Week 9 preview (Jan. 3-9)

[cancontent]

Well, we have three other very capable bigs, the Zags tends to play small and we were looking to get out in transition, so two bigs on the floor at once didn't make much sense, and Tara was probably hoping to get as much time as possible for her bench. At the moment, none of the bench players who sub in for Jones, Lexie or Jump are anywhere near their equals. As Friday night against Oregon showed, Belibi and Iriafen can also make a big impact in the paint, and Prechtel stretches defenses in ways Brink hasn't as much lately. As great as Brink is, I generally don't worry about our offense when she's subbed out. I do when the other three are...

Iriafen has been fun to watch from what I've been able to see. Looking forward to see how she develops.

 

[triaddukefan]

wow, I'm definitely going to have to rethink my ranking of UNC vis-à-vis Duke.

Well not sure when the rematch is, but Im sure it will be a different outcome than today. VPI is so inconsistent...... smh

 

[LETTERL]

North Carolina bounced back and thumped Virginia Tech 71-46.

VT had no energy...and didn't resemble at all the team I have seen most of this season.

I know they never shoot that poorly when they play NC State.

 

[CompSci87]

My eyes weren't lying to me. Brink played 24 minutes for Stanford. She only had 1 foul. Can anyone explain that? Lexie played 35, Jones 37, Jump 34. This could've been another 20/20 game for Cameron.

Cam was out with COVID last week. She is feeling better but Tara may have wanted to bring her back slowly.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Forgot to mention that Cal Baptist won their only game last week vs Chicago State. 73-60

Ane Olaeta continued her excellence at dishing out assists with 12 in the game and continues to lead D1-WBB in APG with 8.3 apg. Olaeta also had 9 pts( going past the 1500 point level in her career) and she added 4 steals.

In this game was a break out performance by freshman Trinity San Antonio. She had 24 points 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals. Very fast player who I have seen in HS a few times.

Here is a hi-lite of Olaeta dishing a no look pass to San Antonio on a fast break.

 

[jchusky]

what a huge win for USC, the Pac 12 is legit. Am excited when Kiki Rice and that Ucla class come in next season.

 

[Vowelguy]

Top 5 team loses to unranked team ...

But, since it's a team in a so-called "power conference" the DJ should cue up the "Oh wow the Pac-12 is so deep" narrative, as opposed to the "Arizona is underachieving" narrative

I dont view it as AZ underachieving. I view it as AZ getting overranked because they had a relatively easy non-conf sked.

 

[Plebe]

what a huge win for USC, the Pac 12 is legit. Am excited when Kiki Rice and that Ucla class come in next season.

This is what I mean. This result doesn’t “legitimize” the PAC-12. It just reveals that AZ is nothing special.

 

[triaddukefan]

This is what I mean. This result doesn’t “legitimize” the PAC-12. It just reveals that AZ is nothing special.

 

[Plebe]

Meh. I feel like you're verging on having an anti-PAC-12 ax to grind after having to endure all our (in the end, justified) homerism last season.

You must have missed my regularly scheduled posts where I've ripped on the general overrated-ness of the SEC and ACC

Just not a fan of just the board's generalized cultish worship of certain conferences. I get it, UConn fans are still severely PTSD'd by being screwed over by conference realignment, but that doesn't mean the fawning has to go unchallenged.

UConn loses to Georgia Tech and it's like the world stops spinning, Stanford and South Carolina and now Arizona drop games to non-NCAA tournament teams and everyone just shrugs and goes "wow the Pac-12 / SEC is sO lEgiT".

 

[Plebe]

Well since Stanford has yet to lose a game to a non-NCAA tournament team, let alone a PAC-12 team

I'm referring to their loss last season to Colorado, which I imagine isn't too distant a memory. The fawning (and my counter-fawning) is an enduring theme.

 

[Plebe]

Ah. TBH, I'd actually kind of forgotten about it, LOL, because every time we've played @Colorado the past few seasons, it's been so close, they all kind of feel like quasi-losses, spiritually. Plus all other memories of our games against them are crowded out by this thing of beauty:

That was an incredible finish. I realize it's also easier to forget a loss in a season that ends with the big trophy.

I also want to make clear I'm not attacking Pac-12 "homers" by any stretch. I'm targeting a specific narrative that is mindlessly peddled by many, not the least of whom are UConn fans, and in fact it was a UConn fan above to whom I responded.

 

[visitingcock]

Ah. TBH, I'd actually kind of forgotten about it, LOL, because every time we've played @Colorado the past few seasons, it's been so close, they all kind of feel like quasi-losses, spiritually. Plus all other memories of our games against them are crowded out by this thing of beauty:

Convenient memory.

I'm working on forgetting Mizzou.

 

[UCFKnights]

As a UCF fan I want USC to keep winning. It's not too far from a Q1 win now for the Knights!

Unfortunately I am not sure how our NET will hold up in conference play as most of the conference is over 100 NET. UCF won on the road twice this week by 7 and 9 points respectively and dropped 4 places.

 

[jchusky]

This is what I mean. This result doesn’t “legitimize” the PAC-12. It just reveals that AZ is nothing special.

yea final 4 team that beat Uconn and lost by 2 pts to the ntl champion, nothing special.

 

[Lorcan]

yea final 4 team that beat Uconn and lost by 2 pts to the ntl champion, nothing special.

I think Plebe is referring to this season's edition of Arizona. While Arizona's defense will keep them in most games against teams, and cause an upset or two (See: Louisville), this season's edition without Aari running circles around people on offense is much different than the team that made it to the national title game. That being said, there's plenty of basketball yet to play and Arizona may well find an offense in the coming weeks.

 

[jchusky]

I think Plebe is referring to this season's edition of Arizona. While Arizona's defense will keep them in most games against teams, and cause an upset or two (See: Louisville), this season's edition without Aari running circles around people on offense is much different than the team that made it to the national title game. That being said, there's plenty of basketball yet to play and Arizona may well find an offense in the coming weeks.

I understand replacing a top player like Aari is hard, but Cate Reese is the most underappreciated player in the country. She has taken her game to another level, carrying this team on her back.

 

[LoTrader]

AZ will be a better version once Pellington is back in the line-up. I have watched Kate Reese for 4 years now, and she plays with so much heart & intensity. She may not be the most skilled forward, but she is one of the hardest working in PAC-12. She has expanded her game this year with even better range, and, I've seen her improve her ball handling especially on fast breaks.

 

[Plebe]

yea final 4 team that beat Uconn and lost by 2 pts to the ntl champion, nothing special.

I didn't think the difference between present tense and past tense was such a subtle distinction, but apparently I failed to consider my audience.

UConn wasn't part of this discussion, but since you insist, UConn also got beat last year by a team that lost in the first round to Wright State.

Just do us all a big favor and don't post any more "So-and-so is the most overrated team ever" threads, lest UConn have to face that team in the tournament. Thanks in advance.

 

[jchusky]

I didn't think the difference between present tense and past tense was such a subtle distinction, but apparently I failed to consider my audience.

UConn wasn't part of this discussion, but since you insist, UConn also got beat last year by a team that lost in the first round to Wright State.

Just do us all a big favor and don't post any more "So-and-so is the most overrated team ever" threads, lest UConn have to face that team in the tournament. Thanks in advance.

only you would take some kind of victory lap for Uconn losing to an overrated Louisville team who would get demolished if Uconn was at full strength.