Season outlook

[Bardman]

So much talk about MBB on the other boards…time to talk about our great WBB team. What does everyone think? Has anyone seen or heard anything concerning our returning players and how they look? What about the newcomers?
I believe we are looking at another outstanding season. How far can they go?
1. I think a major factor is Williams. The 6’5” GT, to me, is key to how far this team can go. Can she provide quality interior defensive presence to include some shot blocking? If yes, that gives CJW a lot more flexibility with Olivia and Liz.
2. Can Jones bring needed athleticism and scoring? If she performs the way she has in the past this will gives the Cards another dynamic scoring option and a strong defensive presence.
3. It will be interesting to see how the GT PG from Cuse is used. Will she start allowing HVL to play at the 2? Or does she share time with Kasa?
4. Do any of the FR make an impact?
5. Lastly, I think the defense will be the calling card of this team. Their defense should have them in every game. CJW should have enough options to choose from to find who is ‘hot’ for the offense.
In the end…Insee this team as a Final Four favorite. I also expect them to win the conference regular season.

 

[Sonja]

So much talk about MBB on the other boards…time to talk about our great WBB team. What does everyone think? Has anyone seen or heard anything concerning our returning players and how they look? What about the newcomers?
I believe we are looking at another outstanding season. How far can they go?
1. I think a major factor is Williams. The 6’5” GT, to me, is key to how far this team can go. Can she provide quality interior defensive presence to include some shot blocking? If yes, that gives CJW a lot more flexibility with Olivia and Liz.
2. Can Jones bring needed athleticism and scoring? If she performs the way she has in the past this will gives the Cards another dynamic scoring option and a strong defensive presence.
3. It will be interesting to see how the GT PG from Cuse is used. Will she start allowing HVL to play at the 2? Or does she share time with Kasa?
4. Do any of the FR make an impact?
5. Lastly, I think the defense will be the calling card of this team. Their defense should have them in every game. CJW should have enough options to choose from to find who is ‘hot’ for the offense.
In the end…Insee this team as a Final Four favorite. I also expect them to win the conference regular season.

Debbie Antonelli and Kelly Gramlich agree with you about being the favorite to win ACC Regular season.

I only saw the end of the WBB Media Days broadcast, but CARDINAL COUPLE has a pretty good synopsis of what went on.

--sonja--

 

[armensmith]

Bard, I feel you are right about Josie Williams. The Cards would be a top team without her, but with her could reach the pinnacle this season should she perform well. The one interesting facet of her game, not mentioned in the articles about her, is foul shooting. Josie got fouled a lot last year and shot an excellent .811 from the foul line. She clearly went to the basket a lot. Blocking shots, however, did not seem to be a major part of her team's game plans. She does like to rebound both defensively and offensively, however, and I feel that Jeff is going to push her to do a lot of that this year. She could be the one thing that Jeff has been missing in the past few years, an offensively talented post player that opposing teams will have to seriously consider when defending against the Cards. We will know a lot more soon!!

Many posters have the belief that Williams, Jones, and Cochran will all start. If so, that is a strong front and big line. Of course, that presumes Cochran performs well at her new position and Jones continues her scoring and rebounding prowess that she demonstrated at Florida State. Dixon and Verhulst will have their times also in the lineup.

The guard play could be dynamic is Carr lives up to expectations and Walker provides some quality minutes. Robinson and HVT need no discussion!😀

 

[KozmasAgain]

The one player I think everyone is forgetting is Alexia Mobley she redshirted last year and is familiar with our system. I have seen video of her and she is a strong rebounder and offensively I saw her dunk the ball. We will have a good starting lineup with a deep bench this could be our year. With Verhulst, Dixon, Cochran, Mobley, Williams and Jones we will be deep in the front court. We should be able to wear teams down offensively and defensively this should be a fun year.

 

[Bardman]

It will be interesting to see what Mobley and/or Harris can contribute. I love Verhulst’s game - so versatile. Wasn’t aware Williams was so strong at the line - that should be huge. I sould have thought she could block some shots; but, at 6’5”, like Liz, getting those arms up will disrupt shots and that can help even if the shot isn’t actually blocked.