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Message: [QUOTE="oldude, post: 2264472, member: 7511"] DBB, you must have had a rough weekend to come out Monday morning looking for an argument. OK, I'm game. I have seen Batouly play on several occasions as a freshmen at KY. She is 6'2", strong, with good footwork, a nice soft shot around the basket, and she can score with either hand. She is a tough defender and a fierce rebounder. She doesn't have Tuck's shooting range and overall offensive skills, hence my description of her as a "Working Man's" Morgan Tuck. Batouly's best game as a freshman was at Columbia, SC where she had 14 pts and 9 rebounds while battling Coates & Wilson. But you seem to want evidence so let's look at the numbers from Batouly's freshman year at KY vs Tuck's freshman year at UConn. Batouly played 33 games as a freshman, starting 14, vs Tuck's 35 games with only 2 starts. Batouly led Tuck in avg min/gm-18.3 to 15.8, FG%-49% to 45%, rebounds-4.3 gm to 3.4 gm, blocks-30 to 9. Tuck led Batouly in 3pt shooting-13/45 (29%) to 0/1 (0%), FT%-66% to 53%, assists-47 to 19, turnovers-43 to 60, steals-19 to 6 and scoring-6.6 ppg to 5.1 ppg. In my mind the numbers are remarkably similar and justify comparing the two 6'2" power forwards with similar skillsets. But you are correct, my comparison may not be fair. I may be selling Batouly short. She is about to make her sophomore leap, with the added bonus of a full year working with the UConn coaching staff as a redshirt. Batouly will be good, and [B]she may be very good[/B]. IMO she will be the first frontcourt sub for either Z or Pheesa and I suspect that there will be times when Geno will want to go with a big frontline when Z, Pheesa & Batouly will be on the court together. On such occasions, if Gabby is also on the court with them, it may be virtually impossible for the opposing team to get a rebound at either end of the court. Finally, I have never made claims about Molly, Kyla and Nat, while I know some have. So what if they did? This is an opinion board. As far as the incoming freshmen, based on what I have seen in all-star games and highlight videos, I have suggested that Coombs will earn playing time before the others based on her defensive ability as well as her passing skills. I hope next weekend is a better one for you. [/QUOTE]

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