Iowa State Freshman Audi Crooks

[Bone Dog]

I like Audi quite a bit, and watched whatever film there was of her in high school. I wondered if she’d have the speed and stamina for the D1 game. And I was pleased to see Fennelly take a chance on her. Her freshman year has turned out as well as anyone could have expected.

She has a few formidable skills on offense, and she is limited on defense. She is unstoppable if she gets the ball in the low post and it is really hard to keep her out of there. She’s very strong. And unless you block the entry pass entirely, she will get it and score. Her hands are just too strong. She can be good passer, but so far that is limited to kicking the ball out from the low post and there’s hardly any reason for her to do that currently.

She can rebound well but so far she isn’t real good at playing the position game. Her feet aren’t quick enough for that and it shows on the defensive glass. I suspect she’ll grow in this area. But once she gets her hands on the ball, she owns it.

On defense, she doesn’t expend much energy, hardly contests anything outside the low post and can be a matador for quicker guards. A skilled post player with good interior moves can score one her with ease. I expect we’ll see this against Stanford. She won’t be able to stop Brink and Iriafen, but I doubt they’ll be able to stop her.

She is a bit like Pili, who has similarly strong hands. But Pili has much better quickness, has more low post moves, and is a pretty good outside shooter. What’s more Pili is a good all around defender. Audi may develop more of these skills in time.

 

[ISUnorth]

Kudos to Ms. Crooks and her team for winning the game. However, I’m not sure what was going on with Maryland, as it seems like they’d all forgotten how to box her out, or deny the passes going to her. From what I saw, it appears that Audi’s teammates constantly lobbed her the ball, and that strategy worked perfectly well in getting the job done. Survive and move on, and that’s exactly what Iowa State has done. Good job.

After watching Markowski and Potts for the Huskers combined for 37 points and 23 rebounds versus Maryland in the Big Ten tournament I was expecting something like 25/10 for Crooks with maybe Brown also having a big night but it was all Crooks.

 

[oldhusky]

I like Audi quite a bit, and watched whatever film there was of her in high school. I wondered if she’d have the speed and stamina for the D1 game. And I was pleased to see Fennelly take a chance on her. Her freshman year has turned out as well as anyone could have expected.

She has a few formidable skills on offense, and she is limited on defense. She is unstoppable if she gets the ball in the low post and it is really hard to keep her out of there. She’s very strong. And unless you block the entry pass entirely, she will get it and score. Her hands are just too strong. She can be good passer, but so far that is limited to kicking the ball out from the low post and there’s hardly any reason for her to do that currently.

She can rebound well but so far she isn’t real good at playing the position game. Her feet aren’t quick enough for that and it shows on the defensive glass. I suspect she’ll grow in this area. But once she gets her hands on the ball, she owns it.

On defense, she doesn’t expend much energy, hardly contests anything outside the low post and can be a matador for quicker guards. A skilled post player with good interior moves can score one her with ease. I expect we’ll see this against Stanford. She won’t be able to stop Brink and Iriafen, but I doubt they’ll be able to stop her.

She is a bit like Pili, who has similarly strong hands. But Pili has much better quickness, has more low post moves, and is a pretty good outside shooter. What’s more Pili is a good all around defender. Audi may develop more of these skills in time.

I remember a video that showed highlights of a match-up between Crooks and Uconn's Ice Brady in HS. Ice was pretty effective offensively against Audi, but did not guard her at the other end. This year has been quite different for the two of them. Ice a little disappointing vs. her ranking, and Audi far exceeding hers.

I do think there were questions with her unusual body type, but watching Audi's highlights from her 40 point game, she can get wherever she wants using that body to establish position and then seal off the defender for the entry pass. Under that body is a pretty good athlete and very skilled player, so she is making it work for her.

I was amazed that Maryland didn't adjust, double, or do something different. It appeared that Iowa State could keep going to the well all day if they wanted to.

 

[Vowelguy]