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Message: [QUOTE="JoePgh, post: 4033852, member: 1131"] I can't cite chapter and verse, but I have a definite recollection that sometime after the past season ended (it might have been when Geno signed Dorka), he said something about how he looks forward to having someone else to play in the post so that Liv can do what she really wants to do, which is to be a high-post distributor and playmaker. Or he may have said it when asked about how Aaliyah will benefit from being on the Canadian Olympic team. My very imperfect recollection is that in Big East games, Liv looked and played like Sylvia Fowles. She accepted passes from almost anywhere and made layups over the 6-1 forwards who were trying to guard her. Of course, that didn't prove anything when she was up against top competition. Even if the competition wasn't equal to her in size (e.g., Arkansas and Arizona), they had enough skill to neutralize her as a scorer. I think Geno has more in mind for Dorka than to be a practice player to develop Liv's inside game. Certainly he hopes that the spur of competition will make both of them better. But more significantly, Dorka is an insurance policy in case Liv does not improve as we all hope -- she has enough skill and experience to provide a credible replacement. Dorka can also provide backup minutes to Aaliyah if she is still unable to avoid foul trouble. It sounds as if Liv can play away from the basket on offense for nearly an entire game, with either Dorka or Aaliyah handling the bump-and-grind on offense (as Morgan did with Stewie). On defense, of course, any of the three will have to keep the defensive boards clean as their primary responsibility -- no excuses there about preferring to play away from the basket. Liv is never going to play like Aaliyah Boston or Tina Charles, as I think you recognize. But that isn't the only model of an effective post player. I have just finished watching two games in person between the Connecticut Sun (featuring Jonquel Jones and Dawanna Bonner) and the Minnesota Lynx (featuring Sylvia Fowles). The Sun won both games, and I believe that J. Jones outscored Fowles in both games, although I thought Fowles played her game very well. Both J. Jones and Bonner have body types similar to Liv -- long, agile, and thin. (Didn't I hear that Bonner and Liv have a familial relationship?) In fact, I would say that Liv is more muscular and powerful than either of them at this point, but she certainly is not nearly as skilled. The Sun forwards have learned to use their quickness and agility (and an array of post moves) to get past defenders like Fowles. Part of their effectiveness is that they both are dangerous 3-point shooters, so they have to be guarded a long way from the basket. That means they have a lot of opportunity to move without the ball. I don't think Liv will learn this year to shoot as well as they do, but if she can hit the 15-footer consistently, that will help a lot to get her free for uncontested layups on passes from the UConn guards. [/QUOTE]

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