Week 1 games (Nov. 25-29)

[TerpWomenFan]

Maryland taking Arkansas to the woodshed early

Brenda's pregame speech must have been inspiring today

Maryland matches up way better against Arkansas than Missouri State. Arkansas play 4 guards and Maryland have been working the boards very hard.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Maryland matches up way better against Arkansas than Missouri State. Arkansas play 4 guards and Maryland have been working the boards very hard.

Arkansas is also getting killed on the boards as well. This is why they won't beat Baylor unless they shoot the 3 ball out of their mind.

Bibby having a nice game so far

 

[militarydog]

Vic is a top tier coach and he develops players very well. With that said I didn't care much for his weave offense, dribbling side to side. His offense though at Miss St revolved around McCowan (which makes sense), so I didn't think last year he knew exactly how to utilize all those players in life without her. It was much different personnel from what he had in previous years.

I'm interested in how players develop and how well McCray will recruit.

I definitely agree things ran through T McCowan her last two years, with good reason. However I think last season was more that other than R Jackson he never had anyone step up and completely “take” a position. Overall I thought it was one of his better coaching seasons.
That said, I often wondered last season why M Taylor almost seemed scared to shoot or even attack on offense. However today, granted it was one game, she scores 11 points with 3 three pointers, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I definitely agree things ran through T McCowan her last two years, with good reason. However I think last season was more that other than R Jackson he never had anyone step up and completely “take” a position.
That said, I often wondered last season why M Taylor almost seemed scared to shoot or even attack on offense. However today, granted it was one game, she scores 11 points with 3 three pointers, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers.

Part of the problem was Vic was afraid to let his shooters shoot at times. When you take a shooter out of their rhythm, its hard for them to play with confidence and shoot with efficiency. M. Taylor was a very strong shooter from the perimeter out of HS but he never let her take those shots. Which is why the rare times she did shoot it last year, she struggled.

Same can be said about Mingo Young. She shot the 3 ball well during summer and fall. All of a sudden he told her to not take those shots. You can't expect a player to be able to make those shots consistently when you limit them.

 

[LowkeyX]

MD is on fire from 3! Beating Arkansas at their own own game.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Maryland up 57-37 at half time.

Nice to see M. Collins playing. In time I think she will be a BIG contributor for Maryland.

 

[Plebe]

Lol Arkansas not exactly known for their defense, and giving up a 57-point first half will do little to change that.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Lol Arkansas not exactly known for their defense, and giving up a 57-point first half will do little to change that.

Despite how awful Arkansas is defensively and getting killed on the boards most games, sadly they will somehow finish in the top 6 in the SEC most likely.

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Arkansas is also getting killed on the boards as well. This is why they won't beat Baylor unless they shoot the 3 ball out of their mind.

Bibby having a nice game so far

This is a nice surprise. The first two games she shot poorly.

 

[Plebe]

Despite how awful Arkansas is defensively and getting killed on the boards most games, sadly they will somehow finish in the top 6 in the SEC most likely.

Oh I don't doubt it, and that's kinda what I've been saying about how soft the SEC is from middle down.

 

[SECbbfan24]

This is a nice surprise. The first two games she shot poorly.

Bibby really struggled last year coming off her injury. I hope she does well, she seems like a great kid. I thought she struggled with her confidence at times but she should help Maryland a lot on the boards and provide a threat from 3 when she is on.

 

[Jmsdawg]

Part of the problem was Vic was afraid to let his shooters shoot at times. When you take a shooter out of their rhythm, its hard for them to play with confidence and shoot with efficiency. M. Taylor was a very strong shooter from the perimeter out of HS but he never let her take those shots. Which is why the rare times she did shoot it last year, she struggled.

Same can be said about Mingo Young. She shot the 3 ball well during summer and fall. All of a sudden he told her to not take those shots. You can't expect a player to be able to make those shots consistently when you limit them.

I think the same can be said for Andi, she would be wide open and rather than take the shot she pass to a team mate that was double teamed. Vic stressed inside play, tough full court defense, and physicality. Appears MSST scored lots of points and Jackson State did not but was that due to outside shooting and pressure defense or just over matched opponent?

 

[Jmsdawg]

View attachment 61848
MD is on fire from 3! Beating Arkansas at their own own game.

Glad to see Bibby playing well, I hope she is recovered from her injury, is she still wearing a knee brace?

 

[LowkeyX]

Glad to see Bibby playing well, I hope she is recovered from her injury, is she still wearing a knee brace?

Nope, just saw that she’s brace-free on the md women’s Twitter page

 

[Dillon77]

Brunelle and Gilbert are still out, and ND's freshman all looked good with the minutes they got. I think Mabrey and Prohaska will move to the bench once Gilbert and Brunelle are back.

I also think they should keep Westbeld in the starting lineup once Vaughn is healthy. She cam be used as the true center off the bench. She has dealt with injuries her whole career, so it'll help probably just giving her ~20 minutes a game.

Lots of discussion about optimal starting line-ups over at the Bench. I'm not even getting that far with Mik Vaughn (although I happen to agree with you). Brunelle is due back for the Michigan game on Thursday and I'd hope Niele starts Sam and Maddy Westbeld up front. My guess is that Prohaska goes back to the bench, while Mabrey, Walker and Peoples start.

Westbeld is everything that MM advertised during her signing. She's a multi-talented forward. Niele's playing her all over the court, but I agree with Deb Antonelli: she's best at the elbow, where she can pass, drive or shoot. Has a good handle, too. She can rebound the defensive rebound, then lead the break.

The other frosh that caught my eye was Alli Campbell, who looks to be 6-foot +. While she made her rep as a HS scorer, her defense (two blocks in each of the first two games) has been stellar and she has good form.
Quite candidly, I can see her displacing a number of the other guards as the season progresses.

 

[militarydog]

I think the same can be said for Andi, she would be wide open and rather than take the shot she pass to a team mate that was double teamed. Vic stressed inside play, tough full court defense, and physicality. Appears MSST scored lots of points and Jackson State did not but was that due to outside shooting and pressure defense or just over matched opponent?

I think it was a mix of both. Regarding the offense there were more threes but they went into Y Morris plenty today. However she was rushing her shots and thus shot poorly.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Maryland now up by 80-54 with over 4 minutes left in the 3rd

lol

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Sort of related and I'm not sure anyone mentioned it but Wake forest beat Missouri State this afternoon. If Maryland hangs on for the win, Wake, MOST, Arkansas and Maryland will end up with 2-1 records and a win over a ranked team.

 

[Kaizen]

I can't see her going to the bench when Boykin returns......

What a great last name. She should come to UConn .

On May 21, 2019, Vanessa de Jesus committed to play basketball at Duke under then-head coach Joanna P. McCallie.

Nearly 14 months later, McCallie announced her resignation after 13 seasons with the program. That announcement shook the confidence of Duke's then-2021 commits, and while they all de-committed, the five-star point guard remained.

Now only a few days away from the long-awaited 2020-21 season, de Jesus is about to begin her journey as the sole freshman on a women’s basketball squad headed by new head coach Kara Lawson, who was hired just shortly after McCallie stepped down. The transition was sudden, but de Jesus was ready for the challenge.

 

[LowkeyX]

Sort of related and I'm not sure anyone mentioned it but Wake forest beat Missouri State this afternoon. If Maryland hangs on for the win, Wake, MOST, Arkansas and Maryland will end up with 2-1 records and a win over a ranked team.

Very interesting! Wake will receive votes after their nice showing. MOST should rise a little despite the loss & MD might remain at #12. Arkansas should drop if they lose by a large margin

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Maryland has started poorly in the 4th quarter so far. Zero points in 2.18 minutes so far.

 

[Plebe]

Maryland has started poorly in the 4th quarter so far. Zero points in 2.18 minutes so far.

Luckily they'd built themselves quite the cushion with a 41-point 3rd quarter.

41 points in a quarter?! Is that some kind of record?

 

[LoTrader]

UCLA vs Pepperdine game showing as postponed. Poor UCLA, can't get their 2nd game underway.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Maryland out rebounding Arkansas 49 to 29

Woof

 

[nwhoopfan]

D. Edwards for Kentucky is a baller. Will be interesting to watch that team once Howard is back.

She was a big loss for Utah, but Kentucky's gain.