JoePgh
Cranky pants and wise acre
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2011
- Messages
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As usual, Geno had some things to say about last night's game and about the starting lineup:
1. Of most immediate importance, he said that KML did not practice today, but she was better and he is now hopeful that she will play on Thursday evening.
2. He said that one of the issues with the starting lineup and the substitution patterns is that certain combinations of players don't work well together. Stef and KML in particular need to be on the floor for the team to be at its best. And he did say that having more than one "young guy" (I think that means freshman) on the floor at once is not good. He specifically mentioned the potential backcourt combination of Brianna and Moriah and said that while fans may think it would be amazing because of their speed, it might really be more like two fast cars being driven in opposite directions into a ditch. He said that a more seasoned backcourt player needs to be playing with either of them to "make sure that the turn signals are being used".
3. He had a particularly interesting comment about Kiah (a perennial subject of mine). He said that the main thing that the coaches are trying to make her do is to become more active. He noted that Stef has many more steals than Kiah, even accounting for Kiah's lower minutes. He thought Kiah would make more plays, get more steals, and have more impact on the game if she were active in the way that Stef is, getting into traffic and demanding the ball. He joked about her one basket against Maryland, where Bria's pass basically bounced off her hands and into the net (a slight exaggeration, of course). But he really meant that she wasn't focused on scoring and wasn't ready for the ball despite being in perfect position to receive the pass.
As usual, very insightful comments that probably wouldn't occur to many of us if he hadn't expressed them.
1. Of most immediate importance, he said that KML did not practice today, but she was better and he is now hopeful that she will play on Thursday evening.
2. He said that one of the issues with the starting lineup and the substitution patterns is that certain combinations of players don't work well together. Stef and KML in particular need to be on the floor for the team to be at its best. And he did say that having more than one "young guy" (I think that means freshman) on the floor at once is not good. He specifically mentioned the potential backcourt combination of Brianna and Moriah and said that while fans may think it would be amazing because of their speed, it might really be more like two fast cars being driven in opposite directions into a ditch. He said that a more seasoned backcourt player needs to be playing with either of them to "make sure that the turn signals are being used".
3. He had a particularly interesting comment about Kiah (a perennial subject of mine). He said that the main thing that the coaches are trying to make her do is to become more active. He noted that Stef has many more steals than Kiah, even accounting for Kiah's lower minutes. He thought Kiah would make more plays, get more steals, and have more impact on the game if she were active in the way that Stef is, getting into traffic and demanding the ball. He joked about her one basket against Maryland, where Bria's pass basically bounced off her hands and into the net (a slight exaggeration, of course). But he really meant that she wasn't focused on scoring and wasn't ready for the ball despite being in perfect position to receive the pass.
As usual, very insightful comments that probably wouldn't occur to many of us if he hadn't expressed them.
