I would have to disagree with these recent posts (at least in part).
I don't think the only choice should be between endlessly passing the ball around the perimeter and then throwing up something before the shot clock expires or forcing low percentage passes into the paint. As a team of highly talented players with a Hall of Fame coach, surely there would be other options than those two conclusions.
Though I agree that our defense was partially to blame for the loss, as we were unable to defend against Hollingshed and 67 points given up during regulation was the most points we surrendered, it wasn't as if Colorado scored 80-90 points during the first 40 minutes.
Also, though our season turnovers are slightly down from last season, we've actually averaged nearly 15 turnovers in conference play. Besides our good games turnover wise against USC and Utah where we had 9 each, in all but one of the other 7 conference games, we've had at least 15 turnovers in each contest.
I went back and looked up the 15 turnovers we had in the Colorado game and found a recording of the game to compare it against:
1Q:
4:18 - Lexie was driving to the basket and had the ball poked away from her
2:30 - Haley tried to pass the ball into a stationary Cameron in the paint but there was a Colorado defender in front of Cameron that easily picked it off
1:51 - Cameron was driving to the basket and had the ball poked away
2Q:
9:39 - A pass to Kiana bounced off her feet and went into the other half of the court for a violation
6:32 - Haley was too overeager driving to the basket and traveled
1:45 - Haley tried bounce passing the ball to Lexie who was cutting to the basket but through two defenders and was picked off
3Q:
7:25 - On a fast break, Haley barreled into a defender who was set up in the paint instead of trying to go around her leading to a charge call
7:00 - The cameras missed it, but the announcers described it as a Colorado player deflecting the inbound pass off of a Stanford player out of bounds
4:57 - Haley tried to pass it into Ashten who was fighting for position in the paint but I felt like Ashten didn't have position yet and the Colorado defender was still in front of her which led to her picking off the past
4Q:
8:40 - Cameron was holding the ball trying to figure out what to do next and the ball got poked out of her hands
7:53 - Kiana tried passing it into Fran who wasn't cutting to the basket but threw it too high and the Colorado player caught it
4:54 - Anna was driving and slipped and lost control of the ball
2:21 - Haley tried passing the ball into Cameron who wasn't cutting, but the Colorado defender got an arm in front of Brink and deflected the ball to a teammate
0:24 - Anna's inbound pass to Kiana is stolen for an easy fast break layup
OT:
3:39 - Shot clock violation (we could not score despite a couple of offensive rebounds)
Some turnovers are unavoidable in a live ball game situation (and some of it was due to execution) and you have to credit the Colorado D, but I feel like for a handful of them, we could have made a better decision.
I don't think the only choice should be between endlessly passing the ball around the perimeter and then throwing up something before the shot clock expires or forcing low percentage passes into the paint. As a team of highly talented players with a Hall of Fame coach, surely there would be other options than those two conclusions.
Though I agree that our defense was partially to blame for the loss, as we were unable to defend against Hollingshed and 67 points given up during regulation was the most points we surrendered, it wasn't as if Colorado scored 80-90 points during the first 40 minutes.
Also, though our season turnovers are slightly down from last season, we've actually averaged nearly 15 turnovers in conference play. Besides our good games turnover wise against USC and Utah where we had 9 each, in all but one of the other 7 conference games, we've had at least 15 turnovers in each contest.
I went back and looked up the 15 turnovers we had in the Colorado game and found a recording of the game to compare it against:
1Q:
4:18 - Lexie was driving to the basket and had the ball poked away from her
2:30 - Haley tried to pass the ball into a stationary Cameron in the paint but there was a Colorado defender in front of Cameron that easily picked it off
1:51 - Cameron was driving to the basket and had the ball poked away
2Q:
9:39 - A pass to Kiana bounced off her feet and went into the other half of the court for a violation
6:32 - Haley was too overeager driving to the basket and traveled
1:45 - Haley tried bounce passing the ball to Lexie who was cutting to the basket but through two defenders and was picked off
3Q:
7:25 - On a fast break, Haley barreled into a defender who was set up in the paint instead of trying to go around her leading to a charge call
7:00 - The cameras missed it, but the announcers described it as a Colorado player deflecting the inbound pass off of a Stanford player out of bounds
4:57 - Haley tried to pass it into Ashten who was fighting for position in the paint but I felt like Ashten didn't have position yet and the Colorado defender was still in front of her which led to her picking off the past
4Q:
8:40 - Cameron was holding the ball trying to figure out what to do next and the ball got poked out of her hands
7:53 - Kiana tried passing it into Fran who wasn't cutting to the basket but threw it too high and the Colorado player caught it
4:54 - Anna was driving and slipped and lost control of the ball
2:21 - Haley tried passing the ball into Cameron who wasn't cutting, but the Colorado defender got an arm in front of Brink and deflected the ball to a teammate
0:24 - Anna's inbound pass to Kiana is stolen for an easy fast break layup
OT:
3:39 - Shot clock violation (we could not score despite a couple of offensive rebounds)
Some turnovers are unavoidable in a live ball game situation (and some of it was due to execution) and you have to credit the Colorado D, but I feel like for a handful of them, we could have made a better decision.