I concur. Just so the stat line and it looks like 2021 NCCA Saxton is alive and well.I appreciate a grinder like Saxton doing her part to bring us this far, but it's time for Cardoso and/or Amihere to step it up during the tournament. Both have exceptional upside. Today we saw that from Cardoso. 11 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks. More please.
Our two best offensive weapons spend most of game on the bench. Cardozo is best down low. Almost unstoppable. She`s best rebounder, keeps the ball high and doesn't get picked by a six hand gang like Boston and Amihere, and puts the ball up accurately. Let Boston and Amihere drive from high post. If Zia's not hitting, which seems to be a regular thing now, let Littleton shoot. Hall's not hesitant either. No problem with winning ugly, and winning off defense, but if we don't score enough to have a cushion in 4th we could run into another hot shooting team like Kentucky and it might be a sad end to otherwise great season. We seem so intent on making sure Boston gets a double double through triple and quadruple coverage that it could end up costly.They are not going to get away with long stretches of not being able to score going forward. There are times they look like a well oiled machine and times they look a bit lost. They will not win it all playing like they are currently. Still time to correct but not a lot.
Right there you said. In watching the game last night that what seemed to be her focus, the team, coaches and the fans. It should not - win the game. She was frustrated because she was getting 3-4 bodies on her and not getting her usual easy looks. You think that's bad kid what are you going to do when you go pro?Our two best offensive weapons spend most of game on the bench. Cardozo is best down low. Almost unstoppable. She`s best rebounder, keeps the ball high and doesn't get picked by a six hand gang like Boston and Amihere, and puts the ball up accurately. Let Boston and Amihere drive from high post. If Zia's not hitting, which seems to be a regular thing now, let Littleton shoot. Hall's not hesitant either. No problem with winning ugly, and winning off defense, but if we don't score enough to have a cushion in 4th we could run into another hot shooting team like Kentucky and it might be a sad end to otherwise great season. We seem so intent on making sure Boston gets a double double through triple and quadruple coverage that it could end up costly.
We go to Boston because she the most consistent player on the team by a longshot and she usually handles the double and triple teams well. She had an off game and it happens sometimes and despite she did her part on the defensive end to make up for it.Our two best offensive weapons spend most of game on the bench. Cardozo is best down low. Almost unstoppable. She`s best rebounder, keeps the ball high and doesn't get picked by a six hand gang like Boston and Amihere, and puts the ball up accurately. Let Boston and Amihere drive from high post. If Zia's not hitting, which seems to be a regular thing now, let Littleton shoot. Hall's not hesitant either. No problem with winning ugly, and winning off defense, but if we don't score enough to have a cushion in 4th we could run into another hot shooting team like Kentucky and it might be a sad end to otherwise great season. We seem so intent on making sure Boston gets a double double through triple and quadruple coverage that it could end up costly.
I believe she was frustrated, but moreso at herself than the defense, the fact that the shots she usually makes were rimming out were getting to her.Since when is Boston not double teamed? Boston is a selfless player and passes well out of double teams. She works hard to find her shot, she's a tremendous defender and she rebounds with the best of them. She did not seem frustrated to me at all and I've watched them play all season. Your post seems to be geared very negatively towards Boston, what's up?
I believe she was frustrated, but moreso at herself than the defense, the fact that the shots she usually makes were rimming out were getting to her.
I agree because Miami had more post depth to absorb fouls. Not Carolina is very good six deep, but they lack overall depth, especially in the low post. I think we see a good bit of Boston and Cardoso playing together and force the heels to defend them and keep them off the boards.Yeah, it's going to be a wild one! I think this is a more favorable matchup for USC than the Miami game. I hope our crowd will drown out the UNC crowd...
I don't understand why Dawn has Boston playing up top so much. She can't do anything out there. She is not even in position to rebound when a teammate takes a shot. She is far more effective in the low post. When the guards drive into the lane and the opponents have to switch off it leaves Boston either open or one on one under the basket. She can handle anyone one on one.
So, its SCWBB vs NCWBB in the Sweet 16!
NC has had pretty good shooting outputs so far in the tourney - let's see what we do.
The crowd is going to be wild from both camps. Literally in each other's back yard.
One thing that our coaching staff has struggled with over the years going back to Ibiam and Coates, is coaching guards on how to make passes to bigs in the paint when they are heavily defended. They (the staff) just haven't ever been able to figure that one out very well.....
Well Friday at 2 is a hard time to sell a large amount of tix and you have to remember that fans of the two teams that lost had most certainly bought Sunday tickets hoping their team made it to play.I was a bit disappointed in the attendance for the 1st and 2nd round games. The final 2 games played this season in Colonial Life Arena, and we didn't put 10K+ in for either of them......
I thought the Tenn game was damn near sold outI was a bit disappointed in the attendance for the 1st and 2nd round games. The final 2 games played this season in Colonial Life Arena, and we didn't put 10K+ in for either of them......
Cockygirl is right. I was all set to attend the 2nd round game but the time was bad.Well Friday at 2 is a hard time to sell a large amount of tix and you have to remember that fans of the two teams that lost had most certainly bought Sunday tickets hoping their team made it to play.
We hit 4 more 3's last year than Stanford and lost. So perimeter shooting didn't cost us a national title. And Destanni is shooting 39% from 3 this season. It's the lack of a mid-range shot that was and still is our biggest issue, IMO. Kiki was absolute money in the midrange 2 years ago. Saxton has not been able to replace her in that sense. Beal is often left open from beyond 10 feet as well. I think that is the reason Boston is outside the paint a lot since her midrange shot is better than most of our bigs. She can also pass the ball into the low post when she's on the floor with Cardoso.Boston is often double and triple teamed in the paint. In those situations it's not always wise to force the pass inside. We get away with it often enough, but it also leads to too many turnovers. The way you make passes to the bigs when they are heavily defended in the paint is to take and make your perimeter shots. It forces the team to come out of the paint to guard the shooters, thus opening up the lane for the bigs.
Our coaches and fans know this, which is why it is so puzzling to me that every year our weakness is perimeter shooting.
Well Friday at 2 is a hard time to sell a large amount of tix and you have to remember that fans of the two teams that lost had most certainly bought Sunday tickets hoping their team made it to play.
I guess I could have been more precise in my choice of words. By "perimeter" I was referring to everything outside the paint. You're right. It is definitely the midrange where we need to show improvement. But, hey... we're once again at the Big Dance, and I'm hoping, praying, and crossing everything from fingers to toes that we bring home the championship!We hit 4 more 3's last year than Stanford and lost. So perimeter shooting didn't cost us a national title. And Destanni is shooting 39% from 3 this season. It's the lack of a mid-range shot that was and still is our biggest issue, IMO. Kiki was absolute money in the midrange 2 years ago. Saxton has not been able to replace her in that sense. Beal is often left open from beyond 10 feet as well. I think that is the reason Boston is outside the paint a lot since her midrange shot is better than most of our bigs. She can also pass the ball into the low post when she's on the floor with Cardoso.
But we're going to have weakness, every team does. We are #1 in the nation in opponent's field goal percentage, offensive rebounding, total rebounding and blocks. So we do a lot of things very well, hopefully well enough to offset our weaknesses.
Starting guards usually play most of the game regardless of which team is involved. These games are very tight and need your best and most experienced players on the floor. 2nd half was certainly not as good for them but some of this could have been attributed to the other team's halftime adjustments. We do need much better guard play if we want to go deeper in the tournament. We're the only team left playing a 10 seed so we better take care of business. After tonight, should we advance, things really pick up as far as the talent level. You're right, as impressive as Boston scoring all those points, it's never good when she scores them all.Staley needs to give Cooke and Henderson more rest in the 2nd half. They are getting worn down in the 4th quarter, so their shot is short. Their legs are gone from the defense played in the first 3 quarters. We need to be able to make some perimeter shots in the 4th. Boston scored all the points in the 4th against the Tarholes.