Very true, and we’d also have to consider all the responsibilities a pg has on defense. In fact, all the angst about Nika 3 seasons ago shows how right you are. She did so much more than merely bring the ball up the court. And whenever she was unavailable the team floundered. The near loss to Princeton that season is just one example. And this was a roster with other able ballhandlers, like Lou or Aubrey or Inês, and yet without Nika breaking Princeton’s press became a sticky proposition, not to mention defending their pg.
The following season KK and Ash arrived and Paige returned, and suddenly Geno had even more ballhandlers. And yet whenever Nika got into foul trouble, as in the Syracuse game, the game was once again in peril. KK could ‘bring the ball up the court’ but wasn’t quite ready to be the primary pg, and as great as she is neither was Ash. This is why Geno was so eager to sign that Princeton pg the following season. It gave KK more time and less pressure to mature into the position.
This season, Geno has a plethora of able ballhandlers, maybe more than ever, but only one proven pg. Ash does not strike me as a pg, though not for lack of skills. Azzi and Sarah could cover the position but not without a cost. Azzi in particular could probably do much of what Paige did last season, but her a/to ratio has never been nearly as good as what Paige or Nika were able to do. And this is apart from the question of whether she’s more useful playing off the ball on offense. Morgan or Carol could conceivably help ‘bring the ball up the court’ or even help break a press, but they are far from being good choices for pg. Same goes for Allie. And right now Kelis seems like a distant possibility.
If KK were to be unavailable for an extended stretch, Geno could probably find a way to compensate, maybe reimagine the main lineup much as he did last season with the small-ball lineups last season. But the team wouldn’t be quite the seamless juggernaut we’re all imagining. I don’t put anything past Geno. It wasn’t until late February that last season’s team looked like it might have a destiny. Maybe only
@Tonyc truly believed prior to that. The rest of us were mainly worried that KK and Kaitlyn weren’t quite ready, and many of us were even demanding that Paige take on even more pg responsibilities.
An awful lot depends on Kayleigh getting up to speed as KK’s backup. The exhibition game has shaken the confidence of many here that she’s ready for the role. I suspect she’ll grow into it before February. Until then, I imagine Sarah and Azzi and maybe even Ash will fill in the gaps. In transition, Blanca and Morgan might even be able to contribute. Still, the half court game will suffer, perhaps not devastatingly, but probably enough to give us the willies.
There will be plenty of surprises to thrill and delight and alarm all of us this season. I suspect many of us are beginning to get comfortable with the idea of a primary lineup of KK Ash Azzi Sarah and Serah, with Blanca Kayleigh Jana Ice and maybe even Morgan coming off the bench. But subtract KK from this list and our comfort level will decline a bit.
This is KK’s moment, as Azzi’s said in an interview recently. But it may also be Kayleigh’s moment to shine, if she is given enough time to mature. And the team may really need her more than once this season.
