My take on this year's Vanderbilt team:
A few months back, I saw a video on youtube entitled “The Most Dangerous Shot in Basketball.” It turned out to be a series of clips of UConn teams getting a defensive rebound, flying down the court and dishing it to teammates set up on the three-point line. They proceeded to drain the three-pointers. I think this is how coach Ralph will want her team to play this season.
No, we don’t have Katie Lou Samuelson, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Paige Bueckers or Azzi Fudd, but, we do have shooters. I feel like some combination of Iyana Moore, Justine Pissott, Ryanne Allen, Agata Makurat and Jada Brown will be effective on any given night. And, freshmen Madison Greene and Khamil Pierre are no slouches. Those seven players are versatile enough to move around a bit, so it should be possible to have three of them on the floor most of the time at the two, three and four positions.
I think we’re going to see a lot more UConn-style motion offense this season. That’s what coach Ralph wanted to do from the beginning, but she hasn’t had the personnel. And, I think we’re going to play fast. Really fast. That’s only if we don’t start slinging the ball around and turning it over. But, we have a lot of ball handlers, so turnovers should be limited. I also expect plenty of pressure defense. We should have the depth to press and run with the ball, and that’s obviously in coach Ralph’s DNA.
The big concern with my grand plan is the same concern Vandy teams have had forever and a day…rebounding. Even though the team gets quite a bit bigger with this year’s recruiting class, we still don’t have that big space eater in the post. Junior Sacha Washington, at 6’2, still figures to be our leading post player.
All is not lost. We do have good size on the wings with 6’4 Justine Pissott, 6’2 Aga Makurat (I think she’s taller) and 6’2 Khamil Pierre along with 6’1 Ryanne Allen. Also, 5’10 guard Jordyn Oliver should help on the boards with her strength and physicality. Jordyn Cambridge is also an excellent rebounder from the guard position.
Of those six players, though, only the guards are known for their physicality. The wings are going to have to find a way to help out on the boards. Washington, at 6’2, is an excellent rebounder and will do her part. She needs some help.
Along with the versatility of this year’s squad comes lot of options for the rotation of players. I expect a lot of experimenting early in the season, and if we play as fast as I think we will, it could be a deep rotation. Nine or 10 players getting meaningful minutes would not be a surprise.
I hope I’m right about everything except the rebounding problems. I try to sound like I know what I’m talking about in these posts, but I don’t. I really don’t. I have no insider information. Vandy women’s basketball is my only true sports passion these days, and I like talking/writing about the team. I don’t really have anyone to talk to about it, so message board friends get to suffer my long-winded dissertations. Sorry about that.
