Even though the 3-point shot is not there, I think she has definitely added to her game. She's better defensively, maybe more as a team defender than an individual, but she does fight through and around more screens than she used to and takes better angles for the most part. Don't know if she'll ever be elite, but I can tell she's been working on improving that part of her game. She did a great job on limiting Swords in the Michigan game.
I see her taking the ball to the lane and to the rim much more often than we saw in her first 2 seasons. And she's still a very solid free throw shooter. Seems like her teammates and coaching staff likes her communications skills on the floor and in the locker room as well. I think part of the problem is our expectations were that she had a chance to be our Caitlyn Clark or Paige Bueckers, or even Banham or Carly Wagner, and anything less than that is a major disappointment.
Like everyone else, I cringe when I see her miss shots, but the last couple of games that I've seen, she only really takes 2-3 "bad" shots a game. As a freshman, some of those were going in anyway. Now they're not. To be honest, most of the players I've watched over the years who are expected to shoot the ball, end up taking 2-3 bad shots a game. Some of them end up being the "No, No, Yes!" shots. I'm pretty sure that she's hearing about the bad shots during film sessions, but as we all know, shooters (and that's what she's been in HS and college prior to her injuries) honestly believe that every shot is going in. The key for her is to make sure she's set, squared and open. As anybody who's ever been a good shooter knows, sometimes, even when the conditions are perfect and your fundamentals are good, shots don't always splash.
The article mentioned Sara Scalia and I see some similarities in their games. I haven't looked it up, but I think Scalia started her career hot from 3, then dropped off until she picked it up again. Took her some time to get some of the other parts of her game going as well. I remember she wasn't a very good defender or at the short game early in her career, but the by the time she was a junior and her final year at Indiana, she was becoming more of a complete player. Maybe not a superstar, but good enough to start and play major minutes in the Big Ten.
