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03-30-2024, 11:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-30-2024, 11:30 PM by
81alum.)
The NYT article is dead wrong about Agara. Agara is an excellent offensive player, particularly around the basket (52% overall shooting) but also with three point shooting at 35%. She just played limited minutes. But she is really not a guard in size and temperament. She seems more like a wing or a stretch four.
Many hopes do rest on Ogden. Her reputation coming out of high school was as an excellent jump shooter. Early in the season I saw her drain a dozen threes during practice without a miss--without even scraping the rim. But her fabulous stroke and accuracy has not shown up so much in games. She also seems to get a little wild when driving to the basket. Her defense seems to have come along this year but has further to go. I think she needs more confidence, which may come from more playing time and an off season of weight training etc.
Clardy could also be terrific if she takes 1000 jumpshots a day from now to November. She has great body control and can certainly take it to the basket--she is the slasher you all want to see. Problem is that she has not shown much of a jump shot at all this year.
It might be a bit much to hope that all three make gigantic freshmen to sophomore improvements, but probably at least one will.
Then we have the three freshmen coming in. It is the lowest ranked class in quite some time, but Tara quite often finds some gems in the rough, as with Lili Thompson. A plausible case could be made that any of these three could have a big impact.
Shay Ijiwoye is a "true point guard" according to Tara, at only 5'6". We have to see if she can shoot the ball better than the alternatives.
Harper Peterson, a 6'3" forward, has an excellent three point shot and was described by Tara as a stretch 4. She could challenge Demetre.
Kennedy Umeh, a 6'4" center, is a "throwback post player" according to Tara, a true center with back-to-the-basket moves. No one is going to replace Brink, but Umeh is at a minimum going to give us defensive presence. She might free up Iriafen to continue playing the 4 more and the 5 less.
If I keep the rose colored glasses on for a bit longer, Lepolo could come back stronger and better after knee surgery, and Harriel might use the off season to improve too, though she has been around for long enough that I suspect we have seen close to her best. Fabulous three point shooter, but she has not shown the inclination to drive in traffic. Demetre did not take many shots because (I suspect) she thought she had to get it in to Brink and Iriafen first, and so almost her only shots were at the end of the clock. She has shown much more ability than was apparent at times late in the season. She can shoot over anyone of equal height or less, given her release, even if she is guarded. But despite that incredible release she doesn't seem to take advantage of it and passes rather than shoots when "covered." She could improve a lot just with a change in mindset--a healthy dose of aggression.
Not all those optimistic things will happen, but it is likely that a couple of them will. Many, many times in the past, however, I have bemoaned our chances in the following year only for Tara to surprise me. This was one of those years--we did overachieve after the catastrophes at the end of last season.
The year after Chiney graduated (2014-15) looked to be bleak too, and we did lose 10 games that year. But we won the Pac 12 tournament and got to the sweet 16. Tara ditched the triangle and installed a guard oriented offense to feature Lili Thompson and Amber Orrange. But we lost a lot of games while the team jelled. Still, not a bad result under the circumstances.
On the other hand, Chiney's senior year (2013-14) might be similar to Iriafen's senior year. Just as Iriafen will be the focus of everyone's attention, so was Chiney. It was a pretty one dimensional team, which Tara once called "Chiney and the Chinettes" meaning that we needed more than just Chiney. But we were 33-4 and made it to the final four. Amber Orrange was still not much of a three point threat (and oh how this board critiqued her), Sara James and Toni Kokenis were both physically hobbled, and we had the Samuelsons, although Karlie was a freshman and sometimes played like it. Somehow that team came together.
