ISU Question

[carolann]

Jennifer mentioned Lindsey Wilson as a possibility for POY next year. As good as Wilson's numbers were last year, I thought she struggled at times. She seemed to take a lot of shots out of necessity rather than choice. While next year's team appears to have lost more than it's gained as a whole, the backcourt talent looks terrific. What do you ISU fans think? What positions do you see Anne O'Neil, Lindsey Wilson, and Erica Juneau playing? What other players do you think will step up?

[mred]

ISU's starting lineup:

Wilson (point or SG)
Junod (point or SG)
O'Neil (Wing/SG)
Cofield (Wing)
Insert Post Player Here

I don't think Wilson forced up too many shots, but I do think she turns the ball over too much. I wouldn't be surprised to see Junod play a lot of PG and put Lindsey in at SG.

I have no idea who will step up, but ISU will be in big trouble if neither Kriener or Wilkins step up. I've heard good things about Wilkins and Kriener showed a lot of promise last season, but there's no way to predict how they will be this season.

I agree that ISU will have an incredible backcourt yet have a decline in overall talent. That's how big a void Welle and Gahan left.

I will be extremely unhappy if ISU turns the ball over as much as they did last season. A high percentage of the turnovers were due to ISU trying to force the ball into Welle. If there's one good thing about Welle graduating (and I sure can't think of any others...) it's that the ISU backcourt will stop trying to get her the ball when the passing lanes aren't open.

[dem]

I agree with all of mred's statements.

[dem]

Perhaps I should elaborate just a bit. Lindsey frequently took a few more shots than she should have, but it usually was not her fault. The rest of the team (except Welle) was often EXTREMELY reluctant to shoot -- even though they are all good shooters. In those situations, Lindsey often seemed to try to make up for the rest of them by taking extra shots. Maybe not a great solution, but SOMEBODY had to shoot the ball.

[carolann]

Thanks for the comments. I really wasn't criticizing Wilson. I just thought the situation didn't allow her to be as good as she could be. I have wondered if Wilson wouldn't be best as a shooting guard rather than a point guard and I remembered that at one time (pre-injury), people thought Juneau might play the point last year.

[mred]

Originally posted by carolann:
Thanks for the comments. I really wasn't criticizing Wilson. I just thought the situation didn't allow her to be as good as she could be. I have wondered if Wilson wouldn't be best as a shooting guard rather than a point guard and I remembered that at one time (pre-injury), people thought Juneau might play the point last year.

This much we know: Junod will play point when Wilson is out, and Wilson will play point when Junod is out. Both will probably play 30-35 minutes per game, so there's 25-30 minutes when both are in. What will ISU do?

I expect Fennelly to do a lot of experimenting with this. If Junod played the point and Wilson played 2-guard, it wouldn't be the first time Fennelly moved the incumbent PG. When Stacy Frese was a senior, Erica Haugen sometimes played point even when Frese was in the game. This made it easier for Stacy to get open for shots. Haugen took care of the ball a little better, so it also cut down on turnovers.

Junod takes care of the ball a little better than Wilson, so I don't think that'd be a bad move. Lindsey is great at creating her own shot; imagine how good she'd be when she can spend more time cutting through screens and getting open without the ball.

At any rate, ISU has two top-notch point guards. Who will spend the most time there may be a question, but at least the quality of the PG play isn't. http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif


[This message has been edited by mred (edited 06-14-2002).]

[CYMAN]

Actually when Frese was a senior I believe that she was moved to the shooting guard when Wilson played the point.

[mred]

Originally posted by CYMAN:
Actually when Frese was a senior I believe that she was moved to the shooting guard when Wilson played the point.

You may be right. That was a whopping 3 seasons ago. You can't expect me to remember back that far... http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif I knew it was either Haugen or Wilson, and I figured it was probably Haugen.

[dem]

My recollection is that it happened both ways: Frese would play the two while either Haugen or Wilson played point. This (i.e., shooting guard) was -- according to reliable reports -- not a position Stacy liked to play at all.

There were probably more minutes with Frese and Wilson in together than with the Frese and Haugen combination.

[This message has been edited by dem (edited 06-15-2002).]