I don't care if it's someone that will only play a few minutes a game and isn't good enough to earn more minutes. While Becky didn't play a lot, there were a few games where we really needed her to give us 2 or 3 minutes in the second quarter to protect our other bigs from picking up an extra foul. That kept our starters in the game in the second half and that can easily be the difference between a win or a loss. That's an important role too.

Of course, if Barker or Dauda want to come I'd take them in a heartbeat. But if not, we could definitely use another body at practice, 5 extra fouls to give, and somebody to put in when other players are dinged up or in foul trouble.

I'm sure not all players are happy and willing to sit on the bench all year,

player and it's not even close. In comparing 6'7" ex-Duck Basham who started for Oregon and I saw play over 15 times last year (live & on TV) vs Liatu King where I only watched her two games against ND, King was BY FAR the better post player. The thing about King she stays near the basket and is very athletic and jumps high with good hands. To average over 10 rebounds a game, 18.7 ppg shooting 53% all twos, while getting 1.5 St/G and 1.8 Bl/g is very impressive. Basham stats 4.5 ppg/3.5 rpg/40% (all twos), .3 St/G & 1.5 Bl/g despite being 7 inches taller. In fact the better tall player on the Ducks 6'4" Van Slooten had even worst stats than Liatu across the boards and she even played more minutes per game that King.

Liatu would be a perfect seasoned post player to help ND. I don't know 6'2" Karlen's game that well but honestly right now let's not get enampored by height. Let's get seasoned ball players who will play around the rim and I know King fits that bill. I understand the practice player concept but ND did just fine with tall guys playing against the women in practice before. Let's find those Bookstore Bball studs who want to help ND win another championship and get the best post player (or 2) who can help the team. We do need more numbers.

I personally have nightmares about River Baldwin having her way with ND in the first half of the first NC State game and Raegan Beers being practically unstoppable in the season-ending loss. The post play was never phenomenal this season on the offensive end and our guards were typically enough. Not to say that I would reject competent posts on offense but my biggest lingering question is, how do we guard the tall ones when they're on the other team?

your own rebounds given her 53% shooting. ND's best player was Hannah at 6.2 rebounds per game. How many teams outrebounded us last year? 1.8 blocks per game which was 30% higher than ND's best player (Kylee) is certainly not offense nor her 1.5 steals per game which matches Maddie's rate is certainly not offense. Then think about what King did against ND in her two games beyond her 26.5 ppg/67% shooting. She had 13.5 rpg and 2.5 blocks per game. I still think she would great on our team helping post play.

The real issue on post play isn't height but bulk which the River Baldwins and Raegen Beers were able to exploit, especially with Kylee out. If Cav82 added that feature I could buy into getting one of those type players but as we saw with Obinma last year bulk & height isn't enough. The player needs to have the skills to match.

height alone is not enough to effectively play the center position and I apologize if I made it sound as though I thought ND should just grab any player off this list, regardless of their skill level, just because they are tall. Alissa Pili at 6'2" is another player that is able to use her physical size to her advantage as an alternative to pure height.

But you can also look at players like Elissa Cunane and Elizabeth Kitley that are not exceptionally good athletes but through a lot of work and instruction were able to become All-Americans by harnessing the one advantage that they did have.

That's what the papers said when the Lynx drafted her.

good but she's an AA because she;s agreat shot. including the 3. All I wanted to say Basham, despite her height, would have been worse than Nat at post help and King would be better than both, as her athletic ability makes her play much raller than she is. My guess if she xame to ND she would focus ob D and cleaning up the boards which we really need.

Anyway to get more post help I totally agree.

can get both (I hope) the athletic player around the basket and a traditional post player that fills different roles. 'You can't teach height' although you can work around it if necessary.

I would not be at all surprised if the Irish don't bring in a single player from this list and they will still be an outstanding team. Will they be the best that they can be will be open to debate, as always.

Transactions:
- Amirah Abdur-Rahim (SMU/ND) committed to Texas A&M (a little under the radar)
- Khadija Faye (Texas) is coming to the ACC, just to Pitt, as reported by Raoul this morning.

Continuations (from my post earlier in the week)
Only these two posts are left:
- Maryam Douda, the shot blocker from Arkansas who also has a pretty good 3-pt. shot. Apparently, a lot of schools have reached out to her, so she's got some trimming to do.
- Cameron Williams, the grad. forward from Michigan and the South Side of Chicago. If Niele wants a one-year deal, this person makes a whole lot of sense to me. Used to coming off the bench/starting but playing crunch time, she could play forward or center.

Others (thanks to Irish Dan)

- Brenna McDonald, 6'3" Center from Yale. One of two best players on a generally "blah" Yale team, but did a lot for the Bulldogs on all fronts.

- Letycia Vasoncelos, Baylor. Barely cracked the floor for a team in need of a center, but she was rated highly. Could be more of a long-term deal (with practice potential).

& 6.4 rpg, along with 42 blocks for season. She is from Arizona. Looks to have a decent size frame. Back up post?

Transactions:
- Amirah Abdur-Rahim (SMU/ND) committed to Texas A&M (a little under the radar)
- Khadija Faye (Texas) is coming to the ACC, just to Pitt, as reported by Raoul this morning.

Continuations (from my post earlier in the week)
Only these two posts are left:
- Maryam Douda, the shot blocker from Arkansas who also has a pretty good 3-pt. shot. Apparently, a lot of schools have reached out to her, so she's got some trimming to do.
- Cameron Williams, the grad. forward from Michigan and the South Side of Chicago. If Niele wants a one-year deal, this person makes a whole lot of sense to me. Used to coming off the bench/starting but playing crunch time, she could play forward or center.

Others (thanks to Irish Dan)

- Brenna McDonald, 6'3" Center from Yale. One of two best players on a generally "blah" Yale team, but did a lot for the Bulldogs on all fronts.

- Letycia Vasoncelos, Baylor. Barely cracked the floor for a team in need of a center, but she was rated highly. Could be more of a long-term deal (with practice potential).

- Jorynn Ross (Pepperdine) and Lilly Taulelei are freshman forwards who both played in transition years for coaches (last at Pepperdine, first at UMass), but both got into the starting lineups. Ross is from Milwaukee, so maybe she'd be interested in coming back to the Midwest.

Sounds like Dauda is in high demand, with several schools in contact, including South Carolina. I'd be surprised if Barker leaves the SEC.

I think Amirah Abdur-Rahim signed with A&M recently?