Not to make too much out of one game, but 50 of our 90 field points were in the paint, a big improvement over prior years. Certainly, not all of those 50 came from our re-emphasized post-up game. Some came off fast breaks, penetration layups and pull-up jumpers; and some from put-backs. The practice emphasis remains on fundamentals, by no means do our 4 upper-class 4/5's have the post-up game mastered. Which is exciting because improvement from prior seasons is night-and-day, a testament to the personnel and experience Tina finally has to work with.
I was really impressed with our outside shooting. One thing you have to do to win games against top tier competition (UConn, ND, USC, BU, etc) is score. We didn't do that very well when teams shut down our transition offense. I am really really excited about this team. I can remember the last time we attempted almost 30 3's in a game.
Thanks for the welcome. I have been making my rounds, spent a bit of time on the South Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Cal, UCLA, Duke, Louisville, tOSU, Baylor, Tennessee, Duquesne & Stanford boards this week. I plan to try and get over here more as Texas is my team to watch this year. The last 2 years I have spent a lot of time watching SEC games in particular trying to figure our what the heck is wrong with the Lady Vols & watching Dawn build something in Columbia but now that I think I got that figured out I need a couple new teams to analyze and Texas and FSU are at the top of my list.
If you don't mind sharing, I would enjoy getting your thoughts on Tennessee, South Carolina and Louisville. What's the current consensus of the UConn folks in regards to Christyn Williams? Do most think Williams is headed to UConn?
As far as my thoughts go I will give my humble opinion: Tennessee- This team over the past few years has been plagued by inconsistency. I truly believe you play how you practice. I think they are coached inconsistently, they give inconsistent effort, and so they have inconsistent results. There is no way anyone can tell me they are great in practice then lose to teams like Penn State and Alabama. They got a good class last year and this year but talent was never their problem. Some of their fans believe whole heartedly it was just a chemistry issue and the bad apples are gone and others believe it's all coaching. I did get a chance to watch their exhibition vs Carson Newman and they had a lot of the same problems but also there was a lot of good things that happened too. The problem is we have seen this story before then the real games start and can't keep their sh*t together. So this year for them I expect more of the same. Some good wins, some puzzling losses, possible E8 but no more. South Carolina- I am interested to see what they do this year. It is a bit of a transition year but they will be more versatile. Young, but more versatile than years past. Where I think they may struggle is with rebounding. It should get better as the year goes on but they have a good core with Wilson, Harris, & Cuevas-Moore to handle the offense. I am not sure what kind of expectations they have for themselves this year. I think E8 is likely by FF might be a stretch purely because of the number of players in new roles that they will be relying on plus I anticipate a possible new comer and an old visitor back in the FF this year. Other than Wilson I don't see anything about them this year that says FF bound. As the season goes along that could change, but as of today that's where I stand. Louisville- I paid much more attention to them when they shared a conference with UConn. This will be the first year in a few that we even get to play them. I always thought the games were pretty good. However, Louisville hasn't beaten a top 15 in a long while. Until that changes I am not sure they are much of a contender for getting to Walz to his 3rd FF. Once they start putting some real pressure on Notre Dame they will get over the hump. Baby steps. I spent so long getting back to you Williams committed LOL.
Nuyoika--thank you for the thoughtful feedback. I agree with you about playing like you practice. Details matter and bad habits can be created or conquered in practice. I've never seen a UConn practice but I'm certain Geno is a stickler for details. Please continue to visit our message board from time to time. It's always interesting to be exposed to opinions and perspectives from fans of teams outside of the Big 12. BTW, congrats on getting Williams. As Moooooo mentioned in another thread, it will be interesting to watch her development once she gets to UConn.
