Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Bone Dog, post: 4717009, member: 12088"] I think Aubrey can be used to guard 4s occasionally. There’s little she can’t do. I’m not as convinced that she’s at her best when starting, but that’s certainly a role she can play as well as anyone. And you’re right that the NC St game showed this. One thing I don’t think Aubrey is good at is playing 30 mins/g. I think you could see how that wore her down as the season dragged on. The only game last season where she really struggled was against ND. With their big lineup, Aubrey was smaller than everyone but Miles (or Mabrey), and when Azzi went down we lost too much emotional steam. Also, their ball handlers are too good to expect to be able to rely on a transition game. This left a half court offense and once ND packed the paint with 3 bigs and Citron, there was no room for Aubrey’s slashing game. ND will still be able to run a formidable lineup this season. They will be the tallest team in D1 and have several effective ball handlers. Watson, Marshall, Westbeld are solid post players, and Prosper and Citron bring size and speed to the lineup. Last season, Ivie figured out how to make the best use of Ebo, a large, slow and really strong presence in the paint, and she’ll be missed. But they are not smaller for losing her. Put Citron at pg (I’m not recommending this, just making a point) and ND could have a lineup of 6’1”, 6’2”, 6’3”, 6’4”, and 6’5” — and it wouldn’t be a slow lineup, which is usually the problem with big lineups. Against a team like ND we’d have to open up the paint with perimeter shooting. And we have the shooters to do it. That’s when Aubrey could be useful in the half court offense. I suspect if Miles comes back, we won’t be able to get much transition scoring because her ball handling is too good, and Citron is no slouch either, and I’m not even thinking of Hidalgo yet. So, to win, we’ll need to beat them in the half court. Nika and Aubrey will be key to that effort, controlling Miles or Citron on defense. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach