McDonald's AA Game

The roster for the West Team is loaded with talent (or maybe I'm just not as familiar with the names on the East Team). I'm very interested in watching Christyn Williams to get a better understanding of why she won all the post-season awards.

Notable names on the West; Charli Collier, Christyn Williams, Aquira DeCosta, Queen Egbo, Nalyssa Smith, Zarielle Green and Honesty Scott Grayson.
Notable names on the East; Sedona Prince, Olivia Nelson Ododa, Shakira Austin, Amira Collins.

 

So West = Baylor2018+Charli

 

Exactly....

 

Good photo of Charli and Queen Egbo

 

First chance to watch Sedona in an actual game. She runs the floor very well for her size; scores the first bucket of the game in transition off a nice pass in stride from teammate. She is grabbing rebounds very forcefully. Fouled on a 3-pointer by Collier; makes all 3 free throws and made it look automatic.

 

My impression of Sedona's physique:

- very well proportioned for a 6'7 player at her age
- seems to be in very good condition; not carrying any "baby fat"
- wouldn't call her think or lanky or thin (like Olivia Nelson-Ododa)
- looks stronger than I anticipated (based on how she posts up and rebounds)

 

Absolutely. That’s what I really like about both Sedona and Charlie. They both shoot free throws well for post players. I think Sedona is going to make an impact immediately on the defensive end with her shot blocking/ rim protection.

Charlie and Sedona can also face up and shoot the perimeter jumper though Charlie is more polished down low in the post than Sedona. The low post is where Sedona needs to improve.

 

The talent level this year. Is way better then last year. I felt the State of Texas had the most Talented player's. I look so forward to seeing Collier and Prince play next year. Prince really stood out today. I hope our Veteran's are ready to compete for playing time next year. It will be a BATTLE.

 

I think the quality at the post positions are better. I’m also looking forward to Sedona and Charlie. Queen Egbo was also impressive in the game.

 

Very impressed with Sedona. Charli didn't get a chance to show her stuff. I don't remember anyone every passing her the ball. Just based on this game, Sedona is going to be ready for minutes quickly. (Charli probably too). These games can be really misleading, but other Texas players who stood out were Reese, Madison Williams, and Egbo. I never figured out which one was Nylissa Smith.

 

Unless I missed it, there really weren't many traditional "bigs" in this game. No one close to having the size of a Khalani Brown. There was height, but not real bruisers.

Read posts on the UConn board, several posters from different schools were very impressed with Sedona's play.

Have to admit that going into this game, I thought Charli was the more slender player, and Sedona would have the bigger body. Charli looked slightly bigger than Sedona to me.

There was a compilation clip of Sedona's baskets with about 6 minutes left in the game, I believe. Commentators talked about how well she moves without the ball, and towards the basket. Very happy to see that, as well as her finishing off some quick entry passes.

 

Of course the spectacular totally dominant MVP of the gae is Christyn Williams, bound for UConn. Gino doesn't get everyone he wants ,but damn, he gets one superstar a year to join a team of stars. It's maddening.

 

I watched the game and, particularly the players that are going to OU, BU and Texas.

As several posters mentioned, Sedona really stood out. She has an excellent sense of when to go for the block. She is definitely a strong rebounder. She showed very good hands, catching quick passes near the basket and converting, both running the court and rolling after a pick and roll. Nice ability to bring the ball up the court when she couldn't find an outlet. Nothing fancy but she certainly looked comfortable with the dribble. Nice stroke from the FT line. I counted four blocks but that was just my count. I think she ended up with 8-9 points.

Not as much on Charlie. She had a nice drive to the basket from the FT line after catching a reb that was batted out. She had two TOs trying to make a move inside by dribbling.

Neither hit their only 3pter although Sedona was fouled pretty hard on her attempt and made all three FTs. Both ran the floor well. Didn't notice either rebounding out of their area, though. Both are going to benefit so much from coaching from Tina.

Queen Egbo (BU) was impressive. Didn't notice any of the other BU players other than Honesty Scott-Grayson getting a few mentions. Egbo had some impressive blocks, including one of Sedona. Very quick, also. That battle inside the next few years between Texas and Baylor is going to brutal.

Madison Williams for OU did some nice things on both ends.

C. Williams of UConn is an awesome shooter, very smooth, confident and quick. She rebounds as well. Looks like Walker will have some competition for PT from this frosh.

 

girls' boxscore:
https://www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/content/dam/aag/AAGIRLS.pdf

 

Sedona actually had a pretty good showing - even more impressive considering bigs rarely get the opportunity to shine in these AA games. Her absolute rejection of a DaCosta shot put a smile on my face.

Queen Egbo looked good, much better offensive skill than I expected. According to a post on the Baylor boards, she was a heavy Texas lean until Charli flipped but that could be a typical Wac(k)o delusion.

I thought Charli could’ve had better numbers had they passed her the ball when she established good, early post position but the guards would typically shoot rather than pass. There seemed to be significantly more interior passing on the East squad.

 

While I had always assumed Sedona would be a true Center, I now see that her mobility will allow her to also play power forward. I think the combinations among two of White, Holmes, Prince, and Collier will be a real strength next season; throw in Mide and that's a lot of height, quickness (White being the slowest), strength, and athleticism on the floor at the same time.

For those who saw Sedona early in her high school career, has she slimmed down a lot (better conditioning). My recollection of her was that she was bigger than what I saw last night.

 

My quick thoughts

• I agree that Charli did not get many opportunities to shoot yesterday. Did the West have any set plays? It appeared that they just ran down the court, made a couple of passes and then a guard would shoot the ball.
• Sedona Prince has a high ceiling. Glad she came back around and decided to be a Horn.
• Queen Egbo may have a better college career than Nalyssa Smith.
• Christyn Williams proved that she deserved all the post-season awards.
• Zai Green looked good. I still wonder why Texas was never a serious contender with her.
• The announcers were annoying. Too much babbling but maybe I was just in a bad mood.

 

Don't remember personally, but some of the posters on UConn mentioned that Sedona was considerably slimmer than before.

We know from the videos, tweets, that she and Charlie have been working hard to prepare for college.

We don't have a true C listed on the roster (Jatarie is listed as a F/C). Sedona, imo, is likely to be the first player to go in for Jatarie unless she has trouble grasping the schemes. I don't anticipate that as both she and Charlie strike as diligent students of the game.

The battle for PT in the post is going to make every one of our posts a better player.

And we haven't even touched on our guards.

 

Charli discusses the McD AA game (pre-game thoughts). She's going to have a busy Spring with appearances in more tournaments. With all the post season activity, when she arrives at Texas this Summer, she should be in pretty good shape to start off-season strength & conditioning training.