Norte Dame and small ball

[BabHorn]

well, with Brianna in the lineup, Horns are also playing a lot of small ball although we go big at times as well.
http://www.swishappeal.com/2015/12/10/9881748/playing-small-ball-huge-impact

 

[loyallonghorn]

I really enjoyed watching Notre Dame this weekend against TCU and was able to watch them against Connecticut. I love how they use a motion offense where everyone's moving all the time in order to create open shots, including lots of 3-pointers.

Moreover, DePaul is underrated as their only losses were to Notre Dame, Baylor, and Connecticut. They should be ranked about #10 in the nation. While watching DePaul defeat Texas A&M this weekend, they also run a motion offense. But what's unique about their offense is they have a center who can hit the 3 that opens the floor.

Both Notre Dame and DePaul gave Connecticut a run and I can see why because of their prowess in canning the 3's. Something Texas struggles with.

 

[BabHorn]

I don't think we struggle with hitting the 3s as a team. It's not a big part of our offensive game at this time other than for Brooke and Celina although more guards are getting involved in it. With Imani and Kelsey, our offense runs through them when we are in half court with the guards penetrating (or supposed to).

 

[rattfatt]

I don't think we struggle with hitting the 3s as a team. It's not a big part of our offensive game at this time other than for Brooke and Celina although more guards are getting involved in it. With Imani and Kelsey, our offense runs through them when we are in half court with the guards penetrating (or supposed to).

It's not a big part of our offense because we don't have very many players who can shoot the three reasonably well on a consistent basis other than Brooke. With our offense running through Imani and Kelsey it would put a lot of pressure on the defense if they could shoot the three reasonably well. It would also create a lot more space and make it easier to get the ball inside to both of them.

 

[overseasbbfan1]

I agree with Babhorn. we can hit the 3 when we need to. Everything is dependent upon the game at hand, and what we're seeing from the opponent. But I've been pleasantly surprised by our scoring from BTA thus far. We've made 38 treys in 8 contests; by comparison, Baylor has dropped just 31 in 10 games. Their % is slightly higher, at .383 vs. .365 for Texas. And while Brooke has the most with 13, Celina and Empress have also been solid (Celina shooting at a .500 clip). Overall the Horns have 9 players who've hit at least one trey, with 7 of those dropping two or more. Again, looking at the Bears, only 4 players have hit treys thus far, and two of those just one each. Just two players account for 29 of 31 made thus far for Baylor. I love our balance, and it's clear we are much stronger from BTA this season than last.

 

[rattfatt]

I agree with Babhorn we can hit the 3 when we need to. Everything is dependent upon the game at hand, and what we're seeing from the opponent. But I've been pleasantly surprised by our scoring from BTA thus far. We've made 38 treys in 8 contests; by comparison, Baylor has dropped just 31 in 10 games. Their % is slightly higher, at .383 vs. .365 for Texas. And while Brooke has the most with 13, Celina and Empress have also been solid (Celina shooting at a .500 clip). Overall the Horns have 9 players who've hit at least one trey, with 7 of those dropping two or more. Again, looking at the Bears, only 4 players have hit treys thus far, and two of those just one each. Just two players account for 29 of 31 made thus far for Baylor. I love our balance, and it's clear we are much stronger from BTA this season than last.

Baylor didn't shoot the 3 that well or as often last year. But the difference between their offense and ours is that they are much more efficient. And those numbers don't do anything for me because as you stated, Brooke has made the majority of the 3 point shots. Celina has certainly improved her 3 point shooting but it's not like she's taking five 3 point attempts a game and is still shooting 50%. We will truly see how much this team has improved their 3 point shooting when they get into conference play.

The teams in conference are much more familiar with your personnel, and we will see the same sagging zones and man to man defenses that we've seen every year from teams in the conference.

 

[Dr. D]

You have an interesting point. Life is full of exceptions, and Baylor is a fascinating one. Last season Texas ranked a poor eighth in the conference in three point percentage, .308, vs Baylor's .339. But they took far fewer three point shots than we did. We made 4 threes per game, and they made only 3.5 while crushing the Big 12. They have a tremendous mid range game. In general though I agree with those who say three point shooting is essential in modern basketball. In addition to the points, it opens up the floor and makes every facet of your game better. That's one of the secrets of great offenses like DePaul, Notre Dame and UConn. But again, you're right, Baylor seems to be doing very well without it. However, I remember something Muffin McGraw said about UConn: "You can't stop them; you have to outscore them." There are times when you have to match hot teams with great offenses and be able to put 80 points on the board. Most of the time you need some threes to do that.