BAKERSFIELD, Calif. \u2013 The Cal State Bakersfield women’s basketball team’s frontcourt will be asked to stretch beyond traditional position labels. In the second installment of a two-part roster breakdown, first-year Head Coach Ray Alvarado described a group that can play inside, attack from the perimeter, and shift into different roles within his offensive scheme.<\/p>\n
The first release in the series examined a backcourt built around attacking the basket, shooting, and two-way versatility. Alvarado’s frontcourt philosophy carries many of the same ideas: he wants players who can handle the ball, shoot, attack, and defend without crowding the lane.<\/p>\n
“Typically, I have one frontcourt player who is my post player. Everyone else is a perimeter player,” Alvarado said. “I need them to be able to shoot the ball, attack the basket, and be physical.”<\/p>\n
Dresha Moore<\/a>, listed as a forward, is one example of that flexibility. At 6-foot-1, she can get to the basket and could play the Five, though Alvarado said she is not a conventional stretch player who simply moves to the three-point line. Bakersfield native Faith Curry<\/a> gives the team another bigger option who can shoot from the perimeter. Alvarado said she could play the Two or Three, with rebounding an important part of her role.<\/p>\n The `Runner Fours bring different strengths. To name a few, Alvarado described Mydrea Moore<\/a> \u2013 yes, the Moores are sisters \u2013 as a physical player who can also defend on the wing. Sofia Ahmed<\/a>, at 6-foot-3, is a more traditional post who can protect the rim and run the floor. Freshman Elizabeth Johnson<\/a> has the potential to score around the basket and contribute in several ways.<\/p>\n For that group, Alvarado emphasized the fundamentals: catching the ball, finishing layups, defending the post, passing with good hands, and running the floor. He wants his Fours to be physical and able to make passes both into and out of the post. Across the roster, Alvarado said he wants fans to see a team that competes, works, and plays with physicality. With 15 new players adapting to a new program, he views establishing that identity as a central measure of progress in Year One.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. \u2013 The Cal State Bakersfield women’s basketball team’s frontcourt will be asked to stretch beyond traditional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-521100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nClick here<\/a> to view Cal State Bakersfield’s entire roster, including the rest of the `Runner frontcourt.<\/p>\n