Big Sky/ Summit Challenge (Wed & Sat)

[kiyoat]

Jan 4, 2024 10:53:23 GMT -6 Men's League Waterboy said:

... physical limitations of your perimeter players... 

Yeah, I sometimes wonder how much all of the ACL injuries we have sustained in the past is affecting the general agility and lateral movement of a lot of our players.  Hempe is an obvious example, although I've seen a lot of veteran play from her this year on the offensive end.

Not to make excuses, or anything.  There are also several never-injured and by all indications very athletic players who are also part of this defense.  NAA, Grace and Kieffer come to mind.  But I suppose when it comes to defense it's a group effort where you can't have any chinks in the armor.

I'm starting to see why Coach P played such a short bench.  If you were a liability on defense, you just didn't see much floor time.  With the depth that we now have, it wouldn't be a bad policy to go back to IMHO.

IDK.  I guess I have many more questions than answers.  This team has talent, but Montana was just out-hustling us at the end of that game.  They wanted it more.  So frustrating.

[kiyoat]

Is it possible that we are just asking too much from our bigs on defense?  You really need athletic bigs to play any form of "position-less" basketball, don't you?  At the end of the day, we have the personnel that we have, and the coaches should be using a scheme that we can run.

Isn't there a man/zone scheme where your center/forwards have less perimeter responsibility?  I say that with very little basketball scheme IQ.

(also, I don't want to disparage our players.  There are plenty of Summit coaches that would gladly trade rosters with us) - I just hate seeing coaches trying to run schemes that don't maximize our roster's strengths and minimize our limitations.

[jorjo]

Jan 4, 2024 11:36:04 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Is it possible that we are just asking too much from our bigs on defense?  You really need athletic bigs to play any form of "position-less" basketball, don't you?  At the end of the day, we have the personnel that we have, and the coaches should be using a scheme that we can run.

Isn't there a man/zone scheme where your center/forwards have less perimeter responsibility?  I say that with very little basketball scheme IQ.

(also, I don't want to disparage our players.  There are plenty of Summit coaches that would gladly trade rosters with us) - I just hate seeing coaches trying to run schemes that don't maximize our roster's strengths and minimize our limitations.

I was going to make a post about just this subject after getting to rewatch the game to make sure my first impression of what I saw last night were true. Seems like we switch all screens while playing girls that don’t necessarily have the ability to do so. So many times our bigs are on an island with 1’s and 2’s and can’t hold up, leading to help at the rim by non rim protectors and also leading to wide open 3’s.

Also last night we out shot them from the field % wise from both 2 and 3. We also had more offensive rebounds, if we just take care of the ball we likely win that game. All defensive issues aside just protect the ball……..

[yote18]

Turnovers were 20-8. That alone is enough to cost even a great team a game. While we still have a ton of talent I wouldn’t say anyone’s particularly concerned about playing us. Right now I see USD as the 5th best team in the league, you subtract grace and I’d drop us to 7th.

[Men's League Waterboy]

They went to a 2-3 for a good chunk of the second half it seemed to me (I didn't watch it incredibly closely) in an effort to stop the bleeding. Schemes are schemes. You still need to move your feet and eyes enough to make it work, regardless of what it is.

[soofooyote]

It will be interesting to see how this team develops throughout conference play. Teams tend to get better as we roll along, if they don't it's a clear sign of development problems.

[dbyote]

I would play a ton of zone if I had this squad. The problem is we don't rotate and we would leave shooters wide open. It would also hurt on the boards but I think the end result may be better. Basketball is a game of possessions. If everything else is equal, the team with more possessions wins. You can increase the number of your possessions by not turning the ball over which we are TERRIBLE at. If you have twice as many TO's as your opponent you are almost sure to lose the game. After that, it comes down to execution on offense and effort on defense. I have seen more easy buckets in the last two years than I saw in the previous 10 combined.

It sure seems like we have small, but capable defenders in Grace, NAA, and Keiffer. Everyone else is really suspect and none of them move well enough to play man defense.

[soofooyote]

The turnover issue is largely a product of us not having a true PG on our roster in my opinion. Grace has turned the ball over 66 times this season. SIXTY-SIX TIMES. That's almost twice as many as any single player on SDSU's roster. Add in the fact that Holmes also has an A/TO ratio that's a dumpster fire and it gives you some idea of where the problem lies. A true facilitator and PG that could defend and take care of the ball like a Maddie Krull would change this team overnight.

[Men's League Waterboy]

But there's not a ton of length or really any shot blocking if we're talking about playing more zone. Short-armed zones with 6-foot centers and 5-8 guards are going to have issues too.

[sdyotefan]

I agree with the need for more quickness/speed on D. We may need to develop a couple of younger players to be role defenders. A lot of our best 3 pt shooters aren't quick on D so it is a canondrum when and how much they should play.

[kiyoat]

Jan 4, 2024 13:57:35 GMT -6 soofooyote said:

The turnover issue is largely a product of us not having a true PG on our roster in my opinion. Grace has turned the ball over 66 times this season. SIXTY-SIX TIMES. That's almost twice as many as any single player on SDSU's roster. Add in the fact that Holmes also has an A/TO ratio that's a dumpster fire and it gives you some idea of where the problem lies. A true facilitator and PG that could defend and take care of the ball like a Maddie Krull would change this team overnight.

Of the players with significant playing time, here are the A/TO stats:

min	player	Ast	TO	A/TO
31.8	G Larkins	78	66	1.18
26.0	K Holmes	17	32	0.53
24.9	N Avila-Ambrosi	28	19	1.47
22.9	T DePerry	24	30	0.80
22.0	A Hempe	30	24	1.25
17.0	W Demers	5	18	0.28
16.8	O Kieffer	30	19	1.58
16.1	C Duffney	34	28	1.21
14.9	N Mazurek	18	9	2.00

The answer seems pretty clear to me.  Kieffer is already playing backup PG, and I think that's a perfect place for her.  She's going to develop into a really good starting PG, just not this year.  With Nicole, she's already starting.  No need to change much, just switch the PG duties from Grace to Nicole.  Grace will still be the same great threat to score, and teams will still have to account for her.  She will maybe even have more freedom to wreak havoc in an off-ball spot.  I think that would cut down on our overall turnovers a good deal.

[kiyoat]

Remember Liv Korngable?  She ALWAYS had good A/TO numbers, even in HS, even as a bench player getting 6.6 minutes a game.  Her career A/TO average was 1.78!  She just always had that innate ability to protect the ball.  Her deal she developed here was learning to be a scorer as well.

To me, playing PG is something you either have it or you don't.  Kind of like accuracy in a QB.  Mike Leach had some really funny quotes about that.  Players can develop in a lot of areas, but some things are innate.  Grace is an amazing all-around player.  She truly does it all.  But that doesn't mean she needs to always be the one bringing the ball up the court.  JMHO

[yotenation]

Jan 4, 2024 16:05:57 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Remember Liv Korngable?  She ALWAYS had good A/TO numbers, even in HS, even as a bench player getting 6.6 minutes a game.  Her career A/TO average was 1.78!  She just always had that innate ability to protect the ball.  Her deal she developed here was learning to be a scorer as well.

To me, playing PG is something you either have it or you don't.  Kind of like accuracy in a QB.  Mike Leach had some really funny quotes about that.  Players can develop in a lot of areas, but some things are innate.  Grace is an amazing all-around player.  She truly does it all.  But that doesn't mean she needs to always be the one bringing the ball up the court.  JMHO

Larkins and the team are at their best when she's not always looking to score but also looking to create for teammates. There have been stretches where she has done that. But she does have a scorer's mindset, and it doesn't help that too often other players stand around waiting for Larkins to take over.

[dbyote]

Jan 4, 2024 16:22:22 GMT -6 yotenation said:

Jan 4, 2024 16:05:57 GMT -6 kiyoat said:

Remember Liv Korngable?  She ALWAYS had good A/TO numbers, even in HS, even as a bench player getting 6.6 minutes a game.  Her career A/TO average was 1.78!  She just always had that innate ability to protect the ball.  Her deal she developed here was learning to be a scorer as well.

To me, playing PG is something you either have it or you don't.  Kind of like accuracy in a QB.  Mike Leach had some really funny quotes about that.  Players can develop in a lot of areas, but some things are innate.  Grace is an amazing all-around player.  She truly does it all.  But that doesn't mean she needs to always be the one bringing the ball up the court.  JMHO

Larkins and the team are at their best when she's not always looking to score but also looking to create for teammates. There have been stretches where she has done that. But she does have a scorer's mindset, and it doesn't help that too often other players stand around waiting for Larkins to take over.

Very astute point.  If you watched the game last night, I think she had like 2 shots in the first 10 minutes....and we were leading by double digits.  She doesn't have to be ball centric to be a difference maker.  We dribble too much as a team and don't pass enough.  When we do pass, we turn the ball over like crazy.  It's either death by poison or sword right now.

[yote18]

Round 2 of the challenge today at 1 against Idaho State. Not sure what I expect, other than a win preferably, from today’s game. I’d like to see a 15+ win by the Yotes at home given that UND was able to squeak by them on the road. But I have a feeling we will see another high scoring down to the wire game.

Other games to keep an eye on, Montana State and SDSU, NDSU and NAU. And I’m curious to see if st Thomas Kees it’s momentum going.