Jana and The Frosh Get a Look

When Jana learns the defense--which she will--she'll be devastating. Ditto Sarah. She reminds me of D--waves at the player on defense--which Geno is not going to let Sarah do nor which Sarah wants. Sarah will be the total package.

I think he underestimates Ice....

Ice needs to talk herself into her own abilities.  She's the only one who can do it.

She will get better and I am not down on her, but I do feel she's wrestling with doubts that are in her way.  

Not buying this at all. Ice's footwork was terrific and she certainly played the high post (by far, the hardest position on 4-out motion) effectively. She most certainly did know where to go on the floor. Look at the game thread again against Iowa: I was doing backflips about her brilliant defensive micro-movements that influenced plays subtly. Her problems were: at the beginning of the season at least, missing bunnies; holding on to rebounds; fouling too often on defense. Although she still fouled too much against Iowa, she showed up big time in that game.

If you take the year as a single evaluation unit, Ice was a moderate success ... able to give Aaliyah a little breather on the bench, and showing promise for future success.

But if you break the year into three sections:  OOC, BE Regular season, and tournaments ... now you get clear growth in each phase, some of the promise seen in each step realized in the next, and the final section clearly leads to plaudits and high expectations for a sophomore jump.  Add to that the fact that she was coming off her first major injury and a full year of rehab ... and that hope is magnified even further.  Don't let the fact that unreasonable things were needed from her in her first WCBB games sully the accolades she deserves for how much she did accomplish. 

Remember that Aaliyah also had foul troubles this year ... and had difficulties stopping opposing posts ... and she was an AA and the #6 pick in the WNBA draft.  Edwards and Brady were both power forwards holding down the role of Center ... most of the time with an undersized (though spectacular) Four filling in the PF spot they (Ice and Aaliyah) were born to play.  And the team had a golden opportunity for a spot in the finals.

I think Ice is going to be the 5 and Jana the 4, despite the differences in height. Ice has really good instincts about distributing the ball with her back to the basket. She has an excellent outside shot and can play underneath, but I don't remember her ever driving to the hoop. In last summer's European ball, Jana was always playing facing the basket and had an excellent move to the rim as well as a great outside shot.

Maybe on defense, they switch. But on offense, if Ice can get (say) a 10 and 10 from the 5, imagine what Jana can do in overmatching whoever is defending her by initiating outside the paint.

You obviously have no idea that Brady faced the best large school competition in California. Plus the best of the Nike EYBL circuit during the summers. Iriafen, Breya Cunningham, JuJu Watkins etc. Don't just make stuff up, do some research.

I do think they may trade roles on different ends of the floor.  I think Ice is more comfortable facing up, too.  But in the long run, it is the defensive side that will need to develop for both players this coming season.

Geno basically admitted that he was forced to play Ice. There was a lot lacking in her game. We shall see if she can make a big sophomore jump. I am skeptical.

Some really great points, one thing we all saw with our own eyes. When Ice filled in for AE while she was out, she played her best. Net positive best, not just hold her own. Somehow, knowing that their was no other option made her play better. Or, let her play better? Was she relaxed knowing she wasn't coming out no matter what? Whatever the reason, she proved that she can do it. If Ice, Jana and Yanna can play to their potential their would be no need for a portal pickup. The IF part is the problem. I would hate a portal pickup to stifle the growth of the 3 posts, but it seems to me that is asking for a lot for all 3 of them to blossom at once. No team in the country has more talent at the guard/wing spots than the Huskies so maybe they go with a four guard line up again. In that case, you'd only need 2 of the 3 bigs to step up. Actually, maybe a four guard lineup would be best in any case, check out the 24-25 roster again. Man.

right, but it shows that you knew they played against one another, so it was a matter of whether Ice faced good competition in her pre-college years.

Interesting. Maybe Ice gained weight while inactive the previous year. Clearly, she wasn't in playing fit when this season started. But by the end, I thought she looked super-duper-duper fit, and, in fact, in one game played all 40 minutes. She runs the floor really well now.