Caitlin Clark playing with U-19 Team USA
- Thread starter KyleHuesmann
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You won’t get a swoosh on a shirt for less than $25.
24 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Not too shabby.
Agree about the once in a generation player. However, similar to the mens team, unless we get more athletes, as evidenced by the beatdowns we have received the last 2 times we have reached the Elite 8, I'm seeing that as our ceiling. She is an unbelievable player. Nothing she can't do and seems determined to only get better. Maybe she can give us a Jackie Stiles like run like she had at Mo State when she took that team to the Final 4. Clark is the real deal. Just needs more help.
Clark is the best shooter I have seen in Big Ten WBB since Kelly Mazzante almost 20 years ago, and her range looks like it has only gotten farther.
I would think Nike would want to produce shirts with their logo and using NIL to target fans of universities across the country. It would a huge market
Yeah but why would it be 5 bucks a shirt when those same people would still pay 20 or more
Minor point but Iowa got beat by UConn in the Sweet 16 this year. But your overall point is correct. This Iowa team's ceiling is likely at around the Sweet 16 again this year (in the grand scheme of things, that's pretty good). Bluder seems to be recruiting really well and it's possible Clark's junior and senior years Iowa could have a roster that would allow it to get to the Final 4.
The team was really young, and defense has a lot of room to grow, as did rebounding. I Think Clark can improve her shot selection quite a bit as far as knowing when to take those shots. With the right match ups they could reach elite 8 next year. Open questions are the impact of the freshmen/transfer. They add size (which could improve rebounding) and potentially improved defense from Kylie.
USA vs. Egypt
1:30pm CT
Link to Boxscore
USA beat Australia 99-59 while Australia beat Egypt 99-28... so you can imagine how today's game will go.
1:30pm CT
Link to Boxscore
USA beat Australia 99-59 while Australia beat Egypt 99-28... so you can imagine how today's game will go.
Their ceiling is a national title and I’m sure that’s their goal
This past NCAA Tournament has made me question what exactly a team's ceiling is. Indiana made the Elite 8 this year, and might well have beaten Arizona had it not shot 0% from three in the game. Arizona was a basket away from being the national champion. Iowa played Indiana close in both the games last year, so Iowa wasn't far off Indiana's level despite being very young.
An Elite 8 might be Iowa's ceiling assuming no favorable matchups, but if Iowa gets a couple favorable matchups, I'm not really sure there is a ceiling.
USA up 55-19 at half. Clark playing more of a PG role these last couple games. Heading into halftime *8 assists* and leading the roster with a 28 +/-.
Edit: Final score 97-36. Clark with 13 points (5-11 shooting), 8 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers (one was a BS offensive foul call and another was a dropped pass that otherwise would have been an assist).
Edit: Final score 97-36. Clark with 13 points (5-11 shooting), 8 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers (one was a BS offensive foul call and another was a dropped pass that otherwise would have been an assist).
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thought she played very well today.... did a lot of things that don’t show up in the stays
They play Taipei tomorrow at 11 AM. All 16 teams in the tournament advance to the Round of 16. Taipei is 0-3. Good chance the USA would play Spain, the team they scrimmaged twice last week, in the quarters.
Really wish the game would have been later so I could have watched it live. But from the replay Clark had some great 3/4 court passes again. The missed pass you mentioned went right through her teammates hand. Another teammate scored off a very similar pass just before the turnover. It was perfectly placed but the player clearly fumbled it. Very similar to some of the fumbles Iowa players had last year. I remember several players commenting on the amount of "heat" Clark has on those passes. Like trying to catch a pass from Brett Favre. If the team can spend a lot of time really working on the timing of those passes to avoid the fumbles, Iowa's fast break is going to be particularly dangerous.
The team is basically playing 4 guards and 1 big most of the time. The point guards have been mainly Paopao and Diamond Johnson with Azzi Fudd at the 2 and Caitlin at the 3. She has a done great job of adjusting to playing off the ball on offense.
I am currently thinking that might be 11 Eastern, 10 Central.
Clark with 10 points and 8 assists as game is halfway through the fourth quarter. Game was dominated by the bigs. USA will play Spain on Friday
Technically every team in America's ceiling is national title. That is not the realistic by any measure ceiling for next year's Iowa team. They return everyone, yes, but they were also among the worst defensive teams in all of NCAA basketball last year (they were last in points given up, don't think they were last in defensive efficiency). You aren't winning with defense that bad.
won’t get far with that attitude.... they made defense a priority this off season.... I know it would be a shocker if they won the title realistically just don’t understand why you want to put arbitrary ceilings on what they can achieve..... focus on the positive and have fun watching a damn good Iowa women’s basketball team next year..... Go Hawks
Bluder is a lot like Fran, and I like both of them. They both have very large bodies of work to say they value offense over defense. It is what it is. It’s fun to watch when it’s clicking and they both have been successful, Bluder a bit more than Fran. I don’t think you can just say that “they are making defense a priority “ after 12-15 years.
The defense would have been a whole lot better last year had the team not gotten completely destroyed in 2nd chance points. With the addition of several talented bigs and Wettering healthy, I expect rebounding to improve significantly. Iowa doesn't need to lead the nation in defense, they just need to be efficient. Keep the opponent under 70 and Iowa can win most games.
“I don’t think we worked on offense in our entire first two hour two practices. We are really focused on defense. Everyone knows our offense is amazing,” said Coach Bluder. “It is definitely effort and a focus, so they got the message loud and clear during those first two practices that we are going to spend a lot of effort and focus on this.”
Again, I said 12-15 years and then just looked it up and she’s been at Iowa 21 years. Wow. Won 20 games 14 times. She’s a helluva coach. I will believe it when I see it on the court.
USA (4-0) vs. Spain (3-1)
Friday, August 13 at 1:30pm CT
Quarterfinal Elimination Game
Link to Boxscore
This will be the toughest game so far.
Friday, August 13 at 1:30pm CT
Quarterfinal Elimination Game
Link to Boxscore
This will be the toughest game so far.
My thinking is defense will improve as players more experienced. Monika needs to learn to avoid dumb fouls and hopefully Others improve on basic fundamentals
Iowa is not going to be top defensive team but with their offense, they don’t need to be
Rebounding is main concern as mentioned in previous post
They can and will improve at the margins. But the defense and rebounding with the current starters and those who played the most minutes won't improve dramatically just by "paying attention to it" in the off-season. Bluder and her staff drilled and taught defense last year too, and it wasn't good. Czinano, Warnock, Martin and Marshall all are what they are. Very good, skilled basketball players. But not good defenders. As Martin gets further away from her knee injury she probably will improve.
No reason to not appreciate the women's team for who they are/what they are. Bluder has done a tremendous job (arguably as good as any coach in the country) of creating a culture where the team shares the ball, moves it and players sacrifice for the good of the team. You can tell the players care for each other and it shows up on the floor.
USA wins 98-64 in a game that was mostly played in the paint. Clark with 17 points to lead team USA. USA will play Hungary tomorrow in the semifinals. USA covered the spread but could have scored even more as some of the officiating was suspect, particularly in the 1st. Clark called for an offensive foul on a clear block when the defender stopped in front of her and leaned in. One of the most bogus calls I've ever seen in 20 years of watching WBB.
I think the game is at 1030 AM tomorrow. Whatever 1730 GMT +2 equals.
I wondered what the crowd would be like for Hungary so briefly looked at the replay of the Hungary quarterfinal game. It appeared to be in the same arena and precede USA-Spain. I don't know if it is social distancing or lack of interest, but I don't think the crowd should be an issue. It will be the most hostile crowd, but not packed to the rafters or anything.
I wondered what the crowd would be like for Hungary so briefly looked at the replay of the Hungary quarterfinal game. It appeared to be in the same arena and precede USA-Spain. I don't know if it is social distancing or lack of interest, but I don't think the crowd should be an issue. It will be the most hostile crowd, but not packed to the rafters or anything.
I expect rebounding to improve dramatically with the addition of more skilled bigs. O'Grady played with Betts (Standford commit) at Grandview and I expect her to contribute heavily. Ediger is also a very high level recruit. Iowa will be able to match up and get two bigs on the floor. O'Grady has great size and can block and rebound. Ediger can stretch the floor. Iowa's biggest issue last season was interior defense and rebounding and Ediger/O'Grady really fill an area of need. It might take a few games to adjust to the speed of the college game, but I expect to see a huge difference defensively by the time the Big Ten season rolls around. With two additional bigs, post defense can also be more aggressive as foul trouble/fatigue is less of an issue.
Iowa will have the bodies to sub liberally without losing firepower. As much I appreciate what Goodman/Cook brought to the table, neither are pure athletes. Cook played her heart out and Goodman is more of a traditional center who is strong on the block in the Bethany Doolittle mold. Neither are very agile though. Cook may have already maxed her potential. Goodman will continue to improve and I expect her to build up to great senior year but she needs to continue to improve her footwork on both sides of the ball. Whereas O'Grady and Ediger are both agile two way players. I think we will see more player defense next season and less zone, because the freshman class drastically improves the overall athleticism of the team in the post.
Despite the strength of the Big, I expect Iowa to be in contention for the title. And while the offense is going to be a lot of the same, I expect a much different team defensively just based on the addition of new players.
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