Just some notes/thoughts after the two exhibitions.
Rick Insell said they need to find another 4, someone who can consistently playing behind Arike if/when she comes out. We saw the combinations of Boldyreva/Grannum, Arike/Grannum, and Arike/Milanovic the most. Experimented with Boldyreva/Hamby, and Kabernick/Boldyreva seldomly in the second and fourth periods. I think Grannum is the clear first big off the bench, but we miss the scoring production when Arike is not on the floor, to CRI's point. From what I've seen in practice, Kabernick is a scorer at all three levels. She is lacking the physical defense I know they need from her and a lot of these younger players to keep them on the floor. I'm also surprised we didn't see Monson get some reps at the 4 in these two exhibitions. She has the length and would be an upgrade on offense compared to any other bigs.
Scott with two double-doubles. Minus the free throw woes last night, Ta'Mia has the makings to be a superstar. I know we already know that, but I mean that on a larger scale. She plays with a level of aggression and shoot-first mentality that I would not be surprised when we get to March, she's averaging 15 ppg. She may be the surprise CUSA POY candidate when it's all said and done.
Blakely is more of a scoring threat than we remember from '23 where she averaged 7 ppg and 2.6 apg. The question this offseason, "How do you replace Wheeler's scoring production?" Scoring 10 points on an off-night shooting (Scored 21 on Friday) and 14 assists to 5 turnovers in two games is a good indication if she's not scoring someone else will. She just runs circles around defenses.
The point guard duties have shaken more than I thought they would. When they run Gregory and Blakely in tandem, either brings the ball up the floor. When they run their half court offense it ultimately lands in Blakely's hands, but they're both comfortable there. Davis has been the first off the bench. I think Davis' defensive intensity is what sets her apart from Harrison, today, and we saw that on Wednesday. We saw Harrison miss an open three late and she shied away from her next open opportunity and opted for an extra pass showing her traditional PG tendencies. I see a lot of potential in both Davis' and Harrison's game that will take time. I think they're both capable of scoring in bunches in due time. Truthfully Blakely and Gregory are just too valuable on both ends of the floor.
On the Gregory note, I'm not alarmed by the shooting in the exhibitions. She had a slow start last year and still ran away with the CUSA 3PM lead on nearly 36%. She'll be fine and still shows she can score under the rim manufacturing some points in transition.
