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Holmes to Sit During European Trip
August 06, 2015 03:03 PM | Women's Basketball
Mike Carey has taken his West Virginia University women’s basketball teams on foreign trips before, but this is probably the first one he’s been on that he hopes all of his players can walk off the airplane without receiving any assistance when they are done.
Last week, Carey saw his backup center Kayla Montgomery go down with a serious knee injury that will likely sideline her for an extended period of time. Then, about 10 minutes later, star player Bria Holmes sprained her right ankle.
Immediately after that he blew his whistle and ended practice for the day. “I just called practice off; ‘We’re done for the day,’” he said.
Carey indicated earlier this week that Holmes is not playing in Europe, nor is Colorado transfer Arielle Roberson, who is still recovering from what Carey termed “some knee issues” from last season playing for the Buffaloes. The 6-1 senior from San Antonio, Texas, led CU in scoring (12 ppg.) and rebounding (8.3 rpg.) and was second on the team with 33 blocks two seasons ago in 2014.
Carey also said returning center Lanay Montgomery’s minutes will be closely monitored on the trip.
“Lanay can’t play 40 minutes so we’re going to have to figure something out,” said Carey. “There are going to be times when I don’t even know what we’re doing out there.”
Consequently, this trip is going to be more about what Carey is able to learn about his younger players, which is a good thing because he’s got a lot of them this year.
There are eight freshmen on the roster and some of them are going to have to play this year, particularly in the backcourt where he has to find a replacement for senior point guard Linda Stepney.
Developing a reliable point guard (or point guards) and finding a backup center to give Montgomery a rest are Carey’s two main objectives during preseason practice.
“I can use (senior) Jess Morton at the point a little bit or I could use (Florida State transfer) Chania (Ray) – we’re even trying Olivia (Seggie) here from Morgantown at the point, but it’s got to be a team thing,” he said. “We can’t just leave a young player out there. It’s not like when we had Linda out there for four years.”
Ray transferred last January after appearing in just six games for the Seminoles. Right now, she isn’t expected to be available until the second semester but Carey said they are working with the NCAA to see if she can be cleared to play immediately.
As for developing a backup center, Carey isn’t sure what he’s going to do there. One option he is willing to consider is going small with sophomore Teana Muldrow and spreading teams out. West Virginia should be able to do that more this year because it is a much better perimeter shooting team than last year’s.
“We went against a zone (Tuesday) in practice and I will say this, our potential to score from the perimeter is a lot better than it was last year,” Carey admitted. “We’ve got several options – our young girls can shoot the ball. That’s one of the things we really wanted to do was get some shooters in here and I’ll tell you what, we’re going to be okay against zones.”
Overall, the veteran coach is pretty encouraged with what he’s seen so far from his newcomers.
“I’ll tell you the freshmen are picking up stuff – we’ve got some very good if not great players for us with the freshmen,” he said. “I think Arielle is going to be a very good player for us. Chania, at times, working out looks like she is going to be a good player for us.”
That bodes well for the Mountaineers considering the proven talent coming back in Holmes, one of college basketball’s most dynamic wing players who should be the preseason conference player of the year, and Montgomery, one of the best shot blockers in the country.
Evaluating his new players in action in England and Spain will give Carey a better handle on what’s he’s got when he gets them again for individual workouts after the fall semester begins on August 17.
“It’s going to be more about these young kids and who can play at this level,” he said.
Briefly:
* Carey said the competition his team will be playing in Europe is probably stronger when they get to Spain later next week.
“I know one of the games (in Spain) is against a pro team over there that plays in their B-league and they are moving to their A-league so they will be very good,” he said.
* A lot of the players have never been out of the country before and are excited about the opportunity to get to visit England and Spain for the first time in their lives. “I’m so excited,” said Montgomery. “I can’t sleep waiting to get on the airplane to go to England.”
* Holmes said her ankle is feeling much better after having a big scare last week during practice. “It’s better. I’m not going to play over there so it’s giving me more rest time to get ready for the season. It’s the same one I hurt in the Big 12 tournament,” she said.
Holmes said she has been working hard on her ball handling and her pull-up game – things people have been telling her to concentrate on in preparation for next year’s WNBA draft. “Those are things I’ve been focusing on and hopefully it will pop up in my game this year,” she said.
* West Virginia’s first game is Saturday, August 6 against Barking Abbey in London. The Mountaineers depart for Spain on Sunday and will face the Catalan All-Stars in Barcelona on Monday night. Tuesday, West Virginia faces the Catalan All-Stars before concluding the trip with a game Thursday against C.R.E.F Hola Madrid in Madrid.
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