JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
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It was very conspicuous that Molly Bent was the second sub off the bench in the first half (and the first freshman to enter the game), and she was first off the bench in the second half. The box score said that Molly had 18 minutes of playing time and Saniya Chong had 24, but my impression watching the game was that Molly played more than Saniya.
Molly has a very sturdy, stocky build with hardly a trace of "soft tissue" -- think of Kiah Stokes' body at a height of about 5-10. She seems fast and quick enough to play on the perimeter, but she was used as both a guard and a small forward. I didn't see surpassing speed or great leaping ability, but she was not noticeably lacking in these areas either. It didn't look like it would be easy for most guards to get past her on a drive. Her most obvious asset (as we probably expected) was her intelligent team play within the offensive and defensive schemes. In that respect she is similar to Courtney Ekmark, but she is clearly a much better athlete that Courtney (faster, quicker, and harder to beat one-on-one).
She has been compared to Kelly Faris. She is stockier than Kelly and appears to have more strength (although I didn't see her battle for a rebound). I doubt if she can run as fast or jump as high as Kelly, however. Her mental game is very similar to Kelly's.
I'm sure the reason that Geno seemed to favor her in playing time is that she picked up the systems better than the other freshmen. (That is what I meant by "Molly gets him" in the thread title.) I get the impression from tonight's substitution patterns that (at least initially) the major minutes will be absorbed by the five starters plus Butler and Bent.
I saw good things from the other two freshman also. Kyla Irwin played 14 minutes and scored 12 points. As I recall, all of her baskets were in the paint. Against admittedly bad competition, she seemed to show an appetite for physical play under the boards -- she grabbed several that were contested. I see her as a shorter version of Stef Dolson, with a similar body type and similar limitations (such as foot speed). It will be interesting to see how she rebounds against better competition, but I thought she did better under the boards tonight than Natalie Butler.
Crystal Dangerfield only scored 2 points in 12 minutes (didn't enter the game until the last 2 minutes of the first half, then played the whole fourth quarter), but she showed a flair for assists. The box score credited her with three assists, but I thought she had more. Several of her assists had a Jeffersonian quality to them, showing court vision and a readiness to make a difficult pass. I can only assume that her minutes were limited because she was not picking things up in practice as quickly as Molly and Kyla -- or maybe Geno just wanted to make the point that her minutes would be determined by her play in practice and not by her high school resume.
Regarding the familiar faces, I noticed these things in particular:
Molly has a very sturdy, stocky build with hardly a trace of "soft tissue" -- think of Kiah Stokes' body at a height of about 5-10. She seems fast and quick enough to play on the perimeter, but she was used as both a guard and a small forward. I didn't see surpassing speed or great leaping ability, but she was not noticeably lacking in these areas either. It didn't look like it would be easy for most guards to get past her on a drive. Her most obvious asset (as we probably expected) was her intelligent team play within the offensive and defensive schemes. In that respect she is similar to Courtney Ekmark, but she is clearly a much better athlete that Courtney (faster, quicker, and harder to beat one-on-one).
She has been compared to Kelly Faris. She is stockier than Kelly and appears to have more strength (although I didn't see her battle for a rebound). I doubt if she can run as fast or jump as high as Kelly, however. Her mental game is very similar to Kelly's.
I'm sure the reason that Geno seemed to favor her in playing time is that she picked up the systems better than the other freshmen. (That is what I meant by "Molly gets him" in the thread title.) I get the impression from tonight's substitution patterns that (at least initially) the major minutes will be absorbed by the five starters plus Butler and Bent.
I saw good things from the other two freshman also. Kyla Irwin played 14 minutes and scored 12 points. As I recall, all of her baskets were in the paint. Against admittedly bad competition, she seemed to show an appetite for physical play under the boards -- she grabbed several that were contested. I see her as a shorter version of Stef Dolson, with a similar body type and similar limitations (such as foot speed). It will be interesting to see how she rebounds against better competition, but I thought she did better under the boards tonight than Natalie Butler.
Crystal Dangerfield only scored 2 points in 12 minutes (didn't enter the game until the last 2 minutes of the first half, then played the whole fourth quarter), but she showed a flair for assists. The box score credited her with three assists, but I thought she had more. Several of her assists had a Jeffersonian quality to them, showing court vision and a readiness to make a difficult pass. I can only assume that her minutes were limited because she was not picking things up in practice as quickly as Molly and Kyla -- or maybe Geno just wanted to make the point that her minutes would be determined by her play in practice and not by her high school resume.
Regarding the familiar faces, I noticed these things in particular:
- Although Lou may be the nucleus of the offense, Gabby will get the most notice, because she is a running, leaping, thieving highlight reel. Coaches may appreciate KLS, but fans will notice Gabby.
- Despite having Lou and Napheesa in the starting lineup, Gabby handled the opening tip, and won it to Lou for a layup with an "and-1".
- Gabby is 100% a guard a defense, and a very effective one. On offense, she plays more of a wing position, but she guards the ball (and often steals it) on defense.
- Kia is developing a real consistency in her entire game, including her 3-point shooting. She will be a calming influence in pressure situations, which makes sense considering her Olympic and National Team experience.
- I think Saniya is on a short leash. I think Geno is giving her a chance because as a senior she has earned that, but if someone like Molly or Kyla can play with more consistency and better defense, Saniya will be back on the bench.
- I agree with those who say that Crystal may be a starter later in the season (the athleticism is certainly there), but it will definitely be LATER in the season if it happens at all.
- Natalie Butler (I think) can be effective against a big but relatively immobile post such as Baylor and South Carolina have on their rosters, but she is never going to be a focus of the offense in the way that Stef or Morgan were. Kyla is more likely to fill that role.
- KLS scored 24 points on 10-19 shooting, despite having a hard time from 3-point range (2-for-7). It just shows that she is learning to be a big contributor even when her main battle weapon is jammed up. There is nothing to worry about concerning her contribution this year.
), but strength and bulk that make a good post defender. Problem is that Gabby and Lou are definitely not in the strong/bulky range, and Collier who might develop her low post defense isn't currently either. Tuck was one of the better HS defenders Stewart ever faced, and proved herself very capable of working against the SC bigs specifically, but all comers through her four years.
