ChapBear, I join you in being a bit skeptical about height postings, since they seem to vary so much. Collier, for instance, has been listed as 6'4" for a couple of years, so I would have thought that she had topped out at that height, but perhaps not. I have watched her in a couple of all star games and she does not seem to play at the height mentioned, but maybe I caught her in an unfavorable situation.
Egbo is a most interesting player. She has been listed at 6'3" and that appears to be about right in comparing her to her teammates at Baylor. If Collier does not seem to play at her height, the same could be said about Queen, except for the opposite reason. She has a great basketball body and outstanding athleticism. I think that she can play with girls two or three inches taller, something that I worried about when she was signed. I knew that she was reputed to be extremely active and quick off the floor, and it did not take long to confirm that when I watched her in the all star games. She proved that she could hold her own at both ends of the floor, and quite frankly, I don't think she has done more than scratch the surface of her capabilities. I am very impressed with her and confident of her future in the hands of Bill Brock. Collier, I think, plays below her height, and Egbo in my judgment plays well above her height.
It was good to see that Coach Mulkey gave a lot of minutes to her new players. DeCosta was sidelined with an injury and NaLyssa was helping the USA team win in Mexico, but the others, along with Trinity Oliver, had more than enough opportunity to get the feel of what it was like to play as a Lady Bear. The level of competition was, for the most part, not that challenging, but at least one of those teams had beaten Kentucky in an earlier contest, so that win was impressive. Egbo showed her ability to be a real presence on the boards, and if NaLyssa and DeCosta had been available, it would have been even more of a show.
Caitlin Bickle's ability to shoot and to pass the ball has never been in question. Two questions attended her recruitment, and she answered the first; namely, whether or not the injury that sidelined her in her senior year had ceased to be a factor in conditioning and performance. She played a lot of minutes and was very active, and her sense of the game and of the moment was impressive.
The second question remains to be answered, but at least part of that is associated with her physical presence, so it may be that it will soon be determined favorably. That question is at the defensive end of the floor. The discussion before centered on where she was most suited, at the SG slot or the SF position, with the possibility that in certain situations she might even sub in at the PF slot in order to extend the floor with her ability to shoot from the wing. At that time Chou, Richards, DeCosta, and even Trinity Oliver were potential candidates for the SF slot, while the SG slot had Lambert, Ursin, Grayson, along with our LSU star transfer....
How and where Caitlin could get her minutes depended on how physically prepared she was and and whether or not she could defend quality Division I players at those positions. It also depended on how those competing with her for minutes were playing, especially at the defensive end of the floor. I have not seen her play since her junior year, and only snippets of those games.
Because of the quality of players on hand and those coming into the program, I thought at the time of the earlier discussion that it would take awhile to assess just where Caitlin would best fit into the schemes that Mulkey employs. She is bigger now than I thought she was based on the videos available, and we know that she has a good all around game, with a sense of what to do with the ball in her hands, so I think that her future is probably on the front line. If that is the case, the defensive assignments may be much more in line with her physical attributes and we know that offensively she poses some problems for defenses down there. This is a very interesting and promising freshman class.
