35TangoTango
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Pretty good crowd - I'd guess 2,000 - 3,000. The scrimmage consisted of a series of 4 minute periods, with either the girls divided into two teams, or one team playing against the male practice players. Coach wore a live mike and alternated between telling us what was going on, or giving "do better" instructions to various players. More about her comments later, except to say at this point she said we were just running various options (called by the point) of the motion offense. No set plays in yet.
The initial set was first team against second team. The first team was (predictably) Morgan, Aaryn, Whitney, Joanna, and Nicole. The second team was Maddie (1), Jasmine (2), Nicole K (3), Sharane (4), and Portia (5). Kaylon was in uniform, but with a cast on her foot up to mid calf, and a little wheeled scooter thing for that leg. Lyndsey was not dressed out. I'm guessing she will not be able to be a significant factor this year.
Morgan, Aaryn, and Whitney were what we are used to seeing - but maybe still more polished.
Maddie played almost all of her considerable minutes at the point. She was penetrate or pass first, before looking for her shot, though she did make some outside or midrange shots. she looked very good for a true freshman this early. Doesn't look like she'll be plagued by the indecision and pointless dribbling that characterized DaShawn early last year. She really does look a little like a young Dales.
Jasmine played more at the 2 than the point, and was smooth, but not very offensive minded. Experienced player, can fill in at either position.
Nicole K played almost exclusively at the 3, and looks like a cross between Whitney and Vegas. Vegas in that she's not shy about taking a shot when she's open. After a while, a lot of them were dropping, too.
Sharane spent most of her time at the 4. Coach commented that Kay-kay's injury had changed Sharane's situation. She nailed several 3's popping out to the perimeter, and showed her usual hustle on defense.
Nicole G played exclusively at the 5. She did look tough offensively part of the time (when she could keep focus). Was the butt of Coach's do better comments on occassion for not running and getting position early.
Portia played more at the 5 than the 4, and looks more than anything else like a more polished Kay-Kay clone. More range, felt comfortable moving out for mid-range shots, though she wasn't hitting tonight. Obviously physical, and a tough defender by nature.
Joanna played mostly at the 4 - maybe a little at the 5. Looked like she knew what she was doing, but seldom spectacular.
My take is that Kaylon's injury has really changed the early plans. We were going to have a simplistic situation where Nicole and Kaylon were going to play exclusively at the 5, and Joanna and Portia exclusively at the 4. Now Portia, Joanna, and Sharane have to learn multiple positions. Nicole must have someone to push her to be tougher and more physical in practice, and that person is going to be Portia. All in all, our inside game will take a little longer to develop than hoped for.
Coach's comments. Mission 1 is to push transition, both offensively and defensively. She was constantly on the point guards to push more, and to get someone on the ball and to stop the transition defensively. Mission 2 in half court defense is not so much to hawk the passing lanes and try to get steals, as to make the other team take a contested jump shot. No layups, no open 3's. Having explained that to us, she was on the girls a lot to pressure the ball and to "stunt", which I gathered was to cover the first pass away. Nothing like getting your name called out in front of 2,000 people while playing at full speed. But none of the newbies really looked lost.
Coach said that this is really the first time they've gone for longer than about 2 minutes in a situation. You could guage the focus by the way they played against the men. They waxed the practice team early, got killed by the practice team later, and then got their mental wind back in the last set and won a narrow victory.
In my opinion it's going to be a very exciting team to watch on the perimeter with lots of quality depth, and lots of offensive minds. The key will be how the inside game, both offensively and defensively comes along. Going to be a fun season.
The initial set was first team against second team. The first team was (predictably) Morgan, Aaryn, Whitney, Joanna, and Nicole. The second team was Maddie (1), Jasmine (2), Nicole K (3), Sharane (4), and Portia (5). Kaylon was in uniform, but with a cast on her foot up to mid calf, and a little wheeled scooter thing for that leg. Lyndsey was not dressed out. I'm guessing she will not be able to be a significant factor this year.
Morgan, Aaryn, and Whitney were what we are used to seeing - but maybe still more polished.
Maddie played almost all of her considerable minutes at the point. She was penetrate or pass first, before looking for her shot, though she did make some outside or midrange shots. she looked very good for a true freshman this early. Doesn't look like she'll be plagued by the indecision and pointless dribbling that characterized DaShawn early last year. She really does look a little like a young Dales.
Jasmine played more at the 2 than the point, and was smooth, but not very offensive minded. Experienced player, can fill in at either position.
Nicole K played almost exclusively at the 3, and looks like a cross between Whitney and Vegas. Vegas in that she's not shy about taking a shot when she's open. After a while, a lot of them were dropping, too.
Sharane spent most of her time at the 4. Coach commented that Kay-kay's injury had changed Sharane's situation. She nailed several 3's popping out to the perimeter, and showed her usual hustle on defense.
Nicole G played exclusively at the 5. She did look tough offensively part of the time (when she could keep focus). Was the butt of Coach's do better comments on occassion for not running and getting position early.
Portia played more at the 5 than the 4, and looks more than anything else like a more polished Kay-Kay clone. More range, felt comfortable moving out for mid-range shots, though she wasn't hitting tonight. Obviously physical, and a tough defender by nature.
Joanna played mostly at the 4 - maybe a little at the 5. Looked like she knew what she was doing, but seldom spectacular.
My take is that Kaylon's injury has really changed the early plans. We were going to have a simplistic situation where Nicole and Kaylon were going to play exclusively at the 5, and Joanna and Portia exclusively at the 4. Now Portia, Joanna, and Sharane have to learn multiple positions. Nicole must have someone to push her to be tougher and more physical in practice, and that person is going to be Portia. All in all, our inside game will take a little longer to develop than hoped for.
Coach's comments. Mission 1 is to push transition, both offensively and defensively. She was constantly on the point guards to push more, and to get someone on the ball and to stop the transition defensively. Mission 2 in half court defense is not so much to hawk the passing lanes and try to get steals, as to make the other team take a contested jump shot. No layups, no open 3's. Having explained that to us, she was on the girls a lot to pressure the ball and to "stunt", which I gathered was to cover the first pass away. Nothing like getting your name called out in front of 2,000 people while playing at full speed. But none of the newbies really looked lost.
Coach said that this is really the first time they've gone for longer than about 2 minutes in a situation. You could guage the focus by the way they played against the men. They waxed the practice team early, got killed by the practice team later, and then got their mental wind back in the last set and won a narrow victory.
In my opinion it's going to be a very exciting team to watch on the perimeter with lots of quality depth, and lots of offensive minds. The key will be how the inside game, both offensively and defensively comes along. Going to be a fun season.