Week 1 11/4-11/10

[Orangutan]

The melatonin hasn't kicked in yet.. anyway... How long was Ivey an assistant coach at ND before she got the gig? From my recollection, Lawson was an assistant for the Celtics for one season before she became head coach. ND has had the advantage of having star players, unlike Duke. ND has 5 players on their roster who have been All-ACC at least once... compared to Duke's 1 player. Head to head... Lawson 2 Ivey 1.

Niele had 12 years with ND and 1 with the Grizzlies before getting the head job with the Irish.

The team she took over was pretty horrible, but Miles and Citron committed within a week of her hiring, citing their desire to play for her.

Idk where it is easier to recruit, but recruiting has always been Niele’s calling card (even if she favors a quality over quantity approach that sometimes frustrates ND fans).

 

[nwhoopfan]

Watson is out for the season but I think Karlen will probably be back in December and Westfield in January

Oh, I missed that. I gathered that they aren't expecting Bransford back this year.

 

[DefenseBB]

This just in from @triaddukefan neighbor who saw him out and about yesterday...

 

[jdote33]

Initial thoughts. Week 1.

I could write blurbs on every team I watched but don't want to be too long winded. I think teams that got me the most excited about their potential were Notre Dame, LSU, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama

Teams that I think are going to be fine but are working out some kinks are South Carolina, USC, Duke, Iowa.

Teams that I was a bit disappointed in are UCLA, NC State, Indiana.

Notre Dame is going to be really good. I didn't understand how much of a scorer Liatu King was. Happy to see Olivia Miles at full strength again.

Iowa is going to be alright. Shout out Jan Jensen and their offense. Even if they only scored in the 70s yesterday, in both games they kept generating quality looks. Big Ten is really good so I'm not saying they won't lose 10 games, but I think they will be a good team.

I'm down on UCLA after hyping them all summer. Love their freshman point. I get Kiki hasn't played and may make the players around her better. But I'm still not convinced Gardener and Barker fit, though Gardener has played well. I'm actually somewhat bummed she doesn't have a bigger role.

Shout out Oregon and Stanford.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Shout out Oregon and Stanford.

Furd can't possibly keep shooting the 3 the way they have been, but wow have they exceeded my expectations thus far.

 

[triaddukefan]

This just in from @triaddukefan neighbor who saw him out and about yesterday...

Actually wasn't that upset ..the Carolina Panthers won a few hours earlier so I was already ecstatic headed into watching this game. The loss just brought me back down to earth. Now if this game would have been in March, then yeah.... Objects would have been broken.

 

[triaddukefan]

Notre Dame feels like an easier place to attract talent to than Duke - but maybe I’m wrong. Doesn’t exactly feel like an apples to apples comparison. Notre Dame has a recent national championship. Multiple visits to the final four. They were coming off 8 consecutive seasons as a 1 seed before Muffets final year and then Ivey took over.

That’s a situation you are just trying not to ruin. Not build.

Duke was last a 1 seed in 08-09. Hadn’t made the tournament for 2 straight years when Lawson took over. Duke has a nice history to be proud of but they aren’t Notre Dame. Harder to win there IMO.

Actually Duke m had the better program from the ten year period from 1998-2007.. Other than ND having that one special year in 2001. Then McCallie showed up in spite of that... Dukes recruiting was on par or better than ND up until around 2016.

Duke is an easier spot to recruit to. ND has gotten the majority of its players from the Midwest and along Interstate 80 eastward. Duke has had a more nation-wide roster for as long as I can remember.... 1997 to the present.

 

[Iluvacc2]

I remember Muffet’s last season

The Irish were getting blown out by the likes of Clemson and UVA ….Muffet seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown during some of those games. Ivey came in and breathed new life into that program, she’s won an ACC reg season and tournament title.

The Irish haven’t gotten past the Sweet 16 since she took over, but they’ve suffered some devastating late season injuries these past two years so I’m giving them a bit of grace. With a healthy roster I’m confident she will get them over the hump this year.

 

[Jorislove]

Graves has probably stopped the bleeding, for now. Oregon may catch a team or two self destructing and win, but I can also see them falling to a lesser talented team on any given night. They were up 16 late and then Graves just let them keep playing until it was in single digits before calling a timeout. During that Baylor run, he just resigned to focusing his offense on Kelly, when there were others who had been playing well. Oregon also had trouble stopping Jada's penetration...partly because they looked very tired and Graves didn't call a timeout until after a Baylor like 10 point run.

This ^
Oregon actually picked up some really good players on the off season.
They haven't really gelled yet so we will see how this goes.
On the Deja Kelly offense, there were some fast breaks that had some wide open layups that she didn't pass the ball too, even after seeing them wide open.

 

[maple]

Unfortunately I won't be able to go to the Syracuse/MD game tonight (work!!! ugh, if only I could retire young), but I still plan on watching. I am curious to see how the Orange bounce back after a bad loss to St. Joe's.