Tonight, I've been the most impressed with this USA team than I've been the entire tournament. They've really upped the defensive intensity since the Puerto Rico game and it's showing..
My takes:
Post/Forwards: Let me just say.. WOW, Lauren Cox... I'll admit, I haven't been that impressed with Cox prior to the last two games. And after the U19s last summer I even questioned to myself whether she was really worth being the #1 in her class... well tonight (and against PR), she's REALLY making her stamp. Cox is impressive.. She's going to be an amazing center for Baylor and tonight she's showing her full arsenal. She's a block machine in the paint. I've been impressed with all of the forwards at some point.. Rellah boothe has great range, Boehm is very light on her feet and just "gets it". I LOVE Sidney Cooks.. she has such good shooting form, runs the floor well, can handle the ball and has an edge to her personality that I like in my forwards.
Guards: I originally started watching this tournament to see what kind of PG we were getting in Harris.. and I'm not disappointed. She's one of the best guards on this team and she's an assist waiting to happen. She will do very well at SC and if she plays this way this fall then I can definitely see her taking the starting PG spot from Cuevas. I also really like Carter and Westbrook.. Westbrook is good at everything and very graceful doing it. Carter has a strong body and uses it to get to where she needs to be. They are both very good scorers as well. I've been surprisingly impressed with Valerie Higgins.. she's long, deceptively quick and very smart.. she's ALWAYS in the right place at the right time on the court. Her length has really bothered teams this tournament.
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