2024-2025 WBB Team (2022-present)
- Thread starter TN-Gamecock
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I actually am hoping KiKi does not join the team. Chemistry is part of it, but the current players that have been loyal and biding their time deserve their chance to shine now. Feagin could be amazing if given the PT and she has worked for this opportunity for three years now. Kitts, Watkins and Edwards also deserve all the PT they can get. Sometimes the best move is no move at all, let the players that committed here know you believe in them.
Speaking of Tennessee... The new coach, Coach Caldwell is hitting the portal hot and heavy...she has signed 2 goodies that will help.
1tn.co/4b8wO1U ....Lazaria Spearman from Miami
1tn.co/3UxNWbV ....Ally Latham from Syracuse
UT will more than likely drop in the standings the first year but I doubt Caldwell will keep them down long. It is a harder road now with Carolina, LSU, Ole Miss, Bama, TX and OU...
1tn.co/4b8wO1U ....Lazaria Spearman from Miami
1tn.co/3UxNWbV ....Ally Latham from Syracuse
UT will more than likely drop in the standings the first year but I doubt Caldwell will keep them down long. It is a harder road now with Carolina, LSU, Ole Miss, Bama, TX and OU...
I see no more compelling reason to predict a return to glory under this coach than under either of the previous two unless certain other coaches leave their current SEC jobs in short order, as in less than five years.
We just got the biggest name out of the portal, she's a Florida native.
It was expected. She gets to stay home and play for a team that will get a lot of exposure. Southern California needed a dominant big and she fits the bill. I still like our team over any other team in the country.Welp.The check cleared.
It worked out best for everyone involved, that is always a good thing.
Not necessarily. I think a lot of people would have been very happy to see her come here. She was the top player in the portal and you don't turn away a player with that kind of talent if she had wanted to come here. I think it was said earlier, maybe halfheartedly, that by getting her to be a Gamecock it would mean she wouldn't be a Trojan. SouCal will be trouble next year. Dawn would have found a way to get everyone satisfactory playing time. Plus any serious injury to one or two of our frontline players will be a big concern (UCONN anyone?). We have been very fortunate with injuries, or lack thereof, recently. Hence.......best for the Trojans but not for USC. I would loved to have seen here come here!!!
Clear-headedness over rationalization and denial - I like it.
I do myself, but it's like the time I asked one of my better-heeled acquaintances how much money would it take to satisfy him. His brief and immediate reply: "just a little bit more".
I’m with @YankeeRooster … I think it’s best. Would have been exciting to have her but not at the expense of possibly losing one of our players. They have all been so patient and unselfish. We have all the pieces!
It is now being reported that TVO has committed too. That is 9 new players coming in. That’s insane. They will be very good if chemistry works.
It is now being reported that TVO has committed too. That is 9 new players coming in. That’s insane. They will be very good if chemistry works.
USCw will be an interesting team to watch and see how they progress. They have 15 on the Roster. Their starting 5 with TVO matches really well with our talent.
I think the questions they face
1. How do you integrate 9 new faces, 7 freshman. What happens to the 4 freshman that don’t make the core rotation.
2. Can Gottlieb juggle playing time and foster a we not me ethos. Gottilieb has never had to do this before. It’s not as easy as Dawn makes it look.
3. Will they adapt offensively and offensively? They played at a much slower pace than us and were 103rd in shooting %. They relied so heavily on Juju. Will the ball get stuck? Will they be a 1v1 offense.
Even though they played a much slower pace they were 128th in points allowed. So they are not a stellar defensive team
Lots of new talent, just as many questions
I think the questions they face
1. How do you integrate 9 new faces, 7 freshman. What happens to the 4 freshman that don’t make the core rotation.
2. Can Gottlieb juggle playing time and foster a we not me ethos. Gottilieb has never had to do this before. It’s not as easy as Dawn makes it look.
3. Will they adapt offensively and offensively? They played at a much slower pace than us and were 103rd in shooting %. They relied so heavily on Juju. Will the ball get stuck? Will they be a 1v1 offense.
Even though they played a much slower pace they were 128th in points allowed. So they are not a stellar defensive team
Lots of new talent, just as many questions
It would have been nice to have her. But I am very happy with who we got. Being 100% honest with myself, wanting her here had more to do with her not going to Southern Cal or UConn and thereby strengthening the competition, than her making our team better. I know, I know - it's ugly.
That being said, all the best for her and her team. Just don't beat us in Tampa.
That being said, all the best for her and her team. Just don't beat us in Tampa.
Absolutely. KI would have not only taken away minutes from Feagin next season, she would also have taken away minutes from Watkins and Edwards. Young players who are the foundation of future teams. Dawn isn't just trying to win national championship next season, she trying to win next season and the season after that and the season after that...she's playing the long game in an era when coaches are sacrificing their culture and future sucess for the possibility of improved results in the incoming season.
She's the best in the game right now.
I'm not sure that's a proper analogy. I think water is a better one: we need adequate water intake to stay properly hydrated to not only survive but to thrive. Water is a good thing. There is a point, however, when an overabundance of water is detrimental to our overall health.
I was not disappointed last year when Morrow chose not to come here. I suppose we could have still gone undefeated with her, but she would have been an unnecessary addition. We went undefeated with a younger player in Chloe Kitts playing minutes that Morrow would have taken (I maintained Morrow would end up at the 4 no matter where she went).
Not sure, even with a visit, we would have gotten a commitment. If a player is looking for a guaranteed spot or minutes, South Carolina is not the place. We have elite players in all positions. Everyone has to compete for playing time. This is Kiki's last year so she has to make it count.
So, using that rationale, adding this top-tier player would have proven somehow detrimental. The cost or benefit of the course not taken is never known with certainty one way or the other. I would have taken the "over", considering this player's proven excellence.
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Come see come saw
. Sometimes the best move is to stay put. We have a great formula built through recruiting and player development. We have rarely used the portal and have been very selective when doing so. Yes Kiki would have been a coup but again, at what cost?
. Sometimes the best move is to stay put. We have a great formula built through recruiting and player development. We have rarely used the portal and have been very selective when doing so. Yes Kiki would have been a coup but again, at what cost?
I think it’s a risk either way. If Tac is somehow slow in her recovery that would make the additional resource more valuable.
On the other hand, if she gets to work right in immediately, and considering the MPG lottery for the team big players, especially Feagin, who has turned into a really big bodied weapon. I think the impact of throwing in Iriafen would be a net negative for next year and for years to come.
Sometimes Dawn’s player loyalty costs her, like it did in 2023, but in the long run this helps recruiting and enhances our reputation as it should.
We’re at the top of the mountain now and really have been for the last half decade. Only the Covid year, the missed tip-in and triggered officiating have kept us from winning the last five NC’s back to back to back. We had the best team on the floor. Every night.
Could not agree more, especially if we become mortal with respect to injuries.
And don't forget financial compensation. That's an additional factor to consider these days. I'm sure she will make more in SoCal than she would here since they are paying for a full-time player. Like you say, even if she were to ball out here, she'd still have to share minutes with other players.
We don't know how much financial considerations play a factor in a player's decision. For instance, Loyal McQueen was committed to Bama and then Bama adds a couple of transfers and she bolts to Clemson. Was she unhappy with the money she was making in comparison to the new additions? I wonder about these things.
He probably just wants to emphasize what a brilliant analysis that is!!!
Dawn is such a fan of basketball. She is at the Sixers/Knicks Game going crazy. 
I don't think she's been home for 24 hours since Cleveland. Where does she find the time?Dawn is such a fan of basketball. She is at the Sixers/Knicks Game going crazy.
COST?Come see come saw
Purposely, and the more I think about it, the greater grows the likelihood I will respond to it again.
There you go. You nailed it, both before and just then.He probably just wants to emphasize what a brilliant analysis that is!!!
Like a broken record
Cost is unity, cohesion and culture all being greater than money .COST?
But impossible to quantify unless put to the test. It's also possible, depending on subsequent events, that we might have needed the value added. We'll know in less than a year.
That attitude lead to the advent of the “Peter Principle. Keep advancing until there is failure, only o the team concept keep adding until the zero sum occurs.
I like to adage “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Dix it”. HD enough colloquialism today?
You fail to consider team chemistry. If you recruit over a Feagin for example, in her senior season after she patiently sacrificed for three years for the team, you affect chemistry. Same for Chloe and Watkins. And Edwards didn’t need to sit and watch the entire season because we recruited a one year gunslinger. You seem to be enthralled by a star player who would come in for one year and take a front row seat ahead of those already here. That is the kind of stuff that could ruin a good culture.
And I never rationalized her not coming to SC, I posted several days prior to her decision that I was against the possible move to SC. For chemistry reasons mainly, but also because I believe Feagin can give her level of production if given the PT she has been working so long for. Dawn is not like Mulkey, she has loyalty to her players And the cultures of those two programs could not be more different as a result. Mulkey has no problem throwing players under a bus or recruiting over them in their senior season.
Continue pontificating, that’s what you do best.
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