OK, here are my impressions.
1) The team's defense certainly improved over Gonzaga. This is a somewhat comparable team we were playing tonight--Portland beat Gonzaga last year in their conference championship)--but not under comparable circumstances. Even so, we held their best player--Maise Burnham--to 3 points, and their 6'6" center to 4. We held them 18 under their season scoring average, and 7% under their normal shooting percentage. The defense passed the eyeball test a bit better too. Tempie discussed our team playing closer to opposing players with both hands raised rather than dangling out at the sides. In the first quarter I saw Lepolo, Bosgana and others implementing that and the defensive intensity paid off. As the quarters went on, however, the old habits reappeared and we lost of lot of the first quarter intensity. Sustaining that for a whole game will be a project for the year, I think.
2) The second quarter was dreadful on offense, especially compared with all the others, but we only gave up 16 points, so the defense did not collapse. It is very obvious that our offense becomes quite disjointed when neither Brink nor Iriafen are in. We have gone from a team with too many posts to a team with too few. Whether we are competitive against really good teams is now completely dependent on Brink and Iriafen staying out of foul trouble and staying healthy.
3) Brink did much better with fouls today, but her second was the same classic foul we have seen time and time again. When she is defending at the elbow, a smaller player drives past her down the key, forcing Brink to move to keep up, and while Brink is moving the opposing player just drives or jumps into Brink's hip, drawing the foul. It was a VERY slight contact tonight, but similar fouls were called at Gonzaga, and every team we play is going to try that in order to get Brink in foul trouble.
4) As for Iriafen, I asked Tempie why Iriafen had been in foul trouble for so many games in a row--not knowing that she would get in foul trouble again tonight. Tempie talked about the ways they were working to reduce fouls, but pointed out that whenever both Brink and Iriafen are in the game, Iriafen usually has to defend a smaller player--often a guard. She is doing a fantastic job, except that larger players tend to get fouls called on them when defending against smaller players. Another question was asked as to why we don't play Brink and Iriafen together more than we do, and I think this is the answer: foul trouble, but also defensive match ups. The other team's "4" might be someone that neither Brink nor Iriafen can defend on the perimeter--true of many small dribble-drive teams.
5) A question was asked as to whether it would be reasonable to conclude, as some have suspected, that Brink was not the only player feeling under the weather in Spokane. Tempie was careful not to make excuses, but noted that it would be a reasonable suspicion and that there was a lot of "crud" going around. It occurs to me that playing so many games in so few days has consequences for germ exposure as well as the other factors that people more often think of. So many airports, so many hotels, so many other players and venues. So my theory is that some relatively minor bug was sapping the energy of a number of players, while the red-hot, packed house at Spokane was feeding the energy of the Gonzaga players. We just looked slow, we weren't getting the 50/50 balls, etc. We were relying for a lot of minutes on 3 freshmen who had NEVER played in such a hostile packed house. Tempie called our player's reaction "shellshock." They will mature and become more resilient. Better it happen there than at Colorado or Utah.
6) I am concerned about our 3 point shooting. On the positive side, Jump has shown she can do more than catch-and-shoot. Early in the game she faked, dribbled sideways, and sank a shot. She needs to do a lot more of that. But everyone not named Jump was 1-13. Bosgana had the 1, on 1/6 shooting. That is at home in friendly territory with familiar sight lines. We have to do better, if only to space the floor for Brink and Iriafen.
7) I was very excited about how we broke the zone. Demetre was in her prime in the first quarter. There was an obvious plan to feed the ball to Demetre in the weak spot of the zone, at the elbow, and have her sink jumpers. This is the classic zone-buster, and in prior years we sometimes had no one who could hit that simple jumper to blow up the zone. But Demetre hit several shots from that soft underbelly and Portland changed defenses. I'm not sure what they went to--whether it was a junk zone or even man at times, but we forced them out of it. Unfortunately for us, the new defense flummoxed us and led to a wretched 2nd quarter.
8) Brink's stat line was awesome--one of her better games. Not only 23 points and 15 rebounds in 29 minutes, she had 4 blocks and 4 assists--a couple of them spectacular. All that while (fortunately) keeping her fouls to 2--she did not pick up another foul in the entire second half. We need this to continue.
9) Lepolo had 6 points--her offense went dormant, as was pointed out, right after I praised it in the first quarter. But she played great defense and helped hold Portland's spectacular shooting guard to 3 points, and she also had 7 assists to 2 turnovers. Not bad, and at least she took some shots, although she passed up others when she was wide open. Tempie told the chalk talk that they would like to see Lepolo shoot more and have encouraged her. "It will come in time" I think Tempie said. In any case, it is not as if the coaches are content or ignoring the issue.
10) I am liking Agara more and more and more. She had 10 points but only made 2 baskets. She was 6/6 from the free throw line, and she gets to the free throw line because she can take it to hoop in traffic. Her defense looked pretty good to me. And she just seems to have the intangibles--the aggressiveness and enthusiasm that can be infectious.
1) The team's defense certainly improved over Gonzaga. This is a somewhat comparable team we were playing tonight--Portland beat Gonzaga last year in their conference championship)--but not under comparable circumstances. Even so, we held their best player--Maise Burnham--to 3 points, and their 6'6" center to 4. We held them 18 under their season scoring average, and 7% under their normal shooting percentage. The defense passed the eyeball test a bit better too. Tempie discussed our team playing closer to opposing players with both hands raised rather than dangling out at the sides. In the first quarter I saw Lepolo, Bosgana and others implementing that and the defensive intensity paid off. As the quarters went on, however, the old habits reappeared and we lost of lot of the first quarter intensity. Sustaining that for a whole game will be a project for the year, I think.
2) The second quarter was dreadful on offense, especially compared with all the others, but we only gave up 16 points, so the defense did not collapse. It is very obvious that our offense becomes quite disjointed when neither Brink nor Iriafen are in. We have gone from a team with too many posts to a team with too few. Whether we are competitive against really good teams is now completely dependent on Brink and Iriafen staying out of foul trouble and staying healthy.
3) Brink did much better with fouls today, but her second was the same classic foul we have seen time and time again. When she is defending at the elbow, a smaller player drives past her down the key, forcing Brink to move to keep up, and while Brink is moving the opposing player just drives or jumps into Brink's hip, drawing the foul. It was a VERY slight contact tonight, but similar fouls were called at Gonzaga, and every team we play is going to try that in order to get Brink in foul trouble.
4) As for Iriafen, I asked Tempie why Iriafen had been in foul trouble for so many games in a row--not knowing that she would get in foul trouble again tonight. Tempie talked about the ways they were working to reduce fouls, but pointed out that whenever both Brink and Iriafen are in the game, Iriafen usually has to defend a smaller player--often a guard. She is doing a fantastic job, except that larger players tend to get fouls called on them when defending against smaller players. Another question was asked as to why we don't play Brink and Iriafen together more than we do, and I think this is the answer: foul trouble, but also defensive match ups. The other team's "4" might be someone that neither Brink nor Iriafen can defend on the perimeter--true of many small dribble-drive teams.
5) A question was asked as to whether it would be reasonable to conclude, as some have suspected, that Brink was not the only player feeling under the weather in Spokane. Tempie was careful not to make excuses, but noted that it would be a reasonable suspicion and that there was a lot of "crud" going around. It occurs to me that playing so many games in so few days has consequences for germ exposure as well as the other factors that people more often think of. So many airports, so many hotels, so many other players and venues. So my theory is that some relatively minor bug was sapping the energy of a number of players, while the red-hot, packed house at Spokane was feeding the energy of the Gonzaga players. We just looked slow, we weren't getting the 50/50 balls, etc. We were relying for a lot of minutes on 3 freshmen who had NEVER played in such a hostile packed house. Tempie called our player's reaction "shellshock." They will mature and become more resilient. Better it happen there than at Colorado or Utah.
6) I am concerned about our 3 point shooting. On the positive side, Jump has shown she can do more than catch-and-shoot. Early in the game she faked, dribbled sideways, and sank a shot. She needs to do a lot more of that. But everyone not named Jump was 1-13. Bosgana had the 1, on 1/6 shooting. That is at home in friendly territory with familiar sight lines. We have to do better, if only to space the floor for Brink and Iriafen.
7) I was very excited about how we broke the zone. Demetre was in her prime in the first quarter. There was an obvious plan to feed the ball to Demetre in the weak spot of the zone, at the elbow, and have her sink jumpers. This is the classic zone-buster, and in prior years we sometimes had no one who could hit that simple jumper to blow up the zone. But Demetre hit several shots from that soft underbelly and Portland changed defenses. I'm not sure what they went to--whether it was a junk zone or even man at times, but we forced them out of it. Unfortunately for us, the new defense flummoxed us and led to a wretched 2nd quarter.
8) Brink's stat line was awesome--one of her better games. Not only 23 points and 15 rebounds in 29 minutes, she had 4 blocks and 4 assists--a couple of them spectacular. All that while (fortunately) keeping her fouls to 2--she did not pick up another foul in the entire second half. We need this to continue.
9) Lepolo had 6 points--her offense went dormant, as was pointed out, right after I praised it in the first quarter. But she played great defense and helped hold Portland's spectacular shooting guard to 3 points, and she also had 7 assists to 2 turnovers. Not bad, and at least she took some shots, although she passed up others when she was wide open. Tempie told the chalk talk that they would like to see Lepolo shoot more and have encouraged her. "It will come in time" I think Tempie said. In any case, it is not as if the coaches are content or ignoring the issue.
10) I am liking Agara more and more and more. She had 10 points but only made 2 baskets. She was 6/6 from the free throw line, and she gets to the free throw line because she can take it to hoop in traffic. Her defense looked pretty good to me. And she just seems to have the intangibles--the aggressiveness and enthusiasm that can be infectious.