Overachieving/Underachieving Teams

[SECbbfan24]

Just watched Kansas dismantle Arizona at Arizona. Kansas is a very good team. Not sure what to think about Arizona. But Kansas was a pleasure to watch.

Kansas made the 2nd round last year and returned the bulk of their team. They should be poised to make a very strong Big 12 run this year.

 

[jake0414]

Just watched Kansas dismantle Arizona at Arizona. Kansas is a very good team. Not sure what to think about Arizona. But Kansas was a pleasure to watch.

Arizona looked completely out of sync. Gave up a lot of offensive rebounds to Kansas. Seemed like a lot of one on one ball on offense. Only 8 assists on 21 field goals. Kansas only had 11 on 29 but I think many Jayhawk baskets came on put backs. Kansas outrebounded Arizona by 20, 51-31. Arizona appeared to give up mid-way through the 4th quarter.

Kansas definitely played more cohesively and together as a team. They looked to push the ball inside and had great success. If they play in Big -12 conference games as they did tonight they could earn a top 2 or 3 finish. They played good defense.

Arizona, on the other hand, has to improve its team play. Having only 4 or 5 returning players, encouraging others to leave, and adding other top scorers through the portal has created some early challenges for Coach Barnes and her staff. They played poor defense. This lopsided loss at home will surely serve as a wake-up call and get everyone’s undivided attention. We’ll see if Coach Barnes can mold it’s talented roster into a team capable of making a deep run in March.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Arizona looked completely out of sync. Gave up a lot of offensive rebounds to Kansas. Seemed like a lot of one on one ball on offense. Only 8 assists on 21 field goals. Kansas only had 11 on 29 but I think many Jayhawk baskets came on put backs. Kansas outrebounded Arizona by 20, 51-31. Arizona appeared to give up mid-way through the 4th quarter.

Kansas definitely played more cohesively and together as a team. They looked to push the ball inside and had great success. If they play in Big -12 conference games as they did tonight they could earn a top 2 or 3 finish. They played good defense.

Arizona, on the other hand, has to improve its team play. Having only 4 or 5 returning players, encouraging others to leave, and adding other top scorers through the portal has created some early challenges for Coach Barnes and her staff. They played poor defense. This lopsided loss at home will surely serve as a wake-up call and get everyone’s undivided attention. We’ll see if Coach Barnes can mold it’s talented roster into a team capable of making a deep run in March.

Pretty much, I was there. On top of the poor rebounding and excessive dribbling / one on one it was also true that Arizona's shooting was off. Don't know why, but shots players would typically make were largely not falling; Cate Reese was the only one with some shooting success (I haven't seen the actual stats, but I saw the half-time ones (where I sit on the floor they hand them out) and they were dreadful).

If anyone reading this thinks there was "selfishness" involved, I didn't see it. It wasn't good team basketball, and passing was awful, but the one on one episodes often involved multiple players before the shot was taken and usually missed.

They print a "scout" in our local paper and you would have thought the players never heard it. Adia and her husband were, at times, angry and finally just resigned. They laid an egg, no doubt.

I don't know what this says for the future. I caught in the pre-game newspaper article a hint that she perhaps wasn't 100% pleased with the way they play together on defense. Still, to me on the defensive side, it was Kansas running the same plays and we just couldn't stop them - and acted like we didn't expect them.

Yikes.

 

[jonson]

Pretty much, I was there. On top of the poor rebounding and excessive dribbling / one on one it was also true that Arizona's shooting was off. Don't know why, but shots players would typically make were largely not falling; Cate Reese was the only one with some shooting success (I haven't seen the actual stats, but I saw the half-time ones (where I sit on the floor they hand them out) and they were dreadful).

If anyone reading this thinks there was "selfishness" involved, I didn't see it. It wasn't good team basketball, and passing was awful, but the one on one episodes often involved multiple players before the shot was taken and usually missed.

They print a "scout" in our local paper and you would have thought the players never heard it. Adia and her husband were, at times, angry and finally just resigned. They laid an egg, no doubt.

I don't know what this says for the future. I caught in the pre-game newspaper article a hint that she perhaps wasn't 100% pleased with the way they play together on defense. Still, to me on the defensive side, it was Kansas running the same plays and we just couldn't stop them - and acted like we didn't expect them.

Yikes.

Offensively, Arizona looked to me like they often do: no real offensive flow, very few assists, too much one on one, inconsistent shooting, etc. In the past, forcing turnovers and having Ari McDonald do her thing made much of that moot. But this team doesn't seem on the same page defensively, and, as much as Pellington et al. tried to reprise what McDonald did game after game, it didn't really work. To put it another way, the whole seems quite a bit less than the sum of it parts.

Kansas, on the other hand, seemed just the opposite despite being the far less talented team on paper. I tend to think that @jake0414 is correct in suggesting that Barnes's decision to change things dramatically after last season (lots of tranfers in and out--with at least some of the latter the coach's decision--+ 4 recruits} has actually made her work a lot harder.

 

[HuskyFan1125]

Pretty much, I was there. On top of the poor rebounding and excessive dribbling / one on one it was also true that Arizona's shooting was off. Don't know why, but shots players would typically make were largely not falling; Cate Reese was the only one with some shooting success (I haven't seen the actual stats, but I saw the half-time ones (where I sit on the floor they hand them out) and they were dreadful).

If anyone reading this thinks there was "selfishness" involved, I didn't see it. It wasn't good team basketball, and passing was awful, but the one on one episodes often involved multiple players before the shot was taken and usually missed.

They print a "scout" in our local paper and you would have thought the players never heard it. Adia and her husband were, at times, angry and finally just resigned. They laid an egg, no doubt.

I don't know what this says for the future. I caught in the pre-game newspaper article a hint that she perhaps wasn't 100% pleased with the way they play together on defense. Still, to me on the defensive side, it was Kansas running the same plays and we just couldn't stop them - and acted like we didn't expect them.

Yikes.

I caught the game on the PAC12 network, and this was exactly what I seeing on tv. The Kansas guards just kept driving right to the basket every time and if they missed the layup their 6'6 center Taiyannna Jackson would just rebound and putback to the tune of 19 points and 15 rebounds.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Offensively, Arizona looked to me like they often do: no real offensive flow, very few assists, too much one on one, inconsistent shooting, etc. In the past, forcing turnovers and having Ari McDonald do her thing made much of that moot. But this team doesn't seem on the same page defensively, and, as much as Pellington et al. tried to reprise what McDonald did game after game, it didn't really work. To put it another way, the whole seems quite a bit less than the sum of it parts.

Kansas, on the other hand, seemed just the opposite despite being the far less talented team on paper. I tend to think that @jake0414 is correct in suggesting that Barnes's decision to change things dramatically after last season (lots of tranfers in and out--with at least some of the latter the coach's decision--+ 4 recruits} has actually made her work a lot harder.

Yes, Barnes post-game remarks included the reality that there are a bunch of players who were the main focus at their last location and are having trouble achieving balance with the other players. Again, there isn't any real hint of selfishness, rather just everyone trying too hard to do their thing.

She also acknowledged that the problems "in" the game were the same issues that are going on in practice. During this game, Kansas exploited the issues. And their center intimidated our players - instead of trying to draw fouls our players didn't play aggressive and altered their shots.

 

[Dillon77]

Kansas made the 2nd round last year and returned the bulk of their team. They should be poised to make a very strong Big 12 run this year.

Coach Schneider was just signed to a multi-year extension. And you're right -- that team is senior-laden, so there's experience.
Hmm, if memory serves, Payton Verhulst is from the Kansas City (Kansas) region. Wonder if she'd want to join a local team, a la Caitlin Clark?

 

[ucbart]

I don't necessary consider Iowa as underachieving as much as being unfairly overrated. I see them as a Sweet Sixteen level team with a shot at Elite 8 like last year. They needed to have added a difference maker via the portal to be better than last year IMHO. Not sure why they are unsuccessful via the portal, whether it be by Bluder's choice or just not recruiting it well. Seems to me it would have been an attractive venue for some players this year. Not ready to write them off in the Big Ten though, they started slow last year and really peaked late season.

Well, not to be a jerk, but how many top level transfers want to go to Iowa and already know they're the 5th option behind Clark being option 1-3 and Czinano being 4? That's a tough sell.