[treetop11]

This has been brewing for a while.  Shooting has been poor for the past few games, even the UA win.  USC did not score a lot, but I wouldn't say our defense was very good because we fouled them over and over.  For context, I recall more than a few road trips to LA or elsewhere right around this time where the games were ugly and sometimes a loss or even two (#2 ranked 2008 team lost to both USC and UCLA around the same time of year I believe).  So this is not unprecedented.  It is disturbing for sure.

Rebounding was poor, too many turnovers, shooting was abysmal, and nobody off the bench really provided a lift on offense.  I don't know why it is so hard to score.  When Brink or Iriafen or whoever is down low, gets double and triple teamed, someone has to be open.  We either do not find that person, the pass is not great and the defense recovers before a shot, or the shot is missed.  When teams clog the lane like USC did, we have to do more than just chuck up shots.  We also need someone besides Jump, who we can't get open lately, to hit threes.  It's nice when Emma-Nnopu hits one or Demetre, but we need someone who hunts her shot and makes them more consistently.

Things that concern me in no particular order:

Our depth is somewhat illusory.  Betts still hasn't shown that much against the better teams.  We have plenty of post depth but she is a big part of the future there, and thus far, I'm not seeing what I thought I would from her.  Nivar has good energy but fouls too much and doesn't get that much run yet.  Bosgana has promising moments but is not consistent and also doesn't get much run.  Demetre is playing a lot, which is good, but her shooting has not come around, and while her defense has improved a lot and she has helped there, she fouled way too much this game in situations where it would have been better to back off a bit.  Emma-Nnopu has had some good moments but again, can't count on offense from her.  Harriel hardly plays.  Who is our bench energizer?  Who comes in to give the team a lift and score?  We have subs who help other ways but nobody at all is really coming into games and scoring.  Our deep bench is not really so deep in that respect.

The offense has stagnated too often and not just in this game.  Too much holding the ball.  Too many late shot clocks.  The offense doesn't flow, doesn't move the ball quickly or even very purposefully it seems.  We don't get into the lane, draw defense, and work around that.  We can't screen Jump open much.

turnovers are still a problem.  In this game when we crept close, we often turned the ball over, and some of those were just hustle plays by USC where they tipped balls and stuff.  We did not seem to really focus and be sharp with the ball.

Last but not least and maybe the crux of the problem - we can't shoot from distance.  We are a poor shooting team lately.  Who can shoot threes?  Aside from Jump Lepolo is at around 40% and then we have Bosgana and Prechtel at about 35% (all stats from before this game so the last two go down a bit I think).  So we have nobody who shoots many threes who shoots them well aside from Jump, and you just can't win games this day and age that way.  Now how do we solve that?

Is this a bump in the road or a sign the team has a serious issue with shooting?  Wish I knew.

Mostly agree with you. Three points:

We have been going too late in the shot clock and then throwing up a prayer which is no good. Haley major culprit, spending too much time driblling on the perimeter waiting to find a lane or an open player - also little movement by other players to blame. Interesting how lately, opponents have gotten down to the last second or two on shot clock and scored.

Secondly, I see the missed shots especially threes due to both rushed shots and tired legs. I don't think my eyes deceived me erlier in the season when I saw at least 6 or 7 of our players comfortably hitting them or barely missing. They have been open lately just as much as early on (excpet for Jump), so I see the difference as two factors above. I would add that we have not done hardly anything in transition or fast breaks in recent games. Almost no run outs and easy scores or transition threes.

Third, basketball is still a game of guards. What we have witnessed are teams nullifying our height and post advantages and we don't have enough firepower on the perimeter. If we had guards forcing turnovers and doing layup drills or getting outlet passes after D rebs and fast breaking, effectively penetrating the lane, hitting pull up mid range shots, and hitting 3 pointers, our bigs would be destroying opponents. Truth is that we really only have one guard, Lepolo, that more or less of that mold. She's good, but she's a freshman having to play lots of minutes and she's not the superstar player like a few frosh we've seen over the years who can dominate. Jones is a great assist maker, but not as a guard because she doesn't make threes and teams double and triple on her. Jump is a marvelous shooter and has learned some moves but really hasn't gotten effective at it. Nivar and Harriel have potential but obviously not trusted or they would play more. Nnopu shows flashes, but not consistent. so when a team like sc essentially throws five guards at us who are quick, athletic, and pressure us, we have difficulty - we don't have the guards to counter.

[treetop11]

This has been brewing for a while.  Shooting has been poor for the past few games, even the UA win.  USC did not score a lot, but I wouldn't say our defense was very good because we fouled them over and over.  For context, I recall more than a few road trips to LA or elsewhere right around this time where the games were ugly and sometimes a loss or even two (#2 ranked 2008 team lost to both USC and UCLA around the same time of year I believe).  So this is not unprecedented.  It is disturbing for sure.

Rebounding was poor, too many turnovers, shooting was abysmal, and nobody off the bench really provided a lift on offense.  I don't know why it is so hard to score.  When Brink or Iriafen or whoever is down low, gets double and triple teamed, someone has to be open.  We either do not find that person, the pass is not great and the defense recovers before a shot, or the shot is missed.  When teams clog the lane like USC did, we have to do more than just chuck up shots.  We also need someone besides Jump, who we can't get open lately, to hit threes.  It's nice when Emma-Nnopu hits one or Demetre, but we need someone who hunts her shot and makes them more consistently.

Things that concern me in no particular order:

Our depth is somewhat illusory.  Betts still hasn't shown that much against the better teams.  We have plenty of post depth but she is a big part of the future there, and thus far, I'm not seeing what I thought I would from her.  Nivar has good energy but fouls too much and doesn't get that much run yet.  Bosgana has promising moments but is not consistent and also doesn't get much run.  Demetre is playing a lot, which is good, but her shooting has not come around, and while her defense has improved a lot and she has helped there, she fouled way too much this game in situations where it would have been better to back off a bit.  Emma-Nnopu has had some good moments but again, can't count on offense from her.  Harriel hardly plays.  Who is our bench energizer?  Who comes in to give the team a lift and score?  We have subs who help other ways but nobody at all is really coming into games and scoring.  Our deep bench is not really so deep in that respect.

The offense has stagnated too often and not just in this game.  Too much holding the ball.  Too many late shot clocks.  The offense doesn't flow, doesn't move the ball quickly or even very purposefully it seems.  We don't get into the lane, draw defense, and work around that.  We can't screen Jump open much.

turnovers are still a problem.  In this game when we crept close, we often turned the ball over, and some of those were just hustle plays by USC where they tipped balls and stuff.  We did not seem to really focus and be sharp with the ball.

Last but not least and maybe the crux of the problem - we can't shoot from distance.  We are a poor shooting team lately.  Who can shoot threes?  Aside from Jump Lepolo is at around 40% and then we have Bosgana and Prechtel at about 35% (all stats from before this game so the last two go down a bit I think).  So we have nobody who shoots many threes who shoots them well aside from Jump, and you just can't win games this day and age that way.  Now how do we solve that?

Is this a bump in the road or a sign the team has a serious issue with shooting?  Wish I knew.

Mostly agree with you. Three points:

We have been going too late in the shot clock and then throwing up a prayer which is no good. Haley major culprit, spending too much time driblling on the perimeter waiting to find a lane or an open player - also little movement by other players to blame. Interesting how lately, opponents have gotten down to the last second or two on shot clock and scored.

Secondly, I see the missed shots especially threes due to both rushed shots and tired legs. I don't think my eyes deceived me erlier in the season when I saw at least 6 or 7 of our players comfortably hitting them or barely missing. They have been open lately just as much as early on (excpet for Jump), so I see the difference as two factors above. I would add that we have not done hardly anything in transition or fast breaks in recent games. Almost no run outs and easy scores or transition threes.

Third, basketball is still a game of guards. What we have witnessed are teams nullifying our height and post advantages and we don't have enough firepower on the perimeter. If we had guards forcing turnovers and doing layup drills or getting outlet passes after D rebs and fast breaking, effectively penetrating the lane, hitting pull up mid range shots, and hitting 3 pointers, our bigs would be destroying opponents. Truth is that we really only have one guard, Lepolo, that more or less of that mold. She's good, but she's a freshman having to play lots of minutes and she's not the superstar player like a few frosh we've seen over the years who can dominate. Jones is a great assist maker, but not as a guard because she doesn't make threes and teams double and triple on her. Jump is a marvelous shooter and has learned some moves but really hasn't gotten effective at it. Nivar and Harriel have potential but obviously not trusted or they would play more. Nnopu shows flashes, but not consistent. so when a team like sc essentially throws five guards at us who are quick, athletic, and pressure us, we have difficulty - we don't have the guards to counter.