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Post by Cap'n on Oct 17, 2022 11:21:16 GMT -6
It's not too long before the women open in Moody with Hard Pain followed by a tough road game against Rice. I've watched some practices and will try and give a little preview going into the season. The WAC blogs are placing us all over the place but primarily 4-5 with SFA and GCU the early favorites. Coaches polls are not out yet.
First, some news. Niyah Johnson has left the team and (I assume) will be transfering. Not entirely surprising but I expected it would be at the end of the year. Very sweet young woman. I wish her the best.
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Post by Cap'n on Oct 17, 2022 12:48:01 GMT -6
So, on to a quick player by player preview. First the returnees.
#31 Madi Miller (Grad) G 5'9 9.4 points and 4.3 rebounds. Important Stat: Led the team with 102 assists. There can be no doubt that if healthy, Madi will play the most minutes of anybody. She is the ultimate team player and will be a coach on the floor and Coach G will lean on her more than any other player. She is tough and strong. I think she will have a very good year. Maybe some All-WAC recognition.
#3 Bella Earle (Soph) G 5'9 7.3 points and 4.1 rebounds. Important Stat: Led the team in turnovers with 72. Bella was a starter and a key role player last year. Long and relentless defender and above average passer. Will start at wing with Miller or be first off the bench. So after a terrific season as a freshman, I hope to see her take the next step and become an All-WAC level player.
#10 Taylor Morgan (Jr) PG 5'6 5.5 points and 1.9 Assists. Important Stat: 14 minutes per game average. Fans were frustrated last year that Taylor didn't get more minutes. In back-to-back road games against SHST and SFA (with both Kam and Jamie out), all she did was score 21 and 14 respectively while committing a total of 8 turnovers in 80 minutes. Her playing time actually went down after that. The starting PG competition will be fierce with the addition of transfer Zoe Jackson but with the two of them, we ought to be significantly improved at point.
#11 Alexis (Bab) Babineaux (Soph) P 6'0 1.7 points and 1 rebound average in 11 appearances. Watching Bab play in practice, I am convinced that she could be an impact player off the bench a little like Arion on the men's side. She has worked her way into excellent shape and despite a large frame runs the floor well. Strongest player in the weight room with outstanding offensive skills around the basket. If there is a question, it's how well she can defend in the paint.
#12 Addison Martin (RFr) F 6’1 Injury red shirt last year. Wow. She can play with anybody. Excellent skill set. Looks awesome in practice. Plays the 4 position.
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Post by mavsman53 on Oct 17, 2022 15:28:28 GMT -6
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Post by mavsman53 on Oct 17, 2022 15:29:04 GMT -6
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Post by mavsman53 on Oct 17, 2022 15:29:50 GMT -6
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Post by Cap'n on Oct 17, 2022 21:26:56 GMT -6
More player previews: Transfers
#1 Aspen Thornton (Soph) Combo Guard 5’6 Last year at Ouachita Baptist led all of D2 in scoring at 23+ points. Will play some point and some 2 guard, I think. Very quick penetrating guard who likes the pull up mid range. Of course Coach G likes layups and 3s so there will be an adjustment period as well as figuring out how to score against bigger D1 players. She is a wait and see for me but players like her game.
#4 Maleeah Langstaff (Grad) F 5’11 Averaged 17.3 and 8.8 at D2 Northeastern State. Prior to that played at D1 Winthrop. Most athletic and fastest player on the team. Equally dangerous inside and out. Already a team leader. IMO will score double figures for us and be in the running for WAC Newcomer of the year. Will start at low post (5).
#13 Zoe Jackson (Soph) PG 5’7 Started 20 games as a true freshman at Big East Butler University. Averaged 6.8 pts and 3.0 asst against top women’s teams (Connecticut!) Super quick and can penetrate or step back for three. Big time. Epic competition in practice between Zoe and Taylor.
#32 Brooke Jessen (Soph) F 6’0 F Averaged 12 minutes as a freshman. Had her best game in helping UTRGV knock ACU out of the WAC tournament. I thought she looked solid in practice but I haven’t figured out where she fits in the rotation. Depending upon what kind of start Bab has, Brooke could be the backup 5.
#33 Raychael Harjo (Soph) F 6’2 Only played in one game for UCF but was highly recruited out of Moore, OK. She’s a hungry rebounder and looks to be a good defender. Hasn’t shown much offense in practice but that only says that they haven’t worked on it. Capable of a double double in any game. Will play the 4.
I think all 5 transfers will play important minutes. In fact, I can see Langstaff, Jackson and Harjo in the starting lineup with Madi and Bella. Maybe.
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Post by Cap'n on Oct 18, 2022 16:02:59 GMT -6
Player by Player Preview: the Freshmen
As I said before, I have been to a couple of practices so much of this is first impressions. Previews are even harder when trying to place freshmen into the mix. I don't see any of this group in the 8-player rotation this year but, of course, we will see how the season goes.
#0 Reagan Fox G 5'9 One of the top 10 players in Oklahoma last year from Blanchard. Kind of low-key in practice but pretty intense. Runs the floor well and likes to catch and shoot from the 3 point line where she hit at least 50% while I was watching. Quick release. A long shot but might get minutes as a 3-point specialist.
#5 Hampton Williams F 5'11 Top 5 player out of Wichita, Kansas. Can already see a top-notch basketball IQ. Plays taller than her height in the paint and knows how to position her body for rebounds. Maybe a bit of a tweener but solid player who needs to develop at least one A+ skill. (note: have not seen her 3-point shot yet)
#20 Tristin Keller G 5'8 Tristin has been on our radar ever since she committed. She's a ridiculous all-around athlete with a high motor and it shows on the court. Tremendous instincts. She is also a natural leader - constantly encouraging her teammates with infectious enthusiasm. Already can tell that the other players really like her. I think there is a chance that we will play a lot of full and 1/2 court trap defense. In practice, Tristin was almost impossible to beat in this defense. Other parts of her game are not so good yet but massive upside. I think she will be our starting point guard in a couple of years.
#23 Claire Graham G 5'8 The best all-around player among the freshmen. Reminds me of Madi as a freshman. She's a physical player who's not afraid to get her uniform dirty. Dives for balls, takes charges, draws fouls. She seems to be a rare "Whatever it takes" kind of player. I want to see more before I make up my mind about Claire.
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Post by texas48 on Oct 18, 2022 16:44:15 GMT -6
Thanks, Cap'n, for your astute and well done player previews!
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Post by Cap'n on Oct 20, 2022 11:47:44 GMT -6
Player Preview Update. After watching another practice, I realized I had some information wrong. In the last practice I attended, Rachael was playing the low post and Maleeah was playing the 4. She, like Jamie Bonnarens last year is a terrific high post - stretch 4. Then we will lose almost nothing when she come out and Addison goes in.
I’m going out on a limb and picking MY starting 5 plus who is likely to come off the bench.
PG - I would start Taylor and bring Zoe off the bench. It will be tempting to start the mega-talented Zoe but Taylor does not turn the ball over and is deadly from 3. Zoe will be electric off the bench. Wings - Madi and Bella are out best returning players. I think both of them will play 27-30 minutes per game. Who backs them up is fluid right now. Aspen, certainly and a freshman if one of them steps up. Maleeah can also play a wing where she will be a matchup nightmare. Plus that puts Addison on the floor who makes us a bit bigger. High Post/Stretch 4 - Maleeah starts and Addison comes off the bench. This is a very good rotation. Low Post - Raychael should start backed up by Jessup and Babineaux. Jessup is ahead, I think.
So, where might we have we upgraded and what might be down graded.
Point guard. Huge upgrade. Zoe will likely get the preponderance of minutes and we all have seen how Julie hates to substitute at point. Maybe Taylor will play additional minutes as a 3-point specialist. Wing. Depends. Remember that Barber was our 2nd leading scorer last year. Madi can be counted on for double digits and Im looking for Bella to be more offensively assertive and give us 12-15 per game. I think these two will be an upgrade in the coming season. High post 4. Remember that Jamie was all-WAC. I don’t think we are worse off but we’ll see. Low post. Big upgrade. No, we didn’t recruit the 6’4 post but we got 2 strong players. and we’ve got them for 3 years.
My early thoughts after looking at the schedule is that we are about 4 games better than last year. Maybe 2nd or 3rd in the WAC. I think we will push the ball and play defense full court. This will be a high scoring team that won’t play a lot of 1/2 court offense. They will try to shoot in the first 10 seconds of a possession. SFA, for example, has bigs but they are bulky and we will see if they can run.
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Post by Cap'n on Oct 25, 2022 12:41:46 GMT -6
WOW!!!! Major bombshell.
Taylor Morgan has left the team. She was destined to be the starting PG so this is quite a shock. It is rumored that she is not transferring for basketball rather devoting her time and energy to completing her nursing degree. Here or elsewhere I don't know.
I wish her well. She is an outstanding person and I'm confident she is making the best decision for her future.
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Post by Outsider on Oct 25, 2022 13:01:25 GMT -6
WOW!!!! Major bombshell. Taylor Morgan has left the team. She was destined to be the starting PG so this is quite a shock. It is rumored that she is not transferring for basketball rather devoting her time and energy to completing her nursing degree. Here or elsewhere I don't know. I wish her well. She is an outstanding person and I'm confident she is making the best decision for her future. Huge bummer for sure, but all the best to her
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Post by texas48 on Oct 25, 2022 13:07:10 GMT -6
WOW!!!! Major bombshell. Taylor Morgan has left the team. She was destined to be the starting PG so this is quite a shock. It is rumored that she is not transferring for basketball rather devoting her time and energy to completing her nursing degree. Here or elsewhere I don't know. I wish her well. She is an outstanding person and I'm confident she is making the best decision for her future. Wow! Guess that means you'll have to rewrite the PG position on the proposed starting lineup. Bummer!
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Post by EastTexasWildcat on Oct 25, 2022 14:51:00 GMT -6
WOW!!!! Major bombshell. Taylor Morgan has left the team. She was destined to be the starting PG so this is quite a shock. It is rumored that she is not transferring for basketball rather devoting her time and energy to completing her nursing degree. Here or elsewhere I don't know. I wish her well. She is an outstanding person and I'm confident she is making the best decision for her future. Boooo! I was really looking forward to finally getting to see her play more. If it’s because of her studies, perfectly understandable, it’s quite a feat to complete a nursing program as a student athlete. Absolutely wish her the best.
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Post by Cap'n on Oct 25, 2022 18:57:14 GMT -6
Luckily, there are point guard options. At this point the position is in the capable hands of Zoe and Aspen. They are experienced and both can score. What we lose is Taylor’s experience in the Goodenough system.
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Post by CrazyPurpleCat on Oct 25, 2022 20:16:23 GMT -6
Wow. That is absolutely huge. I hate to hear it, but at the end of the day, she's in a tough major, so I get it.
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