South Carolina women's basketball: Why Madina Okot should help Joyce Edwards
The thought first occurred to me while watching the AmeriCup Tournament. It resurfaced while watching the replay of the SEC tournament final on South Carolina Day on the SEC Network.
That thought: Joyce Edwards is going to love Madina Okot.
It’s no secret that South Carolina’s biggest weakness last season was the lack of a dominant big. It’s why they lost at Texas in February, and even in the wins, South Carolina had to find alternative ways to counter Kyla Oldacre and Taylor Jones.
Edwards did fine against Texas. In the championship game, she had 11 points. She also had a double-double in the Final Four and averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in the four games against the Longhorns.
But both numbers were below her season averages of 13.7 points and 5.0 rebounds. (In case you are wondering, Chloe Kitts averaged 10.3 points and 5.5 rebounds against Texas, against her season averages of 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds).
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In Chile, Edwards started all seven games for Team USA. The first six games followed a similar template: the opponent would hang around in the first quarter, but then the American would pull away in the second and third quarters.
Team USA’s superior depth was one reason for that pattern, but another was shifting lineups. Edwards started at center, but in the middle of the game she would slide to forward with Raegan Beers or Audi Crooks in the middle.
That was when Edwards was at her best. With Beers or Crooks sucking in the defense, Edwards had more room to operate out of the high post. Kara Lawson seemed to think so – for the gold medal game, she started Edwards and Beers together for the first time.
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During Team USA’s decisive fourth-quarter run, Edwards made plays in space. She got easy layups in transition, forced turnovers, and made hustle plays to set up her teammates. In all, Edwards scored seven points to help Team USA come from behind and win going away.
It wasn’t surprising. Edwards, Kitts, and Sania Feagin were at their best last season operating out of the high posts. Think of all the unstoppable pick and rolls they ran (Edwards just scored on one on the replay, and Kitts got her triple-double by running the pick and roll with Feagin over and over).
It worked despite not having a low-post threat that the defense had to account for. That’s where Okot should make an impact.
Opponents will have to stick to her in the post so that Edwards will have more space to operate. And if opponents don’t respect Okot, then Edwards and Kitts are good passers who will find her for layups.
That’s the plan, at least.
