[jad]

I don't think enough props can be given to Anna Wilson for her performance yesterday.

Watching the semifinal, it became apparent to me what screwed up Oregon was denying their movement with the ball.  UCLA had the lateral quickness to cut down on penetration angles, and that kept them from having to overrotate their defenses to cover and thus leave open someone, generally a perimeter shooter.  With the Hulls out there, they can deny passing angles with their length, but were consistently trailing the play on drives.  Going under the screen, they couldn't recover in time to stop the drive, and that was leading to their foul trouble.

Wilson was having none of that.  Fighting through screens, or diving quickly under them and getting into the driving lane opposite, she forced Ionescu to either pull up (which, to be fair, Sabrina does really well), or kick the ball back out.

One under-praised moment in particular - simple pick and roll with Hebard in the second half, and Dodson comes off to deny the drive.  Wilson, instead of continuing to trail after Ionescu, darts quickly into the passing lane to deflect away a Ionescu drop pass that would've led to an easy layup for Hebard.  That's just great anticipatory defense and speed.

VG

Clearly the pick and roll was a point of emphasis as its the bread and butter of Oregon's offense.  Lacie Hull intercepted an Ionescu bounce pass off of it in the first quarter.  Very similar to Wilson's  latter move.

[jad]

I don't think enough props can be given to Anna Wilson for her performance yesterday.

Watching the semifinal, it became apparent to me what screwed up Oregon was denying their movement with the ball.  UCLA had the lateral quickness to cut down on penetration angles, and that kept them from having to overrotate their defenses to cover and thus leave open someone, generally a perimeter shooter.  With the Hulls out there, they can deny passing angles with their length, but were consistently trailing the play on drives.  Going under the screen, they couldn't recover in time to stop the drive, and that was leading to their foul trouble.

Wilson was having none of that.  Fighting through screens, or diving quickly under them and getting into the driving lane opposite, she forced Ionescu to either pull up (which, to be fair, Sabrina does really well), or kick the ball back out.

One under-praised moment in particular - simple pick and roll with Hebard in the second half, and Dodson comes off to deny the drive.  Wilson, instead of continuing to trail after Ionescu, darts quickly into the passing lane to deflect away a Ionescu drop pass that would've led to an easy layup for Hebard.  That's just great anticipatory defense and speed.

VG

Clearly the pick and roll was a point of emphasis as its the bread and butter of Oregon's offense.  Lacie Hull intercepted an Ionescu bounce pass off of it in the first quarter.  Very similar to Wilson's  latter move.