Why the opposition to employing the double team when it is called for?
At what point should a coach conclude that what they are doing to cover a play is not working? Time and time again OSU used that high screen play with Denae being the only player covering and the rest in zone. This provided a 2 on 1 opportunity for OSU resulting in an entirely open look at the basket for Riley. It is obvious that Fennely had decided to give her a jump shot at the basket rather than forcing her to take it inside.
But not ordering the underneath players to come out to at least put pressure on the shot was a bad coaching decision. Watching the players underneath stand there and watch Riley come around her screen and not move up to put an hand up when there was planty of time to do so was an excruciating exercise as a fan.
Regardless of how bad our offensive output was, a legitimate fault must be lodged against this coaching decision to allow her open shots. Prins could have easily shifted higher whenever the screen player moved out - at least when Riley moved around to execute that play, but apparently no one was told to do that. And considerg the fact that there was two players on the play against one ISU defender, it would not be a "double team" it would in fact be single coverage. ISU decided to allow an offensive double team to be executed time and time again - a bad coaching decision.
That having been said, Prins had a good night relative to others, but it was't all great, she still missed some very simple, and vital, under the basket scores which would have likely won the game, as did other players - shots that should be 98% shots. Failure on basic fundamentals on ball movement, simple shooting and layup form and "scoring without the ball" was ISU's real undoing - not that the OSU defense was so smothering.
If Riley had not gone through that cold streak where she was missing those open shots given to her by the ISU defense, and instead had simply gone lukewarm, it could have been a humiliating loss.
Bottom line is that without Lacey, the rest of the team seems to gets mentally pressured and do not play up to their potential. A previous poster was correct in saying that off season point guard college would do our guard players well as the difficulties we are encountering seem more mental and intellectual than physical. Its more about what to do with their movement when they don't have the ball on offense than shooting ability and more about keping their mind on the principles of proper form when making layups and the like than even getting opportunities to make them.
It wasn't the Sister's best game, but I am proud of how they have grown this year and the heart with which they play. Really, its all a fan could ask for. They certainly are a greatly improved team in the overall since the beginning of the season with still a lot of youth and inexperience in key positions - players which did not give up even being down a dozen in the first half.
With the re-addition of Lacey's experience and skill back into the lineup, they should be a contender aginst any but the elite teams. (UConn, Stanford and Tennessee for example, would slice and dice an offensively single faceted team like OSU, IMO. And I think ISU would have beat OSU fairly handily with Lacey and all cylinders firing.)
But since ISU is not made up of a raft of elite recruits (no offense meant to the hard working team we love and support) the loss of any player key to the success equation is felt all that much more. But even with my dissapointment with some of the things related to the OSU loss, the fact remains that the ISU women's team has been a great success this year considering the "rebuilding" makeup of the lineup (starting lineup freshmen and sophmores) and this is a great testimony to the program - both players and coaching staff alike.
