RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Oldfandepot2]

A few years back being a neophyte on this board (and juxtaposing my still anemic knowledge with others on this board, still am) I was pleasantly surprised to see not only the depth of knowledge but the depth of insight as well concerning WCBB as well as other topics. With that in mind after reading a number of preseason ratings at the time, I believed that the people on this board were as equally capable to provide unique insight into their own teams.

I am asking once again for people to provide their perspective of their respective team. Just one caveat, being a staunch defender of the First Amendment, I do not want to ever stifle personal express but with that in mind I ask you all respectfully to allow each post on each team to stand alone on its own merits without comment as dollars to donuts we will see more than our share of bombast and balderdash this season as we have in the past.

_________________
Cave Canem!
We must listen to each other no matter how much it hurts. Bishop Desmond Tutu.

[myrtle]

My take on Stanford.
Our likely starters:
C: K. Johnson (now we only have one of them)
PF: Bird aka McCall
SF: Samuelson (the other one)
SG: Roberson or McPhee (small or big)
PG: Sniezek

Bench:
G: Roberson/McPhee
SF Carrington (athleticism!!)
PF A. Smith (gives us a stretch 4 who can shoot from outside)
C: Fingall/Coffee (different styles – hoping one of them can become a solid backup)

Frosh: Carrington and Fingall are both impressing in practice so expect to see them in games. Haven’t heard much about the other two, though Wilson is apparently still dealing with injury which is worrying as we were hoping she would contribute immediately. Coffee, who was dealing with injury last year, may see some time on the floor this year.

Lost: Lili Thompson who decided not to play this year for some unknown reason. (major offensive fire power loss) The other K. Johnson, ditto. (loss of post depth)

Scary: Bird had minor surgery on a knee (I think) at the end of the season and is supposedly back 100% but knees are always a bit tricky and hoping for no re-occurrence. Karli just got a cast removed, after having broken something in her left hand a month or so ago. Supposedly she was still able to practice shooting and other non-contact drills.

I think it will be a decent team but not very showy – a quiet, get it done kind of team. If they can stay healthy, they could certainly be a top 25 team, possible a top 10 team though that seems like a stretch.

_________________
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
- Amanda Gorman

[Howee]

Hmmm. My beloved Sooners will undoubtedly go through some challenges to find that undeniably consistent starting lineup. They're experience-rich this year, and have some great new talent.

10 of 15 are either Juniors or Seniors:
http://www.soonersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=31000&SPID=127261&SPSID=750396

Beginning of the season:

1-Ortiz
2-Little
3-Carter
4-Manning
5-Pierre-Louis

Before-too-long:

1-Little
2-Carter
3-Manning
4-Pierre-Louis
5-Mulkey

And I'll be fine about being wrong, if the freshmen guards break their way into those rotations, but again, experienced personnel is an asset Sherri has in her favor....her starting lineups could look totally different with each game, given what the opposition brings.

(I am merely copying my opinion here from an earlier thread that started back in August: http://boards.rebkell.net/viewtopic.php?t=89106 That was a slightly different thread , based on 'starters', but it still reflects my current thinking)

_________________
Oregon: Go Ducks!
"Inévitablement, les canards voleront"

[Queenie]

St. John's: Oh, God, we're so fucked.

Seton Hall: ...I still need name tags for half y'all.

Iona: Okay, we know who can score, but who's going to rebound?

Michigan: No excuses this year. (Y'all need to get your asses in the tournament and get assigned somewhere reachable from the East Coast. That allows backpacks.)

Fordham: Dear sweet hypothetical baby Jesus, let Hannah Missry hit 50% from beyond the arc this year and keep G'mrice Davis out of foul trouble.

LIU: Stop yelling at me, Coach!

_________________
Ardent believer in the separation of church and stadium.

[ArtBest23]

[Queenie]

[Conway Gamecock]

South Carolina most likely will start:

PG: Cuevas-Moore
SG: Alisha Gray
SF: Kaela Davis
PF: A'ja Wilson
C: Alaina Coates

A talented starting unit consisting of one senior and three juniors who've already scored 1,000+ career points each (two of them while part of other programs), and in Cuevas-Moore a new starter at the point that is talented in her own right but still needs to prove herself as a consistent floor leader.

The bench will also have talent, but a lot of youth and inexperience:

G: Harris
G: Brandshaw
G: T. Davis
G: Cliney
G: Patrick
F: Herbert Harrigan

The team has a stiff season-opener on the road with preseason #6 Ohio State, but then gets three relatively easy opponents all at home before traveling to Springfield, Mass to take on #8 Louisville.

Then it's a rough stretch of games beginning with UL, then @ #6 Texas, and @ Duke. USC later hosts #9 UCLA, and goes on the road later on in the season to play #1 UConn.

I think USC's starting five are as deep and capable as any in the nation, but the reserves will need to step up quickly and find roles for themselves. The staff under Coach Dawn Staley are looking for a more up-tempo offense will improved perimeter scoring: former Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb will be assisting the staff in drawing up offensive sets to set in the cause.

[FollowtheCardinalRule]

Montana: After every Valley comes a Mountain.

Colorado: Hail Britannia.

Denver: How Does One Stop a Jackrabbit?

Stanford: TIIIMMMBBBEEEEERR!

Princeton: uh. all our players graduated. What now? 2+2=5?

[summertime blues]

Tennessee: Short bench. Hope no one gets hurt. But they could surprise people.

JMU: The return of Precious Hall, but will miss the versatility of Gwathmey. More height up front with Amber Porter. Dee Griffin and Kayla Cooper-Williams are solid but Felgemacher, like most bigs, still needs to grow into herself. The biggest Q is, can Logan Bailey or Hailee Barron replace Muff Mickens? Can anybody? No real questions about Coach O, he'll coach just like Kenny, the team says.

Wisconsin: can Jonathan Tsipis r'ar back and pass a miracle?

_________________
Don't take life so serious. It ain't nohows permanent.
It takes 3 years to build a team and 7 to build a program.--Conventional Wisdom

[IM in OC]

[Queenie]

[mzonefan]

[bacabuck]

STARTERS RETURNING (3)
Pos. Name Pts. Reb. FG% FT%

G Asia Doss 7.0 2.8 .444 .659
G Kelsey Mitchell 26.1 3.2 .452 .852
F Alexa Hart 10.8 7.8 .615 .593

OTHER LETTERWINNERS RETURNING (4)
Pos. Name Pts. Reb. FG% FT%

F Shayla Cooper 13.3 8.1 .522 .818
F Makayla Waterman 3.1 3.8 .459 .750
G Chelsea Mitchell 1.4 0.8 .238 .444
F Theresa Ekhelar 1.3 1.0 .250 .750

TRANSFERS (3)
Pos. Name Notes

G Sierra Calhoun McDonald’s & WBCA All-America, NY Player of the Year, started 13 games at Duke

G Linnae Harper 2015 All-SEC Defensive Team, led Kentucky in rebounding, vet of 6 Team USA teams

F Stephanie Mavunga 1st Team All-ACC, 2015 Team USA Pan Am Games, McDonald’s & WBCA All-America

FRESHMEN (3)
Pos. Name Notes

G Jensen Caretti No. 31 in 2016 class, Ohio Miss Basketball, Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year

G Kiara Lewis Five-star recruit, No. 23 prospect in 2016 class, played in Jordan Brand Classic

F Tori McCoy McDonald’s All-American, No. 10 prosect by ESPN, consensus five-star recruit

[bacabuck]

Ok, so now I am back to comment on the above post........(I am not clever about posting lists so I wanted get it up there before the entire post went wonky.)

Anyway, the team is tOSU buckeyes.

Linnae Harper will not play until December 16th.......(Alabama State).

I have no idea who will start. That is probably being decided as we speak. The knowledgeable people who post on this board, are far better equipped to name the starters than I...........and I invite you to do so as I would like to know myself.

If healthy, I believe a core of 8 experienced girls will play a lot, with the freshmen playing a lot less.

In order to fill in a little more about the transfers : Calhoun brings stats of 10.1 avg ppg, 31.4 fg%, and a game high of 21.

Harper, 11.4 ppg, 38.7 fg% and a game high of 23.

Mavunga, 14.4 ppg, 48.3 fg% and a game high of 27.

I dare say, the people of Columbus who understand even a LITTLE bit about WBB are VERY exited!........... I am one of those.

[cthskzfn]

I think UConn will be relatively bruised and battered, metaphorically speaking, by 1/1/17.

The long-term key is how Nurse, Samuelson, Williams and Collier adapt to having to shoulder the load (Nurse at least has her ample Olympic experience) and how well this undersized (Butler is reserve-level talent, imo) squad deals with teams of capable size.

Also, how quickly will the frosh, especially the highly-touted Dangerfield, make their mark? To a lesser extent, will a senior Chong be any better than the junior version?

It's gonna be a season to pay close attention and watch how well this team progresses. I think I'm going to enjoy it very much.

Preseason guess, I think they can finish anywhere from the FF to the S16.

I reserve the right to change my outlook several times during the season.

_________________
Silly, stupid white people might be waking up.

[TechDawgMc]

Baylor.

This is going to be an interesting year. This is probably -- from top to bottom -- the best team in Baylor history (and by a decent margin). There may not be a total game changing player like Griner (by definition, there aren't many of them) but this is a very deep team.

There are probably 7-8 players that Kim will see essentially as starters, but I think the top 5 will be

P - Brown
PF - Davis
SF - Prince
SG - Wallace
PG - A. Jones

Wallace will likely move to PG a good bit. Davis may move to SF some to make room for Cox and Mompremier (and, for that matter, Cave). Then there's the outside shooters in Chou and Landrum.

One of the more realistic basketball guys on the Baylor board made a trip to practice and was raving about Brown -- who has lost about 20 pounds and developed a right hand move. She will be extremely hard to stop.

The key for Baylor will I think be how well Jones can run the point and distribute -- and how well the shooters integrate into the team. If Chou can play defense well enough for Mulkey to want to keep her on the court, this team could be hard to stop.

Anything less than a FF visit will be a disappointment this year. This team has the talent to play for the title.

[taropatch]

Hawaii, the defending Big West Tournament champion, is coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1998 but will struggle with only 5 returning team members. The transfer of Megan Huff who was to be the key player in the offensive department hurts a lot. I think it would be generous to say that they finish at .500. The returnees, Toeaina, Crawford, Harris and the Salanoa twins will have to meld well with the 9 new faces and 2 new staff members. No Hawaii players made the latest pre-season Big West All-conference team. Coach Laura Beeman has said they will not be a three-point shooting squad but she is high on freshman, Julissa Tago. Bows open at USC three days after election Tuesday.

[taropatch]

[Marquette Fan]

This is the most excited I've been for a basketball season in many years. This figures to be the first time since 2011 that Marquette should be a serious contender for an NCAA Tournament bid. They were the youngest team in Div. 1 last year and now the talented freshmen are now sophomores and they add 4 freshmen this year. They only have one senior this year and two juniors so they are still on the young side.

My guess at starters:
PG: Danielle King
SG: Natisha Hiedeman
SF: McKayla Yentz
PF: Allazia Blockton
C: Erika Davenport

I know next to nothing about the freshmen so I have no idea if any of them might start. But I'm fairly certain King, Hiedeman, Blockton and Davenport will start again. Davenport was nice to have come off the bench at times last season but I'm not sure you can really keep her out of the starting lineup.

I thought Blockton might have a shot at pre-season BE player of the year which she did not receive but she was a unanimous all-Big East first team selection.

I may have to miss their only exhibition game but look forward to the home opener in two weeks now on Fri. 11/11.

[readyAIMfire53]

Duke is not my team until this coach is gone, however I will follow stats and catch some games on TV. Here's my guess on starters, with slashes to show either player could start any given game.

PG: Lexie Brown
SG: Kyra Lambert
SF: Becca Greenwell
PF: Oderah Chidom/Leaonna Odom
C: Kendall Cooper/Lynee Belton

High in the rotation:
G Faith Suggs
F Crystal Primm

End of the bench:
Erin Matthias
Haley Gorecki

LOSSES:
All American Azura' Stevens - transferred to UCONN to receive better coaching
Spanish player Angela Salvadores - returned to play professionally in Spain and receive better coaching

This team will be battling to get back into the NCAA tournament. Under even a halfway decent coach, they'd be a lock for the Sweet Sixteen or better - the talent is there. Big questions are the chemistry of Lexie Brown and Kyra Lambert as co PG's and the health of Lynee Belton's knee as she comes back from an ACL, injured less than a year ago. Also can Duke ever help a great shooter get enough opportunities to score.

_________________
Follow your passion and your life will be true down to your core.

~rAf

[ArtBest23]

[newkid]

Texas Longhorns

PG Brooke McCarty JR/Alecia Sutton FR/Tasia Foman JR
SG Lashann Higgs SO
SF Ariel Atkins JR/Briana Taylor SR/Joyner Holmes FR/Jada Underwood/FR
PF Jordan Hosey SO/Khaleann Caron-Goudreau RS SO
C Kelsey Lang SR/Audrey-Ann Caron-Goudreau JR/Olamide Aborowa SO

How quickly will Joyner Holmes be able to contribute? Will talented wild thing Lashann Higgs have gained some control and learned the plays? Will potential star Ariel Atkins finally stay healthy all season? How will the Caron-Goudreau twins fit into the team? Coach Aston plays her entire bench all season, and mixes up the starters more than most coaches.

Brooke McCarty is small but fearless, intense, a court general. Who will back her up? Alecia Sutton is the best true PG of the options, but she’s a freshman and coming off of a knee injury. Tasia Foman is likely to sub at both the 1 and the 2. Lashann could slide over and play point, but running the offense is not her best skill set. McCarty is likely to play a lot of minutes. If she gets hurt, we're toast.

An embarrassment of riches at the wing. Atkins will start as long as she stays healthy. Briana Taylor could start on a lot of teams, brings terrific energy off the bench. Holmes one of the top FR in the country. Jada Underwood probably only comes in off the bench this year.

Who starts at PF? Athletic Jordan Hosey is my favorite, but she got pretty limited minutes last year, so I’m not sure if the coach agrees with me. Haven’t seen the Caron-Goudreau twins play yet, so hard to judge them. If Joyner Holmes adjusts to the college game rapidly, she could start or sub at PF.

The loss of C Imani Boyette makes Texas an even more guard-oriented offense this year. Kelsey Lang has flashes of excellence, but lacks consistency and seems to lack killer instinct. Who backs up Lang, the only true C on the roster? (South Carolina transfer Jatarie White is RS this year.) Above are my guesses, but they are just guesses.

I don’t expect Texas to beat Baylor or UConn this year, though they could get lucky and split with Baylor. I give them a small chance against South Carolina. I think they’ll mostly beat everyone else, including Tennessee and Stanford, though they are at risk to drop a game here or there in conference play. Elite 8 in the tournament, with Final Four as a stretch possibility.

[myrtle]

[FrozenLVFan]

Tenn Lady Vols

Likely starters:
PG--Jordan Reynolds Sr
SG/SF--Diamond DeShields RS Jr.
SF--Jaime Nared Jr.
C--Mercedes Russell RS Jr.

With
PG/SG Alexa Middleton Jr, if they opt to go small OR
PF Schaquilla Nunn RS Sr, if they opt to go big

Bench
F Kortney Dunbar Jr, who hasn't shown much to date
G Meme Jackson So, who hasn't shown much to date
C Kamera Harris Fr

PG Tea Cooper and JUCO transfer Cheridene Green are recovering from ACL surgery and are out for the year.

OOC schedule incls. JMU, Va Tech, Penn St, Baylor, Texas, Stanford, and Notre Dame.

Although there's a fair amount of talent on this team, success will depend on the stars aligning.
--Jordan Reynolds as a Sr needs to take ownership of the offense, which has been a hot mess for several years.
--DeShields needs to quit sulking and play like she's capable of.
--Nared, Russell, and Middleton need to have improved a lot in the off-season.
--Nunn needs to make a substantial contribution.
And everyone needs to stay healthy.

As a long-time Lady Vols fan, it pains me to predict that they finish no higher than 3rd or 4th in an SEC which is having a down-year, and they would be doing well to reach the E8 in the NCAAT.

[summertime blues]