Fit and Roles

[sybarite]

Before despising Kim, I did love the 2005 Baylor team because it had just the right pieces, and they fit together so well. I don't think they had the best talent in the nation. We beat almost the same team three times the next year. They just fit together better than the other teams in the nation at tournament time. They had their one key scorer who could hit you from anywhere. They had a couple of three-point shooters, one of whom was about 6-5. They had a rather immobile post who was effective at what she did. Their guards weren't great, but they fit.

I don't know that we knew what we had last year. Everyone was relatively new to each other. I'm not even sure that we recognized the strengths and limitations of each player. Someone mentioned on another thread that Geno's primary strength was that he got people to play above what they thought possible. Have we seen the best of the OU players?

Players improve the most between X and Y years. I've seen all kinds of statements for X and Y. But, players improve the most when they find out what they can do, perhaps by working on taking advantage of a particular skill that they have, and when they learn what they can do---their role. We have had a history of players who thought they could drive the lane because they could in highschool. But, they can't do it consistently without losing the ball at the D-1 level. We have had players who could shoot in HS, but have difficulty getting a shot off in D-1.

I recorded the last ten games last year and watched them several times this summer. What I noticed is that we had difficulty when we tried to do things that we couldn't do. We didn't really know how we could contribute, what our roles might be. We also failed to use attributes that we had, as though we didn't realize we had them.

There were games in which Peyton scored eight to ten points just off inbound passes. She got to her spot, and the inbounds pass hit her in the hands. She went up and scored. Probably three-fourths of her points were made by being in a spot and shooting as soon as she got the ball. She is the best spot shooter on the team.

That surprised me because i thought she was a slasher based on her HS statistics. Maybe she was in HS. But, she has found a different role in college.

I think that everyone has had a year to find out what they can do, as well as what they can't. I hope that the off-season gave people a chance to improve those positives and learn not to do the negatives. We saw only glimpses last year in their first full year together. I hope that they can identify their roles this year. This team was #2 in the Big Twelve with a lot of new people making contributions. If we know our roles, this could be an interesting year.

 

[sybarite]

Now that you have heard Sherri state that Maddie will be one of the best players in the Big Twelve, that Gabbi has become much stronger at the point, and that T'Ona has developed an offensive game, does that change any of the roles that you envision for this team?

 

[jsull2015]

:OU-logo: I think you will see Tona score more points a much better floor leader. I think that Gabbi will be the best true point guard in the conference if not one of the best in the nation and Maddie will be one of the best all around players we have had in awhile. I don't know that the roles will change that much over last year, except that players have had time to learn their role on the team and improve their skills. I think the players you mentioned will perform the roles much better than last year and will help propel this team to achieve higher than expectation results.

 

[sybarite]

Let's assume that Maddie and Gabbi are appreciably better and that Gioya and Peyton have learned their roles, how does that impact what appears to be a more confident Kay Kay? Will we need to force the ball into her? Will most of her points come from putbacks? I think they said she was second in the Big Twelve at offensive rebounds. She scored a lot on putbacks. What will be the impact of Maddie and Gabbi on Kay Kay?

 

[TheMont]

I'm not sure how Maddie will impact Gabbi and KayKay, but statistically speaking, I could see her being very similar to Dionnah Jackson, who always seemed to fill stat sheets. For example - 12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals.

 

[sybarite]

If Maddie is back in form, which she appears to be, I anticipate that her primary contribution will be to raise everyone's stats, especially percentages. How many open shots did she get someone last year that were missed? If she is more active as a scorer herself, it should free up others.

Sometimes, a player's numbers come from the reduction of other members of the teams numbers. Sometimes, a player's numbers elevate the others.

 

[jsull2015]

:OU-logo: I know that you want your point guard to keep the offense flowing smoothly and get the ball to the open player. Gabbie is a great passer and I think she will do all that . Sometimes she caught players of guard with passes they were not expecting. She was good last year and you can tell in Sherrie's interviews when she comment on Gabbie that she expects great things from her. I hope that Gabbie is more aggressive shooting the ball. She has a smooth shot and I think she really has the ability to take over a game with her overall ability. I like the way Gioya can dribble penetrate and create her own shot. You need a player like that if the jump shots are not dropping. Another player I like is LaNesia Williams, she is a slasher and has great quickness through the lane. I am interested to see how much she has improved over her freshman year.

 

[Sooners4Life0101]

Gabbi will run in to nights where she has the matchup and we should take advantage of it. But other than that, I personally don't think we need her to score most the games. What we need is someone to keep the flow going. W/ all the scorers we have that'll be difficult. If she controls the flow of the game, she'll be highly rewarded at the end of the season.