How is Russell Going to Develop Like This?

[Volfan2012]

Her freshman year she averaged 16.2 way below her average of over 20 ppg her last three seasons. That is good stats from a freshman but she was not the leader of the team that season. She got a lot better as the season went along and was a far better player as a sophomore. Even better as a junior and senior.
Freshmen are up and down in their play and that includes everyone that was ever a freshman including Michael Jordan.

 

[Bodeydad]

The women's game has become lots more athletic than in years past--lots more players like Harrison, better passing and offense, which makes it tougher for bigs like Russell, to have an impact unless they can really get up and down the court. Russell moves reasonable well, and she could help complement Harrison by giving us some size and defensive presence in the paint against certain teams. Yes, my basic point is that we should be giving her the ball more so she can practice some real post moves--pivoting and shooting off glass, for example. One problem is that we've got players who are crappy post players and don't know how to get the ball inside properly--or WHEN. You have to recognize when a post has got great position and in those 2 seconds get her the ball. It gets back to being a good passing team. Russell works hard to establish position on offense when she's in the game--but she has gotten the ball very little. Get her the ball. Push her development a little more aggressively. And the same with Moore and Graves on offense--push their development.

I agree completely. Mercedes works hard for position and is seldom rewarded for her work. However, she has been schooled by heavier posts who take the ball at her. I don't know that I have ever seen her leave her feet.

 

[Convoluted]

North Carolina just lost to not only an unranked, but Virginia Tech who has a LOSING record @ 13-14 and 3-11 in the ACC. Just because North Carolina has some talent and may be a contender in the future doesn't mean they aren't rebuilding now and DeShields being their best player as a Freshman is a testament to that. No team in wcbb has ever won a NC led by a Freshman.

If the Lady Vols had just lost like NC did, you all would have crucified them, so don't pretend NC is anything special.

But they are special. They are basically playing with 4 freshmen and a Soph. If they had good coaching that could control the young egos, they would be doing much better. The have done without their coach this year (does that scenario ring any bells?). There is little comparison between NC and TN. TN isn't a bunch of freshmen.

 

[soda23]

okay seriously stop acting like DeShields has been the best freshman in the nation all season long based off that one game against Duke.

Well to be fair she is averaging 18.+ ppg , so she has obviously done plenty besides one game against Duke

 

[soda23]

I watched the Cinderella season on DVD and to say that they were "led" by Holdsclaw I think is a bit of stretch. While her stats and play was good, I seem to remember her crying a lot tbh and struggling to make the transition to college ball just like all other freshman every year.

But, even if you count that, ok, 1 out of 40 years of wcbb - not good odds for your team if you're relying on Freshmen.

Well she did lead the team in scoring and rebounding , so to say she led the team , is not a stretch at all . Sure she had some nice pieces around her such as Marciniak, Thompson and Jolly but when you are the number1 scorer and rebounder on the team ...

 

[soda23]

I will give Russell credit as she has improved her free throw shooting. She has gone several games this year without getting to the line which I find unusual for a post player , but the last five games she has shot free throws, she is hitting at a 75% rate (12-16) , and the 6 previous games she shot free throws, she was at a 35.3% rate (6-17).

 

[armchair]

Russell has a good touch around the basket, it would seem--but we've done a TERRIBLE job of getting her the ball when she is in the game. Our post passing in general isn't very good. I like the fact that she doesn't leave her feet on defense--as tall as she is, she can affect shots without jumping, and when you leave your feet on defense you are often going to foul.

What I don't like about our post play is this: When we are in man defense, Russell and Harrison will come way outside to guard their opponent when she has no chance of scoring from outside. Centers who go out past the foul line to defend do nothing but create problems for the defense: They've been pulled away from the basket, so that they cannot block or alter shots, they are not in a position to rebound--AND when the opponent picks one of our perimeter players, our 5 sometimes ends up trying to guard a guard. There is no reason, in my mind, for a big to leave the paint area on defense. You are playing into the hands of the offense, which wants to pull our bigs away from the basket. Not smart.

 

[clkou]

I'm just really glad that Russell has had two outstanding talents in Izzy and Graves to play under not just this year, but next year as well. Historically, our inside game has been overshadowed by our outside game. But, I'd say we are solidly better inside on average with this team. I feel like this will pay dividends down the road allowing Mercedes to develop at her own pace while still getting a decent chunk of playing time. It's starting to click a little this year and if she works hard in the off season she has tremendous upside.

When a player comes in as a star as a freshman, they go through an accelerated growth process, which is beneficial, but I feel like the ceiling gets lowered a bit long term when you don't have that veteran leadership to learn from. If YOU end up being the veteran as a freshman, how do you learn when there is no to learn from? Sure, you learn on the court, but that takes a lot of time and mistakes.

I'm just a big believer in upper classman leadership. I think freshman can and should contribute, but a successful team shouldn't have to rely on them. For TOO long since Candace left, we HAVE relied on freshmen and this is the first year we haven't and that's a GOOD thing imo.

 

[gule]

Chamique Holdsclaw Post Moves - YouTube

 

[Volfan2012]

Kaela Davis is averaging 18.3 ppg and 6.0 rebounds her team hasn't won that many games in the middle of the pack in the ACC. Deshields is averaging 18.1 ppg and 5.3 rebounds per game. Kaela 38 percent from the field, Deshields 44 percent from the field. Kaela 30 minutes per game, Deshields 26 minutes per game. Kaela 422 shots. Deshields 408 shots. Mercedes 6.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg 19 minutes. Hitting 58 percent of shots. 136 total shots. If Mercedes had taken 400 shots and shot 58 percent she would have 232 field goals for 464 points not even counting free throws her average would be 17.8 ppg. I look for her to be more of a go to player next season. If she shoots 58 percent same as this year and puts up more shots average will be close to 20 ppg as she will get to the line a lot with that kind of shot attempts.

The offense has to be built around a player for them to get big numbers. Tennessee has not built their offense around Mercedes. Simmons is the big shot taker for Tennessee. She has taken almost 200 shots more than anybody else on the team. When the team decides to change their strategy go more to the high low game the post players will be the major factor in the Tennessee offense. The high low is a lot better way to feed the post than the pass into the post. The more successful inside scoring teams use it on almost every possession.

 

[stllvf]

The LVs run high-low plays with all three posts alternating at the high and with success. It is especially effective if the posts can consistently hit that shot if not tightly guarded. And Jones, Graves and Izzy also have the option of driving from the high post.

From my vantage point - that offense can be expanded.

I also feel that the LVs are shooting more pull-up mid-range shots - particularly Simmons and Carter. Women who can consistently hit that shot when closely guarded are the ones who make All-American.

 

[Volfan2012]

Yes they run it a few plays and then go through a period of quick shooting the ball. Every possession should go through a post they should touch the ball if not at the low post at least at the high post. When we run that type offense we are far more consistent in scoring. The reason Missouri got back in the game yesterday was we starting doing a lot of quick shooting with the basketball on several possessions after building the 16 point lead. If we had a good decision maker at the high a lot of good things could happen from that position. The pass to the low for a shot or if defense is sagging a pass to the guard for a three point shot. If one thing Holly has to work on with this team other than bad turnovers it is quick shooting the basketball. They seen to always go through a part of the game where one or two players start putting up shots way to early in the shot clock. It might be a necessary strategy if you are behind, but with a 16 point lead a terrible strategy.

 

[DeerPark12]

Yes they run it a few plays and then go through a period of quick shooting the ball. Every possession should go through a post they should touch the ball if not at the low post at least at the high post. When we run that type offense we are far more consistent in scoring. The reason Missouri got back in the game yesterday was we starting doing a lot of quick shooting with the basketball on several possessions after building the 16 point lead. If we had a good decision maker at the high a lot of good things could happen from that position. The pass to the low for a shot or if defense is sagging a pass to the guard for a three point shot. If one thing Holly has to work on with this team other than bad turnovers it is quick shooting the basketball. They seen to always go through a part of the game where one or two players start putting up shots way to early in the shot clock. It might be a necessary strategy if you are behind, but with a 16 point lead a terrible strategy.

No, the reason Missouri got back into the game yesterday was Tennessee only played 7 players due to injury, and two sat out considerable minutes with foul trouble.

 

[Volfan2012]

No, the reason Missouri got back into the game yesterday was Tennessee only played 7 players due to injury, and two sat out considerable minutes with foul trouble.

Well I disagree they quick shot the ball for about an eight minutes stretch from about 11 minutes to the three minute mark. UConn plays with six players all the time they still win by 20 or more because they always stay in the pattern of their offense while we stray to something of a freelance offense when we have a big lead.

 

[armchair]

UT's offense has a history of breaking down too quickly: We make four passes and suddenly the player with the ball starts to get panicky and we end up free-lancing. ND will make 8 passes and somebody has a layup or wide-open three. The offense has improved /a bit/ this year--and UT was amazingly smart and patient in the last Vandy game, which was one of the best offensive performances I'd seen in a long time. I want to say that we had only 5 turnovers in that game; I may have the number wrong, but the total was very low for UT.

 

[Convoluted]

UT's offense has a history of breaking down too quickly: We make four passes and suddenly the player with the ball starts to get panicky and we end up free-lancing. ND will make 8 passes and somebody has a layup or wide-open three. The offense has improved /a bit/ this year--and UT was amazingly smart and patient in the last Vandy game, which was one of the best offensive performances I'd seen in a long time. I want to say that we had only 5 turnovers in that game; I may have the number wrong, but the total was very low for UT.

12 turnovers in that game. What was good was Assists with 20. Carter had 7. I think she's the main reason for the improvement in offense. Even Simmons had 5 Assists. What puzzles me about Simmons is why she goes into what I call a shooting seizure. She gets the ball and starts dribbling and prodding the defense. It becomes immediately obvious that she's going to take a shot. It's like she's a bee and someone wacked her hive. She attacks over and over and if unsuccessful, she will still take some kind of shot within a few seconds, usually a bad one.