I honestly have no clue what to expect this game. So far we have only had 2 players who played well for the first two games IMHO. Terry and Stevenson. Harper played effectively about 3 minutes of the first game then joined Madison holding down the floor on the perimeter to have a good view of the game. Ellis was physically over-matched first game and then her shot wasn't falling against Southern. Jones has been erratic and very careless with the ball and her passes. Smith as well in the UCLA game, and she has used up her underclassmen excuses. McKenna hasn't played poorly in either game, but neither has she really shown much positive in either game. Reynolds has been a no show in her few minutes both games, and that does not bode well for the rest of our season. Before any games were played I thought this would be a 6-10 point win; I think I will predict Purdue pulls it out in the last minute to win by 1-3 points (complete homer SWAG guess). Would love to hear what anyone else thinks will happen in this next game.
Tx A&M prediction thread
- Thread starter MichaelRR
- Start date
Terry is not a great scorer, hasn't been for three years. That said she has led us in assists and rebounding both games and makes the offense function. It grinds to a halt when she is out. She is not a great player, she is like most transfers deeply flawed, but she is still the best player on Purdue's team this year once again as she has been the last couple of years.
JT has a nice pull-up mid range but I agree that she isn’t a consistent scorer. What she does do well is facilitate. Finds the open teammate. Shares the ball. Grabs the boards. Unselfish. Her triple doubles are impressive.
I realize that, she can score some, put the ball in the basket, 2-11 won’t work. She has good instincts on rebounds, but if teams leave her open as a 5th year player she needs to make a few buckets.
A lot of her shots have come off having to beat the shot clock. Very very few individuals shoot well in those circumstances. IF she was able to score 10 points a nights with everything else she does, she would be an All American. She is not that talent level by a long shot. Appreciate what she does and don't get yourself all caught up in just the points she scores. She is far more efficient setting up others to score than shooting it herself.
TAMU is much much improved from a season ago as they added a few really good transfers - we are going to have to play extremely well - much better than Sunday to win. Considering Smith is a complete unknown right now due to her ankle it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen. If she plays and plays well I think we will escape in a dog fight 4-5 pts. If she doesn’t play or is hampered by it - I don’t think we have the athleticism at guard spot to pull it out.
TAMU’s top 3 leading scorers are all transfers. At point Rogers came from Oregon where she was an All PAC selection. They have a 6’0 guard Couilbaly came from Auburn where she averaged 16ppg and 6’5 post player Lauren Ware came from Arizona. She was a 5 star recruit coming out of HS and will be a load inside as she is teaming up with 6’4 Barker who was really good for them as a freshman.
Their roster and makeup is completely different than last year. It’s a direct reflection of what the portal can do to a team in just one offseason.
Their roster and makeup is completely different than last year. It’s a direct reflection of what the portal can do to a team in just one offseason.
With that in mind and how poorly we have played to date this season I am changing this prediction to us losing by 8.
Barker, who was like a top 3 recruit coming out of high school but has been highly inconsistent for them this year. Much like Smith has been for us. Her first game against North Texas, who has been a relatively good mid major the past few years for whatever that is worth - she has 18 pts and 8 reb and then goes out against TAMU Corpus Christie — not exactly a world beater by any means - and fouled out with 2 pts and 6 turnovers in 24 minutes. I would assume MA will get the call to defend her a tall task for a rookie making her 3rd appearance in a college game. But they are two very similar players - she has the lateral quickness to defend. Does she have the experience?
Which version of her do we get tomorrow of Barker and which one, if any, do we get of Smith? That could definitely be the key to the game. We don’t know her status so making any type of prediction IMO is pretty futile. We will need Smith defensively to help contain Coulibaly. I like the matchup we have with Terry and Rogers.
Ware is a junior and I feel might be putting it all together as that tends to happen to posts by that time. She has had a couple monster games the first two games. But I believe our posts are better than the posts she has faced - but Containing her will be also a major key.
If Ware is not contained and we get the “good” Barker - it’s going to be a major task to pull out the win. we are going to need Ellis to get and Layden to stay hot from the perimeter.
Which version of her do we get tomorrow of Barker and which one, if any, do we get of Smith? That could definitely be the key to the game. We don’t know her status so making any type of prediction IMO is pretty futile. We will need Smith defensively to help contain Coulibaly. I like the matchup we have with Terry and Rogers.
Ware is a junior and I feel might be putting it all together as that tends to happen to posts by that time. She has had a couple monster games the first two games. But I believe our posts are better than the posts she has faced - but Containing her will be also a major key.
If Ware is not contained and we get the “good” Barker - it’s going to be a major task to pull out the win. we are going to need Ellis to get and Layden to stay hot from the perimeter.
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