WBB: UCLA 70 Stanford 66

[81alum]

I really don't like it when Tara goes with a lineup of Williams, Wilson, Hull, Hull and a big.  The Hulls are really good perimeter defenders but they are not good post defenders or post rebounders. They are just not strong enough and a gust of wind can knock them over if they are expected to battle in the post.

I thought it pretty clear that she did not want to do this, but had to after Jones, Brink, and Belibi all got in foul trouble in the first half.  There were other times--more successful--when she had three bigs on the floor at the same time.  But foul trouble dramatically changed our lineup.

[Hulk01]

Players who can get their hands on a ball and not let it go are valuable.  
Several of our players could benefit from improving their hand strength.

[TheFarm07]

Considering how upset Tara seemed during the Colorado postgame press conference, I would have loved to hear what she said to the team after last night's game.

Despite all of the foul trouble and UCLA's hot outside shooting, we clawed all the way back at the end to make it close and we didn't even give ourselves the chance to win with Fran's errant pass to no one and even then, the Bruins provided us one more shot to get the ball back and make an amazing game tying buzzer beater when they missed those free throws, but we didn't even give ourselves the opportunity for that shot as they kept snagging the offensive rebound (twice!).

To put it mildly, Tara must not be pleased.

[JustAnotherFan]

Players who can get their hands on a ball and not let it go are valuable.  
Several of our players could benefit from improving their hand strength.

S&T shortcoming once again.

[BosCard]

I hope Williams and team get their 3 point shooting back because the last 5 games (with the exception of Utah) have been brutal.

ASU - Took 19 3's and shot 21%
Oregon - Took 16 3's and shot 31%
Colorado - Took 22 3's and shot 23%
UCLA - Took 10 3's and shot 20%

[81alum]

I hope Williams and team get their 3 point shooting back because the last 5 games (with the exception of Utah) have been brutal.

ASU - Took 19 3's and shot 21%
Oregon - Took 16 3's and shot 31%
Colorado - Took 22 3's and shot 23%
UCLA - Took 10 3's and shot 20%

I don't know if this is just a thing for WBB for some crazy reason, but for many years we have observed, over and over on this board, that our three point shooting has been far better at home in Maples than on the road.  We can speculate as to the reasons why, but....we are now on the road for 100% of our games, so if the past is any guide, we would expect to have a fall off.

[GK3]

I hope Williams and team get their 3 point shooting back because the last 5 games (with the exception of Utah) have been brutal.

ASU - Took 19 3's and shot 21%
Oregon - Took 16 3's and shot 31%
Colorado - Took 22 3's and shot 23%
UCLA - Took 10 3's and shot 20%

I don't know if this is just a thing for WBB for some crazy reason, but for many years we have observed, over and over on this board, that our three point shooting has been far better at home in Maples than on the road.  We can speculate as to the reasons why, but....we are now on the road for 100% of our games, so if the past is any guide, we would expect to have a fall off.

Tara should certainly be upset on how her team has performed the last two games, but then she should also take a look at her game plan and coaching.  It isn't all a player problem.

Rebounding is a skill driven in my experience by desire to get the ball before the other player gets it and not give it up.  The rest of the conference are not coached by idiots and they are recruiting inside players who can compete with ours.  Now the drives to the basket and passing the ball inside is no longer easy and is prone to turn overs.  Lastly we do not move the ball around the perimeter fast enough.  Frankly, our offense against good teams looks bad and if we want to make a run at the in the NCAA we need to fix a lot of things.  Pure talent won't be enough.

[Phogge]

Hulk is spot on. One starter in particular.

[Hulk01]

I'd call rebounding a combination of body/talent/desire.

Big, strong players with wide bases--think Barkley--have an advantage.  They cannot be nudged, much less moved, out of their screen. 

Dennis Rodman has a special gift, or two, enhanced by study.  He could calculate where the rebound was going to come, and could leap several times consecutively without losing lift.  Plus he had a ridiculous wing span,  of course, which helps him for the same reason it helps Fran on the offensive boards. 

But Fran is not an excellent defensive rebounder; she gets moved off her base too easily.  Prechtel doesn't rebound defensively as well as you'd expect from the size and length; that looks like an aggressiveness and strength issue; she doesn't screen off quick and hard. 

Our two good defensive rebounders are Jones and Brink.  But Cameron could benefits from more strength work, too, especially with her hands.

[jad]

Players who can get their hands on a ball and not let it go are valuable.  
Several of our players could benefit from improving their hand strength.

I certainly miss Dijonai in this regard. Once she got her hands on the ball, no one was taking it away.

[Hulk01]

Players who can get their hands on a ball and not let it go are valuable.  
Several of our players could benefit from improving their hand strength.

I certainly miss Dijonai in this regard. Once she got her hands on the ball, no one was taking it away.

My junior year, I always was assigned in practice scrimmages to a kid named Corky Smith.
If Corky got his hands on a ball, the ball was his.
At season's ends, the league coaches named two other players All League.
At the state tournament, the press named a third of our guys second team all-tournament.
When I and my teammates voted on our Most Valuable Player,
we chose Corky.

There was more to his game than that, of course,
but he merely our third leading rebounder and third leading scorer.
But he was brilliant at getting us what we needed to win:
the ball.