The Curse of the Fifth Starter

[HopJim]

USF starts 3 quick little guards who can all shoot. So Anna had to guard one of them. It’s interesting that during the second half, when Aubrey was locking down USF’s pg, Jose subbed in a bigger wing who was guarded by Crystal. The wing wasn’t athletic enough to use her size advantage and Crystal pretty much shut her down.

Conversely, was wondering why Anna was not sent down low where she had a 3"+ advantage. Remembering the turnaround she took against KLS in the USA game, seems like this is a skill (among several) she keeps hidden.

 

[Glenn]

The differences between Aubrey and Anna for our offense our in the 4 big games (Baylor, Tenn, Oregon, USC) is less than I had thought. Anna has 21 points and has shot 33%, while Aubrey has 18 points in fewer minutes (116 for Anna and 73 for Aubrey) and has shot 41%. On a 40 minute basis Aubrey has averaged 10 points and Anna 7. Now Anna has more assists per 40 (3.4 versus 2.2) and fewer turnovers (1.7 versus 4.4), but Anna also has fewer rebounds (5.9 versus 10.4) of which some must be offensive. I was a bit surprised by this. I thought Anna had shown more on the offensive side than she has, but it was only the Oregon game.

 

[oldude]

Conversely, was wondering why Anna was not sent down low where she had a 3"+ advantage. Remembering the turnaround she took against KLS in the USA game, seems like this is a skill (among several) she keeps hidden.

Yes, when teams put a smaller, quick defender on Lou to get up in her face and harass her outside shooting, invariably she buries them in the post, with her back to the basket, receives an entry pass deep in the paint where she is an extremely capable scorer with either hand. I have not seen anything from Anna to date that demonstrates that she’s able to score with her back to the basket in the low post. If she does have that as part of her repertoire, it is a good way to take advantage of a smaller defender.