Predictions On 2017-2018 Starting 5

#1

Grahamland

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#1
I was just curious what everyone's predictions are for the 2017-2018 starting lineup. I think I have a decent idea what the lineup will be if Mercedes or diamond come back, but if neither or only one comes back I feel like it will be a little more difficult to choose. Thoughts anyone?
 
#2
#2
I'll take a stab at it.

W/ Diamond & Mercedes staying:
PG - Cooper
SG - DeShields
SF - Nared
PF - Green
C - Mercedes

No Diamond:
PG - Cooper
SG - Jackson
SF - Nared
PF - Green
C - Mercedes

No Mercedes:
PG - Cooper
SG -Jackson
SF - DeShields
PF- Nared
C - Green

No Mercedes, No Diamond:
PG - Cooper
SG - Jackson
SF - Westbrook/Davis
PF - Nared
C - Green
 
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#4
#4
PG - Cooper
SG - Hayes
SF - DeShields
PF - Nared
C - Russell
 
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#5
#5
I would love for Diamond to come back next year but I have a feeling she's leaving. Many WNBA analyst are predicting her to be the #1 pick in the upcoming 2017 WNBA draft. On the other side I see Russell staying, right now shes not even predicted to go 1st round.

If Diamond does decide to stay:

PG - Te'a Cooper
SG - Diamond Deshields
SF - Jamie Nared
PF - Cheridene Green
C - Mercedes Russell

If Diamond leaves I believe Evina Westbrook starts at the SG position.

I do know one thing, the bench will be loaded with talent and we will finally have some depth with players like MeMe Jackson, Alexa Middleton, KK, Dunbar, Anastasia Hayes and my favorite incoming freshman Rennia Davis!!!!!!
 
#6
#6
WNBA 2017 predicting.
1 San Antonio logo San Antonio Diamond Deshields* G Tennessee 6' 1"
2 Washington logo Washington Alaina Coates C South Carolina 6' 4"
3 Dallas logo Dallas Kelsey Plum G Washington 5' 8"
4 Los Angeles logo Los Angeles Trade Icon Shatori Walker-Kimbrough G Maryland 5' 11"
5 Phoenix logo Phoenix Alexis Jones G Baylor 5' 9"
6 Seattle logo Seattle Nina Davis F Baylor 5' 11"
7 Atlanta logo Atlanta Nia Coffey F Northwestern 6' 1"
8 Indiana logo Indiana Shayla Cooper F Ohio State 6' 2"
9 Chicago logo Chicago Makayla Epps G Kentucky 5' 10"
10 Dallas logo Dallas Trade Icon Brionna Jones C Maryland 6' 3"
11 Dallas logo Dallas Trade Icon Sydney Wiese G Oregon State 6' 1"
12 Minnesota logo Minnesota Adrienne Motley

If DeShielda goes I pick
PG - Cooper
SG - Hayes
SF - Davis
PF - Nared
C - Russell
 
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#7
#7
WNBA 2017 predicting.
1 San Antonio logo San Antonio Diamond Deshields* G Tennessee 6' 1"
2 Washington logo Washington Alaina Coates C South Carolina 6' 4"
3 Dallas logo Dallas Kelsey Plum G Washington 5' 8"
4 Los Angeles logo Los Angeles Trade Icon Shatori Walker-Kimbrough G Maryland 5' 11"
5 Phoenix logo Phoenix Alexis Jones G Baylor 5' 9"
6 Seattle logo Seattle Nina Davis F Baylor 5' 11"
7 Atlanta logo Atlanta Nia Coffey F Northwestern 6' 1"
8 Indiana logo Indiana Shayla Cooper F Ohio State 6' 2"
9 Chicago logo Chicago Makayla Epps G Kentucky 5' 10"
10 Dallas logo Dallas Trade Icon Brionna Jones C Maryland 6' 3"
11 Dallas logo Dallas Trade Icon Sydney Wiese G Oregon State 6' 1"
12 Minnesota logo Minnesota Adrienne Motley

If DeShielda goes I pick
PG - Cooper
SG - Hayes
SF - Davis
PF - Nared
C - Russell
Hayes is not a shooting guard she's a point guard. If you look at her highlights you can tell she's a floor general and is a great distributor. If anything Cooper is more of a shooting guard than Hayes. Westbrook at 6'0 along with her versatility will fit in perfect for Diamond's departure. She's almost similar to Diamond with her driving ability, play making skills and her athleticism. We would have the shortest back court in the SEC with Hayes and Cooper starting. LOL.

No if Holly wanted to go to a smaller lineup for quickness and speed and then you can go with Hayes and Cooper in the back court but not starting. Westbrook isn't ranked #2 for nothing.
 
#8
#8
Hayes is not a shooting guard she's a point guard. If you look at her highlights you can tell she's a floor general and is a great distributor. If anything Cooper is more of a shooting guard than Hayes. Westbrook at 6'0 along with her versatility will fit in perfect for Diamond's departure. She's almost similar to Diamond with her driving ability, play making skills and her athleticism. We would have the shortest back court in the SEC with Hayes and Cooper starting. LOL.

Now if Holly wanted to go to a smaller lineup for quickness and speed and then you can go with Hayes and Cooper in the back court but not starting. Westbrook isn't ranked #2 for nothing.

Like you stated I do kind of like Rennia Davis at the starting spot but hearing Cheridene Green may be a beast at that 4 spot someone who can fill that void left by Graves.
 
#9
#9
While it may be too early to say, and not having seen at least five of next years LV's on anything other than a highlight reel, I'll throw something out....

PG - Cooper backed up by Hayes. Middletown is a backup to those two.
SG - Westbrook backed up by Davis and Jackson. Really need a good shooter to take this spot. While I am not a big fan of freshmen in a shooting role, we will probably need one of the freshmen to step up big time. Davis looks like she can fill it up. Don't know if any of them can play good defense though....
SF - Nared backed up by either Davis or Dunbar.
PF - Green (but have not seen her play) backed up by Harris. This position is a big unknown for me.
C- Russell backed up by Kushkituah. Kushkituah will get a lot of playing time this year while she develops into next years starting post.

I don't think Diamond returns but if she does, she will start on a wing at the expense of a freshman. Plenty of minutes at the start of the season for the freshmen. Off-season development will play a big factor. If Jackson and Middletown get better, they will have an edge over the freshmen but if not, I think more PT goes to the freshmen to help them get better for the next year (after Nared/Russell). Need to continue to recruit finesse and power forwards and a post or two.
 
#10
#10
While it may be too early to say, and not having seen at least five of next years LV's on anything other than a highlight reel, I'll throw something out....

PG - Cooper backed up by Hayes. Middletown is a backup to those two.
SG - Westbrook backed up by Davis and Jackson. Really need a good shooter to take this spot. While I am not a big fan of freshmen in a shooting role, we will probably need one of the freshmen to step up big time. Davis looks like she can fill it up. Don't know if any of them can play good defense though....
SF - Nared backed up by either Davis or Dunbar.
PF - Green (but have not seen her play) backed up by Harris. This position is a big unknown for me.
C- Russell backed up by Kushkituah. Kushkituah will get a lot of playing time this year while she develops into next years starting post.

I don't think Diamond returns but if she does, she will start on a wing at the expense of a freshman. Plenty of minutes at the start of the season for the freshmen. Off-season development will play a big factor. If Jackson and Middletown get better, they will have an edge over the freshmen but if not, I think more PT goes to the freshmen to help them get better for the next year (after Nared/Russell). Need to continue to recruit finesse and power forwards and a post or two.
Yes this is kind of what I'm expecting also. Hearing Green may be a tremendous post player for us alongside Russell next year. Someone that can provide us with great rebounding and another post threat kinda like we had with Graves and Russell last year.
 
#11
#11
Using LadyVols1908 template

W/ Diamond & Mercedes staying:
PG - Cooper
SG - DeShields
SF - Nared
PF - Green
C - Mercedes

No Diamond:
PG - Cooper
SG - Jackson
SF - Nared
PF - Green
C - Mercedes

No Mercedes:
PG - Cooper
SG -Deshields
SF - Nared
PF- Green
C - KK

No Mercedes, No Diamond:
PG - Cooper
SG - Westbrook
SF - Nared
PF - Green
C - KK

I think if Russell leaves Holly will start the season (like she did this year) with Double Bigs like she tried with Nunn and Russell at the beginning of the year! Either way, I love our bench next year!
 
#12
#12
Hayes is not a shooting guard she's a point guard. If you look at her highlights you can tell she's a floor general and is a great distributor. If anything Cooper is more of a shooting guard than Hayes. Westbrook at 6'0 along with her versatility will fit in perfect for Diamond's departure. She's almost similar to Diamond with her driving ability, play making skills and her athleticism. We would have the shortest back court in the SEC with Hayes and Cooper starting. LOL.

No if Holly wanted to go to a smaller lineup for quickness and speed and then you can go with Hayes and Cooper in the back court but not starting. Westbrook isn't ranked #2 for nothing.

Westbrook already said she's only coming to Tennessee if she can play pg (which she currently plays in hs) and Hayes said it was fine.

I'm also not sure why fans want Cooper to play pg...she played it at times last year and doesn't have close to the vision or floor leadership that Westbrook has. Cooper is a natural SG.
 
#13
#13
once she gets to Ktown, we'll see who is the best pg. If Evina wins the spot, great, if not then she'll back up either cooper or hayes while also playing the 2 spot. Plenty of minutes to go around until the cream rises to the top.
 
#14
#14
I think if Mercedes continues to get better and dominant she could find herself in the High 2nd Rd. Especially if she gets a double avg in scoring and rebounding.
 
#15
#15
I think if Mercedes continues to get better and dominant she could find herself in the High 2nd Rd. Especially if she gets a double avg in scoring and rebounding.

If the new talent pans out early and teams have to respect outside play, Mercedes will go in the 1st round because she can dominate the inside one-on-one and will have enough help to get some quality rest during games...stay fresher....and put up some nice stats.
 
#17
#17
I think if Mercedes continues to get better and dominant she could find herself in the High 2nd Rd. Especially if she gets a double avg in scoring and rebounding.

I find it hard to believe that Mercedes would not go in the top 10 this year if she finished the season at her current pace.

She's not a great defensive player, but she's shown that she's very, very difficult to stop once she gets the ball down low. Plus, she has that nice mid range jumper that she's pulled out a few times.

I saw that Nina Davis is projected to go #6. I can't imagine a team wasting a #6 pick on a 5'11 PF with no jump shot when they can get a 6'6 player who can score almost at will going 1-on-1 or even double teamed.
 
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#18
#18
I don't think Te'a will be the starting point. Her play last year was a very mixed bag, and with a year off? I don't think MR will go pro. She has improved, but she is not at all ready yet to keep up in the pros. I hope DD will stay around, but I think we will be okay if she does not, as long as the incoming students mature quickly. I'm pretty sure Te'a would like to play with DD another year. She may encourage DD to stay.
 
#20
#20
I need help with (green) who is she I take it she is transfer sitting out this year?
 
#21
#21
I would love for Diamond to come back next year but I have a feeling she's leaving. Many WNBA analyst are predicting her to be the #1 pick in the upcoming 2017 WNBA draft. On the other side I see Russell staying, right now shes not even predicted to go 1st round.

If Diamond does decide to stay:

PG - Te'a Cooper
SG - Diamond Deshields
SF - Jamie Nared
PF - Cheridene Green
C - Mercedes Russell

If Diamond leaves I believe Evina Westbrook starts at the SG position.

I do know one thing, the bench will be loaded with talent and we will finally have some depth with players like MeMe Jackson, Alexa Middleton, KK, Dunbar, Anastasia Hayes and my favorite incoming freshman Rennia Davis!!!!!!

If Davis is physically mature, I think she could be the first Freshman to play.
 
#22
#22
I need help with (green) who is she I take it she is transfer sitting out this year?

She is from England and has International ball playing experience on the English team. She had knee surgery this season.
 
#23
#23
Cooper starts to begin the season. If she plays like she did as a freshman she is replaced by Hayes, Middleton
2G-Deshields, Westbrooks
C-Russell, KK
PF-Green, KK
WF-Nared, Davis


The minutes:

Cooper 22 Hayes 12 Middleton 6
Deshields 28 Westbrooks 15 Dunbar 3 We will go with Russell or Green and four perimeter players some.
Russell 30 KK 8
Green 25 Harris 3
Nared 25 Davis 15 Jackson 8
 
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#24
#24
I think both Diamond and Mercedes will come back to play with these freshmen think they look forward to having a big season with some great help.
 
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#25
#25
Why not jump in?

With DD and MR:
Big Lineup:
Russell
Green
Nared
DeShields
Westbrook
Small Lineup:
Russell
Nared
DeShields
Davis
Westbrook

With MR, No DD:
Big Lineup:
Russell
Green
Nared
Davis
Westbrook
Small Lineup
Russell
Nared
Davis
Jackson
Westbrook

With DD, No MR:
Green
Nared
DeShields
Davis
Westbrook

No DD or MR:
Green
Nared
Davis
Jackson
Westbrook
 

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