November 30, 2024
Locked On Women’s Basketball: The good and the bad for WNBA prospects Saniya Rivers and Kiki Iriafen through a month
By The Next
Co-hosts Hunter Cruse and Lincoln Shafer talk early performances from top WNBA prospects
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Saturday co-hosts Hunter Cruse and Lincoln Shafer go over performances from top prospects in the upcoming WNBA Draft. They discuss NC State’s Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James, USC’s Kiki Iriafen and more.
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First, they discussed NC State’s performance so far this year:
“They’re a little confusing,” Shafer said. “They still haven’t had a single game from Boston transfer and projected starting big, Patriot League Player of the Year [Caitlin Weimar] … she hasn’t played yet. So their their big situation is a little bit not ideal, which makes things harder for the guards. They had an interesting couple games, [like] that LSU game, getting good looks [but] they’re not always falling, which kind of sums up how I feel about NC State so far this year.”
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Cruse added: “It’s been a rough start of the season for Saniya Rivers. She had a good game against LSU, scored like 20 points, a ton of tough mid range jumpers. We’ve talked about Saniya’s scout … on the show, and … the defense is elite, like she’s gonna make plays defensively. On the offensive end, it’s been a mixed bag. The half court finishing still hasn’t looked better. The touch on the jumpers, she wants to take a bunch of mid-range jumpers; the three-point shot, she had a couple of them in the LSU game, but it doesn’t look great.”
Shafer followed up on Rivers’ defensive capabilities: “My perspective on Saniya [is] it feels like the same that it’s been. It looks incredible, absolutely incredible, when 40%, even, of those mid range pull-ups are going in. The defense is electric. The ground coverage is really awesome. … it kind of is the same scout that it’s been for a year and a half now: superb athlete, occasionally dynamic with the ball in her hands, one of the best defensive play makers we’ve ever seen at basically four defensive positions, but the shot is just not there.”
Then they discussed USC’s Kiki Iriafen, another one of the top WNBA prospects, who transferred from Stanford to USC this season. Shafer started by talking about her adjustment to a new system with the Trojans: “One of the issues for Iriafen is coming from Stanford and Tara VanDerveer’s system, [it’s] extremely structured, the Princeton [offense] there, everything’s working within this very tight system and [it’s] not really working the same way that USC is working, which is super free flowing. It’s kind of ‘let [JuJu Watkins] go do what she does, get right into the high post and try to work Kiki on the block.’ And it’s taking a bit for her to adjust to that.”
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“I think USC could benefit from adding a little more structure, even if playing more free flowing could work, especially for JuJu more, but to lead [Talia von Oelhoffen] and Kiki Iriafen, coming from super rigid, structured systems, into this super free flowing offense where they’re a little less experienced, it’s just taking some time to get used to,” Shafer continued.
Cruse discussed more of the specifics of how USC could bring Iriafen further into the fold: “Stylistically, the way they’ve been playing [Iriafen], as far as, like, in the low post in that game against Notre Dame, she’s so much better at the high post the elbow, having space, rather than posting up trying to score in that way. I want to see more ball screens as well. I feel like most of their offense has been isolation, let’s let Kiki just space it out and let JuJu drive and try to make something happen. I feel like [they’re] not maximizing what [their] players could do … with that kind of system.”
Make sure you’re following Cruse and Shafer for more on WNBA prospects this season. Also be sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast for more coverage of women’s college basketball, WNBA prospects, the WNBA and so much more.
