Chiming in, I agree with the consensus of these posts. Even in these losses, we hope that the team is learning, adapting and improving. However, it seems like a rerun every time out on the court. Consistency is a big issue; we can have great shooting nights, but they are far and few between, but we go on too many scoring droughts way too often. Open shots that other teams are draining on a consistent basis are routinely missed by our players for some reason even as Tara touted our shooting prowess in the preseason.
We can be lazy with the ball and have it picked off too often. I remember one play today late in the game; I think it was the opening possession of the 4th quarter when I think Cox was guarding someone on the perimeter and our guard was basically telegraphing wanting to pass the ball to the player that Cox was guarding. Cox anticipated it and stole the ball so easily. I saw that from a mile away. Other times, we tried to squeeze it into a low percentage tight situation in the paint and either it's picked off or even if our player gets it, they instantly crowded by defenders and turn the ball over, either out of bounds or traveling.
I agree, we have nothing to lose at this point. This two week break gives the team to regroup and for Brit to recover, but we are not going to get better if we don't change things quickly or drop our bad habits. At this point, I think Kiana and Maya deserve much more playing time than Marta or Kaylee. It's also disappointing that our players don't develop as quickly or as well as we had hoped them to be, from Kaylee's offensive skills to Fingall, we hoped for a step up and unfortunately, it's not there.
Even those players who have had improved a significant deal, such as Alanna or Brit, haven't had the consistency to cement them as top-tier players like we had with the Ogwumikes or Appel in the past. Alanna's foul issues, which seemed to have diminished last season as the year went by, has crept back in. It's especially damaging right now with Brit's injury, we don't have a veteran scoring presence on the floor.
On the other side, you see Cox, as the #1 recruit last year already showing much better numbers. Last year, she avg. 7.6 pts on 43% shooting and 4 rebounds a game. Just a month into the season, she has made a brobdingnagian jump to averaging a double-double at 16.7 pts/10.2 rbds and shooting 53%.
Side note: I agree with the bad timing with the tough scheduling this year. Generally, I am a proponent of a tough schedule. It prepares us and gives us a taste of what we will go against in the NCAA tourney and the bar we will have to pass. But those years are for teams with legitimate national title hopes, think the ball clubs in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
This year would have been better off with a softer schedule with our usual yearly game against Tennessee and then the chance of running into Ohio State in the Vegas tournament. Otherwise, it would have been better to schedule opponents early on in the non-conference slate where we can utilize our Princeton offense more easily and perhaps work our way up to a Top-15 to Top-25 team like a Texas A&M or Kentucky, where it would be a tough, but still potentially winnable game, unlike with an elite team, such as UConn, or a N.D. or a Louisville.
We can be lazy with the ball and have it picked off too often. I remember one play today late in the game; I think it was the opening possession of the 4th quarter when I think Cox was guarding someone on the perimeter and our guard was basically telegraphing wanting to pass the ball to the player that Cox was guarding. Cox anticipated it and stole the ball so easily. I saw that from a mile away. Other times, we tried to squeeze it into a low percentage tight situation in the paint and either it's picked off or even if our player gets it, they instantly crowded by defenders and turn the ball over, either out of bounds or traveling.
I agree, we have nothing to lose at this point. This two week break gives the team to regroup and for Brit to recover, but we are not going to get better if we don't change things quickly or drop our bad habits. At this point, I think Kiana and Maya deserve much more playing time than Marta or Kaylee. It's also disappointing that our players don't develop as quickly or as well as we had hoped them to be, from Kaylee's offensive skills to Fingall, we hoped for a step up and unfortunately, it's not there.
Even those players who have had improved a significant deal, such as Alanna or Brit, haven't had the consistency to cement them as top-tier players like we had with the Ogwumikes or Appel in the past. Alanna's foul issues, which seemed to have diminished last season as the year went by, has crept back in. It's especially damaging right now with Brit's injury, we don't have a veteran scoring presence on the floor.
On the other side, you see Cox, as the #1 recruit last year already showing much better numbers. Last year, she avg. 7.6 pts on 43% shooting and 4 rebounds a game. Just a month into the season, she has made a brobdingnagian jump to averaging a double-double at 16.7 pts/10.2 rbds and shooting 53%.
Side note: I agree with the bad timing with the tough scheduling this year. Generally, I am a proponent of a tough schedule. It prepares us and gives us a taste of what we will go against in the NCAA tourney and the bar we will have to pass. But those years are for teams with legitimate national title hopes, think the ball clubs in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
This year would have been better off with a softer schedule with our usual yearly game against Tennessee and then the chance of running into Ohio State in the Vegas tournament. Otherwise, it would have been better to schedule opponents early on in the non-conference slate where we can utilize our Princeton offense more easily and perhaps work our way up to a Top-15 to Top-25 team like a Texas A&M or Kentucky, where it would be a tough, but still potentially winnable game, unlike with an elite team, such as UConn, or a N.D. or a Louisville.