WBB Transfer Portal

[panchosanchez99]

Two new players on the roster. A 6'4" Juco transfer from Brazil, Jennifer Silva and a 5'11" guard from Latvia, Raina Tomasicka. From an offensive standpoint, l don't what to feel about Silva. She shot 37% from deep. Whohoo! But then shot only 39% from the FT line. Hope that improves!

Raina looks like an awesome pickup. With Thompson and Tomasicka, Bulls may have one of the best guard combos in the country for years to come.

 

[Triple B]

 

[USF_Bullsharks]

I think I could shoot better than 39% from the FT line. Hope that's a misleading stat. Even 50% from the FT by a single player can lose you a game when they're targeted late by the other team. Hopefully it never comes to that! 

[panchosanchez99]

8 minutes ago, USF_Bullsharks said:

I think I could shoot better than 39% from the FT line. Hope that's a misleading stat. Even 50% from the FT by a single player can lose you a game when they're targeted late by the other team. Hopefully it never comes to that! 

Exactly. According to her stats on the school's website, she shot 16-41 from the line.

Also, as a side note, I think USF needs to correct the spelling of her first name. They have it as Jeniffer, while her other school and various sites have it as Jennifer.

[Dave_Glaser]

5 hours ago, panchosanchez99 said:

Two new players on the roster. A 6'4" Juco transfer from Brazil, Jennifer Silva and a 5'11" guard from Latvia, Raina Tomasicka. From an offensive standpoint, l don't what to feel about Silva. She shot 37% from deep. Whohoo! But then shot only 39% from the FT line. Hope that improves!

Raina looks like an awesome pickup. With Thompson and Tomasicka, Bulls may have one of the best guard combos in the country for years to come.

 

WOW, she does look really good. Smooth game.

[Triple B]

5 hours ago, USF_Bullsharks said:

I think I could shoot better than 39% from the FT line. Hope that's a misleading stat. Even 50% from the FT by a single player can lose you a game when they're targeted late by the other team. Hopefully it never comes to that! 

She did go 4 for 5 in conference play so she's got that going for her ...

[Cubanbull]

2 hours ago, Dave_Glaser said:

WOW, she does look really good. Smooth game.

And she is 6’4

[Triple B]

2 hours ago, Dave_Glaser said:

WOW, she does look really good. Smooth game.

 

7 minutes ago, Cubanbull said:

And she is 6’4

The highlights are of the 5'11" Tomasicka ...

[panchosanchez99]

I think it is safe to say that, with the current roster, if all remain healthy, we will find ourselves back in the top 25 next year. There are some shooters and playmakers on this squad. And those coming off the bench will be just as good as the starters. Barring many injuries, there should be no excuse for this team not returning to the the NCAA tournament next year.

[panchosanchez99]

I was wondering how our new commit, Jennifer Silva, at 6'4", could only shoot 44% from the floor. I couldn't imagine that she was going up against many players taller than her. There were games where her FG% was really bad, 3-13 or 4-19. What gives? And how is it that she can hit 10-27 from deep, but barely shoot any better from the FT line? Well, I found my answers in watching one of her games from last year. She supposedly scored 14 points in that game going 6-11 from the floor, including 1-2 from deep and 1-4 from the FT line. However, I only saw her score 8 points, although the video was not quite the best. Now my take on her game.

First the positives on offense. At 6'4", she is big-bodied, especially from the waist down. She has good movement on the perimeter, especially for her size. She showed quickness to set screens and rotate. She has decent passing. She looked like a natural 3-pt shooter on the 3 that she hit. And that was the surprising part to her offense, because that was the best looking shot that she took. Seems to be capable of knocking down an outside shot.

Now for the negatives on offense. I know some of you remember former USF QB Pat Julmiste. I think he had one of the strongest arms of any QB that ever played the game. What had me yelling at my TV was that he lacked touch on his passes. He would either miss wide-open receivers that were 6 yards out, or he would throw 100 mph fast balls at them from the same distance that it was impossible for them to catch. Well, Silva's shots reminded me of Julmiste's throwing. Except for the 3 that she made. All other shots looked like she was trying to shoot as hard as she could, even the few she hit on the perimeter. Being the tallest player and one of the heaviest on the court, she seemed to not display any good lateral movement or good body positioning to get good shots. She was pushed out of position frequently by smaller defenders. I saw 3 of her shots blocked down low by smaller players. I also saw her toss (thrown hard without any touch) and miss 2 shots down low. One bounced off the backboard and hit the rim; the other ricocheted off the backboard and missed the rim completely.

Now for positives on defense. I didn't see any. Not that she did not have any; just that I don't recall any player trying to score against her. So, it was difficult to gauge how good of a defender she is in the post.

For negatives on defense. For someone her size, who showed that she has quick lateral movement on offense on the perimeter, she did not show any lateral movement in going for rebounds or in trying to move in position to try to stop a player driving to the basket. It seems as if the rebound required her having to take a step, she made no attempt to get it. Is it because she tires easily and is trying to conserve energy for offense?

Maybe Silva just started playing basketball, but if she does not develop, I think she will struggle to see the court at USF. For someone her size, she could be dominant in the post. But based on this one game sample, smaller players dominated her. Hopefully, we can develop this part of her game.