In Reply to: Re: Morning after sour grapes posted by barrya on February 14, 2025 at 11:15:45
They actually DID swarm Betts in the 1st quarter, which is how $C jumped to the lead early. They then went back to it in the 4th.
$C was very aggressive on D, which caused us to speed up too much and commit turnovers, whether in transition or in forcing bad entry passes into the post. Same thing happened against Ohio St.
When the double teams loosened and they played a near-zone to dare our shooters to shoot, we didn't capitalize right away and we didn't make nearly as many cuts as we should have done. Jaquez and Dugalic especially seemed a bit lost out there on O all night.
We came back in the 3rd as Betts made quicker decisions with the ball and got it to shooters and drivers. Rice was definitely more assertive and found more creases in the D to attack the rim.
Jones also dug into Watkins a lot more on D - really bodying her up more - in the 2nd and 3rd which cooled her off some, but then Watkins became a free safety on D and swiped every shot she could and fed their momentum that way. Either way, Watkins still ended up with 38 out of $C's 71 points and a bunch of dagger shots at the end.
Barker added needed O by facing up the $C bigs and not letting them get set. That's a drawback of being so reliant on Betts' back-to-the-basket game as it gives defenders time to swarm in.
We mixed things up in the 3rd to take the lead, but defaulted to inside passes that kept getting picked off, just like in the 1st.
Throughout the night $C was just faster than we were after every loose ball, long rebound, and 50-50 balls. That hasn't happened to us all year, and certainly not at that rate.
I think Close can adjust to that kind of physical, swarming D, especially now that multiple teams are pulling that scheme against us and we have plenty of film to break down and counter-scheme against.
I also think we need to set it up so that the entry passer is occasionally a taller player - Dugalic or Barker or Gardner - which might make entry passes easier.
Either that, or have Betts set screens at the elbows as a means of setting up more P&R/ give & go type plays, rather than rely on stationary post dumps 80% of the time she's on the floor.
And if we play Watkins again, I think we need to have Jaquez or Barker on her from the jump, with Dudley off the bench, to save Jones' legs for shooting.
Tough loss, but one we can learn from - and better now than in March or April.