Mizzou Game: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

[madtownvol]

The Good

Diamond’s 2nd half. Despite the foul issues, she was a dynamo on the defensive end with a block, steals, forcing players off the ball, getting clutch rebounds. If everyone on the team, played with her defensive intensity, this would be a much more formidable team.

This game was probably her most efficient offensive game (8-12 and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc), with only 2 TOs. Diamond won’t always shoot like that but when he does her game is a thing of beauty.

Jamie’s 2nd half. In the first half, I was beginning to worry that Jamie might be entering into a slump phase. She started to find her game in that crucial stretch in the first half, when the LVs closed the gap and she had a sold 2nd half. She has played at a higher level, particularly in terms of rebounding and pressing defense but this game was nice bounce back from her subpar GA. Game.

Mercedes and Jordan. This was not a dominant game for MR and she missed a couple of seemingly easy shots in the first half. But she kept her composure and did not let her early foul trouble throw off her game. She was solid and made some key baskets and had that great assist to Middleton!. Jordan was good tonight and provided a much needed offensive spark. Generally ran the offense fairly well and kept the TOs down. Though the LVs looked a little stagnant, they had several possessions where they ran the clock down and ended up with decent looks (and made a decent % of them down the stretch).

The Bad

The LVs' defensive effort (with the exception of Diamond) was not very good. They gave up the baseline way too often and Mizzou is not a particularly quick team. Middleton was a weak spot once they started posting her up. This might have been a game to play Nunn more because they did not have to worry about Mizzou beating them with speed. The LVs were lucky that they caught Mizzou on a night where they missed a whole lot of open 3’s (2-13). I would love to say that LV pressure caused that low % but it was mainly Mizzou shooting clankers.

The UGLY

Another very poor first quarter where the LVs played down to Mizzou, particularly in terms of tempo. Against a better team, the LVs could have been in a significant hole.

A Team has to know its limitations

In the end, the LVs had a favorable balance of key factors – Mizzou did not have the athletes need to pressure the LVs and the LVs, after the first quarter, shot a good %. So, they won but
it was not a dominating win which the LVs should have been able to have.

On the other side, it might be a good thing that the LVs perhaps conserved some mental and physical energy with Texas A&M up next. We will see if they are able to ratchet up their game to the ND and SC standard.

 

[Spook1]

:rock:LV had only 9 turnovers which is great compared to some pass games of 20 or more. When the turnovers are less than 10, LV usually win. Still some stupid decisions on some of the turnovers.

The Good

Diamond’s 2nd half. Despite the foul issues, she was a dynamo on the defensive end with a block, steals, forcing players off the ball, getting clutch rebounds. If everyone on the team, played with her defensive intensity, this would be a much more formidable team.

This game was probably her most efficient offensive game (8-12 and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc), with only 2 TOs. Diamond won’t always shoot like that but when he does her game is a thing of beauty.

Jamie’s 2nd half. In the first half, I was beginning to worry that Jamie might be entering into a slump phase. She started to find her game in that crucial stretch in the first half, when the LVs closed the gap and she had a sold 2nd half. She has played at a higher level, particularly in terms of rebounding and pressing defense but this game was nice bounce back from her subpar GA. Game.

Mercedes and Jordan. This was not a dominant game for MR and she missed a couple of seemingly easy shots in the first half. But she kept her composure and did not let her early foul trouble throw off her game. She was solid and made some key baskets and had that great assist to Middleton!. Jordan was good tonight and provided a much needed offensive spark. Generally ran the offense fairly well and kept the TOs down. Though the LVs looked a little stagnant, they had several possessions where they ran the clock down and ended up with decent looks (and made a decent % of them down the stretch).

The Bad

The LVs' defensive effort (with the exception of Diamond) was not very good. They gave up the baseline way too often and Mizzou is not a particularly quick team. Middleton was a weak spot once they started posting her up. This might have been a game to play Nunn more because they did not have to worry about Mizzou beating them with speed. The LVs were lucky that they caught Mizzou on a night where they missed a whole lot of open 3’s (2-13). I would love to say that LV pressure caused that low % but it was mainly Mizzou shooting clankers.

The UGLY

Another very poor first quarter where the LVs played down to Mizzou, particularly in terms of tempo. Against a better team, the LVs could have been in a significant hole.

A Team has to know its limitations

In the end, the LVs had a favorable balance of key factors – Mizzou did not have the athletes need to pressure the LVs and the LVs, after the first quarter, shot a good %. So, they won but
it was not a dominating win which the LVs should have been able to have.

On the other side, it might be a good thing that the LVs perhaps conserved some mental and physical energy with Texas A&M up next. We will see if they are able to ratchet up their game to the ND and SC standard.

 

[madtownvol]

:rock:LV had only 9 turnovers which is great compared to some pass games of 20 or more. When the turnovers are less than 10, LV usually win. Still some stupid decisions on some of the turnovers.

Yes, that a definite deciding factor. Diamond's TO both came in situations where she would have been better of taking a shot but she tried to dish. Her heart's in the right place...

But, they were much from a ball security standpoint but again, this was against a team that could not press them like Auburn or GA.

If and when the LVs figure out how to handle pressure without committing a bunch of TOs, then they can be a much consistent and competitive team. I think Texas A&M will be a good test in that regard.

 

[MockingVol]

Although our defense was weak in the paint, I don't think you can gloss over Mizzou's 3-point game as a "bad night". The two made 3's was their season low, and they average 20 3's attempted a game--a mark that they missed by a wide margin.

Russell more or less disappeared after her 8 points in Q1.

 

[gule]

I'm so disappointed with Sophie Cunningham. Where were the short shorts, young lady?

 

[westtnvoljackson]

I was hoping One of our ladies would knock S. Cunningham on her ass. She comes across as a dirty player.

 

[Vols4us]

Russell looks like she is running in sand. Her mobility stinks now along with her defense.

A top 10 to 20 team would have beaten them last night. DeShields just took over and won it in spite of the issues. Nared and Reynolds had solid games.

 

[mlindsay]

I was hoping One of our ladies would knock S. Cunningham on her ass. She comes across as a dirty player.

She is very dirty & MeMe was going to, if you see the replay when she bumped into Nared on the baseline, MeMe approached her and told her to simply "cut that 💩Out" along with some other verbage which lead to the refs initially calling double techs but they then changed it and Nared took her two fouls shots

 

[MockingVol]

She is very dirty & MeMe was going to, if you see the replay when she bumped into Nared on the baseline, MeMe approached her and told her to simply "cut that 💩Out" along with some other verbage which lead to the refs initially calling double techs but they then changed it and Nared took her two fouls shots

It got VERY chippy down on the court in the fourth quarter and that continued after the game.

 

[maxvolfan]

Because of her foot size and she's lock kneed .Her footwork needs improvement but that just might be genetically impossible.

 

[NoBackBoard]

We shot 52%, 18 assists on 26 field goals, and only 9 turnovers.

I'll take it!

 

[th2421]

The Good

Diamond’s 2nd half. Despite the foul issues, she was a dynamo on the defensive end with a block, steals, forcing players off the ball, getting clutch rebounds. If everyone on the team, played with her defensive intensity, this would be a much more formidable team.

This game was probably her most efficient offensive game (8-12 and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc), with only 2 TOs. Diamond won’t always shoot like that but when he does her game is a thing of beauty.

Jamie’s 2nd half. In the first half, I was beginning to worry that Jamie might be entering into a slump phase. She started to find her game in that crucial stretch in the first half, when the LVs closed the gap and she had a sold 2nd half. She has played at a higher level, particularly in terms of rebounding and pressing defense but this game was nice bounce back from her subpar GA. Game.

Mercedes and Jordan. This was not a dominant game for MR and she missed a couple of seemingly easy shots in the first half. But she kept her composure and did not let her early foul trouble throw off her game. She was solid and made some key baskets and had that great assist to Middleton!. Jordan was good tonight and provided a much needed offensive spark. Generally ran the offense fairly well and kept the TOs down. Though the LVs looked a little stagnant, they had several possessions where they ran the clock down and ended up with decent looks (and made a decent % of them down the stretch).

The Bad

The LVs' defensive effort (with the exception of Diamond) was not very good. They gave up the baseline way too often and Mizzou is not a particularly quick team. Middleton was a weak spot once they started posting her up. This might have been a game to play Nunn more because they did not have to worry about Mizzou beating them with speed. The LVs were lucky that they caught Mizzou on a night where they missed a whole lot of open 3’s (2-13). I would love to say that LV pressure caused that low % but it was mainly Mizzou shooting clankers.

The UGLY

Another very poor first quarter where the LVs played down to Mizzou, particularly in terms of tempo. Against a better team, the LVs could have been in a significant hole.

A Team has to know its limitations

In the end, the LVs had a favorable balance of key factors – Mizzou did not have the athletes need to pressure the LVs and the LVs, after the first quarter, shot a good %. So, they won but
it was not a dominating win which the LVs should have been able to have.

On the other side, it might be a good thing that the LVs perhaps conserved some mental and physical energy with Texas A&M up next. We will see if they are able to ratchet up their game to the ND and SC standard.

Great assessment, as always. The only place I disagree is re: Nunn. Missouri doesn't have speed, necessarily, but they screen so often and so well that they pull players away from the basket and consistently get very quick, aggressive drives to the basket. Our defense did a poor job of recovering/helping in the first half but did a MUCH better job in the second (perhaps because we switched to a zone?) while still closing out pretty well on 3 point shooters.

I'm not sure how well Nunn matched up defensively against this unique style of offense. She got beat and called for a foul on an and-1 play pretty quickly after coming in in the 2nd quarter.

 

[madtownvol]

Great assessment, as always. The only place I disagree is re: Nunn. Missouri doesn't have speed, necessarily, but they screen so often and so well that they pull players away from the basket and consistently get very quick, aggressive drives to the basket. Our defense did a poor job of recovering/helping in the first half but did a MUCH better job in the second (perhaps because we switched to a zone?) while still closing out pretty well on 3 point shooters.

I'm not sure how well Nunn matched up defensively against this unique style of offense. She got beat and called for a foul on an and-1 play pretty quickly after coming in in the 2nd quarter.

That is a really good observation. Mizzou is distinctive in their offensive set with all the screening, which helps to compensate for their overall lack of quickness. The LVs adjusted better to that approach in the 2nd half and particularly the 4th quarter.

In the first half they still gave up the baseline way too easily and just seemed to be playing slow; once they upped their tempo, they got around the screens more effectively.

Per your point, their 2nd half was better than I gave them credit for in my original post.

 

[Chris89128]

The Good

Diamond’s 2nd half. Despite the foul issues, she was a dynamo on the defensive end with a block, steals, forcing players off the ball, getting clutch rebounds. If everyone on the team, played with her defensive intensity, this would be a much more formidable team.

This game was probably her most efficient offensive game (8-12 and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc), with only 2 TOs. Diamond won’t always shoot like that but when he does her game is a thing of beauty.

Jamie’s 2nd half. In the first half, I was beginning to worry that Jamie might be entering into a slump phase. She started to find her game in that crucial stretch in the first half, when the LVs closed the gap and she had a sold 2nd half. She has played at a higher level, particularly in terms of rebounding and pressing defense but this game was nice bounce back from her subpar GA. Game.

Mercedes and Jordan. This was not a dominant game for MR and she missed a couple of seemingly easy shots in the first half. But she kept her composure and did not let her early foul trouble throw off her game. She was solid and made some key baskets and had that great assist to Middleton!. Jordan was good tonight and provided a much needed offensive spark. Generally ran the offense fairly well and kept the TOs down. Though the LVs looked a little stagnant, they had several possessions where they ran the clock down and ended up with decent looks (and made a decent % of them down the stretch).

The Bad

The LVs' defensive effort (with the exception of Diamond) was not very good. They gave up the baseline way too often and Mizzou is not a particularly quick team. Middleton was a weak spot once they started posting her up. This might have been a game to play Nunn more because they did not have to worry about Mizzou beating them with speed. The LVs were lucky that they caught Mizzou on a night where they missed a whole lot of open 3’s (2-13). I would love to say that LV pressure caused that low % but it was mainly Mizzou shooting clankers.

The UGLY

Another very poor first quarter where the LVs played down to Mizzou, particularly in terms of tempo. Against a better team, the LVs could have been in a significant hole.

A Team has to know its limitations

In the end, the LVs had a favorable balance of key factors – Mizzou did not have the athletes need to pressure the LVs and the LVs, after the first quarter, shot a good %. So, they won but
it was not a dominating win which the LVs should have been able to have.

On the other side, it might be a good thing that the LVs perhaps conserved some mental and physical energy with Texas A&M up next. We will see if they are able to ratchet up their game to the ND and SC standard.

Defense not very good. Get a clue, Warlick said they were giving up drives to take away the 3. Mizzou goes 2-13 from 3. They average 7 makes a game, I thought the defense was very active and dominated the game with the exception of the 2nd quarter. BTw No not many of the 3's Mizzou shot were wide open. I watched the game twice.

 

[orangeluvr]

Great win! Too many 2nd chance points kept the score close 'til the 4th qtr. Next up!

 

[madtownvol]

Defense not very good. Get a clue, Warlick said they were giving up drives to take away the 3. Mizzou goes 2-13 from 3. They average 7 makes a game, I thought the defense was very active and dominated the game with the exception of the 2nd quarter. BTw No not many of the 3's Mizzou shot were wide open. I watched the game twice.

Per a post up thread, I agree that the LVs 2nd half defense was much better.

But Mizzou still shot close to 50% for the game (28-57) so I don't think that qualifies as dominating defense. Holly's quote would suggest that they had some rocky moments as well:

(On the team’s defense)
“It is tough because you are taking away the three and you have to take away the drive and that is a difficult task, but I thought once we settled down, it helped. In the fourth quarter, we ran a bit of our 3-2 zone, and we rebounded out of it. I thought they got a little tired shooting, and they got to the basket they just didn’t fall. I think we stepped up our defense in the third quarter, and it’s about stops and rebounds. That’s what we talked about in the huddle, you have to get stops and rebounds. We were switching but still allowing people to turn the corner on us. Mercedes would step out on the ball screen, and if she stayed too long, they were throwing it to Cierra Porter. If she didn’t stay long enough, they were turning the corner, so we had to come together and figure out how we were going to guard that ball screen. I thought we did well with it.”

 

[teacherdean]

I thought that Holly gave a good presser. She seemed more confident in expanding the game and what the team needed to do and did. She gave a solid explanation why she put Diamond back in the game. Most of all she did not scratch her head 1,000 times like a dog looking for fleas.

Diamond is coming around and appears to have taken the leadership position which has been lacking. Even in the lose to George she seemed very motivated. The mistakes she made in the latter part of the game against Georgia, happened due to her trying to win the game single handed. I also believe that there was a little bit of a let down after beating USC. The big three, Nard, Russell and Diamond need to be on every game for us to make a little noise in the SEC and NCAA tournaments. We can still be a fly in the ointment for some top 15 teams in the NCAA's.

 

[lvocd]

Russell looks like she is running in sand. Her mobility stinks now along with her defense.

As I have mentioned before, lack of speed is not something that Russell can do anything about, so it is, IMO, unkind to bring this up as if there is.

Her particular musculature -- extra long, obviously slow-twitch -- prevents her from running fast or jumping high or having hand strength with arms outstretched.

Not ALL tall people have this predominantly this muscle type like (it seems OBVIOUS to me) Russell has, so this isn't something that anyone can say, "Well, Candace Parker is only one inch shorter and SHE can jump and run fast!"

It has nothing to do with height. Others who obviously (to me, anyway) possessed more slow-twitch muscles than fast-twitch: Angie Bjorklund, Shanna Zolman, Sydney Smallbone and, to a lesser extent, Cierra Burdick.

Dunbar isn't quite where these players were, but close, as was Taber Spani

Anyway, sometimes when I read posts criticizing Russell for her lack of speed it feels to me like making fun of someone with no legs for not being able to compete in long jump. It's just not something they can help! :ermm:

 

[Smallvol#1]

I was hoping One of our ladies would knock S. Cunningham on her ass. She comes across as a dirty player.

What did she do to Jaime at the end of the game when you could tell Jamie was mad (AM and DD ran to her)?

SCunningham is a dirty player, a typical Mizzery player, they all are and their coach teaches it, only way a whole team could consistently play dirty year after year.

 

[lvocd]

Deshields' aggressive block in the second half really got my blood pumping. I'm just glad she didn't commit a foul there, 'cause if she had it could have been costly. I do appreciate her aggressive defense, and was SO happy that block worked out. It sparked the entire team, I think, so in this case, seemed worth the risk.

Speaking of Diamond, did anyone else think she sounded like she'd been crying in the post-game interview? I don't always watch/listen to those immediate after-game on-court interviews, but I just happened to pay attention to this one and her voice sounded like she'd been crying. Does she simply always sound like that?

 

[maxvolfan]

Diamond always sound that way in her interviews. That's how she talks. lol

 

[lvocd]

Diamond always sound that way in her interviews. That's how she talks. lol

Thanks!

 

[Spook1]

:clapping:I totally agree with your comments. My complaint is the apparent complete lack of attention to "turnovers" by the CHW and at the coaching staff and particularily to Diamond DeShields who leads by a substantial margin in "turnovers". This has been going on for over two years.

Yes, that a definite deciding factor. Diamond's TO both came in situations where she would have been better of taking a shot but she tried to dish. Her heart's in the right place...

But, they were much from a ball security standpoint but again, this was against a team that could not press them like Auburn or GA.

If and when the LVs figure out how to handle pressure without committing a bunch of TOs, then they can be a much consistent and competitive team. I think Texas A&M will be a good test in that regard.

 

[Chris89128]

Per a post up thread, I agree that the LVs 2nd half defense was much better.

But Mizzou still shot close to 50% for the game (28-57) so I don't think that qualifies as dominating defense. Holly's quote would suggest that they had some rocky moments as well:

(On the team’s defense)
“It is tough because you are taking away the three and you have to take away the drive and that is a difficult task, but I thought once we settled down, it helped. In the fourth quarter, we ran a bit of our 3-2 zone, and we rebounded out of it. I thought they got a little tired shooting, and they got to the basket they just didn’t fall. I think we stepped up our defense in the third quarter, and it’s about stops and rebounds. That’s what we talked about in the huddle, you have to get stops and rebounds. We were switching but still allowing people to turn the corner on us. Mercedes would step out on the ball screen, and if she stayed too long, they were throwing it to Cierra Porter. If she didn’t stay long enough, they were turning the corner, so we had to come together and figure out how we were going to guard that ball screen. I thought we did well with it.”

My point is your assessment about the defense is just wrong with the exception of the 2nd quarter. Did they play perfect defense, no, no team ever will. I just strongly disagree with you that last night's game was a poor defensive effort by the team. Mizz was held in check, for what they do best which is shoot 3's. You can't defend everything at once. I thought Holly's game plan and instructions heard while she was mic'd was spot on

 

[armchair]

Russell looks like she is running in sand. Her mobility stinks now along with her defense.

A top 10 to 20 team would have beaten them last night. DeShields just took over and won it in spite of the issues. Nared and Reynolds had solid games.

She has got to stop chasing opposing bigs outside the paint--stupid. Where's the coaching? The opposing center/big is probably not going to make 20-ft. shots. She can stay back and still call out picks that the opposing big is setting. Her peripheral ball awareness is also bad. She's simply not a defense stopper inside, as she should be.

I believe we had 9 three in this game. That will usually win a game for you and might be an all-time high for us.