[81alum]

Of all the quality teams South Carolina has played, Tennessee seemed to me to be somewhat similar to Stanford, at least insofar as they have strong post play and a general balance to their team.  On ESPN3 the Tennessee/South Carolina game from the SEC semis (in which Tennessee beat South Carolina 74-58) is still available, so I watched it and took notes. 

Carolyn Peck was commentator–for whatever that is worth.  She observed that South Carolina takes twice as many three point shots as its opponents, and that therefore it was critical to defend the three.  After all, that is what killed Tennessee the first time they played.  In that game Grant hit 7 threes.  Peck thought that South Carolina needed to defend Tennessee by forcing them to keep the ball out of the paint and dare them to shoot threes.  That advice would be even more true for Stanford than for Tennessee, given our problems with 3 point shooting.

I don't like Peck, but her advice made sense.  I was amused, though, to see that both teams seemed to do the opposite.  Tennessee opened up with a 2-3 zone against South Carolina.  The two Tennessee guards ran back and forth along the three point line trying to guard the South Carolina guards, but South Carolina  usually got their 3 point shots off unmolested, or they penetrated and dished or penetrated and took mid range jumpers.  They rarely made entry passes.  When they did, the forwards usually passed back to someone on the perimeter.  In short, Tennessee stayed in a zone and made South Carolina prove it could shoot threes, but South Carolina did not get super hot shooting as they did in the first game.  South Carolina wound up 7-22 from three.  I presume Tennessee would have done something different if Grannie started making lots of long range shots, but she wound up with 3 of 9.

Instead of clogging the paint at the other end, South Carolina opened up in man against Tennessee.  Even so, Tennessee had only moderate success in getting into the paint at first.  The man to man stayed close enough to make entry passes risky, but as the game wore on, Glory Johnson (like Nneka?) was able to get the ball more often.  She finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, 5 of them O boards.  Vickie Baugh also had 10 rebounds.  The superior inside presence also showed up in Tennessee out rebounding South Carolina 37-24, and in Tennessee getting 15 points out of free throws to just 7 for South Carolina.  Fortunately for Tennessee, they were also 5-12 from beyond the arc, which gave them balance.

South Carolina was able to stay close because they took 10 more shots than Tennessee, which helped to compensate for a big disparity in accuracy (Tennessee was above 50%, South Carolina around 35%.)  How did they get more shots?  South Carolina had a 3 turnover advantage and also had 16 offensive rebounds.  Those offensive rebounds were scattered across the entire team–no one had more than 2!  I think this was because they were almost all off of long jump shots that made for long, random rebounds for which tall post presence was not that useful

What is the takeaway from this game?  DEFENSE: we need to be prepared to shut down any of their three point shooters if they get hot, and we should pay particular attention to Grant.  I’m a little worried about whether we have enough speedsters to guard all three of their guards at the same time.  Can  Joslyn defend La’Keshia Sutton?  This might be where we miss Jasmine and Alex.

OFFENSE:  I see no reason not to pound it inside, but it will take some creativity to figure out the entrance passes.  Perhaps what worked against West Virginia (putting all five on the perimeter to initiate plays) will work against South Carolina, except that it will now lack the element of surprise.  I’m glad that Tara is a genius.  The fact is that our two best posts are much better than their two best posts, and so getting it into their hands will be a priority.

[81alum]

Of all the quality teams South Carolina has played, Tennessee seemed to me to be somewhat similar to Stanford, at least insofar as they have strong post play and a general balance to their team.  On ESPN3 the Tennessee/South Carolina game from the SEC semis (in which Tennessee beat South Carolina 74-58) is still available, so I watched it and took notes. 

Carolyn Peck was commentator–for whatever that is worth.  She observed that South Carolina takes twice as many three point shots as its opponents, and that therefore it was critical to defend the three.  After all, that is what killed Tennessee the first time they played.  In that game Grant hit 7 threes.  Peck thought that South Carolina needed to defend Tennessee by forcing them to keep the ball out of the paint and dare them to shoot threes.  That advice would be even more true for Stanford than for Tennessee, given our problems with 3 point shooting.

I don't like Peck, but her advice made sense.  I was amused, though, to see that both teams seemed to do the opposite.  Tennessee opened up with a 2-3 zone against South Carolina.  The two Tennessee guards ran back and forth along the three point line trying to guard the South Carolina guards, but South Carolina  usually got their 3 point shots off unmolested, or they penetrated and dished or penetrated and took mid range jumpers.  They rarely made entry passes.  When they did, the forwards usually passed back to someone on the perimeter.  In short, Tennessee stayed in a zone and made South Carolina prove it could shoot threes, but South Carolina did not get super hot shooting as they did in the first game.  South Carolina wound up 7-22 from three.  I presume Tennessee would have done something different if Grannie started making lots of long range shots, but she wound up with 3 of 9.

Instead of clogging the paint at the other end, South Carolina opened up in man against Tennessee.  Even so, Tennessee had only moderate success in getting into the paint at first.  The man to man stayed close enough to make entry passes risky, but as the game wore on, Glory Johnson (like Nneka?) was able to get the ball more often.  She finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, 5 of them O boards.  Vickie Baugh also had 10 rebounds.  The superior inside presence also showed up in Tennessee out rebounding South Carolina 37-24, and in Tennessee getting 15 points out of free throws to just 7 for South Carolina.  Fortunately for Tennessee, they were also 5-12 from beyond the arc, which gave them balance.

South Carolina was able to stay close because they took 10 more shots than Tennessee, which helped to compensate for a big disparity in accuracy (Tennessee was above 50%, South Carolina around 35%.)  How did they get more shots?  South Carolina had a 3 turnover advantage and also had 16 offensive rebounds.  Those offensive rebounds were scattered across the entire team–no one had more than 2!  I think this was because they were almost all off of long jump shots that made for long, random rebounds for which tall post presence was not that useful

What is the takeaway from this game?  DEFENSE: we need to be prepared to shut down any of their three point shooters if they get hot, and we should pay particular attention to Grant.  I’m a little worried about whether we have enough speedsters to guard all three of their guards at the same time.  Can  Joslyn defend La’Keshia Sutton?  This might be where we miss Jasmine and Alex.

OFFENSE:  I see no reason not to pound it inside, but it will take some creativity to figure out the entrance passes.  Perhaps what worked against West Virginia (putting all five on the perimeter to initiate plays) will work against South Carolina, except that it will now lack the element of surprise.  I’m glad that Tara is a genius.  The fact is that our two best posts are much better than their two best posts, and so getting it into their hands will be a priority.