01-06-2012, 10:50 AM
I agree with Tara, last night was not a great defensive effort. Stanford was trying to run a switching man, to prevent Oregon getting simple screens and driving the lane, but that also exposed vulnerable matchups - several times Oregon got quick guards against Taylor or (especially) Bonnie in the corner, and the Ducks simply isolated. Still would like to see more zone against teams like that, but that might have led to the other problem last night - the Cardinal really didn't rebound all that well as a team. Nneka had her typical array of amazingly athletic boards (and another late in the shot clock long jumper under duress that found nothing but net), but for a team with as little size as Oregon to only be outboarded 47-40 and get 14 offensive boards ain't that great. The Cardinal defense really seemed unable to prevent penetration in any form of "player to player" set. That in part led to the foul disparity, and to be fair, the defense did hold them under 38% shooting for the game.
One good thing I noticed: second half, on consecutive transition opportunities for the Ducks. The first time, Amber basically tried to nudge Jackson and disrupt her shot, and ended up on her backside as Jackson bounced her off going up for an easy right-handed layup and-1 opportunity that she converted. On the next Oregon offensive possession, the same transition matchup came up, and Orrange forced the ball to the center of the lane then made sure there was not going to be a three-point opportunity with a two-handed swat down on the ball. Good foul, and better aggression on defense.
The zone 81alum refers to from Oregon was a little different - a 3-2 zone, with the SF at the foul line and the two guards on the wing. Gave them height and reach at the top of the arc and quickness on the perimeter. It also left Stanford befuddled early on, as they reverted to three players essentially standing right where they were matched by defenders outside, very little movement of the ball inside and out, and a whole lot of the "toss it around the perimeter for 30 seconds" offense that we know and hate. The open space was the baseline and deep corner shot, and Stanford's perimeter players seemed to be unwilling to get that deep and leave Oregon out for transition. Until Bonnie started making her deep (and I mean 3-4 feet beyond the arc) threes, they kept it really packed in. Would've liked to have seen some set plays on the baseline in a staggered Ogwumike screen, to take even more advantage of the open space in the zone. Later in the game, as the Stanford threes started to pull the zone out, Nneka and Chiney both managed to pin their defenders high and get easy looks on entry passes from the top.
Hopefully a learning experience, but Lindy's got to find her shot (although I do like Orrange at the point and Toni at the 2 quite a bit).
VG
One good thing I noticed: second half, on consecutive transition opportunities for the Ducks. The first time, Amber basically tried to nudge Jackson and disrupt her shot, and ended up on her backside as Jackson bounced her off going up for an easy right-handed layup and-1 opportunity that she converted. On the next Oregon offensive possession, the same transition matchup came up, and Orrange forced the ball to the center of the lane then made sure there was not going to be a three-point opportunity with a two-handed swat down on the ball. Good foul, and better aggression on defense.
The zone 81alum refers to from Oregon was a little different - a 3-2 zone, with the SF at the foul line and the two guards on the wing. Gave them height and reach at the top of the arc and quickness on the perimeter. It also left Stanford befuddled early on, as they reverted to three players essentially standing right where they were matched by defenders outside, very little movement of the ball inside and out, and a whole lot of the "toss it around the perimeter for 30 seconds" offense that we know and hate. The open space was the baseline and deep corner shot, and Stanford's perimeter players seemed to be unwilling to get that deep and leave Oregon out for transition. Until Bonnie started making her deep (and I mean 3-4 feet beyond the arc) threes, they kept it really packed in. Would've liked to have seen some set plays on the baseline in a staggered Ogwumike screen, to take even more advantage of the open space in the zone. Later in the game, as the Stanford threes started to pull the zone out, Nneka and Chiney both managed to pin their defenders high and get easy looks on entry passes from the top.
Hopefully a learning experience, but Lindy's got to find her shot (although I do like Orrange at the point and Toni at the 2 quite a bit).
VG