2024-25 Roster/Rotation Additions

[SolarGarlic]

Ryan's health issues forced Bill to offload facilitator duties to Brown and Jackson this past season and it kind of became a long term blessing in disguise for the team. I am assuming Bill learned from that for the benefit of next season's team as it relates to Ryan's PT and offloading facilitator duties to others when she is on the court. Brown actually became just as good as (or better) post entry passer to Audi as Ryan was and Bill has to utilize Brown next season in that role as much as possible as matchups dictate. Barring injury to others, there is no reason next season for Bill to play Ryan excessively to the point where late game fatigue (and her over dribbling) becomes a factor with her as it did in the 21-22 & 22-23 seasons.

And as with Ryan, Bill will need to carefully manage Audi's usage, PT and diversify her game as well. She has obviously emerged as one of WBB's top low post weapons but the offense become more maxed out if she can get like 4 apg instead of the one apg she had last season.

The best solution to Ryan's overdribbling is having someone else who can actually handle the ball and make teams pay for pressuring. Jackson was not good enough as a PG to trust her for more than a few possessions, especially when defenses pressed in the second half. Hopefully we've added enough skilled ballhandlers that defenses can't pressure the ball on anyone not named Ryan and take our offense completely off the tracks. Brown should definitely be an option, but we're still missing another slasher that's strong with the ball. Hare should be an upgrade to Belanger, who was very good down the stretch.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Way too many turnovers when she was standing with her feet together and her hand in the air.

You mean turnovers on entries?

 

[Three4Cy]

I've got to wonder how teams like Iowa convince their players to not leave. I'm sure Goodman or O'Grady could find other places to get more minutes. Maybe they had Clark and wanted the experience of going deep into the tournament.

We have to find a way to keep some players that are at least 9th-10th players on the rotation.

Goodman missed a full year with an ACL injury and, I believe, missed most of 22-23 with an injury. She didn't have much to show other teams. Goodman graduated in December and wants to be a nurse, so from an academic standpoint, it is not easy to be in nursing classes and play college basketball.

Goodman had planned to take her COVID year until Bluder started ripping the backup post players in the media about how they weren't stepping up. Once that happened, O'Grady became the backup, and Goodman and A.J. Edinger were relegated to the bench. Throw in Iowa is bringing in a 6'4 post, so Goodman saw more time on the bench.

I think CBF realized last year that playing a deep bench paid huge benefits, and based on what he has brought in, I don't see that changing. I think you will see a lot of plug-and-play based on the matchup or who has the hot hand.

 

[StClone]

She has already improved in that skill. There were games last season where it was laughably easy to throw it in to her for a layup because she had already pinned her girl underneath the basket.

She needs to find a few counters when she's going over her left shoulder to on the right block. That's where she got blocked repeatedly. We saw the spin to the middle for a fadeaway, which is insane for a freshman post to be doing, but she's gifted. She still has plenty of room for improvement with her left hand, midrange, and 3 point shooting. Getting up to 75% at the free throw line would make her unstoppable.

Audi's baby hook is somewhat reliable but does need some work.

 

[StClone]

Goodman missed a full year with an ACL injury and, I believe, missed most of 22-23 with an injury. She didn't have much to show other teams. Goodman graduated in December and wants to be a nurse, so from an academic standpoint, it is not easy to be in nursing classes and play college basketball.

Goodman had planned to take her COVID year until Bluder started ripping the backup post players in the media about how they weren't stepping up. Once that happened, O'Grady became the backup, and Goodman and A.J. Edinger were relegated to the bench. Throw in Iowa is bringing in a 6'4 post, so Goodman saw more time on the bench.

I think CBF realized last year that playing a deep bench paid huge benefits, and based on what he has brought in, I don't see that changing. I think you will see a lot of plug-and-play based on the matchup or who has the hot hand.

Looking back I wonder if Bill was trapped by his machinations, and allowed and designed a team built on five go-to's do-or-die players. Or, the talent level rose recently to where he could rely on multiple players to do as he wanted. With the rest and time on-bench coaching, he became much more effective in winning in-game strategizing. I think it is the latter.

 

[Cyforce]

You mean turnovers on entries?

Yes, she needs to get better at setting up to receive the pass. I'm not attacking her as some here take any type of constructive criticism. She's a true talent with unlimited potential. We're better when she's fighting for position. Posts don't necessarily need great post moves to be productive. They need to work without the ball to win the position battle before they receive the ball.

 

[kcdc4isu]

There are many on here who are not part of the coaching staff posting their thoughts on playing time. This is all just their thoughts so it should be looked at as that. We have at this time ( not sure who else we may pick up) a very strong interesting team with many skills. I would hope what we see this year is a TEAM that has so many strong players that we can show so many options that it will be hard to plan against us. A team that can use whomever is on that day/night is in the game producing the scoring and defense to win. This is one of the most complete teams I have seen us had in the many years I have followed them. I look forward to the start of the season.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Yes, she needs to get better at setting up to receive the pass. I'm not attacking her as some here take any type of constructive criticism. She's a true talent with unlimited potential. We're better when she's fighting for position. Posts don't necessarily need great post moves to be productive. They need to work without the ball to win the position battle before they receive the ball.

I think this is overstated. She was getting the ball wherever she wanted by the end of the season, even against elite posts. Against poor posts, she was scoring at will.

 

[Cyforce]

I think this is overstated. She was getting the ball wherever she wanted by the end of the season, even against elite posts. Against poor posts, she was scoring at will.

That's fine, I'm not going to argue the point. But I will say if she isn't improved from at minimum the early/middle of the season her points are going to drop off. Too many capable scorers on the floor.

 

[Westside clone]

We have a lot of guard talent. CMC does a good job with the football program in that he will find a way to play guys if they are ready to play even if there is a lot of depth. I hope Bill does the same this year. If Tanke and Wilson are good enough to play, you need to find them minutes. The same goes for Jackson and Joens. They have proven to be D1 guards, they need to play so they can continue to develop.

With this depth I think the non-conference games become really important to develope pairings that work together. If we get any kind of a 4/5 or just 5 I think the team is set for a really good run. They should be fun to watch and I hope they stress defense and rebounding because I believe that will be the difference between a good and great season.

 

[cykadelic2]

Audi's baby hook is somewhat reliable but does need some work.

Agree, she needs to develop a reasonably effective jump or baby hook to score consistently vs taller defenders.

 

[cykadelic2]

The best solution to Ryan's overdribbling is having someone else who can actually handle the ball and make teams pay for pressuring. Jackson was not good enough as a PG to trust her for more than a few possessions, especially when defenses pressed in the second half. Hopefully we've added enough skilled ballhandlers that defenses can't pressure the ball on anyone not named Ryan and take our offense completely off the tracks. Brown should definitely be an option, but we're still missing another slasher that's strong with the ball. Hare should be an upgrade to Belanger, who was very good down the stretch.

Best solution vs pressure D is motion offense with limited dribbling by everyone. This has always been my biggest concern with Bill and he needs to mirror what Jennie B did vs pressure D teams like UT (that is why she went 2-0 against them and won B12 title). And running motion doesn’t mean you ditch options to Audi, you incorporate those low post options into the motion offense.

 

[Jnecker4cy]

That's fine, I'm not going to argue the point. But I will say if she isn't improved from at minimum the early/middle of the season her points are going to drop off. Too many capable scorers on the floor.

Fine if she scores less and we win more. Less points does not mean she is not improved maybe the team around her got better.

 

[Cyforce]

Fine if she scores less and we win more. Less points does not mean she is not improved maybe the team around her got better.

As long as she improves we're good.

 

[SolarGarlic]

Best solution vs pressure D is motion offense with limited dribbling by everyone. This has always been my biggest concern with Bill and he needs to mirror what Jennie B did vs pressure D teams like UT (that is why she went 2-0 against them and won B12 title). And running motion doesn’t mean you ditch options to Audi, you incorporate those low post options into the motion offense.

I disagree. You beat ball pressure with blow-bys. Teams don't respect our guards on the perimeter, so they're free to pressure our guards and wings with no penalty for being too aggressive.

You need strong ball handlers to run a good motion offense. Ball handling isn't just dribbling, it's the ability to handle pressure with positioning, rip throughs, passing, and the threat to blow by. Other than Ryan and Brown, and Belanger improved, we didn't have the strength or talent to do those things effectively. Too much putting the ball above their head, turning their body to shield the defender, and inability to dribble in traffic.

If Hare and Harris can make a strong cut, take a pass at the wing and face up with strength and confidence, it will help our offense immensely.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Way too many turnovers when she was standing with her feet together and her hand in the air.

I made comments to my wife that she needed to "attack the pass" a bit more sometimes. However, in her defense, there were also a lot of non-calls on defenders that would essentially climb her back and tip the ball away. I know it's just one game, but the refs did Audi dirty on several calls in that Stanford match-up.

 

[cykadelic2]

I disagree. You beat ball pressure with blow-bys. Teams don't respect our guards on the perimeter, so they're free to pressure our guards and wings with no penalty for being too aggressive.

You need strong ball handlers to run a good motion offense. Ball handling isn't just dribbling, it's the ability to handle pressure with positioning, rip throughs, passing, and the threat to blow by. Other than Ryan and Brown, and Belanger improved, we didn't have the strength or talent to do those things effectively. Too much putting the ball above their head, turning their body to shield the defender, and inability to dribble in traffic.

If Hare and Harris can make a strong cut, take a pass at the wing and face up with strength and confidence, it will help our offense immensely.

I think you need to watch how OU attacked the UT pressure D this past season and than reassess what you posted.

 

[BoxsterCy]

I made comments to my wife that she needed to "attack the pass" a bit more sometimes. However, in her defense, there were also a lot of non-calls on defenders that would essentially climb her back and tip the ball away. I know it's just one game, but the refs did Audi dirty on several calls in that Stanford match-up.

There were a LOT of bad passes to her in the 2nd half of the season that ended up being a TO on Crooks that to me looked like a TO on the guard. Especially if the ill-advised pass came from Ryan it was TO Crooks. However, I do think your comment on her "attacking the pass" more is a good observation. Maybe give up a fraction of that position to get a better reception.

 

[Westside clone]

I think you need to watch how OU attacked the UT pressure D this past season and than reassess what you posted.

When dealing with active pressure, screening and back cuts become a necessity. It is hard, but not impossible, to run an effective motion offense because the defense is overplaying the passing lanes. In effect the cuts become the motion offense.

 

[Jnecker4cy]

As long as she improves we're good.

Why would you think she would not improve?