They definitely need “consistent” rebounding. After the first few games of the season, I knew rebounding was going to be an issue against the better teams. They just didn’t get that from the 5 position. Not sure who they can pick up from the portal and be a good fit at this point.
As a team we were a good but not great rebounding team against the majority of our opponents, but relatively weak against the very best teams, who were great at rebounding. The reason, however , was far less that our players were weak rebounders, and far more that we played small ball to the extreme.
That was largely by choice, with plusses and minuses. Better perimeter shooting and a better turnover margin in exchange for a far reduced rebounding margin. We did not play true 5's, 4's or 3's for 40 minutes a game at their natural position. Serah or Jana at the 5, Sarah at the 4, and Blanca at the 3 would be a traditional lineup that would be pretty good at rebounding.
Jana at the 5, Olivia at the 4, Sarah at the 3, and Blanca at the 2 next year would be going big and a great rebounding team if used. I don't think some realize the extent that we went small this year. For significant parts of the game it was extreme. When Geno was not happy with play from his 5's, his solution was to replace a C with a SG.
That in essence is what he did. Ash, Allie, or Azzi would come in to play the 3, Blanca would move over to the 4, and Sarah to the 5. Small ball at all three positions. So when one of our 5's was not in the game, the player replacing them was generally a guard, and others moved up one position.. When Sarah got a rest we didn't use a backup 4 like Ayanna, but went the guard route once again. So we didn't play our bigs for anywhere close to 80 minutes, and also used a guard at the 3 for a majority of the game.
As far as additions go, I thought Okeke would have been great, because she and Olivia could have played together with Okeke the 5 on offense and the Big O the 5 on defense. That combination would allow Geno to at least consider a big option moving Sarah to the 3 or Blanca to the 2.
With Okeke going elsewhere, at this point I think a top flight 4 or 4/5 would be the best addition. Yes there will be a drop off from Azzi, but in Ashlynn and Allie, natural 2's we have two proven high level options, with others that could compete as well. We don't use a backup 4. If our C's can justify 40 minutes a game, and we get a playable backup 4, Blanca can concentrate on the 3, and if Morgan returns healthy maybe we don't have to go small ball ball, but we still could. Ideally small, traditional, and even big are all possible good options and we use whichever combo works best, and have the ability to adjust to opponent and game situations. This year it was small ball no matter what.
