Week 3

[bballnut90]

Iowa takes down Baylor 57-52 in Orlando. Taliyah Scott unstoppable for the Bears with 32 of their points. Chit-Chat Wright knocked out of the game at the beginning of the 3rd quarter with a probable concussion. Announcers said this was the youngest Iowa team since 2012 or 2013....they grew up a lot tonight.

Iowa starts 3 seniors and 2 sophomores though? I don't think of them as being an inexperienced team at all.

Really solid win though tonight for the Hawkeyes. Looking at the box score, Taliah Scott took a lot of shots but was the only one able to do anything offensively for Baylor. She had 32 points on 10-25 shooting, 6-16 from 3, and 6-7 from the FT line. The rest of the team combined to shoot just 7-32 from the field, 2-16 from 3, and 4-10 from the FT.

 

[bballnut90]

suggestions for Duke:

Stop practicing defense. You need to be spending 100% of team and personal time on offense and scoring.

Recruiting needs to involve a scoring machine. Geno had his with Charde. She never knew what plays they were running, but in a crunch he could let her do whatever she wanted and she’d score. It wasn’t optimal but with out her, those years would’ve been even worse. Duke needs some pure shooters.

They iz a mess right now. I’m surprised they have scored >60 in any game, even against crappy teams.

Agreed, but I think Lawson is aware. Duke was a major contender and finalist for Sarah Strong, who would've elevated Duke to new heights. Imagine how different the basketball landscape would look right now if she picked Duke over UCONN. Regarding scoring machines, Oluchi Okananwa had great scoring ability but transferred out this offseason. Other targets who didn't pick Duke but had them in their final list include Hannah Hidalgo, Madison Booker, Mikaylah Williams, Jazzy Davidson, and Sienna Betts. Once Duke lands a scorer of this caliber I think they'll be a Final Four squad. I'm still not counting them out yet, the season is young and there's a lot of talent on that roster.

 

[nwhoopfan]

She still is IMO despite that they're struggling this year. They came within 1 shot of making the Final Four just a year ago and the program has steadily improved under Kara.

She's done a good job at Duke, but I feel like the accolades have always outpaced what she's actually done. Also the roster turnover is alarming. Everyone loses players in this current age, but it seems like she's losing key players on an annual basis. For someone who is supposed to be one of the hip and cool younger coaches that players want to play for, you'd think her player retention would be better.

Not sure about steady improvement. Took a step back from Year 3 to Year 4 (although advanced further in the Tourney), step forward again in Year 5, now seem to be taking a big step backward again.

 

[LETTERL]

Wake up 67-58 w/ 2:22 left, got down to 67-65 with a few ticks left and NCCU had the ball. But Wake came up with a steal and then a FT to seal it 68-65. Way closer than it should have been.

Maybe we'll look back at this game at the end of the season and see it as a major win for the ACC.

 

[triaddukefan]

Duke is Riff Raff.... we have become Riff Raff

 

[FanInNC]

This is a question for anyone who watched the game or follows Duke closer than I do …

Why is Mair taking 25 shots and Fournier attempting 8? Fournier set an illegal screen with 2;30 minutes to go and Kara took her out and I don’t believe she ever went back in…what’s that about?

 

[cancontent]

She still is IMO despite that they're struggling this year. They came within 1 shot of making the Final Four just a year ago and the program has steadily improved under Kara.

Definitely can't argue with the team improving record wise. This slow start to the season is perplexing however.

 

[Bjbod]

Iowa starts 3 seniors and 2 sophomores though? I don't think of them as being an inexperienced team at all.

That is true, but it's also true they have 6 sophomores and 3 freshmen. Kennise Johnson is listed as a junior but is really a redshirt soph due to injuries. Those 3 seniors do have tons of experience though.

 

[stwainfan]

Troy beat Missouri and scored 100 points.

 

[GamecockFam]

Troy beat Missouri and scored 100 points.

Missouri is looking like they'll be the uncontested team at the bottom of the conference. The SEC is looking strong this year with exception of a few. I could honestly see this being a historic year as far as the number of top 16 teams coming from the SEC and total number of teams that make the tournament.

 

[cancontent]

She's done a good job at Duke, but I feel like the accolades have always outpaced what she's actually done. Also the roster turnover is alarming. Everyone loses players in this current age, but it seems like she's losing key players on an annual basis. For someone who is supposed to be one of the hip and cool younger coaches that players want to play for, you'd think her player retention would be better.

Not sure about steady improvement. Took a step back from Year 3 to Year 4 (although advanced further in the Tourney), step forward again in Year 5, now seem to be taking a big step backward again.

Key players for Duke who transferred haven't/didn't have much impact since they left. Day-Wilson regressed during her sophomore season, and didn't do much at Miami or LSU to improve her draft stock. Bollin and Volker left and we haven't heard much about them since.

Duke improved after these players left in comparison, so to me, it's hard to say that the team would have been better had they not transferred. Time will tell with Okananwa and DeJesus as to what their impact on their current teams will be.

 

[stwainfan]

Missouri is looking like they'll be the uncontested team at the bottom of the conference. The SEC is looking strong this year with exception of a few. I could honestly see this being a historic year as far as the number of top 16 teams coming from the SEC and total number of teams that make the tournament.

Yeah I don't think any team will go through the SEC schedule unbeaten.

 

[Baller29]

 

[IArick]

Iowa starts 3 seniors and 2 sophomores though? I don't think of them as being an inexperienced team at all.

Really solid win though tonight for the Hawkeyes. Looking at the box score, Taliah Scott took a lot of shots but was the only one able to do anything offensively for Baylor. She had 32 points on 10-25 shooting, 6-16 from 3, and 6-7 from the FT line. The rest of the team combined to shoot just 7-32 from the field, 2-16 from 3, and 4-10 from the FT.

9 of their players are either Freshmen or sophomores. I would consider that pretty inexperienced.

 

[cancontent]

Oh man. Tough to hear that. What some of these players are dealing with in the background that we never know about..............man.

 

[Vowelguy]

This is a question for anyone who watched the game or follows Duke closer than I do …

Why is Mair taking 25 shots and Fournier attempting 8? Fournier set an illegal screen with 2;30 minutes to go and Kara took her out and I don’t believe she ever went back in…what’s that about?

The very limited amount ive seen, Fournier has been pretty bad. Missing bunnies, missing free throws. Hard to believe she was really good last year, because from my very limited sample …. She is very unimpressive.

 

[BullDawg]

This is a question for anyone who watched the game or follows Duke closer than I do …

Why is Mair taking 25 shots and Fournier attempting 8? Fournier set an illegal screen with 2;30 minutes to go and Kara took her out and I don’t believe she ever went back in…what’s that about?

Fournier was fouled on a lot of her attempts, so those aren’t counted in the FG stats. She was 9 of 16 from the free throw line, not so good.

 

[Bone Dog]

The very limited amount ive seen, Fournier has been pretty bad. Missing bunnies, missing free throws. Hard to believe she was really good last year, because from my very limited sample …. She is very unimpressive.

Fournier seemed like a world-beater coming out of high school. She was the go-to player on her team and handled it well. But she hasn’t translated well to the D1 pace of play. Some of it may just be that she’s a slow-footed slender big matching up now against bigger quicker bigs. But I have to wonder if something’s also going wrong in practice.

 

[bballnut90]

She's done a good job at Duke, but I feel like the accolades have always outpaced what she's actually done. Also the roster turnover is alarming. Everyone loses players in this current age, but it seems like she's losing key players on an annual basis. For someone who is supposed to be one of the hip and cool younger coaches that players want to play for, you'd think her player retention would be better.

Not sure about steady improvement. Took a step back from Year 3 to Year 4 (although advanced further in the Tourney), step forward again in Year 5, now seem to be taking a big step backward again.

Okananwa leaving out of the blue was alarming since she's been a big contributor the last couple of years. She's the only one that stands out to me, though. Celeste Taylor leaving as a 5th year I didn't find alarming, and same with Day-Wilson who played all over the place. Almost all non-UCONN programs lose an impact player here or there, so I'm not ready to send the distressed signal just yet.

And I thought 2024 was a better season overall than 2023 even with a worse record. Duke was a lot more competitive in big games and advanced further. Even if you disagree with that last statement, I think the program is in a much better state than when she took over.

 

[Stagnant]

I think Mulkey likes her teams to have swagger. I think that has a lot to do with her scheduling. And I know they haven’t played anyone. But I am impressed with the weapons that LSU has at their disposal.

 

[Baller29]

Fournier seemed like a world-beater coming out of high school. She was the go-to player on her team and handled it well. But she hasn’t translated well to the D1 pace of play. Some of it may just be that she’s a slow-footed slender big matching up now against bigger quicker bigs. But I have to wonder if something’s also going wrong in practice.

Who have we seen truly develop and get better over 4 years under Lawson?

 

[azfan]

UNLV 2-2) tips at Desert Financial Arena against ASU (4-0) at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow.

Preseason I'm not sure if any pundit would have predicted the records of these two teams at this point in season.

A number of players to watch in this game.

It all begins and ends with McKenna Brackens the transfer from UNLV. She was dominant in the last performance and I know Lindy with her familiarity with McKenna is going to scheme up defensively.

Sophomore Meadow Roland is averaging a double-double in the early going and I know Molly Miller has this top of mind as she prepares her squad.

But let's face it this game is going to come down to guard play - Aaliyah Alexander leading scorer for the running Rebs who had six turnovers in their last game in addition to 18 points on 8 of 20 shooting.

Gabby Elliott who registered a double-double in her last and is provided outstanding leadership for Molly Miller.

A potential issue in the game is Last Tear Poas recovery from a broken hand. She looked great in the last game but this will be perhaps most challenging game so far.

Last game

On the road the Rams gave up 94 points to Montana State and what for me was a real stunner.

The Rebs out rebounded Montana State but turned the ball over 23 times which will be real concern against the Molly Miller defense.

ASU put up 82 and defeated former NAU head coach Loree Payne's Santa Clara Broncos in Tempe.

ASU crushed the Broncos on the boards but for the first time the season gave up more shots than they took. I know Miller will be concerned about this and returning to the initial three games when her squad was to get up significantly more shots than their opponent.

The ESPN matchup has the Sun Devils as a slight favorite probably due to the game location.

 

[azfan]

Surprised no one mentioned the UNI Creighton game last night, 51-50 loss at home for Blue Jays

The Blue Jays couldn't hold on to three points going into the fourth quarter at home and their attempted miracle when failed shot after a steal rolls off this time expires.

This was an entertaining game.

 

[Bjbod]

No offense, but I'd use the word stupefying. This was like watching mop-up time in an 8th grade rout where all the starters are out. I know Creighton was missing their point guard, but their game against UConn is going to be scary.

 

[cancontent]

Surprised no one mentioned the UNI Creighton game last night, 51-50 loss at home for Blue Jays

The Blue Jays couldn't hold on to three points going into the fourth quarter at home and their attempted miracle when failed shot after a steal rolls off this time expires.

This was an entertaining game.

It wasn't talked about in detail, however it was noted in a couple posts on page 2 of this thread.