Thoughts on the current Top 10 rankings

[DefenseBB]

While I view myself as fairly knowledgeable in WCBB, I do defer to many on this site for their input and knowledge to learn more. That said, I have been looking at the rankings trying to assess true talent/top teams vs. "yeah, they're pretty good" teams. I want to throw it out to the masses to hear thoughts from those that know the programs the best.
Here's my 2 cents (truest meaning in that I don't have an in-depth opinion yet until I can see most of them play a few games).
ND-They are awesome on paper but with nagging injuries, have been sluggish in their early games. I wonder if Shepard/Turner will struggle with post positioning this year like Pheesa/Gabby did with Z did last. One thing for certain-Jackie Young has stepped it up!
Curious to hear our Irish friends thoughts....
UConn-fellow posters please keep comments to the positives!
Oregon-Couple of points here before I turn it over to @nwhoopfan and other PAC-12 aficionados: Oregon has played one P5 school-Syracuse and won, at home 75-73. Nice win but still...I think this team is more hype than substance. Sabrina is still "the bomb" though (is that still a relevant catch phrase?)
Baylor-Do the Mulkey "jacket tossing" meme's ever get tiring?-HECK NO! Losing Morris as an experienced facilitator hurts a lot. She has young guards on the roster that will develop and she has post play and the Energizer bunny in Didi Richards but I still think guard play and Kalani being not in the best shape hurts them. They too have been sluggish early on.
Louisville-I actually have watched 2 of their games this year and Durr is playing pretty well, that said, #5 is about their high water mark. This years version does not have scoring besides Durr.
Miss State-First off let me state, thank goodness Saturday is fast approaching when MSU plays Texas. This first 7 games has been "Mulkey'est" with more cupcakes than
substance. Add in the fact the SEC is very weak this year, Vic needs to upgrade his OOC with more P5 schools. I know he has Ore, Tex, Wash so that's encouraging. That said, McCowan is solid (pun intended) but defense is lacking. Still, this team is probably top 5.
Maryland-like her or not, Brenda is always in the discussion. Considering the transfers she lost, to be at #7 is impressive. Her OOC is ok but considering the gravitas of her program and a pedestrian Big10, she could and should up the competition. Maybe Michigan will elevate to the next level and give her a run for the Big10 title...
Stanford-Tara is solid but has to still be considered a "bridesmaid" instead of a "bride". 26 years and counting so with the signing of Jones, doesn't she actually have to WIN a title again?-side note: maybe some left over Haley Jones frustration is appearing here...
Oregon State-The sleeper of the top 10! This team has talent and great tactician leading it. This is a top 5 team and maybe a Final Four in my view.
Texas-some great individual talent with some very suspect coaching. I like Aston but man, could she use an offensive coordinator or maybe a personnel manager to get pieces that actually play together. Talent alone does not win. This team is about at it's high water mark at 10 especially with the injury to Lashann Higgs.

I know I said top 10 but I have to include #11 Tennessee. Who can resist the opportunity to kick the rival when they're down, right?
Where to start-this team is young and they lost their point guard due to "program violations" (haven't we seen this movie before?) Again, they are undefeated, playing mid-major teams with thankfully Texas and Stanford looming on the horizon before the ETSU/Murray/Belmont's show up. Their ranking has to do more with mystique than substance. That said, the SEC is down this year and Tenn may still finish in the top 4. Good news-it is being reported Holly will get a 3 year extension to go through 2022 making BYers happy and VolNation apoplectic -the WIN/WIN fulcrum as they say

Please let me know your thoughts!

 

[TerpWomenFan]

You must have a lot of free time my friend.

 

[itsasport]

You must have a lot of free time my friend.

Hey, we we lost Olde Coach. It's good to have someone to try to fill those big shoes.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It's too early for me to have a good picture yet of the National landscape. I'd say so far all of the top teams have either struggled at times, or played absolute nobodies so you can't really tell how good they are or aren't. I also haven't watched a whole lot of games yet. Very few have been on TV but I have been streaming some.

For West Coast teams, just a few notes. Even though Oregon returned most of their core, they still look different. Lost almost all of last year's bench contributors. Ionescu is doing her thing. Hebard has been a bit inconsistent but has plenty of time to get on track. Sabally has been as inconsistent as a soph so far as she was as a Fr. I'm not liking the addition of Boley. She had a terrible game in her debut. I think she's been better since then but was 3-13 their last game. I would take the departed McGwire over Boley 10 times out of 10.

OSU, to the surprise of nobody, is missing Gulich's presence on both ends of the floor. Post play is a work in progress. Slocum is a very exciting player but I think she and the team are still in an adjustment process. Pivec was a productive player last year but is looking improved this season. Tudor is adjusting to coming off the bench. I was hoping for a breakout year for McWilliams, might not happen. She's an important piece of the team but isn't looking like the go to scorer I thought she could be. OSU looks good, I think there's plenty of room for improvement.

I haven't seen Stanford much so far. They had a brutal schedule last season that was too much for them and they struggled mightily before turning it around just as conference play started. Schedule has been easier thus far this season and they are cruising. Shooting well from behind the arc. Lots of potential contributors, I think several are improved from last year. Getting Lexie Hull back is a key for them. Alanna Smith has gotten off to a real nice start, last year she didn't.

 

[Plebe]

You must have a lot of free time my friend.

Someone sounds jealous

 

[HopJim]

While I view myself as fairly knowledgeable in WCBB, I do defer to many on this site for their input and knowledge to learn more. That said, I have been looking at the rankings trying to assess true talent/top teams vs. "yeah, they're pretty good" teams. I want to throw it out to the masses to hear thoughts from those that know the programs the best.
Here's my 2 cents (truest meaning in that I don't have an in-depth opinion yet until I can see most of them play a few games).
ND-They are awesome on paper but with nagging injuries, have been sluggish in their early games. I wonder if Shepard/Turner will struggle with post positioning this year like Pheesa/Gabby did with Z did last. One thing for certain-Jackie Young has stepped it up!
Curious to hear our Irish friends thoughts....
UConn-fellow posters please keep comments to the positives!
Oregon-Couple of points here before I turn it over to @nwhoopfan and other PAC-12 aficionados: Oregon has played one P5 school-Syracuse and won, at home 75-73. Nice win but still...I think this team is more hype than substance. Sabrina is still "the bomb" though (is that still a relevant catch phrase?)
Baylor-Do the Mulkey "jacket tossing" meme's ever get tiring?-HECK NO! Losing Morris as an experienced facilitator hurts a lot. She has young guards on the roster that will develop and she has post play and the Energizer bunny in Didi Richards but I still think guard play and Kalani being not in the best shape hurts them. They too have been sluggish early on.
Louisville-I actually have watched 2 of their games this year and Durr is playing pretty well, that said, #5 is about their high water mark. This years version does not have scoring besides Durr.
Miss State-First off let me state, thank goodness Saturday is fast approaching when MSU plays Texas. This first 7 games has been "Mulkey'est" with more cupcakes than
substance. Add in the fact the SEC is very weak this year, Vic needs to upgrade his OOC with more P5 schools. I know he has Ore, Tex, Wash so that's encouraging. That said, McCowan is solid (pun intended) but defense is lacking. Still, this team is probably top 5.
Maryland-like her or not, Brenda is always in the discussion. Considering the transfers she lost, to be at #7 is impressive. Her OOC is ok but considering the gravitas of her program and a pedestrian Big10, she could and should up the competition. Maybe Michigan will elevate to the next level and give her a run for the Big10 title...
Stanford-Tara is solid but has to still be considered a "bridesmaid" instead of a "bride". 26 years and counting so with the signing of Jones, doesn't she actually have to WIN a title again?-side note: maybe some left over Haley Jones frustration is appearing here...
Oregon State-The sleeper of the top 10! This team has talent and great tactician leading it. This is a top 5 team and maybe a Final Four in my view.
Texas-some great individual talent with some very suspect coaching. I like Aston but man, could she use an offensive coordinator or maybe a personnel manager to get pieces that actually play together. Talent alone does not win. This team is about at it's high water mark at 10 especially with the injury to Lashann Higgs.

I know I said top 10 but I have to include #11 Tennessee. Who can resist the opportunity to kick the rival when they're down, right?
Where to start-this team is young and they lost their point guard due to "program violations" (haven't we seen this movie before?) Again, they are undefeated, playing mid-major teams with thankfully Texas and Stanford looming on the horizon before the ETSU/Murray/Belmont's show up. Their ranking has to do more with mystique than substance. That said, the SEC is down this year and Tenn may still finish in the top 4. Good news-it is being reported Holly will get a 3 year extension to go through 2022 making BYers happy and VolNation apoplectic -the WIN/WIN fulcrum as they say

Please let me know your thoughts!

Good insights. Bottom line - championship may be as wide open this year as in many years.

 

[TheFarmFan]

It's too early for me to have a good picture yet of the National landscape. I'd say so far all of the top teams have either struggled at times, or played absolute nobodies so you can't really tell how good they are or aren't. I also haven't watched a whole lot of games yet. Very few have been on TV but I have been streaming some.

For West Coast teams, just a few notes. Even though Oregon returned most of their core, they still look different. Lost almost all of last year's bench contributors. Ionescu is doing her thing. Hebard has been a bit inconsistent but has plenty of time to get on track. Sabally has been as inconsistent as a soph so far as she was as a Fr. I'm not liking the addition of Boley. She had a terrible game in her debut. I think she's been better since then but was 3-13 their last game. I would take the departed McGwire over Boley 10 times out of 10.

Stanford fan checking in here. Agree with you on Boley - I actually think she's somehow disrupted Oregon's really nice dynamic, and I think she's a little too selfish and taking too many shots. It should be the Ionescu and Hebard show until someone else proves they should be taking the most attempts on the team, but now it's not really clear whose show it is, and I think that also explains part of why Hebard seems off - less of the one-two punch feeds they had honed to perfection last season. McGwire was a very solid high post but wasn't taking shots away from Hebard.

OSU, to the surprise of nobody, is missing Gulich's presence on both ends of the floor. Post play is a work in progress. Slocum is a very exciting player but I think she and the team are still in an adjustment process. Pivec was a productive player last year but is looking improved this season. Tudor is adjusting to coming off the bench. I was hoping for a breakout year for McWilliams, might not happen. She's an important piece of the team but isn't looking like the go to scorer I thought she could be. OSU looks good, I think there's plenty of room for improvement.

I was a bit of a skeptic with Slocum at OSU because OSU has been a score-by-committee-and-hot-hand team at the perimeter for the past five seasons, and I wondered whether she'd be too selfish and upset their really nice flow and chemistry. But so far, it seems to be working well. And I think Pivec is best positioned as a 2. Inside, well, that's another story, but not sure what to do about it given that they lost Goluch. Keep developing them and hope for the best.

I haven't seen Stanford much so far. They had a brutal schedule last season that was too much for them and they struggled mightily before turning it around just as conference play started. Schedule has been easier thus far this season and they are cruising. Shooting well from behind the arc. Lots of potential contributors, I think several are improved from last year. Getting Lexie Hull back is a key for them. Alanna Smith has gotten off to a real nice start, last year she didn't.

Finally, Stanford is mostly just dealing with a lot of injuries - our starting PG, Marta Sniezek, has been out all season so far, Lexie is out for a while with a stress reaction, and Anna Wilson took a terrible fall and hit her head on a chair, so we're still waiting to see what the long term repercussions of that will be, if any.

All that said, Lexie's twin, Lacie, has stepped in pretty admirably; six games into her frosh season, she just matched Candice Wiggins ten-year-old single-game tally of 7 steals. I'm so, so impressed with the Hulls - for 6'1" and 6'0", they move like people playing at 1.5x while the rest of the floor is at 1x. I think Elite Eight is probably the median outcome for this team, barring a favorable regional final opponent (if ND is y'all's kryptonite, we are theirs). Given our next two recruiting classes, I'm excited to see who steps up this year, but happy to be patient for greener pastures ahead.

 

[IrishTiger]

Jess and Bri are doing just fine together IMO. Some of the sluggishness has been because of how the line ups have been. Plus they’ve played some pretty quality competition. They’ve won every game by double digits so I would say that’s pretty good for being sluggish. But I think with Marina back things will click easier. One thing that I think will improve also is the 3 Point shooting. The inside game and mid range game has been good. Just the 3 Point shooting needs to get better and with Marina back I think it will.

 

[Centerstream]

It doesn't matter what the rankings are or how the teams are performing in November. Only March and April matter.

 

[IWearShoes]

I don't have time for lot of detail right now so these are some quick hits (assuming no injury losses) only on teams I know a bit about...

ND-UConn will be fun and informative Sunday, but regardless of outcome, I expect these are two 1 seeds with clear sailing into the Elite Eight.

Oregon has two studs in SI and Hebard, but I think MSU is better and a National Semi is high water mark for them. 2 seed.

New Baylor feels like old Baylor. Buncha wins and blowouts. 1 or 2 seed and possible flameout in Sweet Sixteen or a run to the NC game.

UL, Maryland, Oregon State, Stanford all look strong, but I need to see more. I'll reserve judgement on Texas til Sunday.

This Mississippi State team is very different and had to replace the key player architects of their rise in Vivians and William. That said, this is a much more deeply talented team than the last two. Outside of the known commodities of McCowan, Howard (new but known) and Holmes, newcomers and lesser knowns like Bibby, Danberry and Jess Carter have been playing great ball. Despite the weak early schedule it's obvious to me this is a very good team. With a clearly down SEC I think another unbeaten regular season is not out of the question. December will tell me a lot.

How bout that limb I walked out on...

 

[DefenseBB]

It doesn't matter what the rankings are or how the teams are performing in November. Only March and April matter.

So...I guess you will not be making any posts or comments until then? That's great to hear...talk you in March!

 

[nwhoopfan]

I'm so, so impressed with the Hulls - for 6'1" and 6'0", they move like people playing at 1.5x while the rest of the floor is at 1x.

I had a feeling the Hulls were way underrated by most scouting services. I don't get to see games but I certainly follow high school sports here in Washington. Central Valley had a remarkable 3 year run. In particular last year they annihilated everything in their path. They had a couple other D1 players but nobody real high profile.

 

[Plebe]

It doesn't matter what the rankings are or how the teams are performing in November. Only March and April matter.

Good to know. Someone tell Nan that the Boneyard can be shut down until March, since nothing matters until then.

 

[DeeHusky]

First time I can get a good look at Notre Dame today. They are on ESPN 2 at 6 vs Iowa. Eager to see how they handle Gustafson.

 

[IWearShoes]

First time I can get a good look at Notre Dame today. They are on ESPN 2 at 6 vs Iowa. Eager to see how they handle Gustafson.

Should be really interesting. ND with significant talent advantage, but not where Gustafson's concerned. She is a joy to watch.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Good to know. Someone tell Nan that the Boneyard can be shut down until March, since nothing matters until then.

Cool, if the regular season doesn't matter at all, we can post a bunch of song threads every day and not worry about annoying other posters.

 

[Dillon77]

Should be really interesting. ND with significant talent advantage, but not where Gustafson's concerned. She is a joy to watch.

Iowa has been without Kathleen Doyle, their starting point guard and second leading scorer. She and Gustafson are on a similar wave length that helps make the whole team click. She broke a finger if my memory holds and should be back in time for league play, but the rest of the backcourt is not tall. That's an issue with ND, with Jackie Young at 6'0", Marina Mabrey at 5'11" and Arike Ogunbowale at a very "she's only 5'8"-ish."

This, remarkably, will be the first game when the entire ND team that is available to play will do so (of course, we've lost one of our walk-on's to a season-ending knee injury). So, I'll be watching this game with interest regarding the "hey, how are you doing" or "what are you doing here" front.*

* Immediate edit: I just read the Bench and found that Jordan Nixon has been scratched again due to concussion protocol. So, we'll see if MM sticks to limiting Mabrey's minutes and not rush her quad back or if that plan may be extended a bit. If she sticks to plan, expect to see Abby Prohaska and Katlyn Gilbert split minutes.

 

[IWearShoes]

Ask "6-1 pretty good baller Victoria Vivians" if AO is tall enough to get a big shot off and in...

ETA that was a compliment to AO.

 

[reno tony]

Getting a little catty out here tonight.

 

[LoTrader]

Thanks for your posting this thread DefenseBB.

I am excited to see MSU play some top 15 teams. They have absolutely destroyed everyone they have played to date. McGowan looks very good, probably the top post player in the country. Oregon plays MSU soon, and that will be a great measuring stick for both teams. Of all the games I have watched thus far, ND still looks to me to be the most "together" team at this point in time. Every team has question marks (vulnerabilities) and it really will come down to which teams can mitigate these vulnerabilities as the season progresses. The month of December is going to clear up a lot

 

[IWearShoes]

Thanks for your posting this thread DefenseBB.

I am excited to see MSU play some top 15 teams. They have absolutely destroyed everyone they have played to date. McGowan looks very good, probably the top post player in the country. Oregon plays MSU soon, and that will be a great measuring stick for both teams. Of all the games I have watched thus far, ND still looks to me to be the most "together" team at this point in time. Every team has question marks (vulnerabilities) and it really will come down to which teams can mitigate these vulnerabilities as the season progresses. The month of December is going to clear up a lot

McCowan has become elite, but this is a great year for elite senior posts with Gustafson and Brown as well. Should be an exciting year.

For those interested, from Vic's pressers it's obvious that 6-5 frosh Jess Carter is MSU's post of the future with 6-5 Ole Miss transfer Promise Taylor creating a bit of an embarrassment of riches at that spot.

 

[DeeHusky]

Notre Dame is definitely beatable.

 

[bballnut90]

While I view myself as fairly knowledgeable in WCBB, I do defer to many on this site for their input and knowledge to learn more. That said, I have been looking at the rankings trying to assess true talent/top teams vs. "yeah, they're pretty good" teams. I want to throw it out to the masses to hear thoughts from those that know the programs the best.
Here's my 2 cents (truest meaning in that I don't have an in-depth opinion yet until I can see most of them play a few games).
ND-They are awesome on paper but with nagging injuries, have been sluggish in their early games. I wonder if Shepard/Turner will struggle with post positioning this year like Pheesa/Gabby did with Z did last. One thing for certain-Jackie Young has stepped it up!
Curious to hear our Irish friends thoughts....
UConn-fellow posters please keep comments to the positives!
Oregon-Couple of points here before I turn it over to @nwhoopfan and other PAC-12 aficionados: Oregon has played one P5 school-Syracuse and won, at home 75-73. Nice win but still...I think this team is more hype than substance. Sabrina is still "the bomb" though (is that still a relevant catch phrase?)
Baylor-Do the Mulkey "jacket tossing" meme's ever get tiring?-HECK NO! Losing Morris as an experienced facilitator hurts a lot. She has young guards on the roster that will develop and she has post play and the Energizer bunny in Didi Richards but I still think guard play and Kalani being not in the best shape hurts them. They too have been sluggish early on.
Louisville-I actually have watched 2 of their games this year and Durr is playing pretty well, that said, #5 is about their high water mark. This years version does not have scoring besides Durr.
Miss State-First off let me state, thank goodness Saturday is fast approaching when MSU plays Texas. This first 7 games has been "Mulkey'est" with more cupcakes than
substance. Add in the fact the SEC is very weak this year, Vic needs to upgrade his OOC with more P5 schools. I know he has Ore, Tex, Wash so that's encouraging. That said, McCowan is solid (pun intended) but defense is lacking. Still, this team is probably top 5.
Maryland-like her or not, Brenda is always in the discussion. Considering the transfers she lost, to be at #7 is impressive. Her OOC is ok but considering the gravitas of her program and a pedestrian Big10, she could and should up the competition. Maybe Michigan will elevate to the next level and give her a run for the Big10 title...
Stanford-Tara is solid but has to still be considered a "bridesmaid" instead of a "bride". 26 years and counting so with the signing of Jones, doesn't she actually have to WIN a title again?-side note: maybe some left over Haley Jones frustration is appearing here...
Oregon State-The sleeper of the top 10! This team has talent and great tactician leading it. This is a top 5 team and maybe a Final Four in my view.
Texas-some great individual talent with some very suspect coaching. I like Aston but man, could she use an offensive coordinator or maybe a personnel manager to get pieces that actually play together. Talent alone does not win. This team is about at it's high water mark at 10 especially with the injury to Lashann Higgs.

I know I said top 10 but I have to include #11 Tennessee. Who can resist the opportunity to kick the rival when they're down, right?
Where to start-this team is young and they lost their point guard due to "program violations" (haven't we seen this movie before?) Again, they are undefeated, playing mid-major teams with thankfully Texas and Stanford looming on the horizon before the ETSU/Murray/Belmont's show up. Their ranking has to do more with mystique than substance. That said, the SEC is down this year and Tenn may still finish in the top 4. Good news-it is being reported Holly will get a 3 year extension to go through 2022 making BYers happy and VolNation apoplectic -the WIN/WIN fulcrum as they say

Please let me know your thoughts!

Good stuff. Here are my thoughts:
1. Notre Dame-They're definitely the most experienced team in the country and play very well together. All 5 starters can drop 25-30 on a given night...I don't think any other team has that kind of offensive attack. UCONN might, but we haven't seen it yet (still early on). Turner/Shepard look great together so far, I don't see spacing issues like we saw with UCONN last year. The only red flag is Arike Ogunbowale taking 20 shots per game thus far. She's unquestionably one of the best scorers in the country, but if shots aren't falling will she defer to her teammates? Time will tell. Also worth noting, Notre Dame isn't nearly as good defensively as most UCONN teams for comparison...so I don't expect them to jump out to 20+ point halftime leads against good teams, but they're traditionally very good at stepping it up a notch when it gets to crunch time. I'd expect more close calls this year similar to the Oregon State game.

2. UCONN-They're still UCONN despite the close game against St. Johns. They walloped DePaul by 36 and have 5 three point threats on the court, plus 2 solid forwards who can play bigger than their 6-1 frames suggest. If bench production was scary last year, it's a lot scarier this year without anyone stepping up early. That could be the downfall if they play aggressive teams and refs blow whistles. UCONN doesn't look as invincible as they have the last few years, but they're still the cream of the crop. I will not be at all surprised if they win on Sunday.

3. Oregon-I agree with you that they're more hype than substance right now. Ionescu is a stud, Hebard is good and they're pretty solid at every position, even if they lack depth. Offense is where they shine, but they aren't as strong as Notre Dame or UCONN offensively because they rely so much on one player. Defensively they aren't very good. The Mississippi State game will be telling.

4. Baylor-I think they'll be very good once again but Kim will need to figure out her rotation. Right now Kalani Brown only averages 20 mpg, and 11 players average double figure minutes. The big question mark for Baylor is perimeter scoring. They don't have any knockdown shooters besides Landrum, and the team averages less than 4 triples per game so far. It's probably best to reserve judgment until they've played better teams, but I'm guessing they'll be a 3-6 team all year and a Final Four threat like always.

5. Louisville-Durr is a good scorer and Fuehring looks improved, but I'm not high on Louisville this year without MHE. Losing Diop could hurt big time too. They're good, but probably a 6-10 team rather than a real title threat like they were a year ago.

6. Mississippi State-another team we don't know a ton about since they haven't faced anyone good and have a lot of new players...but early signs are that they will be strong once again. Howard and AEH appear to be fitting in early, McCowan is McCowan, they have very steady guards in Danberry and Holmes. I have more faith in Vic than I do a lot of coaches, so I think this will be a title contending team, but we'll know more after the Texas game.

7. Maryland-In talks about underrated coaches, I think Brenda is one of the most underrated in the country. She had underachieving years in 2007-2009 but since then she consistently puts very good teams on the court and has churned out some stellar teams. Maryland is good once again but they don't face any top teams besides Iowa (who I wouldn't call a top team), so they're going to be untested all year until the tournament. Even if they climb in the rankings, I don't see them getting a #1 seed since they will not have any marquee wins.

8. Stanford-they're better this year than a year ago. I think they'll be similar to the 2017 team in that they're good and have potential to upset top teams but they're not a real title threat. Fast forward a couple of years when they have Williams/Brink/Jones and they'll be a title threat.

9. Oregon State-Top 5 may be a stretch, but they're definitely a Final Four threat and sleeper team to make a deep run. They nearly knocked off Notre Dame, but they also almost lost to South Carolina. Post play is a struggle right now and overall talent isn't as strong as the other top 10 teams....but they have Scott Rueck coaching and he has Slocum running the show. They'll be dangerous.

10. Texas-they weren't very good with Higgs, I think they'll really struggle without her. I see them as a 10-15 team.

11. Tennessee-ooph. No losses yet, but they were lucky to escape Clemson and UAB. New year, same issues.

 

[wallman]

Stanford fan checking in here. Agree with you on Boley - I actually think she's somehow disrupted Oregon's really nice dynamic, and I think she's a little too selfish and taking too many shots. It should be the Ionescu and Hebard show until someone else proves they should be taking the most attempts on the team, but now it's not really clear whose show it is, and I think that also explains part of why Hebard seems off - less of the one-two punch feeds they had honed to perfection last season. McGwire was a very solid high post but wasn't taking shots away from Hebard.



I was a bit of a skeptic with Slocum at OSU because OSU has been a score-by-committee-and-hot-hand team at the perimeter for the past five seasons, and I wondered whether she'd be too selfish and upset their really nice flow and chemistry. But so far, it seems to be working well. And I think Pivec is best positioned as a 2. Inside, well, that's another story, but not sure what to do about it given that they lost Goluch. Keep developing them and hope for the best.



Finally, Stanford is mostly just dealing with a lot of injuries - our starting PG, Marta Sniezek, has been out all season so far, Lexie is out for a while with a stress reaction, and Anna Wilson took a terrible fall and hit her head on a chair, so we're still waiting to see what the long term repercussions of that will be, if any.

All that said, Lexie's twin, Lacie, has stepped in pretty admirably; six games into her frosh season, she just matched Candice Wiggins ten-year-old single-game tally of 7 steals. I'm so, so impressed with the Hulls - for 6'1" and 6'0", they move like people playing at 1.5x while the rest of the floor is at 1x. I think Elite Eight is probably the median outcome for this team, barring a favorable regional final opponent (if ND is y'all's kryptonite, we are theirs). Given our next two recruiting classes, I'm excited to see who steps up this year, but happy to be patient for greener pastures ahead.

I think Stanford will surprise this year and I am not on the "Triple Double" hype machine, which seems to have affected the team and lead to defections. Hebard should be the center of the team as she was when they were playing better ball as they had good pieces around who could hit the 3. A little disappointed in Graves. Rueck is a much better coach IMO.

 

[LoTrader]

BBallnut90, nice analysis. I'm pretty much in agreement with everything you have stated. I really believe by December 24 AP Poll, much of the rankings will be clearer, given all the great OOC games in December. With regard to Oregon State, I do agree with you. I will say though that I believe Oregon State (on whole, not by position) has as much talent as any team in the country. If you include the bench players, I believe OSU has the best set of sharp shooting guards/wings in the country (very deep), but is deficient at the 5 (for now). That is why OSU is "scary". OSU got badly outrebounded by ND, and, ultimately, couldn't produce enough inside scoring. Fortunately Rueck got reinforcement from the ND game on what needs to be dramatically improved by Tournament time. Question is will Rueck have enough time to develop/improve post play to a point it isn't a glaring deficiency. Time will tell. I still need to see MSU & Stanford play some top 10 teams to offer an informed opinion. I've seen UO play multiple times, and I agree with nwhoopfan that Boley hasn't blended well yet (that could obviously change). Looking forward to a bunch of great OOC games this Sunday. Thanks again for your views.