Ranking comparisons

[atlantasooner]

Norm,
the ceiling on the 2014-15 squad might be determined by the young posts and Kaylon.
Vionese looked great on film prior to the injury.

 

[sybarite]

For some reason, I see a lot of difference between Tennessee's #1s and UConn or ND's #1s. I have seen nothing in Massingale or Burdick that compares to Stewart, or even a #4 in McBride for that matter. Duke, which apparently has a lot of McDonald's All-Americans has not impressed me in recent years like ND or UConn. ND was undefeated in the ACC, and Miami won the ACC a couple of years ago without any McDonald's AAs as I remember.

Does the Bobby Burton effect enter the picture here? Are these McDonald's All-Americans before or after they are recruited by these schools? There appears to be a disparity in that UConn's AAs are really good. Geno and Muffet seem to know which ones you can win games with. Or, is it that they are AAs because Duke, ND, and UConn want them?

As I looked through the list of McDonald's All-Americans for the past four years, there are quite a number that I haven't heard of since. Some, like Fortran and the Alabama player transferred somewhere. But, some just don't seem to have lived up to their billing. Of course, not everyone at UConn does either. Where did Walker go?

There is also another factor. A lot of these kids are good. But, ND and UConn seem to have the difference-makers. If you had a team of Hartleys and Dolsons, I think you would be pretty good. But, it is the Stewart. Mosqueda-Lewis, Loyd, and McBride types that take you to the top. Of OU's McDonald's All-Americans, only Courtney was someone who was the type to get you to the top level. Abi, Ashley, Amanda, and Aaryn (all A's?) were nice players, but they weren't going to be that one who got you over the hump.

Curiously, I can see Maddie as that type of player. If Kornet could hit her shots like she did when she was MVP of that all-American game, she might be one. I don't know about Little. I get the feeling that they can be nice players, but only Maddie seems to be one that could get you to the next level. I'm not sure I saw that in Ortiz. I think she will be very good, but I'm not sure she can be THE difference-maker. I wonder about Vionese and Penzo.

I never felt that Duke or Tennessee was much better than we were. We just didn't play well when we played them. This particular team didn't have the DRob type or Jo-type that fought you for the win. We left close games on the table.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Norm,
the ceiling on the 2014-15 squad might be determined by the young posts and Kaylon.
Vionese looked great on film prior to the injury.

It is very encouraging when I read comments like these from Full Court:

Vionise Pierre-Louis, 6-3 center, Essence Purple (Lake Worth FL)

Pierre-Louis was our Full Court unofficial event MVP. Why? Consistency. Game after game, she did her job (posting up hard on offense, hitting some face-up shots, rebounding, making a few high-low passes and finally defending her opposite number at the other end of the court). To cap these off, she led her team with 18 points in the final win over Central Florida Elite 2014.

I liked the youtube clip we saw of her too but those can be very deceiving. You can take Gibbs and make a vido clip that makes her look like an All-American. Videos are beneficial to show off a person's ability to handle the ball, pass, jumping ability, etc but honestly, the shooting videos are pretty worthless to me. They never show the shots that were missed. If I'm not mistaken, Vionise is coming from a 2-A school which can inflate her stats. I believe Gibbs had similar stats to Vionise when she was in high school.

Believe me, I hope that ViVi is a great center at OU. But, when other coaches from top programs don't show interest, it makes me wonder why. The bottom line, I am cautiously optimistic. Optimistic that she is really good and optimistic that she will be 100% healthy.

 

[sybarite]

If there is any validity to their score-keeping, I would love to see Vionese continue her FG% of around 78% in college along with her senior free throw percentage of about 73%. Around five blocks a game might be expected in a small school conference with a 6-4 post, but only four turnovers as a senior?

I'm also curious that she was 8 for 16 from three point range as a junior.

I also see that she won the Florida Player of the Year with some Dairy Farmers Association in a close vote with Mompremier(sp?), the center from MIami.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Taking a look at some of the recent Texas recruits.

2013

Nekia Jones: Ranked #7 at her position

2014

Ariel Atkins: Ranked #1 at her position
Brooke McCarty: Ranked #6 at her position

2015

Jordan Hosey: Ranked #3 at her position
Lashann Higgs: Ranked #5 at her position

 

[atlantasooner]

syb,
I think women's recruiting rankings probably have some regional bias in there.
AAU impact over the last ten years seems to have increased greatly.
Early offers from Uconn, Tenn, Stanford, ND probably put some players onto the radar.
But the top 15/20 kids are generally going to be without such biases.
I mean a girl from a Nebraska HS is in the top ten and she's going to Nebraska.

 

[atlantasooner]

Norm,
Mainly on the youtube clips I'm looking for the level of athleticism. How fluid an athlete the prospect appears to be. Awkward/lumbering factor. Especially with post players.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Norm,
Mainly on the youtube clips I'm looking for the level of athleticism. How fluid an athlete the prospect appears to be. Awkward/lumbering factor. Especially with post players.

You bet! I couldn't agree more.

 

[sybarite]

syb,
I think women's recruiting rankings probably have some regional bias in there.
AAU impact over the last ten years seems to have increased greatly.
Early offers from Uconn, Tenn, Stanford, ND probably put some players onto the radar.
But the top 15/20 kids are generally going to be without such biases.
I mean a girl from a Nebraska HS is in the top ten and she's going to Nebraska.

There does appear to be in the neighborhood of five to eight players who do stand out, maybe twenty-five who are probably pretty certain to end up as starters. I think there are probably two or three McDonald's All-Americans who may not see a starting role.

Kai James was a McDonald's All-American last year, and I watched her get completely outplayed by Kellogg. James hardly seemed to play at FSU when I looked at their stats. She played 11.2 minutes/game, averaged 3.8 and 3.1 reb. That's not much for a McDonald's All-American at FSU. You would think it would be at least eight or nine points and rebounds.

It does seem to me that once you get past those top 20-25, there are a lot of misses. Teams like Kansas State, Iowa State, and OSU end up pretty good, and they hardly ever get anyone ranked that highly. It is difficult to beat UConn or ND without some stars, but Duke and Tennessee can't do it with their stars. I would like to have at least two or three that were in the top twenty with some good, stable role players. That would probably make us competitive with the best.

 

[atlantasooner]

syb,
I think post players are probably the one area where the recruiting rankings miss the most.
They are usually projecting more on potential than actuality than the other positions.
The amazing disparity in women's hoops HS programs probably does not help either. A player like Kai has dominated in HS due to playing no one her size/athleticism in HS.
Gets to college, and struggles with the adjustment.
I see the same phenomenon in football recruiting with top OL. Top guys maxed out in size/strength never adjust to finally meeting their physical match and develop OL technique.

 

[sybarite]

syb,
I think post players are probably the one area where the recruiting rankings miss the most.
They are usually projecting more on potential than actuality than the other positions.
The amazing disparity in women's hoops HS programs probably does not help either. A player like Kai has dominated in HS due to playing no one her size/athleticism in HS.
Gets to college, and struggles with the adjustment.
I see the same phenomenon in football recruiting with top OL. Top guys maxed out in size/strength never adjust to finally meeting their physical match and develop OL technique.

This is probably true. But, I also think that there is a tendency to think that someone is quick enough to play in D-1 when they might have been in the past. You are quick, until you run into a DRob. It is also difficult to assess how someone will respond to the intensity of D-1.

 

[scrybe]

Some of you don't seem overly impressed, but I'd have to call our overall player rankings pretty darn good.

#3 PG (13th best player overall).
#4 G (16th best player overall).
#8 G (30th best player overall).
#6 G (20th best player overall).
#11 G (34th best player overall)
#16 PF
#16 P … and so on.

May not be quite up to UConn or ND standards, but how many schools in the country would love to have players the caliber of those on OU's roster? I believe we've gone to the FF with teams (players) that were not rated higher than this one overall. I'm sure I'll be corrected.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Some of you don't seem overly impressed, but I'd have to call our overall player rankings pretty darn good.

#3 PG (13th best player overall).
#4 G (16th best player overall).
#8 G (30th best player overall).
#6 G (20th best player overall).
#11 G (34th best player overall)
#16 PF
#16 P … and so on.

May not be quite up to UConn or ND standards, but how many schools in the country would love to have players the caliber of those on OU's roster? I believe we've gone to the FF with teams (players) that were not rated higher than this one overall. I'm sure I'll be corrected.

I doubt this team will make it to the final four but I sure hope you're right!

 

[scrybe]

I doubt this team will make it to the final four but I sure hope you're right!

LOL! Not what I said (or implied), Norm. Just saying, we've been to the FF with less highly-rated players than we'll have this season.

The key, of course, includes factors such as: how well (and how fast) the players develop after they arrive here; team chemistry; having one or two really strong team leaders on the squad; et al.