[BosCard]

P.S.  Prechtel has been relegated to an afterthought.  My sense is that Ashten feels she needs to score in the first half minute or two she is allocated, lest she won't play again.  Thus, she takes a looooong trey (didn't go, but almost did) and that was that.  Belibi and Kiki are playing reasonably well, so that's good.  Hopefully we won't need a bench player going off from long range in Elite 8 to advance to FF this year (though I guess Jump is technically a bench player now, but teams rarely lose sight of her).

Still haven't had a chance to watch this game yet, but as to this point, to the degree this is an accurate characterization (and I somewhat disagree with it), the problem is that Prechtel is effectively fourth in our post rotation for the 5, behind Brink, Belibi, and Iriafen.  Prechtel is a pretty good shot blocker, but she has buttery hands for holding onto rebounds, and she fouls quite frequently when defending in/around the paint. I don't blame Tara for generally not wanting to give her the 5 assignment.

The other big problem is that there's not really a lot of room for her as a high post 4 or stretch-four, because the 4 is often held down by Jones in any starting lineup with the Hulls + Wilson or Jump. We simply have too many guards (Wilson, Hulls, Jump, JVG) who can hit the outside shot, and Jones can not only hold down the high post as a 4 but can also pass or drive to the basket more like a 2.

In short, there's not really one thing Prechtel does better than anyone (or two) on the team, and for whatever reason, she has not developed the same kind of defensive (or offensive) paint presence that Belibi and now even Iriafen have.  I really like Prechtel a lot, and appreciate her versatile tool kit, but there's just not a ton for her to do with our current rotation.

+1

Despite her height and size, Prechtel's top offensive skill is shooting the three, rather than posting up and scoring in the paint. Unfortunately for her, we already have a plethora of three point shooters in our guards and wings and they have the quickness and speed to guard their counterpart on the other team.

If we have her in, then we potentially take away an interior scoring threat and make ourselves more dependent on outside shooting unless Tara wants to go with a bigger lineup.

Agree about Prechtel on offense but also think the defensive matchups matter.  Prechtel is a pretty good defender against big less mobile posts who shoot most of their shots in the paint.  She is strong and long.  However, she struggles against mobile posts like Maryland’s Reese or getting out to posts who shoot 3’s or even worse getting switched to a guard and having to guard against a drive.  In contrast, Brink, Belibi and Iriafen have the footspeed to stay in front of or block the shots of mobile posts or guards on the perimeter.

[BosCard]

P.S.  Prechtel has been relegated to an afterthought.  My sense is that Ashten feels she needs to score in the first half minute or two she is allocated, lest she won't play again.  Thus, she takes a looooong trey (didn't go, but almost did) and that was that.  Belibi and Kiki are playing reasonably well, so that's good.  Hopefully we won't need a bench player going off from long range in Elite 8 to advance to FF this year (though I guess Jump is technically a bench player now, but teams rarely lose sight of her).

Still haven't had a chance to watch this game yet, but as to this point, to the degree this is an accurate characterization (and I somewhat disagree with it), the problem is that Prechtel is effectively fourth in our post rotation for the 5, behind Brink, Belibi, and Iriafen.  Prechtel is a pretty good shot blocker, but she has buttery hands for holding onto rebounds, and she fouls quite frequently when defending in/around the paint. I don't blame Tara for generally not wanting to give her the 5 assignment.

The other big problem is that there's not really a lot of room for her as a high post 4 or stretch-four, because the 4 is often held down by Jones in any starting lineup with the Hulls + Wilson or Jump. We simply have too many guards (Wilson, Hulls, Jump, JVG) who can hit the outside shot, and Jones can not only hold down the high post as a 4 but can also pass or drive to the basket more like a 2.

In short, there's not really one thing Prechtel does better than anyone (or two) on the team, and for whatever reason, she has not developed the same kind of defensive (or offensive) paint presence that Belibi and now even Iriafen have.  I really like Prechtel a lot, and appreciate her versatile tool kit, but there's just not a ton for her to do with our current rotation.

+1

Despite her height and size, Prechtel's top offensive skill is shooting the three, rather than posting up and scoring in the paint. Unfortunately for her, we already have a plethora of three point shooters in our guards and wings and they have the quickness and speed to guard their counterpart on the other team.

If we have her in, then we potentially take away an interior scoring threat and make ourselves more dependent on outside shooting unless Tara wants to go with a bigger lineup.

Agree about Prechtel on offense but also think the defensive matchups matter.  Prechtel is a pretty good defender against big less mobile posts who shoot most of their shots in the paint.  She is strong and long.  However, she struggles against mobile posts like Maryland’s Reese or getting out to posts who shoot 3’s or even worse getting switched to a guard and having to guard against a drive.  In contrast, Brink, Belibi and Iriafen have the footspeed to stay in front of or block the shots of mobile posts or guards on the perimeter.