Kate Westbeld may, but may not, be okay

[shizam]

ND allowed 45 points in the first half without her. She came in the 3rd quarter and they allowed only 8. How "awful".

If you watched that game, she can't have been the worst defensive player you ever saw because the people they had in the lineup in her place were doing far worse than her. That's not even mentioning Shepard who got blown by multiple times.

I've heard for her entire career on this board how terrible she is. All I know is that Notre Dame is much better on both ends with her on the floor.

I did not watch that game. Very good info. I’ve seen her twice this year and she STUNK. Myisha Hines-Allen looked like Michael Jordon against her each game. Hines Allen can definitely be stopped but not by Westbeld. Westbeld was BY FAR Hines-Allen’s easiest matchup all year. Kat looked unaware and slow. You are right on Shepherd. GREAT offensive player surprisingly lame defensively. Nelson STUNK too. All three are extremely poor defenders.

 

[Orangutan]

I did not watch that game. Very good info. I’ve seen her twice this year and she STUNK. Myisha Hines-Allen looked like Michael Jordon against her each game. Hines Allen can definitely be stopped but not by Westbeld. Westbeld was BY FAR Hines-Allen’s easiest matchup all year. Kat looked unaware and slow. You are right on Shepherd. GREAT offensive player surprisingly lame defensively. Nelson STUNK too. All three are extremely poor defenders.

Yeah, Hines-Allen is a bad matchup. Is there a more athletic 4 in the country than Hines-Allen? Collier is probably equivalent but it's not a long list. Kat generally knows what to do and where to be but she just can't match up with Hines-Allen's athleticism. Louisville is one of the specific matchups where ND misses Brianna Turner most because otherwise they have no counter to Hines-Allen's quickness and leaping ability in the post.

Another possible option would have been Mikayla Vaughn had she not been injured. Not that she was some sort of ace defender before the injury but at least she had the size and hops maybe compete for rebounds with Hines-Allen.

 

[Orangutan]

And since this thread is still going...

Nerves not a problem for Notre Dame's Jessica Shepard in NCAA Tournament

 

[shizam]

Yeah, Hines-Allen is a bad matchup. Is there a more athletic 4 in the country than Hines-Allen? Collier is probably equivalent but it's not a long list. Kat generally knows what to do and where to be but she just can't match up with Hines-Allen's athleticism. Louisville is one of the specific matchups where ND misses Brianna Turner most because otherwise they have no counter to Hines-Allen's quickness and leaping ability in the post.

Another possible option would have been Mikayla Vaughn had she not been injured. Not that she was some sort of ace defender before the injury but at least she had the size and hops maybe compete for rebounds with Hines-Allen.

Vaughn and Turner both would have neutralized Hines-Allen. She hates those long rangy players with length.
Also, Hines-Allen has below avg hops. She does it with her build and positioning. She is not an above average leaper. A bit led footed vertically but gets her rebounds from girth grit and hands and a coach who instills double digit rebound expectations each game. She’s 6’2.

 

[Orangutan]

Vaughn and Turner both would have neutralized Hines-Allen. She hates those long rangy players with length.
Also, Hines-Allen has below avg hops. She does it with her build and positioning. She is not an above average leaper. A bit led footed vertically but gets her rebounds from girth grit and hands and a coach who instills double digit rebound expectations each game. She’s 6’2.

Interesting, I guess she is fooling me with positioning. I sort of assumed it was just athletic ability that lead to her seemingly being everywhere, especially in the blowout at Louisville.

 

[Dillon77]

Vaughn and Turner both would have neutralized Hines-Allen. She hates those long rangy players with length.
Also, Hines-Allen has below avg hops. She does it with her build and positioning. She is not an above average leaper. A bit led footed vertically but gets her rebounds from girth grit and hands and a coach who instills double digit rebound expectations each game. She’s 6’2.

Are you suggesting that Hines-Allen is is a load that just throws her weight around and gets decent positioning from time to time? And is egged on by her coach?

If you are, I'd strongly suggest you've got the wrong Myisha Hines-Allen in mind. While I'm a hardcore ND alum and fan, I've also watched Myisha Hines-Allen grow up in our mutual hometown of Montclair, NJ and that young woman is a solidly build 6-2" who has enough athletic ability to have been actively recruited year-in, year-out by the state-champion soccer team to join them due to overall athletic ability and, yes stamina. As for rebounding, she's going for it hard, but it's not as if she's neglected this part of the game.

Maybe she can't jump like Gabby, but she has intuition and a good first-step (which would've helped her in soccer as it does in hoops), combined with the good positioning you noted and her box-out skills.

Turner always played Myuisha hard...and the Irish missed that this year. I'll be rooting for Myisha because she's a good kid, her family contributes to the hoops scene in Essex County and

 

[Dillon77]

Interesting, I guess she is fooling me with positioning. I sort of assumed it was just athletic ability that lead to her seemingly being everywhere, especially in the blowout at Louisville.

You're not being fooled. While Myisha is pretty well-schooled in terms of positioning, she is also one heck of an athlete (please see my other post). Having watched her grow up (she's my younger daughter's age), I can attest to this.

 

[shizam]

Are you suggesting that Hines-Allen is is a load that just throws her weight around and gets decent positioning from time to time? And is egged on by her coach?

If you are, I'd strongly suggest you've got the wrong Myisha Hines-Allen in mind. While I'm a hardcore ND alum and fan, I've also watched Myisha Hines-Allen grow up in our mutual hometown of Montclair, NJ and that young woman is a solidly build 6-2" who has enough athletic ability to have been actively recruited year-in, year-out by the state-champion soccer team to join them due to overall athletic ability and, yes stamina. As for rebounding, she's going for it hard, but it's not as if she's neglected this part of the game.

Maybe she can't jump like Gabby, but she has intuition and a good first-step (which would've helped her in soccer as it does in hoops), combined with the good positioning you noted and her box-out skills.

Turner always played Myuisha hard...and the Irish missed that this year. I'll be rooting for Myisha because she's a good kid, her family contributes to the hoops scene in Essex County and

No one jumps like Gabby. Myisha is athletic for sure but can’t jump. I’ve watched her 4 years. Myisha had a few conditioning problems. She used to drag her feet on the floor at times shuffling around. She was good from her first year on but is not the best b-ball IQ . She now has become a tremendous interior passer and can run the court with the best of them. Her defense went from bad to very good in 4 years. She still gets caught making unforced turnovers (travels, bad passes that come in bunches, mostly low to high) but has a lot more good games then bad games. A taller player has no problem blocking her shots. Her bread and butter is the mid range face up but she can drive past you and also hurt you w put backs. She’s also capable of hitting from 3 if she has to. She’ll be a 2nd round pick. She’s capable of 24 points in one game and 4 points the next. Maybe that’s WCB. I thought after her sensational soph year she would be a top 6 pick in the draft. As far as a person she’s the best. The fans love her. I am rooting for her in the tourney and to make the WNBA.

Asia Taylor (L’ville) made the WNBA as a last pick in the 2014 3rd round (36th pick) with the Lynx no less. Asia is a star in Australian league and going into her 4th year in WNBA and she earned every bit of it improving her game every year enabling her to stay in the league. I hope she cracks a starting line up and makes a valuable contribution this year.