Week 5 - Dec 2 to 8

[Scoe]

First court storming since Scheyer wanted to cancel it look at that no player tries to trip a fan and then faking an injury and of course no one gets hurt.

 

[Stagnant]

VA Tech beat Georgia in one of the early games. Georgia Tech over Mississippi St. and Texas A&M over Syracuse. Looks like the home team has been winning most of these. I'm too lazy to figure out the tally so far, but appears to be fairly even.

4-2 SEC

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Speaking of the kitties I'm headed down the 17 tomorrow to watch the Grand Canyon antelopes take on the task of Barnes, Cunningham, and a rocking crowd. That's a 6:00 p.m. tip you can stream on ESPN Plus.

We fully expect to be there. You can eyeball us easily, our seats are on the floor, across the court from the benches, on the Arizona side, the 2 seats next to the table that includes the TV folks. Last year that meant we were sitting next to President Robbins who sat at the table almost every game. I was told yesterday that we were next to the new President of the University on Monday, although I didn't recognize him. As with Robbins, my wife exchanged pleasantries and that was it. Not big donors and not into the politics of the University.

 

[DefenseBB]

I have been saving my last bottle of Cheerwine since August of 2023 to celebrate a big win with my fine colleague @triaddukefan and I can think of no better meal to have it with than Chicken tonight!

 

[visitingcock]

I have been saving my last bottle of Cheerwine since August of 2023 to celebrate a big win with my fine colleague @triaddukefan and I can think of no better meal to have it with than Chicken tonight!

View attachment 105226

May you gag on a bone!

 

[stwainfan]

Tennessee’s style of play doesn’t seem sustainable. If you’re hitting shots I guess it could be a positive. But they haven’t played a solid defensive team….so I’m not sure what to think of it. 9-35 from 3 is insane to me.

Last year's team lost to Florida State. This is only game 6. Remember Caldwell has been very successful with this style.

 

[stwainfan]

They didn't force a lot of turnovers but they killed FSU on the offensive glass. This game epitomizes why FSU is a perennial underachiever as they consistently failed to box out. Unlike most of the DePaul and Syracuse teams or years past, Tennessee has plenty of size and length.

I'm also skeptical as to what happens when they go up against more disciplined and capable defensive teams and/or teams that match their athleticism. A 2-point win at home against an athletic but undisciplined team outside the top 25 isn't exactly gonna send shivers through Dawn's spine.

Do you think Tennessee is peaking this early? Yes there are things to improve. When it looks good it looks really good.

 

[visitingcock]

Do you think Tennessee is peaking this early? Yes there are things to improve. When it looks good it looks really good.

Peaking too soon? No. I don’t think they have peaked yet.

But there are some losses coming. Nevertheless, I predict that Tennessee will upset at least one of SCar, UConn, Texas LSU, and Ok.

Al, Ol’ Miss, Vandy Ky will be Pickems

 

[stwainfan]

Peaking too soon? No. I don’t think they have peaked yet.

But there are some losses coming. Nevertheless, I predict that Tennessee will upset at least one of SCar, UConn, Texas LSU, and Ok.

Al, Ol’ Miss, Vandy Ky will be Pickems

The SEC schedule is tough. It's hard to go undefeated. I do think I feel better about the team than before the season started. Yes there will be a few losses. The potential is there to make a strong run in March.

 

[visitingcock]

The SEC schedule is tough. It's hard to go undefeated. I do think I feel better about the team than before the season started. Yes there will be a few losses. The potential is there to make a strong run in March.

Maybe stop a last second 3 pointer?

 

[WBBTakeover]

Last year's team lost to Florida State. This is only game 6. Remember Caldwell has been very successful with this style.

This doesn't get enough attention. Additionally, some would say that Florida State was favored to win again this year. After all, they had the best player on the floor.

I've been a Kim Caldwell skeptic, but I saw the vision last night. Tennessee looked a lot more athletic than they've looked in a few years. They actually looked like an SEC team. I can see Top 6 if all goes well.

 

[cancontent]

Maybe stop a last second 3 pointer?

Had to go there. LOL.

 

[visitingcock]

Had to go there. LOL.

That may have been the best thing that ever happened to post-Pat Tennessee wbb.

If they had won, we might not be seeing Coach Kim's basketball.

 

[stwainfan]

That may have been the best thing that ever happened to post-Pat Tennessee wbb.

If they had won, we might not be seeing Coach Kim's basketball.

I think your right. I am glad Kim Caldwell is now the coach. It's a fun style.

 

[cancontent]

That may have been the best thing that ever happened to post-Pat Tennessee wbb.

If they had won, we might not be seeing Coach Kim's basketball.

I think your right. I am glad Kim Caldwell is now the coach. It's a fun style.

Fair point. Hadn't looked at it from that perspective. @stwainfan , I agree regarding style of play. Last night's game was my first opportunity to see the Vols and it was very different from the Coach Harper era.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Small slate of games today, with one top 25 matchup. Tomorrow features three t25 games:

View attachment 105206

Hey, don't forget about #5 LSU v. Stanford!

 

[BRS24]

Hey, don't forget about #5 LSU v. Stanford!

Thanks TFF - somehow in my copy/paste/delete I missed this one. Quite a plethora of ranked teams playing on network tv today:

 

[TheFarmFan]

Thanks TFF - somehow in my copy/paste/delete I missed this one. Quite a plethora of ranked teams playing on network tv today:
View attachment 105230

Indeed. Today is when my outrageous monthly Sling TV membership starts paying itself off!

 

[azfan]

We fully expect to be there. You can eyeball us easily, our seats are on the floor, across the court from the benches, on the Arizona side, the 2 seats next to the table that includes the TV folks. Last year that meant we were sitting next to President Robbins who sat at the table almost every game. I was told yesterday that we were next to the new President of the University on Monday, although I didn't recognize him. As with Robbins, my wife exchanged pleasantries and that was it. Not big donors and not into the politics of the University.

I'll look from my nose bleeders and wave. I'm leaving Flagstaff in about 20 minutes. My daughter, a graduate of the U of A (I understand that the UArizona branding has gone the way of Dr Robbins leaving only a deficit in cost) and a resident of Tucson is meeting me so we'll enjoy the game together.

On my last journey to the dirty t to watch the kitties destroy the Sun Devils I parked in the parking structure an error I won't make again. Given the broad support for the kitties it took me about 25 minutes to exit that parking structure. My daughter assures me that there is walking distance street parking and is actually going to meet me and show me a much better place to park.

If you have binoculars check out the nose bleeders I'll be the only guy in a purple Grand Canyon t-shirt.

I know there are dangers in the transitive property but in looking at comparative mid major rankings I see that Grand Canyon is ranked above NAU. I wonder if that means that Grand Canyon with a higher ranking will top 100 points at McHale.

Not

 

[DefenseBB]

First off, my hearty thanks to @BRS24 for putting this together each week and adding the color coding to boot. Thanks so much for all this work to make easier and more fun for all of us!

Second, I was telling another prominent poster (name protected so others don't scoff at them for associating with me) that today made me think of the standard Jeff Foxworthy comedic line of "you might be a redneck if..." (insert the joke line) with the transitional segue of "you might be a mid-major WCBB team if you play weekday games at 11 AM" as there are 9 games on the slate today that started at 11 AM, all of which are from the non-P4 conferences.

Anyway, this is our truly 1st great day of WCBB with awesome slate of games on tap.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I’m also not sure if TN will be doing their mass subbing (5 completely different players) when they face the better teams. Less then 2 min into the game they were already mass subbing to press etc.

Huh. Charlie Turner Thorne used to do similar to this at Arizona St. It kept players fresh, but it also seems like it kept players from getting into a groove offensively. I suppose if you are mostly concerned about defense it's a sacrifice you're wiling to make.

 

[darrell]

Tennessee’s style of play doesn’t seem sustainable. If you’re hitting shots I guess it could be a positive. But they haven’t played a solid defensive team….so I’m not sure what to think of it. 9-35 from 3 is insane to me.

The more you take, the more you make. It works until it doesn’t. SEC play will be a test.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Always been a fan of Utsby. Not sure if she'll find a niche in the WNBA, but she does a lot of things well and is the ultimate hustle player.

 

[Sifaka]

Always been a fan of Utsby. Not sure if she'll find a niche in the WNBA, but she does a lot of things well and is the ultimate hustle player.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Got a little sloppy for a while, but Carolina slamming the door shut now. They totally stymied Strack. Good job by Gakdeng and the rest of the front court. UNC has a number of quick guards who can get to the rim in Kelly, Nivar and Crisp. Donarski was a non factor but they didn't need her.

Amoore tried to keep Kentucky in it in the first half but she didn't do much after halftime. Lawrence and Hassett carried the Cats in the 2nd half.

72-53 final. Heels were in control pretty much the whole way.