Thoughts about our seniors

[SoonerinNC]

Williams - Finished her career about like her freshman season when she got some starts. I thought she had a good run in the second half of the conference season when she showed a decent shot from long and mid range and cut down her pell-mell drives to the basket.

Gabby - Really a waste of good talent. Was good enough to make a national team after her freshman year. Quick, a very good rebounder for her size and ability to hit treys and free shots. She could have been much better. In the DePaul game she drove to the hoop twice for wide open lay-ups when they crowded her. Then they backed off and she nailed a trey. She could have been a terror on offense if she had used her speed to penetrate more and had used her great touch to develop a mid range shot, possibly a floater. She had a hard time getting open for shots because she didn't offer other challenges to the defense and if she penetrated usually stopped and backed away instead of putting up a short jumper. Played hard and usually left it all on the floor.

Maddie - a real enigma. Hard to know just how good she was. Don't think she ever met many of our posters expectations. Seemed to play hard but very inconsistent. Maybe never really understood her role and maybe we tried to have her fill too many roles for her to really perfect one. Seems to have good shooting range and drives to the hoop well as well as a nice mid-range jumper. Far too many turnovers for her skills. Don't understand that except maybe she tries to drive into too much traffic. Appears to be good on defense and good rebounder. Certainly contributed most of the time and we will miss her.

ViVi - Feel that she developed her game more than any of the other seniors. Slow of foot but developed a quick first step and excellent footwork. Earlier in her career she got stuffed too many times trying to shoot over tall defenders. But particularly this year she did a great job of using her footwork to go around them. Great shot blocker and does a fine job of keeping the ball in play and securing it after the block. If she has a problem in this area it is staying too agressive when she is in foul trouble. We dropped a couple of games because of her foul trouble. Also a very secure rebounder. We will really miss her.

On another note I am warming up to Penzo. She seems to be moving better and there is no question of her great passing ability. She needs to work hard in the off season to develop a better offensive game. She seems to really understand the defense and at times appears to be coaching others on defense.

Ana can be a real star. She moves well and has a good touch but has to improve her long range shooting. Don't know why she misses so many but possibly she is still shooting not to miss. Also she needs to use her body better to protect the ball on her drives and avoid getting her shots blocked. Did a good job in the DePaul game drawing fouls. Must cut down her bad fouls. Very high energy and gets open better than anyone on the team. Just needs to finish better. Her future depends on how hard she is willing to work to become a more complete player.

Pellington is so explosive. She just needs to increase her range and develop better judgment when she penetrates. Also must do a better job of finding open players. There is usually a mob waiting when she penetrates in the half court game so someone has to be open. She has the ability to ultimately carry the team on her back if she develops her game.

Just some thoughts.

 

[j2d2]

Our development program seems to be missing something. And unless and until some defense is taught and insisted upon we wont get where we should.

 

[sybarite]

Williams - Finished her career about like her freshman season when she got some starts. I thought she had a good run in the second half of the conference season when she showed a decent shot from long and mid range and cut down her pell-mell drives to the basket.

Gabby - Really a waste of good talent. Was good enough to make a national team after her freshman year. Quick, a very good rebounder for her size and ability to hit treys and free shots. She could have been much better. In the DePaul game she drove to the hoop twice for wide open lay-ups when they crowded her. Then they backed off and she nailed a trey. She could have been a terror on offense if she had used her speed to penetrate more and had used her great touch to develop a mid range shot, possibly a floater. She had a hard time getting open for shots because she didn't offer other challenges to the defense and if she penetrated usually stopped and backed away instead of putting up a short jumper. Played hard and usually left it all on the floor.

Maddie - a real enigma. Hard to know just how good she was. Don't think she ever met many of our posters expectations. Seemed to play hard but very inconsistent. Maybe never really understood her role and maybe we tried to have her fill too many roles for her to really perfect one. Seems to have good shooting range and drives to the hoop well as well as a nice mid-range jumper. Far too many turnovers for her skills. Don't understand that except maybe she tries to drive into too much traffic. Appears to be good on defense and good rebounder. Certainly contributed most of the time and we will miss her.

ViVi - Feel that she developed her game more than any of the other seniors. Slow of foot but developed a quick first step and excellent footwork. Earlier in her career she got stuffed too many times trying to shoot over tall defenders. But particularly this year she did a great job of using her footwork to go around them. Great shot blocker and does a fine job of keeping the ball in play and securing it after the block. If she has a problem in this area it is staying too agressive when she is in foul trouble. We dropped a couple of games because of her foul trouble. Also a very secure rebounder. We will really miss her.

On another note I am warming up to Penzo. She seems to be moving better and there is no question of her great passing ability. She needs to work hard in the off season to develop a better offensive game. She seems to really understand the defense and at times appears to be coaching others on defense.

Ana can be a real star. She moves well and has a good touch but has to improve her long range shooting. Don't know why she misses so many but possibly she is still shooting not to miss. Also she needs to use her body better to protect the ball on her drives and avoid getting her shots blocked. Did a good job in the DePaul game drawing fouls. Must cut down her bad fouls. Very high energy and gets open better than anyone on the team. Just needs to finish better. Her future depends on how hard she is willing to work to become a more complete player.

Pellington is so explosive. She just needs to increase her range and develop better judgment when she penetrates. Also must do a better job of finding open players. There is usually a mob waiting when she penetrates in the half court game so someone has to be open. She has the ability to ultimately carry the team on her back if she develops her game.

Just some thoughts.

Good thoughts. I had the impression that Williams was good if we got into an open-court game. She was quick. She wasn't all that good at the defense that could generate a open-court game, and she was limited in a half-court game. Tried at times to play taller, just couldn't grow another three inches.

Maddie was a huge disappointment. She was a good player who could have been great. I don't know how much her injuries and her mononucleosis affected her. It did seem that Maddie was very effective, almost unstoppable, if she was relaxed and in the flow. She was not good if she was forcing the issue. Sherri wanted Maddie to shoot more. I think the way to do that was to play good defense, which got Maddie into the flow of things, and let Maddie operate in the flow of the game that defense and movement created. If you just stood around and waited for Maddie to shoot a three, bad idea. At times, she did take over a game for a few moments. She could generate ten points in two minutes by steals, a pass here, a shot there. I worry that we will force Ana to shoot.

Ana is a natural shooter. But, she seems to be stiffer if she is shooting because we are asking her to shoot. Again, get the flow of the game going. She likes to shoot, but shouldn't be shooting because she is supposed to. Yes, she does have a difficult time learning not to use her hands to slap on defense. Really hurts.

EJ shows flashes. But, she also shows periods or games of total incompetence. She is an athlete, and she can do it. It didn't come natural, a problem with late-blooming centers. She won't replace Vivi who could do it all. But,, Vivi had lapses in judgement. Brilliant minds don't always think on court. I wish EJ would simply concentrate on position defense and rebounding. Get a gimme chip if available.

Shaina can be as good as she wants to be. Nothing else need be said. I wonder if she will be a point guard when Tatum arrives. Tatum is more of a point type. I'd like to see Tatum as the point, and Shaina as a ball hawk on both ends. Find ways to explode on court.

We recruited Gabbi as a point. We found that she really wasn't one. We ended up using Maddie, Penzo, and how many others because Gabbi really wasn't a point. She was a 5-8 shooting guard who wasn't Aaryn.

I am looking at Taylor with great curiosity. How do you shoot 57% from three. We have never had a solid three-point shooter who was a threat to hit fifty percent.

 

[sooner8693]

Good thoughts. I had the impression that Williams was good if we got into an open-court game. She was quick. She wasn't all that good at the defense that could generate a open-court game, and she was limited in a half-court game. Tried at times to play taller, just couldn't grow another three inches.

Maddie was a huge disappointment. She was a good player who could have been great. I don't know how much her injuries and her mononucleosis affected her. It did seem that Maddie was very effective, almost unstoppable, if she was relaxed and in the flow. She was not good if she was forcing the issue. Sherri wanted Maddie to shoot more. I think the way to do that was to play good defense, which got Maddie into the flow of things, and let Maddie operate in the flow of the game that defense and movement created. If you just stood around and waited for Maddie to shoot a three, bad idea. At times, she did take over a game for a few moments. She could generate ten points in two minutes by steals, a pass here, a shot there. I worry that we will force Ana to shoot.

Ana is a natural shooter. But, she seems to be stiffer if she is shooting because we are asking her to shoot. Again, get the flow of the game going. She likes to shoot, but shouldn't be shooting because she is supposed to. Yes, she does have a difficult time learning not to use her hands to slap on defense. Really hurts.

EJ shows flashes. But, she also shows periods or games of total incompetence. She is an athlete, and she can do it. It didn't come natural, a problem with late-blooming centers. She won't replace Vivi who could do it all. But,, Vivi had lapses in judgement. Brilliant minds don't always think on court. I wish EJ would simply concentrate on position defense and rebounding. Get a gimme chip if available.

Shaina can be as good as she wants to be. Nothing else need be said. I wonder if she will be a point guard when Tatum arrives. Tatum is more of a point type. I'd like to see Tatum as the point, and Shaina as a ball hawk on both ends. Find ways to explode on court.

We recruited Gabbi as a point. We found that she really wasn't one. We ended up using Maddie, Penzo, and how many others because Gabbi really wasn't a point. She was a 5-8 shooting guard who wasn't Aaryn.

I am looking at Taylor with great curiosity. How do you shoot 57% from three. We have never had a solid three-point shooter who was a threat to hit fifty percent.

I assume you are referencing Taylor Robertson of McPherson, Ks. A couple of months ago, talked to John Ontjes, former OU player and head coach at Hutch Juco women's team. He is very familiar with Taylor. McPherson is only about 30 miles north of Hutch. Specifically asked him about Taylor. He said, she is a tough, hard-nosed, gives 110%, motor runs wide open all the time with a very good 3pt shot. However, he thinks her foot speed and overall quickness may be lacking for a major contribution at the D-1 level. That is just his opinion. Maybe a 3pt role player will be where she helps this team/program.

 

[sybarite]

That may be true, and I have read other reports with the same opinions. I prefer to wait to see what she does on the court. Some fast people don't have fast minds to go with it. Some less quick people seem to be extremely quick at decision-making on a court.

I was always amazed when I read that Little Joe was 4.6 or 4.7 in the 40. Ever seen anyone catch him from behind?

 

[Soonerguy06]

I agree with the previous quote about Taylor. I watched several clips of recent footage on her and believe she is a little slow, a little out of shape, and a little lacking athletically for the D1 game. I really really hope she works on her athleticism and Fitness in the offseason before because with those hands and that shooting ability she could be a monster if she only works on the rest. I'm curious as to how effective she, veitenheimer, and Mercer will be. They could all three be significant contributors, or they could all three be the type of player that was great in high school, showed promise but just wasn't Division 1 caliber. I hope not. Lampkin looks like she is seriously underrated and could be a major contributor along with Williams. But, I wonder why she is so underrated? Is there something about her I'm not seeing? Is she terribly inconsistent? I think Anna and Shana improving, Madi Williams being herself, Lampkin being as good as I think she is could really be four solid competitive-with-anyone on any team type of players. Which is seriously exciting. Just don't know about Who our big girl will be, which is seriously concerning. I believe EJ has the natural athleticism but lacks time in the game, which is holding her back offensively. I always thought she had a similar build to the Ogwumike sisters from Stanford, but just does not have the offensive ability. If she seriously works on this in the off-season and improves in her last year like Abi Olajuwon did for us, we could have a seriously decent team next year! Also, curious as to if Morgan Rich will actually contribute. Time will tell, can't wait for November to come!!

 

[sybarite]

I think Tatum was the MVP of her AAU team that won some sort of national title. Seems to be several national titles. But, she is effective at the AAU level. Being also a multisport star, she has some athleticism.

We hear a lot about athleticism. Can they play at the D1 level? We have several guys on the men's team that are good athletes. But, they struggle as basketball players. Sometimes, someone who knows that they are doing on the court appears to be quite athletic because they are effective. They can make a better "athlete" look silly.

Let's make sure that we recruit basketball players, like people who are good at basic skills. It would be nice if they could learn to shoot free throws, or simply learn to shoot.

I'd like to have some people who can put the ball through the basket, maybe, grab a rebound here and there. How many games would we have won if we had simply had someone to break a run by hitting a shot, any shot?

 

[Hoopdreams79]

I got this from skilled in that he felt Veitenheimer could be the most significant player for OU...in film she is playing many all Americans and scoring against kids like Nalyssa smith. Liz Scott, Nyah green Zay Green, these are just some iI recognize I’m sure there are more because there are other good kids on these kids teams
https://youtu.be/-LxD--PqZ88
point being she didn’t get scholarship offers or most kids don’t from being good in hs...the best thing about her is her ability to make good players even better...and she thrives on it. I will be excited to watch at next level. But truth is most the kids that played at high aau level will be better prepared for what’s to come but really everyone will have a tough adjustment it’s just part of process.

 

[sybarite]

Please don't tell skilled that I agree with him on anything.

 

[Hoopdreams79]

Please don't tell skilled that I agree with him on anything.

Syb your secret is safe with me.