Varied Thoughts

[diggerfoot]

1. The new Big East has its regular season champion, which happens to be DePaul. The ACC is Notre Dame and the AAC is UConn with Louisville runner-up. West Virginia will likely be co-champs for the Big 12. Next year it's not totally inconceivable for Rutgers to regain some of its defensive prowess to go along with its newfound offense, and in so doing lead the Big Ten (wouldn't bet on it, but it's at least possible). How awesome was the old Big East? It's a good thing UConn is such a masterpiece out there to offset all this CA b******.

2. OK, it's been a long, long time since I played organized hoops, and the highest level was making the first cut of UConn's JV (that's how long ago it was, I did not make the second cut), but I'm seeing something I was not taught by coaches or clinics back then. When Jefferson or Hartley drive to the basket they often cover up the ball like a fullback. Of course guards back then were taught to protect the ball, but not with the specific technique of a running fullback breaking through the line of scrimmage, also the same technique used after capturing a rebound. I haven't noticed other players on other teams do this so predictably when driving. Is this just coincidence or do you think the UConn staff trains their guards to do this now?

3. On the other hand what I did notice Louisville ball handlers so was use their forearms to push off while driving. Hartley does this occasionally; certainly others like Sims do this as well. Other players, like Jefferson, do not. It's instinctive to a certain degree, but not to the level that Louisville players were using their forearms while driving to the basket. Sometimes officials call fouls on that, last night they did not, except maybe one play on Stewart (I was blocked by the camera angle, but I think a Louisville player used her arm on that one, or otherwise I might have thought that was a block on Stewart). I'm all for the new rules allowing greater movement by the offensive player, but I think the yang to that yin now is to place a greater point of emphasis on preventing the use of the forearm by players driving with the ball.

4. In regards to my own two cents regarding Stewart's place among the greatest, I'm perhaps closest to Ice and ESD in my thinking, let's see how it plays out. What I do see now is a player who matches up pretty well with Moore. Perhaps Stewart uses height to compensate for some of Moore's raw athleticism, but the results on defense are pretty much the same. I actually think Stewart is ahead of Moore at this same stage in regards to playing team defense. On offense, who would have thought this from last season, but I also think the sophomore Stewart is ahead of the sophomore Moore in terms of being willing to drive and take contact. Yet what makes Taurasi so great are some intangibles not as easily measured or duplicated. These include seeing several moves ahead on the court and making teammates better. Moore made teammates better, but no one does so more than Taurasi. No one, including Stewart, at least not the sophomore Stewart. Yet I see glimpses, like that one-handed pass she recently made to thread the needle in transition. Let's see how it all plays out.

Whew! That post should last me for a week or two .

 

[sarals24]

Shoni protects the ball like a runningback, so does Brianna Banks. Jefferson did that in high school, so I'm not sure how much of that is taught and how much is instinctive.

 

[diggerfoot]

Shoni protects the ball like a runningback, so does Brianna Banks. Jefferson did that in high school, so I'm not sure how much of that is taught and how much is instinctive.

Thanks for filling me in on that. I did notice that it is most pronounced with Jefferson. Maybe it disseminates from her to Hartley and Banks? It's a good idea and I'm surprised I was not taught that "back in the day."

 

[meyers7]

2. but I'm seeing something I was not taught by coaches or clinics back then. When Jefferson or Hartley drive to the basket they often cover up the ball like a fullback. Of course guards back then were taught to protect the ball, but not with the specific technique of a running fullback breaking through the line of scrimmage, also the same technique used after capturing a rebound. I haven't noticed other players on other teams do this so predictably when driving. Is this just coincidence or do you think the UConn staff trains their guards to do this now?

I had never noticed it until I saw Jefferson do it. I hadn't seen Hartley do it the last three years. I think it might be something Jefferson brought that the others are picking up on. I saw Banks do it the other day also, first time I'd seen her do it.

3. On the other hand what I did notice Louisville ball handlers so was use their forearms to push off while driving.

Yea, they did quite a bit of that, and got away with it. It does get called sometimes, but not last night.

Saw Harrison (TN) do the "hook" the other day vs SC. Didn't get called for it and it was pretty blatant. She was hooking around the back of her opponent. It's better if you can hook the leg. Although that might be the difference in posts and guards.

 

[UcMiami]

Nice OP -
On #1 - All I can say is the PAC and SEC were wise not to raid the old Big East or their older members might have been looking up for a long time in WCBB!
On #3 - Total agree on this and that last night the refs were missing all the moving screens and the offensive push-offs. Rule is supposed to be you can use your off arm to 'protect your own space' but as soon as it leaves that space to move an opponents arm (to protect from a block attempt) or body it is an offensive foul. I think the push off has been called a little more this year, but not much.

 

[Icebear]

Shoni protects the ball like a runningback, so does Brianna Banks. Jefferson did that in high school, so I'm not sure how much of that is taught and how much is instinctive.

I noticed that last night with Shoni. She is using the same technique in traffic.

 

[pinotbear]

Nice OP -
On #1 - All I can say is the PAC and SEC were wise not to raid the old Big East or their older members might have been looking up for a long time in WCBB!
On #3 - Total agree on this and that last night the refs were missing all the moving screens and the offensive push-offs. Rule is supposed to be you can use your off arm to 'protect your own space' but as soon as it leaves that space to move an opponents arm (to protect from a block attempt) or body it is an offensive foul. I think the push off has been called a little more this year, but not much.

Glad you mentioned the moving screens. I thought, on a few occasions, it looked more like "pulling guards" from a football trap play, with larger players just bulldozing smaller ones. And, as already mentioned, at least twice (including MoJet's fourth or fifth foul), the Louisville screener threw a hip-check worthy of the New York Rangers. Last I knew, screeners were supposed to be fairly stationary: Louisville's were not. And, in fairness, this is something UConn, particularly Stef, can be guilty of.

 

[Phil]

Excellent first observation. How impressive that four members of the Big East might not just be doing OK, but sitting atop of four conferences.

 

[Icebear]

Glad you mentioned the moving screens. I thought, on a few occasions, it looked more like "pulling guards" from a football trap play, with larger players just bulldozing smaller ones. And, as already mentioned, at least twice (including MoJet's fourth or fifth foul), the Louisville screener threw a hip-check worthy of the New York Rangers. Last I knew, screeners were supposed to be fairly stationary: Louisville's were not. And, in fairness, this is something UConn, particularly Stef, can be guilty of.

Not stationary at all. Quite literally they were moving while making contact. The football analogy is apt.

 

[hjoerring]

Moore made teammates better, but no one does so more than Taurasi. No one, including Stewart, at least not the sophomore Stewart. Yet I see glimpses, like that one-handed pass she recently made to thread the needle in transition. Let's see how it all plays out.

Whew! That post should last me for a week or two .[/quote]

I think you are onto something that has not been acknowledged. Stewart can score, defend and rebound and might be ahead of others as a soph. But her next step has to be what Moore and Diana can- make others better while producing and being the diff. maker. At this juncture in her career she can dominate and score 30, but the others have to hold their own for the team to win. I might be wrong but I see both Moore and Diana as disrupters of defense that opened up the game for their teammates to do things. At this young stage in her career Stewart simply goes off and the team exploits or not. Another view from afar is that she has not completely broken out of the boredom phase- playing according to her competition. It is really the ompetition that pushes. Let us all hope she will stay away from those terrible injuries (like D + M) as she goes forth. (Wishing the same for all the others, as well)

 

[UcMiami]

Moore made teammates better, but no one does so more than Taurasi. No one, including Stewart, at least not the sophomore Stewart. Yet I see glimpses, like that one-handed pass she recently made to thread the needle in transition. Let's see how it all plays out.

Whew! That post should last me for a week or two .

I think you are onto something that has not been acknowledged. Stewart can score, defend and rebound and might be ahead of others as a soph. But her next step has to be what Moore and Diana can- make others better while producing and being the diff. maker. At this juncture in her career she can dominate and score 30, but the others have to hold their own for the team to win. I might be wrong but I see both Moore and Diana as disrupters of defense that opened up the game for their teammates to do things. At this young stage in her career Stewart simply goes off and the team exploits or not. Another view from afar is that she has not completely broken out of the boredom phase- playing according to her competition. It is really the ompetition that pushes. Let us all hope she will stay away from those terrible injuries (like D + M) as she goes forth. (Wishing the same for all the others, as well)

I think you may underestimate the effect of Stewart on defenses - if you watch some of the Louisville second half you can see three defenders within a foot or two of Stewart as she fights in the lane and still scores. With those three defenders focused on Stewart whether or not they are actually triple teaming her, it certainly opens up a lot of territory for everyone else. And it isn't just when the ball is thrown in - they are focusing while she is fighting for position.

While she is not at a DT level of assists (she had 208 as a sophomore or 5.3/gm) she is at 3.1/gm this year which compares to Moore's sophomore rate of 3.3 - and both Moore (19.3) and Stewart (19.5) score more than DT did (14.6) - that works out to balance offensive production pretty well. Defensively blocks and steals per game - Moore 3.12/game, DT 2.46, Stewart 4.39. Rebounds Moore 8.9, DT 4.1, Stewart 8.3 And TOs Moore 1.6, DT 2.1, Stewart 1.8. Of course we all know stats lie, but they are a good starting point especially as we compare current events to 5 and 12 years ago - that is especially true as our memories get clouded with DT and Maya's final two years on top of their sophomore campaigns - we see them more as the finished 4 year product than as a snapshot from their second year.

On the eye test, defensively there is no question that Stewart is more intimidating than either DT or Maya. Offensively I think they are pretty comparable - each capable of taking over a game and carrying the team and dominating a defense's attention. Intangibles - I think the sophomore Moore probably had more effect than either DT or Stewart. DT came into her own as a junior, as a sophomore it was still the TASSK force's team, but Maya had already started having an effect on Tina and the rest of the team with her drive and commitment. We shall see how Stewart develops next year when Bria and Stef are no longer around to lead. With Moriah and Morgan in her class she does not probably need to be as assertive and her personality is certainly not as in your face as either Moore or DT.

 

[JoePgh]

I've noticed something in recent games which I have not noticed previously -- Stewie as the inbounder on plays under the offensive basket. Usually that role is given to someone who is a good passer but not necessarily a good scorer. I don't remember Maya or Diana ever doing that. It seems that some of the offense runs off that -- early in the game, Stewie got an easy basket when they forgot to guard her after she stepped in bounds after one of those plays.

Her passing is probably her area of greatest technical improvement from last year to this year -- she hardly passed at all last year.

 

[ursusminor]

I've noticed something in recent games which I have not noticed previously -- Stewie as the inbounder on plays under the offensive basket. Usually that role is given to someone who is a good passer but not necessarily a good scorer. I don't remember Maya or Diana ever doing that. It seems that some of the offense runs off that -- early in the game, Stewie got an easy basket when they forgot to guard her after she stepped in bounds after one of those plays.

Her passing is probably her area of greatest technical improvement from last year to this year -- she hardly passed at all last year.

I do recall Diana handling the inbounds passing while at UConn. I remember a Geno crack along the lines of "the problem with that is that she can't pass it to herself." I think that was later in her career, when there weren't quite so many superstars on the court. She could find them for an open inbounds pass more easily than they could find her.

 

[UcMiami]

Pretty sure Maya did a fair amount of the baseline in bounds passing as well and ran that same type of play - Geno switches up the passer quite a bit. They have had a number of great plays getting guards open on screened drives to the hoop - something I don't remember with that much frequency in previous years.