Except for CKH, I think there is a near universal consensus that Horston and jackson should be starting and playing almost the entire game against higher caliber competition. [This team is so short on scorers that holding your offensive force of nature out of the line-up until she rebounds more seems stubbornly old school. I keep "harping" on this but I she can give me twenty plus a game and give a good effort on defense, I am looking for some other players to crash the boards). But, the other three spots get interesting.
Powell is not playing well, She looked bright in the first few games but her shot has abandoned and she now over dribbles and kills the teams ball movement and offensive flow. Walker seems to have figured out that forcing shots is not good for her or the team. I think Powell has the potential to be the better PG but her dribble first habits are a detriment. She wants to be on the ball too much and untl that changes, I probably Brooklyn over her as the #2.
I think it is a toss-up between Franklin and Powell, Franklin is a force on the boards and is more polished in the post but at 6-1, she does not match-up well against bigger posts. In the end, I think she and Jillian are the too headed monster at post and it probably does not matter that much who starts or not. Striplin has the capacity to create match-up problems with her outside shooting. She has decent size as well. So, her as a starter kinda makes sense.
Puckett v. Tess. I think Sara is the better all round player. Now that her 3 shot is dropping, she can provide what Tess provides but Puckett seems most comfortable when she is playing low post and then floats outside on occasion. In contrast, Tess is comfortable out on the perimeter. I noticed against Wafford, that Justine;s movement off the ball is getting better, She had been kind of stagnant in other games but in this game, she was moving around the perimeter to get open and even posting up (that did not work out well in the game but I think she can get better down low).
So, on balance, I lean Puckett as the starter with Tess being the 6th man along with Marta depending on the game flow. Marta and Puckett have a similar game so that would work for a like for like switch. But I think Justine is coming for both Tess and Marta as the first choice sub.
So, my starting line-up (at this point in the season) would be Horston, Jackson, Walker Striplin, and Puckett. Then Darby, Franklin, Hollingshead, Suarez, and Powell/MIles as the main sub options.