Who will be better next year?

[Vowelguy]

When you look at graduations and other departures, it seems like an awful lot of teams should -on paper- not be as good next year as they were this one.
Who will be better?

UConn gains a bunch.

In the ACC, seems like ND, Fla St, Duke, NC ST , Syracuse all have significant losses.

SEc - SC, Miss St, Kentucky all should be weaker. Tenn better.

B10 - Md takes a step back. Ohio st unclear.

B12 - Baylor lost a bunch. Texas did not

PAC - most teams with key losses except UCLA and Oregon

So I'm largely coming up with UConn , Tenn , Texas, UCLA, and Oregon as the main teams without significant talent losses.
(Which is not to say that the other teams won't still be very good.)

What else am I missing?

 

[triaddukefan]

Looks like a down year in WCBB.......oh well

 

[Plebe]

West Virginia should be better. They only lose one starter (Montgomery). Tynice Martin should be an All-American next year, and she has some solid pieces around her (Muldrow, Ray, Pardee, King). I also hear that Mike Carey has some decent recruits coming in and I believe a transfer that comes available.

Also, Virginia could be poised for a breakout year, especially with other ACC teams likely to take a dip.

 

[stwainfan]

It looks as if Tennessee and UConn have the most talent. Both return key players and add good freshman.

 

[triaddukefan]

I look for GaTech to make the NCAA's next season..... I see them battling with UVA for 5th place in the ACC

Also, Virginia could be poised for a breakout year, especially with other ACC teams likely to take a dip.

Define breakout

 

[Plebe]

Define breakout

For starters, making the NCAAs for the first time in however long it's been. Perhaps even a top-25 ranking.

 

[Charliebball]

no guarantees next year, especially with teams (including UConn) that have to incorporate new players.........Tennessee looks stronger based on their recruiting class but freshman are freshman and you never know what you'll get out of them......this transfer debacle has weakened some of the traditionally strong teams while others have gained..............I trust that Geno will do a masterful job with his shiny new toys but for WBB as a whole, I say prepare for a fun and bumpy ride

 

[Sonny44]

It looks as if Tennessee and UConn have the most talent. Both return key players and add good freshman.

Tenn should have been a lot better but DD decided to stay.

 

[DefenseBB]

Tenn should have been a lot better but DD decided to stay.

Ok, enough of the DD being bad for the team. Seriously, unless someone has evidence on what she does to actually hurt the team, let us stop perpetuating a myth. I saw 9 full games of them this year and she was a solid team player in distributing the ball, playing defense and with good body language. Nothing to indicate a "detrimental" aspect to the team.

I am all for piling on the LadyVol dumpster pile when warranted but not in this case. IMO Holly needs to find an offensive coach to commit to a ball movement philosophy and stop the dribble, dribble, dribble and try to drive offense that is just so inefficient.

 

[JordyG]

Ok, enough of the DD being bad for the team. Seriously, unless someone has evidence on what she does to actually hurt the team, let us stop perpetuating a myth. I saw 9 full games of them this year and she was a solid team player in distributing the ball, playing defense and with good body language. Nothing to indicate a "detrimental" aspect to the team.

I am all for piling on the LadyVol dumpster pile when warranted but not in this case. IMO Holly needs to find an offensive coach to commit to a ball movement philosophy and stop the dribble, dribble, dribble and try to drive offense that is just so inefficient.

Right so right. Also in watching UT DD plays to the end without taking off plays. Her effort and talent are not in question. Holly's poor coaching, poor use of the team's skills, poor game management, poor understanding of offense, and her inability to vett her talent in order to create a team instead of a bunch of head cases is Tenn's problem.

 

[msf22b]

Ok, enough of the DD being bad for the team. Seriously, unless someone has evidence on what she does to actually hurt the team, let us stop perpetuating a myth. I saw 9 full games of them this year and she was a solid team player in distributing the ball, playing defense and with good body language. Nothing to indicate a "detrimental" aspect to the team.

I am all for piling on the LadyVol dumpster pile when warranted but not in this case. IMO Holly needs to find an offensive coach to commit to a ball movement philosophy and stop the dribble, dribble, dribble and try to drive offense that is just so inefficient.

Agree
But, if Holly cannot organize a coherent team out of this bunch, then both she and the program are in serous trouble.

She has her two returning stars (quasi), the talented guard, lost last season to injury and the #1 recruiting class. She loses Middleton to transfer (who was just a step slow, never was effective on defense
and never found her footing) and not much else.

This team could (should) be a world beater by the Spring but may just as easily a turn into your typical Holly disorganization.

It'll be fun to watch.

 

[stwainfan]

For Tennessee getting Cooper back will help sure up pg. I think this will be the most talented team Holly has had.
I also think Texas is close in talent. It just depends on how Holmes develops. If Patterson has a good year. They can be a final for team.

 

[oldude]

When you look at graduations and other departures, it seems like an awful lot of teams should -on paper- not be as good next year as they were this one.
Who will be better?

UConn gains a bunch.

In the ACC, seems like ND, Fla St, Duke, NC ST , Syracuse all have significant losses.

SEc - SC, Miss St, Kentucky all should be weaker. Tenn better.

B10 - Md takes a step back. Ohio st unclear.

B12 - Baylor lost a bunch. Texas did not

PAC - most teams with key losses except UCLA and Oregon

So I'm largely coming up with UConn , Tenn , Texas, UCLA, and Oregon as the main teams without significant talent losses.
(Which is not to say that the other teams won't still be very good.)

What else am I missing?

Not sure about TX being better. They lose Kelsey Lang as well as Big12 DPOY Brianna Taylor.

 

[nwhoopfan]

It's easy to look at who is leaving and make assumptions that team x, y and z will be a bit down. What this doesn't take into consideration at all is players already on those teams making significant improvements. You can't ignore that. It's always been the backbone of college sports. next (wo)man up. Star players are always moving on, yet life continues. Now some schools are going to face more of a challenge replacing certain players than others. But some schools seem to stay near the top regardless of who is on the roster. To provide a few specific examples, I certainly think Washington is going to have a precipitous drop (there's just no way they can replace the production of Plum and Osahor), but I think Stanford and Oregon St. will both be better next year than many are expecting.

 

[Plebe]

When you look at graduations and other departures, it seems like an awful lot of teams should -on paper- not be as good next year as they were this one.
Who will be better?

UConn gains a bunch.

In the ACC, seems like ND, Fla St, Duke, NC ST , Syracuse all have significant losses.

SEc - SC, Miss St, Kentucky all should be weaker. Tenn better.

B10 - Md takes a step back. Ohio st unclear.

B12 - Baylor lost a bunch. Texas did not

PAC - most teams with key losses except UCLA and Oregon

So I'm largely coming up with UConn , Tenn , Texas, UCLA, and Oregon as the main teams without significant talent losses.
(Which is not to say that the other teams won't still be very good.)

What else am I missing?

I know your post focused on the power-5 teams, but Marquette (Big East tournament champ and a #5 seed in the NCAAT this year) was a sophomore-dominated team and loses almost no one important.

 

[Bestiarius]

Ok, enough of the DD being bad for the team. Seriously, unless someone has evidence on what she does to actually hurt the team, let us stop perpetuating a myth. I saw 9 full games of them this year and she was a solid team player in distributing the ball, playing defense and with good body language. Nothing to indicate a "detrimental" aspect to the team.

I am all for piling on the LadyVol dumpster pile when warranted but not in this case. IMO Holly needs to find an offensive coach to commit to a ball movement philosophy and stop the dribble, dribble, dribble and try to drive offense that is just so inefficient.

DD being bad for the team is a rational assumption. Holly too can be a target for blame. But, with all the supposed talent TN has, they finished 32nd or so in the nation. Many teams have much more success than that when they had only 1 great player.

Diamond had more than ample opportunity to perform at a high level and she pretty much failed to put her greatness to use to save the Lady Vols. Her PR and personal statements indicated she was the greatest. If you're going to say that kind of thing, you better perform spectacularly, and she didn't.

 

[Vowelguy]

Not sure about TX being better. They lose Kelsey Lang as well as Big12 DPOY Brianna Taylor.

But they do add transfer Jatarie White and they returning a solid core (McCarty, Atkins, Holmes) that should get better.

 

[triaddukefan]

I know your post focused on the power-5 teams, but Marquette (Big East tournament champ and a #5 seed in the NCAAT this year) was a sophomore-dominated team and loses almost no one important.

He mentioned a non Power 5 squad..................... Connecticut

 

[Plebe]

He mentioned a non Power 5 squad...... Connecticut

Notice I didn't say "solely" or "exclusively"

 

[Vowelguy]

It's easy to look at who is leaving and make assumptions that team x, y and z will be a bit down. What this doesn't take into consideration at all is players already on those teams making significant improvements.

For that reason I specifically said "on paper."

 

[DefenseBB]

But they do add transfer Jatarie White and they returning a solid core (McCarty, Atkins, Holmes) that should get better.

And they have the two Canadian sisters, Two top 10 freshman coming in. I am "Long" on Texas next year! The two Baylor games will be must watch tv. Karen has to learn better game management to get to the next level. She improve over this past year but still has moments when stagnant offense and stopping runs slip away from her.

 

[DefenseBB]

DD being bad for the team is a rational assumption. Holly too can be a target for blame. But, with all the supposed talent TN has, they finished 32nd or so in the nation. Many teams have much more success than that when they had only 1 great player.

Diamond had more than ample opportunity to perform at a high level and she pretty much failed to put her greatness to use to save the Lady Vols. Her PR and personal statements indicated she was the greatest. If you're going to say that kind of thing, you better perform spectacularly, and she didn't.

So what you are saying is DD didn't perform at Kelsey Plum's level or even Kelsey Mitchell's level so by not dominating to a level we think she should be at, she is detrimental to her team?
That's the evidence you are "rationalizing" as the reason? If it is, my only retort is "Check please"...

 

[oldude]

But they do add transfer Jatarie White and they returning a solid core (McCarty, Atkins, Holmes) that should get better.

I like the trio that returns for TX but White is the wild card in the mix. Two years ago she averaged 2.9 pts/g & 2.9 rb/g for SC playing a little over 12 min/g. She will have to take a huge step up to match Lang's performance.

 

[bballnut90]

When you look at graduations and other departures, it seems like an awful lot of teams should -on paper- not be as good next year as they were this one.
Who will be better?

UConn gains a bunch.

In the ACC, seems like ND, Fla St, Duke, NC ST , Syracuse all have significant losses.

SEc - SC, Miss St, Kentucky all should be weaker. Tenn better.

B10 - Md takes a step back. Ohio st unclear.

B12 - Baylor lost a bunch. Texas did not

PAC - most teams with key losses except UCLA and Oregon

So I'm largely coming up with UConn , Tenn , Texas, UCLA, and Oregon as the main teams without significant talent losses.
(Which is not to say that the other teams won't still be very good.)

What else am I missing?

I think Mississippi State is still going to be a top 5 team next year with William/Vivian/McCowan all back. I think they'll be about the same as this season.

West Virginia has a ton of returning talent from a good squad. Cal returns almost everyone and has a star in Anigwe.

Ohio State projects to be stronger with Mavunga back and Mitchell as a senior. Results may be a different matter.

Tennessee and Connecticut are the most obvious teams that emerge when you look at improvement. Both teams had zero depth and bring in deep recruiting classes/players who sat out this past season who will make impacts. Losses for both team are minimal as well.

Coaching though-- Tennessee is such an anomaly where Connecticut has been the model of consistency.

 

[Puppy Love]

I watched enough Tennessee games this year to think the problem is the coaching. What exactly does coach Warlick accomplish by stomping around and whistling at her team with her fingers in her mouth? The players are human beings, not dogs. The disarray on the floor seems to reflect the program, and that comes from leadership or lack of it. The will have a hard time improving without coaching changes. I'm not banking on the getting better.