Here are a few clues that have been rattling around my head about what happened:
1. In the interview with Hollingshed after the loss in Colorado, she said something like "we played extra physical to make them do things they don't like to do." JR Payne knows exactly how to get under our skin. I hate games against her since they are nearly always ugly affairs--win or lose. Remember the time we lost to her when she was coaching Santa Clara? Both teams shot around 30%, we had 26 turnovers, etc.
2. Am I not remembering correctly, or did Colorado not play much (or any?) zone when we lost to them in Colorado? Maybe it is a case of traumatic amnesia on my part, but somehow it seemed to me that they changed their defensive scheme for this game, and it may have caught us off guard. Then they started pressing in the 4th and we had another meltdown. If this happens to us when we have Wilson and Williams, I shudder to think what will happen without them next year.
3. In a couple of different interviews, when Tara was asked about Jones, she said something like "you have to remember that she is still basically a freshman." Well, last night it sure looked like it. In fact, I have been slightly concerned about her development even before tonight. There are games when she puts the team on her back, and games when she is not really a factor. I've been trying to figure out why there is so much inconsistency--is it that sometimes the opposing defense keys on her and sometimes it keys on others? Or is there more to it than that?
4. The complaints about not penetrating the zone are only halfway correct, in my opinion. We notice that we don't penetrate and instead jack up treys that kept missing. Well, the two are related. If those treys start going in, the zone defenders start coming out more vigorously to the perimeter and this opens up passing and driving lanes. This is exactly the strategy that so many teams have used against us over the years--pack the zone--force us to take threes--and if we are having an off-shooting night, it neutralizes our talent advantage. When facing Stanford, pick your poison, and the poison to pick is three point shooting since it can be erratic. Nothing new about that. The solution is to MAKE those threes not so we can become a long range bombing team but to open up the interior for a balanced offense. Williams was 2-9, Lexie 0-3, Prechtel 0-3, and Lacie was not enough to keep the defense honest.
5. I think we should take Tara's words seriously when she says we have not been able to practice normally for almost the entire season. That can explain a great deal about the state of the team right now.
1. In the interview with Hollingshed after the loss in Colorado, she said something like "we played extra physical to make them do things they don't like to do." JR Payne knows exactly how to get under our skin. I hate games against her since they are nearly always ugly affairs--win or lose. Remember the time we lost to her when she was coaching Santa Clara? Both teams shot around 30%, we had 26 turnovers, etc.
2. Am I not remembering correctly, or did Colorado not play much (or any?) zone when we lost to them in Colorado? Maybe it is a case of traumatic amnesia on my part, but somehow it seemed to me that they changed their defensive scheme for this game, and it may have caught us off guard. Then they started pressing in the 4th and we had another meltdown. If this happens to us when we have Wilson and Williams, I shudder to think what will happen without them next year.
3. In a couple of different interviews, when Tara was asked about Jones, she said something like "you have to remember that she is still basically a freshman." Well, last night it sure looked like it. In fact, I have been slightly concerned about her development even before tonight. There are games when she puts the team on her back, and games when she is not really a factor. I've been trying to figure out why there is so much inconsistency--is it that sometimes the opposing defense keys on her and sometimes it keys on others? Or is there more to it than that?
4. The complaints about not penetrating the zone are only halfway correct, in my opinion. We notice that we don't penetrate and instead jack up treys that kept missing. Well, the two are related. If those treys start going in, the zone defenders start coming out more vigorously to the perimeter and this opens up passing and driving lanes. This is exactly the strategy that so many teams have used against us over the years--pack the zone--force us to take threes--and if we are having an off-shooting night, it neutralizes our talent advantage. When facing Stanford, pick your poison, and the poison to pick is three point shooting since it can be erratic. Nothing new about that. The solution is to MAKE those threes not so we can become a long range bombing team but to open up the interior for a balanced offense. Williams was 2-9, Lexie 0-3, Prechtel 0-3, and Lacie was not enough to keep the defense honest.
5. I think we should take Tara's words seriously when she says we have not been able to practice normally for almost the entire season. That can explain a great deal about the state of the team right now.