Early thoughts

[buffgal]

So... now that all the Big 12 teams have a few games under their belts, including a tourney for many, what do you think of your team? Are there things that delight you? Problems that concern you? Players stepping up from the shadows or fading away? I'd love to know.

I'll start with the Buffs: First the good - although I haven't seen them (I now live 350 miles away) my impression is that they're playing with a lot more energy than in the past couple of years. Credit the freshmen.

My concerns - turnovers, rebounding and free-throw shooting, in that order. One or a combination of these will cost the Buffs a few games this season. I hope these mistakes are due to the youth of the team and they will outgrow them as the season wears on.

Players fading away: Kara Richards and Anna Nedovic. Pleasant surprises: Whitney Houston and Aija Putnina.

[tycat947]

As a whole, I think the Big 12 is looking quite a bit stronger than many people might have thought and this is good. OU and Baylor are looking very strong right now along with A&M and Nebraska. All in all, I'm not so sure you can't say that every team in the conference hasn't improved some although KU and Mizzou are almost as good as they were. Even though Texas has not looked totally smooth, they are still young and really haven't played together as a team that much with all the injuries. I expect that by the time conference rolls around they will be a force to be reckoned with. The non conference season is kind of a preparation for conference and post season playing so the we'll see in January how much the Big 12 teams have really improved.

I'm generally pleased with the Sooners and expect them to improve during the season. If they improve as much from now until the end of the season as they did last year, they will be in fine shape and awfully difficult to beat. Courtney looks great as usual. Ashley, Leah and Chelsi have really stepped up their game and all look very very much improved from a year ago. Britney and Erin look like they haven't fully gotten their game back which I'm sure it's due to their minor surguries before the season and I expect them to get back to last years levels by conference. Amanda, along with Nyeshia, are going to make a huge difference this year for us. They will give us much versatility in our game and we will be able adjust to how teams defend us. They are not playing near as good as they will be by the end of the season. They are only freshmen and have only played FOUR games! Krista looks the same although slowed a little bit by a shoulder injury. Three or four years ago we would have been thrilled to have as starters, Abi, Rose and Jenna! And if if weren't for Amanda and Nyeshia they would be playing more and contributing. Their only problem is in getting playing time and they won't get as much as we'd like this year. Not because they're not good, just because we have more depth than ever! And it's quality depth too!

My main concern and I'm sure they will greatly improve is their perimeter defense. I was at the DePaul game and listed to EKU and Hawaii on radio and they give up a lot of wide open three point shots. Our defensive shooting percentage looks good and is good because the opposing teams don't get very good looks underneath and may not shoot good from the outside but we will encounter a good team that will take advantage of that weakness. It may be a Maryland, UNC, Tennessee, Connecticut, etc or could be a Baylor, ATM, Texas or Tech. Also, our transition game on defense can be a problem too although with our versatility and depth I see that as less of an issue.

If we continue to improve and do again win the Big 12, I think we will be battle tested and ready for a strong run to Final 4.

[Kenny1oo6]

The LadyBears have me excited! Thus far the strongest play comes from the inside game. Mosby is everything I hoped and more! Rachel..well she's a hustler and all the good stuff she brings that don't show in the box score will help win games. The two frosh Wilson and Bradley have already demonstrated the talent that led Mulkey to go after them. I suspect that both will have plenty of productive playing time.

In my opinion the outside shot has to become more consistent. I want to see Player and Morrow start lighting it up from the outside. Darrett looks like she certainly has the range.

I think defensively the girls are pretty tough! Yep should be another good run in both conference play and to me there's no reason BU shouldn't make another sweet 16