2024-2025 WBB Team (2022-present)
- Thread starter TN-Gamecock
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We did not make Ella Hobbs top 5. I'm thinking she was not a top priority compared to Blanca Thomas, Kate Koval or Adel Tac...she was also not ranked as high as the others mentioned. I am also surprised UT is not mentioned since her brother signed with the Vols to play football...
Her mom is Allison Feaster, WBB legend from SC. Supposedly mom was pushing Gamecocks, but her dad played for NCSU and she appears Raleigh bound. It appears we liked others more at her position but you always say that when they don’t choose you.
Am I wrong? It seems like there are larger numbers of elite/very good women basketball players available now than there were even a few years ago.
I think you are correct. Also the stranglehold that UCONN had on the top talent has disappeared. Proof of that is #1 Judea Watkins turning down UCONN, Stanford and us to go to unranked So Cal team.
The game is growing and with it the talent pool. NCAA TOURNAMENT is still pretty much chalk, but that change is coming
I spent an hour on the Stanford Cardbord. Their fans lived up to their reputation. Several dozen intelligent breakdowns and responses on what's wrong with the Cardinal. It feels like an overreaction, but the loss was really bad. Reminded me of our loss to NC State a couple of years ago, except The Pack was a top ten team; USCw was a bubble team.
General consensus is that Stanford's great 3 point shooting is only a myth. Hannah Jump is an excellent shooter; everyone else, not so much. So teams never leave Jump and give Brink the Aliyah Boston treatment. The lane is so clogged, Jones can't penetrate. And once Jump is taken out of the game as a shooter, whatelse does she bring the table as a player?
They almost convinced Stanford is broken, but they STILL are the team I least want to play. No one else can matchup with us in the post like they can. We saw how Miss St with just one legitimate big, Jessika Carter, gave us trouble. Plus, the last 3 games with Stanford went down to the wire. Probably a 4th would too.
The most interesting discussion was about Lauren Betts. Most think she is not physically ready to contribute. Believes Tara takes minutes away from veterans (Belibi, Pechtel) and gives them to Betts, mostly for development and maybe to keep her happy. Some talk of her transferring; others disagree on that point.
What a contrast to Ashlyn Watkins. Watkins is one of the most physically ready Gamecock freshman in ANY SPORT I can remember. She a brick wall out there. No one pushes her around. (Her basketball skills still need a lot of work, obviously). And Dawn in contrast to Tara takes minutes that should be going to her and gives them to veterans who aren't as productive. I believe Dawn would argue that she can trust her veterans over a freshman when it matters. Fair enough. Unlike Betts, I think no Gamecock wbb fan is worried about Watkins transferring. This is home for her.
It will be interesting to see how the rotation looks like tonight. We should DOMINATE this team on the boards, just like we did against Mizzou. For some reason, Saxton is just an average rebounder now, She had 3 against Mizzou, Fletcher had 5, Raven had 5, Chloe Kitts had 5! If a player isn't rebounding, get her off the floor because we got a bench full of players who can, including Watkins.
GO COCKS!
General consensus is that Stanford's great 3 point shooting is only a myth. Hannah Jump is an excellent shooter; everyone else, not so much. So teams never leave Jump and give Brink the Aliyah Boston treatment. The lane is so clogged, Jones can't penetrate. And once Jump is taken out of the game as a shooter, whatelse does she bring the table as a player?
They almost convinced Stanford is broken, but they STILL are the team I least want to play. No one else can matchup with us in the post like they can. We saw how Miss St with just one legitimate big, Jessika Carter, gave us trouble. Plus, the last 3 games with Stanford went down to the wire. Probably a 4th would too.
The most interesting discussion was about Lauren Betts. Most think she is not physically ready to contribute. Believes Tara takes minutes away from veterans (Belibi, Pechtel) and gives them to Betts, mostly for development and maybe to keep her happy. Some talk of her transferring; others disagree on that point.
What a contrast to Ashlyn Watkins. Watkins is one of the most physically ready Gamecock freshman in ANY SPORT I can remember. She a brick wall out there. No one pushes her around. (Her basketball skills still need a lot of work, obviously). And Dawn in contrast to Tara takes minutes that should be going to her and gives them to veterans who aren't as productive. I believe Dawn would argue that she can trust her veterans over a freshman when it matters. Fair enough. Unlike Betts, I think no Gamecock wbb fan is worried about Watkins transferring. This is home for her.
It will be interesting to see how the rotation looks like tonight. We should DOMINATE this team on the boards, just like we did against Mizzou. For some reason, Saxton is just an average rebounder now, She had 3 against Mizzou, Fletcher had 5, Raven had 5, Chloe Kitts had 5! If a player isn't rebounding, get her off the floor because we got a bench full of players who can, including Watkins.
GO COCKS!
It seems like Saxton has regressed. Maybe it's because we have other players passing her. LA is not as dominant as I thought she would be as well. At this point, I guess she's who she is. Flashes at times but not consistent. I love our young players. Watkins is going to be a star.
I think every Gamecock fan knows when LA decides she going to attempt to score. She puts her head down and drbbles inside come hell or high water. I'm actually surprised she doesn't charge more. Maybe just showes what a great athlete she is. She gets to the line alot and she has improved her FT shooting. I agree she doesn't feel dominate, but to her credit she has played points guard and, now, mostly the 3, as Beal's backup, so coach can give the other bigs playing time in the post. LA is very unselfish. She will have a long career playing pro-ball as as 4 or even a 5.
I love LA. You're right about her charging ahead no matter how many players she has to run over. She has all the natural gifts in the world but it's hard to find a spot for everyone on our team. A credit to Dawn that we didn't have more transfers.
The game has progressed in terms of the number and quality of athletes participating in it; there's no doubt about that.
Couple of Questions
How is Iriafen playing and perceived by the board?
Have not seen Betts play enough to judge her athleticism, your thoughts?
Tara seems to value skill sets over athleticism. Jump and Prechtel are prime examples. Maybe even Haley Jones, iffy I know. Dawn however prizes athleticism. 1-12 we are the most athletic team in the country hands down.
There wasn't much criticism of Iriafen. She is seen as the 2nd best low post player. Some wonder if Pechtel should get more playing time, though, because she can hit 3's.
Every time I've seen Betts play, she never imposes her will on the opponent, despite her incredible length. Based on Stanford fans observations, it has more to do with lack of physical strength. She'll be a dominant player, just not anytime soon.
You're right about what Tara values and what Dawn values. I wonder how much geography plays into that. Guard play in the PAC-12 in general looks rather weak. Destiny Littleton is going to be all-conference player. God bless her, I'm happy for her. Honestly, I'm not sure that would happen for her in the SEC, even with increased minutes. I'm still shocked Tara didn't hit the portal for an athletic guard.
I think the bottom line with Dawn is a player MUST be able to defend her position. No matter how skilled she might be, if she can't guard her position, the entire defensive scheme is compromised. Of course, the best defenders tend to be athletic. If they are low post players, they can block shots and rebound as well. I'm a big fan of Dawn's approach because defense and rebounding are constant. Offenses tend to be up and down. But I'm sure there will be complaining in the game thread about our lack of perimeter shooter, until Vandy wears down. lol
Thanks, very enlightening observations.
Guard play is weak in the PAC-12 but Littleton is having a very good year. She is talented but would have been buried here this year. She brings some swagger, toughness, and I’ve been there before and don’t worry I got this to a team that really needs those attributes.
She also looks in even better fitness form. I tend to forget that her redshirt season here, she had pretty major surgery on both feet/ankles and literally couldn’t walk for six months. Her conditioning went to almost zero. Maybe it’s taken that long to get back into great fitness.
I had not made your connection about athlete to defense as Dawn’s rationale. That makes so much sense. It will change how I look at every player we recruit, “Can she defend her position?”
As always thanks for your insights
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I'm starting to think Angel Reese might have a screw loose. She's so dramatic out there. Screaming in the camera like it's the WWE. "They can't stop me."
Aliyah is the exact opposite: she makes it look easy. She's such a calming presence on the court.
I was thinking the same thing, she was screaming at Morris and Johnson. Held onto the ball at one point after a turnover, weird. Team acted like they had won a national championship after the win last night.
They still haven’t played a top 25 team. My guess is GameDay will be in the CLA for our matchup with them. I can only imagine how geeked LSU will be. Will it help them or hurt them?
That said, Reese is a problem matchup. Physically I think Watkins matches up best, but is she ready?
A great player but definitely a "look at me". That would never fly on a Dawn Staley team. They barely beat a team at home that was almost beaten by Vandy a few nights ago. All that flexing looked stupid.
I hope we shut her down. She basically dumped us twice right before her visits to us in high school and during her transfer recruitment. Agree though that it was a blessing because I could see she and Dawn butting heads!
My guess is both coaches will avoid matching Boston and Reese against each other directly. So basically whoever the 2nd post player on the floor with Boston will guard Reese. That means Saxton to start. Watkins, for sure. We have about 30 fouls to give between all our bigs. lol
I like the matchup because it allow us to play the Boston/Cardoso lineup. We probably won't see those two together against Arkansas, but LSU doesn't play small.
I wasn't a fan of Reese's antics last night as well. I'm still not sure how her holding up the game to fuss at her teammate wasn't considered a delay of game. She very passionate about how she plays and that's commendable but she takes it too far with showboating. Sadly it will likely get worse, considering that she's now the leading candidate for NPOY.
She is definitely a "me first" player who puts the team's interests behind her own. Good reason she avoided coming here!
That was weird, right? Alexis Morris is a 5th year senior. I can't imagine she appreciated being shown up on national TV by a younger teammate.
Personally, I can't wait for Angel Reese vs Rickea Jackson matchup. Both can be, let's say, volatile at times.
I thought the team played their best game of the season last night. I know, I know...it was Vandy. I never doubted we would own the boards and win by 30. The 50 point beatdown exceeded my expectations. Ciaja Harbison will be on the all -SEC team. No one has come close to shutting her down like she was shut down last night. Fletcher blocked her shot 3 times. Raven wore her down through her relentless pace in transition. No doubt Harbison was also affected by our bigs. She's a great finisher at the rim for her size. Not last night.
It gets more difficult from here. Wish I could make the Arkansas game. They present a unique challenge to our defense. I wonder if the increased playing time for Watkins was preparation for this matchup. She has the athleticism to guard on the perimeter. She'll probably guard Poffenbarger when she's in the game.
It gets more difficult from here. Wish I could make the Arkansas game. They present a unique challenge to our defense. I wonder if the increased playing time for Watkins was preparation for this matchup. She has the athleticism to guard on the perimeter. She'll probably guard Poffenbarger when she's in the game.
Clemson had a real tough loss last night at home.
Remember this is a team we beat by 54 at their place.
They lost by 3 to ND. They shot a better fg% and out rebounded the Irish. Would have won by double digits but the tigers turned the ball over 29 TIMES!!!
The taters have a competent coach, Amanda Butler, for the first time in literally 20 years. They should be an NIT team at the end of the season.
Also UNcarolina took down the Dookies
Remember this is a team we beat by 54 at their place.
They lost by 3 to ND. They shot a better fg% and out rebounded the Irish. Would have won by double digits but the tigers turned the ball over 29 TIMES!!!
The taters have a competent coach, Amanda Butler, for the first time in literally 20 years. They should be an NIT team at the end of the season.
Also UNcarolina took down the Dookies
#8 Utah plays at Stanford tonight. Interesting to see if Tara makes any changes.
word now coming out of UCONN 's camp that Azzi Fudd will miss some extended time (undetermined length) due to reaggravating her knee injury last week. along with upcoming games in conference, she'll definitely miss the game with Tennessee and most likely the SC game. another big blow for a top team with injuries and depth issues (one game being already postponed)
UConn injury conspiracy theory 101
Bueckers, Fudd, Juhazs and Ducharme all have had consecutive injuries or reoccurrences of the same injury…..
Bad luck? Fragile/injury prone individuals? Rehab problems? Rushing players back too soon?
Honestly Fudd should just take the year off and rehab to full health. Having a career is better than forcing herself to comeback for this season.
All these could be true but rushing them back too soon is absolutely a valid argument. Fudd needs to be shut down. Amazing talent that could be denied of her potential. Getting her and Paige back 100% next season could make a National Championship team.
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The more they screw up as a program, the better I like it. If those girls think they are being mishandled, there are multiple ways out for them. If I were one of their parents and had such concerns, I would be using whatever leverage I had. I don't want to see any of them ruined.
Stanford won. Iriafen and Betts were the losers as Stanford went small. Jump, Brink and Jones scored 63 of Stanford's 74 points. Basically those 3 played the whole game and 13 other players shared the other two positions. The Cardinal still doesn't look good as a whole, but they have a ton of players to throw out there.
There's a lot of skill on that team, and ample size as well. I know this is an odd observation, but they must lead the country in good players having single-syllable last names.
I think Dawn handles injuries the correct way. Look at Feagin … she certainly has looked healthy and dressed out the last two games but Dawn appears to be over cautious which in the long run is a much better approach.
Arkansas was outrebounded 51-26 against LSU and still only lost by 3. That's crazy. LSU left a lot of points at the free throw line. The Hogs are doing a better job this year not giving up easy buckets. They are actually contesting shots.
Expect to see a lot of 5 out with spacing for 3s. They take 26 3 pointers a game.
I’ll wager they only attempt 15 today. DS is not going to be threed to death. That’s the good news. The bad news is we will see a ton of dribble drive much like Miss. St.
Spencer, Daniels and Barnum have all been playing great and Poffenbarger might be the league’s FOY. Not a deep rotation. Wolfenbarger has quite frankly regressed and Dauda has not lived up to her hype.
I’ll wager they only attempt 15 today. DS is not going to be threed to death. That’s the good news. The bad news is we will see a ton of dribble drive much like Miss. St.
Spencer, Daniels and Barnum have all been playing great and Poffenbarger might be the league’s FOY. Not a deep rotation. Wolfenbarger has quite frankly regressed and Dauda has not lived up to her hype.
Poffenbarger played 33 minutes against LSU and only scored 5 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. She didn't respond well to a physicality of that game. But we know she is capable of playing much better. We need to get physical with her. She can be a game changer when she's on.
Also, you cannot miss Rylee Langerman. She is quite bald, it is not a political statement nor feminist statement. She has autoimmune condition called Alopecia that causes baldness. Good player, wonderful young woman. So no cheap shots please.
It appears her eyebrows are painted on - no cheap shot intended. Eager to see the game today; leaving in a few minutes.
South Carolina leads in the series record with Arkansas 24-18. They are 12-5 versus Arkansas at home, while the Razorbacks are 10-9 on their home floor. Both teams are 3-3 in neutral venues. The Gamecocks are on a current 6-game win streak, having beat the Razorbacks 76-54 in last season's SECT.
Both Arkansas and South Carolina have played close strengths of schedule thus far - both are around top 30 in SOS, although while the Gamecocks have played a top-30 non-conference SOS slate (29th thus far), the Razorbacks' non-conference schedule is outside of the top 70 at 76th. Overall though, there isn't much to separate the teams in this regard.
Arkansas is currently 5-1 in road games - they just lost their one loss in Baton Rouge 79-76 to LSU on Thursday. South Carolina is of course undefeated in Colonial Life Arena thus far this season (they are undefeated overall) at 10-0. They are currently on a 35-game home winning streak, and are 51-1 in CLA during the 2019 recruiting class's tenure, with the lone loss being to NC State 54-46 in December 2020.
Arkansas comes in with a strong offensive game, being ranked 31st nationally in Scoring Offense - good for 4th in the SEC. South Carolina is also strong offensively at 8th nationally in Scoring Offense, 2nd in the SEC behind LSU. The difference represented here is about 5 ppg. The Razorbacks are 118th in FG % - they are more of a perimeter-scoring team compared to USC, which can lower their completion efficiencies. They are 14th nationally in 3-pt. FG attempts per game (SC is 305th in 3-pt. FG attempts, by comparison) - 1st in the SEC by a good margin - and are 145th in 3-pt. FG % at 31.9%. The Gamecocks are 180th at 30.9%.
The major difference here, will be in the defense. Arkansas comes in ranked 160th in Scoring Defense (9th in the SEC), while South Carolina is 1st nationally. The Razorbacks are particularly strong in FG % Defense, ranked 13th nationally and 5th in the SEC, but the Gamecocks are also ranked 1st here. Also, Arkansas is 146th in 3-pt. FG % Defense, while again USC is ranked 1st nationally. Finally, the Gamecocks are ranked 3rd in Rebounds per Game - just a rpg behind #1 LSU - 1st in Blocks per Game, and 147th in Steals per Game, compared to the Razorbacks being 37th, 44th, and 245th, respectively.
Arkansas has improved substantially defensively over last season - they have quality bigs in Poffenbarger and Barnum averaging 7.0+ rpg each. I'm not sure however how they will match up against Boston and Cardoso, with Amihere, Beal, and others also chipping in. Both teams are pretty sound with control of their hands: Arkansas is 34th nationally in Turnovers per Game (2nd in SEC) and 122nd in Fouls per Game (5th), while USC is 30th (1st) and 61st (2nd) respectively.
I'm thinking this game will be more of a freer-flowing scoring contest, than a slug-fest in the paint. Just depends on how well Arkansas can handle the Gamecock's defensive match-ups......
Both Arkansas and South Carolina have played close strengths of schedule thus far - both are around top 30 in SOS, although while the Gamecocks have played a top-30 non-conference SOS slate (29th thus far), the Razorbacks' non-conference schedule is outside of the top 70 at 76th. Overall though, there isn't much to separate the teams in this regard.
Arkansas is currently 5-1 in road games - they just lost their one loss in Baton Rouge 79-76 to LSU on Thursday. South Carolina is of course undefeated in Colonial Life Arena thus far this season (they are undefeated overall) at 10-0. They are currently on a 35-game home winning streak, and are 51-1 in CLA during the 2019 recruiting class's tenure, with the lone loss being to NC State 54-46 in December 2020.
Arkansas comes in with a strong offensive game, being ranked 31st nationally in Scoring Offense - good for 4th in the SEC. South Carolina is also strong offensively at 8th nationally in Scoring Offense, 2nd in the SEC behind LSU. The difference represented here is about 5 ppg. The Razorbacks are 118th in FG % - they are more of a perimeter-scoring team compared to USC, which can lower their completion efficiencies. They are 14th nationally in 3-pt. FG attempts per game (SC is 305th in 3-pt. FG attempts, by comparison) - 1st in the SEC by a good margin - and are 145th in 3-pt. FG % at 31.9%. The Gamecocks are 180th at 30.9%.
The major difference here, will be in the defense. Arkansas comes in ranked 160th in Scoring Defense (9th in the SEC), while South Carolina is 1st nationally. The Razorbacks are particularly strong in FG % Defense, ranked 13th nationally and 5th in the SEC, but the Gamecocks are also ranked 1st here. Also, Arkansas is 146th in 3-pt. FG % Defense, while again USC is ranked 1st nationally. Finally, the Gamecocks are ranked 3rd in Rebounds per Game - just a rpg behind #1 LSU - 1st in Blocks per Game, and 147th in Steals per Game, compared to the Razorbacks being 37th, 44th, and 245th, respectively.
Arkansas has improved substantially defensively over last season - they have quality bigs in Poffenbarger and Barnum averaging 7.0+ rpg each. I'm not sure however how they will match up against Boston and Cardoso, with Amihere, Beal, and others also chipping in. Both teams are pretty sound with control of their hands: Arkansas is 34th nationally in Turnovers per Game (2nd in SEC) and 122nd in Fouls per Game (5th), while USC is 30th (1st) and 61st (2nd) respectively.
I'm thinking this game will be more of a freer-flowing scoring contest, than a slug-fest in the paint. Just depends on how well Arkansas can handle the Gamecock's defensive match-ups......