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RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - 81alum - 11-20-2022

While WBB has made vast strides in the last generation, there still are relatively few teams capable of playing for a natty in any given year.  There is far less parity than in MBB.  This means that Tara gets stuck having to play a lot of creampuffs and only gets a few key tests each year.  This was one of those tests.  I have heard Tara and the assistant coaches talk about this repeatedly--not in so many words--but Tara is a teacher, and Dawn has just given her a critique of her lesson plan.  Testing a young team against a more experienced champion is a wonderful way to expose weaknesses early in the season and to help you figure out where to concentrate your efforts for improvements.

And improve we will.  What has always distinguished Tara from her competition is the November-to-March transition.  All teams may improve some, but Tara's teams often improve by leaps and bounds, and frequently look very different in March.  Those of us who are obsessed with Stanford WBB and have followed it for decades recognize the pattern.  The fact that we just played the national champions to overtime in November bodes extremely well.  South Carolina is not going to improve as much as Stanford will improve, so I like our chances if we get to play them again.

So what did we learn?

1) We have confirmed our new point guard.  The biggest question mark going into the season is erased.  Mana from heaven compared with where we were one year ago.  The worry that Lepolo--a freshman point guard unlike any other that Tara has had--would wilt under pressure turned out not to be true.  She did not get 10 assists to 0 turnovers against a creampuff, but she did get 6 assists to 3 turnovers against the national champion--and scored enough to keep the defense honest.  That debate should be over.

2) The same old saw about Brink fouling too much applies--I am at the point where I think it is just part of her DNA.  She probably won't change, so what we need instead is an excellent person to back her up.  We need Betts in particular to come along, and she will.  We need to plan for games in which Brink plays only a little more than 20 minutes, on a regular basis.

3) Iriafen has further to go than her miraculous domination early season hinted.  Good to know.  She needs to be given the green light to start hitting her jump shot, which has appeared excellent.  Dawn said her offense improved when it recognized that it needed to "take what the defense gives you."  That applies especially to Iriafen.  When the post is absolutely clogged, she can be very accurate from 6-8-10 feet out, and even hit treys occasionally.  She needs to take what the defense gives her.

4) It is official, Jones is in an offensive slump.  The coaches need to change some things to get her out of it.  She was not playing well against the weaklings, and yet we hoped she would rise the the occasion against South Carolina.  She had an OK first half (gorgeous over-the-shoulder layups when they work) but too much was put on her in the second half.  How do we get her back to her old self?  Admit that the Jones-as-pg experiment did not work, and also recognize that we need other players to be able to take the shot with time running down.  Who?  It would be best if Lepolo developed some of that, since as the ball handler she could be put in that position the most.  But let the pressure off of Jones, play her at wing, and let her be joyful.  She will become an automatic double-double again, and turnovers will recede too.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - TonyLima - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 06:42 PM)81alum Wrote:  While WBB has made vast strides in the last generation, there still are relatively few teams capable of playing for a natty in any given year.  There is far less parity than in MBB.  This means that Tara gets stuck having to play a lot of creampuffs and only gets a few key tests each year.  This was one of those tests.  I have heard Tara and the assistant coaches talk about this repeatedly--not in so many words--but Tara is a teacher, and Dawn has just given her a critique of her lesson plan.  Testing a young team against a more experienced champion is a wonderful way to expose weaknesses early in the season and to help you figure out where to concentrate your efforts for improvements.

And improve we will.  What has always distinguished Tara from her competition is the November-to-March transition.  All teams may improve some, but Tara's teams often improve by leaps and bounds, and frequently look very different in March.  Those of us who are obsessed with Stanford WBB and have followed it for decades recognize the pattern.  The fact that we just played the national champions to overtime in November bodes extremely well.  South Carolina is not going to improve as much as Stanford will improve, so I like our chances if we get to play them again.

So what did we learn?

1) We have confirmed our new point guard.  The biggest question mark going into the season is erased.  Mana from heaven compared with where we were one year ago.

2) The same old saw about Cam fouling too much applies--I am at the point where I think it is just part of her DNA.  SHe probably won't change, so what we need instead is an excellent person to back her up.  We need Betts in particular to come along, and she will.

3) Iriafen has further to go than her miraculous domination early season hinted.  Good to know.  She needs to be given the green light to start hitting her jump shot, which has appeared excellent.

4) It is official, Jones is in a slump.  She was not playing well against the weaklings, and we hoped she would rise the the occasion.  She had an OK first half but too much was put on her in the second half.  We need other players to be able to take the shot with time running down, and need to develop that skill in Lepolo, most probably.  But let the pressure off of Jones, play her at wing, and let her be joyful.  She will become an automatic double-double again, and turnovers will recede too.

Playing a weak schedule before this game was not good.  But I defer to others who know more about scheduling difficulties.

My earlier question remains unanswered.  Betts scored 4 points in 4 minutes, then rode the bench for the rest of the game (including OT after Brink fouled out).

Re Brink, she continues to have ticky-tack fouls called against her.  That fourth foul was, at worst, a touch.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - UltimateCard - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 06:04 PM)TheFarm07 Wrote:  This was our first actual test of a game, so looking at who Tara played provides a good indication of who she trusts in crunch time…It was also interesting that Bosgana did not see any playing time and Demetre only got three minutes. They were often the first ones off the bench during our easy wins, so you would think they would be the first to provide relief…We often talked about how deep we are and these were the times that the depth should have come through for us.

Yes, it was telling - seemed like Tara only trusted six players, the only ones with double-digit playing time. Look at the disparity in bench points: 34-9. We know Tara prioritizes defense; I wonder if Tara planned to go deeper but decided to shorten the rotation when that 12-point lead evaporated in the second quarter - after Boston sat down with her second foul, we had some trouble getting back in transition with their speedier lineup. Tara also went away from the switching defense we’d been seeing. Will be interesting to see the adjustments in the coming games.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - RuralFan - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 06:40 PM)Jskass Wrote:  Well, at least you know that going forward 
1. Betts will start being more mindful of going up to shoot sans dribbles.
2. We will set more screens.
3. We will focus on free throws.
4. Hoping we make sure Haley is not exhausted at end from overuse!

I don't think Haley was exhausted and if she was, she had better improve her conditioning.

It mostly looked to me as if Stanford in the fourth quarter got scared of losing. We stopped running the court and stopped running our offense.  We gave the ball to Haley while the other four players stood around and watched.  We let Boston shoot baskets within a few feet of the basket. Our coaches seemed to have no answers.   The Stanford team needs to study the fourth quarter tape. There is much to learn.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - 81alum - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 06:47 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Playing a weak schedule before this game was not good.  But I defer to others who know more about scheduling difficulties.

My earlier question remains unanswered.  Betts scored 4 points in 4 minutes, then rode the bench for the rest of the game (including OT after Brink fouled out).

Re Brink, she continues to have ticky-tack fouls called against her.  That fourth foul was, at worst, a touch.

1) No, it was not good.  South Carolina had Maryland.  We had Portland.    But scheduling is not entirely a matter of choice.

2) I also would like to know why Betts did not play more.  At the chalk talk, Kate talked her up, acknowledged what a weapon she was, and said "we hope the game situation allows us to increase her minutes" or something like that.  So I was surprised that with all the foul trouble that others were having that we did not give her more time.  I do know that in big games, Tara usually defaults to experience, so maybe that was it. 

3) Brink has been doing much, much better on the fouling front this year--until this game.  I think there must just be something about anatomy that makes officials see her fouls more clearly than other players.  I can't see any other explanation--completely different officials from different leagues all seem to do it.

(11-20-2022, 06:57 PM)UltimateCard Wrote:  Yes, it was telling - seemed like Tara only trusted six players, the only ones with double-digit playing time. Look at the disparity in bench points: 34-9. We know Tara prioritizes defense; I wonder if Tara planned to go deeper but decided to shorten the rotation when that 12-point lead evaporated in the second quarter - after Boston sat down with her second foul, we had some trouble getting back in transition with their speedier lineup. Tara also went away from the switching defense we’d been seeing. Will be interesting to see the adjustments in the coming games.
In the behind-the-bench Tara acknowledged that we did not push the pace as much as she wanted us to.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - TheFarm07 - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 06:42 PM)81alum Wrote:  While WBB has made vast strides in the last generation, there still are relatively few teams capable of playing for a natty in any given year.  There is far less parity than in MBB.  This means that Tara gets stuck having to play a lot of creampuffs and only gets a few key tests each year.  This was one of those tests.  I have heard Tara and the assistant coaches talk about this repeatedly--not in so many words--but Tara is a teacher, and Dawn has just given her a critique of her lesson plan.  Testing a young team against a more experienced champion is a wonderful way to expose weaknesses early in the season and to help you figure out where to concentrate your efforts for improvements.

And improve we will.  What has always distinguished Tara from her competition is the November-to-March transition.  All teams may improve some, but Tara's teams often improve by leaps and bounds, and frequently look very different in March.  Those of us who are obsessed with Stanford WBB and have followed it for decades recognize the pattern.  The fact that we just played the national champions to overtime in November bodes extremely well.  South Carolina is not going to improve as much as Stanford will improve, so I like our chances if we get to play them again.

So what did we learn?

1) We have confirmed our new point guard.  The biggest question mark going into the season is erased.  Mana from heaven compared with where we were one year ago.  The worry that Lepolo--a freshman point guard unlike any other that Tara has had--would wilt under pressure turned out not to be true.  She did not get 10 assists to 0 turnovers against a creampuff, but she did get 6 assists to 3 turnovers against the national champion--and scored enough to keep the defense honest.  That debate should be over.

2) The same old saw about Brink fouling too much applies--I am at the point where I think it is just part of her DNA.  She probably won't change, so what we need instead is an excellent person to back her up.  We need Betts in particular to come along, and she will.  We need to plan for games in which Brink plays only a little more than 20 minutes, on a regular basis.

3) Iriafen has further to go than her miraculous domination early season hinted.  Good to know.  She needs to be given the green light to start hitting her jump shot, which has appeared excellent.  Dawn said her offense improved when it recognized that it needed to "take what the defense gives you."  That applies especially to Iriafen.  When the post is absolutely clogged, she can be very accurate from 6-8-10 feet out, and even hit treys occasionally.  She needs to take what the defense gives her.

4) It is official, Jones is in an offensive slump.  The coaches need to change some things to get her out of it.  She was not playing well against the weaklings, and yet we hoped she would rise the the occasion against South Carolina.  She had an OK first half (gorgeous over-the-shoulder layups when they work) but too much was put on her in the second half.  How do we get her back to her old self?  Admit that the Jones-as-pg experiment did not work, and also recognize that we need other players to be able to take the shot with time running down.  Who?  It would be best if Lepolo developed some of that, since as the ball handler she could be put in that position the most.  But let the pressure off of Jones, play her at wing, and let her be joyful.  She will become an automatic double-double again, and turnovers will recede too.

As usual, wonderful and pinpoint analyses, 81alum.

On your fourth point, yes, we need someone besides Jones to assist with the scoring. I don't think it was a coincidence that Jones' better half came when Brink was working her magic and taking some of the load off her shoulders in creating offense. Without Brink on the floor and Lexie and Kiana gone from the last couple years, Jones might feel more pressure to create something offensively, especially against a formidable opponent like S. Carolina.

While Jump and Prechtel are great shooters, they often need to have a set play to get them in prime position. Jones and Brink are our two players that can create something out of nothing and with Brink in foul trouble, the responsibility falls to Haley. We'll need someone else to elevate their game.

I hope that Lepolo can continue to develop her shooting game. During our championship run, we had the luxury of Kiana being able to survey the defense and having the range and ability to hit long range bombs or maneuver in for a midrange jumper. For me, having that shooting PG is so crucial against tough opponents who take you out of your normal offense where 1-on-1 matchups are the determining factor.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - 81alum - 11-20-2022

We have the Hawaii tournament coming up over Thanksgiving weekend, 3 games in 3 days, with the key matchup being the first with Florida Gulf Coast, an NCAA tournament team that played us tough at Maples a few years ago.

Then Santa Clara at home on Wed Nov. 30.  That will be 4 games in 6 days. 

Two weeks from today we get Gonzaga, and three weeks from today we get Tennessee, both at Maples.

Two more really strong teams coming into Maples in future Sundays.  Gonzaga beat Louisville on Saturday, but fell to Marquette today. 

I hope we get a fraction of the 7300 sellout crowd we had today.  And then we can see the adjustments that Tara will be making against good team.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - M T - 11-20-2022

It was a #1 vs #2 match-up that went to OT.  Can't say either of these teams is a much better than the other.

IIRC, SoCar never led in regulation, and only tied it up at the very end (sound familiar?).

I'm sure each team can't believe some of the calls. I saw lots of stuff not get called.  (Brink's charging foul at 4Q 9:13: The defender throws her head back in a flop  I don't think Brink touched her above the knees. Brink probably would have touched her, but that's not what happened.  Nivar did a flop at Q4 5:30.  Q4 14.9 Does Staley even know the rule about the coach's box?)

Each team will improve.  For instance, Iriafin has a lot to learn. For instance at 0:24 in OT, she jumps toward the ball on a FT rebound rather than straight up.  I believe if she'd have jumped vertically, her arms would reach the ball and the player behind her would have been called for the foul (as her arms would be across her shoulders).

I have to believe the coaches did not tell the players that they were out of time-outs late in OT. Everyone on the floor acted normally when it was called.

I consider 11 of 15 FT a good night.  I commend Brink for going 7 of 8.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - 81alum - 11-20-2022

Presser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3U2nnWtdUE


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - jonnyss - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 07:40 PM)81alum Wrote:  Presser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3U2nnWtdUE

thanks for linking. i just emailed wilder treadway, the director of communications, to ask him again please to mike the press so we can hear the questions and also have someone make sure the players are miked as well. tara was (through the volume was low), cam was not, haley had a mike but it was not in front of her and not pointed at her. i asked wilder last year and he said he would work on it. nothing so far.

p.s. he quickly emailed back to say he isn't in charge of technical operations and has told them several times already.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - Card10Fan - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 07:40 PM)81alum Wrote:  Presser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3U2nnWtdUE

I didn't really sense that much frustration from anyone postgame. I've definitely seen Tara more upset after games. I know it's only November, but we had so many mental mistakes and really the game was ours, and we just choked it away late. I just thought she would be more candid about how it ended. We didn't play like the smart kids today and it cost us.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - TonyLima - 11-20-2022

Were Brink’s fouls legit? Did the zebras let SC get away with outright muggings? Decide for yourself. Full game (incl pre and post commentary) here.

(11-20-2022, 07:07 PM)81alum Wrote:  We have the Hawaii tournament coming up over Thanksgiving weekend, 3 games in 3 days, with the key matchup being the first with Florida Gulf Coast, an NCAA tournament team that played us tough at Maples a few years ago.

Then Santa Clara at home on Wed Nov. 30.  That will be 4 games in 6 days. 

Two weeks from today we get Gonzaga, and three weeks from today we get Tennessee, both at Maples.

Two more really strong teams coming into Maples in future Sundays.  Gonzaga beat Louisville on Saturday, but fell to Marquette today. 

I hope we get a fraction of the 7300 sellout crowd we had today.  And then we can see the adjustments that Tara will be making against good team.

Why in the name of all that’s holy are these teams scheduled AFTER SC??


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - M T - 11-20-2022

Are ESPN and ABC going to allow this video to stand?


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - TonyLima - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 09:51 PM)M T Wrote:  Are ESPN and ABC going to allow this video to stand?

Youtube does automatic copyright checking. If you can see it, it’s OK.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - chimera - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 09:21 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Were Brink’s fouls legit? Did the zebras let SC get away with outright muggings? Decide for yourself. Full game (incl pre and post commentary) here.

(11-20-2022, 07:07 PM)81alum Wrote:  We have the Hawaii tournament coming up over Thanksgiving weekend, 3 games in 3 days, with the key matchup being the first with Florida Gulf Coast, an NCAA tournament team that played us tough at Maples a few years ago.

Then Santa Clara at home on Wed Nov. 30.  That will be 4 games in 6 days. 

Two weeks from today we get Gonzaga, and three weeks from today we get Tennessee, both at Maples.

Two more really strong teams coming into Maples in future Sundays.  Gonzaga beat Louisville on Saturday, but fell to Marquette today. 

I hope we get a fraction of the 7300 sellout crowd we had today.  And then we can see the adjustments that Tara will be making against good team.

Why in the name of all that’s holy are these teams scheduled AFTER SC??

How do you mean about the teams?  Thanksgiving tournament this week, three games in three days in Hawaii.  Then Santa Clara, Gonzaga, Creighton and TN, though I may have mixed up the order of those last three.  Then conference starts.  Season goes quickly.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - 81alum - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 09:21 PM)TonyLima Wrote:  Why in the name of all that’s holy are these teams scheduled AFTER SC??
Other teams have a say in scheduling.  South Carolina almost could not find a second opponent to play in California as it is.

Here is how we have scheduled notable out of conference opponents in the past.  We usually have a marquis match-up earlier than we did this season.

2011 we played UConn as our 4th game.
2012 we played Baylor as our 3rd game.
2013 we played UConn as our 2nd game.
2014 we played UConn as out 2nd game.
2015 we played Gonzaga as our 2nd game, Texas as our 8th
2016 we played Texas as our 2nd game, Gonzaga 3rd.
2017 we played Ohio State as our 1st game, UConn 2nd.
2018 we played Gonzaga 7th.
2019 we played Gonzaga 4th.
2020 was COVID year and schedule was whacked.
2021 we played Texas 2nd


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - treetop11 - 11-20-2022

(11-20-2022, 05:09 PM)chimera Wrote:  This was a woulda, coulda, shoulda game.  Should have won it in regulation.  Had a nice lead for much of the game but went stale and cold late.  Jones was fine in the first half, but the second was one of her worst halves against a good team maybe in her career.  I'm not sure if she was trying to do too much because she often makes the shots she was missing, even against good defenders.  If we get just a D half from Jones instead of an F, we win.  If she makes that one FT we probably win.  That was the major downer of the game, that we did not see the best from Haley.  The turnovers hurt too, but they were generally not the awful kind where SC is just heading toward their basket with the ball after a steal.

To the good, we rebounded pretty well, though not always when it was critical.  Lepolo was good in her first big time game.  Prechtel was not great in her first stint on the floor but after that she was excellent on defense and got some key rebounds.  Brink had an excellent game even with the fouls.  Iriafen settled down and played better after a tough start.  

The end of the game was a mess in every way, enough said about that.  I thought Tara needed to put in more shooters to spread the floor a bit when the offense was struggling late, like put in Demetre with Jump and see if we can't get one of them an open look, maybe from a Jones drive and dish.  Jones did not drive and dish enough, was too focused on her own shot.  That's great if they go in, but when they aren't...  I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more of Betts too.  Some fresh legs late maybe could have helped.

Long term I don't think this is a crushing loss.  They should have won, really.  SC is a great team but we had them down and just did not finish it out.  There were a few tough calls in there late too.  This should piss the team off, and get the coaches scheming ways to improve the offense.  No pressure of being number 1, SC can have that.  Keep in mind SC is a very experienced team.  They started four seniors or fifth year and I think the other one was a junior or something, not s frosh.  We started two seniors, one junior, one soph, and one frosh.  We should get a lot better.

I also don't think seeding is going to be a big deal this season.  We just played the team that is the consensus #1 and deserves it given that they won it all last year and who is on their roster.  We should be able to cope with all styles.  Just stay healthy and keep improving.

After reading a bunch of dumb, negative posts here, you're always a refreshing voice here with your observations on target. Agree with all your points and made most of the same on TOS. 
Staley had Cooke locking down on Jump. Curious to know if you think we should have designed some stuff to get Hannah some space.

A few adds to 81 Alum. 

Considering the match up of #1 and #2, the officating was near atrocious, probably both ways, maybe 60-40 in favor of SC. A major non-call was Amihere O rebound after missed FT with 24 seconds left. She clearly went over the back of Kiki and should have fouled out and us have the ball dwon 2 in OT with 24 seconds on the clock. I believe that it would have drastically changed the outcome.

We all agree that Haley played well in the 1st half and poorly in the second. The worst of her second performance was missing that FT. If she makes it, we guard the 3 pt line, even let them have a 2 or foul and we win. It's inexcusable for our players not to be better at the line. Last year, I saw Haley have a streak where she almost never missed. As a senior, she has to make that FT in crunch time.

As Tara noted, we needed to be attacking the basket more. Haley was the only one  consistently capable, but she tended too often to not go hard and force contact and fouls instead trying to do circus shots or stop and pops. Lepolo did some but not enough and though she looks promising, I think she did enough without forcing things and committing TOs. Brink can attack and sometimes very effectively, but the nature of physics is that she can't be counted on because it's easier to strip her of the ball. We have no one else, except... Nivar. We need to get her in the mix more against top teams so she and the coaches ahve confidence in her driving. Jump can do more but she is more of an opportunistic driver as she doesn't have the ball handling skills of Lepolo, Jones, and Nivar. Harriel has the potential skills, but she is not ready yet to be thrust on the big stage.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - M T - 11-21-2022

Lepolo had that one handoff to Prechtel under the basket.  I believe at least 2 of her other circles under the basket were ones she was intending to hand off to a big, but the defenders got in the way or the big wasn't ready for it.

Other than Nivar's flop, I don't remember anything special about her play today.

Yes, Jones is a flashy player, who can do some amazing offense.  No, the worst of Jones's play wasn't missing that FT.  These are what I would say are questionable plays by her in the 4th & OT.  They don't include the missed FT.  I would say the worst was with 16 seconds left in regulation, up 4, not guarding her player on the 3pt line.   Unfortunately, that's typical of her and it looked to me like SoCar was taking advantage of it.

Q4: 9:37 (-2), 7:04 (-2+foul), 3:14, 3:04, 0:43(uncalled travel), 0:16(-3)
OT: 3:50, 3:34(uncalled travelS), 3:31, 1:42, 0:45(-3), 0:10(only partly her fault).
That's 10 pretty clear points that she cost Stanford.  The unmarked ones include SoCar shots that she didn't defend, but they didn't go in.  The uncalled travels could have been turnovers.

Interesting.. Usually what I notice about Jones is a failure to block out on rebounds.  I don't recall that we lost rebounds in those 2 periods due to that for her.  I even think I recall I saw her actually blocking out on a rebound early in Q1.  While she wasn't blocking out in Q4 and OT, I didn't see that as hurting Stanford.

I wonder if demands on Jones for NIL have impacted her preparation for the season.  I don't know that this is the case, but I could see it could be.
Being a student and an athlete is demanding on one's time.  Adding a business, esp. if travel is involved, is that much more.
(On the other hand, I think Brink did improve over last year.  I'm sure she had NIL to deal with too.)


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - 81alum - 11-21-2022

(11-21-2022, 04:14 AM)M T Wrote:  I would say the worst was with 16 seconds left in regulation, up 4, not guarding her player on the 3pt line.   Unfortunately, that's typical of her and it looked to me like SoCar was taking advantage of it.
We have noticed this and commented on this about her in previous years.  It is hard for me to believe, however, that these are all mistakes on Jones's part, because it seems so obvious.  Someone gets the ball and Jones will make no effort to close or contest the shot, but just watches.  I've speculated before that this may be part of the scouting report.  Tara will sometimes tell her team not to contest shots by the opposing team's weakest jump shooter, but instead to hang back so you can double on anyone that shooter might pass to.  This is also probably what Staley meant when she said her team did better when it learned to "take what the defense gives you" rather than trying to force it. 

Could this be a plausible explanation for the many obvious times that Jones has allowed uncontested shots over the years?  I just find it hard to believe that she would consistently just watch someone shoot and then receive praise from Tara.  It makes more sense that she is acting on instructions of some sort that we don't know about, since MT is absolutely right that this is something of a pattern of what Jones does on defense.


RE: WBB vs South Carolina Game Thread - joemontes - 11-21-2022

Didn't watch the game, just saw the final score and stats,
then watched the full game replay.

Two things stand out to me:

1)  Like most of you have said, Haley JONES atrocious shooting 
(5/19 = 26.3% in the game and 20/54 = 37% in the first 6 games), 
and sometimes lackadaisical defense is very disturbing.
Is her anemic shooting a lack of concentration, or did she
not adequately work on her midrange and 3point shooting 
during the offseason?  Hopefully, this can be fixed.

2)  I don't understand playing BETTS for only 4 minutes
and not playing BOSGANA at all.  Come on!  Oh well....