Easy(ish) win for WBB over Northwestern St

[psycHOGlogist]

About what you'd expect until both Monk and Wilson left the game with injuries. Monk got bowled over and took a knock to the head. Not sure what happened to Wilson. Hope they can both go against ORU on Wed - we looked a bit lost without them in the second half. Hate to lose a very winnable game due to missing players.

[LadybackBBFan]

About what you'd expect until both Monk and Wilson left the game with injuries. Monk got bowled over and took a knock to the head. Not sure what happened to Wilson. Hope they can both go against ORU on Wed - we looked a bit lost without them in the second half. Hate to lose a very winnable game due to missing players.

Being at the game, we looked horrible in the fourth quarter and the latter part of the third quarter when Wilson went out.  Mason was playing the point, Cosper or Zimmerman at the off guard and Jackson and/or Swenson at the small forward.  We had no offense whatsoever.  If anyone still believes that Swenson should play the small forward, I invite you to look at the last quarter in this game.  If Wilson and/or Monk are not available for Oral Roberts, we loose another game.

[flippinhogmana]

It looks from the stat sheet like Wilson couldn't hit a bucket with her thumb, but being the creator that she is, she contributed with assists.  Despite the knock on her, from the stat sheet Swenson had a more than decent game.  Mason looks like she found the range again at least some.  But not being at the game, it looks like guard play was the main culprit (monk only playing ten minutes, Wilson not playing much and Freeman being out didnt help).  On the other hand, it looks like Cosper (at least from looking at the stats) is continuing to round back into form.  Sometimes a team just plays down to the competition especially when they see they can beat them easily and sometimes it just descends into 'rat ball'.  Every coach has dealt with it (and been fairly disgusted by it).

[BlancheDevereaux]

It was certainly a tale of two halves for this team, which can happen against garbage teams. From what I could see (from my place amongst the tiny continent of fans) Swenson has hustle, but she won't be powerful enough to handle any true 4. She fights for rebounds particularly hard, which is great for this team, but we really need a legit 4 player. I know that Jimmy wants Jackson to play that role, but we need to be able to use her offensive flexibility.

Offensively we are lost without Jackson and Monk. It was a lot of passing the ball waiting for someone else to do something with it. Thankfully Northwestern State's defense left a lot of empty spaces for us. And thankfully their own offensive was terribly executed, which also helped us.

Our biggest question at this point is still how good of a team is this? I have no idea because we haven't played anyone yet. What will we look like playing Miss State in January? Are we prepared? No one knows!

[LadybackBBFan]

I believe my comments about Swenson may have been misinterpreted.  I like her as a player - just not at the three or small forward which is where flippin keeps telling me she should be playing at.  She played there in the fourth quarter and was not effective.  I also agree that she will have trouble with Wilson from South Carolina, but every other player in the country will also have trouble with her.  The problem with Swenson at the four puts Jackson at the five and she also is not a five.  Cooley has to play well for us to do anything in the SEC.  She has improved, but still needs improvement - especially on being able to go up strong and to jump!

[BlancheDevereaux]

I agree with that assessment of Swenson and I think it encapsulates her problem as a player. She hustles, she shoots well, and she's willing to fight but she's too slow to play the three and too little to play the 4. She consistently got beat by NW State's guards and she won't be able to handle any of the bigger forwards in the SEC. She could work well in a zone defense but will always be limited in other sets. My guess is that's why she wasn't a big target of basketball programs coming out of high school despite her relatively good offensive skills.

So we play Jackson at the 4 and Cooley at the 5--I think that's a good plan but who do we have for backups?

[psycHOGlogist]

So we play Jackson at the 4 and Cooley at the 5--I think that's a good plan but who do we have for backups?

True freshman Kiara Williams, who is 6'1" in heels.

A lot of Melissa Wolff/Jhasmin Bowen comparisons out there for Swenson and Williams. The problem is that both Wolff and Bowen took time to be good, and even after they got there they still struggled against SEC bigs. Trying/hoping to replicate that doesn't seem like a great strategy -- though it's all we have at the moment, unless you pull the redshirt off of Ratliff, which no one seems to think is a good idea.

[BlancheDevereaux]

Wiliams is definitely a rough around the edges project. It'll be interesting to see if the coaching staff can help her develop into a good role player.

Yeah I can see why people go to those types of comparisons, but I agree that takes lots of time, both on the practice courts and game time. Which coaches were most instrumental in their development? And who works with our bigs now?

[psycHOGlogist]

Which coaches were most instrumental in their development? And who works with our bigs now?

The answer to both questions is Tari, I believe.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/coache/tari-cummings/

From the link: "Cummings assists Arkansas as the team's recruiting coordinator, works with the Razorback posts and is the team's liaison with the academic center. Cummings on-the-court role continues to expand as she oversees in bounds plays and situational offense.

In her first season under head coach Jimmy Dykes, Cummings helped senior Jhasmin Bowen improved from 8.8 ppg as a junior to 10.7 ppg in her senior season. Bowen also went from 4.8 rpg to 6.4 under her tutelage.  Bowen finished her career ranked 32nd all-time with 861 career points at Arkansas.  She is 24th in career rebounds under Cummings."

[flippinhogmana]

The situation with any player who isnt a prototypical five star player is matchups.  I havent ever said that Swenson is a lock in three (particularly not in all matchups).  I dont think I have even mentioned that in more than a couple of posts.  I think I have said that her size and skill set against most SEC teams is 'best suited' at the three.  Obviously that doesnt hold in all situations.  She or any of the 3,4 or 5 players do better in some matchups than others.  I have also said that there is a difference in their skill levels on offense as opposed to defense.  The thing about matchups is 'does your offensive set or defensive set impose your will on the opposing team' or does it leave you vulnerable to be abused yourself. 

Every coach has to adapt personnel to what the other team is doing if his team simply isnt good enough or your sets aren't sufficient to make them adapt to you instead.  LBBF is also correct that against some teams you are likely to be punished unless the opposing players are having an off night because their physical abilities and skill levels are simply better than ours across any five that we put out there.