Joined:
03/07/2002
Posts:
79,005
Likes:
22,767
This game and the things that need to be fixed in the off-season
Wenzel - Might as well say it because there are going to be so many bashers who will only focus on her and nothing else. You might as well ask her to transfer because those people who will bash her will think she should not do anything. Not handle the ball, not drive, not shoot, not be a PG... She shot poorly from outside. She didn't finish layups especially when she was hammered and no foul was called. She had 5 assists, so she is responsible for facilitating 10 more points. She had 2 TOs and 0 fouls... She is a r-sophomore who people expect to play like she is a senior. She led the team in scoring and that means she had a level of consistency. Yes, her efficiency needs to improve; however, I have seen games in which Ekh was 3-for-10 but very people said anything. Wenzel is clearly a target from fans exclusively.
But to the game
Spacing
The team's spacing is often not good. I show three photos in a row as examples. There are worse. The cardinal rule of team basketball is that when someone drives, a nearby teammate needs to MOVE and take their defender away. If the help defender stays, then the driver can pass to the teammate who, for example, moved from the wing to the corner. The post should move out of the way and take their defender away. Example 1: MIcheaux gets the ball at the top of the key and drives left. Lookat where baker and ekh are. Micheaux actually scores on this drive, but she made it more difficult than it needed to be. She needed to drive to her right where there is no help defender and if Ekh's defender slides over to get over, she can pass to Ekh. Example 2: Ekh drives to her left into the lane. Look at Baker/her defender as well as Lani White an her defender. Even Nelson is near her. Ekh had to stop and pull out. Baker needed to be gone. This is prevalent all year. Screening action doesn't free up someone for a clean drive. Micheaux might dive into the lane but Baker or Peterson might be near her, so Micheaux has to deal with 3 defenders.
Lots of Missed Mid-Range Jumpers:
In the first half, Lani White and Ekh missed a bunch of shots around the FT line. Ekh actually had layup opportunities but decided to bail on some. But there were several sequences in the first half and second half when we were close, but we missed shots that resulted in lost opportunities.
Baker Tosses Things Up Around the Basket:
Wenzel will get criticism but no one else can do anything wrong. There have been several games where Baker's primary offensive role has been to post up. We have lost the two games that come to mind. One was an earlier loss when baker took NO 3-pters. Wasn't even set up to. This is another game where her main role was to post up. She might have been a facilitator on the perimeter, but she was a post up. Unfortunately, most of the time she posts up, she tosses the ball as if it needs a prayer to go in. She had one move that resulted in a real layup. Her other shot saround the basket would have been luck to go in. Micheaux had a couple of those too. Odds are she is rushing to get a shot off. SOmeone may say GT overplayed her and didn't allow her shot attempts....
Dealing with OverPlays:
Let's focus on this game. White, Ekh, Baker don't make overplays pay. They stand there when closed guarded because the play calls her them to get the ball in that spot. We rarely see backdoor cuts. It puts pressure on the passer too who might have no where to go..then the passer gets blamed for problems.
There other situation where we see overplays that hurt us is when good teams read and overplay that predictable pass into the high post. FSU, Duke, NC State all over played that pass into Micheaux and Baker, resulting in steals. Louisville started to do it at the end of the game. That set is very scoutable and aggressive/good teams make it harder.
Defensively.
- Screens - We STRUGGLE with screening action. Many teams do.... whether we get chasing or we have to fight three multiple screens, fine...But teams should screen us to death. The post whose player is often screening rarely helps, rarely sags to take away the new play...is often frozen between stepping up or sagging down.... Many teams have gotten easy passes into a rolling post or drivers get to the basket. We are saved by teams throwing it away or good rotation by a 3rd defender. Teams SHOULD screen us to death. There is a third image that shows a drive by GT's good guard with Lani White chasing. Look at Baker...She NEEDS to see if coming and drop. Because Baker does not drop, the guard SHOULD score...She doesn't oinly because mishandles the pass and White is able to catch up.
Conversely, Vt's screens don't result in much. We pass into the high post and screen to the corner. Half the time, it was not really needed to result in the pass to Ekh or White coming up. Half the time, the screen isn't set or isn't used. It really doesn;t free up action to the basket.... Now screens to Matilda or White has freed up that mid-range shot in the lane... Not tonight... We didn't do it as much. It could result in a pass to a rolling MIcheaux but we are slow to squeeze it between two people... There are screens that Wenzel tryies to take advantage off, but it results in random missed layups because again, we don't have good spacing.
We lost tonight because we could not stop Morgan at all. She had good hesitation, good change of direction... we didn't have good help when people were isolated.
I am surprised that neither team got to the line much. 10 Fts for GT and 7 for VT? There was far more contact that affected scoring than that. 16 total fouls? That is crazy...and i hate that because you know some other game in the tournament or country is going to be officiated differently. Wenzel should have been at the line more than she was,
The off- season ...
Wenzel needs to become more automatic from outside. She needs to be able to get tighter on her drives which means better screening action and teammates clear space.
Baker should be primarily an inside scorer for this team. She needs to take on the Ekh role and shoot more from outside than inside.
We need real inside presences that are not (a) undersized and (b) are not projects.
Nelson needs to become an outside threat or she needs to be set up to drive more...Intentionally set up, not randomly when she sees an opening. She needs to average 8-12 pts a game.
Spacing, screening action, finishing,
Posted: 03/06/2025 at 07:59 PM ET
Thread Replies (19)
This game and the things that need to be fixed in the off-season
◄
-- VAHokie89
Mar 06, 2025 at 07:59 PM ET
VAHokie89
•
03/06/25 07:59 PM ET
My version is that we need to be running more than six players....
-- `lag
Mar 07, 2025 at 07:40 AM ET
`lag
•
03/07/25 07:40 AM ET
to me the unknown post is the key,everything else will fall in place**
-- mrknowitall
Mar 07, 2025 at 04:07 PM ET
mrknowitall
•
03/07/25 04:07 PM ET
I think Baker played the four out of necessity this season
-- delmarva hokie
Mar 07, 2025 at 01:53 PM ET
delmarva hokie
•
03/07/25 01:53 PM ET
So step one is getting 7-8 dependable players, step two is that dependable
-- `lag
Mar 07, 2025 at 01:47 PM ET
`lag
•
03/07/25 01:47 PM ET
Yeah. I I want Hazelton to do well.
-- VAHokie89
Mar 07, 2025 at 04:52 PM ET
VAHokie89
•
03/07/25 04:52 PM ET
Some good stuff except Baker posting up has been good when she’s had to
-- hokiepro
Mar 06, 2025 at 10:33 PM ET
hokiepro
•
03/06/25 10:33 PM ET
After reading this maybe we just give up basketball. But honestly
-- turkeywinghokie
Mar 06, 2025 at 09:01 PM ET
turkeywinghokie
•
03/06/25 09:01 PM ET
versus a singular mindset that Wenzel is the root of all evil?**
-- VAHokie89
Mar 07, 2025 at 12:54 PM ET
VAHokie89
•
03/07/25 12:54 PM ET
Damn, Pitino - that is intense....
-- Maroon Unit
Mar 06, 2025 at 08:32 PM ET
Maroon Unit
•
03/06/25 08:32 PM ET
Also recall, the bad mouthing of Pedulla helped him Portal. CW is good one.**
-- George Baylor
Mar 07, 2025 at 10:28 AM ET
George Baylor
•
03/07/25 10:28 AM ET
Image 3 Baker needs to see the cutter who is getting the pass**
-- VAHokie89
Mar 06, 2025 at 08:08 PM ET
VAHokie89
•
03/06/25 08:08 PM ET