Charlie says

[Zorro]

Charlie Creme, that is, says that "South Carolina may have the best front line in the country next season". Whaddaya think? (He also is rating Duke as #15, but that is another matter entirely.)

 

[BigBird]

Well, I guess I would have to agree. They "may" have the best front line. But then, they may not. By the same logic, I "may" be the brightest and most handsome poster on the BY.

The Moon may be made of green cheese.

 

[triaddukefan]

SC will have a formidable duo.

Duke will be closer to #5 than #15

 

[John Glass]

SC will probably be the biggest, but the best ? will they play 3 posts, with Wilson at the 3 ?

They will miss Welch, she was a tough, physical player

 

[hoophuskee]

Is Charlie counting the sf as part of the frontline?

 

[MilfordHusky]

I'd say that, hands down, he's wrong.

 

[CocoHusky]

Charlie Creme, that is, says that "South Carolina may have the best front line in the country next season". Whaddaya think? (He also is rating Duke as #15, but that is another matter entirely.)

Sounds like he used Cierra Burdick as a source- Highly unreliable IMO. Best frontline starts with Stewie,+ Morgan + Natalie + KLS + The Pheenom + Gabby and ends with Boykin

 

[Icebear]

Apparently Charlie believes UCONN will three MOP FF and multiple national player of the year award winner Stewie will be playing in the backcourt next year.

 

[Bayareahusky]

It is amazing how the SEC in general rates themselves so highly.....they are lucky to have gotten USC in this year.... after the tournament game they played against North Carolina..... they were lucky to be recipient of UNC implosion, and also to get lucky high bounce and in for a 3 pointer..... I do not see the USC team as a juggernaut at all this coming year. They will be good and will go as far as Tiffany Mitchell take them..... Wilson and Coates very good, but have to have things created for them

 

[HuskyNan]

Another article for CD to cut out and tape to Morgan's locker. Make 'em eat their words, Morgan!

 

[alexrgct]

Another article for CD to cut out and tape to Morgan's locker. Make 'em eat their words, Morgan!

Morgan's just gonna be Morgan, with or without motivation. And that's bad news for the rest of WCBB. Even Doris Burke said in both the national semis and NC game that Morgan should've been a WBCA AA and that the rules should be changed to have made that a possibility for her.

And meanwhile, Stewie is the consensus best WCBB player in the country, with or sans motivation. So given that we'll have the NPOY and a should've-been All American at the frontline, perhaps the only kid who needs a button to push is Natalie!

 

[Frodo]

Charlie Creme, that is, says that "South Carolina may have the best front line in the country next season". Whaddaya think? (He also is rating Duke as #15, but that is another matter entirely.)

Actually, I can't find that quote anywhere, but Charlie did say that Wilson and Coates "could be the best frontcourt duo in the country". He's still wrong, of course, but we should at least quote him accurately. The Stewart/Tuck duo were better than Wilson/Coates this year and they'll be better next year. With the addition of Butler and the freshmen, and Gabby Williams improvement, UConn should have the best and deepest frontcourt in the country as well. Frankly, USC's front court was highly overrated all year...Welch was probably their best overall player, but Coates was overrated...Ibiam was even more overrated. Wilson may yet become an outstanding player, but she wasn't this year.

 

[chrissaran]

Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Natalie Butler.

 

[MilfordHusky]

SC has talent, but I think they will miss Welsh's toughness.

 

[SCGamecock]

Charlie was simply saying what could be a possibility.. he didn't say "SC WILL have the best frontcourt duo next year" he said we could... Which is true. We COULD.

I don't think anybody on here would argue that if Alaina Coates brings her A+ game EVERY game then she's hard to stop or even slow down and nobody knows what will happen to Wilson this summer. She started the year off very slow, had a few big games here and there, and a few dips.... but she started breaking out in the NCAA tournament.. especially that Notre Dame game. Sure, freshmen like Mitchell (OSU) and Turner may have had better individual seasons (they were starters after all, so they were asked to do more) but I still believe that Wilson has a higher ceiling than just about any other player in her class.. She can drive and shoot like a guard, mid range and behind the arc.. and she can post up in the paint, plus more.

Wilson wasn't asked to do much outside of the paint this year, but she'll be a starter next year and that will change. People forget that Coates was just a sophomore last year. Even her game is still growing. She didn't take that great sophomore leap (an amazing freshmen season followed by an average sophomore season, by her standards) but I expect it to come this year. Stewart and Tuck are veterans (isn't Tuck like a 5th year senior or something) in Geno's system, so of course they're good and probably the best... but saying SC COULD have the best front court duo isn't so farfetched or impossible. They won't be pushovers. Seeing Wilson and Coates pass to one another and score in the paint is a thing of beauty.

Don't even start talking about the plethora of big bodies that Baylor will be throwing at people this season.

 

[EricLA]

Don't even start talking about the plethora of big bodies that Baylor will be throwing at people this season.

Didn't find anything to disagree with in your post but wanted to expand on this - they ALSO add Alexis Jones, who after a year off and practicing with the team, will make a HUGE impact for them. She's one of the top players in the nation and it's one reason I have Baylor as a preseason final 4 team...

 

[NewCorn]

Charlie was simply saying what could be a possibility.. he didn't say "SC WILL have the best frontcourt duo next year" he said we could... Which is true. We COULD.

I don't think anybody on here would argue that if Alaina Coates brings her A+ game EVERY game then she's hard to stop or even slow down and nobody knows what will happen to Wilson this summer. She started the year off very slow, had a few big games here and there, and a few dips.... but she started breaking out in the NCAA tournament.. especially that Notre Dame game. Sure, freshmen like Mitchell (OSU) and Turner may have had better individual seasons (they were starters after all, so they were asked to do more) but I still believe that Wilson has a higher ceiling than just about any other player in her class.. She can drive and shoot like a guard, mid range and behind the arc.. and she can post up in the paint, plus more.

Wilson wasn't asked to do much outside of the paint this year, but she'll be a starter next year and that will change. People forget that Coates was just a sophomore last year. Even her game is still growing. She didn't take that great sophomore leap (an amazing freshmen season followed by an average sophomore season, by her standards) but I expect it to come this year. Stewart and Tuck are veterans (isn't Tuck like a 5th year senior or something) in Geno's system, so of course they're good and probably the best... but saying SC COULD have the best front court duo isn't so farfetched or impossible. They won't be pushovers. Seeing Wilson and Coates pass to one another and score in the paint is a thing of beauty.

Don't even start talking about the plethora of big bodies that Baylor will be throwing at people this season.

Wilson is definitely a big-time talent. SC will be a contender as long as she is there. The bad news of SC, ND, and Baylor is that Tuck will be only a 4th-year junior next season.

 

[triaddukefan]

Charlie was simply saying what could be a possibility.. he didn't say "SC WILL have the best frontcourt duo next year" he said we could... Which is true. We COULD.

I don't think anybody on here would argue that if Alaina Coates brings her A+ game EVERY game then she's hard to stop or even slow down and nobody knows what will happen to Wilson this summer. She started the year off very slow, had a few big games here and there, and a few dips.... but she started breaking out in the NCAA tournament.. especially that Notre Dame game. Sure, freshmen like Mitchell (OSU) and Turner may have had better individual seasons (they were starters after all, so they were asked to do more) but I still believe that Wilson has a higher ceiling than just about any other player in her class.. She can drive and shoot like a guard, mid range and behind the arc.. and she can post up in the paint, plus more.
.

I still find it kinda humorous that in most of these type of posts about freshman.... there isnt alot of talk about Stevens. Stevens was undoubtedly superior to Wilson this season...... she showed the "guard like" skills that Wilson was hyped to have. Dont get me wrong... I think Wilson will be a heck of a PF next season........ but she has to do some work over the summer in terms of expanding her game if she wants to play more guard like.

But yeah...I agree about Coates. When she is dialed in............. she is an absolute force.

 

[HuskyNan]

Reimer and Turner will be pretty good, too.

 

[triaddukefan]

Didn't find anything to disagree with in your post but wanted to expand on this - they ALSO add Alexis Jones, who after a year off and practicing with the team, will make a HUGE impact for them. She's one of the top players in the nation and it's one reason I have Baylor as a preseason final 4 team...

I'll preface this by saying 1) Alexis Jones was on pace to become by favorite All-time Duke player..... loved her demeanor.. style.... was a joy to watch play in person and 2) There are 3 schools that I root against in everything..... UNC, Maryland, and Baylor..... so it both pained me to see her transfer... and then transfer to Baylor of all schools

Anyway.... if heathy .... Jones will be one of the top 2 guards in the country..... but it will be interesting to see how they play her. She played off the ball at Duke when Gray ran the show... but she played better when she was running the point. Baylor already has a excellent PG.... so Jones wont be playing her favored position.

 

[NewCorn]

Reimer and Turner will be pretty good, too.

I was impressed that in her first NC game Turner played with the calm of an upperclassman. She will keep ND in the hunt for 4 years.

 

[SCGamecock]

I still find it kinda humorous that in most of these type of posts about freshman.... there isnt alot of talk about Stevens. Stevens was undoubtedly superior to Wilson this season. she showed the "guard like" skills that Wilson was hyped to have. Dont get me wrong... I think Wilson will be a heck of a PF next season... but she has to do some work over the summer in terms of expanding her game if she wants to play more guard like.

I think a lot of that has to do with Duke flying under the radar in the ACC this year... with Notre Dame and FSU leading the way, the ACC was a force to be reckoned with so a lot of really good teams, like Duke/UNC, were just not talked about a lot this past season. I watched A LOT of WBB but I still only watched two games played by Duke. I watched our 1 point victory over Duke and then I watched the Duke/UNC game..

From the little bit I have seen of Stevens though, I agree, she's a big time player. Players like her are nightmares.. big post/forward players that are really good from behind the arc. FSU has a player like that too, can't remember her name but she's REALLY good. I agree with what you said about Wilson. She had more trouble than a lot of high level players in her class adjusting to the speed of the game. Players like Mitchell, Turner, Stevens etc adjusted well and a lot faster than Wilson did. Wilson spent so much time this year just learning her role and the defense that her offense took a backseat for the most part. If you look at a lot of our early games you can see Wilson looking lost and literally being directed by Coates as to where she should go on the floor (another reason she didn't start).. Sure, Dawn could've started Wilson and just let her make stuff up and out talent people on the floor but that's not really Dawn's style. Wilson coming off the bench gave her time to adjust to the game and it allowed Coates to be there to direct her. As the season got late, you saw Coates coming out of the paint less to direct Wilson and you saw Wilson more comfortable with the game speed and her role (and you saw her playing better).

This summer will be important for Wilson because now.. she knows the defense, she's witnessed the speed of the game, she's played in the final four... now she knows where her offense needs to be in order to play the best she can. She's gone up against the Loyds, Stewarts, Tucks, etc.. so she knows how her game should look. I would love for Wilson to just watch tape on Stewart all summer and model her game after her. Wilson is a forward that wants to be a guard, and Dawn told her if she wants to be a guard then she has to put in the work.. so hopefully this summer she does that.. and knowing her, she will.

 

[UcMiami]

I think it will be a very interesting year next year as I expect a number of teams to improve.
I am curious about SC because of the better teams this year, they lost a significant senior and are bring in the least new blood so they are depending on growth from the returning players more than any of the other schools. Wilson seemed to be almost 'disinterested' in games I watched - waiting for the ball to find her, rather than seeking it. And I am less concerned with her perimeter skills - she, like Stewart will live or die with her 15' and in game. Having a three point shot is a nice weapon to have to set up the rest of your game, but Stewart scores about 16% of her points on threes shooting about 33% vs. 2 pointers at about 55% (more efficient.) I know Wilson said she didn't want to be stuck in the low post, but she has to want to mix it up inside to become as good as she can be.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

If Wilson still harbors delusions about being a guard, then shame on Dawn Staley. I agree with UcMiami about her appearance of "disinterest" but feel it may mask an insecurity/embarrassment about not measuring up to her own ambitions. For all the ballyhoo about her arrival in the college game, I'd give her first year a B-. Does Dawn Staley have a good "bigs" coach I wonder?

 

[BlueDevils]

Duke will beat South Carolina next year. *drops mic