Exhibition Game Impressions
Nov 3, 2018 16:00:16 GMT -8
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Post by 2ndGenBeaver on Nov 3, 2018 16:00:16 GMT -8
Very supportive enthusiastic crowd for the game.
As has been pointed out, starting 5 were Mik, Taya, Jo, KTMac, Destiny.
Off the bench were Kat, Aleah, Janessa, Maddie, Trish, and Jazz in about that order of minutes/emphasis.
Clearly we are trying to play "faster" this year - we were pushing the ball up the floor on every possession.
This game felt like it was mostly focused on getting the returners back up to speed, plus start to figure out the new paint strategy. The paint strategy, at least this game, was to start Jo, rely on Thropay and Maddie to spell her, and work Morris in spot duty. Don't know how things will pan out if/when Andrea is part of the equation. (AA seemed unperturbed on the bench, no angst about her, so I suspect they are either resting her because of some minor tweak/illness [note she took full part in warm ups], or there is a non-health related issue being worked through). Jo really knows where she is at in the paint, perhaps more so than most of our earlier bigs. I think the book on countering her will be to try to push her off her spots, because she has these spots from where she just turns and executes. We are transitioning from a team where on the offensive end you could dump it in the paint and watch Marie make something happen this past season in a more fluid manner to a team where we have to give the ball to Jo in a position/situation where she will be successful with it. We still need to go high(er) with our entry passes, some were Marie level or guard level that got botched, and she also still needs to snatch that ball out of the air - when she does that good things happen, but there were still a couple of fumbled passes. Her FTs look a lot better this game. But I don't think we are going to dominate the paint this year like years past (perhaps stating the obvious), putting more pressure on our guards and forwards.
I also think we will not be able to funnel the opponents drivers into the middle paint area like we have in year's past. While Jo got some good blocks, her foot speed and anticipation is not that of Marie or Ruth, so we will need to alter how we defend outside in as well.
We have a dynamo in Destiny to help with us speeding up the game. She was routinely splitting double teams, we were for the most part leaving her on an island in the backcourt to zip the ball up the floor. Her D looked reasonable (I won't say we were playing stifling D, but I don't know if we were trying to do so either).
Destiny struggled at the line a bit, though that might be because how energized she was to be on the floor. We finally have some *serious* quicks and passing at the point position in a way I have not seen in the SR era thanks to Destiny. She would push the ball, and drop a no-look dime to the lead/trail (Mik, Taya, Kat, KTMac) that was wonderful to watch. Since I have not seen that much from the Beavers, the first time they were breaking I was thinking "hit Kat, hit Kat" as she never looked at Kat.......but she certainly knew she was there. Fun times ahead when we get out and run.
Trish runs the floor fast for a big - faster than Taya, but not quite touching Marie speeds yet. She was getting pushed around under the basket, and I suspect that will be something she will work on through this freshman season.
Jo, Maddie, and Janessa look improved. Janessa has always been a scrappy spark plug, and she seems to have a nose for the ball on rebounds. Its a good thing Jo has come back in much better shape, she seems to be option #1, at least in this game she sure was, and PM doesn't look like she will challenge for that position soon (no comment on AA). Maddie also looked to really hustle for boards.
KTMac was more aggressive this game, with some nice drives to the rim through traffic, and no hesitation putting up a shot, mostly with good results. It was gratifying to see that. She is going to go off for 30 or 40 one of these games with the right mismatch, a'la that Lamar game......
Kat's shot was not dropping this game, but Aleah, Destiny and KTMac did well from downtown. Jazz left one short from downtown, but did have a nice lay-in by sprinting ahead and being the beneficiary of one of Destiny's no-looks.
In summary (apologies for the haphazard thoughts), the newbies are not going to take over starting spots right away, or this season (again, don't know about AA). But nor are they being asked to......looks like we are replacing Marie by committee, and the committee is chaired by Jo, assisted by Maddie and Janessa. That plus a dynamo at point guard seems to be what will take us where ever we are going, at least early in the season. It was a joy to see the team out there, see their closeness, their genuine encouragement of one another. It was refreshing to see all sorts of nice plays being run. I think we will see some rapid progression of the team as Destiny gets going and they get used to feeding Jo in different ways. Should be fun.
Go Beavers!
As has been pointed out, starting 5 were Mik, Taya, Jo, KTMac, Destiny.
Off the bench were Kat, Aleah, Janessa, Maddie, Trish, and Jazz in about that order of minutes/emphasis.
Clearly we are trying to play "faster" this year - we were pushing the ball up the floor on every possession.
This game felt like it was mostly focused on getting the returners back up to speed, plus start to figure out the new paint strategy. The paint strategy, at least this game, was to start Jo, rely on Thropay and Maddie to spell her, and work Morris in spot duty. Don't know how things will pan out if/when Andrea is part of the equation. (AA seemed unperturbed on the bench, no angst about her, so I suspect they are either resting her because of some minor tweak/illness [note she took full part in warm ups], or there is a non-health related issue being worked through). Jo really knows where she is at in the paint, perhaps more so than most of our earlier bigs. I think the book on countering her will be to try to push her off her spots, because she has these spots from where she just turns and executes. We are transitioning from a team where on the offensive end you could dump it in the paint and watch Marie make something happen this past season in a more fluid manner to a team where we have to give the ball to Jo in a position/situation where she will be successful with it. We still need to go high(er) with our entry passes, some were Marie level or guard level that got botched, and she also still needs to snatch that ball out of the air - when she does that good things happen, but there were still a couple of fumbled passes. Her FTs look a lot better this game. But I don't think we are going to dominate the paint this year like years past (perhaps stating the obvious), putting more pressure on our guards and forwards.
I also think we will not be able to funnel the opponents drivers into the middle paint area like we have in year's past. While Jo got some good blocks, her foot speed and anticipation is not that of Marie or Ruth, so we will need to alter how we defend outside in as well.
We have a dynamo in Destiny to help with us speeding up the game. She was routinely splitting double teams, we were for the most part leaving her on an island in the backcourt to zip the ball up the floor. Her D looked reasonable (I won't say we were playing stifling D, but I don't know if we were trying to do so either).
Destiny struggled at the line a bit, though that might be because how energized she was to be on the floor. We finally have some *serious* quicks and passing at the point position in a way I have not seen in the SR era thanks to Destiny. She would push the ball, and drop a no-look dime to the lead/trail (Mik, Taya, Kat, KTMac) that was wonderful to watch. Since I have not seen that much from the Beavers, the first time they were breaking I was thinking "hit Kat, hit Kat" as she never looked at Kat.......but she certainly knew she was there. Fun times ahead when we get out and run.
Trish runs the floor fast for a big - faster than Taya, but not quite touching Marie speeds yet. She was getting pushed around under the basket, and I suspect that will be something she will work on through this freshman season.
Jo, Maddie, and Janessa look improved. Janessa has always been a scrappy spark plug, and she seems to have a nose for the ball on rebounds. Its a good thing Jo has come back in much better shape, she seems to be option #1, at least in this game she sure was, and PM doesn't look like she will challenge for that position soon (no comment on AA). Maddie also looked to really hustle for boards.
KTMac was more aggressive this game, with some nice drives to the rim through traffic, and no hesitation putting up a shot, mostly with good results. It was gratifying to see that. She is going to go off for 30 or 40 one of these games with the right mismatch, a'la that Lamar game......
Kat's shot was not dropping this game, but Aleah, Destiny and KTMac did well from downtown. Jazz left one short from downtown, but did have a nice lay-in by sprinting ahead and being the beneficiary of one of Destiny's no-looks.
In summary (apologies for the haphazard thoughts), the newbies are not going to take over starting spots right away, or this season (again, don't know about AA). But nor are they being asked to......looks like we are replacing Marie by committee, and the committee is chaired by Jo, assisted by Maddie and Janessa. That plus a dynamo at point guard seems to be what will take us where ever we are going, at least early in the season. It was a joy to see the team out there, see their closeness, their genuine encouragement of one another. It was refreshing to see all sorts of nice plays being run. I think we will see some rapid progression of the team as Destiny gets going and they get used to feeding Jo in different ways. Should be fun.
Go Beavers!
