Knowing when not to shoot the 3

[DobbsRover2]

Checking the Louisville-Baylor Sweet 16 box score, I noticed one kind of odd fact in the Cards stats. In a game where the team took 25 3-pointers and hit 16, eight of the nine Cards in the game shot a 3, even forward Courtnee Walton who made only two attempts all year and hit none.

The one Card who was not at all involved with hoisting the 3s was starting sophomore guard Bria Smith, who played 32 minutes before fouling out. But the lack of the bombs for Smith was the standard, as she shot only 7 during her 977 minutes last year and made 0. As a freshman she was 3-19 on threes, so a 3-26 career mark obviously does not breed confidence in the shot. Still, to have a starting guard on a team in the NC game not hit a single 3 all year sounds pretty amazing.

To put that in perspective, on UConn only centers Kiah Stokes and Heather Buck made no 3s (and took none), and among the rest of the players, center Stef Dolson shot and made by far the least at 8-19, though at a 42.1% average as the second most accurate bomber on the Huskies, I'm sure she's ready to light up the perimeter in her senior year.

But you can say this for Smith, she knows what shot not to take, and her 5-7 shooting in the Baylor game was a big plus for the Cards. She didn't shoot much in the NC game but did have 6 assists and got that interesting foul called on Caroline Doty that helped get the Huskies riled up and on their way.

 

[UConnCat]

But you can say this for Smith, she knows what shot not to take, and her 5-7 shooting in the Baylor game was a big plus for the Cards. She didn't shoot much in the NC game but did have 6 assists and got that interesting foul called on Caroline Doty that helped get the Huskies riled up and on their way.

Bria also has 6 TOs in the NC game. Turnovers have been a problem for Bria, but Walz also played her at the point which has not been a position she had played a lot in her career. Bria is a shooting guard who can't shoot which may explain why Geno didn't offer her a scholarship after watching her play at CTK many times.

 

[DobbsRover2]

44% isn't the worst shooting percentage for a guard, but if you factor in that she takes almost no 3-pters, that lessens the value of that mark a bit. Closest comparison on Huskies as far as overall shooting percentage by a guard would be Bria Hartley who shot 39% but was at 48% on her two point attempts as almost half of her attempts were 3s. Smith does turn the ball over a lot for a poor .8 a/TO ratio, but had more steals than anyone on either the Huskies or Cards except Kelly Faris.

 

[UConnCat]

44% isn't the worst shooting percentage for a guard, but if you factor in that she takes almost no 3-pters, that lessens the value of that mark a bit. Closest comparison on Huskies as far as overall shooting percentage by a guard would be Bria Hartley who shot 39% but was at 48% on her two point attempts as almost half of her attempts were 3s. Smith does turn the ball over a lot for a poor .8 a/TO ratio, but had more steals than anyone on either the Huskies or Cards except Kelly Faris.

It would be more accurate to say that Bria is a shooting guard who can't shoot from the perimeter. Her strength is driving to the basket and she's able to finish against less athletic and average defensive teams (most opponents). She gets fouled a lot (by far more than her teammates) yet converts 64% of the time (not good for a guard).

I've enjoyed watching Bria play and hope she's able to improve her shot so she can play at her more natural position.

 

[pinotbear]

..Like the man said..

 

[sarals24]

If Smith gets an outside shot she will be dangerous. She is super quick and can get to the basket. Another thing I've noticed about her is that she keeps the ball really low when dribbling (unlike our own Bria, whose high dribbling habits drive me crazy) and can turn the corner on the defender very well.

I don't know if her shot can be fixed, though. From what I've seen, it's low and flat, which is tough to change at this point in her career.

I like her, though. As much as I didn't care for Shoni during the season (and I dislike how much L'Ville fouls), that game against Baylor was a thing of beauty.