Posted by Ladydevilfan on April 02, 08 at 00:25:27:
I have been thinking about what a lot of people have been saying this season about how ASU will not be elite unless they get superstars. And I still disagree -- I think Charli runs a great program for TEAM basketball and we have been, can be, and will be successful with that style of play. And I think our starters are good enough for us to be very successful. People keep saying we need a Wiggins, Parker, etc, but I'm not convinced we do. Last year's starters are a great example: Emily, Aubree, Jill, Reagan, and Briann -- Bri is a defensive superstar, but altogether none of those 5 are on par with Wiggins, Parker, Moore, etc. offensively -- Yet we still had a great season.
But at the same time, I DO think SOMEthing needs to change: better bench players. People have mentioned all year that ASU shouldn't use the injury excuse because compared to other teams we haven't suffered all that much: although we had some minor injuries early on, we only lost one player for the whole year, and while she was one of our strongest shooters, she wasn't a starter. Compare this to other teams who lose starters and survive. UCONN lost 2 starters throughout the season and still only lost one game on the year so far. UCONN can survive because their replacements are stronger (they were better bench players) than ASU's bench players would have been as replacements. Maybe UCONN was able to do so well because they can rely on superstars, but I'd argue that ASU could just as easily do as well with Charli's team-ball scheme AS LONG AS she recruits a better bench: stronger, more offensive-minded, and confident. If Charli wants to give 10 players 20 minutes each, that's fine by me -- but we just need 10 players who are ASU-starter-caliber. This year I'd say we had 6.5 ASU-starter-caliber players.
That being said, I loved this years team, and I am quite obviously the first to cheer for some of ASU's bench players who might not shoot as much as they should. :) But that's because I'm an optimist and eternally forgiving of anyone on the ASU team. But just because I am appreciative of our team doesn't mean I don't think there is room for improvement. Likewise, just because I recognize room for improvement doesn't mean I need to beat a dead horse with comments like "OMG Charli's system will NEVER work at an elite level without a Wiggins or Pedersen!" --> (This happened a little on this board, but OFTEN on comments on articles on azcentral.)
Well anyway, that's my 2 cents on it. Here's to a strong 2008-2009, and many years of deep recruiting.