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

[ConnManFan]

Please... this is not a fantasy site. Reasonable comments are welcome, but come on.

Thank you for the explanation. Do me a favor though. Can you please define "reasonable" for me and let me know who the designated judge of reasonable speech is? Really appreciate it!

 

[Blue Huskie]

Bad loss for South Carolina. They were never in the game. I think Dawn needs to drop the favouritism and start playing the best players.

I'm not sure there's a "good loss" option for a team ranked number one. I guess the fact it was on the road is something. As other people have said they probably shouldn't have been preseason 1 anyway. Cardoso not being there is a hard piece to replace. They're not going anywhere though. Still a probable final four team.

 

[JellyBean]

South Carolina took a loss today. Early in the season, you never know what you are going to get. South Carolina will learn from this moment and build on it. Coach Staley been in the game too long to know that one loss does not define your team or season. South Carolina will regroup and learn from this moment; Plus, like she said in her post game, her team got a taste of medicine. They were on the receiving end this time. You learn from it and move on.

Hats off to Coach Close and her UCLA squad. Huge win for them and their confidence. Much like Coach Staley, huge as this win was for UCLA, they can't get too comfortable. They have to build on it. They know that they have the pieces in place to be really good or just happy to beat the #1 team on 11/24/24 and fall back into mediocrity. The season is young folks.

 

[Bigboote]

I’m glad I didn’t post a few days ago that there’s clearly SCar, UConn, then everyone else. I did think about it.

Kudos to the 11 who got it right. I only batted .500.

 

[jake0414]

Hats off to Coach Close and her UCLA squad. Huge win for them and their confidence. Much like Coach Staley, huge as this win was for UCLA, they can't get too comfortable. They have to build on it. They know that they have the pieces in place to be really good or just happy to beat the #1 team on 11/24/24 and fall back into mediocrity. The season is young folks.

Close said exactly that in her presser - great win but it’s only November 24. Need to continue to work hard and fall in love with the process. She doesn‘t care how they are ranked come Monday. All she cares about is getting better and prepared for March, and earning a one seed preferably in Spokane.

 

[Alydar]

No, I’ll credit that to ND’s defense. If I remember correctly, they rarely ran sets for her and most of her shots came inside a clogged paint.

USC's 2 stars are primarily inside scorers. They get in each other's way. LSU had that problem last year.

 

[Alydar]

Dawn summed the situation up with "last season we had an offense designed around a dominant big. This year we are learning to play without a dominant big".

 

[DallasDomer]

USC's 2 stars are primarily inside scorers. They get in each other's way. LSU had that problem last year.

ð assume you mean K. Iriafen and J. Watkins. Iriafen is supposed to be an inside scorer but Watkins shoots threes, mid range jumpers and layups. I don't think they got in each others way. When Watkins comes in to shoot Iriafen is supposed to be ready to rebound. But I'm not sure if that's who you meant.

 

[DallasDomer]

Dawn summed the situation up with "last season we had an offense designed around a dominant big. This year we are learning to play without a dominant big".

Staley lost the first game and a mid season loss in 2021-2 and went onto beat Uconn for the championship, so it's possible she'll develop something. But she had a dominant big, Boston then Cardosa, and I don't see one this year.

 

[visitingcock]

Staley lost the first game and a mid season loss in 2021-2 and went onto beat Uconn for the championship, so it's possible she'll develop something. But she had a dominant big, Boston then Cardosa, and I don't see one this year.

Not exactly

She didn’t have her first loss til Mizzou, the first game of the SEC season. The other loss was to Kentucky in the SEC tournament Championship Game.

 

[visitingcock]

Nice crowd Bruins! 13,659
99% capacity

 

[GoUconn7961]

I wonder why Uconn didn't do that last year?

So do we.

 

[GoUconn7961]

ND is the real deal. And the person on that team who I think is their best player is Citron.
If UConn gets out of South Bend with a win I'll be surprised. And yes, I'm a realistic UConn fan.
ND humiliated them on their home court last season, and revenge is a strong motivator, but is it enough?
I'm not so sure.

 

[GamecockFam]

So what team will be the new #1? I think there are three candidates: UConn, Notre Dame, and UCLA.

I'm putting in my guess for UCLA. Beating South Carolina may push them past UConn for that #1 in the rankings. I think voters will value that win as a better win than Notre Dame over USC.

1. UCLA
2. UConn
3. Notre Dame

 

[LwrcasefaN]

ND is the real deal. And the person on that team who I think is their best player is Citron.
If UConn gets out of South Bend with a win I'll be surprised. And yes, I'm a realistic UConn fan.
ND humiliated them on their home court last season, and revenge is a strong motivator, but is it enough?
I'm not so sure.

Against Notre Dame....you can't turn the ball over. 17 steals against USC is ridiculous. Notre Dame currently has a very short bench so if a team can play uptempo for long stretches it would be to their advantage. On the defensive end I might even zone em up or maybe a box and 1.

 

[ucbart]

Fulwiley has played terribly to start the season.

Just bad decision after bad decision.

Pao is the one who has played well every time out.

Weird mix of players lacking co fence and having too much of it.

Cardoso was grossly underrated, which we knew, but seems like the supporting cast might have gone a little the other way.

Everyone is playing a position too big in a game like that.

Listen-

Not to brag, but last year I was very suspect at SC being #6 because of Cardoso....and we see how that turned out. This year, while I think SC should've started at #1, I was very interested to see this SC team because of the loss of Cardoso. She should've been a 1st team AA. Her size and skill set completely changed everything SC did on both sides of the floor. Add to that, that Dawn coaches a little bit like Pat did(and Kim did at Baylor), which is a ton of athletic, massive bigs who out muscled everyone. This SC team just doesn't have that massive size down low. They have some tall, athletic, posts, but not a Coates, Wilson, Boston, or Cardoso type. Obviously they will be fine, but I wonder what will happen when they play teams with better backcourts than even UCLA had. Like, I could see SC really struggling with ND.

 

[Dillon77]

Against Notre Dame....you can't turn the ball over. 17 steals against USC is ridiculous. Notre Dame currently has a very short bench so if a team can play uptempo for long stretches it would be to their advantage. On the defensive end I might even zone em up or maybe a box and 1.

• Isn't Southern California thought to be an up-tempo team? Hidalgo and Citron don't tire.
• Zone? That's usually ND's trick. Against prior teams and without Westbeld, I'd say that was a good move, but Miles has greatly improved her outside shooting and you've got Citron and Hidalgo. Plus, Emma Risch can stroke it from deep.
• Box + One? Who do you cover? Hidalgo, Miles? That leaves the other free to attack a box.

 

[Rixxx]

ND is the real deal. And the person on that team who I think is their best player is Citron.
If UConn gets out of South Bend with a win I'll be surprised. And yes, I'm a realistic UConn fan.
ND humiliated them on their home court last season, and revenge is a strong motivator, but is it enough?
I'm not so sure.

Absolutely agree about Sonia. Did you see how she bothered JuJu for most of the game. She could be a #1 option on any team, but she plays 3rd to the dynamic duo.

 

[WBBTakeover]

Listen-

Not to brag, but last year I was very suspect at SC being #6 because of Cardoso....and we see how that turned out. This year, while I think SC should've started at #1, I was very interested to see this SC team because of the loss of Cardoso. She should've been a 1st team AA. Her size and skill set completely changed everything SC did on both sides of the floor. Add to that, that Dawn coaches a little bit like Pat did(and Kim did at Baylor), which is a ton of athletic, massive bigs who out muscled everyone. This SC team just doesn't have that massive size down low. They have some tall, athletic, posts, but not a Coates, Wilson, Boston, or Cardoso type. Obviously they will be fine, but I wonder what will happen when they play teams with better backcourts than even UCLA had. Like, I could see SC really struggling with ND.

As long as Citron, Hidalgo, and Miles are healthy, every team in the country will struggle with ND.

 

[Dillon77]

Absolutely agree about Sonia. Did you see how she bothered JuJu for most of the game. She could be a #1 option on any team, but she plays 3rd to the dynamic duo.

She's been the #2 (mostly), the #1 and #1A (when Miles went down) and now the #3. Who knows what will happen when Westbeld comes back? It's a good problem to have....

 

[LwrcasefaN]

• Isn't Southern California thought to be an up-tempo team? Hidalgo and Citron don't tire.
• Zone? That's usually ND's trick. Against prior teams and without Westbeld, I'd say that was a good move, but Miles has greatly improved her outside shooting and you've got Citron and Hidalgo. Plus, Emma Risch can stroke it from deep.
• Box + One? Who do you cover? Hidalgo, Miles? That leaves the other free to attack a box.

Juju is uptempo and everyone else watches. So...not really. I'd rather have them taking jump shots than making driving layups putting fouls on my defense. I'd cover Hidalgo. She can break down a defense until it looks almost invisible. You can't win with her and Miles putting up 20 pieces.

 

[jake0414]

Their point guard was out of the game and they had a freshman playing pg, was the most likely reason.

Kennedy Smith isn’t a point guard. Talia Von Oelhoffen ostensibly is their starting point guard. With Smith unavailable Gottlieb made freshman Heckel, a true pg, a starter and moved TVO off the ball.

 

[Dillon77]

Juju is uptempo and everyone else watches. So...not really. I'd rather have them taking jump shots than making driving layups putting fouls on my defense. I'd cover Hidalgo. She can break down a defense until it looks almost invisible. You can't win with her and Miles putting up 20 pieces

We'll see if any team tries the box and one. I don't think anyone can really stay with Hidalgo even if they're trying to birddog her. In the meantime, Miles will breakdown the box, particularly with King and Westbeld, once she comes back. And Citron is the queen of weakside cuts.

That said, I could see UConn trying a rotation of Chen and Arnold rotating on Hidalgo, with Bueckers taking Miles. That could be interesting. The matchups of that game will be crazy, but let's get there first

Still disagree with you on USC (Heckel and Smith, before she was hurt, were built for speed), but that's a nit.

 

[visitingcock]

So what team will be the new #1? I think there are three candidates: UConn, Notre Dame, and UCLA.

I'm putting in my guess for UCLA. Beating South Carolina may push them past UConn for that #1 in the rankings. I think voters will value that win as a better win than Notre Dame over USC.

1. UCLA
2. UConn
3. Notre Dame

I might jump ND to two until UConn beats a VHQ team

 

[ERWUC65]

ND is the real deal. And the person on that team who I think is their best player is Citron.
If UConn gets out of South Bend with a win I'll be surprised. And yes, I'm a realistic UConn fan.
ND humiliated them on their home court last season, and revenge is a strong motivator, but is it enough?
I'm not so sure.

The game is too early on. ND looks real good and is at home. Unfortunately I have this in the loss column, but feel better about SC away after watching their game yesterday.

 

[LwrcasefaN]

We'll see if anyone tries the box and one. I don't think anyone can really stay with Hidalgo even if they're trying to birddog her. In the meantime, Miles will breakdown the box, particularly with King and Westbeld, once she comes back. And Citron is the queen of weakside cuts.

That said, I could see UConn trying a rotation of Chen and Arnold rotating on Hidalgo, with Bueckers taking Miles. That could be interesting. The matchups of that game will be crazy, but let's get there first

Still disagree with you on USC (Heckel and Smith, before she was hurt, were built for speed), but that's a nit.

Sometimes your defensive strategy has to me more about containment than stopping. And limit the and ones. I would focus on steering them into areas where they are less effective. They are going to score. I'll surrender 20 points if it takes 25 shots to get there. Like Miles loves that straight drive down the right side box with the scoop shot. It's killer. I have this one circled on my calendar.

 

[Dillon77]

Sometimes your defensive strategy has to me more about containment than stopping. And limit the and ones. I would focus on steering them into areas where they are less effective. They are going to score. I'll surrender 20 points if it takes 25 shots to get there. Like Miles loves that straight drive down the right side box with the scoop shot. It's killer. I have this one circled on my calendar.

Fair 'nuff. Containment -- that's what ND was pointing towards with Watkins: containment/hassling. Save for the third quarter and garbage time, it largely worked.

 

[Dillon77]

Juju is uptempo and everyone else watches. So...not really. I'd rather have them taking jump shots than making driving layups putting fouls on my defense. I'd cover Hidalgo. She can break down a defense until it looks almost invisible. You can't win with her and Miles putting up 20 pieces.

Thought you'd find the link here interesting. My colleague from The Bench, Baba Ghanouj, did some research and found the current (week 4) top teams ranked by how fast they play, i.e. the average number of possessions a game.

1) LSU 81.5
2) ND 80.5
3) Oklahoma 80.1
4) USC 79.3
5) Texas 79.1

FWIW, UConn is at 68.3

Here's a link to Baba's chart on The Bench:

Notre Dame now plays fastest (at least thru week 4)!!

ndnation.com

 

[BruinGold]

Aarnisalo was a revelation

Elina Aarnisalo Career Stats - NCAAW - ESPN

Complete career NCAAW stats for the North Carolina Tar Heels Guard Elina Aarnisalo on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.

www.espn.com

Elina Aarnisalo is Finnish, and was probably spotted at the 2022 European U18 Championship. Finland finished this competition in 7th place, which wasn't enough to qualify for the 2023 U19 World Championship. She had a good tournament, and she's not the only one on her team to have caught the eye of American university recruiters. Like her, Elsa Lemmila 6'6'' is starting her first NCAA year with Ohio State.

European championships are always interesting for recruiters. There's more parity between countries, and basketball is increasingly popular on the old continent, with over a million fans attending the Paris games - a record. U16 and U18 championships are held every year. Three championships in all, A (16 countries) B around 20 and C from 8 to 12. I haven't seen any statistics, but I'd be inclined to believe that the number of international players is constantly rising in the NCAA.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Elsa Lemmilä Career Stats - NCAAW - ESPN

Complete career NCAAW stats for the Ohio State Buckeyes Center Elsa Lemmilä on ESPN. Includes points, rebounds, and assists.

www.espn.com

Finland - FIBA U18 Women's European Championship | FIBA Basketball Events

Finland - All leaders, participating players & roster, game results and stats from FIBA U18 Women's European Championship

www.fiba.basketball

UCLA's Finnish Freshman, Elina Aarnisalo, doesn't really jump off the page. She isn't crazy fast, won't jump out of the gym, probably won't drop 30 on anyone, or have multiple highlight plays. She's pretty easy to ignore.

But, she's starting for a very good team, with lots of heralded players who are older and more experienced than she is. She is very competent, shoots at a high percentage, doesn't get emotional, and doesn't turn the ball over. Her super-power, so-to-speak, is doing the right thing, making the right choice, and being in the right place... almost every single time. After awhile, that DOES jump off the page.

At the post-game presser, her teammate, Lauren Betts, was asked who the most underrated player on the team was. She named Aarnisalo.

Clearly, her coaches and her teammates recognize how good she is, and they aren't complaining about the starting role.

 

[jake0414]

UCLA's Finnish Freshman, Elina Aarnisalo, doesn't really jump off the page. She isn't crazy fast, won't jump out of the gym, probably won't drop 30 on anyone, or have multiple highlight plays. She's pretty easy to ignore.

But, she's starting for a very good team, with lots of heralded players who are older and more experienced than she is. She is very competent, shoots at a high percentage, doesn't get emotional, and doesn't turn the ball over. Her super-power, so-to-speak, is doing the right thing, making the right choice, and being in the right place... almost every single time. After awhile, that DOES jump off the page.

At the post-game presser, her teammate, Lauren Betts, was asked who the most underrated player on the team was. She named Aarnisalo.

Clearly, her coaches and her teammates recognize how good she is, and they aren't complaining about the starting role.

Elina doesn’t possess the quickness or athleticism of a Fulwiley, Maddy McDaniel or Flau’Jae Johnson. But at the pregame presser Coach Close said Aarnisalo is the second fastest on the team in sprints and can get with three inches of the rim on her layups. So she’s quick and springy enough. But yes she doesn’t standout, has been under the radar as a Euro not the getting media coverage of her freshman peers, but seems to play under control, to possess a high basketball IQ and does things right, after a shaky first half versus Louisville.