Scary thought. At the same time, that could be to her advantage with respect to wear and tear on the body. She's had the benefit of being on a team that could survive without her having to play major minutes.
She also had a history of getting into foul trouble. I bet that affected her minutes.
To some degree. Stanford had a very deep rotation in the front court most of her time there, that limited her minutes too.
Early on, it was rotation-related. Since her sophomore year, she's been our obvious front court starter, and so the limitation in minutes has largely been driven by fouls. (and honestly it's a major downside to being such a two-way player - she picks up a lot of offensive and defensive fouls in a way that most bigs are primarily prone to one or the other).
She couldn't because she was always in foul trouble.
True, but in addition Tara had the luxury of being able to be cautious with Brink's foul issues because of how loaded they were with talented bigs on the bench. They didn't have to worry about falling off a cliff when she was out. Over her career Tara has had a player on the bench that could dunk, another 6-5 player that was a good 3 pt shooter, and a future WNBA high pick in Betts.
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My concern is, exactly how is she different from Elissa Cunane? Also had a great college career and has yet to find a spot in the W. The two were compared to each other incessantly while they were battling it out in the ACC. Sure Kitley has bigger stats, but what's the actual difference in them as players?
I can most certainly see Rickea Jackson going to Chicago to work with/share time in the frontcourt.2024 WNBA Mock Draft 2.0 » Winsidr
It’s been a few months since my last mock draft, and so much has changed between now and then. We’re now post-free agency and on the cusp of March Madness, so it’s time to revisit my previous thinking, and just like last year, I’m bringing aboard the Winsidr GOAT and women’s ball expert, Rachel...
I'm interested in seeing the second round, though I know there are such limited spots in the W. Hot takes I have... Kitley is a great prospect, would take her ahead of Pili. If Chicago walks away with Rickea Jackson and Aliyah Edwards they win the draft, full stop. Charisma Osborne is going to make the roster of whatever team she is drafted to.
Cunane
Appreciate the assessment and agree with just about everything you've written.
Couldn't the same have been said about Gustafson a few years ago? Maybe with a mix of time overseas and WNBA, Kitley could get stronger and find a niche.
In terms of self-improvement, absolutely yes.
"I'll be honest with you, this was supposed to be another version of the regular "Deals I liked and deals I hated" article I've written in multiple previous years. However, partly because of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement which is likely coming after the 2025 season, meaning few new contracts are being signed for more than two years, there weren't too many atrocious deals this offseason. If you give someone too much money, especially too much guaranteed money, at least the mistake can be mitigated if it's relatively short-term. So instead we're going to go team by team, and take a look at their moves so far in free agency. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's going to be a slightly more holistic approach this year." -- Richard Cohen
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"Well this has been something of a wild ride, albeit due to thoroughly predictable issues. After heading into free agency with high hopes, those were quickly dashed when major targets decided they had better options. The new braintrust in Chicago pivoted, cashed in their best player, and started trying to restock the cupboards that were left pretty bare by James Wade before he ran for the border. "The return for Kahleah Copper was pretty decent, with the No. 3 pick from this year a likely centerpiece of the Sky rebuild. They turned the rights to Julie Allemand and Li Yueru into the No. 8 pick as well, which could result in someone useful. Then there were worthwhile gambles on players like Chennedy Carter and Kysre Gondrezick, exactly the kind of low-risk second-draft shots worth taking when you're trying to climb off the mat. Low-end deals for Diamond DeShields and Lindsay Allen make sense as well as veterans who can help the build. "It was obviously a disappointing offseason for a team that was trying to remain a contender barely a year earlier, and gave up their star attraction in Copper. But they got some picks back and have some youth incoming, and there's still some breakout possibilities on the roster (Dana Evans, Sika Koné, Michaela Onyenwere). It wasn't all doom and gloom. "That said, rescinding their rights to Astou Ndour, allowing her to sign with Connecticut a day later as a free agent, made no sense whatsoever. Some kind of compensation could surely have been negotiated with the Sun. That one was baffling." |
I Connecticut Sun "Connecticut have emerged from free agency looking probably a little deeper than last year, but I'm not convinced they're actually better. Some of the losses were unavoidable. Tiffany Hayes retired from the WNBA, and Rebecca Allen was an unrestricted free agent (even though for some reason the Sun and Mercury contrived a sign-and-trade to move her). They've been replaced with Moriah Jefferson (taking on the two years of her contract that Phoenix clearly didn't want anymore), Tiffany Mitchell, Astou Ndour, Rachel Banham and very reasonable training camp fliers on players like Shey Peddy and Jocelyn Willoughby. "None of the contracts they added are horrible, although some aren't great. Jefferson is fine, as long as she's healthy, which is always a gamble. Guaranteeing Banham’s cash for two years was odd, but at least it's low-end money. Mitchell for Hiedeman was a pretty fair swap, and Mitchell can go back to playing on the wing where she's much more comfortable. All of these players are reasonable supporting options, and you can hardly blame Connecticut for trying to run it back with their core considering how good they've been in recent years. "Unfortunately, none of the additions are as good as Hayes and Allen, so it'll take a group effort to be as good again. They eventually managed to bring back DeWanna Bonner, despite rumors linking her to at least half the other teams in the league. Bonner signing for $200,000 and Brionna Jones agreeing for the second year in a row to take less than the supermax after being cored, shows a level of cooperation from everyone to put this group together. In either of the last two years Jones could've simply signed her qualifying offer and been paid $25,000-30,000 more than she ultimately signed for. "So no egregious errors here, just nothing massively exciting either." |
Appreciate this breakdown. I have always wondered y Cunane hasn't found a WNBA team. Like you mentioned she had the nickname big smile but she was pretty physical. I liked her ability to score inside and out. And in her senior year I thought she sacrificed a lot when diamond Johnson came in the team. Athleticism and lateral quickness is a fair point. I'm not sure how much she struggles in this area. But I always thought she could play the 4 or 5. I know she's played relatively well overseas the past couple years and appears to have a training camp contract with the Mystics.
Thanks for the break down. The Aerial Powers situation here in Minnesota was a disaster. Not sure what happened after that Phoenix Mercury/Minnesota Lynx game where Aerial had one of her best games. I know she suffered (it was reported) an ankle injury but she was out longer than other players who suffered ankle injuries. Then when she could play, her minutes were never consistent. I just wish that it would have worked out for AP with the Lynx. Maybe she will get that chance in Atlanta.
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