Caught the women's game today - first time I've seen this season's team.
Some thoughts:
--Great to see Yacine Diop back. She was the best athlete on the floor by a wide margin. Still makes risky passes, but fun to watch her create. She shot 7 for 18 for 24 points with 9 rebounds.
--Kalista Walters continues to be a nifty scorer around the hoop. She has a knack for getting into good position for passes and finishing.
--New comer Danielle Garven seemed to play okay, but I see in the boxscore that she was only 3 of 12. She made some nice jumpers, but missed several layups. She hustles.
--Jasmine Whitney had a good game, save a few poor turnovers. Made a couple of nice drives to the hoop. She's not spectacular, but can be a solid point guard, IMHO.
--Watching warm-up shooting, two things struck me. One is that Cassidy Walsh was like a machine shooting 3-balls. At one point she made 6 in a row -- I counted. Then in the game she hit her first 2 three-balls and finished 2 of 4.
--The other thing that struck me in warmups is that Kauai Bradley hardly made anything from any distance. In the game she took one shot and missed. Not at all confident offensively - an understatement...
--The starting lineup has no height - with post players Garven and Walters at about 6-1. Pitt was out-rebounded by Towson by 10 today. Not going to be pretty going forward.
--True freshman Jaala Henry, a 6-3 forward, got 15 minutes of playing time. She hit an open jumper and hit her foul shots. She looks the part - not to skinny and not too heavy. Could be decent with experience.
--True freshman Cara Judkins, at 6-2, has some good bulk to play center. Though she looks like she has a long way to go to develop. She played 3 minutes and her stats were 1 rebound and 2 fouls. But she did hustle. Looks like a project before she can contribute down the road.
--Pike Rodriguez was a cool story - she's a true frosh 5-11 guard. She comes in and hits her first 2 three-points, one from really deep, like there's nothing to it. Ended up 2 for 4 from 3.
--Bugg, Lamb and Sall didn't dress.
--Another true frosh, Kyla Nelson, 5-11, was interesting. She really hustles. Played 15 minutes and went 1 for 5, but what impressed me were two very aggressive drives to the hoop that she made - where she was faster than I ever thought she would be.
--Alayna Gribble is a starter, but she got 2 quick fouls and ended up playing 7 minutes and scoring 2 points.
--Looked to me that Gribble and Rodriguez have very similar bodies and similar games. Both are stand-still 3 point shooters. Nelson is similar, but maybe a tad more athletic.
--I came away thinking that Coach Suzie has improved the team with the additions - she certainly has more options this season because of the bigger roster. But we still suffer from not having a dynamic/athletic player in the post, and we still lack, aside from Diop and to a lesser degree the offensively-challenged Bradley, having "athletic" players. To my eye, instead of getting more Diops, we have added more Gribbles...
--I can see us being decent offensively when the outside shots are falling, but aside from Diop/Bradley, we will struggle to defend athletic players.
Just my .02.
Go Pitt.
Some thoughts:
--Great to see Yacine Diop back. She was the best athlete on the floor by a wide margin. Still makes risky passes, but fun to watch her create. She shot 7 for 18 for 24 points with 9 rebounds.
--Kalista Walters continues to be a nifty scorer around the hoop. She has a knack for getting into good position for passes and finishing.
--New comer Danielle Garven seemed to play okay, but I see in the boxscore that she was only 3 of 12. She made some nice jumpers, but missed several layups. She hustles.
--Jasmine Whitney had a good game, save a few poor turnovers. Made a couple of nice drives to the hoop. She's not spectacular, but can be a solid point guard, IMHO.
--Watching warm-up shooting, two things struck me. One is that Cassidy Walsh was like a machine shooting 3-balls. At one point she made 6 in a row -- I counted. Then in the game she hit her first 2 three-balls and finished 2 of 4.
--The other thing that struck me in warmups is that Kauai Bradley hardly made anything from any distance. In the game she took one shot and missed. Not at all confident offensively - an understatement...
--The starting lineup has no height - with post players Garven and Walters at about 6-1. Pitt was out-rebounded by Towson by 10 today. Not going to be pretty going forward.
--True freshman Jaala Henry, a 6-3 forward, got 15 minutes of playing time. She hit an open jumper and hit her foul shots. She looks the part - not to skinny and not too heavy. Could be decent with experience.
--True freshman Cara Judkins, at 6-2, has some good bulk to play center. Though she looks like she has a long way to go to develop. She played 3 minutes and her stats were 1 rebound and 2 fouls. But she did hustle. Looks like a project before she can contribute down the road.
--Pike Rodriguez was a cool story - she's a true frosh 5-11 guard. She comes in and hits her first 2 three-points, one from really deep, like there's nothing to it. Ended up 2 for 4 from 3.
--Bugg, Lamb and Sall didn't dress.
--Another true frosh, Kyla Nelson, 5-11, was interesting. She really hustles. Played 15 minutes and went 1 for 5, but what impressed me were two very aggressive drives to the hoop that she made - where she was faster than I ever thought she would be.
--Alayna Gribble is a starter, but she got 2 quick fouls and ended up playing 7 minutes and scoring 2 points.
--Looked to me that Gribble and Rodriguez have very similar bodies and similar games. Both are stand-still 3 point shooters. Nelson is similar, but maybe a tad more athletic.
--I came away thinking that Coach Suzie has improved the team with the additions - she certainly has more options this season because of the bigger roster. But we still suffer from not having a dynamic/athletic player in the post, and we still lack, aside from Diop and to a lesser degree the offensively-challenged Bradley, having "athletic" players. To my eye, instead of getting more Diops, we have added more Gribbles...
--I can see us being decent offensively when the outside shots are falling, but aside from Diop/Bradley, we will struggle to defend athletic players.
Just my .02.
Go Pitt.
