PG-Lulu Twidale 5-10
SG-Shannon Dowell 5-10
Wing-Zara Russell 6-2
PF-Taylor Barnes 6-0
C--Albina Syla 6-5

Remember early last season when Gisella Maul & Naya Ojukwu were the dynamic duo off of the bench and injected instant energy to the team and the offense...

PG-Ruby Perkins 5-8
SG-Miracle Sheppard 5-10
Wing-Gisella Maul 5-11
PF-Naya Ojukwu 6-1
C-Jovana Jevtovic 6-4

This is my initial suggestion without seeing some of the newbies perform in person.
GO BEARS!

I think Sheppard is future All Conference with pro potential. She needs to start. Maul not on the floor seems tough to justify too…but PT is going to be competitive.

Lulu
Mjracle
Gisella
Taylor
Jovana Jevtovic

Substitutes (first off the bench)

Shannon Dowell
Ruby Perkins
Zara
Naya
Albina Syla (from Rhode Island)

ethan0l said:

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I don't know how Gisella or Dowell makes sense coming off the bench. Gisella proved that she was a serious ACC starter when Puff and Taylor went down, and Dowell averaged 14 as a starter in the SEC. I also don't think Lulu running the point is a fit but I am convinced Maul and Dowell and Barnes feel like starters. Obviously it's a good problem to have!

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Again, it's more about minutes. Unless you're not going to use one of our 6-3, 6-4,or 6-5 threesome bigs, you have 4 starting spots. You have Mjracle, Lulu, Gisella, Taylor, and Shannon. Five players who all have started most of their career. They can't all "start". Someone needs to come off the bench. Myracle is the only true point guard. Taylor is the only "4". Lulu is starting. That leaves Gisella or Shannon. Regardless of who comes off the bench they will both get plenty of minutes. While I understand your opinion, is it really worth playing in D1 basketball without a true point guard? And I suspect when Mjracle is not in the game Ruby will be, right?

We have 4 returning starters and I'm assuming they will all start next season. None of those 4 remotely resemble a center so our 5th starter, depending on matchups, could be Naya or one of our incoming freshies.

Shannon has a great resume and obviously came here to play. I expect her to get starter minutes whether or not she's actually starting. She could replace Lulu, Gisella, or Taylor (with Gisella moving to forward). Dunno if she has PG skills, if so she could replace Mjracle as well.

I don't think Lulu is best at PG so I would expect Ruby to get some minutes there. Can't say how many before I see her play.

I suppose Albina and Jovana will share the time at center. Albina has more experience so I assume she will start.

I don't want Taylor to play nearly 40 minutes this season. Zara looks promising and might be the first forward off the bench. That could also be Naya if we need her strength and energy, especially if she has improved away from the basket.

I haven't seen much about Anna, particularly whether she's ready to play at this level and whether her skills are more inside or outside.

Carly may or may not be ready for major minutes but if we need a few threes we'll call her number.

Anastasia hasn't played much, I'm not sure if the injury during her first year slowed her down. She's steady, experienced, and ready if we need her. Same with Sofia, who might surprise people if they give her a little space.

^
Agree most likely Albina starts at C based on her D1 experience.

If our four returning starters all start again, how great will it be having Shannon who averaged 15/ppg as the first player off the bench?!!! Again, no doubt Shannon will be getting plenty of minutes.

ethan0l said:

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I don't know how Gisella or Dowell makes sense coming off the bench. Gisella proved that she was a serious ACC starter when Puff and Taylor went down, and Dowell averaged 14 as a starter in the SEC. I also don't think Lulu running the point is a fit but I am convinced Maul and Dowell and Barnes feel like starters. Obviously it's a good problem to have!

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Right. Dowell isn't coming here to be "off the bench." Or if she does, she still ends up close to 30 minutes per game. Those numbers and playing in the SEC? Yeah, some are acting like she is transferring from a mid-major...

mbBear said:

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ethan0l said:

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I don't know how Gisella or Dowell makes sense coming off the bench. Gisella proved that she was a serious ACC starter when Puff and Taylor went down, and Dowell averaged 14 as a starter in the SEC. I also don't think Lulu running the point is a fit but I am convinced Maul and Dowell and Barnes feel like starters. Obviously it's a good problem to have!

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Right. Dowell isn't coming here to be "off the bench." Or if she does, she still ends up close to 30 minutes per game. Those numbers and playing in the SEC? Yeah, some are acting like she is transferring from a mid-major...

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Dowell started 65 of her last 67 games at Missouri. I think that she will play well enough that it will be impossible to keep her off of the court. But I do hope that she will also have a team-oriented perspective to maximize our chances of winning.

stu said:

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BearBint said:

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I starred every post because I'm just so glad to have all this talent; it's helped keep me non-depressed during the political chaos.

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It would help if some of our politicians enter the portal. Especially if we could choose which ones.

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I've got a little list...

I will be surprised if the new players don't replace several of the returning starters. Lulu playing PG is a ludicrous. I think the 6'3" Greek recruit will likely spend a lot of time as a 4. Haven't seen the Australians, but we have plenty of guards. Workouts may be brutal.

bearchamp said:

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I will be surprised if the new players don't replace several of the returning starters.

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I'm pretty sure we'll start a newcomer at center because we don't have a returning starter there and I think Naya is more of a forward.

Shannon is a proven player who IMHO has a good chance of starting. Our other new players at the 1 through 4 positions are young and have little or no NCAA experience, I will be surprised if any of them replace a returning starter.

Quote:

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Lulu playing PG is a ludicrous.

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I'd soften that to unlikely.

Quote:

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I think the 6'3" Greek recruit will likely spend a lot of time as a 4.

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Is she better than our other new centers?

Quote:

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Haven't seen the Australians, but we have plenty of guards.

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Ruby is a PG and we don't have plenty of those. Carly has played only 59 minutes in the NCAA, I wouldn't bet on her beating out senior guards Mjracle, Lulu, Gisella, or Shannon.

Quote:

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Workouts may be brutal.

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Not as brutal as when Michell played here.

And I think Dowell wouldn't have transferred here to come off the bench when she started 70 games in the SEC and was a top rated transfer. And we obviously are gonna start a center.

So that means someone of Barnes, Mjracle, Ruby, etc will have to come off the bench. Is it Taylor? (Seems unlikely to me but there are only so many options here.)

ethan0l said:

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And I think Dowell wouldn't have transferred here to come off the bench when she started 70 games in the SEC and was a top rated transfer. And we obviously are gonna start a center.

So that means someone of Barnes, Mjracle, Ruby, etc will have to come off the bench. Is it Taylor? (Seems unlikely to me but there are only so many options here.)

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If Taylor doesn't start it means we have to start four players under 6 feet tall. Can you compete in the ACC like that?
In general, you like to field a lineup with a point guard and a center. It's only logical that most likely Gisella comes off the bench as your sixth player. She will still get plenty of minutes.

RedlessWardrobe said:

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ethan0l said:

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And I think Dowell wouldn't have transferred here to come off the bench when she started 70 games in the SEC and was a top rated transfer. And we obviously are gonna start a center.

So that means someone of Barnes, Mjracle, Ruby, etc will have to come off the bench. Is it Taylor? (Seems unlikely to me but there are only so many options here.)

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If Taylor doesn't start it means we have to start four players under 6 feet tall. Can you compete in the ACC like that?
In general, you like to field a lineup with a point guard and a center. It's only logical that most likely Gisella comes off the bench as your sixth player. She will still get plenty of minutes.

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I like this idea a lot. Let Maul win a 6th player of the year for the ACC.

Sheppherd
Dowell
Twidale
Barnes
Syla

I can't wait to see Dowell and Twidale put up 20 point games together. Watch her highlights against Oklahoma this year. She can score at ease!

I cannot see bringing in an outsider and jumping her over a player who played really well (Gisella) unless the outsider absolutely dominates the returner in practice. If they're anywhere close, Gisella has to start -- if you expect players to have any loyalty to the program, the program has to show loyalty to them.

I'm sure there were discussions with Dowell about the starting lineup and her role before she signed, and presumably with Mjracle and the others.

The great thing about having a lot of good players is that practices are very competitve. The bad thing about having a lot of good players is that some of them will very likely be unhappy because they're not playing as much as they think they should.

annarborbear said:

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I think we are focusing too much on who is going to be in the starting line-up. The real question is: Have we upgraded the roster at key positions?

1. Will Dowell be better than Puff and Donez? Absolutely.
2. Will Syla and Jetovic be better than Walker and Naya? TBD, but very promising. No longer worried about our back-up center being too short.
3. Will the combination of Barnes and Zara Russell be better than Barnes alone playing all of those minutes? Should be. Barnes had some marginal games where her presence was not felt. She will improve, but Russell can also give us a greater scoring dimension when she is in.

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Absolutely! Too much "starting" talk. And all three of your points are spot on. I'm curious about Zara's defense and rebounding ability. She can certainly run the floor and has an offensive game

RedlessWardrobe said:

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Absolutely! Too much "starting" talk. And all three of your points are spot on. I'm curious about Zara's defense and rebounding ability. She can certainly run the floor and has an offensive game

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I'm also curious about Shannon's defense. Everything I've read indicates she has the tools but all of the talk is about her offense. Her stats do show she can rebound.

ClayK said:

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I cannot see bringing in an outsider and jumping her over a player who played really well (Gisella) unless the outsider absolutely dominates the returner in practice. If they're anywhere close, Gisella has to start -- if you expect players to have any loyalty to the program, the program has to show loyalty to them.

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100% in agreement. My guess many of the starters from last year most likely was told by the coach somehow they would be starting or at least be the initial starters. Can't see Charmin not discussing this with them.