Anyone with insight into possible starting 5 and rotations?
- Thread starter Westside clone
- Start date
Lots more depth this year. Bill isn’t one to take the stars off the court, but there are girls on the bench talented enough that they deserve minutes too.
Wild guess Diew, Soares and the 3 1st team AC returners.
Hard to imagine how forward and center play will work out. Joens will likely move outside. Forwards will consist of her, Diew, and Jordao. Posts will be Kane, Soares and Zingaro. Wild cards that will demand play time are Fritz (who was starting before being injured) and Dawkins.
Here is my guess at the starters/rotational players.
Ryan/Lexi
Lexi/Fritz/Maggie
Joens/Fritz/Maggie
Diew/Joens
Soares/Kane/Jordao
Ryan/Lexi
Lexi/Fritz/Maggie
Joens/Fritz/Maggie
Diew/Joens
Soares/Kane/Jordao
Here's how I picture it:
Ryan
Donarski
Joens
Diew
Soares
If Dawkins can prove she can handle it, she'll be the backup PG. Otherwise, count on Ryan for 36 mpg and Donarski filling in when Ryan needs a break (on-court or off-court).
For the 2-4 positions (which are somewhat fluid and interchangeable), Fritz and Espenmiller-McGraw will clearly get rotation minutes. With so many post players, maybe we experiment with some double post offenses and have Vick or maybe even Soares or Jordao play the 4.
I'd be shocked if Soares isn't the day 1 starter at post (barring injury) but I suspect Kane and Jordao will likely be getting at least 8-10 mpg each. As mentioned above, some of that might even be with Soares on the court. Hopefully we can find ways to get Vick and Zingaro on the court more, since we're losing Soares/Kane/Jordao after this season (unless Kane opts to return for season #6) and we really need those young posts built up for next year.
Ryan
Donarski
Joens
Diew
Soares
If Dawkins can prove she can handle it, she'll be the backup PG. Otherwise, count on Ryan for 36 mpg and Donarski filling in when Ryan needs a break (on-court or off-court).
For the 2-4 positions (which are somewhat fluid and interchangeable), Fritz and Espenmiller-McGraw will clearly get rotation minutes. With so many post players, maybe we experiment with some double post offenses and have Vick or maybe even Soares or Jordao play the 4.
I'd be shocked if Soares isn't the day 1 starter at post (barring injury) but I suspect Kane and Jordao will likely be getting at least 8-10 mpg each. As mentioned above, some of that might even be with Soares on the court. Hopefully we can find ways to get Vick and Zingaro on the court more, since we're losing Soares/Kane/Jordao after this season (unless Kane opts to return for season #6) and we really need those young posts built up for next year.
If we even have a single true center I will be happy. That’s what we’ve been missing for a long time. Prins is really the last true center we had.
I thought Kane and Jordao were really good last year. Not Baylor bigs good, but still a pleasant surprise.
Prins wasn’t the center on that team, Poppens was
Pretty sure Poppens primarily played inside and Prins outside, at least on offense. In 2012-13 when they were seniors, over 27% of Prins' FGA were threes (Poppens was 8%). Prins averaged 5.3 reb/g while Poppens was 9.7 reb/g. Poppens also attempted 50% more FT than Prins. All of these suggest Poppens was more of a post player on offense than Prins.
https://isuni_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/SIDEARM/STATS/WBB/2012-13_WBB/teamcume.htm
HOWEVER, the roster states otherwise: https://cyclones.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/2012-13
Poppens F
Prins C
I don't think either was a true center. Poppens was an undersized post who played larger than she was, and Prins was a very tall post who preferred not playing close to the basket.
In my opinion, the last player we had who showed the potential to be an all-conference quality "true center" was Fernstrom. But that didn't work out, obviously.
I think Prins was a stretch 5. She definitely was the 5 on the defensive side though. Poppens was a lot like Georges. I think our lack of a 5 is always on the defensive side. We don’t have anyone who can solidly defend the basket. On the offensive side we don’t play that way so it doesn’t matter that much.
True. Offensively, our posts are often up high setting screens for the shooters just as much (if not more) than posting up down low. And while Kane/Jordao were pretty solid offensively, they were a weak point on defense against teams with athletic posts or small lineups.
Creighton beat us because we could only field four solid defenders (Ryan, Lexi, Ashley, Diew) and they'd consistently spread out and attack whomever was the fifth one (Kane, Jordao, MEM, Aubrey). Soares and Fritz (and perhaps Dawkins?) will hopefully keep teams from trying that this upcoming season.
Don’t be surprised to see Fritz back in the starting lineup rather than Diew. That’s not a diss at Diew, but if Fritz is 100% she’s immensely talented.
Correct let's not forget Fritz was a starter last year until she was out with injury. That was with Diew on the team. Either way we have many options and can go very deep. Joens does not have to score nearly like in years past. This team can win without 1 player being the go to. That should be fun to watch.
Interestingly, Fritz actually didn't start her final game last season vs Drake (Aubrey did) but she did play 31 minutes. I'm not sure why she didn't start -- maybe Aubrey had a good week of practice?
Nice memory and I should have known that, I was at that game. Fritz had a really good game too....then they shut her down.
With this team having a bunch of scorers, I would like to see Joens pass out of the double team more often than in past years. Sure, sometimes those wild shots fall and sometimes she gets a trip to the FT line but there’s plenty of talent around her to can an open look.
