Mississippi State: Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride
- Thread starter DarkCock
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I don't. No ring for McGowan or Howard.
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I said "almost." lol.
But seriously....in the long run this is a bad precedent for us. Both MSU and Louisville lost road games, so the committee will get geographic diversity by having one eastern and one western team in the Final Four.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I wasn’t rooting for Mississippi State at all. I mean where did they come from the last few years. I’m ready for our team to take back charge now. I see another national championship in our future. Going to be an exciting time.
I just hate there won't be any SEC representation in the Final Four. The reputed best WBB conference in America should have a team in there. Meantime, the "depleted" UConn program has clawed their way in there again (for the 12th straight time, an unassailable record) and the Pac 12 could get two teams in. Bad weekend for the SEC in WBB.
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Why? They claim their fans are as great as ours? They are nothing but imitators! Next season the Gamecocks restore order to the SEC! Hail State my foot. Nothing but a bunch chokers!
If I had a daughter who was a premier player, I'd encourage her to consider their futility before going there. Plus, it's an armpit of a place.
Horseshit! The PAC 10 is an awful conference, Oregon is there! UCONN owns the worst conf they are there! It's about matchups plain and simple. USC and Miss St got spanked by the same teams that spanked them in the regular season.
I agree 100% ! Starkville is a shithole for sure!
Nobody felt bad for us when we won our championship out of Stockton. Just Do It.
They have been shipped out west plenty of times with some geographic explanation which never applies to UCONN, Notre Dame or Louisville.
indeed! Their fans called us crybabies for complaining about getting shipped out! Screw em! They talk all kinds smack on social media. But they have nothing but Gamecock envy and a bunch of failures!
I don't feel bad for them; their fans like to troll our players and fans online and they will be back to being also rans in the coming years. The top dog will be back next season.
At the 2018 SEC championship game a Miss St fan at halftime literally said she hoped A'ja Wilson comes down with vertigo in the 2nd half! I never root for the scum to win anything!
Miss St. lose McCowan, Howard, Holmes and Danberry to graduation. Their top 3 scorers, top 2 rebounders (50%+ of the team's rebounding), top assist player, top shot-blocker, and top 3 stealers. They will be in huge rebuild mode: they do bring in the #6 ranked class headlined by 5* Rickea Jackson, but that much leadership and production lost will require some transition time.
Tennessee loses their coaching staff, and still there may be some player attrition. The Lady Vols are in name only these days, as the team no longer knows how to play like the Lady Vols.
We'll be returning 3 of our 4 top scorers plus the #1 recruiting class. The opportunity to put the conference into a headlock for quite a while is laid at our feet....
Tennessee loses their coaching staff, and still there may be some player attrition. The Lady Vols are in name only these days, as the team no longer knows how to play like the Lady Vols.
We'll be returning 3 of our 4 top scorers plus the #1 recruiting class. The opportunity to put the conference into a headlock for quite a while is laid at our feet....
It would seem so. I say: better keep recruiting. We just found out what happens when you allow holes. You wind up with a team that can compile a respectable record but cannot beat anyone good. Can't even stay on the court with the elite teams.
I disagree a little bit. Look at UCONN when they signed Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck in the same recruiting class. Geno added a piece here and there, but he played those 3 into the ground.
Coach Staley has that kind of recruiting class coming in. Of course, she should attempt to add an elite player over the next few years. I'm not saying don't recruit. However, enough playing 10 or 11 players every game.
Think about it this way: when we made our run through the NCAA tournament, we only played 7 players. 4 of them (Harris, BCM, Cliney, HH) played in the beat down against Baylor.
So, basically, 3 players were the difference between a national title and a sweet 16 appearance -- Wilson, Gray and Davis. (We would have won the national title again last season, if they had all returned.)
Focus on developing the core and less on adding more pieces. The potential is there.
The UConn excellence has been pretty seamless. Sure, not all teams can be equal, but they have been consistently top-tier - to the tune of 12 straight Final Fours. You've got to have a lot or premier players all the time to make that happen. That's not saying that only a few won't get most of the minutes. John Wooden played eight players max most of the time. He didn't even pretend to distribute minutes. But the eight he played could play for anybody and the four he didn't could play for a lot of people.
I knew Miss St wasn't going to win it all....but I had them advancing to the final 4.
McGowan is probably wandering what the hell is wrong? Well, at least she got an SEC ring.
McGowan is probably wandering what the hell is wrong? Well, at least she got an SEC ring.
Those 3 were elite talent coming out of high school; we have 4 with that type of talent coming in for next season; with Te'a and Destanni, we will have 5 players who were top 13 talent coming out of high school. Not all will be a star in college, but at least a couple will be. Our problem this season was mostly a lack of height and lack of an elite rebounder. While Alexis was listed at 6'3", I think that was exaggerated; Laeticia is listed at 6'3", also, and she is a good 2" taller than Alexis. I hope everyone is patient with the elite freshmen next season; there will still be a period of adjustment.
One full year of adjustment. We might even need some additional parts, hence relentless recruiting.
To your good point: size is becoming ever more important in WBB. Positionless basketball won't cut it.
It's a bush league program in a bush league place that deserves to be continually exposed and frustrated. I just hate that we allowed ourselves to become undermanned to the point we couldn't do it this year. Now that our ace recruiter has gotten some leverage, maybe this won't be happening again during the Staley era.
Some of the incoming players have a chance to be excellent. Certainly Destanni as well. That's what we need.
Oregon had 3 players who played the whole game yesterday. UCONN had 4 players who played the whole game. UCONN didn't get a single point off the bench.
If you're playing 10 or 11 players a game, then that means you don't have 4 or 5 outstanding ones.
I don't buy that size is more or less important than it's ever been. If size is all that matters, Mississippi State would be in the Final Four and not Oregon.
But the Ducks pick-and-rolled BIG girl to death yesterday, which lead to 13-26 shooting from the 3 point line. Her size hurt Mississippi State yesterday, at least defensively.
Some people are just big; some are both big and good. We had one of those for a few years; now we don't. When I saw our girls pathetically hanging on to that big girl Baylor has, futilely attempting to get a swat at the ball she was holding aloft, as if the ball were stuck in the top of a large tree, I somehow got the idea that size is an advantage when the right person possesses it.
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After South Carolina, I pull for Mississippi State. Family connections.
It is interesting to me that Mississippi State is better in every major sport than South Carolina right now. In a state that is poorer than South Carolina, and that most on this forum would say has less resources. And if folks agree that Starkville is not a nice place to live (I don't agree with that btw), then it also has that going against it.
Clearly their athletic department is doing something right. Doing more with less.
The above doesn't really apply anymore to baseball. The park they just built is the new standard. It's amazing.
Since our Gamecocks were not on the court, I watched McCowan pretty closely in the last game. She is great around the basket but slow everywhere else. Does not react when action is more than several feet away and she needs to move her feet to get there. She is a huge presence though she is not in Aja's class as an all round player.
Yes, it's a disgrace that we have even allowed them to pass us in baseball park.
Play ers this elite don't need a year of adjustment! It will be the same as usual! We play a great schedule to get them ready by January first! Boston is a better post than Alexis right now. She already knows how to box out and rim protect. Amihere is a transcendent athlete like A'ja. Not suggesting she will be as dominant as Wilson. But she is a can't miss great one. Her talent will astound you. Brea Beal is so much like Allisha Gray it's amazing. I love Zia Cooke as much as any of them. Cooke is a baller. I also believe Coach Staley will add a transfer or two.
It's possible! You never know! The problem will depth behind Aliyah Boston! She will be the only center we have had since Wilson and Coates! Saxton is a great rebounder and shot blocker! She is not a center. Hopefully Dawn will get a transfer center to give us depth! If that happens the team will be final four good! The roster right now is better than this year's sweet sixteen squad that finished second in the sec.
The problem you see is the same one I see. And we need to demonstrate that we have multiple people who can fill it up from outside under the heat of college competition. We need someone who can do that off the bench. We might have all of that, but we ain't seen it yet.
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