Non-Lady Vol Basketball News 2023-24

#18,476
#18,476
Amb3096 said:
Clark has 5 triple doubles. Ionescu is the career leader with 8. She will eclipse Sabrina by her junior year. It's a great achievement, but I don't think her triple doubles necessarily result in team wins.

Boston isn't just taking shots under the basket. She takes a lot of midranges, plus she'll take a couple of threes a game as well.
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I wish I could find the dang article! She has done something that no one has done in 20 years😕
 
#18,477
#18,477
Amb3096 said:
Clark has 5 triple doubles. Ionescu is the career leader with 8. She will eclipse Sabrina by her junior year. It's a great achievement, but I don't think her triple doubles necessarily result in team wins.

Boston isn't just taking shots under the basket. She takes a lot of midranges, plus she'll take a couple of threes a game as well.
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Second athlete in 25 years to reach 1000 points in 40 games. Other was Della Donne.
 
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#18,478
#18,478
Wow I hadn’t realized Rutgers is 0-12 in conference.

Stringer is taking a year off for COVID reasons.

What a fall off for a 2nd tier Titan in WBB
 
#18,480
#18,480
JBB1985 said:
They had lost more than just a "mere" defending POY for the GA Tech loss and other losses. They were missing 4. UConn coaching staff typically does not start frosh, even great frosh. For instance, Taurasi only started 14 of 31 games. Moore had not started the first 8 games as I recall, then Kalana Greene blew out her knee and Maya started the rest of the season doing quite well. You're wrong on a team has to lose everyone starting to be undermanned. Notre Dame's NC year they lost three to ACL but not one was a starter, but they lost all of their worthwhile backups, thus no depth, ND even got hammered by L'ville by about 30 points reg season at height of their injuries. You're saying they shouldn't have complained and shouldn't have lost to a lesser top-tier team by 30? That is not logical. Back to frosh on UConn team in this season. Auriemma and Dailey had 3 seniors of which two were AP AA HM, and a sophomore Edwards that had a superb frosh year, and a frosh that was the first time frosh POY. So who should they have sat for a frosh #1 recruit or frosh #5, when they historically work great frosh into starting lineup slowly? By the way, Kalena Mosqueda-Lewis, once of the greatest pure shooters in WCBB looking at the many superb three-shooters that had 275-300 made threes' 3FG%, and was #1 high school recruit coming in, she just started 1 out of 38 games in a year UConn was not a stacked roster.

I'm curious what is your definition of "elite"? It sounds like "top-tier" by my reckoning, which is typically in modern WCBB the top 6-9 teams. Elite teams to me are like UConn 2009 and 2010, Baylor 2012 and 2013, or UConn 2014-2016. The Tenn three-peat would also be elite, despite that odd 10-loss year season but still they snagged the NC. This year there is one elite team, SC. Tell me, what would SC be achieving if SC lost Boston, the probable POY this season? They've had some closer games with all their deep roster all healthy. They lose Boston, or a Cooke/ Henderson, and some of their excellent backups like Amihere or Beal, and one of the frosh-sophs (which they have in Rivers I think) for mid-to-long stretches or the season, you state they should still be an "elite" team by your definition losing a POY, a starter, a top backup, and a top recruit? I guess we're going to agree to disagree.

What if Tenn lost Horston, Rae (which they did), and eventually Green (which unfortunately occurred), and for some short stretches for Dye or Puckett? Would you still demand they be a top-tier team, given Tenn fans largely believed when they had #1-seed in first NCAAW Reveal and way up in the polls they were a top-tier team and looked it by their great record, if they absorbed 2-3 more significant injuries?
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Well, "elite" is a relative term. I never intended to compare historically best-ever teams/players to those in individual years. We could all probably agree that some years have had several teams that seem superior to champions in other years. That's why player rankings are in comparison to other players in their class, not to others. Still, top 5 player rankings ought to set players among the best in any year. Any drastic dropoff in talent would occur farther down the list.

Some of your argument is counterintuitive. You mention back ups not being available although you acknowledge that GA has never liked to go very deep into his bench. You mention (and highlight) that GA historically likes to bring frosh along slowly. That's by choice, not by necessity. How's Ducharme working out for you? She and Bueckers and Fudd are proving my point that there is so much talent there that your "bench" players can step on the court with very little college experience and still outplay other teams' veteran players. That's how much the talent disparity favors the loaded teams.

If your frosh played like frosh from other teams, your argument would be stronger. Yes, even with the missing players you describe, those teams would still be elite compared to most of the competition. The replacement players would have been starters for most of the competition, including the teams who beat them. Most teams simply don't have the quality of depth that those few elite programs have, which is one reason CONN is still #8 despite having same number of losses as us with less wins (and getting some lucky scheduling breaks). Westbrook was averaging over 14 points a game as a soph at TN yet had been relegated to the CONN bench as a senior. That's how much talent is on the CONN roster as well as the SC roster. Boston goes out, bring in Cardoza...not a world-beater yet still someone who would start for most teams. That's a luxury most coaches can only dream about.

Tell me this: which bench players from CONN who have been forced into the lineup due to injuries would you trade for other team's bench players? Whom would you trade Ducharme or Edwards or Fudd for from the bench of Indiana, Michigan, Louisville, NC State, or anyone not named SC or Stanford (or even including them)? Can you even name the bench players from those schools? Which of Tennessee's bench pkayers would you take in favor of your bench players who have been thrust into the limelight? Heck, which of TN's starters would you take (from a talent standpoint)?

That, in a nutshell, is my case. The fact that CONN "second-string" players have not just held theur own against more experienced competition (and even exceeding the efforts of some of their own starters) shows how teams with depth of talent can withstand loss of players much more easily than other teams who lose key players. And, yes, I consider Top 10 teams in a given year to be "elite" compared to the other 300-some other teams in that year. I guarantee that GA is not going to turn down any top five recruit simply because she isn't the equal of Bird, Stewart , Moore, Taurasi, etc. He knows he needs the players to beat this year's competition, not the All-Century Team. If the players are the best available, that's good enough until better players come along...because the talent pool affects all teams equally for those years.

Btw...it's also a reason that international teams and all-star teams do not automatically turn over rosters to younger players each season. All-American lists are based upon comparisons of players from each year...not a comparison from all active players. Same for national championships. Neither we nor any other team brag about national championships yet add the disclaimer, "Of course, the ___ team wasn't really elite since the competition wasn't that great that year." No, we hang the banners and line up those trophies and act as though they're worth just as much as those won by the "elite" teams. I'd say those fans with "elite" players whose teams never won titles would gladly do some swapping of less-elite athletes for some titles.
 
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#18,482
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#18,483
#18,483
Amb3096 said:
Guess this means that Sania Feagin will play more. I wonder if she'll pull a Fudd/Ducharme and be all gangbusters?

She looks good on offense, but not sure if she's a strong defensive player. Guess we'll find out!
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I was about to say she is strong on the low blocks and hits the glass and will be force next season. As for Fudd/Ducharme ? We will find out.
 
#18,489
#18,489
Lucy said:
I can not find the article now but I think it said Clark had had 10 triple doubles so far this year and was the first player to do that in 20 years. Please don’t think I’m being disingenuous if I don’t have that exactly right but for sure she has done something for the first time in 20 years. Also, 55% is great but shouldn’t a post player have a higher made percentage than a guard? Comparing made % doesn’t seem like an apples to apples comparison.
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Absolutely Czinano leads Iowa in FG% at 65 Clark is 3rd at 45%
 
#18,498
#18,498
How is Nova outrebounding UCONN 26 to 9? Wow. And Nova is up 18 about to head into the 4th Q. Is this UCONN first conference loss since joining?
 
#18,500
#18,500
Rooster1 said:
ONO is not playing. Edwards has been saddled with fouls the entire game. Ducharme is also out this game.
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ONO being out for them is huge. She’s not the best player but she’s is the only functional center they have. Their offense depends on her screenings and their defense depends on her rebounds. Not having her is a big miss for them.
 
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