[76lsjumb]

Whatever we can do to improve our D would be welcome, but I think Tara's priorities have to center on getting our offense more consistently in sync.  It is the worst offense we have had in many years.  What I do not know is whether this is due mostly to the loss of Nneka, whether it is because Tara installed two new offensive schemes that did not "take", or whether our players are simply not as talented on offense as we thought they would be.  I'm hoping it is the second and that the players will continue to learn and improve in the new schemes.

I'm worried that we simply don't have the necessary point guard capabilities.  So far this season, for both the men and the women, our point guard play has been much closer to the Jarrett Mann end of the spectrum than to the Brevin Knight end.  The really good point guards see the whole court, know when there is going to be a numbers advantange on the break, see when teammates are about to get open, and get the pass to them right when it needs to be there so they get a clean, open shot.  The not-quite-so-really-good point guards have to spend a little too much attention on not getting the ball picked, are a little too tentative in throwing the pass, and always seem to get the ball to an open teammate a split second too late, so the defense has had an opportunity to adjust and take away the open shot.  Last night [and for much of this season], it seemed like Amber was in the latter category, not the former.  By contrast, watching the ND/UConn game, Skylar Diggins is clearly in the former.

I hope she can develop and get more comfortable, but this type of talent has always seemed to me to be somewhat instinctual -- players either seem to have it when they arrive...or they don't.  The "triangle" offense doesn't require as much of this type of talent from the point guard to be successful, but, of course, we don't really have the right talent mix this year to run a consistently dominant triangle.

One other question I had last night:  Why in the world put Bonnie Samuelson in and then NOT run some offensive set guaranteed to get her an open look at a 3 fairly early on?

Finally, it seems to me that somewhere on the list of concerns ought to be the fact that [I'm pretty sure] we got exactly 1 point from the bench last night.  We may be able to get away with that this early in the season, but things can get pretty bleak at the end.  Winning the Rose Bowl with a 20-14 score is one thing, but trying to win basketball games with a score in that range will be quite a feat...

[76lsjumb]

Whatever we can do to improve our D would be welcome, but I think Tara's priorities have to center on getting our offense more consistently in sync.  It is the worst offense we have had in many years.  What I do not know is whether this is due mostly to the loss of Nneka, whether it is because Tara installed two new offensive schemes that did not "take", or whether our players are simply not as talented on offense as we thought they would be.  I'm hoping it is the second and that the players will continue to learn and improve in the new schemes.

I'm worried that we simply don't have the necessary point guard capabilities.  So far this season, for both the men and the women, our point guard play has been much closer to the Jarrett Mann end of the spectrum than to the Brevin Knight end.  The really good point guards see the whole court, know when there is going to be a numbers advantange on the break, see when teammates are about to get open, and get the pass to them right when it needs to be there so they get a clean, open shot.  The not-quite-so-really-good point guards have to spend a little too much attention on not getting the ball picked, are a little too tentative in throwing the pass, and always seem to get the ball to an open teammate a split second too late, so the defense has had an opportunity to adjust and take away the open shot.  Last night [and for much of this season], it seemed like Amber was in the latter category, not the former.  By contrast, watching the ND/UConn game, Skylar Diggins is clearly in the former.

I hope she can develop and get more comfortable, but this type of talent has always seemed to me to be somewhat instinctual -- players either seem to have it when they arrive...or they don't.  The "triangle" offense doesn't require as much of this type of talent from the point guard to be successful, but, of course, we don't really have the right talent mix this year to run a consistently dominant triangle.

One other question I had last night:  Why in the world put Bonnie Samuelson in and then NOT run some offensive set guaranteed to get her an open look at a 3 fairly early on?

Finally, it seems to me that somewhere on the list of concerns ought to be the fact that [I'm pretty sure] we got exactly 1 point from the bench last night.  We may be able to get away with that this early in the season, but things can get pretty bleak at the end.  Winning the Rose Bowl with a 20-14 score is one thing, but trying to win basketball games with a score in that range will be quite a feat...