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KatValeska
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
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Location: Colorado
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 Posted: 09/20/05 12:02 pm ::: Tables will turn |
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| Curious to know which team posters reckon will have the greatest upturn in its fortunes this season as well as which team will fall upon hard times in comparison to the previous season?
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
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Location: Chicago
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| Posted: 09/20/05 12:58 pm ::: Re: Tables will turn |
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| ProfessorChaos06 wrote: |
| Curious to know which team posters reckon will have the greatest upturn in its fortunes this season as well as which team will fall upon hard times in comparison to the previous season? |
Perhaps its homerism, but I think Purdue will have a big upturn after their momentary slide last year. Last season was the youngest team in more than 20 years at Purdue. Experience, injury and point guard issues caused most of the problems and all of those should be improved this year. Katie Gearlds surgeries could be the most important thing any team accomplished in the off-season, and if Cherelle George can handle D1 point guar duties - all indications from scrimmages are that she can -- it could be a very good year in West Lafayette.
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CamrnCrz1974
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
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KatValeska
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
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Location: Colorado
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| Posted: 09/20/05 3:11 pm ::: Re: Tables will turn |
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| PUmatty wrote: |
| CamrnCrz1974 wrote: |
| PUmatty wrote: |
Perhaps its homerism |
Or homo-ism.  |
No perhaps about that one ... |
*rolls eyes before donning poker face*
Well, I refuse to be a homer or a homo ...
Going down: St Francis (Pa). 
Hate to say it, but this will be a tough year to pencil them in as NEC champs. The Red Flash simply cannot replace Swink, Bolton and Black - the three leading scorers last season. Amber Hein is a nice senior point guard, but otherwise the team will consist of unproven commodities,
Meanwhile Robert Moriss returns a strong senior calss headed by Sugeiry Monsac and should cruise to the conference title.
Going up: Colorado. After finishing dead last in the Big 12, there's really only one place to go. More than this silly cliche, this young team started to come together late last season, giving Baylor all they could handle before knocking Nebraska out of the NCAA tourney picture and then losing a heartbreaker in the final second to ISU in the B12 tourney.
One concern that's being expressed is the learning curve for the players adjusting to the new coach's up-tempo system. But fact is, that most, if not all of the players played up tempo for years before arriving at CU.
Big strengths are Kara Richards, a 6-4 sophomore center who can get up and down the court as well as finish. And now that Koehn is in the W and Neimann is off to UCSB, CU wing Jasmina Ilic has an opportunity to be the top gun in the conference. Not only can she fill it from inside or out, she also possesses some very slick passing skills. This team is also very deep in the front court w/ C Tammi Garnett, C/F Jackie McFarland and F Anna Nedovic.
Soph Yari Escalera is a true PG who can apply intense pressure on defense. Off-guard Whitney Law should prove a fine senior leader and can hit the trey consistantly. Biggest question is the depth at guard, though combo guard Lauren Lubin might be the best defensive player on the team.
CU is also helped greatly in that they play in the B12's North Division, so will face the Baylors and Longhorns of the league just once while meeting Kansas State and Iowa State - teams that take on big hits from graduation - etc., twice.
Prediction: Colorado, by virtue of the split divisions, finishes fifth in B12 and returns to rightful place in the NCAA Tournament.
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bballfan2005
Joined: 22 Aug 2005
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Location: Somewhere here and there
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| Posted: 09/20/05 6:16 pm ::: |
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I think that Duke will have the ultimate turn of fortune by winning the NCAA tournament this year (finally).
The team that could possibly fall down a bit (not hard) is Stanford. They were the #1-ranked team in the nation last season but might have competition waiting for them in the Pac-10 this season. Because the Pac-10 isn't a dominant conference by most people's standards, I don't expect them to be ranked any higher than #10, but Wiggins is much better now than she was at this point last year as a freshman.
I just hope that my teams (Duke, UVa, Tennessee--except for 1/23/06) will do fairly well this season.
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Carol Anne
Joined: 09 Apr 2005
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Location: Seattle
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| Posted: 09/21/05 4:09 pm ::: Will this be Rene Portland's last season? |
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Walt Moody of "State College's Home Page" in the Centre Daily has major doubts about Penn State's chances. That he questioned the official story about the departure of Harris, Bland and Etienne amazed me: is Rene no longer the Goddess of Happy Valley?
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While much of the conference brings back a solid chunk of experienced talent, Penn State has just one player (Amanda Brown) who has scored 10 points in any Division I game involving an opponent located in the United States....
In addition to the daunting conference numbers, Portland's team has to overcome the departure of Jennifer Harris (now at James Madison), Amber Bland and Lisa Etienne. Whoever you believe on why the players left early, the bottom line is that Harris' scoring ability (10.4 ppg), Bland's defense and Etienne, the team's only backup point guard, have left holes to be filled by mostly freshmen.... {emphasis added}
While most schools can afford a rebuilding season, Penn State is shackled by the fact the school plays host to first and second round NCAA Tournament games in March.
It would be awful embarrassing for a program that has gone to the NCAAs 21 times under Portland to play host to the event and not be in it. Can't imagine it would be too lucrative, either. |
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/sports/12699103.htm
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sbjules
Joined: 22 Dec 2004
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| Posted: 09/21/05 5:20 pm ::: |
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| Quote: |
| And now that Koehn is in the W and Neimann is off to UCSB, CU wing Jasmina Ilic has an opportunity to be the top gun in the conference. Not only can she fill it from inside or out, she also possesses some very slick passing skills. |
Hope you're right, Professor. I like Ilic.
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KatValeska
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
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Location: Colorado
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| Posted: 09/21/05 11:17 pm ::: |
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From the Walt Moddy article:
"The only holes on the schedule were filled by St. Francis, a perennial Patriot League champ which the Lady Lions have never lost to ... "
Patriot League? Unless there is a third St. Francis team I'm not aware of then I assume he means the Red Flash of the Northeast Conference.
Anyway, good call on Penn State as they well may be the team that falls the hardest this year. Too bad they have such a soft non-conference schedule this year. Even worse is that the Red Flash are in a rebuilding year or that streak mentioned would be in serious jeopardy.
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KatValeska
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
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Location: Colorado
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| Posted: 09/21/05 11:39 pm ::: |
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"Hope you're right, Professor. I like Ilic."
We love Ilic out here. When it comes to shooting and passing skills I think hers match up with any small forward in the wcbb world. Her defense, ball handling and decision making last season, however, were dubious at times. Hopefully she'll be a better all-around player this year with a full season now under her belt.
If she can improve her defensive foot speed and become more consistant on the boards I believe she has WNBA potential. I'm just glad they'll have to wait two more years.
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dtsnms
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
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| Posted: 09/22/05 8:35 am ::: |
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While I think UConn is going to surprise some people (hey, he's gotta get some freshmen that contribute 100% once in a while), I look for...
Oklahoma to make a huge jump. Those twins are going to have the largest impact (no pun intended) of any newcomers since UConn's national championship freshmen class, even bigger than UT's last year.
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njjosh
Joined: 07 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 09/22/05 10:22 am ::: |
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| dtsnms wrote: |
While I think UConn is going to surprise some people (hey, he's gotta get some freshmen that contribute 100% once in a while), I look for...
Oklahoma to make a huge jump. Those twins are going to have the largest impact (no pun intended) of any newcomers since UConn's national championship freshmen class, even bigger than UT's last year. |
I'll believe Oklahoma when I see them get to at least the Sweet 16. Ever since their run to San Antonio in '02, they've won exactly ONE NCAA Tournament game, and that was a struggle against #14 seed Marist, following which they got clobbered by 25 points by Stanford.
LSU is going to fall off big time with a young, inexperienced point guard running things. Even last year, Johnson and Augustus were LSU's only two major offensive threats. A large part of the bloom on Pokie Chatman's rose was lost during the SEC Championship loss to Tennessee and the Final Four loss to Baylor. Their window to win a national title has closed, maybe for good.
Before Neimann's transfer, I thought Baylor might remain a title contender if they didn't get big heads after finally reaching the mountain top. Without her, and the outside shooting she brought to take pressure off of Sophia Young down low, no f'ing way. Maybe they win the Big 12, but there will be no return Final Four trip.
Texas has disappointed the last two years. They have a lot to prove to me too before I'll believe in them.
Ditto for Jim Foster/OSU and Andy Landers/Georgia. I still can't get over how badly Foster was schooled in the '02 Elite 8 with Vanderbilt.
IMO, Tennessee is preseason #1. And they might be able to get away with their pathetic excuse for a halfcourt offense because, frankly, they have far more talent than anyone.
Gail has to prove to me she can get it done with high expectations. She did great in '99, '02, and last year with the pressure off. In '03 and '04, when Duke was expected to win it all, she failed miserably, getting outcoached by Pat Summit in the '03 semis and by Pam Borton in the '04 Elite 8.
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ucbart
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 09/22/05 2:00 pm ::: |
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I really expect UCONN to surprise some people. Hey, with Ashley Valley out of the line-up we automatically get better. Let us not forget that these senior Huskies have uber-experience in every situation one player could be in. Last year was really a rebuilding year as we had no point guard what so ever, and we lost the best player in program history who won games by herself. Now that we're a full year removed from DT, I believe that the Taurasi effect will be out of the players heads.
To the line-up; we may be small, but Strother/Turner/Houston is a pretty good 1-2-3 punch. We lack size, but we make up for it in quickness. If hunter is healthy that will just be gravy IMO, as I never expected her to go again. If she is 80%, she will still be a force inthe middle as this girl is just flat out good. I've heard that Kalana is going to be a force for four years. As far as a point guard goes, we don't nned our pg to score as we have enough scorers. We need a pg that can take charge of the offense and get the ball where it needs to go. That was our main problem last year, and I feel a big part of why Ann had such a down year!!!! She is our best player, yet she was also responsible for starting our offense from the 3 position. Not a good combination there. I look for Swanier, who I love as a player to be our pg. She is very fast, and I love the way she plays. I think the year of experience she has, plus all the work she did in the off season will have paid off. One thing UCONN is this year is deep. We have a lot of good players. While we don't have many great players...yet.....we have a coach who makes good players appear great with the offensive and defensive schemes he runs.
If the pg is secure, which I'm sure it will be by January, and Hunter can go at least at 80%, I think we have an outside shot at the FF. AS bad as that team was last year, we still made it to the Elite 8....and we lead that game for an entire half playing just crap basketball. Geno is a great X's and O's coach, and with all the players we have, I expect him to find the right combinations for each opponent.
I also expect a lot from our freshman that no one is talking about, Kalana Greene.
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PUmatty
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
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ucbart
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PUmatty
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ucbart
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cthskzfn
Joined: 21 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 09/22/05 2:38 pm ::: |
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uconn will be better and should benefit from having the regionals (bridgeport) and FF (boston) in their backyard.
there are still too many questions, and the biggest one is the same as last year- PG. who knowa if swanier has improved enough or at all? renee montgomery may be good but she's a frosh, and frosh PGs 99% of the time leave much to be desired.
so far so good re: hunter but how will it play out in real competition?
the word is greene is really good and a sleeper, but they said the same thing about swanier last year.
hoiefuly turner and crockett will be injury-free and strother will benefit from having a decent PG.
another big question is did charde grow up during the off-season and realize that 1- she needs to get in shape and 2- she needs to learn the concept of 5-on-5 basketball?
all-in-all still a billion questions in storrs heading into this season. i'm hoping like heck to get up there and catch a scrimmage so i can see greene for myself.
first exhibition is, unbelievably, only 40 days away.
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VandyWhit
Joined: 27 May 2005
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| Posted: 09/22/05 6:33 pm ::: |
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| Quote: |
I still can't get over how badly Foster was schooled in the '02 Elite 8 with Vanderbilt.
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It's interesting to look back at that game.
Right now, there are six players from Tennessee currently on WNBA rosters (Gwen Jackson, Shyra Ely, Kara Lawson, Michelle Snow, Loree Moore, and Ashley Robinson), with one all-star.
Two players from Vandy are on WNBA rosters, Chantelle Anderson and Jenni Benningfield.
If success in the WNBA is a rough measure of talent (arguable, I know, but not a totally stupid idea, either), then compared to Vandy, Tennessee was loaded.
Yet, Tennessee won by only five points.
Which makes me think that perhas the real difference in that game was talent, not coaching.
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KatValeska
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
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CamrnCrz1974
Joined: 18 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 09/22/05 8:02 pm ::: |
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| cthskzfn wrote: |
| the word is greene is really good and a sleeper. |
Not really sure if you can call Kalana Greene a sleeper. Roundball has her as the #2 prospect in the country, behind Courtney Paris. All Game Sports (AGS) had her as the 13th best player in 2005, while Blue Star had her at #18.
Swanier was a top-30 kid according to Blue Star, but all of the other rankings had her much, much lower.
Still, by all accounts, she is very, very good.
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VandyWhit
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njjosh
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| Posted: 09/22/05 8:38 pm ::: |
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| VandyWhit wrote: |
| Quote: |
I still can't get over how badly Foster was schooled in the '02 Elite 8 with Vanderbilt.
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It's interesting to look back at that game.
Right now, there are six players from Tennessee currently on WNBA rosters (Gwen Jackson, Shyra Ely, Kara Lawson, Michelle Snow, Loree Moore, and Ashley Robinson), with one all-star.
Two players from Vandy are on WNBA rosters, Chantelle Anderson and Jenni Benningfield.
If success in the WNBA is a rough measure of talent (arguable, I know, but not a totally stupid idea, either), then compared to Vandy, Tennessee was loaded.
Yet, Tennessee won by only five points.
Which makes me think that perhas the real difference in that game was talent, not coaching. |
Vandy beat Tennessee in Nashville that year by 17 points despite having Anderson in foul trouble for much of the first half. TN barely won the rematch in Knoxville, 74-70. Vandy won the SEC Tournament. TN got upset in the semis by an LSU team that essentially played six or seven players max. So I have a hard time believing that Vanderbilt was at such a disadvantage talent-wise against Tennessee in the Elite 8.
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cthskzfn
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Keegan
Joined: 17 Nov 2004
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| Posted: 09/22/05 8:58 pm ::: |
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| njjosh wrote: |
| VandyWhit wrote: |
| Quote: |
I still can't get over how badly Foster was schooled in the '02 Elite 8 with Vanderbilt.
|
It's interesting to look back at that game.
Right now, there are six players from Tennessee currently on WNBA rosters (Gwen Jackson, Shyra Ely, Kara Lawson, Michelle Snow, Loree Moore, and Ashley Robinson), with one all-star.
Two players from Vandy are on WNBA rosters, Chantelle Anderson and Jenni Benningfield.
If success in the WNBA is a rough measure of talent (arguable, I know, but not a totally stupid idea, either), then compared to Vandy, Tennessee was loaded.
Yet, Tennessee won by only five points.
Which makes me think that perhas the real difference in that game was talent, not coaching. |
Vandy beat Tennessee in Nashville that year by 17 points despite having Anderson in foul trouble for much of the first half. TN barely won the rematch in Knoxville, 74-70. Vandy won the SEC Tournament. TN got upset in the semis by an LSU team that essentially played six or seven players max. So I have a hard time believing that Vanderbilt was at such a disadvantage talent-wise against Tennessee in the Elite 8. |
Maybe Tennessee finally reached some of their potential. |
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