Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="#12in21, post: 4865203, member: 10763"] In games against talented teams we can't afford to have any of Paige, Nika or Aaliyah out for extended periods of time. Significant foul trouble (or god forbid injury) to any of those three throws off everything on both ends of the floor. Nika's inability to stay on the floor, IMO, was a significant factor in our loss to ND, a[B]s also and at least equally would have been the case if we had lost either Paige or Aaliyah[/B]. If Aubrey were available and whichever of the remaining two of the three seniors were playing well we very well could have weathered the storm. That being said, given Nika's role and very vocal leadership (constantly yelling out about positioning and switches, etc., on the defensive end) compounded our inability to adjust to what ND and Hidalgo in particular were able to get offensively at will. As others have mentioned, I would of liked to see Ines in there for a lot of Ice's minutes to, at a minimum, use up her fouls to take some charges while blocking Hidalgo's path to the basket and possibly to alter or limit a bit Hidalgo's ability to constantly drive to the right. The outcome could most likely still be the loss but perhaps Hidalgo's impact and the margin of victory reduced. On the offensive end, Nika's absence was also impactful as she in her new role, rather than always handling the ball, is a roaming outlet for a pass out from a scorer if their play is blocked and she is always aware of all our scorers' locations and ceaselessly looks to feed them. Her presence on the floor may have helped to allow us to continue to get more shots for Aaliyah and better opportunities for Paige, Ash and KK. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach