my starting 5 next year Brook Ariel Ims Jordan Higgs I'm not sure if I'm having to high expectation of our upcoming freshman but something tells me that they are going to be special
I find trying to guess next year's starting line up and rotations mind boggling. The incoming class does look promising. At the same time, we return players who have just reached the sweet 16; freshmen take time to adjust (usually); and we have players who did not get as much time who will have the summer to improve. Brady played more minutes than anyone this year. It won't be that easy to sit her down.
I'm licking my fingers about next years team, don't get me wrong I want this team to continue on in this tournament, but next years team is going to be stacked from top to bottom. I wish the staff would make the players read some kind of manual on basketball IQ during the summer to maybe cut down on turnovers, but yeah I sooooo excited about next year final 4 for sure!!
Never count your all-stars until they hatch. We definitely should be better next year. How much, no one knows. I thought Ariel might be a go-to scoring machine this season, for example. She may be that in the future, but she wasn't this year---though there were some sensational high scoring freshmen on other teams around the country. Ariel was a good player, but not a sensation. That's the way it goes. She'll improve next year. FYI, Baylor has a class rated even higher than ours in 2015, and they also get a red shirt star guard who transferred from Duke last season. So Baylor---curses!-- should be even better, too...but nobody knows if their class will actually live up to its hype. You never know until they roll the ball out on the floor. Texas badly needs, as we have needed for years, an all star offensive dynamo at guard. If Lashan Higgs fulfills that role, we will be super tough.
Oh that Baylor teams really irks me and especially Nina Davis for some reason her smirks really get under my skin, and I don't even want to mention Mulkey. With that being said Johnson is a really really good PG extremely high basketball IQ, she knows exactly where to get the ball. I'm so excited for the upcoming years we are going to be a national powerhouse
Thank you! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person completely irked by Nina Davis' smirks!!! I suppose she gets that from her coach, but Davis' smirking is just really rude, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, she's a fantastic player, but I do not like her attitude.
Maybe in a perfect world where McD All American's are perfect their first year, this might be the case. This year proved that it isn't. Brooke and Ariel are good players that will/should be great one day. Their play showed they have a lot to learn and be patient with. They were still trying to learn the plays at the end of the season that were run all season. You not only have to play good, you have to be extra smart. The coach is not going to let them get out there and do whatever they want. We have seasoned players that are older and have more experience that have proved themselves. The new girls will have to EARN their playing time. We don't even know if they can keep up with Aston's practices. Even our freshman this year walked out of the gym crying several times as they weren't ready for Aston's relentless practices and pace. It took them quite some time to get into the "swing". Whoever the coach puts on the floor (starters or otherwise) will have to earn their time. You don't get a free ride just because of where you were ranked. We all know how some ranked players are when starting their college careers. Aston has proved herself each year. The team has had it's ups and downs but fought hard for where they are. Doubt that she will jeopordize what was working for her so that incoming girls can get their minutes. She will most likely get them minutes to start in pre-season and weaker opponents to get their feet wet and to get reps, but that changes eventually when she sees what is and what is not working.
Not only her smirks, but her attitude is horrible. She is classless! Opposing teams try to help her up and she slaps them away! Also talks to the refs like she's their boss. Pshhhh
I see your point, how is Karen going to rotate Imani, Celina, empress, Brady, Ariel, Brooke, Kelsey, Nekia, Brianna and the upcoming freshman...oh how other teams would love this problem
Too bad Ariel injured her ankle when she did, and was out for so long. She was playing so well, and her confidence was very high. Took her longer than I expected to regain her form, and then she hit somewhat of a wall. She has a beautiful shot; but, she has to learn that defensively, she isn't gonna always get the calls like she did in high school. Getting into foul trouble is a momentum killer for players that are so used to being in a groove the entire game. Athletically, she is so much more gifted than Brady, and I assumed that it would be "easy" for Ariel to regain her starting spot; but, Brady does a lot of the little things well, even though she frustrates me more than any other of our players (probably b/c she shows some flashes of brilliance one game, and then bonehead results in the next game). Brady played lights out defense on Peyton Little in Dallas, and then had 6 or 7 assists against Cal the other night. That lob pass she made to Kelsey late in the game made me yell "noooo", but Kelsey was able to catch it and nail a very difficult bank shot. Jordan Hosey intrigues me the most. I felt early on that small forward would be her natural position in collge; but, we may need her to play power forward as I don't have a lot of confidence in Nekia and Diani at this time; maybe they will surprise me next year with their conditioning and staying injury-free. While I love Brooke, her size does create some issues. At this time last year, I figured Lashann was gonna come in and grab the starting PG spot for 2015-16, with Atkins at shooting guard, and Hosey at small forward. Talk about a very long and athletic back court! But, time will tell who is best-suited for which position.
Thing about next year is that we will have several players averaging 20+mpg and several 10+mpg with no one needing to play 35+ mpg . The thing I really like about Brady is that, while she is not the most talented player, she will give you everything she has and has a high BB IQ. And, yes, everyone makes mistakes. Both last season and this one (and likely next season) people keep saying that there are better players that will push her to the bench but she keeps on grinding and getting into the starting lineup and playing the most minutes. The coaches must like something about what she brings to the court and the team. Jordan may well get as many minutes at SF/Wing as she does at PF but I expect, at least initially, that she will be needed at PF the most, unless we go to a "big" lineup featuring both Imani and Kelsey.
