I’m with
@oldude but with more irrational optimism. The team we have now already can have 5 scorers in the starting lineup. I think we’ll have 6 or 7 soon enough. Ice is a scorer, and so are Ashlynn and Qadence. KK appears to be rediscovering her HS shooting form. I stopped at 7 because so many here doubt Nika’s scoring potential even though she’s been on a tear in a few games.
I also see that Ice can be a formidable rebounder. Watch her in USA basketball two summers ago and you’ll see it too. She’ll be that again and sooner than we might think. We have 3 perimeter threats who are just finding their consistency plus the GOAT.
What we don’t have is a shot blocker other than Paige. I think we can win a lot of games without a rim protector. Mendelson could help with this next season, even if she’s still a little undeveloped. [Cue the Amari chorus.] But I doubt Geno would play her in front of Jana or Ice.
We lost to NC St and Texas because the freshmen and Ice were too raw and that left Paige and Aaliyah with not enough to work with. Azzi and Caroline were wounded ducks but we didn’t know how much at first. But even without them, I think
both games would be winnable with how the freshmen are playing now. I imagine Geno scheduled those games thinking they would herald the return of the Paige and Azzi show [cue the theme song to Bewitched or maybe I Dream of Jeannie], costarring Aaliyah Caroline Nika and Aubrey, and we’d have watched as Jana and Ice and the others would get a chance to see what D1 competition feels like.
Geno may have thought UCLA was winnable at the beginning of the summer, though now it looks like it was a stretch too far with the lineup we ended up with and the one they ended up with. SC still looks like a tough hill for us to climb and probably always did to Geno. Our view of this game might change if Ice comes on as a rebounder and Qadence reliably shoots >40% from 3 and our passing game gets even better — which it will. Yes, we’ll be overmatched in the paint, but Paige and Aaliyah might pull off a miracle if SC has to spread the floor.