[81alum]

I do wonder how quickly Lepolo and Nivar can come along.  Tara expects so much out of her point guards that it seems the least likely position to be held down by a freshman.  And so Jones gets the start.

I do hope she can improve her open court ball handling skills.  I can almost imagine Vic Schaeffer salivating at the thought of putting 5'6" Rori Harmon on Jones, or Dawn Staley sending 5'7" Destiny Henderson--short, speedy, quick guards who can attack that high dribble.  Sure, if Jones gets the ball up court it will produce a great mismatch opportunity for us.  But how many steals can we afford to give away in a game? 

Maybe we should go back to the never-dribble-the-ball-but-only-pass-it-up-court routine.  Like we are breaking the press on every possession.

South Carolina does have four  6'1" guards, so Jones isn't so unusual.  But notice which guards South Carolina puts on the court....

Finally, there is this.  Perhaps Jones at PG will work out perfectly on offense, and a summer of practice will help keep turnovers down to acceptable levels.  But then who do we have on defense to defend the Hendersons and Harmons?  If we put Jones and Jump and 3 bigs out there, who can defend against teams with two speedy little guards, to which we were already vulnerable last year?  We are going to need some kind of new defensive scheme.  We can put dual shot blockers inside if Brink and Betts don't get into foul trouble--but the opponents are going to get a lot of open looks at treys if they speed around the outside faster than Jones and Jump and Demetre can keep up.

It almost seems like the year of the zone.

[81alum]

I do wonder how quickly Lepolo and Nivar can come along.  Tara expects so much out of her point guards that it seems the least likely position to be held down by a freshman.  And so Jones gets the start.

I do hope she can improve her open court ball handling skills.  I can almost imagine Vic Schaeffer salivating at the thought of putting 5'6" Rori Harmon on Jones, or Dawn Staley sending 5'7" Destiny Henderson--short, speedy, quick guards who can attack that high dribble.  Sure, if Jones gets the ball up court it will produce a great mismatch opportunity for us.  But how many steals can we afford to give away in a game? 

Maybe we should go back to the never-dribble-the-ball-but-only-pass-it-up-court routine.  Like we are breaking the press on every possession.

South Carolina does have four  6'1" guards, so Jones isn't so unusual.  But notice which guards South Carolina puts on the court....

Finally, there is this.  Perhaps Jones at PG will work out perfectly on offense, and a summer of practice will help keep turnovers down to acceptable levels.  But then who do we have on defense to defend the Hendersons and Harmons?  If we put Jones and Jump and 3 bigs out there, who can defend against teams with two speedy little guards, to which we were already vulnerable last year?  We are going to need some kind of new defensive scheme.  We can put dual shot blockers inside if Brink and Betts don't get into foul trouble--but the opponents are going to get a lot of open looks at treys if they speed around the outside faster than Jones and Jump and Demetre can keep up.

It almost seems like the year of the zone.