I haven’t watched much of Iowa this year until the tournament. What I see is Iowa not interested in playing much defense, especially on the perimeter, but wanting to get out and run when they can. If Clark and/or the supporting cast hits a couple threes, the other team starts to panic, speeds up, and starts chucking threes.
The key to beating them is playing at your own pace and not letting the barrage of threes speed you up. You’ll be able to get to the rim, get offensive boards, or WIDE OPEN kick out threes if you’re patient. Tonight Angel Reese flat out refused to kick it out once she got it, even though they collapsed at least three on her when she got a touch in the paint.
On defense you have to run a couple people at Clark on screens and be able to rotate on the back side or play some kind of junk box and one or triangle and two so you’re not giving up wide open shots at the rim. The teams I’ve seen Iowa play were beyond terrible at rotating on defense. I’m not sure if it’s luck of the draw, over attention to Clark, or just generally bad in the women’s game.
That being said, Clark’s talent has a lot to do with the other team looking bad. She makes tough shots and some ridiculous passes that no one else in the women’s game is doing. She puts incredible pressure on the other team.
