Stephanie Watts commits to Southern Cal

#76
#76
Darth_Vol said:
So great you can't even spell her name right? EW is the most talented point guard this program has ever seen and critics will see just how good next season when she and Dangerfield lead UConn to an easy title. Horston will be a fine player for Tennessee, but I don't see those same skills in her...
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Can't spell or spell check got me, hmmmm.....tough to figure that one out huh. Horston is a more talented all-around player and that is coming from somebody who raved about Westbrook's potential. Westbrook had great size and good athleticism for her position, elite court vision, and solid ball-handling. But coming out of high school she had quite a few more holes in her game than Hortson. Sorry if that hurts your feelings and is different than your opinion.
 
#77
#77
therickbol said:
Can't spell or spell check got me, hmmmm.....tough to figure that one out huh. Horston is a more talented all-around player and that is coming from somebody who raved about Westbrook's potential. Westbrook had great size and good athleticism for her position, elite court vision, and solid ball-handling. But coming out of high school she had quite a few more holes in her game than Hortson. Sorry if that hurts your feelings and is different than your opinion.
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Horston appears to be much better defensively as well.
 
#78
#78
therickbol said:
Can't spell or spell check got me, hmmmm.....tough to figure that one out huh. Horston is a more talented all-around player and that is coming from somebody who raved about Westbrook's potential. Westbrook had great size and good athleticism for her position, elite court vision, and solid ball-handling. But coming out of high school she had quite a few more holes in her game than Hortson. Sorry if that hurts your feelings and is different than your opinion.
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NoBackBoard said:
Horston appears to be much better defensively as well.
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I remember when Evina committed, posters were praising how good she was and how she should have been #1 in her class. They continued to rave about her overall play and especially her defense during the McD AA game.

I think it is an unrealistic expectation if people think freshman Horston will be better than junior Westbrook...although I think she will be just as good as Evina was as a freshman.
 
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#79
#79
Amb3096 said:
I remember when Evina committed, posters were praising how good she was and how she should have been #1 in her class. They continued to rave about her overall play and especially her defense during the McD AA game.

I think it is an unrealistic expectation if people think freshman Horston will be better than junior Westbrook...although I think she will be just as good as Evina was as a freshman.
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Which is exactly what I said in my earlier post. Comparing freshman vs freshman. Not comparing freshman vs junior.
 
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#80
#80
therickbol said:
Which is exactly what I said in my earlier post. Comparing freshman vs freshman. Not comparing freshman vs junior.
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At face value, this statement is obviously true-- a talented junior is very likely to be better than a comparably talented freshman.

The X factor is that basketball is a team sport and does the team put a player in positions to be successful in performing her role (and how is that role defined). If KJH is the big coaching upgrade LV fans are hoping for, then Horston will be better prepared and situated in a more effective dynamic offense and surrounded by players who have upped their respective games. So, I think it is possible that Horston could, in effect, put up better numbers than Evina did this season, which is the most direct comparison. Indeed, if Evina was on the team, I would expect that her numbers, next season would be better than Horston as the starting PG. But in the world we have, the relevant comparison is can Horston be better, or as good, as sophomore Westbrook.
 
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#81
#81
The biggest concern I have is the point guard position. Hopefully Massengill will be able to handle the point, but if not, we have already learned how critical an experienced point guard is for stability. We do not want to put Horston or any other freshman to start in such a critical position.

I think Kelly will be able to recruit a quality point guard in the 2020 and/or 2021 class.

Would be nice to get a quality grad transfer point guard
 
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#82
#82
Amb3096 said:
I remember when Evina committed, posters were praising how good she was and how she should have been #1 in her class. They continued to rave about her overall play and especially her defense during the McD AA game.

I think it is an unrealistic expectation if people think freshman Horston will be better than junior Westbrook...although I think she will be just as good as Evina was as a freshman.
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Why is it hard to believe, like freshman had never been better that seniors. I think wat I've seen from her so far, I will choose her over Evina.
 
#83
#83
Harper is going to be a MASSIVE upgrade to Holly! Horston is so much better than Westbrook! I have no real evidence, but...

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#84
#84
madtownvol said:
At face value, this statement is obviously true-- a talented junior is very likely to be better than a comparably talented freshman.

The X factor is that basketball is a team sport and does the team put a player in positions to be successful in performing her role (and how is that role defined). If KJH is the big coaching upgrade LV fans are hoping for, then Horston will be better prepared and situated in a more effective dynamic offense and surrounded by players who have upped their respective games. So, I think it is possible that Horston could, in effect, put up better numbers than Evina did this season, which is the most direct comparison. Indeed, if Evina was on the team, I would expect that her numbers, next season would be better than Horston as the starting PG. But in the world we have, the relevant comparison is can Horston be better, or as good, as sophomore Westbrook.
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Evina her freshman year had Mercedes 6’6” and Nared to play with ..... both were professionals! Even with the Holly game plans verses KJH and what we have coming back might not be a good comparison? JMO
 
#85
#85
Amb3096 said:
I remember when Evina committed, posters were praising how good she was and how she should have been #1 in her class. They continued to rave about her overall play and especially her defense during the McD AA game.

I think it is an unrealistic expectation if people think freshman Horston will be better than junior Westbrook...although I think she will be just as good as Evina was as a freshman.
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I remember E’s MacDonalds game and she did take on the challenge of defending the player picked above her.... However, all you have to do is look at her high school championship games to see her faults and inconsistencies....... She is a good player but by now most would argue that neither one or two rated players coming out of high school were the best two players for that year ! JMO
Jordon Horston played in the MacDonalds Allstar game and I believe she was voted to have had a good game !!! She will make her teammates better ....... THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE in these two players ..... JMO
 
#86
#86
PRG said:
Evina her freshman year had Mercedes 6’6” and Nared to play with ..... both were professionals! Even with the Holly game plans verses KJH and what we have coming back might not be a good comparison? JMO
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Davis should be as good or better than Jamie (and no disrespect to JN who was a fine player). Mercedes is an incomparable difference. On the plus side, the overall team balance and position by position quality (except post) may be better for this year's team.
 
#87
#87
mpo, the biggest loss from the team last season was Annie Hayes. She would have put turnover EW on the bench. for good!
 
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#88
#88
gule said:
mpo, the biggest loss from the team last season was Annie Hayes. She would have put turnover EW on the bench. for good!
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We always think fondly of those who have left. Annie's decision making skills weren't any better than Evina's. I thought she was even worse. She didn't have the court vision and was frequently out of control.

If Tennessee struggles at PG next season and Evina cleans up her game (now that she's not playing for a secretary-pretending-to-be-a-coach), then I expect many on this board to remember the good ol' days when Evina was running the offense.
 
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#89
#89
Amb3096 said:
We always think fondly of those who have left. Annie's decision making skills weren't any better than Evina's. I thought she was even worse. She didn't have the court vision and was frequently out of control.

If Tennessee struggles at PG next season and Evina cleans up her game (now that she's not playing for a secretary-pretending-to-be-a-coach), then I expect many on this board to remember the good ol' days when Evina was running the offense.
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Annie would have needed to do what EW did in the off-season, develop a respectable jump shot. As a freshman, she was a one-trick pony, drive and dish. Good defenses could take that away if they did not have to worry about jump shots.

Having said that, AH was a difference maker and probably could have swung a few close games into the win column.
 
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#90
#90
madtownvol said:
Annie would have needed to do what EW did in the off-season, develop a respectable jump shot. As a freshman, she was a one-trick pony, drive and dish. Good defenses could take that away if they did not have to worry about jump shots.

Having said that, AH was a difference maker and probably could have swung a few close games into the win column.
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I agree. In spite of her flaws, freshman Annie was a major, major improvement from Massengill. As long as her game didn't regress between years (even if she didn't develop a jump shot), she still brought other things to the table that could provide a different look from Evina for those games where Westbrook was struggling or in foul trouble (and keep Massengill on the bench).
 
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#91
#91
Amb3096 said:
I agree. In spite of her flaws, freshman Annie was a major, major improvement from Massengill. As long as her game didn't regress between years (even if she didn't develop a jump shot), she still brought other things to the table that could provide a different look from Evina for those games where Westbrook was struggling or in foul trouble (and keep Massengill on the bench).
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TWO DIFFERENT PLAYERS. One is 5’7” and their game was to penetrate and score or dish . The other is 6’ and relies on getting the ball to the right player and not panicking by using their height to see over defenders. Jaz ‘s game was ten feet and in or getting on the boards. Annie was getting on fast breaks and beating the other team down the court.

Annie has no three point shot and teams would take her under the goal on defense where her height was a disadvantage. Jaz has not developed a consistent shot and wants to defend from behind and try to block shots of shorter guards.

There’s good and bad in both players! I’ll take the bigger player and hope for coaching to make a difference? JMO
 
#92
#92
PRG said:
TWO DIFFERENT PLAYERS. One is 5’7” and their game was to penetrate and score or dish . The other is 6’ and relies on getting the ball to the right player and not panicking by using their height to see over defenders. Jaz ‘s game was ten feet and in or getting on the boards. Annie was getting on fast breaks and beating the other team down the court.

Annie has no three point shot and teams would take her under the goal on defense where her height was a disadvantage. Jaz has not developed a consistent shot and wants to defend from behind and try to block shots of shorter guards.

There’s good and bad in both players! I’ll take the bigger player and hope for coaching to make a difference? JMO
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I don't disagree that they were different styles of players, but Annie was more effective and contributed more as a freshman than Jaz did. Even though she couldn't shoot, she was hard to stop from getting to the basket and would get two points off the drove or the layup in traffic. Jaz brought nothing to the table on offense, and wasn't good enough on defense to compensate for the fact she was a liability on offense. I'm sure she'll get better under Kellie, but she is very much a project. Having a more experienced and proven player like Annie would have helped Tennessee win some close games that they lost this past season...which may have led to a better record and Holly remaining as coach, so she did the team a favor in the long run by getting kicked off.
 
#94
#94
VA_VOLFAN said:
You do realize that a second team all state guard from states like Texas or California could be really good so that’s actually not a knock 😂😂😂
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If your goal is a good, but not great team, that's the way to go, but I don't think Pat and Gino collected all those trophies that way.
 
#96
#96
Annie could have gone to a bigger school than MTSU if she had wanted to. She chose close to home. Westbrook chose to sit on the bench at U Cons and watch other girls play. :)
 
#97
#97
arkyvol said:
If your goal is a good, but not great team, that's the way to go, but I don't think Pat and Gino collected all those trophies that way.
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Well 1. Considering we haven’t been anywhere close to good I’ll take that as a stepping stone back to greatness.

2. The point was those states are deep in talent so not getting a first teamer (think about a Mccowan type player) doesn’t mean you can’t have a championship team.

The team doesn’t have to be made up of those players but I wouldn’t exactly knock a second team all state kid who fits a certain need.
 
#99
#99
arkyvol said:
How highly rated were her teammates?
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I thought we were talking about guards.

Bobbitt's high school team was among the tops in the nation, and she was regarded as one of the best players in NYC.

The point is that she went the JUCO route and not to a D-1, P-5 school...and yet was instrumental in winning two championships.

The point is that every good (even key) player does not have to be a Top Ten recruit. We have had our share of h.s. A-A talent (to the point that some posters were predicting a dynasty) over the past decade, but we never even made a Final Four. Meanwhile Mo.State with no A-A players came within ten points of making the Elite Eight...which is as far as we've gone during the past decade (and not even close lately).

Sure, everyone wants the game-changers, and we should get our share. But we shouldn't dismiss talented role players as chopped liver just because they don't have 5 stars by their names.

Harper and Pruitt have similar jobs...to convince top talent that they will get good coaching that will help them reach their potential (and win championships if that is important to the players). Even Barnes had to prove himself even given his past resume.
 
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