STrib: Kent Youngblood: Lindsay Likes What She Sees

[Ignatius L Hoops]

http://www.startribune.com/lindsay-whalen-likes-what-she-sees-from-gophers-so-far/497726381/

- Whalen sounds enthusiastic about the potential of a backcourt featuring Kenisha Bell and Jasmine Brunson. Neither are very big – Bell is 5-9, Brunson 5-8 – but both are very quick and both are good with the ball in her hands. They are important in Whalen’s plans for a team that, admittedly, should again be heavily backcourt-based.

“One of their biggest strengths is their quickness,’’ Whalen said. “And their tenacity, both defensively on the ball and in passing lanes and with their ability to create on offense. It will be interesting to see, once we start to play against other teams, how much they’re able to dictate on both sides of the ball.’’

-- Brunson is one of a handful of players whose contribution and playing time should soar this season. Brunson started just one game last year as a sophomore and averaged just 2.9 points and 10.8 minutes per game. Whalen said Brunson has worked hard on her mid-range shot, something that needs to improve. But she and Bell’s quickness should be able to stress defenses and open things up for their teammates.

-- Also look for more from junior forward Taiye Bello and senior center Annalese Lamke. Bello is an athletic big who will be key to the team’s rebounding and interior defense. Lamke is in great shape and should see a quantum leap in playing time.

 

[tripledouble]

Looking more and more like more PT for Brunson. I expect that she'll be a good defender, but she'll also have to be able to contribute some offensively, and not just in transition. Kent says that neither Bell nor Brunson is very tall at 5'9" and 5'8" but that's not small, especially when compared to Iowa's Davis and MSU's McCutcheon. Those guards are small, but quick. Again, I am glad to see that Whalen is doing a weekly presser and that the Strib is covering it. It's nice to get preseason updates when not much info is available.

 

[thatjanelpick]

Definitely starting to seem strange that Hubbard is never mentioned...

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Video of the presser.

A couple of notes on where the team is focused:

At the 3:50 mark Lindsay says she tells Brunson and Bell: "One of my favorite things was to be able to play with another point guard (mentions Schonrock), who ever gets the ball brings it up."

At the 5:30 mark Lindsay says Taiye is working a "lot more in the high post and a lot more high low. She's a great driver especially going left."

 

[Shades]

At one point a reporter questions if Brunson stepping up big will be important, to which Whalen says “she’s going to have to.” And then once again no reporters follow up with questions on Hubbard, who was obviously a starter last year. Whalen feeling imperative that Brunson must step up kinda implies there’s something up with Hubbard, like some kind of chronic injury or condition that’s being kept hush-hush.

If Brunson and Bell will be on the court together, I’m guessing Bell will be more off the ball since she’s the main scorer. But one of the things Bell likes to do is drive the length of the court before the defense has a chance to get back, so I wonder if this new system will hurt that. I dunno.... based on the past couple of years, I’m skeptical of Brunson starting and I suspect things could change as the season progresses.

Are there players missing from the official roster? I only count 12.

Brunson/Hubbard
Bell/Staples
Pitts/Kaposi/Perez
T Bello/Byrne/K Bello
Lamke/Tomancova

The team seems a little forward-heavy, and yet very little is said about the forwards.
How is Byrne doing? *crickets* Tomancova? *crickets* Is Kaposi going to have a good year? *crickets*

 

[Ignatius L Hoops]

Yes, rather than a question and discussion about Lindsay's personal work out routine, I would've preferred a question about Hubbard or Staples or who is actually going to play low when Taiye is playing high. I guess we will see on Saturday.

It was interesting when Whalen said, "whoever gets the ball brings it up". I always thought that Borton's switch to Schonrock as the primary inbound option was to save some wear and tear on Lindsay. And, also, that Shannon was a wicked three point shooter you couldn't let roam free.

I think Lindsay is counting on Bell's and Brunson's drives coming off defensive stops.

 

[hungan1]

They may start out with Brunson and Bell. Staples will play, but not as a starter initially. There is no way that she will sit a four star player on the bench most of the time. She'll push the other guards ahead of her. Whalen was speaking of Staples in glowing terms. Hubbard might have some kind of nagging injury or something.

It looks like the Gophers are moving forward with a player roster/rotation based on the practices. I'd expect adjustments as the season go on. In particular, when the Big Ten teams figure out how to game plan against the Gophers purported back court heavy set.

 

[FiveOut]

They may start out with Brunson and Bell. Staples will play, but not as a starter initially. There is no way that she will sit a four star player on the bench most of the time. She'll push the other guards ahead of her. Whalen was speaking of Staples in glowing terms. Hubbard might have some kind of nagging injury or something.

It looks like the Gophers are moving forward with a player roster/rotation based on the practices. I'd expect adjustments as the season go on. In particular, when the Big Ten teams figure out how to game plan against the Gophers purported back court heavy set.

As of a week ago Hubbard was in a boot and not practicing. I'm not sure what the nature of the injury is but that might explain the lack of conversation around her role.

 

[Shades]

At one point a reporter questions if Brunson stepping up big will be important, to which Whalen says “she’s going to have to.” And then once again no reporters follow up with questions on Hubbard, who was obviously a starter last year. Whalen feeling imperative that Brunson must step up kinda implies there’s something up with Hubbard, like some kind of chronic injury or condition that’s being kept hush-hush.

If Brunson and Bell will be on the court together, I’m guessing Bell will be more off the ball since she’s the main scorer. But one of the things Bell likes to do is drive the length of the court before the defense has a chance to get back, so I wonder if this new system will hurt that. I dunno.... based on the past couple of years, I’m skeptical of Brunson starting and I suspect things could change as the season progresses.

Are there players missing from the official roster? I only count 12.

Brunson/Hubbard
Bell/Staples
Pitts/Kaposi/Perez
T Bello/Byrne/K Bello
Lamke/Tomancova

The team seems a little forward-heavy, and yet very little is said about the forwards.
How is Byrne doing? *crickets* Tomancova? *crickets* Is Kaposi going to have a good year? *crickets*

Okay, that was depth chart BEFORE they finally came clean about Hubbard.
I think Hubbard is most likely out for the season. They just don’t want to dampen the enthusiasm of the season by saying so, which might hurt ticket sales.

So I noticed they had Perez photographed with the guard group for media day. That would make her the fourth guard if you consider Pitts a forward. Pitts can be a backup guard.

Brunson/Staples
Bell/Perez
Pitts/Kaposi
T Bello/Byrne/K Bello
Lamke/Tomancova

Hubbard


If another guard gets hurt, then Pitts will most likely be getting heavy minutes as a guard, and most likely increase Kaposi’s minutes at forward.