Caroline Ducharme - and other thoughts

[Bone Dog]

I think of Aubrey as a big, too, in the mold of Gabby Williams. I know, some of us think she's become a guard, but she doesn't have a guard's mentality. She picks up her dribble before she knows where the ball is going. Maybe we could say she's a 3, or a 3/4. Her rebounding, shot blocking and moves around the rim are too good to ignore.

By this calculation, we really have 4 bigs, or maybe 3 1/2 if we play her as a 3/4. Eventually -- not yet -- Ayanna will probably play as a 3/4.

When Caroline comes back, we may think of her as a 3/4.

 

[MSGRET]

I see no record of Geno saying Lou and Caroline will switch off starting. That is probably a figment of your imagination. We saw Nika against a lot of top teams last year so it's not like there isn't evidence of her projected performance. She eats up bad teams. She's challenged against top competition. What I don't get is this: Do you really think Geno is going to get anywhere DISCOURAGING any player in his rotation? Of course he says nice things about Nika and there are a lot of things to like. She's just not as good as Caroline, Azzi or Lou. Geno speaks in nuance. Read between the lines.

That was last year, Geno stated that Nika is the leader on the floor and she energizes the team in his first day interview. He also stated in that same interview that it doesn't matter who starts between CD and Lou, but in the end both of them will most likely play the same amount of minutes. When it comes to defense Nika is the one that gets it going. You are the one that seems to be reading between the lines.

 

[sun]

That was last year, Geno stated that Nika is the leader on the floor and she energizes the team in his first day interview. He also stated in that same interview that it doesn't matter who starts between CD and Lou, but in the end both of them will most likely play the same amount of minutes. When it comes to defense Nika is the one that gets it going. You are the one that seems to be reading between the lines.

It's not only about scoring points but it's also about scoring efficiency.
Lou has been shown to be a very efficient scorer for over 4 years.
If she proves to be "more indispensable" then another player, then she may get more PT.
Geno won't want to risk losing a game because of media banter.
Not sure why it's always being framed as a choice between Lou & Carol.
There's other players for Carol to split PT with too.
It's not all black & white, some of how the rotation works is also partly gray too.
It all depends on circumstances.

 

[TeamFirst!]

Nika is the loudest and most active verbally and "that makes her the leader" right? She yells a lot so she's "team leader". It seems similar to how a lot of us pick political candidates, which often doesn't work well either. This is who gives us the best results on the floor. I
get that Nika's intangibles might make such a difference but I'm not buying it. I'd still rather have the best players on the floor because I WANT the ball in Azzi's hands and I WANT both Lou and Caroline as scoring threats. They all are decent defensively. Her is an example, in yesterday's Maryland game Maryland's only shot was to clog the middle or get the bigs in foul trouble because they just couldn't stop Boston and their front line. Over and over it was easy buckets for SC. So they clogged the middle and let ANYONE shoot a 3. That's how important it was to stop SC's bigs. And it almost worked until SC started making a few 3's. When Nika is in there we will get a player clogging the middle every game, slacking off on her to double Dorka or AE. We saw it over and over last year. Against top competition that hurts badly. Our bigs can't perform as needed and we don't get points from them or as many rebounds. We are dependent upon Lou and Azzi making guarded 3 pointers. So they end up shutting both shooting guards down to a large degree as well. It's a loose wheel on the car just waiting to fall off. A huge liability. Any assets Nika brings are obviated by that entire dynamic.

 

[sun]

Nika is the loudest and most active verbally and "that makes her the leader" right? She yells a lot so she's "team leader". It seems similar to how a lot of us pick political candidates, which often doesn't work well either. This is who gives us the best results on the floor. I
get that Nika's intangibles might make such a difference but I'm not buying it. I'd still rather have the best players on the floor because I WANT the ball in Azzi's hands and I WANT both Lou and Caroline as scoring threats. They all are decent defensively. Her is an example, in yesterday's Maryland game Maryland's only shot was to clog the middle or get the bigs in foul trouble because they just couldn't stop Boston and their front line. Over and over it was easy buckets for SC. So they clogged the middle and let ANYONE shoot a 3. That's how important it was to stop SC's bigs. And it almost worked until SC started making a few 3's. When Nika is in there we will get a player clogging the middle every game, slacking off on her to double Dorka or AE. We saw it over and over last year. Against top competition that hurts badly. Our bigs can't perform as needed and we don't get points from them or as many rebounds. We are dependent upon Lou and Azzi making guarded 3 pointers. So they end up shutting both shooting guards down to a large degree as well. It's a loose wheel on the car just waiting to fall off. A huge liability. Any assets Nika brings are obviated by that entire dynamic.

It's got to be a team effort.
That's why Aubrey is also important to help break down the defense & grab rebounds.
She does that better than most other players.

That's where the gray area comes in which can depend on the score & other circumstances.
Just because Geno says they will have about equal PT doesn't mean to each others exclusion.
Nika will get her PT too, just not usually or very much at Azzi's expense IMO.
It's not anything for us to really worry about, we're just spectators anyway.
As long as the team is winning the big games then it doesn't matter.

 

[JoePgh]

Nika is the loudest and most active verbally and "that makes her the leader" right? She yells a lot so she's "team leader". It seems similar to how a lot of us pick political candidates, which often doesn't work well either. This is who gives us the best results on the floor. I
get that Nika's intangibles might make such a difference but I'm not buying it. I'd still rather have the best players on the floor because I WANT the ball in Azzi's hands and I WANT both Lou and Caroline as scoring threats. They all are decent defensively. Her is an example, in yesterday's Maryland game Maryland's only shot was to clog the middle or get the bigs in foul trouble because they just couldn't stop Boston and their front line. Over and over it was easy buckets for SC. So they clogged the middle and let ANYONE shoot a 3. That's how important it was to stop SC's bigs. And it almost worked until SC started making a few 3's. When Nika is in there we will get a player clogging the middle every game, slacking off on her to double Dorka or AE. We saw it over and over last year. Against top competition that hurts badly. Our bigs can't perform as needed and we don't get points from them or as many rebounds. We are dependent upon Lou and Azzi making guarded 3 pointers. So they end up shutting both shooting guards down to a large degree as well. It's a loose wheel on the car just waiting to fall off. A huge liability. Any assets Nika brings are obviated by that entire dynamic.

When you and others cite "evidence" from last year of Nika's offensive deficiencies, you are not giving any recognition to the obvious improvements that she has made since last year. She still isn't the first shooting option, and in the first two games, others were getting shots easily so she didn't take many shots. That will change against better competition. But she is now driving successfully to the hoop against opposition (which she never did last year) and making long passes upcourt for assists (which she never did last year). Seeing those improvements, I expect to see her take and make midrange shots in the upcoming games (when other shooters are covered) as another improvement to her game.

Given all her contributions in defense and hustle, all she has to do to earn starter's minutes is to shoot credibly enough that defenses can't ignore her to guard others. My expectation is that she has brought her game up to that point.

 

[TeamFirst!]

I must be watching a completely different team. In the twilight zone. I'm not seeing it. She scored 3 points against Northeastern and 7 against Kutztown. But you are sure she will score more against better competition? I grant that she does look improved. I do like her as a player and do think she's an important contributor. I just think other players can help more. We will see if they do or do not.

 

[Bone Dog]

I must be watching a completely different team. In the twilight zone. I'm not seeing it. She scored 3 points against Northeastern and 7 against Kutztown. But you are sure she will score more against better competition? I grant that she does look improved. I do like her as a player and do think she's an important contributor. I just think other players can help more. We will see if they do or do not.

I don’t think it’s how much she scores so much as how she scores. It was disappointing that she only scored on a 3 pointer rather than a drive into the lane or a pull up jumper. These are the shots she didn’t take last year.

Against Kutztown, for what it’s worth, she did take and make a pull up jumper at the elbow. The very next time down the court, she drove the lane, the defense collapsed on her — because she’d proven she could make that shot, I’d argue — and she hit Azzi for an open 3. This is the offensive skill we all had hoped she would develop this summer. We’ve seen the tiniest glimpse of it. Now we need her to do that in a serious game if she’s going to be an effective pg. otherwise, come March, she’ll be on the bench in the 4th quarter.