On the like side.
- Experienced. To use her words, "...plays within the offense," letting things come to her. That's right in line with what a Princeton-style offense demands. If she, Jordan and other guards can take that approach, super.
- Like MPG said, she's gritty, both in her defensive posture and on 50/50's..I remember her being the proverbial pain in the you-know-what when ND played Stanford. Now that she's on our team, I can see that in-your-face spirit helping. She's got an underclassman (Abby P) and a frosh (Anaya P) who have similar approaches to defense and loose balls. Marta can add some experience to that attitude.
- One year. I actually look at this short-term stint as a positive. The Irish can get a year of solid play and mentorship, then can move on to either let Jordan run the show and/or make way or share with an incoming freshman in 20/20 (Clark or Kelly, knock on wood floor).
And that segues into my concern....
- I hope that when this move was conveyed to Jordan Nixon, it was messaged and taken in the proper context. To some degree, I think Jackie Young moving on prompted this because Jackie was probably going to handle the ball often, along with Jordan. If Jordan can take this in the right context, good.
Hopefully, Shake's selection to the U.S. National Team will give her the confidence to come charging back to camp. And hopefully, MM and staff will be able to dole out appropriate minutes.
p.s. Ironic that Jordan beat out a Jenna Brown, who de-committed from ND to attend Stanford and might've been playing with Marta this year. Now that match-up with Jordan and Marta in South Bend.
And also very ironic, that Jordan will be playing summer ball with a player who also plays PG and is a prospect of ND. That, of course, is Caitlin Clark. Who knows, we might see Caitlin off the ball playing with Jordan (even in practice).
There's a lot of tight circles that spin and intersect at times, no?