My 2 cents on the bigs:
Liv – making some nice passes on cutters as GA has her out on the perimeter and not posting up. Liv has looked good the last two games with her passing…but again this is against shorter and less athletic players. I’d like to see her do this against SC.
Poor defense to let a smaller player school her in the paint. She really closes out well when her man is picking a guard and then rushes back to get her man rolling. It will be interesting to see if she can be so aggressive against top teams with a skilled big rolling to the basket.
Pretty pick and dish from EW to Liv. I thought she had a really good 2nd Qtr rebounding the ball and boxing out smaller players which is not easy to do for a taller, thinner player with minimal base.
Sometimes I have to scratch my head with her. When she is in the paint and has one player on her and that player happens to be 3 inches shorter, that is an easy basket for anybody! So instead, she passes the ball out….. She is a ‘pre-programmed’ player most of the time. Not really instinctual at this stage. When the unexpected happens, such as no weakside help (in this game), or she gets the ball on the left side of the basket, she gets befuddled.
Again, she can’t finish in the lane against a much smaller player. It is what it is with Liv. She has a very small comfort zone. I have seen glimpses of her expanding her game and she is still putting it together. It’s is not natural for her….She needs a lot of reps to get things down. She still has value as a rim protector, rebounder, recipient on the pick and roll, a move or two a game maybe, and much more if is she can hit the 12-15 footer! That is a big ‘IF’ though.
I still like her for 12 and 10 at SC though! But I will have my fingers crossed as well.
EW beaten a couple times. Movement on defense is not looking as good lately. It is a bit of a hit and miss with her. Crafty finish on the feed from Liv. Seems to have lapses in judgement 2-3 times a game. Had a sound overall game however.
I’ve mentioned this before, she has some nasty in her. I think she enjoys it when she has a chance to embarrass another player. I’ve seen this a few times this year.
AE – nice play in the open court. Bigs are not usually comfortable in these situations but she seems to be a natural at it. Has some serious movement skills for a big. Did she mean to bank in the short baby hook or was she trying to break backboards again? I think the banker in these situations is by far the higher percentage shot, but most players don’t use it.
Creates so many more opportunities for herself in the paint than Liv because she is simply a bigger, wider and stronger player. She just naturally creates space that Liv can’t create which is why Liv can’t ‘make a living’ solely in the paint. Liv needs to hit that 12-15 footer with consistency and then her game takes off.
When AE is good, she is big time good! PLAY OF THE GAME: The block and full court lay in was special. You don’t see that very often and she made it look easy. Does anybody know if she had this huge growth spurt at some point because bigs just don’t move like she does! Her lung capacity must be 50% larger than the average human because she is just full on, all out, all the time! She is just scratching the surface. She has had her breakout games and now needs consistency AND do it against top level teams.
Excellent movement to get the charge where she lost her teeth. How many bigs can move like that???? She is a 'dancing bear'. Back to back games with no ‘bull in a china shop’ moments. She also helps Liv play to her strengths which is a HUGE plus!
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There's no way they can be that close and some of Paige's "pixie dust" not rub off on her. 
