2023 Recruiting - WBB

I know Vic is smiling seeing that.

 

Yeah, that was sweet.

 

No surprise here... Madi makes yet another USA Team.

USA Basketball Women’s U19 National Team Announced

 

I didn’t know where to put this but we really may have got a Diamond in Booker. Watching her play in this u19 game today was magical. She wants to win above all her stats doesn’t matter but she does produce. When she is in the right basketball is made and Vic values that. She is good and Hannah Hidalgo both are the gems of the 2023 class

 

I agree. She is a gem and I'm expecting big things from her this year. And since she's getting to know Hannah so well, maybe she can talk to her about the portal next year too. Just sayin'

 

I can’t wait to see this in the moody!!

 

I've been most impressed by Maddie, Hidalgo, VanSlooten (2022 - Oregon) and Joyce Edwards (#1 in the 2024 class). Funny that neither Maddie nor Hidalgo are getting starts.

Starting PG Talana Lepolo (2022 - Stanford) hasn't really impressed me - not sure why she's starting over Hidalgo who's quicker, a better defender and less prone to turnovers.

 

2:00 PM today…Gold Medal Game.

 

Maddie’s made a couple of buckets, had a few rebounds, a crazy block and a steal but got yanked by Joni Taylor after a bad pass. Doesn’t get back in despite Spain charging back to take lead and go into half tied. Still puzzles me how Taylor got this assignment.

 

Gold medal match is definitely worth a watch. Host country Spain v. US, so the arena looks packed and is a very hostile crowd. Madi has played well when she was in the game, but when Joni took her out, it allowed Spain to come back. Tie game at the half. Speaking of Joni, not sure why she was picked for this gig. Her substitutions puzzle me and it doesn't look like she's coaching much. I can see trying to get everyone minutes, but isn't the goal to win a gold? Vic is up in the stands. If they would just bring him down and let him take over, I can assure you that the activity level on our sidelines would increase exponentially and we would pull away and take the crowd out of this thing.

 

Lol! We posted at the same time. I don't know what the heck Joni is doing. She needs to put her best lineup on the floor. We were building a good lead when she took Madi out.

 

Actually, just checked and Madi had 8 boards in less than 6 minutes of play.

 

How does the MVP award not go to a member of winning team?

 

Stats spread out on the much more talented team. I would’ve voted for Canada’s Toby Fournier.

 

Her starting lineup as well as substitutions were interesting to say the least. Booker should’ve been starting and what really blew me was when she took her out with 1-2 minutes left in the game and right when she did Spain came back. Nevertheless I’m just happy Booker is coming home injury free. She’s a much better shooter than I originally thought and she will be a big piece to our team this season.

 

Curious where everyone thinks Maddie will play this season - 3 or 4? Especially with Amo coming back. She's shown her value as a rebounder, scorer and passer. Ready to see how quickly she adjusts to the college game.

 

I think she starts at the 3 spot immediately. To start the season my lineup is…
1. Harmon
2. Gonzales
3. Booker
4. Gaston
5. Jones

 

I’m not saying yal didn’t watch but I think she is wing/Foward but more foward mismatch type. The one chunk in the armor I seen was perimeter defense against some quicker guards when she was switching on the perimeter. We are crowded at the 4 so she will play the 3.

 

She will definitely need to get quicker but I will say I was impressed with her help side defense. She was in the right spot most of the time which is very rare to see in a freshman.

 

IMO, Madi is a Wing/SF but would be a matchup, situational nightmare at the 4 against teams playing a small lineup.

The only real area I think she might have a few bad habits are on her perimeter defense. More than a couple of times, she'd gamble on getting the steal/deflection, get out of position and give up a driving lane at which point she'd try to poke the ball out from behind/around the ball-handler. She has very long arms with good quickness and I suspect she had a lot of success in high school with that tactic. That's something that's easily addressed, especially by a coach like Vic.

A positive observation? She seems more willing to do what a lot of young players aren't. Set an effective screen. I won't say who specifically but one of the US bigs regularly called on to set screens never got closer than a foot to the defender that I can recall, a lot of times rolling to the basket before her teammate even got to the screen point.

 

Joni's substitution patterns and floor combinations were very confusing to me. She almost "coached" the USA to a loss. I'm really proud of the way Booker plays the game. While most every player on that squad only seems to think of scoring for themselves, Maddie plays like the ultimate team player. Because of that, most games you see a number in almost every stat line for her. She is going to fit in so well in our system. Once she gets some collegiate level experience and realizes that she's going to have to impose herself on opponents... watch out! She reminds me so much of a young Tamika Catchings. I'm really excited and anxious to see her play in burnt orange.

 

*With Amo pushing more and more for a starting spot as she continues to regain her form. I'm expecting Mwenentanda to push for significant PT also.

 

That comparison hadn't come to my mind, but I can definitely see your point.

 

Oh my gosh, I briefly forgot about Mwententanda in my excitement about Booker. This team is bursting with talent and skills at the wing/forward positions. We will likely see more of Holle as a second guard on the floor with a couple of wing/forwards. Against smaller teams, we may see Gaston as the "big" as we have in the past. The team has a lot of talented skilled players. Vic needs to figure out how to play them best. The "positions" may not look exactly as we expect.

 

I can envision us using "traditional" line-ups featuring PG, SG, G/F, F, C when necessary.

I can also envision us rolling out a PG + 4 essentially positionless player lineup too, depending on match-ups. Among this team's best features is the number of players who are truly versatile, giving Vic a lot of strategic deployment opportunities.

 

Moore will be starting once she’s back in form and I also think Mwenentanda will play significant minutes this year. She made freshman mistakes last year but had some flashes of being great.

 

Nobody's talking about Amina! I thought she got better and better last year. She's not flashy but she was usually well positioned and fierce on the boards. And she almost had a shot by the end of the season!

 

I love Amina and she is cut from same cloth as Holle. What I mean by that is she is going to find a way to play. As far as our lineup goes
PG: Rori,Maul
SG: Gonzales, Holle,
SF: Booker, Jak
PF: Gatson/Amina/AMo (any could start)
C:Tay/Faye
I don’t think Codio/Tree/Boutlier will play this year because of injuries. We will be legit that deep. 9-11 depending on what type of game it is. A lineup of Rori, Holle,Jak,Booker, Amina could be deadly defensively. Offensively Rori, Shaylee, Jak, Booker, Gatson will be best offensive bunch.

 

Rori looks slimmer again in the videos that Zac Z posts on Twitter and Jak looks about 10 lbs of muscle have been put on that frame even Tay looks slim which should help with her back. Gatson/Holle are seniors we need not to forget that which means we will see they best basketbal.