I know there’s still a lot of youth, and I know we keep recruiting well under KBA, but the results just don’t seem to be there.
I haven’t seen more than parts of a few games and I’m hoping some around here know much more about the team than that.
Any opinions? Explanations?
As someone that watches the WBB team pretty closely…pretty much the same reason the men’s team struggles…can’t keep guards/perimeter players in front on defense. Team speed on the perimeter for the WBB team is severely lacking right now. In the past we had Cyesha Goree to cover the warts by altering/blocking shots, and combine that with outstanding rebounding which allowed extra shot opportunities for a team that shoots the ball well…we were able to keep our head above water and be a solid bubble team. Flaherty and Thompson are above average offensive players, Ristovski a good shooter…but all 3 are extremely challenged in terms of lateral agility and straight line speed, and are undersized to exacerbate the issue.
That being said, we lost a lot up front last year…but Thome is legit. She will be a really nice player the next few years. We really need an upgrade in terms of perimeter athleticism moving forward in order to compete for the B10. Our incoming recruits for 16 aren’t the most athletic bunch, but they are skilled and have good size. We do have some athleticism coming in 17 with Bre-Hampton Bey - she certainly has the potential to be a really good defensive player with her athletic abilities and intensity. Not a big scorer at the collegiate level IMO, but invaluable considering the future roster makeup. Gondrezick (incoming 16) is a legit offensive player that can create off the bounce for herself and others (needs work on the 3 ball though), but is limited athletically/defensively…Hampton Bey will take the load off of her by checking the best perimeter option for the opposition. Those 2 should be a very good backcourt in the next few years.
Thanks so much for the response. That all seems to make sense. Those girls you mention do look pretty slow of foot defensively to me.
Thome did look good in the few minutes I’ve watched.