dperry
Postdoc
Posts: 2214
Loc: Houston, TX
Reg: 11-24-04
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03-18-17 03:56 PM - Post#227563
Well, the good news is:
a.) They don't particularly outheight us: the center's only got 2 inches on Stip, the forwards are 3-4" shorter than Nwokedi and even or 1 inch less than Agahyere, the point guard is the same height as Chambers, and the other guard is only about 1-2" taller than Ross or Russell. The one notably bad matchup is that Brzozowski gives up at least 3" to everyone she's likely to be playing.
b.) They have less depth than we do; only six people are averaging more than 10 minutes a game, whereas we have 8.
c.) Bit high on turnovers, at almost 14/gm, leading to a slightly negative A/To.
d.) Not great defensively, giving up almost 62 a game and 41.5% shooting, which is ranked 265 in the country.
The bad news:
1) The center and PF between them are averaging about 26 a game, so Nwokedi and Stip are going to have their work cut out for them in the post.
2.) They shoot 3's pretty well, with three people over 35% on the season, including the point guard, which is going to be rough on Chambers. Interestingly, they don't take many threes (ranked 309 in makes per game), but whey they do, they hit them (38.1%, which is 9th in the country.)
3.) Very good rebounders (32 in the country in margin), particularly on the O-boards, where they are over 13 a game.
4.) Over 44% from the floor, which is 37th in the country, so they're not going to miss a lot of bunnies as many women's teams do.
Their record is 21-11, 9-7 in the SEC, which was good for 6th place. Best wins were a 14-pointer over then #24 Missouri in the SEC quarterfinals, a two-pointer over then #24 Tennessee in Knoxville, and a blowout of then #19 Syracuse on a neutral floor over the holidays. Worst losses were a 4-pointer to Southern Cal (14-16) at home in November, a ten-pointer at Georgia (16-15) in January, and a 13-point clanger at Mississippi the last game of the regular season.
I'd say this is the most favorable tournament matchup we've had in the recent run, which doesn't mean it will be easy. We've got to keep moving the ball as well as we did last weekend, and the perimeter players need to get their shots off. It would be nice if Agahyere can be effective off the bench, because the twin towers are going to have a lot of work keeping their post players bottled up, and they're going to need some rest. I also think that Russell is going to have to have some good minutes in relief, because I don't know if Brzozowski is going to be able to get it done against the matchups she's going to see. It would also be really good if Stip could get the jumper working again, to prevent them from sagging on Nwokedi all the time. Good thing we got a higher seed and a neutral floor; hopefully, the Quaker contingent in SoCal will join Mike Porter and give them good support.
Finally, a quick roundup of our most impressive national rankings: 19th in A/TO, 8 in blocks/gm (almost 6!), 2nd in fewest fouls to Chattanooga, 3rd in fewest turnovers, 9th in FG% allowed, 5th in fouls/gm, 3rd in points allowed (51.7), 47th in margin of victory (9.6) and 7th in turnovers/gm. Among individuals, Ross is 59th in A/TO; Nwokedi is 10th in blocks/gm, 41st in boards/gm, and 20th in double-doubles (15!); Stip is 58th in blks/gm and 75 in rebounds/gm.
David Perry
Penn '92
"Hail, Alma Mater/Thy sons cheer thee now
To thee, Pennsylvania/All rivals must bow!!!" |
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