I don't really get the lucky thing. Players shoot, sometimes the ball goes in and sometimes not, because shooting skill is imperfect and difficult under many game conditions. How many bunnies do we see missed in games by all teams? Lots and lots. We moan about that all the time and every other fan base does too. So is an opponent missing a bunny under pressure at the horn lucky? In the sense that it could have gone in, I guess so, but in the grand scheme, not really - missing bunnies is relatively common. In almost all very close games you could say luck determined the outcome and not be really wrong. Just not a lens I choose to see games through.
Are we better than last year? Last year was a very odd year and we did not play the big, difficult non-conference schedule that we usually play. Brink is probably better with a year of experience and she is a major piece. Belibi is definitely improved. Jump is improved, even with a bit of a slump lately that I am confident she will break out of soon. We are even deeper inside with Iriafen in the mix. The key to better or not is what do we think about our guard play without Williams.
At the beginning of the season I did not think we could play Wilson and Lacie together much because they don't score enough. Now they are our starting backcourt and it works fine. Having both Hulls and Wilson in the starting line-up surely helps our perimeter defense, so that is better perhaps. Lacie is a good three point shooter even though she doesn't take that many. She does need to be guarded out there. Wilson has upped her offense lately too. She tends to assert herself on offense when needed, as does Lacie. Both are taking good care of the ball. So starting those two helps the defense and doesn't hurt the offense much, seems to me. We may lose a point or two off the scoring average, but if we crush with defense, that is not a big deal. I'm not sure we are better, but I'm also not sure we aren't.
A lot of it will be match-ups. I don't think physical teams will be a big problem, not after playing the conference teams that play that way. Nor do I think a pressure defense that really works hard full court like Texas is necessarily a big problem. Teams haven't been turning us over that much lately. When we turn the ball over it is usually overly ambitious passes, offensive fouls, a brain fart here and there, stuff we can control. In a single elimination tournament you can get beat by a team that is very hot shooting if you have your own bad shooting day. That could happen. If the defense is good enough, we can hope the team can pull through even in an ugly game.
Are we better than last year? Last year was a very odd year and we did not play the big, difficult non-conference schedule that we usually play. Brink is probably better with a year of experience and she is a major piece. Belibi is definitely improved. Jump is improved, even with a bit of a slump lately that I am confident she will break out of soon. We are even deeper inside with Iriafen in the mix. The key to better or not is what do we think about our guard play without Williams.
At the beginning of the season I did not think we could play Wilson and Lacie together much because they don't score enough. Now they are our starting backcourt and it works fine. Having both Hulls and Wilson in the starting line-up surely helps our perimeter defense, so that is better perhaps. Lacie is a good three point shooter even though she doesn't take that many. She does need to be guarded out there. Wilson has upped her offense lately too. She tends to assert herself on offense when needed, as does Lacie. Both are taking good care of the ball. So starting those two helps the defense and doesn't hurt the offense much, seems to me. We may lose a point or two off the scoring average, but if we crush with defense, that is not a big deal. I'm not sure we are better, but I'm also not sure we aren't.
A lot of it will be match-ups. I don't think physical teams will be a big problem, not after playing the conference teams that play that way. Nor do I think a pressure defense that really works hard full court like Texas is necessarily a big problem. Teams haven't been turning us over that much lately. When we turn the ball over it is usually overly ambitious passes, offensive fouls, a brain fart here and there, stuff we can control. In a single elimination tournament you can get beat by a team that is very hot shooting if you have your own bad shooting day. That could happen. If the defense is good enough, we can hope the team can pull through even in an ugly game.