the 2025 NC game doesn't include any pregame festivities so no idea which introductions were used.
 
Ladeeeeda said:
When the average age of your 6 seniors is 23, I think you lose a lot putting in an 18/19 yr old. UCLA's team was a unicorn. Luckily the portal exists and UCLA has the funds to rebuild. I'll be interested to see what Close's strategy will be....go for some experience or a lot of experience or a combo of both.
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Just a note: Close said this weekend that she plans to add 5 players from the portal. She has also made a comment that Somto Okafor (the lone signed incoming Freshman) may not be the only incoming freshman.

I, also, am interested in what type of portal class she is looking to add.
 
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