RebKell's Junkie Boards

[pilight]

Here comes the jinx



Stanford vs Connecticut

UConn beat the Card by a dozen at a neutral site back before Thanksgiving. Of course that was with Jillian Harmon starting for Stanford instead of JJ Hones and Kalana Greene scoring 15 for the Hussies. Stanford is on a serious roll. 22 straight wins, 16 of them won by 20+ points and only one by less than 10. UConn has 15 straight wins, the last 10 of which were against tournament teams. What it looked like to me in the E8 is that Wiggins is a player of destiny. This is her year, and I'm not going against her. Stanford wins.


LSU vs Tennessee

Geno Auriemma
Van Chancellor
Pat Summitt
Tara Vanderveer

One of these things is not like the others
One of these things just doesn't belong
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

The one thing Van the Man could never do in his Ole Miss days was beat Pat Summitt when it mattered. I sure as heck don't think he's gonna start now.

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I'm a lonely frog
I ain't got a home

[thatGAgirl]

[BCBG25]

Woo-hoo!!! I picked LSU and UConn!!!

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Kings of the World!

[bballfan2005]

Why, pilight...why?????? I wanted to see if Wiggins could lead 'Furd to the NC game.

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Avatar: The King has his ring!

Mathies to LA 2013

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

[Iluvacc]

[memphis10]

[njjosh]

Stanford's only chance to beat UConn is if Wiggins plays like she did against Maryland or close to it. And since UConn is far better defensively than Maryland, I can't see that happening. I certainly can't see Hones going for 23 again against UConn's defense. Wiggins may be the best player on the court, but UConn has the better team.

I agree with pilight re: TN-LSU, but should also note that Van Chancellor is hardly the only former SEC coach to never beat Pat when it counts - Joe Ciampi, Andy Landers, Sue Gunther, Pokey Chatman and Jim Foster are just some of the present or former SEC coaches who have had dreams of a national title crushed by Patricia Head Summit.

Getting back to the game, I think this has less to do with the coaching matchup as it does with the personnell. Tennessee's guards, while having their limitations, are better (especially at decision making) than LSU's guards. Fowles will get her share of rebounds and points, but not as many as she should because the guards won't get her the ball. And, of course, TN has Candace Parker, who will be more than effective enough after getting five days to work on her bum shoulder. It should be close, but Parker & Co. will make enough plays, and Erica White & Co. enough mistakes, to swing it toward the Lady Vols.

[braveniler58]

Connecticut VS Stanford:
Connecticut is miles beyond Maryland in terms of defense, so don't expect to see Wiggins score 40+ or even 30; nor will Stanford drop 98 on UConn. Wiggins will go balls out in this game, but so will Ketia Swanier, Charde Houston, and most especially, Maya Moore. She had a horrible game against Rutgers, and Stanford is not the same defensive team as Rutgers. Connecticut wins.

Tennessee VS Lousiana State
LSU will win this if they go low to Sylvia, and the guards (White and Chaney) shoot well. But the biggest X-Factor will be Candace Parker herself. If she's healthy, Tennessee will win. If she's still gimpy, LSU will win. A week off, I would say that Candace should be fine. Tennessee wins.

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Phoenix Mercury fan for life!

[gpark33]

While I'm pulling for Stanford in the Stanford-UConn game, I think the train stops here for Wiggins. UConn wins easily.

TN wins if Hornbuckle and Bobbitt show up with an injured Parker. Another game like last night and I give the edge to LSU.

[eyevolley4]

I'm not making predictions, but I'm about sick of people thinking that Wiggins is the whole Stanford team.

She's amazing, yes, but if you have watched this team play this season (AKA if you pay any attention to Fox Sports Net instead of ESPN) then you would know that it's not just points scored, but the overall team game that Stanford as a whole excels. They have five players capable of providing points and most importantly - the second half has been their better half for most of this season. That credit goes to Tara who has made adjustments and coached this team to 35 victories.

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Some days are meant to be remembered.

[kage]

Geno is probably just as good in terms of adjustments. I think coaching acumen will be a wash.

Wiggins isn't the whole Stanford team but she's a very important leader, esp. emotionally. Stanford feeds off of her energy (like vampires ; just kidding -- although it does go well with their black red and white color scheme).

It's the same as Maya isn't the whole UConn team but she also is pretty important and helps set the tone for UConn. Even when she's being contained, she works her butt off and doesn't give up on plays and that seems to seep through to the rest of the squad. I'm not saying UConn doesn't have other players that do the same but that Maya because of her ... stature and reputation ... has a bigger bullhorn through which to broadcast her message of what the UConn team should be like.

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http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/6329/lindseyhardingsig3oh2.jpg

[GlennMacGrady]

Stanford is a much better team than they were when they played UConn in November. However, keep in mind that, even in that game, Stanford outscored UConn 20-6 over the last 10 minutes after TVV made offensive and defensive adjustments.

UConn arguably is not as good as they were then. Even Geno has suggested that the team peaked in that early tournament. More recently, UConn's offense has produced only 21 field goals in the last 50 minutes of play and only 14 (non-fastbreak) points in the paint. The offense has basically devolved into outside chucking since the 30 minute mark against ODU.

Meanwhile, the kids from Stanford look sharp as a pistol ... and Wiggins is one.

I give Stanford the edge.

Tennessee often looks like drek, but they almost always come up with some combination of performance, breaks or luck to win the big ones. The Parker factor is so powerful, and she has been playing with uncommon intensity and determination throughout the tournament so far.

I favor the Lady Vols to win it all unless Parker is injured.