01-14-2023, 02:04 AM
Posting my comments before reading all others so apologies for any duplication.
Brink and Nnopu saved our bacon in Q4. Brink's blocks totally changed the game. Ucla kept trying to score in the paint and were totally frustrated and looked like HS kids going agst. college players. Seeing the blocks and how dominant Brink was, I thought to myself that she will force Ucla to stay out of the paint and jack up bad shots from 3 and sure enough it happened. Tara and coaches sure pulled the right lever inserting Nnopu into the game to start the 4th. She gave us defense AND offense!
Thought officiating was weak. For first 3 quarters, they really favored Ucla. For a good part of first half, they let both teams play, then started whistling Stanford excessively. Only watching on tv, I couldn't really tell if we deserved all those fouls, but will assume we did. What I didn't like is that Ucla looked to be getting away woth similar fouls. In the 4th, they were much more even-handed and I think a reason that we came on strong.
Our 3 pt shooting still was off. About half the time, our players just shot poorly, the other half was due to rushing our shots and not be squared up. Tara mentioned the rushing at half, but it was obvious even to me. OTOH, Lepolo's two threes were really key and came at critical times.
Here's something that I would like to see with our Offense: Get the ball to Jump in the corner and encourage her to drive more especially along the baseline. Hannah isn't a great driver by any means, but she is good at avoiding tuenovers i.e. she doesn't try to do too much on her drives, she either finds an opening or passes the ball. When she drives, have Haley set a screen on Lepolo's defender and have Lepolo move to Jump's vacant spot in the corner. If Jump is clear for either a mid range shot or takes it all the way to the hoop, fine. But if her defender sticks on her, have Jump pass out to Lepolo in the corner for a 3 pt. shot. Haley should do a pick and roll and give Lepolo the option to pass to her if she doesn't want to take the 3 pt shot or somehow a defender covers her. Brink and Kiki should move to the basket, one strong side, other weak side to get the O rebound if either Jump, Lepolo, or Jones takes the shot and misses. I think this action woud not only be a good way to score given what D's are doing to us now, but but force opponents to move away from the strategy they are using and get opposing defenders on Jump ton not guard her so closely, giving her more free space to shoot threes. Could also use Demetre, Nivar, Bosgana, or even Prechtel sliding down into Jump's vacated corner position instead of Lepolo.
Interesting tha Demetre who is known for her shooting and offense has been basically silent on O, but has become a really good defender.
Finally, I think our poor 3 pt shooting (and not so great FT shooting) lately is due to some of our players being tired, particularly Jones, Jump, and Brink. Haley and Hannah have logged a lot of minutes and their legs are probably not fresh. Jones shots have frequently been short. Even her 3 point attempts for which she has always been weak have been worse than before. She also is not blazing up and down the court as much. Jump has been uncharacteristically missing more threes than earlier even on open looks. Brink hasn't played as many minutes as those two, but she has been playing more (due to lesser fouls) and more importantly she has been playing extremely hard and intensely. She's had to exert lots of energy the past few games due to them being close, playing with as much intensity as we would see in postseason. Surprisingly, Lepolo seems the least tired despite having as many or close to as Jones and Jump. But still we can't wear her down as she is vital for the late season and post season.
Would like to see more of Bosgana, Demetre, Nivar, Nnopu, and Harriel getting minutes at guard and wing to keep Jones and Jump fresher. Also like to see more of Fran and Ashten to give Brink more rest. We should at least use the bench more for games agst. our weaker P12 foes.
Brink and Nnopu saved our bacon in Q4. Brink's blocks totally changed the game. Ucla kept trying to score in the paint and were totally frustrated and looked like HS kids going agst. college players. Seeing the blocks and how dominant Brink was, I thought to myself that she will force Ucla to stay out of the paint and jack up bad shots from 3 and sure enough it happened. Tara and coaches sure pulled the right lever inserting Nnopu into the game to start the 4th. She gave us defense AND offense!
Thought officiating was weak. For first 3 quarters, they really favored Ucla. For a good part of first half, they let both teams play, then started whistling Stanford excessively. Only watching on tv, I couldn't really tell if we deserved all those fouls, but will assume we did. What I didn't like is that Ucla looked to be getting away woth similar fouls. In the 4th, they were much more even-handed and I think a reason that we came on strong.
Our 3 pt shooting still was off. About half the time, our players just shot poorly, the other half was due to rushing our shots and not be squared up. Tara mentioned the rushing at half, but it was obvious even to me. OTOH, Lepolo's two threes were really key and came at critical times.
Here's something that I would like to see with our Offense: Get the ball to Jump in the corner and encourage her to drive more especially along the baseline. Hannah isn't a great driver by any means, but she is good at avoiding tuenovers i.e. she doesn't try to do too much on her drives, she either finds an opening or passes the ball. When she drives, have Haley set a screen on Lepolo's defender and have Lepolo move to Jump's vacant spot in the corner. If Jump is clear for either a mid range shot or takes it all the way to the hoop, fine. But if her defender sticks on her, have Jump pass out to Lepolo in the corner for a 3 pt. shot. Haley should do a pick and roll and give Lepolo the option to pass to her if she doesn't want to take the 3 pt shot or somehow a defender covers her. Brink and Kiki should move to the basket, one strong side, other weak side to get the O rebound if either Jump, Lepolo, or Jones takes the shot and misses. I think this action woud not only be a good way to score given what D's are doing to us now, but but force opponents to move away from the strategy they are using and get opposing defenders on Jump ton not guard her so closely, giving her more free space to shoot threes. Could also use Demetre, Nivar, Bosgana, or even Prechtel sliding down into Jump's vacated corner position instead of Lepolo.
Interesting tha Demetre who is known for her shooting and offense has been basically silent on O, but has become a really good defender.
Finally, I think our poor 3 pt shooting (and not so great FT shooting) lately is due to some of our players being tired, particularly Jones, Jump, and Brink. Haley and Hannah have logged a lot of minutes and their legs are probably not fresh. Jones shots have frequently been short. Even her 3 point attempts for which she has always been weak have been worse than before. She also is not blazing up and down the court as much. Jump has been uncharacteristically missing more threes than earlier even on open looks. Brink hasn't played as many minutes as those two, but she has been playing more (due to lesser fouls) and more importantly she has been playing extremely hard and intensely. She's had to exert lots of energy the past few games due to them being close, playing with as much intensity as we would see in postseason. Surprisingly, Lepolo seems the least tired despite having as many or close to as Jones and Jump. But still we can't wear her down as she is vital for the late season and post season.
Would like to see more of Bosgana, Demetre, Nivar, Nnopu, and Harriel getting minutes at guard and wing to keep Jones and Jump fresher. Also like to see more of Fran and Ashten to give Brink more rest. We should at least use the bench more for games agst. our weaker P12 foes.