I think I saw a different Q than many of you. Her salient talent is as a lanky shooter who runs the floor well and can finish in transition as well as anyone. But she is also physically slight which leads her to contribute mainly on the perimeter. She could be a slasher like Aubrey, someone who crashes the boards and gets layups and putbacks. She did things like that a few times in games. But this does not seem to be natural to the way she thinks about the game. If she gets stronger she may begin to see more of these opportunities on offense.
As a defender, she seemed rather low energy to me. With her long arms and quick feet she got to loose balls sometimes. But her intensity on defense was inconsistent, and sometimes she even looked lost on defense. Compare this to her classmate Ash, who did exactly what Geno always says to do: she forced him to play her by her effort in practice. She was not a better perimeter shooter than Q, at least not initially. What got Ash playing time over Q was relentless energy on defense.
Q is probably capable of greater energy and effort. Geno praised her efforts in practice last November. But she seems not to have been able to sustain this. Maybe more playing time would resolve some of these issues better than practice would. But this isn’t how it works in Storrs.
As a great player and coach famously said, 90% of the game is 100% mental. Q has great potential to become another great player. Her current physical skills are a great foundation. But she needs to develop the mental toughness for it. I’m rooting for her to find the right culture for her at NC State. Interestingly, her little sister Qandace may already have a lot of that mental toughness.
