10-07-2018, 05:36 PM
Interesting updates. A few quick thoughts:
-Rebounding: Isn't this the inherent liability of the Princeton, esp. offensive rebounding? In other words, should we be surprised we struggled there last season? When you have four on the perimeter and a 2-3 zone defense, you're basically ensuring you're in a disadvantaged position to nab the rebound. I actually think our bigger problem last year was simply that we had essentially one sharpshooter (Williams), and she developed mid-season, so there were simply too many offensive rebounds to be grabbed in the first place. And some of the players who were our outsized (literally) rebounders, like McPhee and Carrington, didn't/haven't yet flourished in a Princeton offense because they are both at their best creating something in traffic, getting physical, and cutting through the lanes. Zone defenses, the natural response to the Princeton, tends to cut that off. I guess I just think the Triangle is a much better offense to run if you want strong o-board production, and the Princeton is better when you're smaller, faster, and have better outside shooting. The problem last year was that we often had the first two but almost never the third, and it was almost always Williams.
-Odd that Lacie has shown better shooting so far - wasn't Lexie the much higher ranked player and the leading scorer on her team last year? The comment about the college game being "more physical" doesn't surprise me - they both seem pretty slight to be playing anything beyond an outside 3 in the college game. I imagine they'll need some time to develop some more muscle if they want to be moving inside much.
-Perhaps most telling is the fact that there was nothing said about Marta at all. Now that we have Brown as another possible point, I've been wondering all off season how we'll balance time between Williams (a presumptive starter), Marta, and Brown (who I imagine will develop as the season progresses). And that's not to mention Wilson. Marta's offensive deficits may be somewhat mitigated by not having Johnson on the floor to create 3 vs. 5 offensive dynamics, but it still seems like lacking an outside shot when running a Princeton offense is a tremendous weakness for a point guard. Given how much competition there will be for the 3-4, I don't see how we start more than two of the three, and I could envision many lineups where we start Williams + some combo of Brown, Carrington, Smith, Dodson, Fingall, Jerome, and possibly the twins. Tara has historically always started seniors who have "done their time," but it wouldn't surprise me if Brown and Williams are both getting many more minutes by the latter half of the season unless something changes. (And it's too bad, because I love Marta's grit, physicality, and court vision.)
-Speaking of Jerome, nothing on her, either. It felt like she was getting solid sub minutes throughout the season last year, so I wonder what, if anything, the silence means? By contrast, Moschkau got almost only garbage minutes last year, so it's striking she was mentioned but Jerome was not. Do we know with these kinds of articles if the coaches talk about every player and the reporter just highlights a smattering of more interesting/unique comments, or do they generally report everything the coaches tell them?
-Rebounding: Isn't this the inherent liability of the Princeton, esp. offensive rebounding? In other words, should we be surprised we struggled there last season? When you have four on the perimeter and a 2-3 zone defense, you're basically ensuring you're in a disadvantaged position to nab the rebound. I actually think our bigger problem last year was simply that we had essentially one sharpshooter (Williams), and she developed mid-season, so there were simply too many offensive rebounds to be grabbed in the first place. And some of the players who were our outsized (literally) rebounders, like McPhee and Carrington, didn't/haven't yet flourished in a Princeton offense because they are both at their best creating something in traffic, getting physical, and cutting through the lanes. Zone defenses, the natural response to the Princeton, tends to cut that off. I guess I just think the Triangle is a much better offense to run if you want strong o-board production, and the Princeton is better when you're smaller, faster, and have better outside shooting. The problem last year was that we often had the first two but almost never the third, and it was almost always Williams.
-Odd that Lacie has shown better shooting so far - wasn't Lexie the much higher ranked player and the leading scorer on her team last year? The comment about the college game being "more physical" doesn't surprise me - they both seem pretty slight to be playing anything beyond an outside 3 in the college game. I imagine they'll need some time to develop some more muscle if they want to be moving inside much.
-Perhaps most telling is the fact that there was nothing said about Marta at all. Now that we have Brown as another possible point, I've been wondering all off season how we'll balance time between Williams (a presumptive starter), Marta, and Brown (who I imagine will develop as the season progresses). And that's not to mention Wilson. Marta's offensive deficits may be somewhat mitigated by not having Johnson on the floor to create 3 vs. 5 offensive dynamics, but it still seems like lacking an outside shot when running a Princeton offense is a tremendous weakness for a point guard. Given how much competition there will be for the 3-4, I don't see how we start more than two of the three, and I could envision many lineups where we start Williams + some combo of Brown, Carrington, Smith, Dodson, Fingall, Jerome, and possibly the twins. Tara has historically always started seniors who have "done their time," but it wouldn't surprise me if Brown and Williams are both getting many more minutes by the latter half of the season unless something changes. (And it's too bad, because I love Marta's grit, physicality, and court vision.)
-Speaking of Jerome, nothing on her, either. It felt like she was getting solid sub minutes throughout the season last year, so I wonder what, if anything, the silence means? By contrast, Moschkau got almost only garbage minutes last year, so it's striking she was mentioned but Jerome was not. Do we know with these kinds of articles if the coaches talk about every player and the reporter just highlights a smattering of more interesting/unique comments, or do they generally report everything the coaches tell them?