I think they knew quite early in the season that Bassett might be coming down. I remember the Giants kept playing Pettitt at GS with Harten at GA and Jo was really struggling to finish the games at the beginning because of match fitness. Fitzgerald kept saying it was because of Harten’s Defence but I was never that convinced. A few people at the time thought they were looking to transition Brice into the GS role but she fell out of favour so for me I wasn’t surprised that they ended up signing a world class GS.
I think the Giants were surprised by how good Austin became and how quickly. She got basically no court time then played that great game in the Preliminary Final and suddenly made the Diamonds squad. She kind of forced herself off the bench and since then it’s been about trying to For her on court in whatever way works for Harten and Price. Unfortunately that has led to the Tour de CBass.
