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Big Monday

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Four Contenders are in action tonight:

LSU at (NET # 21) Bama
Indiana at Michigan
Iowa at Ohio State
DePaul at UConn

Potential for rankings shakeup. Only short-handed UConn is facing a completely unranked opponent (with Aneesha Morrow).
 
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Dang! Nice games indeed. Gonna have to put my pizza order in early. Sad that LSU/Alabama, Iowa/Ohio State, and UConn/DePaul games are all at 7pm. At least with Michigan/Indiana that game is a little later.
 
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The IU-Michigan game is a toss up for me. If Michigan doesn't suffer a mental lapse and turnovers, it could go either way.

So true. This Michigan/Indiana game is a toss-up. Michigan, a team that I follow along with those awesome Golden Gophers and Oregon Ducks, like a lot of teams, can impress you one game and disappoint you the next. I will be watching this game.
 
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So true. This Michigan/Indiana game is a toss-up. Michigan, a team that I follow along with those awesome Golden Gophers and Oregon Ducks, like a lot of teams, can impress you one game and disappoint you the next. I will be watching this game.
Agreed. I'm also conflicted with OSU and Iowa. I'm leaning towards OSU, but I wonder if post play will be more of a factor this time around. Mikulasikova has improved and Czinano doesn't move well in space from what I've seen over the past few years. However, will Mikulasikova be able to keep Czinano out of the paint and move with Stuelke when she comes into the game?

I also find it interesting that O'Grady and the other posts have become after thoughts for Iowa. O'Grady minutes have diminished where last year, she was seen as having the potential of being a solid back up for Czinano this season. I know Goodman may not be up to speed due to her ACL, but seeing O'Grady's minutes decrease as much as they have is surprising.
 
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Clark will probably be absolutely exhausted after facing the full court attack of OSU. I have a feeling she'll start out hot, Iowa will take the early lead and then due to exhaustion silly turnovers and missed jumpers will start happening and OSU will take over the game.
 
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Clark will probably be absolutely exhausted after facing the full court attack of OSU. I have a feeling she'll start out hot, Iowa will take the early lead and then due to exhaustion silly turnovers and missed jumpers will start happening and OSU will take over the game.
Hmm. Interesting.

My impression of Clark is that she often starts out cold then heats up as the game progresses. I don't have stats to back that up that impression, I just know have seen some games where that has happened.

But you are right about the ability of tOSU's guards to apply pressure. But remember: Clark can generate a lot of assists when she wants. Should be an interesting positional matchup.
 
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Is Uconn short-handed or just handed? I think the players that play today are what you can expect of the roster moving forward with anyone else being a pleasant surprise.
 
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Clark will probably be absolutely exhausted after facing the full court attack of OSU. I have a feeling she'll start out hot, Iowa will take the early lead and then due to exhaustion silly turnovers and missed jumpers will start happening and OSU will take over the game.
Exhausted enough to get a triple double.

Outstanding game by Clark. 15 assists.
 
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Impressive win by Iowa on the road without their #3 scorer. Figured Ohio State to win by close to 10; actually the other way around. Poor shooting night by OSU from 3 (4-25); shocked that Iowa outrebounded the Buckeyes by 51-31. Iowa subs starting to gain some traction; don't count this team out yet.
 
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I had the pleasure to see Sabrina play in person multiple times in her NCAA career. Sabrina controlled games. What I saw last night from Clark was remarkable. She controlled the game, and her decision making was off the charts. Her assists were amazing, and her ability to go get a bucket was amazing. But what was most amazing to me in this game was how many points Clark was directly responsible for between assists and her own. And I didn't see her force anything. I don't even think it is close--Clark is so far and away better than any player in NCAA WBB.
 
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Nothing is locked until late March, but her performance was exceedingly impressive last night.
It could come to pass that Iowa will fall early in the NCAA tournament, visitingcock, and Aliyah Boston could play much better than she has to this point. Yet even then, if voters have a sense of fairness about them, they'd vote for Clark. She is, and has been all season, the best player.

I am wholly respectful and admiring Boston's skills, but 'the best player on the best team' concept should not rob Caitlin of the NPOY if she heads into March as she is playing now. To me the only other players who deserve serious consideration, and all are well behind Clark but ahead of Boston right now, are Angel Reese, Maddy Siegrist and Aaliyah Edwards.
 
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It could come to pass that Iowa will fall early in the NCAA tournament, visitingcock, and Aliyah Boston could play much better than she has to this point. Yet even then, if voters have a sense of fairness about them, they'd vote for Clark. She is, and has been all season, the best player.

I am wholly respectful and admiring Boston's skills, but 'the best player on the best team' concept should not rob Caitlin of the NPOY if she heads into March as she is playing now. To me the only other players who deserve serious consideration, and all are well behind Clark but ahead of Boston right now, are Angel Reese, Maddy Siegrist and Aaliyah Edwards.
NPOY is decided before the tournament and announced during it.
 
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It could come to pass that Iowa will fall early in the NCAA tournament, visitingcock, and Aliyah Boston could play much better than she has to this point. Yet even then, if voters have a sense of fairness about them, they'd vote for Clark. She is, and has been all season, the best player.

I am wholly respectful and admiring Boston's skills, but 'the best player on the best team' concept should not rob Caitlin of the NPOY if she heads into March as she is playing now. To me the only other players who deserve serious consideration, and all are well behind Clark but ahead of Boston right now, are Angel Reese, Maddy Siegrist and Aaliyah Edwards.
No. She has to head into the elite 8 as she is playing now. Votes aren't made until after the Elite 8. If she gets limited by a strong defensive team early in the tournament and loses, she could drop behind the others you have mentioned.

Let's say Boston dominates against UConn, LSU, Tennessee, the last two rounds of the SEC tournament (including an LSU rematch) and on through the Elite 8. That would not "rob" Clark of anything.

Lets say Angel Reese has two excellent games against the No. 1 defense in the country and continues with a run deep into the tourney. She could easily overtake a clerk if Iowa bows ou early again.

This is all hypothetical of course. Clark is definitely A frontrunner, if not THE frontrunner at this point
 
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No. She has to head into the elite 8 as she is playing now. Votes aren't made until after the Elite 8. If she gets limited by a strong defensive team early in the tournament and loses, she could drop behind the others you have mentioned.

Let's say Boston dominates against UConn, LSU, Tennessee, the last two rounds of the SEC tournament (including an LSU rematch) and on through the Elite 8. That would not "rob" Clark of anything.

Lets say Angel Reese has two excellent games against the No. 1 defense in the country and continues with a run deep into the tourney. She could easily overtake a clerk if Iowa bows ou early again.

This is all hypothetical of course. Clark is definitely A frontrunner, if not THE frontrunner at this point
She is definitely THE frontrunner at this point. If the season ended today, she would wins hands down and if she just plays about how she is playing she will win - regardless of how deep her team makes it in the tournament.

Now if she starts playing significantly worse or gets injured that could change and it would open the door. I don't see Boston getting enough time against any of those teams above to truly dominate as I don't think they will be close games, but say she does, hypothetically. I still don't think thats enough, nor will they play strong enough teams in the tournament before the final four to be impressive enough, for her to push over Clark if Clark ends the season how she's been playing. That play could definitely dip in February but she is the clear front runner at this point, IMO.
 
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I guess the question I would ask, is if all the NPOY candidates were eligible for the draft, would one of these NPOY candidates be #1 on every WNBA draft board? As good as Boston and Reese are today, I don't see any team passing on Clark if they had the #1 pick.
 
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No. She has to head into the elite 8 as she is playing now. Votes aren't made until after the Elite 8. If she gets limited by a strong defensive team early in the tournament and loses, she could drop behind the others you have mentioned.

Let's say Boston dominates against UConn, LSU, Tennessee, the last two rounds of the SEC tournament (including an LSU rematch) and on through the Elite 8. That would not "rob" Clark of anything.

Lets say Angel Reese has two excellent games against the No. 1 defense in the country and continues with a run deep into the tourney. She could easily overtake a clerk if Iowa bows ou early again.

This is all hypothetical of course. Clark is definitely A frontrunner, if not THE frontrunner at this point
Appreciating your take, visitingcock, as always. I just sense there's a bit of partisanship to it, which would be natural. So you're defining the NPOY as one who plays in the Elite Eight? Wow, that's a pretty stringent line you draw, arbitrarily axing anyone who'd doesn't make it that far.

Aliyah is a great young woman and I like her, except when she plays against UConn, but even that scenario you set shouldn't be enough for Boston to overtake Clark.

That Clark happens to play on a team that is clearly more susceptible to an earlier round loss than Boston shouldn't be held against her. Caitlin needs to play all-world every time the Hawkeyes play a tough opponent... not so Aliyah.

We'll agree to disagree for the moment (and I say so knowing Boston likely has had the NPOY award locked up in the minds of many voters from season's Day One).
 

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