Monday, April 13, 2020

YOU'VE HEARD THE EXPRESSION "LOADED FOR BEAR!" NEXT SEASON THE BAYLOR BEARS ARE RE-LOADING!!


Kim Mulkey's Baylor Bears from Waco, Texas will be playing in the Alamodome next April, along with Stanford, UConn, and South Carolina - the usual suspects. Anyway, that's the way I see it going down. The main reason will be the remarkable emergence of NaLyssa Smith their 6'-2" Junior post player. Between her freshman season and last season Kim Mulkey challenged NaLyssa to turn herself into a high level basketball star - so she did. Check out the link below. She was the key factor in the Bears beating the Huskies up in Storrs, Connecticut last season, scoring 20 points and taking down 12 rebounds. She's going to be a major problem for everyone they play next season and is probably the longest and quickest 6'-2" player in the country. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLEDaj2SY90

Along with NaLyssa, the Bears return DiDi Richards, a 6'-1" senior defensive star who will turn herself into an offensive contributor by November. Queen Egbo is a 6'-3" junior athletic post player who will join NaLyssa in the middle. The other people I know of who will get minutes are Ursin Moon, Sarah Andrews, and Hannah Gusters. The last two are five star recruits from the same high school in Irving, Texas.

Charlie Creme and the other analysts at ESPN put together the following appraisal and put Baylor just outside the Final Four in San Antonio next year. Obviously, Kim, NaLyssa and I disagree.

5. Baylor Lady Bears
The Lady Bears, the defending national champions, had legitimate hopes of winning the NCAA title again this season. Instead, they finished on a sour note: a 57-56 loss at Iowa State in which the winning point came on a free throw after a foul called with one-tenth of a second left. Still, the Lady Bears were Big 12 regular-season champions for the 10th year in a row, and forward Lauren Cox was the league's player of the year and an Associated Press first-team All-American. But Baylor loses her and fellow senior starters Juicy Landrum and Te'a Cooper, both guards, plus reserve center Erin DeGrate. Back are two other starters: rising junior forward NaLyssa Smith, who led Baylor in scoring at 14.3 PPG, and rising senior guard Didi Richards, who was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Also back is rising junior Queen Egbo, who will form a strong post tandem with Smith. Baylor brings in two HoopGurlz top-10 recruits: point guard Sarah Andrews and center Hannah Gusters, each rated No. 2 at her position. Baylor should once again be the team to beat in the Big 12. -- Voepel
Projected starters for the semi-final game next April:
Maya Dodson     6'-3" Sr.    NaLyssa Smith      6'-2" Jr.
Kiana Williams   5'-8" Sr.   Ursin Moon          5'-6" Sr.
Lexie Hull           6'-0" Jr.    DiDi Richards     6'-1" Sr.
Haley Jones        6'-1" So.   Queen Egbo          6'-3" Jr.
Ashten Prechtel  6'-5" So    Hannah Gusters    6'-4"  Fr.

One of the finest semi-final games you could hope for. 
I can't wait!

Thursday, April 9, 2020

UCONN IS STILL A VERY HUSKY DOG! CAN YOU SAY PAIGE BUECKERS?!


In ESPN’s prediction of the top 25 for the 2020/2021 season, they put UConn in 4th place, behind South Carolina, Stanford, and Mississippi State.

My prognostication puts Stanford as No#1. UConn as No#2, Baylor No#3, South Carolina No#4, Arizona No#5, UCLA No#6, Oregon No#7, Louisville No#8, Oregon State No#9, North Carolina State No#10 Maryland No#11, and Mississippi State No#12 (They just lost their coach to Texas.)

In a Blog Piece before the 2019 season, I said the magnetic field of the women’s NCAA basketball world was reversing and that America’s best talent would start heading in larger and larger numbers to the PAC12. From my top 12 above you can see I think it’s happening, but UConn still has a powerful attraction. I’m predicting that the PAC12 will once again be the most competitive conference in the country with five teams in the top 10.

I felt sure Paige Bueckers, (the No#1 ranked player in the 2020 recruiting class) would decide to replace Sabrina and come to Oregon. But no, she decided on UConn and she’s working hard on Azzi Fudd to follow her. (Azzi, named for the great Stanford star, is the No#1 ranked player in the 2021 class.) I hope Tara and Jennifer Azzi are putting on a full court press to bring Jennifer’s namesake to the Farm where she belongs, to replace Kiana Williams.

I think the ESPN analysts are seriously underestimating the power of having Paige Bueckers at point guard and Evina Westbrook at shooting guard next season at UConn. The following is a link that shows some highlights of Paige slicing and dicing a bunch of high school opponents in Minnesota.  


If you watch some of Sabrina’s highlight tapes from Monte Vista H.S. in Walnut Creek five years ago, they look a lot like this. Evina is a terrific transfer from Tennessee who had to sit out last season. She’ll bring a lot of scoring to UConn next year.

UConn is losing Crystal Dangerfield and Megan Walker who were the strength of their 2020 season. Their loss would devastate most programs, but with Paige and Evina running the show and Anna Makurat, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, and Christyn Williams returning, I think Geno will surprise a lot of people next year. I’m putting them in the national championship game in San Antonio, and losing to Stanford in a classic memorable battle.

Friday, April 3, 2020

WHAT ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS NEXT SEASON?

Watching the 2019/20 South Carolina Gamecocks play, it's obvious that Ty Harris, their senior point guard, was their Kiana Williams - the brains and the motor of the outfit. She is one of America's best and will probably go in the first round of the WNBA draft. 

Senior KiKi Herbert-Harrigan was the 6'-2" heart and passion of their team - or a taller DiJonai Carrington. She also should go in the first round. Between them, they averaged 25 points and 9 rebounds per game. But much more than that - these two were the key ingredients to winning most of their games. In the following link watch No#52 and No#21 and I think you'll see what I mean:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1xVsna5BNc

Their returning sophomore post player, Aliyah Boston is big and strong and good, but by next April, I'm expecting Ashten Prechtel to be as good as Boston. Sophomores Zia Cooke and Brea Beal will not be able to fill the large hole left from the graduation of Harris and Herbert-Harrigan - and they won't be as effective as Kiana and Lexie. South Carolina will be good next year, but I think Stanford will be better. It'll be a great game to watch.
Projected Cardinal/Gamecock Starters
Ashen Prechtel  6'-5" So Post        Aliyah Boston      6'-5" So Post
Kiana Williams 5'-8" Sr  PG          Zia Cooke            5'-9" So PG
Lexie Hull         6'-0" Jr  SG           Brea Beal            6'-1" So SG
Haley Jones       6'-1" So G/F          LeLe Grissett     6'-2" Sr  G/F
Lacie Hull          6'-1" Jr  F             Victaria Saxton   6'-2" Jr  F

The following is a prognostication by Charlie Creme and the other ESPN analysts that projects South Carolina as the unanimous favorites to win the 2021 championship.
1. South Carolina GamecocksThe Gamecocks are our unanimous No. 1 for next season. That should feel familiar as South Carolina topped the AP Top 25 since mid-January and ended the shortened season at No. 1 for the first time after running the table in the SEC. Losing seniors Tyasha Harris at point guard and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan at forward will hurt; they combined to average just over 25 points and nine rebounds this season. They also sparked the team's chemistry. But South Carolina returns three starters -- forward Aliyah Boston (12.5 PPG, 9.4 RPG) and guards Zia Cooke (12.1 PPG) and Brea Beal (6.2 PPG) -- who'll be experienced sophomores next season. Destanni Henderson, who was second on the team in assists (93) to Harris, should see more time, as will rising senior LeLe Grissett. Fellow guard Destiny Littleton, a transfer from Texas who sat out this season, will be eligible. The Gamecocks will add another guard in freshman Eniya Russell, a HoopGurlz top-50 prospect. Rising junior Victaria Saxton, a forward, is expected to play a bigger role, too. Just as the Gamecocks were strong contenders for the NCAA title this year, they'll be the same next season. -
I think Charlie Creme and the other analysts who are ready to hand them next year's trophy in advance, are going to be disappointed. 

Over the next weeks I'll break down the other top contenders for the championship next season. I think South Carolina will get some rude jolts along the road. In spite of the sports writer's adoration of Dawn's team - I'm predicting they won't be a No.# 1 seed in the tournament. I think they're grossly underestimating the loss of their two stars and what they meant to this year's success. Without them, I think the Gamecocks would have been ranked outside the top four. In the game against Baylor in the above link, Baylor's All American Lauren Cox was unable to play and was sorely missed. But more about Baylor later.   

THIS IS A BIG WEEKEND!

  On Friday we get USC and Sunday UCLA.  The Trojans are ranked #15. They brought in five strong players through the Transfer Portal and lan...