Big XII - SEC on the line

[BenEClone]

At the end of this week, with wins in at least 2 of 3 games, one conference will claim bragging rights until March. Six rated teams play - Co vs LSU, TT vs Vandy, ISU vs Auburn. The Clones http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/isu.gif and the Buffs http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/cu.gif can win, but, will have to play well. Will they? Can TT http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/ttu.gif win?

[swok34]

I agree, the TTU & Vandy matchup will probably be the toughest, but the game is in Lubbock and TTU has a height answer to Vandy. Vandy is not as athletic as TTU, OU, Connecticut. Unless Cisti is suffering the ill-fated freshmen woes of foul trouble(?)...
she should do okay on Chantelle. Haven't seen Vanderbilt play this year, but have read that they are playing better since that thrashing in Connecticut.

Don't think Colorado will have any trouble with LSU....LSU probably has more players on the bench in street clothes than any other team.

Iowa State has to travel to ?neutral site......another test of the undefeated's.....Auburn is undefeated but has 2 pretty good wins against Florida State and Syracuse (at least by the looks of the RPI). May be a better game than most expect.

[DblT81]

In some ways Vanderbilt reminds me of ISU. Outstanding player in the post who is very tall, yet mobile. Anderson gets in foul trouble a bit more than Welle, but she is clearly one of the best players in the nation.

As a team, Vandy has outstanding shooters, including the free throw line. (stats as of Dec 17: 82 ppg #12 in NCAA, 57.2% fg #1, 78.4% ft #4) They do not shoot as many threes as ISU but they do make a very high percentage of them (42.5%). The deck is definately stacked in VU's favor.

Tech's strength is its defense. If Greenwalt can defend the post without too much help, Tech has a chance. Vandy's lone loss was to Connecticut which has the #1 field goal pct defense. Tech is #8 in that category. If the Tech players can catch some energy from the home crowd, play defense like they know how and make some breaks, they can win. Tech needs all their weapons though, and I don't know the status today of Jackson's knee or Brown's nagging problems.

How can Iowa State beat Auburn and what must Colorado do to beat LSU?

[This message has been edited by DblT81 (edited 12-26-2001).]

[dem]

Regarding the post by DblT81:

"Tech's strength is its defense. If Greenwalt can defend the post without too much help, Tech has a chance."

I really don't think there is anyone anywhere who can defend against Chantelle Anderson without much help. When she catches down low, she is the closest to a sure thing as there is in women's college basketball. Greenwalt is a terrific young player, but this is as tough a defensive assignment as one can imagine.

[DblT81]

Is Anderson better than Welle?

[DblT81]

I think Klimesova may be a bigger threat than Anderson. She does so many things to help Vandy win. Anderson doesn't rebound as much as one might expect. Klimesova leads the team in rebounding. Anderson has lots of turnovers, Zuzi has very few. Anderson isn't on the court as many minutes as Klimesova.

I am not saying Anderson is chopped liver. She is an outstanding talent who can really score and may be the best center in the game this season. But she usually faces defenders much smaller or less mobile. Greenwalt is a freshman and may get waxed by Anderson every time down the court. Then again, she might just be able to give Tech some solid defense during the 30 minutes Anderson is in the game.

How Tech can stop Zuzi is another story.

[swok34]

I don't know if Welle is better/worse than Anderson.....but Anderson pretty well had her way in that NCAA tourney game.....
ISU fans, did Welle get into foul trouble or what was the scoop on that game..........??? And you make a really good point about Zuzi....she's actually the better rebounder if I recall right.

[dem]

Klimesova is an outstanding player and probably merits being on the "most underrated" list. She's a very good rebounder, has an assist/turnover ratio of 3:1, and is one of the best shooters in the country. Dangerous from everywhere, and very hard to defend. Key too much on Chantelle and Zuzi will kill you.

At the NCAA tournament game, Angie really struggled to deal with Chantelle at both ends of the court. Probably didn't get enough help, and ended up sitting with early foul trouble. Chantelle had to sit with some foul problems of her own, but not as much as Angie and Zuzi was able to take up the slack. Add in a brilliant performance by McElhiney and poor shooting by Iowa State and you had a Cyclone nightmare from opening tip until final buzzer. Terribly disappointing game for us.

Against Notre Dame, Anderson had an excellent first half against Ruth Riley. Eventually, though, Riley's smarts and great team execution by ND frustrated Chantelle and Notre Dame was able to pull away.

[BenEClone]

According to earlier posts on the BoneYard, UConn neutralized Anderson by keeping her away from the basket. This involves not fronting but pushing her out from behind as far as the foul line. This tactic requires strength and an accepting officiating style. In Denver, Welle tried that technique but was called for fouls and ended up having to try to front her. Fronting may deny the ball but it gives up rebounding position. Actually, it wasn't Anderson who hurt ISU as much as the outside shooting. Also, the team acknowledges, they didn't play well.

[Bob_Ballew]

As much as I would like to see TT win against Vandy. I think Vandy will win this one. It is so tough to go against TT in Lubbock however.

As far as Chantelle and Angie, I would have to give the nod to Chantelle. She is such a good all-around player. Angie needs a little more strength and physical play to match up. She is a great player and I think much of her success comes when a team overlooks her talents. Some teams think they can just muscle her out and take advantage of that and then she jumps up and bites 'em, surprise! a double-double!

Speaking of double-doubles, Crockrom is a machine and I'm sure she will average a double-double this season in conference play. Thus far, her minutes have been limited so that the freshmen can get some valuable minutes. As I have indicated earlier, the bench play will be tremendous for Baylor this year. It is something that was non-existant last year.

Go http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/bu.gif

[DblT81]

I never did see a discussion of this one.

Iowa State can beat Auburn .......

because the Big 12 is better than the SEC?

Please let us know why ISU can win.

[DblT81]

This is from a story on Yahoo.com-

This is the first meeting between these schools (ISU & Auburn) and the first time this season either has faced a ranked team. The winner faces either San Diego or Texas-San Antonio in the championship game on Sunday.

I thought Drake was ranked when ISU pummeled them earlier this year.

[RaiderPower1]

Maybe they were in one poll...and that is the poll Yahoo did not use? Or it could be a simple screw up. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[dem]

Drake was ranked 24th in the AP poll when ISU beat them. They were receiving votes in the coaches' poll, but were just out of the top 25.

[This message has been edited by dem (edited 12-27-2001).]

[ISU3PointLand]

Reporting from San Diego

Auburn's two big wins against Syracuse and FSU had one big difference. The Tigers went to the line a lot more than their opponents in both games. I have a strong feeling that this will not happen against Iowa State. I'm not sure of the exact stats for Auburn, but they haven't really faced a complete team. FSU went foul happy and it really hurt them. ISU has recovered nicely from the Erica Junod loss and the reserves and new starters are now being very productive and taken a bit of the heat off of our triple-threat combo of Welle, Wilson and Gahan.

The crowd shouldn't be much of a factor. I have a feeling there will be a lot more ISU fans than Auburn fans. From what their site says, Auburn is averaging only 734 fans a game! The team that actually worries me is San Diego. They are 7-3 and have great outside shooting, something that has given ISU fits in earlier games. Fortunately ISU and San Diego can't meet until the final, so Bill and the staff should have ample time for scouting, but I'm not overlooking the Tigers.

On a side note, Yelk's final field goal attempt was GOOD! Bad officiating strikes the Cyclones yet again! LOL

[This message has been edited by ISU3PointLand (edited 12-28-2001).]

[DblT81]

Good point about the foul shots. With ISU's zone, Auburn will have a hard time unless they are a good outside shooting team. Auburn was undefeated at this time last year too but then they fell apart. I wonder if they don't play decent competition or if some players were out at the end of the year.

The Independence Bowl was a heartbreaker. ISU beat Alabama up and down the field but a few special teams plays spoiled it. I thought the field goal was good.