yote18
Senior Member
Posts: 536
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Post by yote18 on Dec 5, 2022 10:20:14 GMT -6
A win against drake this week would be a huge confidence boost for the team as a whole. They’ll have to be ready because Drake look to be back to their old selves after a small step back in year one of their new head coach last year. They took Iowa to overtime and beat Nebraska by 18 so far this season.
It won’t be a gimme but I think we can do it.
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Post by Men's League Waterboy on Dec 5, 2022 11:47:56 GMT -6
One Observation. In the past several years, we have had several options to bring the ball up the floor. While we did have a “designated point guard”, it could have been, Maddie, Chloe, Liv, Kyah, Macy, or Grace bringing up the ball. This created several different, passing options, especially with Chloe’s insane ability to drop that pass inside. This year, it seems that Grace is demanding the ball every time, which is helpful to the defense in anticipating the pass. And Grace has yet to learn how to see the open person early and to pass the ball inside. I think there's a lot to this. Larkins having to try to score 20-plus, bring it up and provide basically all the off-the-bounce playmaking is a lot to ask. Especially since at this point in her development she's at her best just putting her head down and using that great first step to get to the rim. Whether it's chipping in on the ball handling or somebody else being able to step up and score 12-15 points she really needs some more help. I've been very impressed with Larkins this season and think she's a great player, but much like Allison Arens in her sophomore season, there's a point where asking a kid who's a put her head down and get to the rim/line scorer to do all that ball handling and decision-making on top of it, especially as a sophomore without that reliable second option, can be super difficult. It's a balance that takes a lot of talent and work and time. |
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dbyote
Senior Member
Posts: 536
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Post by dbyote on Dec 5, 2022 12:07:56 GMT -6
We will be a much better team if Larksins goes for 15-8-6 than if she scores 30. Until we are to that point it will be hard to win consistently. It's just reality. We lost arguably our other 2 best scorers for the year in Bergstrom and Grange. It may just be a development year for coaches and players. We'll have to celebrate the process instead of the results.
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Post by gopheryote on Dec 5, 2022 12:15:32 GMT -6
We will be a much better team if Larksins goes for 15-8-6 than if she scores 30. Until we are to that point it will be hard to win consistently. It's just reality. We lost arguably our other 2 best scorers for the year in Bergstrom and Grange. It may just be a development year for coaches and players. We'll have to celebrate the process instead of the results. It seems like this is the conundrum, as I agree with that statement long-term. But if we want to beat Drake this week, Larkins probably needs to score 30 (along with a lot of other responsibilities). |
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Post by elcoyote on Dec 5, 2022 13:14:07 GMT -6
Losing Grange for the season was really a tough blow, I think more than can be realized at this point. She had a beautiful, textbook shot, seemingly a lot of poise and definitely a lot of experience.
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Post by yotefan90 on Dec 5, 2022 13:17:55 GMT -6
Losing Grange for the season was really a tough blow, I think more than can be realized at this point. She had a beautiful, textbook shot, seemingly a lot of poise and definitely a lot of experience. Not to mention probably the best defender. |
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Post by yotenation on Dec 5, 2022 14:13:56 GMT -6
One Observation. In the past several years, we have had several options to bring the ball up the floor. While we did have a “designated point guard”, it could have been, Maddie, Chloe, Liv, Kyah, Macy, or Grace bringing up the ball. This created several different, passing options, especially with Chloe’s insane ability to drop that pass inside. This year, it seems that Grace is demanding the ball every time, which is helpful to the defense in anticipating the pass. And Grace has yet to learn how to see the open person early and to pass the ball inside. I think there's a lot to this. Larkins having to try to score 20-plus, bring it up and provide basically all the off-the-bounce playmaking is a lot to ask. Especially since at this point in her development she's at her best just putting her head down and using that great first step to get to the rim. Whether it's chipping in on the ball handling or somebody else being able to step up and score 12-15 points she really needs some more help. I've been very impressed with Larkins this season and think she's a great player, but much like Allison Arens in her sophomore season, there's a point where asking a kid who's a put her head down and get to the rim/line scorer to do all that ball handling and decision-making on top of it, especially as a sophomore without that reliable second option, can be super difficult. It's a balance that takes a lot of talent and work and time. I agree with this. Larkins is a pretty special talent but she's being asked to do an awful lot, especially for a player who is still learning and growing in her first year as a starter. This team desperately needs a reliable second (and third) option. We were a bit spoiled in that regard in the past with Sjerven and Lamb and Korngable. It will be interesting to see who if anyone can step up offensively. Losing Grange hurt in that regard as she appeared to be a very capable offensive player. She was also solid defensively and might have provided a calming presence in the lineup with her experience. This team has been prone to really bad runs where they just can't get a bucket to stop the bleeding. |
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Post by notkiotees on Dec 5, 2022 14:41:58 GMT -6
One Observation. In the past several years, we have had several options to bring the ball up the floor. While we did have a “designated point guard”, it could have been, Maddie, Chloe, Liv, Kyah, Macy, or Grace bringing up the ball. This created several different, passing options, especially with Chloe’s insane ability to drop that pass inside. This year, it seems that Grace is demanding the ball every time, which is helpful to the defense in anticipating the pass. And Grace has yet to learn how to see the open person early and to pass the ball inside. Thanks for sticking around Mom. Appreciate the perspective. |
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Post by Men's League Waterboy on Dec 5, 2022 15:56:26 GMT -6
We will be a much better team if Larksins goes for 15-8-6 than if she scores 30. Until we are to that point it will be hard to win consistently. It's just reality. We lost arguably our other 2 best scorers for the year in Bergstrom and Grange. It may just be a development year for coaches and players. We'll have to celebrate the process instead of the results. It seems like this is the conundrum, as I agree with that statement long-term. But if we want to beat Drake this week, Larkins probably needs to score 30 (along with a lot of other responsibilities). She's probably going to need 50 for a win. |
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Post by Men's League Waterboy on Dec 7, 2022 11:25:30 GMT -6
*43
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Post by announcerbob on Dec 7, 2022 13:08:33 GMT -6
I want to see someone else (other than Larkin) bring the ball up the court and have Grace play the off-guard position and received the passes once the offensive sets start. Put her in a position to drive and dish the ball to open shooters. I am not a coach, but I do know what has worked in the past and want to see if it can work again. Just a thought!!!
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