Possible changes in lineup

[SoonerNorm]

As others have said, I think Gioya is on the verge of losing her starting job. She has not yet picked up where she left off last year and I think Kornet, LaNesia, and Maddie are all candidates to start in her place.

I also think the battle at the 5 is very close and Kaylon should be concerned about losing her job as well. You cannot take yourself out of games in 13 minutes with foul trouble as she did last night. It appears she didn't improve in that area in the off season. I would say she and Treece are neck and neck right now. I know Sherri will go with experience as long as she can but, she needs to look at the long run as well and Treece is off to a very good start for a freshman and shows a lot of court savvy for a young player. Treece moves better than I anticipated and it appears she has had good coaching in the past as she knows how to defend and position herself to fight for rebounds. Now, perhaps she won't play as well against better competition but so far, so good! I don't think ViVi has fully recovered but she is playing well too.

LaNesia is the biggest surprise of the freshmen. She is a pretty good ball handler and her attacking style is just what we need. Even if she continues to come off the bench, she is a real asset.

I don't have a clue where this team will finish in the conference or nationally but they can do some good things if they continue to improve.

 

[bluesooner17]

I agree that Gioya is having problems and so far Kornet has been off the bench to replace her. With that said the second half of the Lamar game saw LaNesia there so I also believe LaNesia will be the replacement.

The battle for the 5 is mystery to me. Kaylon, as you stated, doesn't seem to get it yet so not sure if one of the other 2 will take her place though. The mystery here to me is why does Sherri keep going with Pierre-Louis first off the bench. She got winded badly in the second half and couldn't make it up and down the court so Sherri brought in Treece. Hopefully Pierre-Louis can get her game conditioning back, but it is almost like Sherri doesn't trust Treece yet to give her quality minutes.

Totally agree with LaNesia being the biggest surprise so far and kind of reminds me of what I seen with Walker her freshman year at A&M. LaNesia in these first two games is demanding more minutes so we will see what Sherri does.

After watching Baylor and Kentucky I believe that game will tell us where we are at so far this year, but only time will tell.

 

[atlantasooner]

Personally I'd start Manning or Kornet over Carter, at least right now.
Kornet is shooting well, while Manning provides Point Wing support for
Ortiz early in the game.
Bring LaNesia as the Vinnie Johnson like scoring option off the bench.
What I like as opposed to years past Sherri has real options if a player's outside
shot is cold. If you start 0-5, you might not get back on the court. Last two years,
if Vegas was cold, OU was done.

I think Vivi is ahead of Treece but for obvious reasons Treece is in better condition.
So I think it comes down to the level of foul trouble for Kaylon. I do think by the end
of the season the post positions may be in the best talent/depth shape since the Paris
twins were on campus.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I'm comfortable with any of the three bigs in the game. Too bad none of them is a 4 but I don't think Sherri likes using a 4.

KayKay gets by on speed and strength and the other two are space eaters and solid rebounders.

Looks like Lamar broke down our defensive scheme by taking their big outside and forcing our big to move away from the hoop. Maybe we should have gone into a zone, particularly the 1-3-1 press to counteract that.

Best though is to adjust your man defense to retain your help and we must keep the ball in front of us better.

 

[j2d2]

I think Maddie is such a good player that all she needs is time on the court to regain her confidence in her wheels and get her conditioning back. So she needs to play.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I agree that Gioya is having problems and so far Kornet has been off the bench to replace her. With that said the second half of the Lamar game saw LaNesia there so I also believe LaNesia will be the replacement.

The battle for the 5 is mystery to me. Kaylon, as you stated, doesn't seem to get it yet so not sure if one of the other 2 will take her place though. The mystery here to me is why does Sherri keep going with Pierre-Louis first off the bench. She got winded badly in the second half and couldn't make it up and down the court so Sherri brought in Treece. Hopefully Pierre-Louis can get her game conditioning back, but it is almost like Sherri doesn't trust Treece yet to give her quality minutes.

Totally agree with LaNesia being the biggest surprise so far and kind of reminds me of what I seen with Walker her freshman year at A&M. LaNesia in these first two games is demanding more minutes so we will see what Sherri does.

After watching Baylor and Kentucky I believe that game will tell us where we are at so far this year, but only time will tell.

You bet! If we can hold our own against Ky, I will be very happy. Right now, we don't know how good we are. We will after that game.

 

[SoonerinNC]

It will be interesting to see if Sherri develops a sub pattern like Kruger does. Normally Sherri's style is to put 5 out there and leave them in unless they get in foul trouble.

I like Maddie as a backup point and wing. A rotation of Ortiz, Little, Maddie, Kornet and Williams could develop. Campbell-Olds with Carter backing her up. Don't know exactly how Derica fits in. Also you have Kellogg coming back at some point.

We don't have a true 4 so we are undersized so that makes it more important to use a lot of pressure on defense; half court and full court. We need to make it hard to get a strong inside game going.

If Sherri doesn't use her depth this year she never will.

 

[SoonerNorm]

It will be interesting to see if Sherri develops a sub pattern like Kruger does. Normally Sherri's style is to put 5 out there and leave them in unless they get in foul trouble.

I like Maddie as a backup point and wing. A rotation of Ortiz, Little, Maddie, Kornet and Williams could develop. Campbell-Olds with Carter backing her up. Don't know exactly how Derica fits in. Also you have Kellogg coming back at some point.

We don't have a true 4 so we are undersized so that makes it more important to use a lot of pressure on defense; half court and full court. We need to make it hard to get a strong inside game going.

If Sherri doesn't use her depth this year she never will.

That is the reason I really hope Maddie steps up her game. She is 6'2" which gives us more height/length in the lineup.

 

[brokebacksooner]

I don't remember who said it; maybe it was Tubbs; but one thing that sticks in my mind is "it's not who starts; it's who finishes".

 

[scrybe]

I don't remember who said it; maybe it was Tubbs; but one thing that sticks in my mind is "it's not who starts; it's who finishes".

I believe you hit the nail on the head, ye of the crooked spine. I believe we get too hung up on who starts, when in reality, our lineup this season will demand that playing time is spread between as many as 10 – maybe more – Sooners.

I didn't get to watch the Lamar game, but I firmly believe Sherri knows she's got a capable bench and she'll use whoever is effective from one game to the next.

 

[sybarite]

Whitney finishes the games for now.

 

[keysersose]

That is the reason I really hope Maddie steps up her game. She is 6'2" which gives us more height/length in the lineup.

It appears to me that Sherri is taking Maddie slow to ensure that she avoids further injury to her knees. In the motion offense, she is able to make passes that none of the others are able to make because she's so tall. If her knees hold up, I'd look for her to be on the court a lot.

 

[SoonerNorm]

It appears to me that Sherri is taking Maddie slow to ensure that she avoids further injury to her knees. In the motion offense, she is able to make passes that none of the others are able to make because she's so tall. If her knees hold up, I'd look for her to be on the court a lot.

You very could be right. We have not seen Maddie go as hard as other players and perhaps Sherri has told her to tap the brakes for the first few games and take it easy. I'm really pulling for that girl after all she's been through.