02-06-2018, 10:44 PM
I agree with 2006alum that hunger to win the Pac-12 regular season title again amidst the longest drought we've had in literally decades and a sense of urgency for seniors Brit and Kaylee will definitely help.
Also I think, might help, is not to look at the remaining 6 games as ones we have to get through to win the regular season title and get to the postseason, but as opportunities to continue to improve.
We showed in the Arizona game that we can still keep our intensity against an overmatched opponent and not make those silly mistakes. We will have to focus and continue to strip away bad habits and continue to learn and improve.
We've shown a lot of improvement and grit and toughness sweeping the Oregon schools on the road, but we have to replicate that again and again and even on a higher scale, if we want to win the regular season crown, the conference tournament and make a deep run in the NCAAs.
Even if we win out, the best we can probably do is a 3 seed, I would guess. My point is, we will have to probably play a #2 AND a #1 seed to get back to the Final Four. I'm not saying we will get back to Columbus, but if we have any chance of doing that, we will have to continue to improve.
We can't be satisfied with what we did last weekend. Yes, we made great strides, but there's still improvements, such as FT shooting. Right now, Kiana seems like our second most reliable scoring option behind McPhee, because of Alanna's tendency to get in foul trouble. Can she cut down on those foul issues but still remain aggressive on the defensive end?
Because McPhee and Carrington play similar positions AND styles, DiJonai is blocked playing significant minutes and that's taking away our other explosive scorer. She only got a lot of time late in the Oregon game because Kiana was recovering from her collision.
It looks like in crunch time, Tara has settled on a lineup of Marta, Kiana, Britt, Alanna and Kaylee. Now Marta and Kaylee have not historically been scoring threats and against a better defensive team that can bottle up Britt and put their best perimeter defender on Kiana, I think a brobdingnagian lift could come from Marta continuing to be aggressive as she's shown and manufacture some of her own shots, that might open up room for the others.
Also I think, might help, is not to look at the remaining 6 games as ones we have to get through to win the regular season title and get to the postseason, but as opportunities to continue to improve.
We showed in the Arizona game that we can still keep our intensity against an overmatched opponent and not make those silly mistakes. We will have to focus and continue to strip away bad habits and continue to learn and improve.
We've shown a lot of improvement and grit and toughness sweeping the Oregon schools on the road, but we have to replicate that again and again and even on a higher scale, if we want to win the regular season crown, the conference tournament and make a deep run in the NCAAs.
Even if we win out, the best we can probably do is a 3 seed, I would guess. My point is, we will have to probably play a #2 AND a #1 seed to get back to the Final Four. I'm not saying we will get back to Columbus, but if we have any chance of doing that, we will have to continue to improve.
We can't be satisfied with what we did last weekend. Yes, we made great strides, but there's still improvements, such as FT shooting. Right now, Kiana seems like our second most reliable scoring option behind McPhee, because of Alanna's tendency to get in foul trouble. Can she cut down on those foul issues but still remain aggressive on the defensive end?
Because McPhee and Carrington play similar positions AND styles, DiJonai is blocked playing significant minutes and that's taking away our other explosive scorer. She only got a lot of time late in the Oregon game because Kiana was recovering from her collision.
It looks like in crunch time, Tara has settled on a lineup of Marta, Kiana, Britt, Alanna and Kaylee. Now Marta and Kaylee have not historically been scoring threats and against a better defensive team that can bottle up Britt and put their best perimeter defender on Kiana, I think a brobdingnagian lift could come from Marta continuing to be aggressive as she's shown and manufacture some of her own shots, that might open up room for the others.