[2006alum]

Having moaned about the officials during the live games, I'll echo some of the positives others have identified, plus a few additional thoughts of my own.

My favorite stretch of the game was the period right after Brink took the hard foul from CLW - both the crowd and our team came alive, and I really think the turning point was Demetre's terrific takeaway for a fast break layup. In the span of two minutes we went from tied to up 9, and the crowd remained pretty loud and engaged the rest of the way. Maples is a terrific venue when the crowd wakes up and comes to life.

I'm a little less sanguine about Brink shooting the three ball than some of you. I agree that the high low with Iriafen is great for us, but it seems like Cam generally drains the three only when she's essentially at the top of the key. It seems like she misses when she's slightly to the right or left of it, which is where a lot of her misses came last night. After the third or fourth miss, it just seemed obvious she should stop, because she's not under the hoop to collect the rebound, so all those misses were gifts to WSU.

I'm fascinated to hear that Demetre had such a brobdingnagian +/-. Especially in the second half of the game, I felt that - she was critical to our blowing open the game in the 3Q. Based on her, Bosgana, and Agara's play the last few games, I'm honestly not seeing how Bosgana keeps her starting spot. Agara has way ability under the basket and Demetre seems to be outplaying Bosgana in every facet of the game. 

As others have said, Lepolo being a consistent threat from outside opens all sorts of avenues for our offense. The coaches just need to keep on her to keep taking those open looks - especially since every team's scouting report seems to key in on smothering Jump. There was one comical moment in our transition offense when three WSU players were all pointing at Jump as she scurried to the corner. I'm so glad we've figured out how to master using the bounce pass to get behind the defender so Jump can collect those easy layups. While it sucks that she's not really getting many open looks from outside, she's still earning those 40 minutes with a more all-around game. That said, does anyone worry that her shooting is down in part because the tread on her soles is getting pretty well worn? I wonder whether less might be more and Tara could rest her more often?

It was interesting to see that Harriel seems to have solidified her role as the backup PG to Lepolo. Clardy didn't enter the game once last night, whereas earlier in the season, it was often Clardy as the backup ball handler. I'm not complaining though - Harriel really has seemed to improve over the past few months, and lord knows we need more three-point threats.

Now a few notes of hesitation:

As 81 noted, I have a lingering concern that we seem to be inclined to blow leads and make games unnecessary close. I realize basketball is a game of runs, but for some reason we seem to get tentative as soon as we have a lead to protect.

Has anyone else noticed that Iriafen's shot is regressing a bit from the start of the season? She missed a few bunnies last night, and I seem to recall a similar pattern last year: she could hardly miss at the start of the season, but as the season wore on, her shooting percentage kept dipping. 

And not to borrow trouble, but if Brink doesn't use her COVID year, we're not only going to be hurting in the post department, but also in the morale department: Brink is so critical to energizing our team and revving the crowd up. I'm honestly having a hard time seeing how even 2 or 3 players will be able to fill her (Nike) shoes next season...

[2006alum]

Having moaned about the officials during the live games, I'll echo some of the positives others have identified, plus a few additional thoughts of my own.

My favorite stretch of the game was the period right after Brink took the hard foul from CLW - both the crowd and our team came alive, and I really think the turning point was Demetre's terrific takeaway for a fast break layup. In the span of two minutes we went from tied to up 9, and the crowd remained pretty loud and engaged the rest of the way. Maples is a terrific venue when the crowd wakes up and comes to life.

I'm a little less sanguine about Brink shooting the three ball than some of you. I agree that the high low with Iriafen is great for us, but it seems like Cam generally drains the three only when she's essentially at the top of the key. It seems like she misses when she's slightly to the right or left of it, which is where a lot of her misses came last night. After the third or fourth miss, it just seemed obvious she should stop, because she's not under the hoop to collect the rebound, so all those misses were gifts to WSU.

I'm fascinated to hear that Demetre had such a brobdingnagian +/-. Especially in the second half of the game, I felt that - she was critical to our blowing open the game in the 3Q. Based on her, Bosgana, and Agara's play the last few games, I'm honestly not seeing how Bosgana keeps her starting spot. Agara has way ability under the basket and Demetre seems to be outplaying Bosgana in every facet of the game. 

As others have said, Lepolo being a consistent threat from outside opens all sorts of avenues for our offense. The coaches just need to keep on her to keep taking those open looks - especially since every team's scouting report seems to key in on smothering Jump. There was one comical moment in our transition offense when three WSU players were all pointing at Jump as she scurried to the corner. I'm so glad we've figured out how to master using the bounce pass to get behind the defender so Jump can collect those easy layups. While it sucks that she's not really getting many open looks from outside, she's still earning those 40 minutes with a more all-around game. That said, does anyone worry that her shooting is down in part because the tread on her soles is getting pretty well worn? I wonder whether less might be more and Tara could rest her more often?

It was interesting to see that Harriel seems to have solidified her role as the backup PG to Lepolo. Clardy didn't enter the game once last night, whereas earlier in the season, it was often Clardy as the backup ball handler. I'm not complaining though - Harriel really has seemed to improve over the past few months, and lord knows we need more three-point threats.

Now a few notes of hesitation:

As 81 noted, I have a lingering concern that we seem to be inclined to blow leads and make games unnecessary close. I realize basketball is a game of runs, but for some reason we seem to get tentative as soon as we have a lead to protect.

Has anyone else noticed that Iriafen's shot is regressing a bit from the start of the season? She missed a few bunnies last night, and I seem to recall a similar pattern last year: she could hardly miss at the start of the season, but as the season wore on, her shooting percentage kept dipping. 

And not to borrow trouble, but if Brink doesn't use her COVID year, we're not only going to be hurting in the post department, but also in the morale department: Brink is so critical to energizing our team and revving the crowd up. I'm honestly having a hard time seeing how even 2 or 3 players will be able to fill her (Nike) shoes next season...