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Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 4782044, member: 12088"] I take (what I think is) a more nuanced view of Ayanna, though I mainly agree with you. She struggled on offense and we all commented on this. But on defense she could be stout when called upon, once she calmed down on the fouling -- i.e. fouled more judiciously :D. How far off is her offensive development? When will she be comfortable taking midrange jumpers, which she was good at in HS? So far, it's mainly been putbacks, and she didn't seem very confident about even those last season. On defense, I think about the Iowa game -- no Dorka, so [B]she was the primary backup for Aaliyah on Czinano[/B] and she held her own. Czinano is very strong and other than Aaliyah we didn't have another player strong enough to muscle with her in the low post besides Ayanna. Aubrey can't do it and Geno wasn't going to put Caroline on her with her concussion issues, even if either of them were strong enough. That was an important matchup and Ayanna really stepped up. [B]As for Aubrey and Caroline at the 4, I think that's a limited option[/B]. They both looked healthy, but I wouldn't want to waste either of them against a strong 4 either. In those situations, Ice is by far the better choice, or will be soon. Aubrey is a slashing scorer and rebounder. But I don't relish the thought of her fighting for position with SC's 4s for example. Caroline is not a slasher so much as a position-and-footwork player. She knows how to get a player on her hip and get them out of her way, and she has those brilliant low-post step-through moves. But here too, I don't want to wear her out against bigger 4s. This season I hope to see her shooting 3s and moving into the low-post when the opposing team doesn't have bigs down there. So, in the longer term, I have a great deal of confidence that Ayanna will find a place in the rotation. [B]But as you say, it won't happen just yet[/B]. In fact, Geno has already said she won't be playing today, and that she's still working on strength drills in practice. So, for today's game, I expect to see the same starting lineup, with Aubrey KK and Ice coming off the bench as the main rotation. The others will get in as well, but not as much as they did against SCSU. The rotation will begin to contract (slightly) today. [/QUOTE]

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