So some draft thoughts re: Abbey Murphy, and in particular Murphy v Laila Edwards in terms of #2 overall.
I see a lot, A LOT of media placing Murphy at that #2 spot (consensus being kk Harvey 1st overall) and Edwards at 3rd (or lower which is so fucking stupid I am not entertaining it) which is a mistake to me.
Murphy is good, sheās amazing even but sheās got the britta curl problem (Iām not even talking about her social media activity guys) she is a penalty box frequent flyer. She is wayyy cleaner in her hits than curl (not hard to do) but with the adjustment to the league, itās likely gonna be dicey. Her coach is going to have to put time and support into teaching her to hit right aka the work Ken Klee didnāt do and continues to not do that we are all suffering for.
Edwards is a big body ala Dubois with stupid good hands who is NOT a sin bin frequent flyer. She won tournament MVP at forward with the national team. She can produce. She is a strong shot from distance and can do the Knighter thing where she stands at the crease and plays immovable object.
People will say sheās slower than Murphy (true) but sheās also likely going to adjust to play better (this is based off both the program she comes from and literally how big she is) she can play forward and D which speaks to an ability to fit into systems with a lot of finesse. I like Murphy (as a player, I think weāve all seen the fucking tweets and the henious post Olympic interview) but itās just fucking crazy to me to consider taking her over Edwards.
all this comes with the hilarious caveat that before I found out van was picking first, I would have said they should take Murphy because I really feel that they need some grit and aggression added into their line up.
anyways to sum; people be racist in ways they donāt even know they are and the lack of hype around Edwards makes me want to bare knuckle box a bear.