What is it going to take to beat UCONN this season?

[BobbyJ]

I like you CocoHusky you seem to have a good BBall mind but do you think for a second that those numbers going to reflect how these players are going to play this year? Allisha is more than just a offensive weapon she can also play ball hawking defense and is the best rebounding guard in the country, Kaela did bombs away at GT but now she's at a better school with players around her so she's not the #1 option, I for one am not the one who shows total bias to my team so I have the same questions for the team this year, but I have a feeling she's going to prove the doubters wrong for sure I seen her in person in the ProAm this summer and she can light it up, if she becomes a presence on defense she'll be the real deal( Dawn already stated that she's going to be the defensive stopper this year so I won't doubt she's going to improve that part of her game drastically). Cuevas needs improvement for sure but three point shooting is not her specialty she loves to take players off the dribble to the rack or dish for an assist and with Kaela and Allisha on the wings should open room up for her. The freshman class is a bit underrated IMO they'll contribute from day 1. Ty Harris is the most underrated pg in the class she should have been ranked above Ramirez(who's really not a pg) , Landrum, and Sutton, and Slocum. Crystal would be the only pg I would rank above her. But she's poised and knows how to win, at 6'0" she's a nightmare for smaller pg's in the backcourt and a monster in the midrange game(which is something SC needed). If cuevas is incapable this season I can see her stepping in and doing pretty well. Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan is another underrated player for us she completes our post depth and I think she'll be ready from the jump. She's about 6'3" and a 3/4( Dawn labels her as a stretch 4). She shoots the 3 ball very well and has a quick first step. She's the kind of player that will balance A'ja out as far as her perimeter game goes. She dominates on the wing but needs work in the post, while A'ja dominates the post but needs work on the wing. I think they'll compliment and learn from each other very well. While it was good having 4 to 5 6'4 players it really held us back from getting to that next step. We practically ran our offense through the post and that really limited our chances on getting elite guards in recruiting classes, now we have good guards to compliment two good posts and that betters our chances offensively IMO. Our other 2 freshmen are very good role players. Victoria Patrick shoots the 3 well and has a high motor while Araion Bradshaw is a good defensive player and a complimentary backup to Ty and Bianca. We also have two experienced guards in Doniyah Cliney and Tiffany Davis. Both has improved their game tremendously! Tiffany despite being hurt most of career is a good shooter and leader, she's not the scorer Mitchell was but she'll provide that leadership in the floor that Asia Dozier did. Cliney has great court vision and a very high BBall IQ, she's going to surprised everyone this year with her play on both ends of the floor. Defensively she can guard the 1-4 and offensively she's improved her 3 point shot and slashing. This team has immense potential to be really good but it's in Dawns hands to take this team to the next level.

A question for you SCspur. I'm assuming that when Staley was hired at SC she had her own offensive schemes, systems etc. After working with and learning from some of the best minds in WCBB and having about 7 years to recruit the type of players she wants to run her system and teaching them those schemes, how does a HOF point guard with vast knowledge of running various schemes wind up having to bring in another offensive coach to unclog a "stagnant offense"? Wouldn't and shouldn't she be capable of straightening this out and making the necessary adjustments?

 

[SCspur]

A question for you SCspur. I'm assuming that when Staley was hired at SC she had her own offensive schemes, systems etc. After working with and learning from some of the best minds in WCBB and having about 7 years to recruit the type of players she wants to run her system and teaching them those schemes, how does a HOF point guard with vast knowledge of running various schemes wind up having to bring in another offensive coach to unclog a "stagnant offense"? Wouldn't and shouldn't she be capable of straightening this out and making the necessary adjustments?

Dawn didn't get her first good recruiting class until 2012 and that was really the foundation class in 2013 we got Coates and 2014 we got the #2 class so ironing out the creases takes time. At temple she had quite a few good players but SC was a program that had absolutely any relevance when it came to WBB. Dawn changed that I too question how she can string together offensive schemes for the team but that's why she hired Balcomb because that's a weakness in her coaching. I think learning from great minds like Geno and Melanie will put Dawn through the door with coaching and finally get her team back to the FF with regularity. But as far as her being a HOF player and super star and SHOULD be a better coach is something most people should just throw out the window. Coaching the game is much harder then playing IMO coaches have to not only know a player personally but mentally as well and the onl coaches in the game that are capable of that right now are Geno and Muffet. Dawn has gotten better at this but it takes time. She'll get the hang of it soon enough!

 

[SCGamecock]

Brionna Jones IMO is the best big in the country. Sorry to tell you I could care less about stats really or High School rankings. Uconn had a hard time with Jones last year and if she plays like that this year Maryland will be a tough out for anyone. This is from someone who has played and coached over 35 years and I just said in my 1st post responding to a Vol fan. I picked DD for POY and was picking Tenn.to win the SEC! That was it. Staley hired Balcomb to help wih the offense because at times it was stagnant and to much standing around. Those were her words and I agree. Since you brought up about holding Conn below their average ( Miss.St. 38 pts , LSU 46 pts , SC 64 pts.) it is easy to play defense in a league that doesnt have good offense.

I'm glad you like Brionna Jones. I think she's great as well and will have a great year for Maryland. She did cook UCONN last year, and if she can do that to a team with the best front court then imagine what she's going to do to that same team without the best front court. I'm sure Geno has a scheme for her though.

I'm still waiting on you and your 35 years of experience to tell me where in what areas A'ja can improve upon that she's not aware of and already hasn't. Since according to you she hasn't at all.

 

[CocoHusky]

I like you CocoHusky you seem to have a good BBall mind but do you think for a second that those numbers going to reflect how these players are going to play this year?

Yes I do. I have seen too many transferred players temporarily boost only to then squash the hopes of fans. Even here at UCONN we had one poster predicted that Natalie Butler would average a double double as soon as she was eligible to play because she would be "surrounded" by better players. Diamond is pretty much the same player she was at UNC statistically. The one thing you ignore in your analysis is simply that GT expectations and schedule are not at the same level of South Carolina. Kaela Davis is stepping up to a higher level of competition & expectations and the success of South Carolina is going to be determined by how far they get in the tournament. @GT an NIT bid was a cause for celebration and Kaela has never played in a nationally televised game since the Mac Donalds HS All-American game. I completely get your SC fandom but riddle me this: Name a player in the last decade who transferred to higher level of competition, better league or tougher schedule and actually put up better stats.

 

[cbraarj]

I'm glad you like Brionna Jones. I think she's great as well and will have a great year for Maryland. She did cook UCONN last year, and if she can do that to a team with the best front court then imagine what she's going to do to that same team without the best front court. I'm sure Geno has a scheme for her though.

I'm still waiting on you and your 35 years of experience to tell me where in what areas A'ja can improve upon that she's not aware of and already hasn't. Since according to you she hasn't at all.

Her 12 to 15 ft jumper is weak. I would let her take that all game for 2 reasons I dont think she can hit it consistently and until she does let her shoot it and it helps to keeep her away from the off. boards. She tends to take plays off at times and that is hard to teach. This needs to come from within the player themselves. All last year all I heard was South Carolina had the best frontcourt. What happened? Aja is talented and one of the countries best players if she has improved with the jumper that is great. The taking plays off IMO at times it was because of Mitchell the AA which is normal for younger players. This year it is Ajas team so that will change.

 

[CocoHusky]

.I'm assuming that when Staley was hired at SC she had her own offensive schemes, systems etc. After working with and learning from some of the best minds in WCBB and having about 7 years to recruit the type of players she wants to run her system and teaching them those schemes, how does a HOF point guard with vast knowledge of running various schemes wind up having to bring in another offensive coach to unclog a "stagnant offense"? Wouldn't and shouldn't she be capable of straightening this out and making the necessary adjustments?

To run an offense as PG Dawn did is a different skill set than "architecting" and offense which Balcomb will do for SC. Much like some people are good a spotting talent and others are better at developing it.

 

[cbraarj]

Dawn didn't get her first good recruiting class until 2012 and that was really the foundation class in 2013 we got Coates and 2014 we got the #2 class so ironing out the creases takes time. At temple she had quite a few good players but SC was a program that had absolutely any relevance when it came to WBB. Dawn changed that I too question how she can string together offensive schemes for the team but that's why she hired Balcomb because that's a weakness in her coaching. I think learning from great minds like Geno and Melanie will put Dawn through the door with coaching and finally get her team back to the FF with regularity. But as far as her being a HOF player and super star and SHOULD be a better coach is something most people should just throw out the window. Coaching the game is much harder then playing IMO coaches have to not only know a player personally but mentally as well and the onl coaches in the game that are capable of that right now are Geno and Muffet. Dawn has gotten better at this but it takes time. She'll get the hang of it soon enough!

I agree they are 2 different things and unless people have done them both they dont really know. Dawn is one of the greatest players of all time. I think the only player to win MOP in the FF for the losing team in 1991 but coaching is different. Nikki McCray is on the staff also another AA from Tenn. I also think her being around Geno, Cheryl Reeves, and Doug Bruno was good for her. Her hiring Bascomb was a good move! All coaches at every level are constantly learning no matter how successful they are. The great Pat Summit even asked the Villanova coach to show her his motion offense and that was after she won 6 NCs. Coaching is harder than playing IMO also. As a coach you have to pay attention to everything no matter how small. Where as a player if you have talent you can get by with that but when a player starts to pay attention to every little detail of their game. It makes coaching just a little easier.

 

[SCspur]

Yes I do. I have seen too many transferred players temporarily boost only to then squash the hopes of fans. Even here at UCONN we had one poster predicted that Natalie Butler would average a double double as soon as she was eligible to play because she would be "surrounded" by better players. Diamond is pretty much the same player she was at UNC statistically. The one thing you ignore in your analysis is simply that GT expectations and schedule are not at the same level of South Carolina. Kaela Davis is stepping up to a higher level of competition & expectations and the success of South Carolina is going to be determined by how far they get in the tournament. @GT an NIT bid was a cause for celebration and Kaela has never played in a nationally televised game since the Mac Donalds HS All-American game. I completely get your SC fandom but riddle me this: Name a player in the last decade who transferred to higher level of competition, better league or tougher schedule and actually put up better stats.

This doesn't prove a point... wasn't Natalie hurt with a broken thumb ? And wasn't Diamond also hurt with Shin Splints? Those players went into the season curtailed with injuries so of course they couldn't have the seasons that everyone expected them to have, but now that both of them are healthy if they don't live up to those expectations then I expect the coaches get them blame for lack of development which more in the case of Holly then Geno. Kaela wasn't hurt and has been healthy for an entire year while sitting out and observing the game from the side line. She has been in the system long enough to know what's expected so I expect her to excel. Remember she was highly ranked coming out of high school so she's not a average player so I do expected some type of improvement. Alexis Jones for Baylor had a stellar year last year. She had just as many questions going into last year off an ACL injury and a duke transfer. Her stats and A:TO ratio improved dramatically, she also averaged more points as well so it's not entirely impossible to improve your game.

 

[BobbyJ]

To run an offense as PG Dawn did is a different skill set than "architecting" and offense which Balcomb will do for SC. Much like some people are good a spotting talent and others are better at developing it.

And so to summarize and get back to my original point, with roughly 16 years of coaching experience with access to a lot of the best x and o minds in the business she still doesn't know how to fix a stagnant offense and needed to hire someone to do it. She should have done this quite awhile ago. To be honest I've never been impressed with her as a coach.

 

[easttexastrash]

Yes I do. I have seen too many transferred players temporarily boost only to then squash the hopes of fans. Even here at UCONN we had one poster predicted that Natalie Butler would average a double double as soon as she was eligible to play because she would be "surrounded" by better players. Diamond is pretty much the same player she was at UNC statistically. The one thing you ignore in your analysis is simply that GT expectations and schedule are not at the same level of South Carolina. Kaela Davis is stepping up to a higher level of competition & expectations and the success of South Carolina is going to be determined by how far they get in the tournament. @GT an NIT bid was a cause for celebration and Kaela has never played in a nationally televised game since the Mac Donalds HS All-American game. I completely get your SC fandom but riddle me this: Name a player in the last decade who transferred to higher level of competition, better league or tougher schedule and actually put up better stats.

Davis will take her game to a new level this season with SC. And define "better stats." Are you talking scoring average, shooting percentage, rebounding, winning percentage? I suspect that Davis will score fewer points but that her shooting percentage and winning percentage will improve greatly. She will be part of a much better team and volume-driven stats will decrease, but that does not mean that she will not be a better player.

 

[easttexastrash]

This doesn't prove a point... wasn't Natalie hurt with a broken thumb ? And wasn't Diamond also hurt with Shin Splints? Those players went into the season curtailed with injuries so of course they couldn't have the seasons that everyone expected them to have, but now that both of them are healthy if they don't live up to those expectations then I expect the coaches get them blame for lack of development which more in the case of Holly then Geno. Kaela wasn't hurt and has been healthy for an entire year while sitting out and observing the game from the side line. She has been in the system long enough to know what's expected so I expect her to excel. Remember she was highly ranked coming out of high school so she's not a average player so I do expected some type of improvement. Alexis Jones for Baylor had a stellar year last year. She had just as many questions going into last year off an ACL injury and a duke transfer. Her stats and A:TO ratio improved dramatically, she also averaged more points as well so it's not entirely impossible to improve your game.

I started to mention Jones in my reply but didn't want to seem like a homer. But now that you mentioned her, she was darn good last season, despite all those JPM lessons learned that she had to unlearn.

 

[CocoHusky]

This doesn't prove a point... wasn't Natalie hurt with a broken thumb ? And wasn't Diamond also hurt with Shin Splints? Those players went into the season curtailed with injuries so of course they couldn't have the seasons that everyone expected them to have, but now that both of them are healthy if they don't live up to those expectations then I expect the coaches get them blame for lack of development which more in the case of Holly then Geno. Kaela wasn't hurt and has been healthy for an entire year while sitting out and observing the game from the side line. She has been in the system long enough to know what's expected so I expect her to excel. Remember she was highly ranked coming out of high school so she's not a average player so I do expected some type of improvement. Alexis Jones for Baylor had a stellar year last year. She had just as many questions going into last year off an ACL injury and a duke transfer. Her stats and A:TO ratio improved dramatically, she also averaged more points as well so it's not entirely impossible to improve your game.

Uhm..... No!
Alexis Jones @ Duke A:TO 148:90 =1.644
Alexis jones @ Baylor A:TO 168:112= 1.5

Not sure you want to go down the road of Kaela was highly ranked coming out of HS-Mercedes Russell was ranked higher.

 

[CocoHusky]

I started to mention Jones in my reply but didn't want to seem like a homer. But now that you mentioned her, she was darn good last season, despite all those JPM lessons learned that she had to unlearn.

Alexis was darn good but not better than she was at Duke!

 

[CocoHusky]

And so to summarize and get back to my original point, with roughly 16 years of coaching experience with access to a lot of the best x and o minds in the business she still doesn't know how to fix a stagnant offense and needed to hire someone to do it. She should have done this quite awhile ago. To be honest I've never been impressed with her as a coach.

To be honest I've never been more impressed. Dawn=best program builder (that is part of Coaching also) since let me think, Geno maybe?

 

[BobbyJ]

I agree they are 2 different things and unless people have done them both they dont really know. Dawn is one of the greatest players of all time. I think the only player to win MOP in the FF for the losing team in 1991 but coaching is different. Nikki McCray is on the staff also another AA from Tenn. I also think her being around Geno, Cheryl Reeves, and Doug Bruno was good for her. Her hiring Bascomb was a good move! All coaches at every level are constantly learning no matter how successful they are. The great Pat Summit even asked the Villanova coach to show her his motion offense and that was after she won 6 NCs. Coaching is harder than playing IMO also. As a coach you have to pay attention to everything no matter how small. Where as a player if you have talent you can get by with that but when a player starts to pay attention to every little detail of their game. It makes coaching just a little easier.

I'm well aware of the differences in coaching and playing. To me there's a difference between a Summit who had already had success and wanted to expand her knowledge and a coach who is still looking to have some success. Another part of coaching is knowing what you don't know and I'm just surprised it took about 7 years for Staley to realize she couldn't design an efficient offense. Summit was a master defensive coach who knew how to generate offense with an aggressive, trapping defense. If Staley wasn't capable of emulating that, she should've been looking for offensive help a long time ago.

 

[SCspur]

Davis will take her game to a new level this season with SC. And define "better stats." Are you talking scoring average, shooting percentage, rebounding, winning percentage? I suspect that Davis will score fewer points but that her shooting percentage and winning percentage will improve greatly. She will be part of a much better team and volume-driven stats will decrease, but that does not mean that she will not be a better player.

I agree her shooting percentage will improve and her scoring average but I expect her to excel in the areas most people think she's weak in. She's going to be a good defender, good rebounder, good passer and teammate. Those are areas she has worked on sitting out last year and it will most definitely show on the court this year.

 

[SCspur]

And so to summarize and get back to my original point, with roughly 16 years of coaching experience with access to a lot of the best x and o minds in the business she still doesn't know how to fix a stagnant offense and needed to hire someone to do it. She should have done this quite awhile ago. To be honest I've never been impressed with her as a coach.

I would love to see you coach and bring a dead end team that never really cared about WBB and bring them into the limelight if the national scene and expect to be sharp as a coach in every facet of the game. It's not possible for a coach to start off ripping and run to the FF in their first couple years. Geno, Muffet, and Tara has been around the game since Dawn was a child so they know what it takes and neither one of them started out killing it, it took time and now their the greats! Dawn is still young and learning all these expectations of her supposed to be hall of fame coach by now after only 12 years of coaching is absurd, Geno and Muffet were coaching 30+ years so that more than half what Dawn was coaching! She'll get the hang of it soon enough.

 

[SCspur]

Alexis was darn good but not better than she was at Duke!

How can you say that she obviously struggled at duke and I'm not just talking about scoring,assists, etc. but I'm referring to being a team player, leader and running the team! When Chelsea Gray went down she struggled! Simple! She wasn't comfortable in that environment and now that she's at Baylor I truly believe she'll be one of the best guards in the country this year!

 

[SCspur]

Uhm..... No!
Alexis Jones @ Duke A:TO 148:90 =1.644
Alexis jones @ Baylor A:TO 168:112= 1.5

Not sure you want to go down the road of Kaela was highly ranked coming out of HS-Mercedes Russell was ranked higher.

Coco this still doesn't deny the fact that she improved! Scoring wise she improved (mulkey needed her to score more as a off guard) greatly! Now that Niya Johnson is gone if her assist to turnover ratio doesn't improve then I will gladly right my wrongs but to say she was better at duke is ludicrous! I brought up her being highly ranked because she's not average player! Diamond and Mercedes despite being injured improved their games last year and I expect them to improve it even more. To think that a player a shot good as Kaela won't improve at all is kind of foolish. Let's remember she's been around the game since birth and knows what she needs to work in what will hold her back from improving every year ?

 

[easttexastrash]

Alexis was darn good but not better than she was at Duke!

Maybe not. Recovering from a torn ACL is no easy thing to do. However, now that she is another year removed from that injury I suspect that she will continue to improve.

 

[easttexastrash]

Uhm..... No!
Alexis Jones @ Duke A:TO 148:90 =1.644
Alexis jones @ Baylor A:TO 168:112= 1.5

Not sure you want to go down the road of Kaela was highly ranked coming out of HS-Mercedes Russell was ranked higher.

Black...now you say "white." LOL

 

[stwainfan]

Black...now you say "white." LOL

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.town...1e2-a359-001a4bcf887a/514b46eb3ffe0.image.jpg

 

[GiladKatzDeli]

To me, there are two big X-Factors this season. First, what are we going to get out of Dangerfield? Is she capable of playing significant minutes at PG and get the offense going? We've had the luxury of Jefferson the last couple years and can't forget how important the PG spot is. Second, is this the year that Chong puts it all together? Chong might be the best scorer in the back court and, well, we will need scoring from wherever we can get it. She's a totally different player when she plays with confidence.

 

[SCGamecock]

To be honest I've never been more impressed. Dawn=best program builder (that is part of Coaching also) since let me think, Geno maybe?

I think sometimes people forget that not even a decade ago South Carolina was a cellar dweller in the SEC.

To see what Dawn has in Columbia now is very impressive. The fan support is among the best, we have a great arena and improving facilities and now we have a spotlight and a stage that the nations best players want to play on. SC has been a good team the last 4 or 5 years with average to good players and an elite player sprinkled here and there, so in a sense you can say we've overachieved. Our classes werent filled with stud players like Tennessee, Duke or UCONN, but now (since 2013 w/ Coates and 2014 w/ Wilson & Co.) Dawn is starting to get the kind of players you need to establish tradition.

It's okay to not be impressed with some of the offenses that SC has put on the floor. Dawn knows it hasn't always been pretty.. but she's always been a coach willing to do what it takes to improve (accepting transfer, hiring Balcomb, etc.), good coaches know their flaws and weaknesses and come up with ways to resolve them. Come to Columbia and see a big game atmosphere, or come see us pack 10,000 in our arena during a weeknight for a no name opponent, feel the environment and see what Dawn has built... then realize none of this was here 5 years ago.

It's absurd to not be impressed with Dawn as a coach. Like Coco said, she's a program builder.. and not all coaches are. I seem to remember a great one doing the same up in Storrs.

 

[Intpseeker]

I'm glad you like Brionna Jones. I think she's great as well and will have a great year for Maryland. She did cook UCONN last year, and if she can do that to a team with the best front court then imagine what she's going to do to that same team without the best front court. I'm sure Geno has a scheme for her though.

I was impressed with Jones' work against UConn last season, and I intentionally watched other Maryland games to see her play. Interestingly, I never saw her exert the dominance she showed against the Huskies.

What's that about?