Tough conference
- Thread starter KozmasAgain
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Crucial game this Sunday for sure. At home vs a strong UNC team - this may be a must win (although, unless you are in the tournament at the of the year no game technically is must win LOL) Anyway, need to hold serve at home. The last home loss stung and the must bring the energy and defense to bear against the Heels.
The most impressive player on the North Carolina team to me is Utsby, she is everywhere on the court. She plays defense, rebounds well and is an offensive threat. She has a high basketball IQ and seems to be in the right place all the time.
Totally agree …… I have been astonished as to how fast specifically the ACC, and in general all of women’s college basketball as become so balanced.
UNC is very good, but if Morgan is healthy, I expect we will play the best game of this season and win going away! I saw some things in the 2nd half at Syracuse that gives me encouragement.
UNC is very good, but if Morgan is healthy, I expect we will play the best game of this season and win going away! I saw some things in the 2nd half at Syracuse that gives me encouragement.
It will be interesting to see if we go with Mykasa at the point, I thought she did an awesome job.
I think it depends on how Carr has responded in practice. i agree that Mykasa did a great job at the point but she has to bring some offense (scoring) too. Jeff's issue is that HVL, Carr, Mykasa are all under 5'7, which means you almost have to have 2 other bigs, which leaves Jones out. And then you have Konno trying to get minutes as well.
The thing about CC that bothers me is when she runs the point she slows our tempo down. I have seen her in numerous games we will be down by 5 with 2 minutes left in the game and she walks the ball up the court. CC definitely is a scorer I would just like to see her push the ball upcourt.
I think that's just part of finding the right combination of players during certain parts of the game. I didn't realize that CC was not really a PG but more of a scorer so we tried to make HVL more of a playmaker. Turns out Mykasa is probably our best PG and distributor but she also has to be a threat to score so HVL doesn't get double teamed. Then the overall question becomes can we play with a small 3 guard lineup? Not sure what is going on with Cochran but yesterday she was sulking on the bench and didn't jump up with the rest of the players when we took the lead. Harris is continuing to improve, especially on the rebounding and defensive side. Even though UNC was down 2 important players that was a big game for us as far as development.
It’s a long season and Cochran like other players on the team is going through a rough patch. She just needs to hold her head up and work through it. I also saw her hanging her head a couple of times. She is another important piece on the team and we need for her to be in there.
I'm not a big fan of Cochran. I was a couple of years ago when she appeared to be on her way to being a great player. But she's just too inconsistent and she allows her emotions to hurt her game.
She wanted to expand her game to play more on the wing, even taking more 3 point shots. Well, that didn't go so well back in November and Walz stopped that in its tracks and this seems to have not gone over well with Cochran.
Walz continued to start her, play her the most in the middle, but leading the nation in missed layups and close in shots finally caught up to her and she's seeing the bench more and more.
Her attitude against UNC was very clear and she didn't seem to care that people noticed. I think she will probably enter the portal after the season as she sees Harris getting the minutes.
Now that being said, I'm just giving my opinion and I would love to be wrong and Cochran turns it around and becomes the kind of player we all expected. She just hasn't looked happy all season and may be one of the reasons why the team has struggled so much on offense.
She wanted to expand her game to play more on the wing, even taking more 3 point shots. Well, that didn't go so well back in November and Walz stopped that in its tracks and this seems to have not gone over well with Cochran.
Walz continued to start her, play her the most in the middle, but leading the nation in missed layups and close in shots finally caught up to her and she's seeing the bench more and more.
Her attitude against UNC was very clear and she didn't seem to care that people noticed. I think she will probably enter the portal after the season as she sees Harris getting the minutes.
Now that being said, I'm just giving my opinion and I would love to be wrong and Cochran turns it around and becomes the kind of player we all expected. She just hasn't looked happy all season and may be one of the reasons why the team has struggled so much on offense.
Cochran plays like a bull in a China shoppe. Jeff has tried to make her a 4 but she’s really only has the game to be an undersized 5. Nyla is showing that her game is developing and she actually consistently finishes around the rim. This is why O’s sulking on the bench.
I hope she doesn’t transfer because she will be the only big on the team if we don’t pick up someone in the portal.
A very telling stat from the game is that we only got 14 points inside. We are doing what we can with our guards scoring and our defense/rebounding. If we don't get more from Cochran/Harris/Dixon, it will be a struggle the rest of the season.
Freshmen Lester is 6'3 and Mobley is 6'2, so Harris isn't the only big, but I do believe Walz will get some help from the portal.
There's no doubt she gets a bad whistle but all players do. The officiating in women's college basketball is atrocious. Cochran is easily frustrated and you really can't blame her. She's losing minutes not because she gets called for BS fouls, but because she misses way too many in close shots.
Walz has been as patient as any coach could be but we're in February and he needs those points that Cochran just isn't providing. So when Cochran misses a layup early in the game, the frustration mounts and then we she gets a bad whistle, she gets angry.
This has been one weird season and Olivia Cochran's regression during her third season is at the top of the weird list.
Walz has been as patient as any coach could be but we're in February and he needs those points that Cochran just isn't providing. So when Cochran misses a layup early in the game, the frustration mounts and then we she gets a bad whistle, she gets angry.
This has been one weird season and Olivia Cochran's regression during her third season is at the top of the weird list.
In the UNC game when she was underneath trying to shoot a layup she is too far under. I hope she solves her problem because she has good size and a lot of strength.
Olivia is still a serious rebounding presence inside, but her inability to finish in the half court offense, poor FT shooting, propensity for fouling and so often finding herself out of position defensively explains why her minutes continue to drop. Harris deserves most of Cochran's minutes, with both Dixon and Williams providing some quality time as well.
CJW has given Olivia every opportunity, and he encourages her both on the court as well as off, but in truth, Olivia has digressed since her freshman year in every respect except rebounding ......something she can do exceptionally well despite little elevation.
CJW has given Olivia every opportunity, and he encourages her both on the court as well as off, but in truth, Olivia has digressed since her freshman year in every respect except rebounding ......something she can do exceptionally well despite little elevation.
The biggest issue I see with her is she doesn't know how to finish a play at the basket. Instead of going up strong, she often tries to avoid the contact by falling away causing her to lose balance, miss the shot and also not get fouled. She has a little Witheritis... Often she doesn't jump for rebounds either. Now I do think she hustles and runs the court pretty good for a big. She should be a difference maker but like you said, Walz has been overly patient with her and if he wants to get to the dance, he needs more from her or next girl up.
Those fouls were called because she hedged out on smaller quicker players. If she moved her feet better she would get a lot of charges called on the other team. There's not a lot of contact but those are fouls...
It has been stated, very correctly IMO, she can’t jump. Liz doesn’t jump well either. Remember Jazz and Emily? They were very athletic and can jump. That makes a huge difference. Morgan, HVL and Harris can all jump - again, makes a huge difference. I also think OC hustles and works hard. My guess she (or those around her) believe she needs to be playing more on the wings, etc. How has that worked out? Develop that 10-15 ft jumper - sure. Otherwise - eat in the paint! She does have too many misses but she is still much more disruptive and productive when she works down low.
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