Definitely win with Nika. First of all the defense on the perimeter and when they bring the ball up, secondly the assists (Ines had 2), thirdly the court presence and command of the offense and fourth, our forwards (counting Lou here) had to handle the ball and hence 25 turnovers to their 5.
For Ines, she makes certain freshman mistakes over and over. which I am sure will be corrected soon. The first is that she turns her back to the basket when dribbling which means she is no longer an offensive threat and cannot see the half court. Secondly, she throws one handed slower push passes off the dribble which may have worked for her last year but with the bigger, quicker and stronger American players it doesn't work at all and forces the receiver to come out of their spot to get it. Third, she dribbles far too much. Bring it down court, make your first pass safely and quickly, and then repeat if necessary. A lot of this is strength too and will change.
For Caroline, the turnovers (6) are difficult to understand from a player this heady. Many of the turnovers were either unforced in her case or because they forced our forwards to make decisions and that hurt us. She is a favorite of mine and I just hope her focus/judgment if that's what it is returns soon.
Lou was definitely tired today. You could see it in her face. I think that is the simple answer. Fatigue makes you foul. It also affects you on offense.
Aaliyah had a great game and Aubrey was huge on the glass with 15 boards but 3-9 from the field. She had the lowest FG% on our team with some forced shots. Ayanna is improving with each game and Amari is getting there slowly.
My biggest takeaway is the scheduling. That's the second week in a row we played at home against an easier team( Princeton is one compared to our other OOC games) on a Friday and then had to play a ranked team on a Sunday away after a plane ride. I get that we are mimicking the NCAA Friday- Sunday games but all it has done thus far has made us beaten up, weary, and bedraggled, and given us two losses. The losses are almost irrelevant this time of year but I don't see how the one day rest games in December are going to help in late March.
The real positives are the growth of certain players in the midst of this cycle, especially Ayanna, Amari, Aaliyah and Aubrey with Caroline still getting there. I have no doubt in the long range success of this mission but it is tough watching at times while knowing what would happen if we had Azzi, Nika and Dorka out there. A week off is sorely needed, no pun intended.
