01-08-2022, 12:53 PM
Great recap as always, 81. I agree that Oregon will get more and more dangerous as their players heal, return, and gel. And I've always been so impressed by Rogers, actually, much more so than Pao Pao. It might be injuries, but her high school coach said she was the best player they'd coached, including Candice Wiggins, and so far, I'm not seeing that. Rogers, by contrast, has lit us up several times in both Duck and Trojan uniforms.
The box score sure can be deceiving. It says Wilson had no steals and Brink had three, but honestly, I sure seem to remember Wilson picking Pao Pao's pocket at least once. Did Brink really have as many (3) as the rest of the team combined?
Our post lineup is in an interesting flux stage at the moment. I'm with 81 that I liked the look of Brink taking some jumpers last season. It really stretches the defense, and it works nicely with our Princeton offense to have her be able to catch and shoot in addition to drive. And like 81, I agree that Brink just doesn't have the size to match up with big interior posts like Sabally. It's not that she's not physical - she is - but there's only so much physicality you can bring in that relatively narrow frame, and unfortunately when she can't use her torso as effectively, I think she ends up getting called more for fouls on hip checks and extended arms. Sabally can get away with a lot simply because it doesn't really look like she's in motion.
The other reason I'd like to see Brink look for more jump shots is that once Lauren Betts is on board next year, we will not need Brink to hold down the 5 as much. I don't want to jinx things and look too far ahead, but Betts looked better than just about anyone at the U19 worlds despite being one of the youngest players, and I think we'll want to get her into the lineup as soon as possible. I'm not really sure how you do that, keep Brink at the low post also, and still maintain a Princeton motion offense. So something will have to give there. A problem for the future, but it does make me think about how to think about developing Brink's skills.
Speaking of a surplus of post talent, wowsers did Kiki (in 3 minutes) and Fran (in 5) leave a positive impression. I actually felt like both were more impactful thank Brink was in this particular game. Fran, in particular, basically stopped Oregon's momentum at that crucial period in the 4th when they cut it to within 7 with 2.5 mins left with two blocks in a row and a great fast break feed to Lexie. Compare that to the two times Brink has exhibited some questionable decisionmaking late in the game (both in the USF loss and at South Carolina), and it's interesting to think about who to staff at which positions at what points in the game. Belibi was equally clutch when it counted down the stretch at Gonzaga, so it's good to know that we can sub our bench posts in and count on them when it matters (needless to say, Prechtel has already shown her worth in that role!).
The only other thing I'll note is that the few times Oregon tried to press, we seemed to handle it pretty easily. Interestingly, I actually don't think our problem is the same one as many Tara teams of the past (crumbling under the press late in the game), but rather that we just let our foot off the gas pedal and get sloppy. As others noted, a lot of our turnovers were unforced and lazy. Whether or not we get past the Elite Eight is going to depend on whether or not we can contain those lapses to a few possessions a game or the better part of a quarter. At Tennessee, South Carolina, and now with Oregon, we've built big leads only to let them narrow almost entirely due to our own sloppiness.
Last thought: I am already dreading the end of the Hull Era. If we lose all of Lexie, Lacie, and Wilson next season, we're really going to need our next generation of guards to step up, because we will have so much post talent but will have a real deficit by comparison at the 1 and 2. Jones can play those positions, sure, and I guess we could go with a monster lineup of Jones + Brink + Betts + Belibi/Prechtel/Iriafen, but that lineup does not strike me as one where the Princeton offense will flourish. I wonder if we'll see a return to the Triangle down the road? We'll also lose a lot of 3 point shooting, which is absolutely critical to breaking zone defenses, something we've had a *lot* of trouble with in the past when more of our offense was dependent on the McPhee/Carrington style driving to the basket.
The box score sure can be deceiving. It says Wilson had no steals and Brink had three, but honestly, I sure seem to remember Wilson picking Pao Pao's pocket at least once. Did Brink really have as many (3) as the rest of the team combined?
Our post lineup is in an interesting flux stage at the moment. I'm with 81 that I liked the look of Brink taking some jumpers last season. It really stretches the defense, and it works nicely with our Princeton offense to have her be able to catch and shoot in addition to drive. And like 81, I agree that Brink just doesn't have the size to match up with big interior posts like Sabally. It's not that she's not physical - she is - but there's only so much physicality you can bring in that relatively narrow frame, and unfortunately when she can't use her torso as effectively, I think she ends up getting called more for fouls on hip checks and extended arms. Sabally can get away with a lot simply because it doesn't really look like she's in motion.
The other reason I'd like to see Brink look for more jump shots is that once Lauren Betts is on board next year, we will not need Brink to hold down the 5 as much. I don't want to jinx things and look too far ahead, but Betts looked better than just about anyone at the U19 worlds despite being one of the youngest players, and I think we'll want to get her into the lineup as soon as possible. I'm not really sure how you do that, keep Brink at the low post also, and still maintain a Princeton motion offense. So something will have to give there. A problem for the future, but it does make me think about how to think about developing Brink's skills.
Speaking of a surplus of post talent, wowsers did Kiki (in 3 minutes) and Fran (in 5) leave a positive impression. I actually felt like both were more impactful thank Brink was in this particular game. Fran, in particular, basically stopped Oregon's momentum at that crucial period in the 4th when they cut it to within 7 with 2.5 mins left with two blocks in a row and a great fast break feed to Lexie. Compare that to the two times Brink has exhibited some questionable decisionmaking late in the game (both in the USF loss and at South Carolina), and it's interesting to think about who to staff at which positions at what points in the game. Belibi was equally clutch when it counted down the stretch at Gonzaga, so it's good to know that we can sub our bench posts in and count on them when it matters (needless to say, Prechtel has already shown her worth in that role!).
The only other thing I'll note is that the few times Oregon tried to press, we seemed to handle it pretty easily. Interestingly, I actually don't think our problem is the same one as many Tara teams of the past (crumbling under the press late in the game), but rather that we just let our foot off the gas pedal and get sloppy. As others noted, a lot of our turnovers were unforced and lazy. Whether or not we get past the Elite Eight is going to depend on whether or not we can contain those lapses to a few possessions a game or the better part of a quarter. At Tennessee, South Carolina, and now with Oregon, we've built big leads only to let them narrow almost entirely due to our own sloppiness.
Last thought: I am already dreading the end of the Hull Era. If we lose all of Lexie, Lacie, and Wilson next season, we're really going to need our next generation of guards to step up, because we will have so much post talent but will have a real deficit by comparison at the 1 and 2. Jones can play those positions, sure, and I guess we could go with a monster lineup of Jones + Brink + Betts + Belibi/Prechtel/Iriafen, but that lineup does not strike me as one where the Princeton offense will flourish. I wonder if we'll see a return to the Triangle down the road? We'll also lose a lot of 3 point shooting, which is absolutely critical to breaking zone defenses, something we've had a *lot* of trouble with in the past when more of our offense was dependent on the McPhee/Carrington style driving to the basket.