10-31-2021, 04:32 PM
Not much to quibble about from the posts above. Agree with the takes. Overall I have always found these open practices/scrimmages to be a bit on the ugly side offensively for the reasons stated above - team knows each other and all the plays so well that the defense has an advantage. I don't put a ton of stock in how the day went other than to see what skills a player may have improved or added. The returning players who played a lot mostly looked fine, even if some did not have the best day hitting shots or had a few turnovers. They were subbed in and out so much it may have been hard to get a rhythm.
Belibi definitely improved her mid-range shooting. She scored a lot in the scrimmage on a variety of moves to get around her defender and a few mid-range shots that she did not hit last season. She looked good. If she plays this way, she will play a lot. We have a wealth of talent inside. When the team split into bigs and wings/guards, the five who were in the post group (pre-scrimmage) were Brink, Belibi, Prechtel, Iriafen and Demetre. That puts Jones, who played the 4 some last year, and Jerome, who filled in at the post last season, with the wings, which I thought interesting.
Agree about Iriafen. She looked very, very promising. She finished tough with contact, really worked hard, and I don't recall her turning the ball over too much while trying to work inside. I did not notice Demetre so much, but that may reflect on my attention, not her play. She took a few nice looking threes and made one or two I believe. I do think it may be tough for her to get that much playing time given the number of experienced 3/4 players on the roster.
Bosgona is an interesting player. She is really lanky and tall for a guard but seems pretty quick for her height. I think she has some adjusting to do, as do most frosh, but she can shoot threes and drive (she was a bit wild finishing some of them today and missed), and if she can get her ballhandling a bit better, she may turn out to be quite good.
Also have to agree Hamilton had a rough day. She is not that tall, so some of our taller guard defenders like Emma-Nnopu gave her trouble. I don't want to judge harshly on one scrimmage, plus she is still learning our system, so wait and see is what I think. Van Gytenbeek did better I thought. Generally there were more turnovers than we would want to see in a real game, and she had a few, but mostly she looked ok, moved the ball quickly, all that, though I don't recall her scoring much. That is one area I do worry about - who will score of our guards. Shouldn't be an issue, even if whoever plays the point is not a big scorer, because we have so many capable scorers at other positions, as long as the pg is a threat who must be guarded. We did not get to see Wilson run the show. she did all the warm ups and looked basically ok with no limp, brace, boot, or whatever, but did not play the scrimmage. We also did not get to see Harriel, who also looked basically ok and did all the full speed drills I believe, but did not play in the scrimmage.
What else? The Hulls did their thing - tons of hustle, steals, drives, tight D, all that. Prechtel looked fine, the jump hook maybe a nice addition. Jones did not have her best game at all, tried some drives that produced tough shots that did not go in, but did make a three or two and otherwise was fine. We know what she can do. Same with Brink, who as mentioned above, did appear frustrated with the reffing. She made some nice plays and did score, so not a bad day, just not a really good one. Our bigs make things very hard for each other. they play tough. Jump was relatively quiet. she does look in even better shape, and I think we know what she is capable of doing.
Emma-Nnopu might have been the star of the show along with Belibi and maybe Iriafen. She really worked hard on defense to great effect, and made some nice looking threes. If she can shoot like that when it counts, she may find some minutes, even with such a deep roster.
Not sure if I missed anyone. Poor Brown did not participate in any of the drills, and after all this time I doubt she is able to contribute this season. Will it be her last? A shame if so. My only disappointment, other than the two who did not play and seeing that Brown was still rehabbing, was the Tara talk at the end was three minutes and see ya next game. I hoped for some Q&A or more info on how she sees the team shaping up.
Belibi definitely improved her mid-range shooting. She scored a lot in the scrimmage on a variety of moves to get around her defender and a few mid-range shots that she did not hit last season. She looked good. If she plays this way, she will play a lot. We have a wealth of talent inside. When the team split into bigs and wings/guards, the five who were in the post group (pre-scrimmage) were Brink, Belibi, Prechtel, Iriafen and Demetre. That puts Jones, who played the 4 some last year, and Jerome, who filled in at the post last season, with the wings, which I thought interesting.
Agree about Iriafen. She looked very, very promising. She finished tough with contact, really worked hard, and I don't recall her turning the ball over too much while trying to work inside. I did not notice Demetre so much, but that may reflect on my attention, not her play. She took a few nice looking threes and made one or two I believe. I do think it may be tough for her to get that much playing time given the number of experienced 3/4 players on the roster.
Bosgona is an interesting player. She is really lanky and tall for a guard but seems pretty quick for her height. I think she has some adjusting to do, as do most frosh, but she can shoot threes and drive (she was a bit wild finishing some of them today and missed), and if she can get her ballhandling a bit better, she may turn out to be quite good.
Also have to agree Hamilton had a rough day. She is not that tall, so some of our taller guard defenders like Emma-Nnopu gave her trouble. I don't want to judge harshly on one scrimmage, plus she is still learning our system, so wait and see is what I think. Van Gytenbeek did better I thought. Generally there were more turnovers than we would want to see in a real game, and she had a few, but mostly she looked ok, moved the ball quickly, all that, though I don't recall her scoring much. That is one area I do worry about - who will score of our guards. Shouldn't be an issue, even if whoever plays the point is not a big scorer, because we have so many capable scorers at other positions, as long as the pg is a threat who must be guarded. We did not get to see Wilson run the show. she did all the warm ups and looked basically ok with no limp, brace, boot, or whatever, but did not play the scrimmage. We also did not get to see Harriel, who also looked basically ok and did all the full speed drills I believe, but did not play in the scrimmage.
What else? The Hulls did their thing - tons of hustle, steals, drives, tight D, all that. Prechtel looked fine, the jump hook maybe a nice addition. Jones did not have her best game at all, tried some drives that produced tough shots that did not go in, but did make a three or two and otherwise was fine. We know what she can do. Same with Brink, who as mentioned above, did appear frustrated with the reffing. She made some nice plays and did score, so not a bad day, just not a really good one. Our bigs make things very hard for each other. they play tough. Jump was relatively quiet. she does look in even better shape, and I think we know what she is capable of doing.
Emma-Nnopu might have been the star of the show along with Belibi and maybe Iriafen. She really worked hard on defense to great effect, and made some nice looking threes. If she can shoot like that when it counts, she may find some minutes, even with such a deep roster.
Not sure if I missed anyone. Poor Brown did not participate in any of the drills, and after all this time I doubt she is able to contribute this season. Will it be her last? A shame if so. My only disappointment, other than the two who did not play and seeing that Brown was still rehabbing, was the Tara talk at the end was three minutes and see ya next game. I hoped for some Q&A or more info on how she sees the team shaping up.