Observations from yesterday's game
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Solid win in a very hostile environment. CNC's tactical choice to constantly double Crooks and leave Williams open to shoot was inspired. CNC's admission in postgame media session that she stuck with it one minute too long was also correct. Playing against a D that applies zero ball pressure was what Baylor needed to get comfortable on O. Especially in light of the fact that Baylor significantly changed the halfcourt O. Baylor's primary halfcourt O in prior seasons and early this season was highball screen to dribble attack hoping to draw help and start a series of help and recover situations for D. Clearly (at least for this game) that action was abandoned. Some of impetus for that change is that ISU will NEVER ice or hard hedge the highball screen. Crooks exclusively employs drop coverage. Note: that is exactly why we ran Scott off of a highball screen on that final play…..100% likelihood that she would get an open 12-14 footer. Crooks is a statue on D. She simply can't move faster than a sloth. Every single foul she got was in help D or help and recover situations. When we face ISU again, we need to put Crooks in help D situations every single trip down the court. We will either get a ton of easy baskets or she will foul out early. She simply can't move. Instead of highball screen to dribble attack, we used highball screen to create space to pass from the top (again, knowing that Crooks was in drop coverage which creates open passing lanes). We combined that with double screens for shooters. Scott was cold in first half, Deng was hot. Will be interesting to see if that change continues or if it was a one game adjustment for ISU. We clearly were not consistently great in the screening on that action. The number of moving screen calls was very high. Repetition should clear up some of it. We also tried a changeup on that action where the shooter screens the second screener defender allowing the second screener to roll to the bucket. That is where Scott picked up her screening foul. Again, screening clearly needs work. We ran some backside curl action to return passing. Both of JVG's layups came on that action as the defender played the pass and gave up the drive. The first drive was easy…..could drive a Winnebago down the lane on that play. But on the second drive she did something very nice…..she used dribble hesitation at mid post area (first time all season she has used this tactic) to get the defender vertical and then explode past. Solid improvement. Scott uses the move often and MBB historically had guys like Mason and Butler who employed it often to beat more physically talented defenders. Fontleroy remains broken on O. Her open 3 at the top wasn't close. Broken. Don't get overly excited by this game. Like every team, Baylor wants to play transition O. But in halfcourt O Baylor prefers playing reactive D's and hates playing ball pressure D's. Especially athletic ball pressure D's. ISU is not athletic and applies zero ball pressure. A true measure of the team's growth is the next time we see a ball pressure D. Tech isn't very athletic but their ball pressure had us totally discombobulated on O. Texas was a beat down. When we run effective halfcourt O against ball pressure, real growth has occurred. If WBB has abandoned the highball screen to drive focus, it will help. We can't do it except for Scott. Simply need a ton of work on new actions. Especially screening. Deng's conditioning is improving week over week. Scott's injury seems to be in the rearview mirror. Interested to see how many teams copy our D choices against ISU. Crooks needs immediate medical intervention. She is easily over 300 pounds. Typical for D1 players to improve body composition year over year. She is likely 15-20 pounds heavier than last year. Without a huge focus on weight loss in the near future, her future health situation is terrible. Watching her trying to make it to halfcourt after 4-5 minutes of playing time was scary. ISU will finish around 5-8 position in conference standings. Skilled but limited athleticism. When Scott and Deng are both on the floor, our O can be really good. Buggs handling the ball on the perimeter is a butt clencher every time. Handle is very loose and her insistence on being cool with one handed passing doubles the problem. She needs to not handle the ball. Rebound, defend. Putbacks or short drive attacks (one dribble max). Nothing more. The gap in athleticism between the SEC WBB teams and every other conference may be wider than the Pacific Ocean. Surviving the first half with Scott in a slump was a huge jump. We remain too intent to shoot off of first action. When the team commits to reverse and reinitiate our halfcourt O efficiency level will jump. Still too many forced shots early in the shot clock. Fontleroy allowed a baseline OOB layup by being lazy and out of position. Significant chunk of NIL $ freed up for next year. Need to be smart in using it. Need to retain Scott and Deng at all costs. Freshman Johnson needs a ton of one on one Summer coaching. The staff needs to get their collective asses to Europe to find a three layer post player. Again, solid win in a tough environment. But how the team performs against ball pressure D is the real measuring stick. [/ol]
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