Reality of WBB is challenge for UL Friday

[2330859]

One rather huge contrast between Men’s and Women’s BB right now, is the favorites very seldom lose. There are exceptions, but there has been a pattern over the last 15 years where the Men have witnessed a steady increase in parity with tournament upsets no longer much of a surprise, that has not reached the Women’s game yet.

Friday will be a unique situation for this UL Women’s team, as we will be identified as the underdog by somewhere between 5 -6 points. Someone will have to provide some statistical support here, but I suspect that aside from our trip to NCST and possibly at UConn, this will be the first time this season that we are considered a rather prohibitive underdog by those who set the spread.

South Carolina is now, as they have been much of this season …… an overwhelming favorite as #1 in the country. The game is being played in Minneapolis, if it were played in Columbia SC, it would be hard for me to expect us to pull out a win there. However, it is in a neutral setting where I expect Stanford and UConn fans alike will be joining the UL faithful in pulling for UL and against the Gamecocks.

I do not believe we have seen these ladies play their best game of the season yet ….. the 3 quarters of total domination of ND at home a few weeks ago was pretty close. I expect to see that same 40 minutes (or more) effort Friday night when we beat So Carolina to advance to the Championship game!

 

[WahooCard]

Numbers think you summed that up correctly.

 

[Sab3rs]

I think if the Louisville cardinals play their hardest brand of basketball for 40 minutes, no other team beats them.

 

[Bardman]

Let’s face it - uSC is Very good, they have extreme talent, and a huge post presence. Are they beatable? Of course, ask Griner’s Baylor squad. I want to see our team play a great game - win or lose. As far as favorites winning - this year we witnessed many lower seeds winning games - maybe more than ever before. In the end, yes, the top seeds make it to the E8 and FF (as a rule).

 

[CardsFirst]

USCjr is beatable just ask SuCk and Missouri of all teams. I think Missouri caught them flat footed. That will not be the case Friday. Our bigs have to have a great game and Liz can’t miss those layups she constantly misses.
I think will have something for them and we played some pretty good teams along the way along with some pretty good bigs. USCjr like us play tough D will see how we handle their pressure and vice versa. Hope it’s a good game.
Jeffs going to get over the hump one of these days, maybe it will be this year. He had the Miss St game stolen from him in 2018.

 

[jmac1029]

Have to make those mid- range and in shots. We would have beat Michigan by at least 20 if we hit those. Hope our bigs don’t get into to foul trouble. Don’t think we’re going to get a fair shake with the whistles. Powers that be are probably clamoring for a USC - UConn final.

 

[CardX]

South Carolina will be a tough out, no question. But, it's the Final Four. Any team will be a tough out. I saw some segment on ESPN a few weeks ago on Dawn Staley. She's an outstanding coach. I've followed her career since her college playing days at UVA. No disrespect intended, but it seems like the powers that be are placing her on a pedestal. I suspect South Carolina will have more calls by the refs fall in their favor.

 

[KozmasAgain]

I watched the North Carolina vs South Carolina game last week and UNC blew that game. It was nip and tuck the whole game but poor coaching in the last 3 minutes cost them. In the last 3 minutes the UNC players looked really lost. It was like they had no basketball IQ and did everything wrong.
USC has tall bigs and they get away with a lot of over the back on rebounding. I did see the refs in the Stanford vs Texas game call 4 over the back calls on rebounding. Cardozo is the worst one on committing this violation. She is 6’7” and she doesn’t jump she just leans over the shorter players and gets away with it. If we can jump to get rebounds then I think the over the back calls would come.

If we can get everybody on the team get as aggressive as HVL and Emily are on offense we will win this. Against Michigan we had that and even the announcer commented that Louisville had so many scoring weapons it was hard to defend against them. This will definitely be an important game for our bigs. I think we have to be physical inside to have a chance.

 

[armensmith]

I am not at all worried about Cardoso. USC plays her about 13 minutes a game because, as you noted, she is not very agile. Boston, of course, is a real problem. She is tall and extremely athletic. It might be tough for Olivia and/or Liz to contain her. The Cards match up well in size outside of Boston. How well she does will be the most significant key to the game. If the Cards can somehow limit her effectiveness and play well otherwise, they can make it a close game and perhaps win.

 

[2330859]

It’s the offensive glass where SC has been most impressive. Much like what we witnessed in the Michigan game, we did a pretty effective job defending the initial shots, particularly when Naz and others were in the paint; what hurt was Michigan repeatedly rebounded their own misses and the officials called us for defensive fouls.

One would have to study the film and examine the replays very closely to see if there was actual contact, as I would question whether the officials actually saw us foul, or were they just blowing the whistle when there were so many players under the basket?

Once Boston posts-up in the paint, she becomes a jumping Jack, and the 6’7” Cardoso is often the recipient of either a rebound or a basket without her feet ever leaving the floor.

I would not be surprised to see Robinson assigned to guard Boston at critical points in the game as a way to deny her the entry passes.

 

[CardX]

South Carolina -8.5 was the line this morning. Not sure what to say about that.

 

[Sonja]

South Carolina -8.5 was the line this morning. Not sure what to say about that.

You put Engstler on Boston.

--sonja--

 

[CardX]

You put Engstler on Boston.

--sonja--

She'll have three fouls called on her before the half. Book it.

 

[KozmasAgain]

They have a really good point guard who brings the ball up court fast, pressure her don’t let her distribute the ball effectively. She is also a good shooter and has to be guarded from the 3 point line. Boston is the threat underneath I think you have to have Liz and Olivia take turns being physical with her. At 6’7” Cardoso has the height advantage over everyone lucky for us she hasn’t figured out how to jump yet. She rebounds by going over the back of players and amazingly she gets away with it.

I would study film on USC but I wouldn’t study the film showing them in the games they won. I would study the film on the games they lost and see how their opponents beat them. We have to have everybody offensively involved like the Michigan game HVL, K Smith, C. Hall were knocking down shots from outside and Olivia did damage inside on the 4th period. Michigan couldn’t focus on one player because they were being hit from all sides. Emily didn’t score a lot but she was a beast on rebounding and defense. Liz and Olivia are going to have to be strong inside and when they are pushed they have to push back. This is the game where we really need to step up and hit them with a haymaker.

 

[mwatson61]

South Carolina will be a tough out, no question. But, it's the Final Four. Any team will be a tough out. I saw some segment on ESPN a few weeks ago on Dawn Staley. She's an outstanding coach. I've followed her career since her college playing days at UVA. No disrespect intended, but it seems like the powers that be are placing her on a pedestal. I suspect South Carolina will have more calls by the refs fall in their favor.

She along with Muffet are behind the push to get men out of coaching WBB. The love affair for her has reached the status of Coach K and I find it harmful to the growth of the women‘s game. You only need to play the post game press conference after the Michigan game to see what having a father figure as a coach means to those that chose this program. Then as CJW stated, the deck is stacked in preseason. The media chooses which teams deserve all of the love and attention. It’s really sad.

 

[Bardman]

She along with Muffet are behind the push to get men out of coaching WBB. The love affair for her has reached the status of Coach K and I find it harmful to the growth of the women‘s game. You only need to play the post game press conference after the Michigan game to see what having a father figure as a coach means to those that chose this program. Then as CJW stated, the deck is stacked in preseason. The media chooses which teams deserve all of the love and attention. It’s really sad.

Preach. Great post.

 

[2330859]

Emily would be most effective guarding Boston, but the officiating wI’ll ensure that Emily would be ineffective early on while sitting out from foul trouble. We need Emily on the floor defensively, offensively and most importantly for rebounding. Conversely, as much contribution that Makala brings to this team, we would not be affected on the offensive end.

I would not be surprised to see some minutes given to both Verhulst and Konno for defensive responsibility on Boston, given their long and athletic skills fronting the post.

We must at least contain Boston on the SC offensive end.