Western Ill 1/26

[sdyotefan]

Hopefully a pay back game for 9 pt loss at their place. Yotes had 19 turnovers in that game so need a lot of improvement there. Also solid consistent D!

Go Yotes!!

[kiyoat]

Jan 26, 2023 8:50:18 GMT -6 sdyotefan said:

Hopefully a pay back game for 9 pt loss at their place. Yotes had 19 turnovers in that game so need a lot of improvement there. Also solid consistent D!

Go Yotes!!

May want to correct the date in the title.

I looked at that game and analyzed it statistically using conference-only stat averages from both teams (I won't bore anyone with all of the numbers), and here is a summary of what I found:

1. We shot poorly from the arc

WIU has decent 3PT defense, but not THAT good.  We only shot 26.7% from the arc when our conference-only average is a league-leading 36.1%  almost 10 points worse.  For comparison, WIU allows 31.3% from the arc, and we were 5 points worse than even that.

2. We didn't shoot as much inside the arc

We only took 25 2-point attempts when we average 34 in conference play.  Nine less.  We took 30 3-point attempts when we average 22 in conference play.  Eight more.  Same number of shots total.  If we had been shooting our average, that's 3 more makes from the arc, or 9 points. (which was how much WIU beat us by)

3. We weren't shooting well inside the arc either

Our average 2-point shooting (FG - 3P) is 49%, and we shot 40% in that game.  9 percentage points doesn't seem like much, but on 25 attempts we should have had 12 makes instead of 10, so a 4-point swing.  So we missed out on a total of 13 points simply from shooting less efficiently.

4. We were actually playing the foul game really well.

WIU fouls the most of any Summit team, and also draw fouls the most.  Both USD and WIU are great FT shooting teams.  In the last game, we attempted 29 FT shots, eight more than our average, and three more than WIU usually gives.  So we were drawing fouls really well.  We weren't fouling as much as WIU likes to draw, either.  WIU shot 21 FT attempts, three below their average.

5. The problem is lack of CREATING turnovers, not our own turnovers (also scoring after turnovers).

The big number of 19 Coyote turnovers is a problem, no doubt, but keep in mind that the Leathernecks are doing that to everyone in the conference.  They average 18 forced turnovers in conference play, so they were just doing what they normally do.  The bigger issue in my mind is the lack of forced turnovers on the Yotes' part.  We only turned them over 9 times in that game, when they are averaging 14 turnovers in conference play.  That's still a low number, and the Leathernecks are #2 in the conference play in that stat.  We are forcing an average of only 13 turnovers, which is #9 in the conference.  So I'd like to see us clean up our own turnovers, but the bigger issue is a lack of forcing them IMHO.

Also the Leathernecks scored 18 points off of turnovers in that game, and we only scored 4.... I can't compare that to an average, but I assume that's a big problem that could be cleaned up in the rematch.

So in summary: I think that if we shoot closer to our average, are able to create a few more turnovers, and can get back better in transition (preventing some points off of turnovers) we will be fine.  The biggest problem, of course is our short bench preventing us from pushing the pace.  That hurts our ability to be aggressive and take more chances on defense, too.  So me saying to "just create more turnovers" is easy - to do it with a short bench is a bit more tricky.  They will have to play smart.

[kiyoat]

Predictions:
Yotes win 76-61 (-15) WN
Yotes win 75-59 (-16) Massey

"They say that revenge is a dish best served (in) cold (weather)..."




Also: this will be shown on MidcoSN2 and ESPN+

[elcoyote]

As always, great stuff!

[kiyoat]

Wow, great defense! Yotes win 74-56

[88grad]

Good win!

[dbyote]

Duffney turning into a second reliable scoring option is a revelation for this team. We still have a long way to go, especially on the defensive end, but there are good pieces on this team. I thought for a minute tonight our girls were going to run out of gas with only 8 players but they gutted it out. That will be a real issue come tournament time especially if our propensity for getting into foul trouble rears its ugly head.

Offensively we still take a lot of questionable shots. Hopefully that gets better with experience.

[elcoyote]

Jan 26, 2023 22:02:08 GMT -6 dbyote said:

Duffney turning into a second reliable scoring option is a revelation for this team. We still have a long way to go, especially on the defensive end, but there are good pieces on this team. I thought for a minute tonight our girls were going to run out of gas with only 8 players but they gutted it out. That will be a real issue come tournament time especially if our propensity for getting into foul trouble rears its ugly head.

Offensively we still take a lot of questionable shots. Hopefully that gets better with experience.

I thought many of the questionable shots came when we were trying to slow the pace and ended up running the shot clock down too far and were then forced into taking something rushed and definitely less than optimal. With only eight available players that's probably sound strategy though especially when WIU seemed to want to push the pace.

[90yote]

Kind of a struggle in the 2nd half, but I'll just say it's better to win because you had a great quarter (2Q) than lose because you had a terrible quarter (which happened quite a bit early in the year). Holding them to 56 is pretty impressive.

[yotenation]

This team has seen some real challenges this year with up and down performances and injuries. Really nice to see the way they are responding. At one point it looked like it could be a disastrous year but we are seeing some real fight and character from this crew. Fun to watch them grow.

[Men's League Waterboy]

Jan 26, 2023 22:02:08 GMT -6 dbyote said:

Duffney turning into a second reliable scoring option is a revelation for this team. We still have a long way to go, especially on the defensive end, but there are good pieces on this team. I thought for a minute tonight our girls were going to run out of gas with only 8 players but they gutted it out. That will be a real issue come tournament time especially if our propensity for getting into foul trouble rears its ugly head.

Offensively we still take a lot of questionable shots. Hopefully that gets better with experience.

Some of us were saying she should be playing more back in November. Not as revelatory for us. 

[kiyoat]

Jan 27, 2023 10:02:46 GMT -6 Men's League Waterboy said:

Jan 26, 2023 22:02:08 GMT -6 dbyote said:

Duffney turning into a second reliable scoring option is a revelation for this team. We still have a long way to go, especially on the defensive end, but there are good pieces on this team. I thought for a minute tonight our girls were going to run out of gas with only 8 players but they gutted it out. That will be a real issue come tournament time especially if our propensity for getting into foul trouble rears its ugly head.

Offensively we still take a lot of questionable shots. Hopefully that gets better with experience.

Some of us were saying she should be playing more back in November. Not as revelatory for us. 

Yeah, I remember doing a "points per 40 minutes or 30 minutes" or something like that in one of the threads earlier in the season (no idea where it is now), and Duffney was scoring a ton, even with lower minutes played.  That girl just seems to have a knack for finding the bucket.  I don't know why from a technical standpoint.  footwork?  speed? form? instincts? whatever the x-factor is, she's got it.  Same with Grace.  It will be fun watching the two of them grow into their potential.

We may be in a rebuild mode this year, but we look really really good at times.  I think there is reason for optimism.

[yote18]

Very glad to see Duffney emerging alongside Larkins. Add in some more pieces next season and I think we’re in a very good position. I’ll admit Im a bit of a Nostradamus predicting the end at times (I’ll own up to it) but I’m glad to see some favorable results and that we still have a VERY good chance to finish second in the league. A big test will be against the North Dakota schools next week. We need to pick off at least one road win there.