|
|
Post by wbosh15 on Mar 24, 2021 9:07:38 GMT -8
We are talking now about beating 1 seeds, competing for 1 seeds and national championships. To do that you need 5 start players at every position. Last night we started 2 young 5 stars (Taylor and Sasha), and a 4 star that has turned herself into a 5 star in Aleah. We need to continue to fill out the roster with big time players to compete with the UConns, Stanfords, and South Carolina's of the world.
That being said, give me a year of development for the Freshman, Kennedy coming back and Greta coming in, I'd take my chances against South Carolina if Aleah comes back. Even if she doesn't come back, there are a LOT of really good pieces to build on moving forward.
|
|
|
|
Post by damnstraight on Mar 24, 2021 9:14:27 GMT -8
From the Seattle Times: Staley’s plan was to get Jones into foul trouble — and it worked, with Jones limited to 18 minutes. “We would have been in trouble because she could have erased the lead that we had with just her production,” Staley said. Did someone forget to tell Taylor "your presence on the court is worth more than trying to contest a basket!" This! Taylor's presence on the floor for 32 plus minutes a game is vital to this team's success. She must learn that she cannot/should not try to block every shot. Staley knew she is foul prone and went right at her from the get-go, and it worked. She has to learn and be coached that this team can only be successful if she remains on the floor. Her touch around the bucket could be improved as well, as she misses some point blank easy shots every game. I know she is being pushed and shoved down there, but needs to learn to finish through contact. Why are so few women ever taught up-fakes to get their defender off the floor? As for Taya and Ellie, it was a disappointing performance from the 4 position. This team must have production from this spot on the floor. Taya seemed very timid yesterday and out of sorts. I watched a rebound hit the floor in front of her, as she made no attempt to secure it in air after she saw 2 SC players flying to secure it, disappointing for sure. My last comment revolves around Talia...what a great addition she has been, but I'm wondering about her foot speed and conditioning. With a full year with the team, I'm sure her conditioning will improve but I'm wondering about lateral movement and foot speed. Does she have it, or is it something she needs to work on? Hard for me to tell, because of her calm approach to playing high IQ basketball. All in all, it was a good year and fun to watch this team come together in January after Talia came on board. They overcame a lot of adversity but excelled beyond many of our expectations and were a joy to watch. Taking the ducks down 2 out of 3 times made my WBB season! Well done ladies, and i look forward to next year. |
|
|
|
Post by bvrbooster on Mar 24, 2021 9:21:05 GMT -8
I didn't think we would win that game, and, when Taylor got whistled for her second about 4 minutes in, knew that our goose was cooked.
This team really, really needed a normal pre-conference practice and game schedule to fully incorporate the new players into the system. Didn't happen, and the conference practice and game schedule was a mess too. Had we been able to work the kinks out before conference play, we never would have lost 5 in a row and wouldn't have been playing a 1 seed in the second round.
Could this year's team have beaten a South Carolina in the 3rd or 4th round? I kind of doubt it, but that's just speculation anyway.
The only way to look at the whole thing is that our youngsters gained some very valuable experience this year. Sasha and Talia looked like freshmen from time to time. Now, next year when they're freshmen, a lot of that will be behind them. Likewise, when Taylor comes back as a sophomore, she'll have been able to spend a lot more time working on what makes her foul prone. When Jelena returns as a freshman (for the third year in a row), she'll have known what to work on as well to become an effective D! player.
Scott and the staff will be emphasizing this with them individually and as a team over the coming days. Get the sour taste out of your mouth, key on everything you've learned from this year, spend these months working on individual weaknesses, and come back loaded for bear in the fall.
|
|
|
|
Post by wbosh15 on Mar 24, 2021 9:26:18 GMT -8
This! Taylor's presence on the floor for 32 plus minutes a game is vital to this team's success. She must learn that she cannot/should not try to block every shot. Staley knew she is foul prone and went right at her from the get-go, and it worked. She has to learn and be coached that this team can only be successful if she remains on the floor. Her touch around the bucket could be improved as well, as she misses some point blank easy shots every game. I know she is being pushed and shoved down there, but needs to learn to finish through contact. Why are so few women ever taught up-fakes to get their defender off the floor? As for Taya and Ellie, it was a disappointing performance from the 4 position. This team must have production from this spot on the floor. Taya seemed very timid yesterday and out of sorts. I watched a rebound hit the floor in front of her, as she made no attempt to secure it in air after she saw 2 SC players flying to secure it, disappointing for sure. My last comment revolves around Talia...what a great addition she has been, but I'm wondering about her foot speed and conditioning. With a full year with the team, I'm sure her conditioning will improve but I'm wondering about lateral movement and foot speed. Does she have it, or is it something she needs to work on? Hard for me to tell, because of her calm approach to playing high IQ basketball. All in all, it was a good year and fun to watch this team come together in January after Talia came on board. They overcame a lot of adversity but excelled beyond many of our expectations and were a joy to watch. Taking the ducks down 2 out of 3 times made my WBB season! Well done ladies, and i look forward to next year. I wouldn't worry too much about Talia. With her strength and skill level, she's never really had to "Play Hard" to dominate as she played in high school and the AAU circuit. Coming in during the middle of the season I'm sure didn't really help her conditioning as well. Give her a full off-season in the strength and conditioning program and you will see a different player in the fall. Also, there is no way she could have won as many 1 on 1 competitions at national All American camps without quick feet. Look at how much Taylors conditioning has improved from her Freshman year, she had very few times she beat her defender down the court as a Freshman, that was much more common this year. |
|
|
|
Post by mbabeav on Mar 24, 2021 10:36:48 GMT -8
I'm not too worried, Taylor will improve, and our frosh 5's will be better too. A taste of that kind of defense leaves you with a desire to learn to burn it. And yes, two fouls on Taylor in the first 5 nerfed us for the rest of the game. Next year we will be bigger, more experienced and hopefully hosting a regional so we don't have to face a #1 seed until we get at least to the sweet 16.
|
|
lefty
Freshman
Posts: 441 
|
Post by lefty on Mar 24, 2021 13:11:46 GMT -8
I wasn't all that impressed with the Gamecocks although they did play good defense. The key of the game to me was Taylor getting two fouls in less than 5 minutes and some very poor shooting by the Beavs. I am not the least bit sold on Mitrovek, but will be interested in seeing what improvement she can make. To me she is very slow, doesn't use her height and is a handicap on defense. To add to the woes I didn't feel that we were ready to compete.
|
|
|
|
Post by scottybooks on Mar 24, 2021 13:55:38 GMT -8
But what if TvO had started at the one, Goodman where she belongs at the two, fast Sasha for Mack...?
|
|
|
|
Post by nwhoopfan on Mar 24, 2021 14:00:42 GMT -8
But what if TvO had started at the one, Goodman where she belongs at the two, fast Sasha for Mack...? Starting both Corosdale and Mack was a bad call all year long, but Rueck stubbornly stuck with it. Each had some good games, there might have been 1 or 2 games where they both played well, but far too many games where neither produced. Like yesterday. |
|
|
|
Post by wbosh15 on Mar 24, 2021 14:19:18 GMT -8
But what if TvO had started at the one, Goodman where she belongs at the two, fast Sasha for Mack...? Starting both Corosdale and Mack was a bad call all year long, but Rueck stubbornly stuck with it. Each had some good games, there might have been 1 or 2 games where they both played well, but far too many games where neither produced. Like yesterday. Mack and Corosdale are both 4's, so it was tough for Mack to try to play up at the 3. One of the strange things was they did seem get off to some good starts early in games, but could never maintain it. The big question is does Mack come back? Injuries happen and we can certainly mix and match, but does our best 5 next year have either player in it? |
|
|
|
Post by nwhoopfan on Mar 24, 2021 14:37:19 GMT -8
Starting both Corosdale and Mack was a bad call all year long, but Rueck stubbornly stuck with it. Each had some good games, there might have been 1 or 2 games where they both played well, but far too many games where neither produced. Like yesterday. Mack and Corosdale are both 4's, so it was tough for Mack to try to play up at the 3. One of the strange things was they did seem get off to some good starts early in games, but could never maintain it. The big question is does Mack come back? Injuries happen and we can certainly mix and match, but does our best 5 next year have either player in it? I don't want to see 3 bigs on the floor together next year. If Brown is 100% recovered, I would prefer Corosdale coming off the bench. Probably not likely, Rueck likes his veterans. |
|
