A Dummy's observations on cal vs wlu game
Cal:
[ ] extremely well conditioned and very well coached. Played 6 guys and did not collapse. Impressive.
[ ] physically, the team looked more like a mec team than a psac team.
Strategy
[ ] Attack when breaking press . They had a good scheme for breaking press. Mcclurg was very comfortable playing fast.
[ ] get help on butler
[ ] limit second chance points
Down 16 at half, cal hit 56% of 3s in second half (43% for game), and many were deep and contested, while wlu shooting woes continued. Cal double teamed brice in the second half as they could not stop him.
Imho
the defense of wlu was crucial in avoiding the loss, when they did not play well as a team offensively.
wlu had 109 pts per 100 possessions while holding a good shooting Cal team to 100 ppp.
A far cry from the typical wlu season average of a nation leading 125 ppp.
60% of 20 cal turnovers were live ball turnovers. wlu won the boards 40-30 and offense boards 13-7.
In the waning moments of the game it was butler time, allowing others to hit open looks and cal finally cooled off a little.
Imho this game highlighted areas of improvement.
- Of 19 wlu turnovers, 8 were charges. Players have to understand that unlike aau ball, defenses place a huge emphasis on drawing charges. Multiple players collapse into the lane area in help defense. We are making the kickout pass while flying through the air, with our momentum resulting in contact with the opponent. Players must learn to jump stop to halt their forward momentum. Somehow that technique has been lost in favor of high wire acts.
- There are serious 3 pt. shooting mechanics issues with some of our players. Their 3 pt. shots are flat and there is little ball rotation. The result is very low shooting % from 3 compared to last season. I am confident that the coaches have noticed. Players need to heed their suggestions. Very few can play pro without a 3 pt shot today.
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