Maryland OSU game

[CamrnCrz1974]

Cam we will have to respectfully agree to disagree on this one. If viewership equated to offensive output then the Oregon teams coach by Paul Silas in recent past would have been leading WCBB in eyeballs watching the game because their objective was to score 100 points per game or in a half if they could. Oregon's idea of playing defense was to give you an open shot so they could get the ball back and launch another three.

Coco, I understand your point about Oregon (and it was Paul Westphal, not Silas), but Oregon was not a top team and would get blown out regularly. Oregon did not have the individual playmakers and offensive talents as those at Ohio State and Maryland, in terms of the ability to create their own shots and set up plays for others. The ability to create one's own shot is much rarer in the women's game, as is playmaking.

In other words, as I mentioned in my original post, it is not just about offense, but the skills on display (free-flowing and an up-and-down game with both action and skills on display).

 

[Orangutan]

If a game is high-scoring, someone will say that nobody is playing defense. If a game is low scoring, someone will bemoan the lack of offensive skill on display. You can't please everyone.

Personally, I prefer the run-and-gun style of Ohio State to the slow-down defensively-oriented style that seems to be the default in the SEC.

In the specific case of Ohio State, I think they are playing to their strengths. I'm not sure they have the personnel right now to be a great half-court defensive team, so they are playing fast (3rd most possessions/40 min. among Power 5 teams) and focusing on offense. That may change next year when they have Mavunga and McCoy in the fold.