Didn't watch and just going off box score here. Was Coffee a defensive liability? She had 3 defensive rebounds, a block, and a steal, so she didn't seem awful. I ask simply because a player who goes 4-8 from outside and is also 6'5" is precisely who we need on the court. Zone defenses cannot afford to sag at all on a player with that profile, because she can shoot right over them if they aren't hugging her, and if they are, that creates an opening to pass inside.
Agree with the assessments of Williams and Dodson - frankly, it shows you how much recruiting matters. They're by far our mostly highly rated current recruits, and while they're raw frosh, they are already showing more potential than some of our juniors and seniors.
So: it seems like the takeaways from this game are that we need McPhee back (duh), Coffee needs to get minutes early in the game to help us break down the zone (even if we maybe lose a bit on the defensive glass and risk a few more turnovers), and Williams should also get in ASAP to get our offense going.
Based on this game, I'd be pretty happy with a starting line-up of Williams, Carrington, McPhee, Smith, and Coffee. We'd be turnover prone and weak on o-boards, but honestly, that's been our problem in nearly all of our prior games in the first quarter. How much worse can it get? I'd much rather we establish some rhythm on offense early and then implement some better defensive sets rather than the other way around. We could get away with playing from behind against San Francisco, but tonight shows that that doesn't work against top teams.
Agree with the assessments of Williams and Dodson - frankly, it shows you how much recruiting matters. They're by far our mostly highly rated current recruits, and while they're raw frosh, they are already showing more potential than some of our juniors and seniors.
So: it seems like the takeaways from this game are that we need McPhee back (duh), Coffee needs to get minutes early in the game to help us break down the zone (even if we maybe lose a bit on the defensive glass and risk a few more turnovers), and Williams should also get in ASAP to get our offense going.
Based on this game, I'd be pretty happy with a starting line-up of Williams, Carrington, McPhee, Smith, and Coffee. We'd be turnover prone and weak on o-boards, but honestly, that's been our problem in nearly all of our prior games in the first quarter. How much worse can it get? I'd much rather we establish some rhythm on offense early and then implement some better defensive sets rather than the other way around. We could get away with playing from behind against San Francisco, but tonight shows that that doesn't work against top teams.