I love Lady Bear fans! I also know it is likely as fans to have our favorites which is fine as well. I think you are a fan of HSG...I am too as are most of the posters. People posted similar comments about Juicy two years ago...and Moon last year...that you have this year about HSG. Everyone wants someone who is not getting minutes to get more minutes. I have decided to believe that despite my preferences Kim's number one goal is to win and she sees the kids a lot more than any of us...and is therefore likely to play who she needs to play when she needs to play them to win the game and compete for Championships. It is a balancing act and the more players she has the tougher it is to find enough minutes game to game to give meaningful minutes to all.LadyBears42 said:
My response to your initial post was solely directed towards your attempt to discredit their resumes coming out of high school, which I found extremely distasteful. No matter what anyone on this board assumes (especially those who've never picked up a basketball a day in their life; if the shoe fits wear it), I doubt very seriously if what they've accomplished in their careers was just handed to them. These kids are some of the best in their class and they've earned that title, and no matter how long a person has been a fan and or follower of any program, we shouldn't be on here discrediting their resumes. DeCosta, Scott-Grayson and Smith (newly) have all played for USA Basketball and that definitely wasn't handed to them. They competed against the best of the best and earned a spot on those teams and represented their country, let alone Baylor. Have you ever been to a USA tryout? I doubt it, it's one of the most intense tryouts known to man and they earned spots which means, they are legit.
Now, since you want to shift the focus to why their not playing (which is old news). By no means did any of these players come to Baylor, or would have gone to any program for that matter with a "gimme" mindset so, that was needless to say. Do you know these players personally, to even make an unnecessary comment like that? I doubt it, Smh. These kids whole career have been based upon working for what they earn.
Appreciate your feedback and longevity with the program however, this means you know the program, not the players and what their capable of doing. As I've stated in previous posts, none of these kids came in perfect however, some have a longer leash than others in making human mistakes and get to play through them. It looks like DeCosta, Bickle and Scott-Grayson have not been chosen to be able to play through these mistakes.
Let's be realistic here, players get better by being hands on, they will never get better by just watching. That's with anything you do in life. And CKM knows this, reference her WVU presser posted on here. She states it herself so, we can't keep saying "oh they did such and such three months ago so, they shouldn't be playing", it makes no sense. No matter if your the #1 team or the #25 team in the country, when you recruit kids they come in expecting to learn the system and get get better individually however, you can't get better by watching and that's a fact. Again, reference it being said from the horses mouth during the WVU presser.
The more these kids play, the better they will get, the more confident with the Baylor system they will get. Let's not be selfish and push them off to the side and say, "oh they did this wrong, they that wrong" he** they ALL still making mistakes and having bad games individually for that matter. None of them are perfect. Their ALL still learning and growing. No need in trying to discredit their abilities and/or capabilities for that matter. Now you talking about, "oh we might explore another grad transfer" and "hey how about those 2019 and 2020 kids"... slow down and appreciate and invest in the talent we already have. So often we don't do our jobs, we just look for instant gratification.
We as a program (no matter what class and/or individual player we talk about) need to pump these kids with confidence and assure ALL of them we believe in them (minus the assumptions, opinions and our own glorified assumed knowledge/confidence) equally. We're not doing that, we're only doing that with some. And those some are getting better. Any player you pump with confidence, actually play and allow them to play through things will get better, that's a given. These kids (the ones watching) have committed to Baylor, coming in smart enough to know what the process is however, the question remains, is Baylor committed to them.
I have posted before and I won't do it again but only five play at a time and with 12 players deserving of playing time some will just have to wait and sit more than they like. You hope that all those sitting don't like it and are motivated to work harder to earn minutes by being a great teammate and working hard in practice and playing hard in the minutes they are given to play.
We have a game tomorrow where our Bigs will have to chase ISU's big all over the CRT because of their tendency to shoot the three's and stretch the floor. I think in part Smith and Queen got more minutes to give Cox and Brown some extra rest...was not the only reason but probably one of the reasons.
HSG, Bickle, and Acosta, have all been hampered to some extent with injuries and illness which accounts for some of the lack of time. Trinity is also coming back after major knee surgery. Certainly not the only reason for reduced time but I would guess it is a factor. I don't think Smith and Queen are the favored ones as much as they are needed more for their sheer size and ability to play the 4 and 5 position. Smith is getting time at 3 and 4. When she got time early she made the most of her opportunities and produced which earned her a spot in the rotation. She really is undersized for the four but her skill set and athleticism allows her to compete well. Queen is getting time primarily at 5...and she has had to earn it her athleticism is off the charts but she was really rough around the edges early on and has to work hard to earn more time which she did. We need kids who can spell Cox and Brown and that to me is the reason for Smith and Queen being given opportunities.
When we lost Morris it forced Kim to find a point guard on the run so to speak and therefore Juicy and Chloe have been given lots of minutes to learn the position and get themselves ready for games down the road.
HSG is probably the only player not in the main rotation who is being looked at in practice as a potential point guard position player. I think she is more of an off guard but would be interested in what you think?
I don't think Honesty is sitting becasue of bias or anything else it is just a coaching decision and one that can be changed from moment to moment. Juicy and Chloe have much more experience at this level and have also performed so barring injury or some other circumstance they will get the majority of the minutes. DiDi and Smith have the 3 position locked down as well so it is tough right now for anyone else to get minutes. I think injuries and getting used to the college game have held back Decosta as if she had been healthy she may have been more of factor in the rotation. Injuries not only cause kids to miss games but also practices...lingering injuries cause kids to have to be held out of practices to rest and not be over used.
I think your attack of Set is misplaced loyalty to HSG which is not a bad thing just a biased thing...we all have them. I think HSG has the potential to be great but sometimes we have to be patient and wait and learn.
Have a great day!
