GA = Geno, CD = Chris Dailey, J = Jamelle, PB= Paige, NM = Nika, EW = Evina, Liv = Liv, CW = Christyn, AE = Aaliyah, AG = ‘The great Aubrey Griffin’, Mir = Mir, PG= Piath, AM = Anna, the Polish Rifle, PS or Poff = Saylor, AC = Autumn.
My 2 cents overall on the bigs:
Despite being outsized with Cardosa, it seemed like we held our own on the boards and dominated with our scoring in the paint. We finished really well.
Liv – Thought she had a great game and IMHO, finally showed that she could hold her own against a quality big. She was terrific and played tough! She rose to the occasion and was not intimidated by Cardosa. Really tough on the boards and on the box outs which is as important as getting the board.
There was a short sequence where she hit the short jumper, got her hands on a pass a few seconds later to cause a TO and then raced down the court to get a nice assist to AE. Foul should have been 3 secs on Carodosa- I counted 5 secs. Loved the strong take with the high kiss off the glass with the left hand. As I mentioned earlier in the year, she is at her best when AE is in the game. Thought she had a double-double but not sure. She was big time in this game and if we can get this from her, along with what he got from AE, we are cutting down the nets!
AE – just a beast! Hit the little 8 footer, then later raced down on the break twice for layins or got fouled. Got an old fashion 3 pts on Cardosa. Took it at Cardosa a couple of times – she is not afraid and is growing game by game. Must have had 10 points from the line. Unstoppable and had a great game. Had a great steal and coast to coast layin after the spin move. Wow!!! She is 6'3 and doing that in the open court!
I will say it again as I did a week or so ago, AE is key to us winning it all. I am pretty confident that we can count on her for 15 pts and 7-10 rebounds. That is a tall order for a freshman big and something we haven’t gotten out of any freshman big in decades other than Stewie. I think GA has to get her 30 minutes per game going forward. Can’t have her on the bench. That means less minutes for NM which I hate, but if CW can hit jumpers, then we can afford to have PB at the point more often.
AG – does what she always does – changes the game and does it immediately and in a variety of ways. Showed off her defense and superior dribbling skills with the coast to coast steal. She has done this 3-4 times this year. Came in at 5:48 in the 1st half and we stretched a close game of 7 pts to a commanding lead at 15 pts at the half. She had 4 pts, 2 steals and a rebound in this short period of time while harassing the hell out of the opposition.
Enters the game in the 2nd half, scores within 20 secs, gets called for a moving screen but then immediately draws the charge, gets a steal, scores and dishes to AE for another score. Stretches a 27 pt lead to 35. Also shows her versatility by setting solid screens and guarding the smaller quicker guards on Cuse while CW gets to guard the slower player. Interesting match-up showing what you can do with AG’s multifaceted skillset. Hit all her shots -finished well. Played less than I would have liked as CD and GA are trying to get AM back in the grove, and extended minutes, as is the norm, for CW.
