While there will be times in the next two seasons when they play together, I expect those two will be starting together no later than their junior season after Joyner graduates.
Lately I've taken another view. I think the team's long term success depends on White and Collier playing a lot, starting this season. If Joyner Holmes doesn't significantly improve her offense, I don't think she should get the majority of playing time. Even if they have a rough start, it may be better in the long run to give the freshmen enough early game time to develop. They may not pan out, but if they don't, Texas is in a world of hurt over the next few years. It's ok with me to lose a few games early if it might pay dividends in March....As I've said before, I was shocked at Holmes' low skill level after she returned to action last season. It wasn't a matter of conditioning. Quite simply, she lacked shot making skills, even close to the basket. Sometimes her shooting and offensive footwork were so sloppy it seemed like she had regressed. She did not possess anything close to the finesse and skill level of the top front court players of Baylor, UConn, Notre Dame or Louisville. I like her and really wish her the best. Hopefully there will be a big improvement this year. But I don't assume she has a lock on her position.
I have to say I agree with Dr. D about the importance of the freshmen posts playing a lot this year. Joyner did regress. She just didn't have it together this year. Not a great shooter as a freshman, but really not good this past year, though her athletic gifts are many. Playing time should depend on productivity, not seniority or reputation or any of that. I hope she comes out of the gate fantastically next year. I 'm not sure why Dr. D thinks it should be White and Collier playing a lot in particular. I haven't seen Charli or Sedona much, but from what I've seen of Sedona, she has just as much to offer the team as Charli. (That extra 2 or 3 inches is a plus in itself.) I have a lot of faith in Jatarie. She was super last year and sometimes I thought didn't get the credit she deserved.
Jatarie White was a blessing this past season; where would we have been without her? She played a lot as junior, and will hopefully play even more and better as a senior.
I don’t think White got enough credit/recognition this last year. Her post moves were excellent. She used her off (right) hand well. And her mid-range shooting was outstanding for a post. I was pleasantly surprised. Her athleticism is average as exposed by some larger and longer opponents but she generally makes up for it with good fundamentals. For not playing competitively for a while, I thought she did fine. I think her game can really improve a lot more in her second playing year in the program. For sure she will be key player this next year.
Absolutely. And I thought that Coach Aston did her a disservice by not running more plays to get her the ball and also demanding that our guards get it to her. There were many games that Jatarie should have gotten a lot more touches but our guards would take bad shots and not get her the ball. The games with Baylor and UCLA would have been a lot closer if Jatarie would’ve gotten the ball a lot more.
My thoughts are that Joyner will improve quite a bit this summer. If she doesn't, she will be coming off the bench. Coach Aston hasn't shown that she favors seniority, reputation or whatever. She favors those that put in the work and show up as the best option to start. I am making an assumption that Joyner has goals that require her to be focused and make strides in her basketball skills and physical readiness to play 25-30 minutes a game at a high level. Although Tina Thompson will not be here to push Joyner, Tiffany will bring a lot of that push for preparedness to the table. Tiffany didn't play in the WNBA for nine seasons and not learn the value of being in shape and continuing to improve each year. It will be up to Joyner to put in the work and get better.
As I said on another thread, I meant that both Sedona and Collier should play a lot. The math is pretty simple. Baylor has three potential star impact players coming in this season. If we're interested in winning down the road, we need to match them. I have no idea how fast Prince and Collier will come along, but our future depends on them playing really really really well. Joyner playing at last season's level just won't cut it. A 25% improvement isn't enough. White's a good center, and she should play a lot, but she leaves after this season. We have to develop the future now. That means not only playing the frosh big girls, but playing them in innovative ways in a more free flowing fashion----if they are capable of it, and I really hope they are, because just static conventional center play won't be enough.
I agree with playing them in innovative ways. But I’m only concerned with this year. And I’m sure the 4 seniors would agree.
realistically, there is no way that Sedona and Charlie don't play a lot if they are ready. And that is the caveat, if they are ready. I'm mot sure what you mean by innovative ways vs conventional center play. BU's duo play what I would consider to be conventional and that is probably the top post duo going into this season. Joyner should be well aware that her play last season won't be sufficient to allow her to get many minutes this season. Not with the improvement of Jordan and the presence of Sedona and Charlie.
Sedona starts U18 trials tomorrow. 6-2 F DeYona Gaston (Pearland HS, TX) will not be able to participate. https://www.usab.com/news-events/news/2018/05/wu18-trials-start-roster.aspx
There's been a barrage of Tweets and photos from the USA Trials but I haven't seen one photo or mention of Sedona Prince. It's certainly a possibility that I've missed it. Maybe we'll get a glimpse of Sedona today. This may seem like a silly question but does the style of play at this type of event favor guards and forwards more than post players? I've noticed that not many post players that are mentioned by the media covering this event.
Sedona is competing for the under18 team starting today. We have been seeing reports from the under 17 team trials.
That's pretty quick. There's hardly anything posted on the USA site or tweeter about the U18 team practices compared to the U17 team.
Woo-hoo! Sedona made the U18 Team! Congrats Sedona! Christyn Williams, Nalyssa Smith and Queen Egbo are on the team. I'm very surprised Aquira DeCosta didn't make the team.
