Tough Loss

[ThickLobo]

The game was closer than the score indicated. LL could have won it with a couple of good bounces. Give Cal credit - they did not fold when the LL took the lead late in the game.

[txlobo95]

Our shooting was not good. Did anyone notice how severely we shortened our bench in the game? Only 6 players played an average of 30 minutes. He also had 5 other players get in the game, but they only averaged 4 minutes apiece. That's basically a 6 player rotation and it showed they were out of gas in the 2nd half.

I was afraid this would happen in games against bigger name opponents, etc. Coach goes ultra short on our rotations and we run out of gas. I thought Porche and Kelsey did an upstanding job when they were in there and probably should have played more minutes.

Angela, 4 fouls in 4 minutes, 0-2 shooting and 2 turnovers? How much longer can she remain the starter?

Just how bad were the starters not named Dionne? A total of 12 points on 5-28 shooting or less than 20% shooting for the game.

Jessica was solid at 5-9 shooting for 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal in 28 minutes. For the betterment of the team, she probably is ready to become the starter. Angela is way too anxious to start the game with getting early fouls and would be better served coming off the bench.

Considering how terrible our starters besides Dionne shot, it's almost unfathomable that we had a tied ballgame in the closing minutes. :confused: It just goes to show hard dang hard they worked on defense!!!

BTW, Brandi did have 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals. So even though her shot was not falling she was definitely helping in other ways.

[telunm]

Another factor that cost us was getting to the FT line only 4 times. Dionne shot all four but only connected on two. Still, it was a good learning experience. Losing to the 12th ranked team on the road by 8 points is no disgrace. I'd rather lose to a quality ranked team on the road, than beat a cupcake at home.

Go Lobos!!

[txlobo95]

Losing to the 12th ranked team on the road by 8 points is no disgrace.


Let's not give Cal more credit than they deserve. Yes, they are a 12th ranked teamed with their all-american center Devanei Hampton healthy. However, without her, they are about an average MWC team at best. Just like Texas got exposed today for what they are, an overrated team at this point, Cal will equally get exposed when they face a quality opponent. Just to give you a little perspective, if we shoot even half way decent, we win by double digits, as we would not have intentionally fouled at the end of the ballgame.

Our steaky shooting got exposed today. We need some go to plays when our shot is not falling. We also need to get Brandi coming off screens to get more open looks and not always being contested on her shot.

Yes, it was a good learning experience for the coaches and players. I'm still shocked we shortened the bench to only 6 players.:confused:

Unless a player gets 10 minutes or more, they're only a spot player, not a rotational player.

[lwbball_fan]

It's hard to beat a good team on its home court when you go 2-17 from outside the line. The first three games offer room for optimism that the outside game will improve.

Go Lobos!!

[Dr.M]

Hard to tell what happened to our shooting without observing the game but the small number of attempted foul shots is usually reflective of some passivity on offense, preferring to jack up threes without trying to pound it inside or drive-penetrate.

[telunm]

I respectfully disagree with your statement that without Hampton, Cal is an average MWC team at best. When a star player is sidelined, good teams find a way to win. In my opinion, without Hampton Cal is a good team, and with her, they are a very good team. Walker, Greif, and Gray-Lawson stepped up to fill the void left by Hampton's loss, and they found a way to win, even though they didn't play that well. In my book, that is a sign of a good team.

[SantaFeFan]

It's hard to beat a good team on its home court when you go 2-17 from outside the line. The first three games offer room for optimism that the outside game will improve.

Go Lobos!!

The first three games were at home against weak teams, and the overall shooting percentage wasn't very good. 44 points is similar to teams in the past that struggled on the road, and even at home. So I don't agree those 3 early games are grounds for optimism that the team will do tons better on the road against better teams; the Cal game is a much better indicator.

It is always the case that if a given lineup doesn't win, we can speculate that another lineup would have done better. My speculation is that the fix is mostly up to the coach. Finding the right line-up, using a longer bench so we don't run out of gas (see BYU and Utah at home last year), and actually playing the one returning player who shot more than 50% from the field last year would all be steps that would likely be in the right direction. [I'll change my mind if those changes are made and don't work, or are not made but we thrive!]:angry:

[txlobo95]

From Telunm



I respectfully disagree with your statement that without Hampton, Cal is an average MWC team... In my opinion, without Hampton Cal is a good team, and with her, they are a very good team.


Aren't we saying exactly the same thing? Right now, Utah was picked to finish 5 in our conference and they are a good team. Yes, the same Utah team that took Stanford to two overtimes that they should have won. We played Cal to a standstill for most of the game, even though we were on the road and we shot poorly. In other words a game we could have easily won.

At this point, if we played Cal home and away 10 times, I would pick us to win 6 out of 10 of those games, especially every game in the PIT and we would beat them at least once or twice on the road. We are picked to finish 4th in the conference. Right now, Cal is about equal to us and Utah. :p

Yes, if you put Hampton in the game and we were not able to double team Walker without serious consequence, we would have a much more difficult time with them. With that said, she's not in there, and they will get exposed against better teams here in the next few weeks. Once you shut Walker down, they don't have a lot of scoring depth.

[telunm]

I'm not sure we are saying the same thing. You said that without Hampton, Cal would be an average MWC at best. I say that even without Hampton, they are a good team, a team that is much better than an average Mountain West team.

[LIDOakaLJT]

Wow, could it be that the MWC is much better than expected??? For the "middle picks" to take 2 of the 3 best PAC-10 teams to the wire shows that the top 5 in the MWC are going to have brutal dogfights when the conference schedule comes around!!! WOOHOO!!!! :D


GO LOBOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ThickLobo]

I like the chances of a Lobo in a dog fight. ;-)

[Lobodawg92]

Shoulda won that one. If I remember correctly, we were up by 6 with 7 minutes to go. I think it is just mental toughness that is not yet there for such a young team. Poor shooting for sure. but lotsa positives. Jessica is looking really good. BTW, did Val play at all? I don't remember hearing her in, but I was only able to catch glimples of the game. I think this bodes well for our future. We seem to have the athletes and a competitive fire. Looking forward to seeing them this coming weekend!

Go Lobos!

[String Music]

I didn't see the game, only heard it on the radio. But it didn't change my perception that our 3 best "Go To" options at clutch time are:
1) Go to Dionne.
2) Go to Amy.
3) Go to the free throw line.

Dionne was fabulous against Cal, but Amy had an off game shooting. That will happen. But to be successful this season, we have to be more conscious of option 3 because we are a much better FT-shooting team than FG-shooting. In the final minutes of a close game, it's important to make every possession count. Getting to the free throw line is often the easiest way to avoid coming up empty handed. Julie Briody had that mindset last year. We need the same mindset this year from everyone.

Final thot: This team is much further along by mid-November than I expected. This was a lost opportunity but not a bad loss.

[sandia mt]

Final thot: This team is much further along by mid-November than I expected. This was a lost opportunity but not a bad loss.

I liked the way you phrased that - lost opportunity. I agree they are much further along than many expected. I like what I see from our young players. More opportunities on the horizon.

[Mark]

It's hard to beat a good team on its home court when you go 2-17 from outside the line. The first three games offer room for optimism that the outside game will improve.

Go Lobos!!

Welcome to the board lwbball_fan!!

[Section 15]

but I think we live and die from the three point line. When we shoot 33% or better, we almost always win. It lossens up the defense inside and gets Dionne some help. I guess we miss Katie and Julie more than we know. I wonder who will step up to be the sniper? I was hoping for Amanda A and Brandi. Amy can usually hit. She has a ridiculous assist to TO ratio. She is in Katie and Mandi territory.

[ThickLobo]

I liked the way you phrased that - lost opportunity. I agree they are much further along than many expected. I like what I see from our young players. More opportunities on the horizon.

I also agree with that thought, but I would add Brandi to the "go to" list. She's done it before (e.g. away at TX and other games). Dionne is still the heart and sole of the offense though.

[ThickLobo]

but I think we live and die from the three point line. When we shoot 33% or better, we almost always win. It lossens up the defense inside and gets Dionne some help. I guess we miss Katie and Julie more than we know. I wonder who will step up to be the sniper? I was hoping for Amanda A and Brandi. Amy can usually hit. She has a ridiculous assist to TO ratio. She is in Katie and Mandi territory.

IMO, Brandi will hit many key three's before the season is over. She's always had a decent long shot and her form has improved immensely over the summer. Don't let one game temper your enthusiasm for her importance beyond the arc (heck, even Amy had a tough night from long range against Cal). Amanda will be fine once she gets more comfortable on the court, recognizes her opportunities and builds some confidence. (she is still rushing and getting set/squared).

[ThickLobo]

BTW, did Val play at all?

Val did not play. It was a little surprising considering the foul trouble on our bigs. I trust that she just isn't ready yet. I wish she'd get ready because we are going to need her size and shooting %.

[Mark]

but I think we live and die from the three point line. When we shoot 33% or better, we almost always win. It lossens up the defense inside and gets Dionne some help. I guess we miss Katie and Julie more than we know. I wonder who will step up to be the sniper? I was hoping for Amanda A and Brandi. Amy can usually hit. She has a ridiculous assist to TO ratio. She is in Katie and Mandi territory.

Welcome to the board Section 15!

[txlobo95]

Getting to the free throw line is often the easiest way to avoid coming up empty handed. Julie Briody had that mindset last year.


The difference was the defense respected Julies outside shooting ability. When they pressed up on her to take away her outside shot, she would blow right by them and the post would come over and hack her to prevent a lay-up.

Amanda A and Brandi seem like the most likely candidates to get to the basket. Although Brandi prefers to stop and pop when she finds the open space in the defense, so she won't draw near as many fouls as Amanda A.

If we get more aggressive in our post players going strong to the hole, then we will probably get to the line more.

It sure seems we got psyched out because Cal was ranked #12, and our team figured Cal should win and it would be a major upset if we won, just like the Chinese game when we had a big lead and let that slip away. In that game, mabe they thought "Hey, they were ranked #10 in the world. If we beat them it's a major upset".

If our team just threw the rankings out the window and didn't pay attention to it, we might have beaten Cal. We would have expected to win that game and maybe shot our "normal" shooting %.

Either way, we have a good team this year and if we make a few tweaks, we could really get this thing rolling. :D

[ThickLobo]

It sure seems we got psyched out because Cal was ranked #12, and our team figured Cal should win and it would be a major upset if we won, just like the Chinese game when we had a big lead and let that slip away. In that game, mabe they thought "Hey, they were ranked #10 in the world. If we beat them it's a major upset".

If our team just threw the rankings out the window and didn't pay attention to it, we might have beaten Cal. We would have expected to win that game and maybe shot our "normal" shooting %.

Sorry, I'm not buying the psyched out theory. See my comments in the Reflections on Berkley thread.

[sandia mt]

Val did not play. It was a little surprising considering the foul trouble on our bigs. I trust that she just isn't ready yet. I wish she'd get ready because we are going to need her size and shooting %.

Maybe she will be our secret weapon come conference time.