Again, pure speculation on my part, but this conversation reminds me of a comment DiJonai made during her high school days that still stuck with me and maybe it played a role, given that Tara likes to use shot clock and sets up plays in the Princeton offense. We do go on fast breaks obviously, perhaps not as much as she would like. Given her aggressive play style, maybe DiJonai felt constrained about how our offense was operating and wanted to play for a team that allows her to improvise more:
"Style of play is important, too. I want a team that runs and guns and pushes the ball to get fast-break points. I don't want a team that says: 'That's our goal.' I want one that is successful at that style."
All good points, but for me, the most valuable element Carrington brought to the team, IMHO, was her ability to improvise and create something out of nothing when the shot clock winds down. I felt our offense stalled (and it did a lot) when teams were able to accurately defend against our set plays and designs and then we needed a player to manufacture something on the fly. With Carrington and Jones out, Kiana was the only person who could do consistently and I felt that wore on her as the season went on.
We will have Haley back and perhaps other players, whether it be Belibi or Pechtel or Brink coming in, who can contribute on that front, but as we saw last season, unforeseen injuries can quickly rob the team of depth. Having another player with a consistent history of doing so would have helped.
"Style of play is important, too. I want a team that runs and guns and pushes the ball to get fast-break points. I don't want a team that says: 'That's our goal.' I want one that is successful at that style."
(04-30-2020, 09:07 AM)BosCard Wrote: I might be alone here but I am not sure that Carrington was that critical of a player for us next year. Yes she is a good player who would have made our team better overall. BUT, if there was some sort of draft and you got to pick the players you wanted to keep in order of importance, she might be the seventh player on my list (Williams, Lexie and all four freshman would be ahead of her). Plus it's not clear to me that she would have been a starter next year. She is a 2/3 and I think we would have seen Lexie and Jones in those spots. Then Carrington would be competing with playing time with the other 2/3's on our team. Wilson is a better defender. Lacie is a better 3-point shooter and defender. Jump is definitely a better 3-point shooter and who know's about Emma-Nnopu but she comes in with a reputation for defense, rebounding and slashing. Now Carrington is the best rebounder and slasher out of that group of 2/3's. But, I think we will have rebounding covered by Belibi, Prechtel, Dodson and Brink. We will miss Carrington's slashing but I would rather see Jones get those slashing attempts because she is so good at that and because I would like her to get the reps for her junior and senior seasons.
All good points, but for me, the most valuable element Carrington brought to the team, IMHO, was her ability to improvise and create something out of nothing when the shot clock winds down. I felt our offense stalled (and it did a lot) when teams were able to accurately defend against our set plays and designs and then we needed a player to manufacture something on the fly. With Carrington and Jones out, Kiana was the only person who could do consistently and I felt that wore on her as the season went on.
We will have Haley back and perhaps other players, whether it be Belibi or Pechtel or Brink coming in, who can contribute on that front, but as we saw last season, unforeseen injuries can quickly rob the team of depth. Having another player with a consistent history of doing so would have helped.