[81alum]

Nobody has touched on one thing I saw last night that was not good - rebounding. For a long while, we either trailed in rebounds or only slightly ahead. But it wasn't the numbers that bothered me. Rather, our positioning, blocking out, and sensing the direction of the rebound was awful. We also actuallly lost some battles for rebounds despite our major height advantage. I don't know if it was a new mix of players or our players being sloppy in fundamentals, but it has to be corrected as we face better teams. I missed our good positioning from last year and Anna swooping in quickly and grabbing the rebound. 

Thanks for bringing this up.  This is a concern, especially since Tara made a point in her preseason interviews to stress rebounding (and running) as the keys to success for this year's team.

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It's better to play man to man D for purposes of more intensity, putting pressure on opponent, and getting your players engaged. But I would like to see us go zone maybe 25% of the time. We have the right formula for zone of tall, long players who are quick enough to move. Would also help stop quick slashing opponents.

I've been thinking this too.  We have tall and reasonably quick players--perfect for the zone.  It might make it easier to get Bosgana on the floor in a zone, for example.

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I think it's a mistake to conclude that Lepolo is a reluctant shooter after one exhibition game against an overmatched opponent in which she went 0-2 with 6 assists.

We haven't seen much of her game yet, but we saw her shoot with no reluctance in the open practice, and with success. Check her high school and club highlights, and you'll see her shoot there.

Entirely agree.  I think some of us fans were traumatized by the experience of having such a terrific passer who was so incredibly reluctant to score, and we can't help view new players through the smoky lens of the past.

[81alum]

Nobody has touched on one thing I saw last night that was not good - rebounding. For a long while, we either trailed in rebounds or only slightly ahead. But it wasn't the numbers that bothered me. Rather, our positioning, blocking out, and sensing the direction of the rebound was awful. We also actuallly lost some battles for rebounds despite our major height advantage. I don't know if it was a new mix of players or our players being sloppy in fundamentals, but it has to be corrected as we face better teams. I missed our good positioning from last year and Anna swooping in quickly and grabbing the rebound. 

Thanks for bringing this up.  This is a concern, especially since Tara made a point in her preseason interviews to stress rebounding (and running) as the keys to success for this year's team.

---

It's better to play man to man D for purposes of more intensity, putting pressure on opponent, and getting your players engaged. But I would like to see us go zone maybe 25% of the time. We have the right formula for zone of tall, long players who are quick enough to move. Would also help stop quick slashing opponents.

I've been thinking this too.  We have tall and reasonably quick players--perfect for the zone.  It might make it easier to get Bosgana on the floor in a zone, for example.

---

I think it's a mistake to conclude that Lepolo is a reluctant shooter after one exhibition game against an overmatched opponent in which she went 0-2 with 6 assists.

We haven't seen much of her game yet, but we saw her shoot with no reluctance in the open practice, and with success. Check her high school and club highlights, and you'll see her shoot there.

Entirely agree.  I think some of us fans were traumatized by the experience of having such a terrific passer who was so incredibly reluctant to score, and we can't help view new players through the smoky lens of the past.