02-17-2012, 11:02 AM
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One thing I noticed about the posts against the zone in this game (as part of a much more "active" offense against it): they were moving high to low a LOT more. Instead of merely working under the rim, Jos, Nneka and especially Chiney were coming out to the free throw line, setting up high then flashing low, helping set screens at the line (especially when the Beavers were playing a much more packed in zone early in the game, and the 3-2, both of which rarely had more than 1 player above that line - that's how packed in they were). Basically, trying to make the zone uncomfortable and get the center of its back line moving instead of simply camped under the hoop, forcing much more movement. Also helped by the reverse passes by Nneka (from one post to the opposite wing), instead of going back out to the same side or up top.
The thing with Rueck's comment is, as I mentioned, the "shooting drill" portion of the afternoon only took the lead from 20 to 35. Prior to that, Stanford was 4-15 from outside; not horrible, but certainly not outstanding. It wasn't the outside shooting that got Stanford the 20-point lead; it was having enough of an outside shooting threat to force OSU farther than 15 feet from the basket, and then Nneka going to work inside (16 pts in the first half, and I think all 11 of her second-half points before the three-point barrage - at which point she had 27 of Stanford's 49 points), operating alongside a defense that held OSU to 3-19 shooting over the first 15 minutes of the game, at which point Stanford led 30-9. We hit the most crucial threes in the game - three midway through the first half - with leads of 5, 8 and 13; certainly not a shooting drill atmosphere at that point.
VG
One thing I noticed about the posts against the zone in this game (as part of a much more "active" offense against it): they were moving high to low a LOT more. Instead of merely working under the rim, Jos, Nneka and especially Chiney were coming out to the free throw line, setting up high then flashing low, helping set screens at the line (especially when the Beavers were playing a much more packed in zone early in the game, and the 3-2, both of which rarely had more than 1 player above that line - that's how packed in they were). Basically, trying to make the zone uncomfortable and get the center of its back line moving instead of simply camped under the hoop, forcing much more movement. Also helped by the reverse passes by Nneka (from one post to the opposite wing), instead of going back out to the same side or up top.
The thing with Rueck's comment is, as I mentioned, the "shooting drill" portion of the afternoon only took the lead from 20 to 35. Prior to that, Stanford was 4-15 from outside; not horrible, but certainly not outstanding. It wasn't the outside shooting that got Stanford the 20-point lead; it was having enough of an outside shooting threat to force OSU farther than 15 feet from the basket, and then Nneka going to work inside (16 pts in the first half, and I think all 11 of her second-half points before the three-point barrage - at which point she had 27 of Stanford's 49 points), operating alongside a defense that held OSU to 3-19 shooting over the first 15 minutes of the game, at which point Stanford led 30-9. We hit the most crucial threes in the game - three midway through the first half - with leads of 5, 8 and 13; certainly not a shooting drill atmosphere at that point.
VG