@ Drake

[yotefan90]

Nov 16, 2021 11:25:51 GMT -6 Men's League Waterboy said:

One thing that I thought was truly impressive about the performance last night was Watson's work on Berg defensively. Kyah is no joke defensively. At all.

Her rebounding also stood out to me. Several times it looked like she went up high and brought it down with 1 hand with defenders around her.

[usdcoyote]

Nov 16, 2021 11:25:51 GMT -6 Men's League Waterboy said:

One thing that I thought was truly impressive about the performance last night was Watson's work on Berg defensively. Kyah is no joke defensively. At all.

I have heard some of the girls describe Watson as an athletic freak. Not surprising I guess for someone who placed at the State track meet 16 times in her career.

[Men's League Waterboy]

Not surprising for anybody who ran into either of her parents on the hardwood.

[kiyoat]

Well, I guess the "Pestering Pack" defense will need to be a big part of this team's identity again. I remember in the 2017-18 season, when we lost Fogg and Bridget to graduation, and Hannah was in her sit-out year. We were undersized in the post, and potentially vulnerable.

So that was the year our defense just amped it up to 11 in aggression. Won every league game. "Junkyard Jas" Trimboli won Defensive Player of the Year after coming back from a major knee injury.

That year, and ever since then we have led the league in defense each year, and have had a Defensive POY each year. Jasmine, then Allison, then Hannah, then Hannah again. The defense doesn't always look the same each year, but it evolves I suppose.

So this year might be the year we are once again potentially vulnerable (at least in terms of our unreasonably high expectations), due to not having special ops snipers at all the starting guard spots. Time to lean into that defense again. "Junkyard Kyah"? nah. Someone will think of something better. "The Freak"?  With 5 steals in this game, Grace is looking like she could fill that McKeever role. I saw a "Swiper No Swiping" tweet from the team. (Dora the Explorer reference). Grace "Swiper" Larkins? 

Should be fun.

[kiyoat]

Another thing that I think characterizes this team is the attitudes of the "Big Three" in terms of their focus, determination, competitiveness and .... anger? I wouldn't have said this in the past, but I feel like Liv is a lot more Chloe-like this year. She's got the "eye of the tiger", or a chip on her shoulder, "Swagger" or some other corny euphemism.

I remember at one point during the Oklahoma game a sequence of events where Liv had, I think, a bad traveling or charging call against her. She was shaking her head in disbelief, and you could see the darkness in her eyes. The following play, she ended up pushing a couple of players out of her way (one was her teammate) on route to stealing the ball, fast break and score. Basically beast mode.

And of course, when not playing she's the nicest, sweetest, most polite and well-spoken young woman. I think Chloe is a bad, bad influence.

[yoteforever]

Lol

[Deleted]

I think #34 likes playing against Drake. Here is her line for three games:
69 minutes, 53 points, 21 rebounds, 8 blocks, 3 steals, 5 to, 7 fouls, 21-28 FG (75%) and 10-15 FT (67%).

[highsmoke]

Just watching our bigs come off the bench that should be the main concentration when recruiting. Pretty weak.

[kiyoat]

Nov 17, 2021 23:52:48 GMT -6 highsmoke said:

Just watching our bigs come off the bench that should be the main concentration when recruiting. Pretty weak.

I mean, there are plenty of P-5 forwards and centers that look weak when jousting with Hannah in the paint. We got pretty lucky having her land here. She’s an “athletic” 6-2 with a big wingspan and disciplined play and footwork. She will probably have an opportunity to play in the WNBA, so let’s not compare the rest of our roster to her.