Bellevue

[sdyotefan]

Home game tonight against Belleview which is 3-4
including a 26 point win vs Midland.

Chance for the team to continue to work any kinks out.

Go Lady Yotes!!

[kiyoat]

[soofooyote]

I would love to see Demers with a big game tonight. She has it in her! Be a great boost to her confidence.

[kiyoat]

Some interesting team stats after three games (vs 1 NAIA, 1 top-25 program, and 1 peer program)

As a team we are doing these things well:

45.7% 3-point shooting ........(#1 Summit #9 national)
10.7 3-pointers per game .....(#1 Summit #10 national)
12.7 personal fouls per game (#1 Summit #19 national)
11.3 turnovers per game ......(#2 Summit #28 national)
1.50 Assist-Turnover ratio .....(#2 Summit #34 National)

so we are shooting the 3 efficiently and often, and controlling the ball well, playing clean.

here are some things we aren't doing well:

12.67 free-throw attempts/game (#9 Summit #302 National)
10.0 free-throws made/ game.....(#9 Summit #240 National)
13.0 turnovers forced/ game.......(#7 Summit #306 National)
2.7 blocks/game.........................(#5 Summit #208 National)

So we aren't getting to the charity stripe much.  Need to get a little more aggressive offensively, maybe?  Especially in the paint.  We do shoot Free-throws at a 78.9% clip, so there's that.  Larkins is leading the league in steals, but we aren't creating turnovers like we are used to as a team.  I'd love to see some improvement in both of those areas tonight.  Defensively we have been kinda average/ above average overall.  Not what we are used to see, but this team has a different identity.

Also this:

66.1 possessions per game (#10 Summit #325 National)
-0.5 NET Rating....................(#6 Summit # 167 National)

Right now we are the "slowest paced" team in the league.  That tracks with last year, but not with the direction Kayla said she wants to move to.  I guess I won't say that's good or bad.  Just interesting.
Our NET will likely improve through the season, and is affected by getting beaten badly by Creighton.

[kiyoat]

Here's a fun exercise:  normalizing stats to 30 minutes.  This might smoke out some players who are playing well, but not getting many minutes

player	pts/g	min/g	pts/30
Hempe	14.0	22.7	18.5
Larkins	17.0	29.7	17.2
Hansen	7.3	13.3	16.5
Duffney	5.0	9.5	15.8
Demers	6.7	16.7	12.0
Grange	9.3	25.3	11.0
Ugofsky	5.3	16.0	9.9

small data sample, and there are reasons to play players aside from how many points they are scoring (and playing in garbage time can skew things, but.... It's surprising how productive Duffney has been during her 9.5 minutes per game.

[hoopsmom]

I like having these games each year, for the girls to work on some of the chemistry and timing things, as well as for the bench players to get more court time.. And I like that coach keeps the starters in for a while so they can work on things as well. It’s nice to see Grace at least trying to pass inside. She’s always been more of a shooter rather than a creator, whereas Macy’s always looking to pass and I wish she would like to shoot more. The posts are working really hard in the middle, and getting open. It’ll be nice when the guards figure out the timing to get the ball in there.

[coyotecrazie5]

Watch link is not working? I have Midco cable, but not the sports app.

[kiyoat]

Nov 16, 2022 19:33:41 GMT -6 coyotecrazie5 said:

Watch link is not working? I have Midco cable, but not the sports app.

I had to miss it, but re-watching now.  Here's the full game
link

Highlights:
link

and post game press conference
link

[elcoyote]

Grange looks like she's really found her stroke.

[kiyoat]

After reading a few more educated observations than mine on here and watching the game, ... I have to agree with a lot of it.

-The confidence of Larkins, Hempe and Grange shooting is strong. And confidence is what shooters need. I'd probably put Hansen in that bag, too. And Ambrosi. We have scorers.

-The inside-out and outside-in passing is maybe our biggest issue at the moment. I can't really blame it on one or two players. Everyone just needs to get into a better rhythm, I guess.

-We have a huge, Sjerven-sized hole in the roster. We knew it would be there, but it completely changes the team, and what we can and can't do.

-Our defense is getting better. I really like the "bulldog" that Ambrosi brings on that end. Reminds me of McKeever a little.

-Hempe and Hansen are showing some veteran play at times, being in the right place at the right time. Ugofsky, too.

[sdyotefan]

It was great to see a lot more of some of the players. All 11 played and scored and each had at least 1 rebound and 8 had at least 1 assist and 8 had at least 1 steal! D looked better and there was more focus on working the ball inside which was great to see! Fun team to watch and they really seem to be big supporters of each other--a great Yote tradition!!

The sky's the limit for this team!!

[kiyoat]

Although it's sometimes hard to take much from games against non-D-I teams, I think it is good to see the team working on, and improving areas of need. The "teardrop pass"* to Sjerven that was always so deadly last year was starting to appear again in this game. I saw Ambrosi execute it a couple of times in the second half to Demers.

Sjerven had an advantage of being able to "high-point" the pass with her length. But there was a timing and chemistry aspect of it, too. These players need to be able to have a feel for what the other is about to do. That's one of the really beautiful things to see in this sport, when players can almost read each-others' minds. They'll get better at it, but it takes time. Right now we have some unforced turnovers to clean up.

* Although Thayer calls it a "teardrop pass", when I google that terminology, the only thing that comes up is basically an alternative name for a "floater" shot at the basket. Is there another name for an arcing pass into the paint/center?

[yotenation]

Nov 17, 2022 8:56:30 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Although it's sometimes hard to take much from games against non-D-I teams, I think it is good to see the team working on, and improving areas of need. The "teardrop pass"* to Sjerven that was always so deadly last year was starting to appear again in this game. I saw Ambrosi execute it a couple of times in the second half to Demers.

Sjerven had an advantage of being able to "high-point" the pass with her length. But there was a timing and chemistry aspect of it, too. These players need to be able to have a feel for what the other is about to do. That's one of the really beautiful things to see in this sport, when players can almost read each-others' minds. They'll get better at it, but it takes time. Right now we have some unforced turnovers to clean up.

* Although Thayer calls it a "teardrop pass", when I google that terminology, the only thing that comes up is basically an alternative name for a "floater" shot at the basket. Is there another name for an arcing pass into the paint/center?

I've always called it a lob pass. Not sure my terminology is correct, though.

[yotenation]

One thing I really liked seeing is Larkins is making an effort to use her penetration ability not only to get to the rim and score, but to find open teammates.

If she continues to improve in this area, it will make her even more dangerous. She has an elite first step and the ability to get downhill and penetrate. Where she occasionally gets in trouble is when the defense collapses on her and she tries to fight through the double. She's starting to understand when to recognize that and find the open player. I'm sure this has been a point of emphasis with the coaches.

[kiyoat]

Nov 17, 2022 10:47:57 GMT -6 yotenation said:

Nov 17, 2022 8:56:30 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

I've always called it a lob pass. Not sure my terminology is correct, though.

Yup.  That tracks.  Here's a source:
www.basketballwiki.net/index.php?title=Lob_Pass#:~:text=A%20Lob%20Pass%20is%20a,player%20who%20is%20being%20fronted.

A Lob Pass is a pass that is thrown in an arc over the top of a defender to get to another offensive player. It's most often used to get the ball to a post player who is being fronted. It can also be used by a perimeter player or in transition to hit an explosive player going towards the basket for a lay-up or an alley-oop.

-Today I Learned...