12-06-2020, 07:39 AM
Overall, a solid game. I felt like we played a lot more "man offense" trying to take cuts to the basket, which has definitely not been our historical strength or tendency, and I'm not surprised it got a little sloppy at times. (Apart from Jones, who I agree may be the best slashing player we've ever had, and recent shooting guards like McPhee and Carrington, at their peak, were very effective slashers).
I suspect that's also why Williams didn't see as much action - I didn't sense she was in the dog house as much as we just were relying more on our 3-5 players to score inside. Last year we took about 2/5 of our shots from outside and last night we took less than 1/3, and I suspect this was not on accident but was what the coaches wanted our players to focus on. And remember: last season Tara leaned so heavily on Williams that the soles on her shoes were practically run through by the end of conference play. So the more she can take it easy early in the season, the better, as far as I'm concerned.
I thought Brink played like a very talented freshman: a little out of control on offense, in part because she's used to having her way against the opposing team practically at will. She'll settle in. And neither Emma-Nnopu nor Van Gytenbeek were expected to be starter material out of the gate, so I'm fully expectant we will see streakiness from them as frosh.
And I'll say this: Jump's outside shooting seems to be a bit off compared to last season, but she's definitely compensating by being more of a playmaker on offense and dogged defender on defense: she co-led the team with three steals and is definitely looking to take it to the basket in a way she didn't last season. In the long term, she's got to develop those moves to keep defenses honest and to enable Tara to keep her in against good offenses.
To me, the top line conclusion is I'm delighted that Jones looks even better than she did last season before the injury and that Belibi is really establishing herself as a deft post on offense.
Last bright spot: two games in (against admittedly weak competition), Jones is 10:0 assist-to-turnover ratio, Williams is 8:1, and Van Gytenbeek is 7:0. If we've had a weakness in the past, it's been sloppy ballhandling by our offensive creators, so I'm hopeful this is a sign of a more controlled set of point players this year.
I suspect that's also why Williams didn't see as much action - I didn't sense she was in the dog house as much as we just were relying more on our 3-5 players to score inside. Last year we took about 2/5 of our shots from outside and last night we took less than 1/3, and I suspect this was not on accident but was what the coaches wanted our players to focus on. And remember: last season Tara leaned so heavily on Williams that the soles on her shoes were practically run through by the end of conference play. So the more she can take it easy early in the season, the better, as far as I'm concerned.
I thought Brink played like a very talented freshman: a little out of control on offense, in part because she's used to having her way against the opposing team practically at will. She'll settle in. And neither Emma-Nnopu nor Van Gytenbeek were expected to be starter material out of the gate, so I'm fully expectant we will see streakiness from them as frosh.
And I'll say this: Jump's outside shooting seems to be a bit off compared to last season, but she's definitely compensating by being more of a playmaker on offense and dogged defender on defense: she co-led the team with three steals and is definitely looking to take it to the basket in a way she didn't last season. In the long term, she's got to develop those moves to keep defenses honest and to enable Tara to keep her in against good offenses.
To me, the top line conclusion is I'm delighted that Jones looks even better than she did last season before the injury and that Belibi is really establishing herself as a deft post on offense.
Last bright spot: two games in (against admittedly weak competition), Jones is 10:0 assist-to-turnover ratio, Williams is 8:1, and Van Gytenbeek is 7:0. If we've had a weakness in the past, it's been sloppy ballhandling by our offensive creators, so I'm hopeful this is a sign of a more controlled set of point players this year.