It's too bad McGwire and Giomi couldn't swap some pounds. It might help McGwire's defense a bit and keep Giomi from getting bounced around down low. I agree that Giomi has a lot of upside, and I think that Graves sees that as well. She runs well and is very quick for her size. I think the issue (with minutes) is not so much her offense, but her lack of strength, which hurts her defensively and--especially--rebounding. So I think she's a year away. But the potential is there.-------------------------.
I believe Giomi is stronger than you think. From what I have observed she lowers her center of gravity and uses leverage in blocking out. They problem with her type of body is when she becomes more upright or leaves the ground she looses her leverage and is easily moved. With her feet on the ground she is not that easy to move. I saw that when she blocked out Gulich far from the basket. They called a foul on her as Gulich attempted to get around her, but she maintained positions. I don't think officials has ever seen any one being blocked out so far from the basket. I thought Greaves really missed an important in game adjustment against Miss State. McCowan killed them underneath because the players he put against her were just too short. She was tall enough to rebound and put back shots even when they had positions. I mean who gets 12 offensive rebounds. From what I have seen Giomi is very effective at getting position. She is tall enough that McCowan would not have been able to get those rebounds and put backs like he did over Gildon and Malley who he often used in an attempt of blocking her out.. Most of those rebound were over Gildon. Against a player like her or Baylors Brown Giomi is his best defensive option. She would have also been mobile enough to also play help defense on Vivians as well.
My point about him not using Giomi because of her offense. I stand by that. I am not saying she is a bad offensive player, only that Greaves seems to value offense over defense. This is why he interjected McGwire into the starting line up despite the fact that she is a liability on defense. he loves what she provides in her mid range game offensively and is willing to accept the defensive liability trade off. When Sabbally came on the scene she replaced McGwire not only because she provided a significant defensive advantage but because the offense loses nothing with her on the floor. Her all around game makes her even a greater offensive threat. There was no trade off. This would not be true if Giomi was in the line up.
There is nothing wrong with coaches having different criteria's as to which they value more- offense or defense. However, it is often necessary to make in game adjustments when one becomes more important than the other. The Miss State was one such case. McCowans dominance required a trade off favoring defense, but his offensive minded nature made him loath to comply. It is not unusual for coaches ( even very good ones ) to get locked into their own system, that it takes after the game reflection to help them recognize the need to adjust. I do thin Greaves recognizes that need, but something within him is still resisting the fact. He seems to be trying to talk himself out of it.
