Next Year

[Mark]

This season is lost even if make the tournament we a first round exit. Who would y'all like to see in the starting lineup outside of Sharane it's wide open.

 

[sybarite]

I still think an Elite Eight is possible this year.

But, looking to next year, I'd say:

Sharane
Gioya
Ortiz
Kornet
Pierre-Louis

I think that line-up will surprise some people. Pierre-Louis appears to have the size and agility to go with the height. It may take a few games, but she may be as good as Nicole by the time the Big Twelve begins.

Ortiz--I see her as a bit of Vegas with real point guard skills.

That leaves Gioya open to operate as a two guard.

I think Kornet can still be the player that was MVP of an All-American game. Her shot is coming around.

Sharane will benefit from some other scoring and rebounding help inside.

The bench:
Kay Kay
Edwards
Kellogg
Penzo--everyone is ignoring the fact that she made the same All-Star team that Lauren Cox did.

Gibbs? Williams? Wyatt?

I think the bench will be stronger from the first of the year. It will be interesting to see how Shaya and Kay Kay progress over the summer. What if Gibbs learns to play basketball? Williams is faster than Edwards and a better scorer? Wyatt will have a year.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I will go with:

Gabbi
Maddie
Peyton
Sharane
Pierre-Louis

 

[sybarite]

I will go with:

Gabbi
Maddie
Peyton
Sharane
Pierre-Louis

I completely forgot about Maddie and Peyton. If they are healthy, they could be the two best we have.

 

[SoonerNorm]

What I don't like about my proposed starting lineup is it includes 2 freshmen along with Maddie who has played very little along with Peyton who has only played one year. But, if they are the most talented, the good news is, you would have four of them together for 3 years.

 

[sybarite]

I don't think Gabbi, Maddie, and Vionnese will play like freshmen. Gabbi has been the key to a lot of wins for a successful program. Maddie---I just hope she is fully recovered. She is the X-factor in any line-up. Who do you guard a 6-2 point guard with?

 

[SoonerNorm]

I do think next year's team will have more quality depth than any team Sherri has had in a long time.

 

[sybarite]

I am looking forward to the attitude. I think Maddie has the personality that I want running the show. I suspect that Ortiz has that personality. There is a strength in the personalities of Pierre-Louis and Penzo that I like. I like Kornet's enthusiasm, and I just plain like what I'm seeing of Gioya. I don't see the lack of leadership or the reticence in them. Right now, when things stall, I want Gioya with the ball. She makes an effort.

 

[22dupree]

I'm most interested in the development of Kellogg and Gibbs.

All of Sheri's good teams possess that 10 point, 8 rebound guy to be a physically-tough rock inside, play quality minutes and provide a bit of leadership. Most recently guys like Leah Rush, Amanda Thompson & Joanna McFarland.

We lacked that this year - a true 4 - and IMO it crushed this team. Nicole has been very good and has developed nicely, but she may have been better if she had a partner inside.
We've got too many of the same players (lots of wing types) and precious few who can contribute in the aforementioned role. Here's hoping our young PFs develop into quality contributors during the off season.

Also, next year's version must shoot the ball better than we have this season. Without that strength inside, you need to be effective from distance and we haven't consistently hit those shots this season. Hopefully, we can hit a few more next year.

 

[Mark]

What I love about next year is NOBODY spot is safe at all 5 position which will I think make the girls push harder then normal from the very first day of preseason because they know if there playing well or even practicing well they could be yanked at any second. The PG battle is going to an epic one especially if T'Ona keep improving the is she just keep getting better and better. Also Kaylon and Pierre-Louis should be pretty epic too from what I seen on her highlights Pierre-Louis she the real deal my cousin who lives in Fort Lauderdale said she better than every post we have right now and call her a 6-4 Amanda.

 

[Mark]

I don't know who start nor don't care what is more important is who finish games kinda like ny in 09 she didn't start but she on the court during winning time.

 

[SoonerNorm]

If we have just one player who needs to improve a lot before this fall it's Kaylon. She makes a good play then commits 3 silly fouls. Another good play then 2 more fouls. She and Griffin just drive me nuts reaching out over the defender rather than extending their arms straight up. That isn't rocket science; straight up is straight up. It's not reaching out at a 45 degree angle. How hard is that to understand? Violating that simple instruction 5 times gets you a trip to the bench. After a while one would think that would soak in.

That is why I'm not really counting on a lot of help from Kaylon this fall. Fouls in bunches just doesn't seem to faze her. I think most of us can confirm that if we continued doing the same thing when our coach said "stop" it would quickly earn us 20 laps around the gym while everyone else continued to practice. It's amazing how some laps will improve one's ability to retain information.

Fouls and turnovers are just killing our chances to win close games.

While I am excited about Ortiz and Pierre-Louis, I do expect both of them to play like freshmen early in the season. We just need them to play well by January.

I realize we have plenty of guards this fall, but I do think LaNesia Williams may be better than some of us are expecting. I've heard some good things about her game.

Just as a reminder, we have the following available this fall unless I forgot someone:

PG- Ortiz, Edwards, L Williams
SG- Maddie, Gioya, L Williams, Penzo
SF- Peyton, Derica, Kornet
PF- Sharane, Kornet,
C- Pierre-Louis, Kaylon, Gibbs

 

[SoonerNorm]

A friend of mine sent me the following information that I thought is very interesting:

I started looking to next year and what the top teams had returning for 2014-15.

Team----------Returning Scoring-----Returning RBs

Texas-----------------92.1%---------------87.8%
OSU-------------------69.1%--------------78.9%
Baylor-----------------56.7%--------------83.6%
OU---------------------47.1%-------------63.3%
WVU-------------------44.4%--------------52.6%

Texas loses 3 seniors but returns 9 of their top 10. OSU loses 3 including Bias and Suttles. Baylor loses Sims and Robertson. WVU loses 5 of their top 8. OU loses 4 and 3 are starters.

As of today Texas has the most talent coming in next year and I suspect will be the conference favorite next year with the class they have coming in.

Thoughts?

 

[Mark]

A friend of mine sent me the following information that I thought is very interesting:

I started looking to next year and what the top teams had returning for 2014-15.

Team----------Returning Scoring-----Returning RBs

Texas-----------------92.1%---------------87.8%
OSU-------------------69.1%--------------78.9%
Baylor-----------------56.7%--------------83.6%
OU---------------------47.1%-------------63.3%
WVU-------------------44.4%--------------52.6%

Texas loses 3 seniors but returns 9 of their top 10. OSU loses 3 including Bias and Suttles. Baylor loses Sims and Robertson. WVU loses 5 of their top 8. OU loses 4 and 3 are starters.

As of today Texas has the most talent coming in next year and I suspect will be the conference favorite next year with the class they have coming in.

Thoughts?

They should and most likely will be favorite but we should more than anyone just because you favorite don't mean jack

 

[Mark]

Also Norm I agree that Kaylon will be the difference if she improve and her game to the next level we have a shot to win the big 12 if she don't we don't have a shot. I gave her somewhat a pass because her injury but there is no excuses for the silly fouls she commit.

 

[sybarite]

As of now, I'm not so sure that I wouldn't be playing Kellogg or Gibbs instead of Kay Kay. Sherri is convinced of Kay Kay's talent, and I think she sees a superstar. I see a learning curve that isn't making progress. If anything, Gibbs is more athletic and may actually progress further than Kay Kay if the light doesn't come on. Gibbs is the really good athlete. Kellogg is the steadiest of them right now. I'm really looking at Pierre-Louis for the post. Back-Up?

We had by far the most coming back this year--I think. That doesn't always mean a lot. Baylor without Sims is pretty weak right now. Davis is their only other star. I just don't see the upside in the Texas talent that they think is there. They will return a lot, but it has its limits. They will be a contender, but they won't be a dominant team.

There will be a lot of competition next year. I don't know who will emerge from the pack as starters or as 1-8, which is what we usually play. I do think that it will be the most athletic team that we have ever had. Can it play basketball?

I think we have some givens. We know what some are capable of. We are uncertain of others. I think Sharane, Penzo, and Ortiz are ready to contribute now, and Gioya seems to be in that group. I'm not quite as certain of the others. So much depends on Maddie, and maybe Peyton.

 

[SoonerNorm]

It's hard to tell what to expect from Gibbs and Kellogg in the future for a number of reasons. First, they both need to figure out how to play at this level. Second, as far as a PF is concerned, I have no idea what Sherri really wants at that position. Does she want a taller Shaya type or does she want a guard type like Sharane? What I hope is, she wants a Lauren Cox type player and she signs her.

Perhaps Gibbs can be a backup center if she settles down and plays smart. She does seem to be fairly athletic but she's as green as a gourd.

 

[sybarite]

In the past five games, Kay Kay has nine rebounds. Do you think Gibbs can do any worse?

 

[badger]

In the past five games, Kay Kay has nine rebounds. Do you think Gibbs can do any worse?

That stat makes me cry a little... so does the fact that this thread's title pretty much sums up what happened last night:

NEXT YEAR! Forget this year, it's now about NEXT YEAR!

<sigh>

 

[SoonerNorm]

In the past five games, Kay Kay has nine rebounds. Do you think Gibbs can do any worse?

Yes, I'm pretty sure Sherri would gladly put Gibbs in if she thought for a second we would be better off.