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Randy
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Shades
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 Posted: 01/13/21 9:53 pm ::: |
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Natasha Mack with another ridiculous stat line tonight at Iowa St, a decent Big 12 team.
34 pts (16-23, 2-3 FT), 13 reb (4 off), 5 ast, 0 TO, 1 stl, 2 blk in 36 min
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Stormeo
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root_thing
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| Posted: 01/14/21 12:49 am ::: |
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| It's inexcusable because Mack was really good last year: 17.6 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 3.2 bpg. It's not like she came into the season as some kind of unknown.
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Cooper2009
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| Posted: 01/14/21 2:16 am ::: |
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| root_thing wrote: |
| It's inexcusable because Mack was really good last year: 17.6 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 3.2 bpg. It's not like she came into the season as some kind of unknown. |
I’m starting to believe it has more with her being a transfer from a lower division that keeps her from these types of conversations. If he falls to Dallas at numbed 2...
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Shades
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| Posted: 01/14/21 2:39 am ::: |
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| Cooper2009 wrote: |
| I’m starting to believe it has more with her being a transfer from a lower division that keeps her from these types of conversations. If he falls to Dallas at numbed 2. |
I don’t have ESPN+, so I haven’t seen her play this year yet. The people who upload games to YouTube must not have ESPN+ either. Highlights aren’t satisfying enough, and it’s not wise to judge a prospect on stats alone.
I might not get to see her play until they meet up with Texas on the Longhorn Network on Feb 10.
From pictures she’s very slender for a center. She has kind of a Howard body type but I’m guessing she doesn’t match her energy or strength.
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root_thing
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| Posted: 01/14/21 11:17 am ::: |
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Stats may not be indicative of pro potential, but that's how college awards and watch lists are primarily determined. So again, there's no excuse for overlooking Mack -- especially, as Stormeo noted, since Natasha plays for a good P5 team.
Howard coming out of college is not the Howard we see now. For one thing, she didn't have range on her shot, which makes a big difference. She was also soft early in her college career, although that started to change as a senior. I haven't seen Mack yet this season. I saw her several times last year, and Natasha was basically a low post scorer at the time. Let's see if that's changed. I feel confident that Mack can rebound and block shots at the next level. I'm just not as sure about scoring. In terms of body-type comparisons, Howard is good and so is Brianna Turner.
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myrtle
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| Posted: 01/14/21 12:58 pm ::: |
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I watched Mack for the first time (this year) yesterday so a few thoughts. In this game ISU didn't have much height to defend her and they were fairly stubborn about not doubling her. Sometimes a second defender would take a swipe but immediately back away. As one of the announcers said, they were just trading twos for threes (ISU were shooting almost 50% from 3!). Mack showed some skill in the post, but mostly just turned and shot over her defenders. It looked like she mostly shot inside of 10 feet but had a nice stroke on her FTs so I think probably has a bit more range. In general, I would have liked to see more aggression. She also didn't appear to be a great defender in terms of letting players slip around her - but then would bother them from behind with her long arms/blocking ability. She played a lot of minutes and spent a lot of time posting up so maybe that explains the lack of all-out energy elsewhere but there were times on an offensive runout she didn't make it past half court. She had 13 rebs but against this team without their big, I would have wished for even more. She's athletic for sure and can move. Her shot looks good so there is hope she could expand it out further. She made some nice passes. To me she has a lot of upside. And yeah, there's no doubt she should be on those 25 player college lists, maybe even top 10. Looking forward to seeing her against Baylor and Texas. They will definitely double her and give her a harder time. She doesn't really have a great deal of support - the team isn't terrible, but it's certainly not great either.
The announcers also at one point mentioned that OkSU was hoping she would come back for another year. Who knows if that was pie in the sky hoping or if there was actually some indication she might.
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root_thing
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| Posted: 01/14/21 1:22 pm ::: |
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| Mack turns 24 in November, so she's already older than the average senior. I would think she'd like to come out now. I can't remember who, but I heard announcers say the same thing about another big prospect possibly coming back -- it might have been Rennia Davis. Yes, it does sound like wishful thinking. This whole deal with people getting an extra year is kind of crazy. UCLA has a kid whose high school season got canceled, so she joined the Bruins early. The announcers said she can come back next year and have a second freshman season. So, I guess you get to repeat whatever year you're in now?
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Shades
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| Posted: 01/14/21 2:51 pm ::: |
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Brooklyn connection for Collier!
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EFhqe5bAanI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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TotalCardinalMove
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myrtle
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myrtle
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Shades
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| Posted: 01/15/21 12:10 am ::: |
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Collier’s turn to have a big game tonight against Kansas. They have a decent sized big so they didn’t double and triple team Collier much. Big mistake.
Collier 28 pts (11-21, 1-3 3P, 5-6 FT), 14 reb (4 off), 1 ast, 3 TO in 38 min
Shakira Austin had a big game in a loss against Missouri: 26 pts, 10 reb
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Stormeo
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| Posted: 01/15/21 12:43 am ::: |
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| myrtle wrote: |
| I watched Mack for the first time (this year) yesterday ... In general, I would have liked to see more aggression. |
Not to cherrypick this quote out of your much appreciated analysis (thank you for sharing it btw!), but this line really stood out to me. Mack put up what one could see as an 'aggressive' statline, yet still could've been more aggressive on the court perhaps. It's a really interesting concept – does it mean she could really be 'unlocked' in the pros under the right coach that gets that kind of aggression out of her? I take it as a good sign that she doesn't have to go all-out to have that kind of night, even if it's not necessarily a good sign. If she doesn't know how to be consistently aggressive in the pros, that absolutely could hurt her. Still, 'upside' seems to be the key word with her, as it pertains to aggression, skill, and how to use her athleticism. Like with the other prospects, I hope she gets drafted to the right team.
Collier & Mack are my 1-2 in the Draft. In that order, they really make sense for both New York and Dallas respectively.
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myrtle
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| Posted: 01/15/21 1:27 am ::: |
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| Stormeo wrote: |
| myrtle wrote: |
| I watched Mack for the first time (this year) yesterday ... In general, I would have liked to see more aggression. |
Not to cherrypick this quote out of your much appreciated analysis (thank you for sharing it btw!), but this line really stood out to me. Mack put up what one could see as an 'aggressive' statline, yet still could've been more aggressive on the court perhaps. It's a really interesting concept – does it mean she could really be 'unlocked' in the pros under the right coach that gets that kind of aggression out of her? I take it as a good sign that she doesn't have to go all-out to have that kind of night, even if it's not necessarily a good sign. If she doesn't know how to be consistently aggressive in the pros, that absolutely could hurt her. Still, 'upside' seems to be the key word with her, as it pertains to aggression, skill, and how to use her athleticism. Like with the other prospects, I hope she gets drafted to the right team.
Collier & Mack are my 1-2 in the Draft. In that order, they really make sense for both New York and Dallas respectively. |
I think Howard is a good example of what she could be on the upside. By aggression I meant especially on offense, she tended to want to shoot fall-aways instead of going into the defender to draw fouls, and I thought she could have been more aggressive about rebounding as well. JMO
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PickledGinger
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| Posted: 01/15/21 1:47 pm ::: |
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| root_thing wrote: |
| UCLA has a kid whose high school season got canceled, so she joined the Bruins early. The announcers said she can come back next year and have a second freshman season. So, I guess you get to repeat whatever year you're in now? |
That seems to be the case. Considering that some schools have already cancelled seasons, and more are likely to do so, I think the NCAA is just kind of riding this season off as if it never happened. I can't imagine that players that redshirt this season will get a full fifth year, because they're basically already getting a fifth year, but who knows.
I'll have to say any potential records broken by player who end up playing 5 seasons need to have a giant asterisk next to them.
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GEF34
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| Posted: 01/15/21 10:36 pm ::: |
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| PickledGinger wrote: |
| root_thing wrote: |
| UCLA has a kid whose high school season got canceled, so she joined the Bruins early. The announcers said she can come back next year and have a second freshman season. So, I guess you get to repeat whatever year you're in now? |
That seems to be the case. Considering that some schools have already cancelled seasons, and more are likely to do so, I think the NCAA is just kind of riding this season off as if it never happened. I can't imagine that players that redshirt this season will get a full fifth year, because they're basically already getting a fifth year, but who knows.
I'll have to say any potential records broken by player who end up playing 5 seasons need to have a giant asterisk next to them. |
The NCAA announced in November I think that any student athlete that is on a roster this season will get an additional season of eligibility. In a previous UCLA game it was mentioned Michaela Onyenwere was considering returning to UCLA next season because she wants a master’s degree. I wouldn’t be surprised if other players decided to return for another year, not just this year’s senior class, but even down the line, like this year’s freshmen class.
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Shades
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| Posted: 01/16/21 12:43 am ::: |
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https://pac-12.com/article/2021/01/14/michelle-smith-pac-12-womens-basketball-feature-uclas-michaela-onyenwere
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Onyenwere is taking the final classes for her undergraduate degree. But whether she is playing in her final college season is still to be determined. The NCAA has offered winter sports athletes an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic. She, like other seniors around the country, is seriously considering whether she might want to return for a fifth season.
“First and foremost, I commend the NCAA for making that decision. It’s been such a weird college experience this year,” Onyenwere said. “I know I feel like I’m not getting the most out of it because of the way it’s going.”
Onyenwere has an opportunity to get her masters degree if she stays another year. She also has an opportunity to be a high draft pick in the WNBA.
“Do I pursue my professional career, or potentially stay and have the opportunity of a lifetime to get my masters at UCLA,” Onyenwere said. “This will never happen in another year. But it’s also an amazing opportunity to be a part of the WNBA, and join a league doing amazing things. That’s the wrestle.”
Onyenwere doesn’t want to talk about it much. She said she wants to “live in the moment, since this might be my last year.” |
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root_thing
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| Posted: 01/16/21 1:28 am ::: |
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| I'm just going to assume that no one is coming out. The draft will be 100% foreign players, and one-third of them will be French.
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Stormeo
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root_thing
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| Posted: 01/16/21 4:53 pm ::: |
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So, I watched Natasha Mack today in the OK St – WVU game. I dozed off a bit in the first half, but from what I saw, Mack did most of her scoring against 6-1 Kari Niblack. She didn’t seem interested in battling 6-5 Rochelle Norris, who is also bulky, nor did she challenge 6-5 Blessing Ejiofor in her brief 5 minutes. Natasha looked better on defense, where she was active moving around and challenging shots. Still, in a close game, her team needed someone to step up on offense and Mack did not respond.
I also went back and watched the previous game against Iowa State. The Cyclones were missing their center, Kristin Scott, so they went small. Mack had a field day shooting over the shorter defenders. She shot more midrange jumpers than I’ve seen in the past, and was mildly more successful. My opinion of her remains the same: a good athlete who can rebound and block shots, but still questionable as a scorer at the next level. Mack looks like a better athlete than Collier, who can be a little mechanical at times. However, in fairness to Charli, Mack doesn’t get banged around and crowded by defenders as much as Collier. That can affect both your energy level and your ability to set your feet.
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Shades
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| Posted: 01/16/21 7:15 pm ::: |
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Kate Cain had a nice game in a victory against Ohio St, a ranked Big Ten team, today.
Cain 22 pts (10-14, 2-7 FT), 12 reb (4 off), 1 ast, 2 TO, 9 blk in 38 min
One block from a triple double.
When she was a freshman, I thought she could be a first round candidate. She definitely hasn’t lived up to that. But since 36 players have to be drafted, she probably should be one of them. If Gustafson is struggling to gain relevance in the WNBA, it’s hard to see Cain sticking long term. She might be less athletic than Gustafson, but she does have a good eye for a blocked shot. Maybe she can join the Korean League and gain some athleticism there. A lot of players have improved there.
In the same game, we also have Dorka Juhas, an age eligible junior for OSU. She’s a stretch post that likes to shoot the three but she wasn’t hitting today coming off the COVID list.
13 pts (5-17, 1-5 3P, 2-3 FT), 12 reb (6 off), 3 TO, 2 stl in 28 min
Not sure she’s relevant enough to get drafted this year. Another interesting prospect to toss on the 2022 pile.
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Stormeo
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| Posted: 01/16/21 8:02 pm ::: |
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| Shades wrote: |
| Kate Cain had a nice game in a victory against Ohio St, a ranked Big Ten team, today. |
One nice game. Before today's game, she was averaging less than 10 ppg on less than 50% shooting, and less than 6 rpg. Those aren't exactly sparkling statistics for any Draft prospect, let alone a 6'5 C. Even in a weak Draft year like this, there are better center prospects out there (UNC's Bailey, Boise St's McGwire, UGA's Staiti, etc.) that probably won't even all get drafted themselves. Cain's gonna have to have a lot more of these types of games (at least in the scoring & rebounding depts.) for her to be taken seriously. Really, she's probably better off returning to Nebraska next season with the bonus year and continuing to regain her strength & stamina, considering she was fairly sick with COVID last spring.
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Rock Hard
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| Posted: 01/17/21 7:28 pm ::: |
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| Many people on this board have proclaimed that this is a very weak draft. So should a lottery team keep their pick or trade it for one or two veterans.
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