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- Oct 29, 2011
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In contrast to some of the Hartley gloom in various articles and threads, as understandable as it might be, and in contrast to the "We need Hartley to score alot of points, " school (which probably includes the top of the horde, the top of the coaching staff, announcers, and many Yarders), as understandable as that might also be, here is a different slant.
Our Girls knocked on the door of 90 points again yesterday. And that against a pretty athletic team that plays alot of the grab and hold defense, which I think should be called, and the grab and throw to the floor crap which should lead to a flagrant call if not expulsion. The combination of all this present a pretty tough challenge to an offense.
And within that 85 point performance, Hartley did a number of things which I liked despite the "worst shooting performance of her career" or maybe even because of it. (Despite that shooting night, her stroke at the foul line look good and true and CONFIDENT and relaxed, by the way.) Though her turnovers continued at a nasty rate, she did make some terrific passes that connected. I'm not among those who think her defensive skills are near tops on the squad, but she did have some significant disruptions on the defensive end. She was moving alot. And, at one point rather late in the game, the ball was zipping around the offensive end so spectacularly I asked of our guests, "Did he take Hartley out?" And he hadn't....she was part of what I thought was a tremendous , consistent display of passing the ball and finding the open man. In fact, I can't remember a much better multi-minute display all year.
Bottom line for me on this: we don't need a ton of points from Hartley, although I think she'll have some fine scoring nights. As noted in my post on her good play a few weeks back when she scored little if at all and took a low (for her) seven shots, the team scored in the 90s that night as well, and what we did get from her that night also was MUCH better ball movement within a team-oriented context.
For scoring,even against the top four teams, we need about one other person per night other than our solid threesome to chip in significantly......and there are plenty of players on this team who can fill that bill on a given night. Hartley can and prob will be one of those who does so in some games.
But she certainly doesn't need the burden of expectation that she "must" be THE one. No good for her. And not accurate; we'll be fine if she functions as part of a team that is keeping the ball moving, limits herself to good shots, and sometimes displays her scoring touch.
Our Girls knocked on the door of 90 points again yesterday. And that against a pretty athletic team that plays alot of the grab and hold defense, which I think should be called, and the grab and throw to the floor crap which should lead to a flagrant call if not expulsion. The combination of all this present a pretty tough challenge to an offense.
And within that 85 point performance, Hartley did a number of things which I liked despite the "worst shooting performance of her career" or maybe even because of it. (Despite that shooting night, her stroke at the foul line look good and true and CONFIDENT and relaxed, by the way.) Though her turnovers continued at a nasty rate, she did make some terrific passes that connected. I'm not among those who think her defensive skills are near tops on the squad, but she did have some significant disruptions on the defensive end. She was moving alot. And, at one point rather late in the game, the ball was zipping around the offensive end so spectacularly I asked of our guests, "Did he take Hartley out?" And he hadn't....she was part of what I thought was a tremendous , consistent display of passing the ball and finding the open man. In fact, I can't remember a much better multi-minute display all year.
Bottom line for me on this: we don't need a ton of points from Hartley, although I think she'll have some fine scoring nights. As noted in my post on her good play a few weeks back when she scored little if at all and took a low (for her) seven shots, the team scored in the 90s that night as well, and what we did get from her that night also was MUCH better ball movement within a team-oriented context.
For scoring,even against the top four teams, we need about one other person per night other than our solid threesome to chip in significantly......and there are plenty of players on this team who can fill that bill on a given night. Hartley can and prob will be one of those who does so in some games.
But she certainly doesn't need the burden of expectation that she "must" be THE one. No good for her. And not accurate; we'll be fine if she functions as part of a team that is keeping the ball moving, limits herself to good shots, and sometimes displays her scoring touch.
