Who wins this weekend? #6 Notre Dame at #3 U$C, #1 SCAR at #5 fUCLA | Page 3 | The Boneyard

Who wins this weekend? #6 Notre Dame at #3 U$C, #1 SCAR at #5 fUCLA

Who wins? #6 Notre Dame at #3 U$C, #1 SCAR at #5 fUCLA

  • Total voters
    101
  • Poll closed .
GoChips20 said:
That’s exactly what happened. Hidalgo and Miles dominated the game and markedly outplayed Watkins.
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jdote33 said:
I was so confident in the Notre Dame part. I really wish I would've placed a small bet. Usc is so disjointed and isolation heavy. And Hannah Hidalgo really may be a top 2 player in the country. I thought tvo played well.
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Well said by both of you... USC just doesn't have an apparent offense other than watching JuJu try to do it all.

My biggest take: Sonia Citron once again goes under the radar as an impactful player. Her defense had JuJu at 6 of 19 from the floor until JuJu scored eight garbage-time points in the last three minutes.

You might remember Paige shot 5 of 17 vs. ND at Gampel last January, with Citron being the chief culprit in limiting Paige.
 
oldude said:
Not sure what to make of ND-USC. Lots of talent on the court. But the two teams combined for 41 turnovers. Both teams tried to play really fast, too fast, which led to a bunch of turnovers and forced shots. In the end, ND demonstrated more poise than USC. It’s still early. Plenty of time to clean things up.
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There was that, but there was great defence at different points of the game too. The length of USC disrupted passing lanes, even when ND made the right pass. Hildago's corner back instincts to intercept passes are insane. That one sequence where she over pursued TVO only to get back to intercept her pass had me hollering!
 
The ND post tandem of King and Koval did a nice job down low.

With Westbeld and Karlen joining in the post, ND will be deep and balanced.

USC never really saw something like Hidalgo, Miles, Citron. Now they have, they will get better.

Miles really impressive in how she has adjusted her game for Hidalgo. WNBA scouts will notice.
 
Bigboote said:
At some point in the last few weeks, I went on the record saying that I wasn't drinking the U$C Kool-Aid.

People were wringing their hands about the U$C front-court size, them bringing in Kiki and EVO. The only thing surprising about today's result is that Notre Dame did it without some of their bigs. They'll be really good when Westbeld, Karlen come back. Is there any news on Watson?
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Getting information on injuries out of ND is like waiting for white smoke out of the Vatican. Maybe harder.

However, Watson suffered an ACL injury and most of the rehab/getting in shape ends up around a year later. I don't see her returning until next season...to play alongside Koval and frosh Leah Macy.

However, I do see Westbeld and Karlen coming back soon.
 
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Bone Dog said:
21 TOs, 17 on steals. That's embarrassing.
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I can’t believe how many times players on both teams dribbled into double and triple teams, inevitably getting their “pocket picked.” Both ND & USC have enough talent to beat UConn, but not if they commit 20 & 21 turnovers respectively, like they did today.
 
ERWUC65 said:
Lots of street ball, lots of iso ball, but also lots of talent. Not so much coaching, but very entertaining.
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Not much coaching? ND had a complete strategy to contain Watkins which worked for long enough to get to garbage time. Do you think they just came up with the plan?
 
Bone Dog said:
21 TOs, 17 on steals. That's embarrassing.
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ND scored 22 points off those turnovers, compared to USC scoring 15 off ND's turnovers.
Irish put heavy pressure on Heckel, Von Oelhoffen and Watkins, all of whom had 5 turnovers.
You know who (Hidalgo) had 5 steals, Liatu King had 4 and Miles 3.

A tip of the hat to Kate Koval who helped clog the middle and broke up several entry passes.
and
A huge pat on the back to Sonia Citron. When it mattered, Citron kept Watkins widely in check and that allowed ND to keep it's 7 point lead until that early 4th quarter run.
 
I'm sorry, but I just do not see JuJu as being a guard. The two best guards on the floor today both played for Notre Dame.

JuJu could do serious damage as a playmaking 4. The players she's been compared to as a guard/wing (Chamique Holdsclaw, Maya Moore)--I'm not seeing it. The efficiency isn't there. It just doesn't look natural.

JuJu the Guard could play in the WNBA right now--but she simply wouldn't be very good.
 
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Bone Dog said:
If they can get better. Their weakness is their guard play and I don't see that changing this season.
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This doesn't help things either. The announcers were talking about her impact on the scoreboard for the team.
 
Bone Dog said:
21 TOs, 17 on steals. That's embarrassing.
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Sorry but ND 74 USC 61 deals with that and just says ND should have and could have broken 100. Things like Citron being completely involved in defense, a sometimes crazy whistle or silent whistle, and focusing on speed and fast breaks. It should have been more controlled but it was a win.
 
Dillon77 said:
A huge pat on the back to Sonia Citron. When it mattered, Citron kept Watkins widely in check and that allowed ND to keep it's 7 point lead until that early 4th quarter run.
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And to think that the experts (podcasters and such) were expecting JuJu to "go off" if she had Citron checking her. I guess we can tell who watches ND and who doesn't!
 
I picked ND but I wasn’t impressed with either team. And USC is not a top 5 team
 
oldude said:
I can’t believe how many times players on both teams dribbled into double and triple teams, inevitably getting their “pocket picked.” Both ND & USC have enough talent to beat UConn, but not if they commit 20 & 21 turnovers respectively, like they did today.
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For ND, some of those turnovers came from Liatu King, who piled up 5 of them. Koval's 4 came on some ill-advised passes and shuffles of the feet. What was a bit concerning was Miles picking up 5, driving into jammed areas that you mentioned.

That said, this was a big-time event and folks were juiced (pun somewhat intended)...perhaps too much. Miles will look at tape and clean it up. King will learn, as will Koval.

What won't change is ND causing turnovers. It's very hard to get used to the pressure and speed of Hidalgo, Miles and Citron.
 
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Not impressed with Watkins' body language or intensity after getting behind. It's early in the season, but USC needs to play a lot better to be taken seriously.
 
cancontent said:


This doesn't help things either. The announcers were talking about her impact on the scoreboathey
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Dillon77 said:
For ND, some of those turnovers came from Liatu King, who piled up 5 of them. Koval's 4 came on some ill-advised passes and shuffles of the feet. What was a bit concerning was Miles picking up 5, driving into jammed areas that you mentioned.

That said, this was a big-time event and folks were juiced (pun somewhat intended)...perhaps too much. Miles will look at tape and clean it up. King will learn, as well Koval.

What won't change is ND causing turnovers. It's very hard to get used to the pressure and speed of Hidalgo, Miles and Citron.
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ND's shooting was good from the field 46.8% 33.3% from three but the free throw shooting showed they were "juiced" and that has to change. Citron hasn't been shooting well since her return but she finally got going at the end.

The other note is rebounding, USC was supposed to dominate with their height but I was surprised ND out rebounded them 41-38.
 
cancontent said:
Hopefully the "how will Hidalgo and Miles play together" talking point can be put to bed now. Man, they were a lot of fun to watch today.
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They looked pretty darn good out there today and sadly that conversation will not stop. Whenever they have a tough game or suffer a loss, some commentator is going to bring up how "Miles and Hidalgo" can't function together. "One guard plays better this way, and the other guard plays better that way"
 
For those who complained about freshman Jana missing layups, did you see how many were missed by the two teams today? Until JuJu adjusts her game to start including her teammates, USC will struggle against the better teams. Iriafen looked like anything but an AA candidate.
 
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Hats off to ND. I was not expecting this outcome. USC just could not get into any type of rhythm. ND, especially Hidalgo and Miles, are game changers. I love how Hidalgo and Miles play off each other. They are a textbook example of how two really great players can coexist out on the court together. Like they have decided, "I am taking over the 1st half and you take over in the 2nd half". Great job out there. USC still a work in progress. They got the talented they just have to learn how to put it all together and play as one unit. They are still a dangerous squad out there.
 
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Geew1992 said:
I picked ND but I wasn’t impressed with either team. And USC is not a top 5 team
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USC is almost a repeat of LSU last year. LSU was the media darling preseason, based on portal additions. LSU tried to turn Hailey Van Lith into a pg but when that failed they struggled. USC has a few outstanding players who can beat most other teams by themselves and look great doing it but they have no one to play pg and their ball security was non-existent today. I think the official scorer missed some TO's. It appears that NDame's plan was to double the ball every time it went inside and USC made it easy when their inside players started dribbling whenever they got the ball down low. .
 
Was not overly impressed with the play of either team this game. But USC was so overrated IMO.
 
Happy with ND's win! Loved seeing Olivia hitting those 3's and being so hyped! And Hannah commanding this game defensively.

I've always thought Gottlieb's in-game coaching have been mediocre at best. Her offense was Watkins ISO last year, and it is this year so far. Kiki is really having problems with Marshall in the paint. Her and Brink were a great duo because Brink developed her perimeter game. TVO had her best game, but she's not a PG.

Koval impressed me. I was worried about her getting into foul trouble. She did foul out, but the fouls didn't take her out of the game in critical moments. They piled up at the end. She defended Kiki great. I wanted to see her post up Marshall more, but ND's guards were cooking.
 
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