outlookdude
250+ Posts
Hopefully babhorn will have time to post something with details and comparisons. This is what I have seen in a quick glance….
Pay attention to the WVU team that’s faces Texas Saturday. They will look very much like the team that plays in the Big 12 next season. Their roster has only one senior. That senior has played fewer minutes than anyone else on the team. Pretty much, what you see is what you get.
WVU starts a pretty big lineup inside including 6-1 SO Jessica Harlee, 6-3 r-SO Ayana Dunning, and 6-4 JR Asya Bussie. Bussie was a McDonalds honorable mention, and a national top 55 player out of high school by every major ranking service. Bussie averages 12.2 ppg, which leads WVU. Dunning was a McDonalds All-American. She played at LSU as a freshman before taking a transfer and sitting out last season. Harlee averages 5.1 ppg, and Dunning averages 8.2. Those three will make work inside difficult. They combine to average 20+ RBs per game. At least they don’t shoot the three. Bussie has not taken one all season, Dunning has taken 17 and hit on 24%, and Harlee has taken 29 and made one (3%). It looks like the most likely post to come off the bench is Averee Fields, (3 ppg), a 6-0 FR. It appears that both Bussie and Fields have struggled at the FT line with averages below 60%. Other post options include 6-2 FR Crystal Leary, and 6-5 SR Natalie Burton. Based on box scores both played sparingly in the Big East Tournament. Burton is from Perth, Australia and seems to have played fewer minutes each season since she was a FR.
At guard WVU starts 5-9 r-SO Christal Caldwell, and 5-7 FR Linda Stepney. Caldwell is the second leading scorer on the team at 11.1 ppg. She has only taken 53 3PT shots, hitting on 32%. A threat, but apparently not her preference. She makes 67% from the line. Stepney has only taken 24 3PT shots, but has made 12 of them for 50%, contributing to her 4.4 ppg. She is 72% from the line. I didn’t dig far enough to know, but her numbers may be lower than expected due to working her way into the starting lineup. Off the bench 5-9 SO Taylor Palmer averages 10.7 ppg, third highest for WVU. Palmer has taken more 3 PT shots than any other WVU player – 225, which are 50 attempts more than Chassidy. But, she has only hit 30%. Apparently she has had some shooting struggles this season, but has had a little more success of late. Brooke Hampton is a 5-9 FR who has averaged 25.6 minutes per game, and been a starter at times. But, she did not play in the last game against Notre Dame. I haven’t found anything to indicate if that was the result of an injury or a coach’s decision. Hampton has hit 32% of 101 3 PT shots, and makes 83% from the line. She averages 5.1 ppg. The other option at guard, who also appears to get minutes in every game, is 6-0 FR Akilah Bethel who has averaged 4 ppg, hit 67% from the line, and made 24% of 34 3PT attempts.
All that said my impression is that WVU lives and dies with their defense. I think the plan to attack them will be very much like against aggy. That certainly doesn’t mean it will be easy, it requires execution. But, if we can score on them with any consistency this should be a win. WVU will try to make it difficult to get shots inside and try to limit Texas to one-and-done as much as possible. Just looking at this on paper it seems like Texas should match up fairly well defensively.
I don’t see anything here that is brain surgery. Play solid defense. Make good decisions with the ball and avoid turnovers. Attack the WVU defense, don’t let it be the other way around. Get strong, physical play inside. Box out, rebound, and put the ball in the basket when you have the opportunity. Look for the open shooter on the perimeter and knock those shots down. Grab every loose ball……the same stuff that generally always wins games. WVU is a solid team. Their fans think they are under-seeded and should have been a six, or at worst a seven. But this is not like playing Baylor, or Stanford, or Tennessee. There is no need for special game plans or to get every break. Start the game with energy and passion at the opening tip, play to the best of your ability and your strengths, and never let up. That should get it done.
That said…don’t think for a second that there will be anything easy. WVU had a couple of bad losses. But, I also had them with 10 top 100 wins…..four vs top 25, and one big one over Notre Dame.
…better get back to work…..
Texas Fight!
Beat the hell out of WVU!
Pay attention to the WVU team that’s faces Texas Saturday. They will look very much like the team that plays in the Big 12 next season. Their roster has only one senior. That senior has played fewer minutes than anyone else on the team. Pretty much, what you see is what you get.
WVU starts a pretty big lineup inside including 6-1 SO Jessica Harlee, 6-3 r-SO Ayana Dunning, and 6-4 JR Asya Bussie. Bussie was a McDonalds honorable mention, and a national top 55 player out of high school by every major ranking service. Bussie averages 12.2 ppg, which leads WVU. Dunning was a McDonalds All-American. She played at LSU as a freshman before taking a transfer and sitting out last season. Harlee averages 5.1 ppg, and Dunning averages 8.2. Those three will make work inside difficult. They combine to average 20+ RBs per game. At least they don’t shoot the three. Bussie has not taken one all season, Dunning has taken 17 and hit on 24%, and Harlee has taken 29 and made one (3%). It looks like the most likely post to come off the bench is Averee Fields, (3 ppg), a 6-0 FR. It appears that both Bussie and Fields have struggled at the FT line with averages below 60%. Other post options include 6-2 FR Crystal Leary, and 6-5 SR Natalie Burton. Based on box scores both played sparingly in the Big East Tournament. Burton is from Perth, Australia and seems to have played fewer minutes each season since she was a FR.
At guard WVU starts 5-9 r-SO Christal Caldwell, and 5-7 FR Linda Stepney. Caldwell is the second leading scorer on the team at 11.1 ppg. She has only taken 53 3PT shots, hitting on 32%. A threat, but apparently not her preference. She makes 67% from the line. Stepney has only taken 24 3PT shots, but has made 12 of them for 50%, contributing to her 4.4 ppg. She is 72% from the line. I didn’t dig far enough to know, but her numbers may be lower than expected due to working her way into the starting lineup. Off the bench 5-9 SO Taylor Palmer averages 10.7 ppg, third highest for WVU. Palmer has taken more 3 PT shots than any other WVU player – 225, which are 50 attempts more than Chassidy. But, she has only hit 30%. Apparently she has had some shooting struggles this season, but has had a little more success of late. Brooke Hampton is a 5-9 FR who has averaged 25.6 minutes per game, and been a starter at times. But, she did not play in the last game against Notre Dame. I haven’t found anything to indicate if that was the result of an injury or a coach’s decision. Hampton has hit 32% of 101 3 PT shots, and makes 83% from the line. She averages 5.1 ppg. The other option at guard, who also appears to get minutes in every game, is 6-0 FR Akilah Bethel who has averaged 4 ppg, hit 67% from the line, and made 24% of 34 3PT attempts.
All that said my impression is that WVU lives and dies with their defense. I think the plan to attack them will be very much like against aggy. That certainly doesn’t mean it will be easy, it requires execution. But, if we can score on them with any consistency this should be a win. WVU will try to make it difficult to get shots inside and try to limit Texas to one-and-done as much as possible. Just looking at this on paper it seems like Texas should match up fairly well defensively.
I don’t see anything here that is brain surgery. Play solid defense. Make good decisions with the ball and avoid turnovers. Attack the WVU defense, don’t let it be the other way around. Get strong, physical play inside. Box out, rebound, and put the ball in the basket when you have the opportunity. Look for the open shooter on the perimeter and knock those shots down. Grab every loose ball……the same stuff that generally always wins games. WVU is a solid team. Their fans think they are under-seeded and should have been a six, or at worst a seven. But this is not like playing Baylor, or Stanford, or Tennessee. There is no need for special game plans or to get every break. Start the game with energy and passion at the opening tip, play to the best of your ability and your strengths, and never let up. That should get it done.
That said…don’t think for a second that there will be anything easy. WVU had a couple of bad losses. But, I also had them with 10 top 100 wins…..four vs top 25, and one big one over Notre Dame.
…better get back to work…..
Texas Fight!
Beat the hell out of WVU!
