Musings from tonight’s UNLV game

[Lobo2x53]

The most obvious observation is there was little suspense tonight. The mismatch in the first half was as one-sided as we’ve seen in quite a while for an in-conference game. OUCH! Part of it was UNLV looking lost on offense but it was also a Lobo team that came out with a serious chip on their shoulder. It is hard to say who “led” the Lobos in the first 20 minutes because everyone who played contributed. But if I had to pick one who set the tone it was Eileen. Not only the three 3-point shots, but the aggressive physical play that never let UNLV appear comfortable on offense. After a few good elbows by E showed the refs were going to let them go at it the other Lobos joined in. By the middle of the first half the UNLV players drove the lane and flung up shots while looking back over their shoulder to see which Lobo was going to hip-check them—the result was some very ugly Rebel lay-ups.

Offensively what surprised me the most was how we were SO much more efficient running the ball than UNLV. In a race they were probably quicker and faster, but the difference in spacing and teamwork between the two teams on the break was night and day.

The “old” Sara showed up tonight with two very aggressive drive & finish moves to the hoop, and the next time a half-drive & pull-up jumper. Welcome back! No indication her hand is bothering her which is great news.

I thought Geronika had her best game of the season. She was playing more attacking defense and led the team in floor burns. Also the times she drove to the basket she seemed more in control, allowing her to pass out those times she was double covered and cut off.

I also loved Amanda B’s first half. She is becoming a very well-rounded player who make a lot of “team” things happen on offense. The substitution pattern seems to have settled into Amanda & Sara sharing one spot, but I’d like to see more of them out there together. With opposing teams having to seriously respect Amy I think having the two of them on opposite wings as driving threats would seriously strain most defenses. Speaking of driving, Lauren has very little regard for her own wellbeing: she will drive full speed right at anyone! She also is doing better anticipating the passing lanes, getting her hands on at least three tonight.

The second half was anticlimactic, but listening to Coach’s post game comments I found myself disagreeing with a couple things he said. He said the team was careless in the second half, and I agree with that. But he also said they let down on the intensity, which I don’t think I agree with. Had he said mental focus or concentration I’d concur, but I saw the same physical effort and extra hustle as in the first half. Eileen’s save of an air ball we shot, Lauren’s sprint after a loose ball that was going out of bounds (which resulted in an absurd foul call on her—she had as much right to that ball as the UNLV player in that case), and the continued physical play underneath.

The second thing he said was we started rushing out shot selection in the second half. There may have been a quick shot or two, but I saw more examples of being too unselfish—passing up a good shot for one pass too many. Jessica had the ball down low two or three times with the defender on her hip and skipped it back out. Amanda B passed up a couple open short jumpers to pass it inside to Val. Etc. Tactically some of those were probably mistakes but it is a sign of some good team chemistry.

One final observation about our significantly worse shooting in the second half: almost all the shots were on line but short. Coach mentioned he had shortened the practice week because there were getting pretty intense, and I wonder if the team wide short-shooting was partially a fatigue issue. Fortunately Amanda A figured out that if you can’t hit the basket from 15 feet it’s a good time to display some new offensive moves under the basket. She was a nice stabilizing presence the second half, and our primary offensive consistency.

Just one person’s thoughts.

[ThickLobo]

Two things were interesting to me in an otherwise pedestrian game:

1. I have never seen Amy miss so many shots. To get a blowout win when the best scorer is so off is a good sign for a team with a lot of depth.

2. This may be the worst UNLV team I've seen in the Pit. Less talent and worse fundamentals than usual.

As a side note the parents and brother of UNLV's #10. Allison Holiday from Shiprock, sat in front of us last night. She's a pretty good little player but it was hilarious to listen to her family complaining about all of the Lobo fouls and walks. Reality check - had the officials called every violation, the Rebels would have gotten off 50% less shots.

[sandia mt]

Two things were interesting to me in an otherwise pedestrian game:

1. I have never seen Amy miss so many shots. To get a blowout win when the best scorer is so off is a good sign for a team with a lot of depth.

Any idea why Amy was wearing the sleeve? I wondered if her elbow (or arm) was bothering her and that's why she missed a few. I noticed her holding her elbow a couple of times. And she only played 34 minutes.

[txlobo95]

BTW, real good post and pretty much spot on

From Lobo 2X53:

Jessica had the ball down low two or three times with the defender on her hip and skipped it back out.

I would definitely like to see Jessica go ahead and finish these shots strong. It appeared, we fell in love with the 3 point shot in the 2nd half, but only shot 1-12.

Amanda A had some nice post moves in the 2nd half and Lauren drove the lane with determination and both were very nice to see.

Against Air Force, we should be able to muscle the ball inside with our post players Angela, Eileen, Jessica, Val and AA and should get a ton of transition buckets as Air Force is not the tallest nor the quickest.

As long as the team continues making the extra pass and taking the best shot, we should have a real good showing in Colorado Springs, hopefully, just like last year's game!

[Lobo2x53]

We're driving up Friday. Hopefully we'll see several hundred and outnumber the Blue's again this year. The only time we've been there and didn't outnumber them is when AF bribed the freshmen cadets to show up (free pizza, soda, & ice cream).

C'mon up, the weather is supposed to be fine!

[SantaFeFan]

Eileen had her best game -- very quick, strong, effective. Tremendous defensive pressure. I hope it was a breakout because if she can play like that night in and night out, she will give every team we play a fit.

I'm not sure about her box score -- no credit for any blocks, but she had a highlight real block in the second half when she came from behind and absolutely stuffed it -- perhaps it was credited as a steal, it was so effective!

I thought the entire team looked a bit tired in the second half - they played hard but consistently shot short. It may also have been a bit of playing down to the competition - Vegas was so bad and the lead was so big there was no way to expect a second half as good as the first. I'm happy to save the focus for when it is needed.

[LIDOakaLJT]

Nice post/good analysis Lobo2x53.

I do, however, agree with Coach....in comparison to the 1st half, the ladies did look like they let their intensity down in the second half. There were several instances where they got caught flat-footed or didn't seem to sprint a corner shot like they did in the 1st half. Again, in comparing the 2 halves, the second was definitely less intensive effort than the 1st.

As for rushing the shot selection, there were more than a few times when they bombed 3s or long jumpers when they still had 15 or so seconds on the shot clock. It looked like they wanted to beat UNLV at their own style of game (vs what got them the 20 point 1st half lead).

Like Coach, I was very disappointed in the second half because they could have truly blown UNLV out of the water by simply sticking to the game plan and running their offense. Instead, I was so annoyed by it that I was flipping over to CSTV to watch SDSU blow out Air Force.

None the less, a win is a win.....

[LIDOakaLJT]

Nice post/good analysis Lobo2x53.

I do, however, agree with Coach....in comparison to the 1st half, the ladies did look like they let their intensity down in the second half. There were several instances where they got caught flat-footed or didn't seem to sprint a corner shot like they did in the 1st half. Again, in comparing the 2 halves, the second was definitely less intensive effort than the 1st.

As for rushing the shot selection, there were more than a few times when they bombed 3s or long jumpers when they still had 15 or so seconds on the shot clock. It looked like they wanted to beat UNLV at their own style of game (vs what got them the 20 point 1st half lead).

Like Coach, I was very disappointed in the second half because they could have truly blown UNLV out of the water by simply sticking to the game plan and running their offense. Instead, I was so annoyed by it that I was flipping over to CSTV to watch SDSU blow out Air Force.

None the less, a win is a win.....

[String Music]

Good summary, Lobo2x53. I'll try not to repeat too much other than that I too thought Georonika gave her best effort.

I thought the key to the game was UNLV's weak defense. Unlike other teams we've played recently (A&M), they had no ball pressure and very little help. That allowed us to do pretty much whatever we wanted to do to get uncontested shots and layups. We better not get too used to that.

Several people mentioned that we looked tired in the 2nd half. I missed that, but we definitely looked tired in the 2nd half against A&M. I've been concerned for several years that we have a tendency to go into a bit of a physical slump between the two semesters. Don't know exactly why - Christmas break? flu season? sleeping in? long layoffs between games? harder practices? Who knows? I have no doubt this team will work hard and give it their all on the court. I just hope they (including coaches) are aware of how the different off-court routine affects them.

Fortunately, our schedule is not as tough in early January this year as it was the past two years when we stumbled coming out of the gate. But after Air Force, we play the three most physical teams in the league: @BYU, SDSU, and TCU. We will need to be at peak condition because we need to win all three games to compete for the regular season title (and an at-large bid).

Every time we take care of business (and we have all year), it makes the next game that much bigger.