Before despising Kim, I did love the 2005 Baylor team because it had just the right pieces, and they fit together so well. I don't think they had the best talent in the nation. We beat almost the same team three times the next year. They just fit together better than the other teams in the nation at tournament time. They had their one key scorer who could hit you from anywhere. They had a couple of three-point shooters, one of whom was about 6-5. They had a rather immobile post who was effective at what she did. Their guards weren't great, but they fit.
I don't know that we knew what we had last year. Everyone was relatively new to each other. I'm not even sure that we recognized the strengths and limitations of each player. Someone mentioned on another thread that Geno's primary strength was that he got people to play above what they thought possible. Have we seen the best of the OU players?
Players improve the most between X and Y years. I've seen all kinds of statements for X and Y. But, players improve the most when they find out what they can do, perhaps by working on taking advantage of a particular skill that they have, and when they learn what they can do---their role. We have had a history of players who thought they could drive the lane because they could in highschool. But, they can't do it consistently without losing the ball at the D-1 level. We have had players who could shoot in HS, but have difficulty getting a shot off in D-1.
I recorded the last ten games last year and watched them several times this summer. What I noticed is that we had difficulty when we tried to do things that we couldn't do. We didn't really know how we could contribute, what our roles might be. We also failed to use attributes that we had, as though we didn't realize we had them.
There were games in which Peyton scored eight to ten points just off inbound passes. She got to her spot, and the inbounds pass hit her in the hands. She went up and scored. Probably three-fourths of her points were made by being in a spot and shooting as soon as she got the ball. She is the best spot shooter on the team.
That surprised me because i thought she was a slasher based on her HS statistics. Maybe she was in HS. But, she has found a different role in college.
I think that everyone has had a year to find out what they can do, as well as what they can't. I hope that the off-season gave people a chance to improve those positives and learn not to do the negatives. We saw only glimpses last year in their first full year together. I hope that they can identify their roles this year. This team was #2 in the Big Twelve with a lot of new people making contributions. If we know our roles, this could be an interesting year.
I don't know that we knew what we had last year. Everyone was relatively new to each other. I'm not even sure that we recognized the strengths and limitations of each player. Someone mentioned on another thread that Geno's primary strength was that he got people to play above what they thought possible. Have we seen the best of the OU players?
Players improve the most between X and Y years. I've seen all kinds of statements for X and Y. But, players improve the most when they find out what they can do, perhaps by working on taking advantage of a particular skill that they have, and when they learn what they can do---their role. We have had a history of players who thought they could drive the lane because they could in highschool. But, they can't do it consistently without losing the ball at the D-1 level. We have had players who could shoot in HS, but have difficulty getting a shot off in D-1.
I recorded the last ten games last year and watched them several times this summer. What I noticed is that we had difficulty when we tried to do things that we couldn't do. We didn't really know how we could contribute, what our roles might be. We also failed to use attributes that we had, as though we didn't realize we had them.
There were games in which Peyton scored eight to ten points just off inbound passes. She got to her spot, and the inbounds pass hit her in the hands. She went up and scored. Probably three-fourths of her points were made by being in a spot and shooting as soon as she got the ball. She is the best spot shooter on the team.
That surprised me because i thought she was a slasher based on her HS statistics. Maybe she was in HS. But, she has found a different role in college.
I think that everyone has had a year to find out what they can do, as well as what they can't. I hope that the off-season gave people a chance to improve those positives and learn not to do the negatives. We saw only glimpses last year in their first full year together. I hope that they can identify their roles this year. This team was #2 in the Big Twelve with a lot of new people making contributions. If we know our roles, this could be an interesting year.