This was more of a response to the saying that McKenzie not being a dead-eye 3-point shooter is something that shows she might struggle in college. Bell was not a good 3-point shooter but used her athleticism to counter it. While Bell might be more speed and McKenzie's is more strength or hustle, not being a 3-point shooter doesn't mean wont be a good college player. sorry if my comparison was off.
I think under Whalen there is at least a chance. I think they actually could have a chance at players like Amaya Battle, Taylor Woodson, and Nunu Agara. I do agree I feel the Hopkins coach has been less than helpful to the gophers but from everything I've heard he does like Whalen and seems to be less of a hinderance. Whalen was starting REALLY behind with Bueckers so no matter how much you like to blame Whalen for that, her and Carly actually got Paige to give them the time of day.
Certain players like Nnaji seem to already be looking out and that's what I meant when I said Hopkins kids don't seem to give the gophers the time of day. we have not gotten one in awhile.. I think Battle, Woodson or Agara could change that but the gophers will need to continue to improve and show there is something building here.
I agree that McKenzie not being a great high-school three-point shooter need not slow her down at the college level.
Take Jasmine Powell as a fairly comparative example. She didn’t have much of a three-pointer at all from what I could see from early non-conf games. But with training from the good Gopher shooting coaches, by the end of the season she was shooting threes well, at the caliber of Hubbard (if perhaps not quite the caliber of Pitts or Masha or Scalia). And shooting with confidence too, including quite a few crucial end-of-game shots that either kept us in the game or put us in position to win (and we did win some of those). See her garnering all-freshman honors and honorable mention all Big Ten
https://gophersports.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/jasmine-powell/16673
Of course Scalia, who was a good high-school three-point shooter became an even better shooter in college. But there’s only so good one can get, and the gap between Scalia’s trey shooting and Powell’s trey shooting narrowed over the course of their freshman year.
McKenzie could be seen as similar to Powell but a bit taller. I think they could work well together, especially in the double PG config that worked pretty well at times last year.
The fact that she got slowed down to “only” 20-something points in their Tourney defeat, while being double-teamed whole game, really only says that her team didn’t practice enough against that defense.
If I put my Whay hat on, I would not hesitate to bring McKenzie on board if she is willing.
