In Reply to: Kris Johnson commented on Lauren posted by barrya on December 01, 2025 at 11:19:33
Glad this is becoming the view on Lauren.
Just generally speaking, I hope we really work on fast breaks. It's my understanding that in the past, Close has focused on running. I saw some press conference from a few years ago, where she said "at UCLA, the first thing we do us run, if it's there."
It's hard to imagine teams that would be more adept at running than this team. We can board; Jacquez has to be one of the best finishers on the break in the country; Kneepkens, Dugalic, CLW, and Rice can all finish. The announcer said that Lauren is the fastest big on the team. And, CLW, Rice, Jacquez, especially, but also Dugalic are all excellent at making the second pass on a fast break. We've got a bunch of players that can hit that spot up 3, even more when Timea returns, and Bilic is reported to be a sharpshooter, too. I'm getting all worked up over here, don't want to over state it, but if we can get the ball out of the rebounders hands quickly, how's the opposition going to stop us from hitting a wide open player at the 3 point line that is an efficient three point shooter? If we show that we're a deadly fast break team, then we'll get all almost all the defensive rebounds - teams will not crash the boards against us very much. All of that becomes available if we're not walking it up on almost every possession, giving Lauren time to post up. Then, you add in the advantage that Lauren's mobility allows her to set picks all over and roll when she sets them. And, she's a very good passer, she can hit cutters all day long, including Dugalic. And, when we've done all that, the D can't collapse on her when she posts. And, with that middie that she's been hitting (except against Texas*), you've got to defend her when she has the ball 10-12 feet from the basket.
*I hope she keeps taking those shots. Hitting that when were rolling, up big on a team that's not in the top 10 is one thing. Hitting it against a top 4 team, where every shot could mean victory/defeat is another. It would be great if she can get confident in that shot - mainly because it would force teams to defend her there.
Last add to my ramble. Bilic made a couple of nice defensive plays yesterday. It would be great if she's a player who is comfortable on the floor by the time the playoffs roll around. Aka, someone who, not to call out a player from last season, doesn't have to be avoided when we have the ball. And, in the process of getting her comfortable being on the court, we can reduce the minutes of Jacquez, Rice, CLW, and GK, so that no one is run down at the end of the season. If Sienna and Gardiner play and Bilic gets to be close-game playable, we've got 7 players that will get drafted (one being probably the first or 2nd player taken), plus Betts and Bilic. Nine deep with contributors. No knock on Muse intended.