HuskyNan
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Lou2? Nika and who?
Lou2? Nika and who?
She is a forward with a loose handle. Remember in the Princeton game when Nika got hurt and Maryland when she was out both sloppyLou
But, a decent % of Nika's passes are just really poor choices. I know she has many assists, but I don't see her as the "natural" high-level PG that others do. I very much admire her other attributes, but her PG decision-making is painful at times (as Geno expresses in games).Nika is the only real ballhandler, has the ball in her hands A much larger percentage than any other player. A chart with time in players possession against number of turnovers would work in her favor. Rewatch or replay every turnovers it seems most bad passes happen because of some miscommunication between the 2 players in the read and react offense, the result of the lack of healthy players and reduced practice.
If you look at the per game stats, you can group the players into 3 arbitrary cohorts regarding turnovers.
1. Nika 3.7, Aaliyah 3.0, Caroline 2.7
2. Dorka 2.1, Lou 2.1, Aubrey 2.0
3. Azzi 1.6, Amari 1.3, Ines 1.2, Ayanna 0.9
I am not doing the per 40 analysis, or considering the possession time, or number of possessions, or passes.
I think the way forward is to examine the choices players are making. If they shoot plus rebound rather then make a difficult pass into a crowded paint area, they will have greater success. We typically take fewer shots than opposing teams, and we are usually low on offensive rebounds.
As a point of comparison against South Carolina, if you look at field goal attempts, free throw attempts, offensive boards, and turnovers,
SCAR
FGA: 66, FTA:22, OR:18, TO:13
UConn
FGA:57, FTA:17, OR:10, TO:17
If we track recent games, our offensive effort is lower than the averages shown above.
My point- the problem lies with what we are not doing. We have better shooters than most teams. We should be taking more shots. If players are guarded closely, take jump shots and draw fouls.
Others may have better ideas as this is just one point of view..
While Nika obviously drives our assist numbers, Dorka has really stepped up in that area of the game this season. She has quietly become a very good passer.When a team is down Paige, Azzi, and Caroline, I would expect their number of turnovers to increase. I would expect to see their assist go down as well, but thank goodness we have Nika to keep our assist numbers in a good place. Also a good thing we good post players for her to pass to.
While the number maybe alarming, it is important to look at it in context.
Dorka was a really good passer last year, too, but didn't have as many opportunities with Liv often holding down the high post.While Nika obviously drives our assist numbers, Dorka has really stepped up in that area of the game this season. She has quietly become a very good passer.
Me thinks that we pass too much in the half court and dribble across half-court rather than pass up-court. The defense gets set. We run the 30 second clock down with so many passes that don't seem to be productive or looking to score. Our TV view may be to blame but some players receive the ball in a good spot but don't seem to want to shoot, just pass back. We need a good penetrating guard like ND. We do, on occasion do penetrate. CD did a lot in the 4th qtr of the recent C game to good effect. Nika can also but needs to develop a hesitation dribble and quick drive to the hoop. She is great doing this and we need to see it more against the high-quality teams in the season endng games. Increasingly, we are facing guards that can do this successfully. Our bigs need to clear out the defender to help the penetration.As Geno has said Nika's ability to be maximally effective depends on the four players with her to be so as well. Her focus and the strength of her game is to 'feed her teammates'. I looked at stats from the last 6 games (post Tennessee) and compared them with season averages. Arguably the only good game we played during that stretch was against South Carolina.
Over that stretch Nika played all except 3 minutes (237 out of 240 minutes). Over those six games her assists were 3.25/gm lower than her season average (currently at 8.08/gm), her turnovers were down .09/gm and her shooting percentage was 16% higher than her season average. Over that same period the team assists/game was 2.32 lower, turnovers down .42/gm and shooting percentage 12% lower than the season average.
Below is a chart comparing the last six games to season averages for the starters and team as a whole
I would argue that rather than errant/ill advised passes etc., being a current concern, our real problem is a big drop-off in our ability to finish in this last stretch of games. I have noticed a reluctance several times by various players to actually take the open outside shot but rather pass the ball unproductively. Also there have been a lot of instances where the ball has gone inside and the shot has been forced up, against double or triple teams resulting in a miss and the ball going the other way. The drop off of shooting % as a whole and in particular by Lou and Aaliyah is particularly glaring.
Nika's noticeable singularly improved FG % during this period, although a positive personal achievable, speaks more to her trying to find a way to positively impact the games when her main strength has been negated than an overall uptick in the teams performance. I would argue that she is still making a great many solid passes but they are not resulting in assists. Her turnovers are actually slightly reduced over this period. I would have to go back and rewatch games but I don't think she has been as actively involved in the ball movement after her initial pass off, which IMO, is not a positive sign. Perhaps all the minutes she is playing has reduced her movement due to not having the energy or, which I have noticed at least a couple times, her teammates have looked her off and tried to make the play themselves (which may be a sign of their own tiredness and resultant inability to constantly move). Either way I think her getting more touches benefits our historically good ball movement and the ability of teammates to move to find good positions to receive a pass from her or another teammate.
If we can increase ball movement, particularly by passing back out quickly by the posts if the easy finish isn't there and then passing to find the open player coupled with taking the shots from the outside when open rather than being reluctant to do so, then a lot of our early success should return. Particularly with the return of Caroline and hopefully imminent return of Azzi, we can get back to Nika's double digit assist games (which is a harbinger of good ball movement and higher % finishes), return to high shooting percentages by Lou and Aaliyah and continued solid play by Aubrey and Dorka.
And yet Geno put her in alongside Paige as the point and stated the team was better then. Geno yells at the player who he knows can handle it often to impress upon the real offender what was wrong, something he has stated often over the years.But, a decent % of Nika's passes are just really poor choices. I know she has many assists, but I don't see her as the "natural" high-level PG that others do. I very much admire her other attributes, but her PG decision-making is painful at times (as Geno expresses in games).