This is not intended to be a deep analysis, but just want to share some thoughts on the first week of WNBA, and the NBA playoffs. I am hoping you will share your reactions and your thoughts.
Indiana Fever- I am really impressed with how the returning core of Clark, Boston, Hull, and Mitchell are playing to start the season.
Boston and Clark really look good with ball screens action. Obviously Clark is great passer but Boston catches everything and makes such good reads.
Boston really has improved so much offensively. Last year at this time she would not have been able to have scored vs Griner, this year she fouled her out.
Hull bring such good energy- runs the floor, gets 50/50 balls. Mitchell makes shots and can handle the ball.
Post Defense- The Fever chose not to double the post. The biggest problem they had defensively is that the perimeter players could not put pressure on passers so they got relatively easy post ups.
Caitlin Clark- After limited sample, she looks better than last year. She seems to be shooting the ball better, and making better choices with her shots. The best part of her game this year is that she still is making the assists and she is not turning the ball over with the frequency she did last year. I am a fan and impressed with how she has started the season, but…
In the Atlanta game when things were not going well, she reverted to emotionally pleading for fouls. Yes, the refs are not very good but it is just not a good look at all. And I guess I am old school but I cannot get into her making a shot and then pleading for the crowd to cheer louder. I hope Coach White helps her with these things.
First Loss- The first loss is always a tough one- for coaches, for players, and for fans. You might be interested in this post I wrote about this last December.
You Make The Call- It is so easy to second guess last second plays that don’t work. As a coach, if we didn’t score on a last second play, I second guessed myself. Fever ran a nice dribble handoff late with Mitchell- great play great execution.
Down one with 7-8 seconds to go. The Fever chose to advance the ball but not use the time out to advance- so they knew what they wanted to run. They ran a lob to Howard on the weakside. She got two pretty good looks and had one blocked and missed the other.
What would be your thinking? Would you run something for your fourth leading scorer, assuming she has a weaker defender on her? Or would you go with one of your three top scorers- Clark, Mitchell, or Boston?
Kelsi Plum- The Sparks are not going to win the WNBA title. They will be stronger when Cameron Brink returns. But in the meantime, Kelsi Plum is going to be entertaining to watch. She had 37 vs. the Valks.
Points Off Turnovers- This time of year, EVERY coach says that they want to apply pressure and be uptempo offensively. In wanting to be uptempo, coaches emphasize running off rebounds and even running off makes. Teams obviously get fastbreak points off steals but I am not sure teams get as many points off turnovers as they should get. Watch the Thunder, their transition off steals is incredible. In tonight’s game, in the first quarter 17 of their 20 points were off turnovers. A lot of their ability is their ability to create turnovers- but watch how quickly they react and go off turnovers. Whoever gets the ball is going to go with the ball to the basket. They keep it until stopped. This cannot be an accident- it is obvious they must drill and emphasize how to convert steals.
Dunker Spot- OKC’s Hartenstein and Holmgren are incredible playing out of the dunker spot to get lobs or offensive rebounds. Maybe a high school player would not get a dunk like they do, but a lot could be learned by watching them.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander- SGA is really, really fun to watch play. It is hard to judge height/quickness on TV- he is 6’6” and moves like he is a 5’10” quick guard. He can drive, draw fouls and at the same time shoot threes. The “experts” say he will be named the league MVP this week.
He is great, but be clear, I don’t think that he as good as Michael Jordan at this point. So I am not asking the following question to imply I think he is equal to MJ. Watching an NBA game, it looks like players can get mugged and there is not call. And sometimes SGA loses balance with little if any contact- and foul after foul is called. I am sure fans of the opposing teams get so mad feeling that SGA goes to the line and gets different treatment. So my question- opposing fans being frustrated watching SGA go to the foul line, is that how opposing fans felt watching Michael Jordan?
Threes- Minnesota missed 37 threes in game #1 vs OKC. Not only does that mean the Wolves are not scoring points, but the 37 misses are giving OKC a chance to get out and run off defensive rebounds.
I would love to hear your thoughts on any of this, or on other reactions you have had watching the WNBA or NBA.
Just put it in the comments- and add your name after your comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment