Scoring

[SoonerNorm]

Are you surprised that at this stage (easier part of our schedule) that we only have two players averaging double figures?

 

[rocjunkie]

The two that are leading are the same that lead us last year. I thought we would have three, with Maddie being the third. Part of that, at least from my point of view, we are not shooting the ball really well, but on the flip side, we are playing better defense keeping our opponents shooting percentage down. I think the best is yet to come. The kids will get into sync soon and we may well have four kids in double figures as we get better and into the season.

 

[sybarite]

Gabbi was scoreless in her first two games. Since, she has averaged 10.0. Maddie has had only three double figure games, and I think Sherri is pushing her to double her scoring. We are missing Gioya.

Last year, we only had two in double figures: Peyton and Kay Kay. Gioya and Sharane were close at 9.9 and 9.6. I suspect that we will have four this year. If Gioya returns, we may well have five. Derica, Vivi, and T'Ona are up a bit. Nobody is expected to be in double figures, but it helps to have some contribution during bench time. Yesterday, it really helped that Shaya and McKenna hit threes. We needed every point that we could get.

As roc said, we help ourselves a lot on defense. Sherri loves those long-armed defenders and has mentioned it several times. Our offense is down from 74.7 to 71.1. But, our defense has held the opposition to 54.8 as opposed to 68.5 last year. A part of that is schedule. But, we have played teams that are probably as good as the fifth or sixth place team in the Big Twelve.

 

[j2d2]

I hesitate to judge our defense based on the quality of opposition we've faced so far. As usual I think defense wins as many games as offense. Sherri remarked that yesterday some of the team was watching and not playing while they were on the floor. That is an attribute of the last few years and one we cant afford. Assuming our defense holds up, I think our biggest weakness will be scoring. Maddie simply must wake up. If she does we will be Final Four even without Gioya.

 

[sybarite]

As I understand, Gioya is due back for the conference season. Severely pulled groin muscle. If she can come back healthy, we have our scoring: five good starters and a couple of reserves who can deliver.

 

[j2d2]

Assuming she does come back, I wonder how confident, strong and aggressive she will be. I dont question, just wonder.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

I hesitate to judge our defense based on the quality of opposition we've faced so far. As usual I think defense wins as many games as offense. Sherri remarked that yesterday some of the team was watching and not playing while they were on the floor. That is an attribute of the last few years and one we cant afford. Assuming our defense holds up, I think our biggest weakness will be scoring. Maddie simply must wake up. If she does we will be Final Four even without Gioya.

The only problem KK had was picking up 2 fouls in the first couple of minutes of the game. She has avoided that this year - and since I didn't see it on TV I don't want to assume anything, but if she can continue to avoid that, we will be much stronger. KK is still much more valuable than Vivi - and should be with 2 more years experience. But we need both if we want to be successful. KK played almost 12 minutes without substitution - pretty impressive.

But my favorite take away from this game was the way the girls never gave up. This was a game in which we got so far behind pretty late that some teams would give up and quit. There is no quit in this team. That alone is worth a huge amount as we go forward.

 

[MisterF]

Goiya scoring fell way off in conference play if I remember right. OU needs a scoring punch. Hopefully it can be her. But that is asking a lot from coming off of no basketball activity to conference play and making a difference. Fingers crossed.

 

[j2d2]

Yes, my recollection is that Gioya almost disappeared for a good part of the later half of last year. Do you suppose this problem started then?

 

[SoonerNorm]

I was thinking that Gioya was good in January but fell off in February but I could be wrong.

 

[sybarite]

I thought Gioya did well until they started concentrating on her. Then, she became less selective about when to drive, shoot, etc., often taking bad shots because she had finally gotten open. I thought Gioya would profit more from the emergence of Maddie than anyone else since she is at her best as a spot shooter. She can kill from three if you find her open out there. I don't think she figured out how to deal with the enhanced defensive coverage.