In other words we need someone to replace Maiga-Ba. But Maiga-Ba was not mobile enough to guard "2's". And we need somebody that can guard Nolan, Beard, Pondexter, Lennox and the like.
The primary defender here was Penicheiro. The linchpin to her effectiveness (or whoever comes off the bench to replace her so she doesn't play 40 minutes) is whoever is the other guard on the floor picking up the ball. If the PG for these opposing off guards can find them, that makes the defensive job more difficult. We NEED that Newton replacement more so than one for Maiga-Ba. What I think we lost with Maiga leaving is her length as a defender, that's going to be difficult to replace coupled with her athleticism. That strikes me as reason #1 (other than to be an amusing concept) why Abetamarco was talking about them playing Ticha and Haynie together more on the floor. Um...as much as I like being amused over the summer, I'd like my starting PG not to play 40 damn minutes defending someone else's 2/3.
I completely agree with 6th...we have two free agents who thus far have not signed on the dotted line with us, and both are starters. If one or neither signs, our needs may change dramatically. Our senior most player in our backcourt would be Kara and she'd be surrounded by Kristen a 3rd year, and two or three second year players who got limited or no minutes with us in the past. I ain't quite ready to load up with yet another rookie guard there.
As for the names on this list? For the ones I've either seen or know anything about:
Armintie Price, Mississippi - freaking playing herself into a lottery pick or at the VERY least a pick for a team willing to take her raw talent on and develop her at this level in the first round. *cough* secondcomingofmaiga*cough* She is playing out of her mind right now in the tournament, including last night's game in which she and Ole Miss dispatched the defending national champions and never took their collective defense-minded feet off their throats all damn game. We might have been able to snag her if not for the said playing out of her mind on a national stage part. Next up is Oklahoma in the Sweet 16. Check her out people! Or at least look up her game by game stats or her career numbers. That's an order!!
Noelle Quinn, UCLA - VERY nice size and VERY skilled at 1-3 positions since she's played them all in her career @ UCLA. Much more skilled as a 1 than I ever gave her credit for being. The knock on her, is that she appears underconditioned. And...she's not a very good defender. Offensively, I love her. I had her going by pick 5, she may be slipping as other players who are still playing right now, or who play well in draft camp leap over her. I would be surprised if she falls to us. But I also won't complain.
Chrissy Givens, Middle Tennessee - PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF NAISMITH YES!!! PLEASE BE THERE AT OUR PICK. Lacks a consistent outside game, but hell, she can freaking fly, and freaking put the ball on the floor and get to the basket....oh, and SHE IS A TREMENDOUS DEFENDER. She may have played herself out of our pick range too. But hell...a MBF can dream...
Cameo Hicks, Washington - I've seen nary a Huskies game this year. But if this is the W's rough scouting report on her...I'll pass on her.
Eshaya Murphy, USC- nope. I like her. But nope.She's not projected 1st round I don't think. We don't draft again until the 3rd, and our 3rd rounder isn't sticking.
Sidney Spencer, Tennessee - nope. if the W's scouting report is that she's streaky? Do we really need any more streaky shooters?
Kamesha Hairston, Temple - I've heard her name recently a lot more, I still haven't seen her. If she's a 3, she doesn't fit our need for someone who can guard down and take OGs defensively. But not having seen her, I dunno.
Jessica Dickson, South Florida-I'd have to look it up, but I believe she's 5'9-5'11 ish. She might be 6' I just can't remember. I just remember feeling she's kinda smallish for the position she was playing (which was SF). I saw a few minutes of her game in the Big East tournament a few weeks ago. I think I spent more time trying to figure out why people consider her a PG than actually watching her game. She probably is naturally a PG for all I know, she just wasn't the PG in the game I watched, and that was confusing me to no end. Her outside game is purportedly better than Givens' but I think Givens is rated as the better defender and the more athletic.