Love our game today. We got to see different match ups and I believe CNC is starting to narrow her top 8 or 9. With that being said I wonder how we will do in post play. Obviously Dre is playing our 5 but who will be next up when we play bigger lineups.
From the last few games madison seems to be the first big off the bench. She did pretty good today but will need defensive help. I really like Kyla today glad she finally got to play because we will need length in tougher matchups. I don't see lety getting much playing time. Missed a few bunnies and easy rebounds . Very bobblehanded and kind of reminds me of Christina Higgins as a freshman. She is still adjusting to college play. I'm still optimistic about her and she has a great ceiling.

Who do you see shining the most in the post off the bench?

I like Abraham as well. I see her being the most valuable big off the bench once we get to league play.

I am already nervous about Ayoka Lee and Sedona Prince. And I believe we play Oregon who has a 6'8 and a 6'7 player . Gonna have to box out, draw fouls, and make shots.

Maybe they ( coaches ) can get Leddy to push , Foul , and frustrate the opponents bigs ? And hope they don't shoot FFs well. ??

Wbbfan29 said:

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I am already nervous about Ayoka Lee and Sedona Prince. And I believe we play Oregon who has a 6'8 and a 6'7 player . Gonna have to box out, draw fouls, and make shots.

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Agree somewhat with this take. We seem small at 5 with Kyla and Letty on bench. But just hang on to thought they have to guard us, as well, and think about what that means. Blackwell, Edwards, and Bartley can all shoot the three, as can Fountleroy. Pull those bigs out with the three. Then those three bigs are quick enough and good enough around the rim to drive to the basket. Puts their bigs in a bind… close out fast on three? We drive. Give some space and stay in defensive stance? We shoot over. If we're successful in our execution, we cause a ton of frustration. Bigs start leaping out at three point shooters. Foul. Bigs start reaching out and grabbing on the blow-by. Foul. Pele is probably one of the best posts we'll face and how effective was she in first half while sitting on the bench? Putting her on the bench was part of our game plan.

Not saying no worries, but that there IS an effective game plan whereby our shorter "bigs" can handle the likes of Lee and Prince, IF we execute!

But worry on, if you must; that just means you're a passionate fan!!!

That's true ! Our guards did a pretty good job and are very shifty. I think will see more of Kyla and Madison in the next few games. Both Dre and Blackwell can definitely pull the bugs out to the three point line If the team is playing man. Hit the three or drive in and make them foul you.

Better come up with a different game plan, help defense is a must for our post.

If the 6'1 Utah post had her way with us, I'd expect more talented 6'4+ post to easily do the same. Last thing we need is foul trouble down there.

I felt like blackwell was keeping her in check until she picked up her 3rd foul. Then blackwell kinda let her have her way to avoid the fouling out.

Fritz can move the ball well, and score from any position. Pretty deep team..!!!

Can't wait to see her more. I feel like once she gets in her grove she will be unstoppable.

Wbbfan29 said:

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Can't wait to see her more. I feel like once she gets in her grove she will be unstoppable.

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This could apply to 90% of the team.

That is why we need a new gameplan defensing bigger players.

She dominated Blackwell all game, especially the 3-4 quarters.

Really hope we can get a dominant 6'4 or 6'5 post next year.
I think that is the only thing we're ultimately missing.

i think Pili is a great post player, even players like Cameron Brink and Angel Reese have struggled to guard her. I think with that we decided we would rather take her scoring twos then giving wide open 3's to a great shooting Utah team.

I think watch videos or us playing Texas and Kansas last year. We had Bickle she was a smart player. I think we have more bodies and more athleticism on this roster. I think we will just make life for a big hectic. Doing that by putting them in ball screens all day. They are noting going to hedge it much if they do they are going to tire out. it will cause for wide open mid range shots or a good roll down from the screener. Especially if they are running a man offense I know we put the player the big is guarding a lot on the perimeter and it clears the paint. I do not know if we have player a good big in a zone yet so i'm not sure what we would do. We will have to get out in transition a lot so we can score but we do have options to play it many different ways and coach nicki will always have something up her sleeve.

Brusinbear2001 said:

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i think Pili is a great post player, even players like Cameron Brink and Angel Reese have struggled to guard her. I think with that we decided we would rather take her scoring twos then giving wide open 3's to a great shooting Utah team.

I think watch videos or us playing Texas and Kansas last year. We had Bickle she was a smart player. I think we have more bodies and more athleticism on this roster. I think we will just make life for a big hectic. Doing that by putting them in ball screens all day. They are noting going to hedge it much if they do they are going to tire out. it will cause for wide open mid range shots or a good roll down from the screener. Especially if they are running a man offense I know we put the player the big is guarding a lot on the perimeter and it clears the paint. I do not know if we have player a good big in a zone yet so i'm not sure what we would do. We will have to get out in transition a lot so we can score but we do have options to play it many different ways and coach nicki will always have something up her sleeve.

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A solid comp for Pili is Danielle Adams. Only 6'1 but very bulky. Put a player her height on her and they post her and she uses her bulk. Put a taller player than her and she starts in short corner, high post or elbow and uses her quickness to one bounce dribble drive. CNC opted to trust quickness over height in defending her. Not a knock on bigger posts. Simply picked her poison.

Pili is not all that tall for a post, of course, but she is very skilled with good footwork. I know our starters inside are not very tall, but they can run the floor and work from outside too. Then we have good height and ability off the bench. It will take a very good, very skilled and maybe even a very mobile post to really hurt us badly. It can happen, but I love the depth and the attitude on this team. We could be very good.

I don't know about y'all but i don't think at all this is something we need to be worrying about too much. Coach nicki knows what shes doing and will have a game plan ready for these teams. Dre and Aijha are very experienced playing against great post players coming from the sec, i think other teams should be worrying about us, not the other way around.

i think we will have a plan i think it's just the only weakness that stands out for this team. There is definitely ways to stop the paint with a smaller team for sure. Getting them in foul trouble is one and we seem to use that a lot.

Pilli was a strong skilled bulky post who looked like she could get emotional. She was borderline unstoppable. I would have sent out our tallest, least skilled player to cover her for a few rounds and said "do the best you can. And if you are going to foul her make it count." There are more than one way to skin a cat. Maybe Pilli gets a tech or simply gets angry and gets out of her game. Worth a try right? Pilli was either scoring or gifted a foul against nearly every possession for a while there. Lucky for us our ladies kept scoring and in some cases we traded them 2 points for 3.

but do you do that and then risk the game slippage on the offensive end? Or maybe reduce the options you have because you have a younger or inexperienced player in there?

Brusinbear2001 said:

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but do you do that and then risk the game slippage on the offensive end? Or maybe reduce the options you have because you have a younger or inexperienced player in there?

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For sure. Takes away an offensive threat on the other end. It would have been an experiment and maybe not a good one. But what we had going on Pilli wasn't working like at all. We could have crashed our guards down on the entry pass but that would leave us open for their 3 point shooters. Pick your poison. We also could have went to zone defense. Staying with what we had going worked in the end. But this thread was about what we could try to help with the post defensive situation. We won't run into too many Pilli's hopefully.

i think we picked the right poison we won

BearFan33 said:

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Brusinbear2001 said:

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but do you do that and then risk the game slippage on the offensive end? Or maybe reduce the options you have because you have a younger or inexperienced player in there?

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For sure. Takes away an offensive threat on the other end. It would have been an experiment and maybe not a good one. But what we had going on Pilli wasn't working like at all. We could have crashed our guards down on the entry pass but that would leave us open for their 3 point shooters. Pick your poison. We also could have went to zone defense. Staying with what we had going worked in the end. But this thread was about what we could try to help with the post defensive situation. We won't run into too many Pilli's hopefully.

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What If, We Could Have, etc. are fine for the internet. Ultimately, we kept the lead at two scores or more for almost the entire game. Can't see ever dinging decisions of any coach who does that against the #4 team.

Small tangent. Is Dree eligible to be named Newcomer of the Year? I know Jada got it pre-season, and there are a ton of games left to play. I had just been wondering whether she is considered a newcomer this year, since she had to sit out all of last year.

Bone Squad said:

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Small tangent. Is Dree eligible to be named Newcomer of the Year? I know Jada got it pre-season, and there are a ton of games left to play. I had just been wondering whether she is considered a newcomer this year, since she had to sit out all of last year.

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Good question !!

For What school is Lauren Cox sister playing ?

NC State