01-25-2014, 12:59 PM
Work ran late so I didn't get to go to the game, but watched it on TiVo.
FYI, one of the TV commentators was adamant that the foul called on Karlie was a bad call. It is unusual to hear one of the PAC-12 TV people be so strong that the ref made a bad call. The other announcer fell quiet. Yes, I agree it was a bad call from probably every angle but from the ref who made the call. Since I didn't have his angle, I can't tell.
Chiney's 4 fouls were probably right. She got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, er, wrapped around the opponent several times. That's the way she plays, not that I like it. But she doesn't have to play this way and (IMO) should quit some of her moves when she's got 3 fouls.
I thought we'd put more pressure on UCLA by getting their short bench into foul trouble, but that seems to be one talent that our team doesn't possess. Chiney is very good at getting her player called for fouls during regular play (but not while shooting). No one else is getting those fouls called. Chiney's ability to get away from her player when shooting is one of the things that makes her so good, but also minimizes the shooting fouls that are called.
I think one big difference in the second half was that we were able to get our transition offense going while UCLA was hanging around trying to get offensive rebounds. We didn't make them pay in the first half for that. (Note that for the game, we got half the rebounds at our offensive end and 2/3 at our defensive end. Seems like we did better at offensive rebounding than they did.)
It seems that when the opponent is closely guarding Chiney, this gives Erica a chance for a good night. I don't know whether our offense is statistically diversified more, but it surely feels that way. She and Sara had good nights, considering they only played 17 and 16 minutes, respectively.
Sara had 3 offensive rebounds, a 3 pointer (and a missed (contested) shot from under the basket), an assist and no fouls in the first 4:15 before she was pulled. What does it take to stay in the game?
I think UCLA showed that we need to be better at getting our 3 point shooters open. We couldn't just pass the ball around the perimeter and get a shot off. It is telling that only Lili and Sara made threes. Of our 3 pt shooters, they are the ones that move around the most.
I was ambivalent about the game. I didn't like to see the try-too-hard/much turnovers coming back. I was disappointed that UCLA kept both our 3pt shooters and Chiney pretty much in check. (There were quite a number of not-quite-attempted 3 point shots that got wisely pulled back in the last second.) But I was glad to see the rest of the team step up on offense when Chiney was struggling in the first half. Chiney actually got more points in the 1st half (5/11 FG,1/2 FT, 3TO, 1A) than the second (5/7 FG, 0/0 FT, 1TO, 0A) but the offense seemed more in control in the 2nd. It would be interesting to count how many touches she got in each half. The FG% (10/18) for Chiney was down from her average, but the rest of the teams FG% (21/40) was a bit better than their average.
FYI, one of the TV commentators was adamant that the foul called on Karlie was a bad call. It is unusual to hear one of the PAC-12 TV people be so strong that the ref made a bad call. The other announcer fell quiet. Yes, I agree it was a bad call from probably every angle but from the ref who made the call. Since I didn't have his angle, I can't tell.
Chiney's 4 fouls were probably right. She got caught with her hand in the cookie jar, er, wrapped around the opponent several times. That's the way she plays, not that I like it. But she doesn't have to play this way and (IMO) should quit some of her moves when she's got 3 fouls.
I thought we'd put more pressure on UCLA by getting their short bench into foul trouble, but that seems to be one talent that our team doesn't possess. Chiney is very good at getting her player called for fouls during regular play (but not while shooting). No one else is getting those fouls called. Chiney's ability to get away from her player when shooting is one of the things that makes her so good, but also minimizes the shooting fouls that are called.
I think one big difference in the second half was that we were able to get our transition offense going while UCLA was hanging around trying to get offensive rebounds. We didn't make them pay in the first half for that. (Note that for the game, we got half the rebounds at our offensive end and 2/3 at our defensive end. Seems like we did better at offensive rebounding than they did.)
It seems that when the opponent is closely guarding Chiney, this gives Erica a chance for a good night. I don't know whether our offense is statistically diversified more, but it surely feels that way. She and Sara had good nights, considering they only played 17 and 16 minutes, respectively.
Sara had 3 offensive rebounds, a 3 pointer (and a missed (contested) shot from under the basket), an assist and no fouls in the first 4:15 before she was pulled. What does it take to stay in the game?
I think UCLA showed that we need to be better at getting our 3 point shooters open. We couldn't just pass the ball around the perimeter and get a shot off. It is telling that only Lili and Sara made threes. Of our 3 pt shooters, they are the ones that move around the most.
I was ambivalent about the game. I didn't like to see the try-too-hard/much turnovers coming back. I was disappointed that UCLA kept both our 3pt shooters and Chiney pretty much in check. (There were quite a number of not-quite-attempted 3 point shots that got wisely pulled back in the last second.) But I was glad to see the rest of the team step up on offense when Chiney was struggling in the first half. Chiney actually got more points in the 1st half (5/11 FG,1/2 FT, 3TO, 1A) than the second (5/7 FG, 0/0 FT, 1TO, 0A) but the offense seemed more in control in the 2nd. It would be interesting to count how many touches she got in each half. The FG% (10/18) for Chiney was down from her average, but the rest of the teams FG% (21/40) was a bit better than their average.