(01-14-2014 09:00 PM)northrocket43 Wrote: (01-14-2014 03:29 PM)hwut1 Wrote: (01-13-2014 03:21 PM)northrocket43 Wrote: (01-13-2014 12:21 AM)T-Town Wrote: (01-12-2014 04:49 PM)Dwight Wrote: Agreed. This is a very bad Miami team. Not to take anything away from our girls. We did what we had to do. The outcome was never in doubt.
Yeah, I don't see Miami winning a lot of games in conference this year, but this was just kind of game the Rockets needed at this time. Their defense was better this game than probably any other all season, particularly in the first half----Miami's trouble scoring in the first half reminded me of a lot of games from last year-----and although there was some slippage particularly in the final 6 minutes of the game, UT always maintained a comfortable lead.
This was a good game for Elena go 0 for 7 from 3-point land (and hopefully work thru this slump and get it out of her system) because it didn't hurt the team effort today. When they came out at half, she did nothing but shoot threes and at one point she hit 6 in a row----but they continued not to fall for her in the second half even though they were good looks at the basket. I will be surprised if we ever see her have another 0-7 3-point game like that.
This looked like a breakout game for Sophie because she not only made every shot she took, she also showed some good hands play and a few moves to boot---nothing awkward or tentative about her play today.
Still a young team that is still in the process of developing so there are going to continue to be ups and downs, but this was a good game at a good time to build some confidence, see some improvement and gain some more experience.
I agree that this was an excellent game for Sophie. I have seen signs of improvement on her low post defense and today she displayed variety in her offense. She could be the most important member of the freshman class if she continues to improve.
I also am favorably impressed with Janice Monakana. Early in the season she was a little out of control which resulted in unforced turnovers and off balanced shots. Lately she has been playing a more calm game as well as better defense. Free throw shooting is also improving. Given her size she could also be a significant contributor going forward.
I continue to worry about Elena. I know that coach says she has a great 3 point shot but so far it is not evident. The 0 for 7 may be a low light but she has not been sufficiently accurate since she began playing. She also seems to me to be a little slow footed and not a particularly good ball handler. So I don't know if she will be ready for major minutes when Dola and Reid-Lewis are gone next year. They both have significant speed and ball handling advantages over Elena. May have to hope that the transfer sitting out this year can fill that role and Elena becomes a shooting guard...assuming the shooting gets much better.
I would believe the Coach. I have seen Elena in practice starting with the first day she was allowed to participate. She is a very deadly shooter, with a natural touch. Elena has been enduring the frustration of changing her shooting form due to her injury. Every shooter has off days. I am sure she was the most frustrated of all with her shooting Sunday. The coaches and players were very supportive of her during the game. When a shooter is in a slump, just a hitter in baseball, the only way out is to keep shooting. Let's hope she doesn't start to worry and press too much.
As for her foot work, she is in the right place on defense and offense most of the time. That is major accomplishment for a freshman. She has good movement. Very seldom gets beat defensively. I have seen her unaware of something defensively a few times when there has been a lack of communication on the court. Lack of constant talking effects inexperienced players more than experienced players. Watch her movement on defense. You will see her eyeing both the ball and the offensive player she is responsible for. In order to do that she has to move quickly and have basketball instincts.
No one has seen her ball handling skills because she has not had the responsibility to be the point guard. There are two seniors in the line up to handle that responsibility. Plus, I know the coaches do not want her taking any chance of injuring her arm again. The injury and brace has forced her to adjust her shooting style for now. It is logical her ball handling would be effect in a similar manner.
She must have good quickness and ball handling skills if she was the starting point guard on a very good Spanish national team. Even moving up an age bracket.
My guess is next year she will start at the number two position as our shooting guard. I think you are right, Harris will start at the number one, point guard slot, along with the two recruits coming in.
All I am saying be patient. She has limited practice and playing time due to her injury. The coaches are not going to put her in a situation that could cause her to injury her arm again. That means keeping her away from handling the ball as much as possible. The bright spot is she is playing behind two solid seniors!
Before the season, with limited insights on the new players, I thought that Elena would be the star recruit, given her experience the past few years on the Spanish national team. I have no doubt that she will get a lot of playing time for UT the next few years. But given the exodus of players last year (five seniors + 3 freshmen + one medical issue this year) together with the loss of at least the 3 seniors this year ... it's a slam dunk that she will get significant minutes in 2014-2015. My estimate is that at least two of the incoming players have to excel at MAC level in order to maintain the high level of competitive performance we have become used to.
So I went back to her performance for the U20 Spanish national team. Elena averaged 19 minutes/game (175 total minutes) which was sixth in total minutes for the 9 games played in the tournament. There were two other girls also listed as point guards and they had 229 and 191 minutes played. I can't tell who was actually the point guard but the two other girls had stats as follows. PG #1 6.6 pts/game 14A/8TO and PG #2 9.7 pts/game and 14A/14TO. By comparison Elena averaged 7.8 pts/game and had 7A/13TOs.
Elena had FG% of 31.3 which was 8th on the team. Her 3PT FG% 21.2%. She had a great FT% of 23/24 (95.8%). There is another interesting trend. Elena played 96 minutes (24 min/game) in games 1-4 and scored 41 points (10.2 pts/game). But beginning in game 5 her playing time decreased. Games 5-9 she played 79 minutes (15.8 min/game) and scored 29 points (5.8 pts/game). By comparison Inma played 272 minutes (27.2 minutes/game), scored 9.8 pts/game with 29A/10TOs.
I do disagree with one of your comments above. You conclude that no one has seen her ball handling skills as yet because she is playing behind two senior point guards. But Elena doesn't play when both Dola and Janelle are on the floor. And there have been times when the opponent presses and Elena is one of the players entrusted with the responsibility to provide an alternative outlet to whichever PG in on the floor. This has not been often but it has given me enough of a look to wonder if she could handle PG responsibilities. Keep in mind that her assist/turnover ratio on the Spanish national team was negative. And her assist/turnover ration for her ten games in a Rocket uniform is also negative. And finally she certainly lacks the speed and athleticism of the two seniors playing ahead of her. And while Janelle, in particular has exceptional speed, most of the point guards in the league are very quick and agile.
So I expect that Elena De Alfredo will be a good Lady Rocket basketball player. But, given the mass exodus of talent in 2013 and 2014, we need several young players who can compete with the best in the league if we are going to continue to be a flagship program. My original point was just that, based upon what I see today, Sophie and Janice might be the best prospects from among the five freshman.
I agree with you, most of us expected her to be a major contributor this season. No one could have predicted she would suffer an extremely painful injury to her shooting arm. She had trouble just straightening her arm out due to the pain level when she first started practicing again. Honestly, I am surprised she is playing this season. That speaks volumes to her heart and desire to compete.
I respect all the time and effort you gave researching and collect all of the statistics you included in your posting. As an former coach and someone who has been connect to basketball for more years than I should admit too, I am not a big statistics person. Don't get me wrong, they have merit if used to get a quick glimpse of a team or a player. They make for good conversations and fun. There are a few key stats that I really look at but most of them are team oriented.
Let me give you an example of why statistics do not tell the entire story. I will use one of my all time favorite players, Courtney Ingersoll. Look at her statistics her first three years on paper. If you had not seen her play in person or watched her practice you would wonder what her value was to her teams. As an example her scoring and shooting percentages were: freshman year - 4.6 pts./g and .236 percentage, sophomore year - 4.9 pts./g., junior year - 4.2 pts./g and .275 percentage. If someone from the outside were to look at those statistics, most would assume she was an average role player. However, as we all know those statistics did not show the real value of her contribution to those teams. Think back starting with her freshman year through her senior year. In the final minutes of any close game she was on the court. Not because of her statistics, but because of the things she could do and her desire to win. Her statistics did not fully tell how valuable she was to those teams.
The point I am making about Elena is, no one can look at statistics to determine how she played on those Spanish Teams. Coaches of those teams would not have picked her over others, to be a member of those teams, if they had two better players capable of playing her position. They even made the decision to jump her up an age bracket to play at a higher level.
We can not judge her performances this year because of her injury and lack of playing time and practice time.
You are right she isn't in the game at the same time as the two seniors. If you watched how she has been used against a press, her responsibility is not to break the press with her dribbling. She lines up in the third, sometimes second option position. Her responsibility is to break toward the ball to help get the ball in play or move the defense out of position, then pass the ball back to other guard. I have been to the games and have never seen her dribble to break a press other than dribbling a short distance to advance the ball across the time line. Simply put it isn't her responsibility this year. My guess is with her arm injury and the other guards we have, you will not see her put in a situation where she has to be the main press breaker.
Her agility and quickness are very deceiving. She is very smooth in her movements. Because of that she does not look as if she moving as quickly as she really is. You compared her to Janelle. Until this season Janelle had trouble using her quickness. In the past she would get out of control at times. In practice when the team runs line drills or any drill requiring quickness and speed, only Enma finishes constantly ahead of her. She is always second or third on the team finishing the drills. Looks can be deceiving.
After the game Sunday Coach C. made a clear statement saying if anyone had seen Elena shooting in practice they would have seen her shooting lights out. I, personally, have seen her shooting in practice at an unbelievable percentage. As with any pure shooter she will have great days and off days.
Love your enthusiasm! Appreciate your opinion! You are a true Rocket!
