In Reply to: our most and least favorable stats posted by barrya on November 04, 2024 at 14:55:27
I admit I worked during the second half, meaning I only saw a little of it and that was at a bad angle of the screen.
I really like what Gardiner and Barker bring to the team. Our 3 shooting has been really streaky the last couple of years and Gardiner looked really good from there. She also seems to be versatile and tough. Seven rebounds each from her and Barker is great. I like Barker. She did not have a great shooting night, missing some gimme layups, but she had good motor on the boards and seemed tough. That said, it is no coincidence that she did not have any assists. Very much a shoot first player. She took a few questionable shots that I saw but Close does not seem to mind those. I think Close has a little Westhead about her, not minding chaos and trusting her players to come out better on those exchanges.
I hoped for more from Gabriela after her great tourney with the Mexican National Team. She needs to get more consistent with her outside shot. You are right she did everything else. Second leading rebounder on the team and 4 assists. Very nice.
Dudley looked like she belonged there in the first half even though she missed the only shot she took. Aarnisalo had a baptism by fire, starting against a ranked team with very quick guards. She had a little deer in the headlights going on but got more comfortable as the half went on. What little I saw of the second half, she seemed like a different player. I would like to see how many of her six turnovers were in the second half versus the first.
Last but certainly not least, I thought Betts looked improved. She was moving well around the basket. I was critical of her bringing the ball down in the early going (six turnovers) but it looked like she was keeping the ball up better in the second half. Nice footwork too. Looked like Jaimie the first time she took her defender off the dribble. Her left hand looks improved too. She had a nice left hand move last year but it looked smoother to me today.
Otherwise, I was very critical of the refs. Seemed we lost on every 50-50 ball. That said, the stats were pretty even and there were very few free throws. They ended up letting them play. I really like Louisville's guards, especially Roberts. Small but very quick and good elevation on her closer shots. I thought Louisville's inside players flopped a lot. The team had very active hands. 5-26 shooting for their bench players though, with one assist for a combined 75 minutes of play. Bad combination there.