Post your thoughts: PHX/SAC 8/17
- Thread starter mdme
- Start date
Terrible!!!! Phoenix hit 15 3's, shot 48.6 percent and ran us out of the gym. What was frustrating to me was the Monarchs inability once again to stop perimeter play. Every time the Mercury got possession they pulled up a jumper off of the dribble an shot lights out without much pressure. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
And our inability to crack that G.D. zone. I don't think Phoenix played one single second of man to man defense, and there was nothing we can do about it. Big Ups to them. They were the better team tonight. For one of the few times this year, Boucek was outcoached. Very little adjustments on both sides of the ball.
Yet again Adrian williams was "butterfingers". 4 TO's. She can not handle pressure or traffic in the post. She just fumbles the ball all over the key. I can not speak of any good individual performances outside of Bekkah Brunsons quiet 17 points, because nobody stood out tonight.
And our inability to crack that G.D. zone. I don't think Phoenix played one single second of man to man defense, and there was nothing we can do about it. Big Ups to them. They were the better team tonight. For one of the few times this year, Boucek was outcoached. Very little adjustments on both sides of the ball.
Yet again Adrian williams was "butterfingers". 4 TO's. She can not handle pressure or traffic in the post. She just fumbles the ball all over the key. I can not speak of any good individual performances outside of Bekkah Brunsons quiet 17 points, because nobody stood out tonight.
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I'm certainly going to give this assessment two snaps up in a circle with a backflip. I got home last night and checked the box score and swear to GOODNESS when I looked at everything BUT the final score (and perhaps forgot what I actually saw happen on the floor) it looked like we had won the game or at least played well enough to either have won, to win or at least play close in this game. But then I snapped out of it and remembered what REALLY happened. The numbers just flat out don't make sense. Except perhaps the fast break point deferential and perhaps our inability to take care of the basketball. Once we let them turn on the jets and we didn't seem to consistently want to defend in transition it was over.
If I were to find things to be "happy" about....we found some offense last night (it was still ugly offense, but geezus I'm going to take it). 90pts in a game not involving double OT? I'd been pleading for this team to lay the wood to somebody, so I guess technically I got that. In that sense I think this was a replication of the first meeting with Phoenix, we had them mixing defenses and yet were KILLING whatever defense they wanted to play - and then we let them start running and we stopped being able to consistently execute on either end of the floor. Phoenix gives up a boatload of points and can't help but do that, we can certainly help but give up the points we gave up. So should we see this team again after Sunday? That's gotta be a note taped on the Monarchs bulletin board and maybe on every mirror in every locker in the Monarchs' lockerroom.
Maybe this team will finally get the message that they need to be consistent (in something other than their inconsistency) and maybe perhaps to play with some focus in their execution on either side of the ball.
With their backs against the wall, can they finally figure out how to execute? We'll find out next week, I 'spose.
If I were to find things to be "happy" about....we found some offense last night (it was still ugly offense, but geezus I'm going to take it). 90pts in a game not involving double OT? I'd been pleading for this team to lay the wood to somebody, so I guess technically I got that. In that sense I think this was a replication of the first meeting with Phoenix, we had them mixing defenses and yet were KILLING whatever defense they wanted to play - and then we let them start running and we stopped being able to consistently execute on either end of the floor. Phoenix gives up a boatload of points and can't help but do that, we can certainly help but give up the points we gave up. So should we see this team again after Sunday? That's gotta be a note taped on the Monarchs bulletin board and maybe on every mirror in every locker in the Monarchs' lockerroom.
Maybe this team will finally get the message that they need to be consistent (in something other than their inconsistency) and maybe perhaps to play with some focus in their execution on either side of the ball.
With their backs against the wall, can they finally figure out how to execute? We'll find out next week, I 'spose.
Okay So I have had a chance to let this game marinate... And then I looked at the Boxscore...
Field Goals Rebounds
pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a off def tot ast pf st to bs pts
T.Penicheiro G 22:11 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 3 3 7 1 4 3 0 3
C.Newton G 22:33 2-4 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 0 1 0 5
R.Brunson F 28:02 6-10 0-0 5-8 1 2 3 0 2 0 7 1 17
N.Powell F 24:17 4-9 3-7 1-1 0 3 3 4 3 1 2 0 12
Y.Griffith C 23:32 5-10 0-0 2-3 3 3 6 2 4 1 1 0 12
K.Lawson 20:36 4-11 1-2 3-4 4 2 6 4 2 1 0 0 12
K.Haynie 17:49 3-5 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 3 1 1 2 0 8
A.Williams 16:27 4-8 0-0 0-0 3 4 7 2 1 0 4 0 8
L.Atkinson 10:40 3-4 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 1 0 0 1 0 7
S.Robinson 09:45 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 5
L.Frohlich 04:08 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 2
D.Walker - - -
K.Smith - - -
Total 200 34-68 9-16 14-20 13 23 36 25 21 9 23 1 91
50.0% 56.3% 70.0% Team Rebs: 6 Total TO: 23
Arena Stats
Arena: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, CA Officials: #18 Kurt Walker , #7 Clarke Stevens , #36 James Breeding Attendance: 8,831 Duration: 1:54
I figured we all wanted a look.
Now just based on what we see here this is a productive game.
30 pts from the bench by someone not named Kara Lawson. Throw her in that is 42 points from our bench. Yo and Kara had 6 rebs and The same said butterfingered Adrian Williams had 7 rebounds. (Leading the Monarchs BTW)
And my goodness we shot over 50% from the 3pt Line.
Yeah statitaclly we were right in there. One stat that did kinda jump out at me was Bekkah's line. Yeah she has a quiet 17pt but she also had 7 TO. WOW! I really don't remember her turning the ball over that much.
With that being said... Where to begin...
I will have to begin with agreeing in some part to the Defense Failing us. Phoenix Killed us on the back door cuts. I mean absolutely killed us. If we overplayed them high to deny them the basketball, they just literally boucepassed the ball towards the basket and BOOM 2 points. White line didn't rotate. And when the finally rotated, That is when the Bombs started to Fly. Actually from the recap, it shows Taurasi hitting shots and we closed out fairly decently in the first quarter. The second Quarter adjustment was the backdoor cuts. I thnk they had 8 lay-ups a 4 minute stretch. Some of that was clearly LACK of Transition Defense. But some of that came right out of their half court offense.
That is a Coaching adjustment So hats off to Paul-Ball for attacking the White Line.
The first Minute of the 2nd Half was a nightmare. We gave up 8 points in the first minute, it was like we didn't even come out of the lockerroom. I think Jenny ended up benching most of the Starters for the 3rd Quarter. Or Maybe that is just her subsitution pattern. Not really sure.
I can say with all honesty How we manage to only lose this game by 10 is beyond me. You couldn't convince me that we even manage to score 90+ points in this one.
I did notice Nicole and Kara complaining to the officials more than usual. Some of it I can understand, Taurasi was pushing thru the top screen like people weren't even there. And she did actually fouled out if you can believe that. In fact we had Taurasi and Penny Taylor in foul trouble most of the night. Conversely So was Nicole for most of the 1st Half.
But the numbers and Stats We had everything we wanted. Maybe This year Phoenix is just a Better team than we are.
As for some of the Offensive Problems... Same as always. Passing on shot we should take. Way too much standing around pounding the ball into the floor. And walking the ball up the court when you are down. This team is just not built to come back from a deficit. Just not who we are. We are definately equipped to make runs, but successful come backs aren't our strong suit at all.
Final Thought about Taurasi's antics. She is kinda fun for the game. However there was a sequence at the end of the fouth when I think Taylor got a Shooting foul. I think it was s jump ball or something and she got to the line. Ticha was complaining to the offcials and Taurasi actually looked like she was laughing at Ticha. My whole section noticed it. Now maybe she was making a joke and it had nothing to do with what was going on on the floor or something but I mean she looked right at Ticha and started laughing. So those of you who may have some Scoop on what may have been about please share. Cause it looked an awful lot like DT was Taunting us on OUR Floor.
Not to mention the Elbow to Yo's face. That certain began the rain of Boo's. Not sure Princess Di will be well recieved at Arco much longer. If she ever really was.
Oh Well It is what it is. I hope we make a run In PHO but not really holding my breath. Just stay healthy...
Field Goals Rebounds
pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a off def tot ast pf st to bs pts
T.Penicheiro G 22:11 1-3 1-1 0-0 0 3 3 7 1 4 3 0 3
C.Newton G 22:33 2-4 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 0 1 0 5
R.Brunson F 28:02 6-10 0-0 5-8 1 2 3 0 2 0 7 1 17
N.Powell F 24:17 4-9 3-7 1-1 0 3 3 4 3 1 2 0 12
Y.Griffith C 23:32 5-10 0-0 2-3 3 3 6 2 4 1 1 0 12
K.Lawson 20:36 4-11 1-2 3-4 4 2 6 4 2 1 0 0 12
K.Haynie 17:49 3-5 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 3 1 1 2 0 8
A.Williams 16:27 4-8 0-0 0-0 3 4 7 2 1 0 4 0 8
L.Atkinson 10:40 3-4 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 1 0 0 1 0 7
S.Robinson 09:45 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 5
L.Frohlich 04:08 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 2
D.Walker - - -
K.Smith - - -
Total 200 34-68 9-16 14-20 13 23 36 25 21 9 23 1 91
50.0% 56.3% 70.0% Team Rebs: 6 Total TO: 23
Arena Stats
Arena: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, CA Officials: #18 Kurt Walker , #7 Clarke Stevens , #36 James Breeding Attendance: 8,831 Duration: 1:54
I figured we all wanted a look.
Now just based on what we see here this is a productive game.
30 pts from the bench by someone not named Kara Lawson. Throw her in that is 42 points from our bench. Yo and Kara had 6 rebs and The same said butterfingered Adrian Williams had 7 rebounds. (Leading the Monarchs BTW)
And my goodness we shot over 50% from the 3pt Line.
Yeah statitaclly we were right in there. One stat that did kinda jump out at me was Bekkah's line. Yeah she has a quiet 17pt but she also had 7 TO. WOW! I really don't remember her turning the ball over that much.
With that being said... Where to begin...
I will have to begin with agreeing in some part to the Defense Failing us. Phoenix Killed us on the back door cuts. I mean absolutely killed us. If we overplayed them high to deny them the basketball, they just literally boucepassed the ball towards the basket and BOOM 2 points. White line didn't rotate. And when the finally rotated, That is when the Bombs started to Fly. Actually from the recap, it shows Taurasi hitting shots and we closed out fairly decently in the first quarter. The second Quarter adjustment was the backdoor cuts. I thnk they had 8 lay-ups a 4 minute stretch. Some of that was clearly LACK of Transition Defense. But some of that came right out of their half court offense.
That is a Coaching adjustment So hats off to Paul-Ball for attacking the White Line.
The first Minute of the 2nd Half was a nightmare. We gave up 8 points in the first minute, it was like we didn't even come out of the lockerroom. I think Jenny ended up benching most of the Starters for the 3rd Quarter. Or Maybe that is just her subsitution pattern. Not really sure.
I can say with all honesty How we manage to only lose this game by 10 is beyond me. You couldn't convince me that we even manage to score 90+ points in this one.
I did notice Nicole and Kara complaining to the officials more than usual. Some of it I can understand, Taurasi was pushing thru the top screen like people weren't even there. And she did actually fouled out if you can believe that. In fact we had Taurasi and Penny Taylor in foul trouble most of the night. Conversely So was Nicole for most of the 1st Half.
But the numbers and Stats We had everything we wanted. Maybe This year Phoenix is just a Better team than we are.
As for some of the Offensive Problems... Same as always. Passing on shot we should take. Way too much standing around pounding the ball into the floor. And walking the ball up the court when you are down. This team is just not built to come back from a deficit. Just not who we are. We are definately equipped to make runs, but successful come backs aren't our strong suit at all.
Final Thought about Taurasi's antics. She is kinda fun for the game. However there was a sequence at the end of the fouth when I think Taylor got a Shooting foul. I think it was s jump ball or something and she got to the line. Ticha was complaining to the offcials and Taurasi actually looked like she was laughing at Ticha. My whole section noticed it. Now maybe she was making a joke and it had nothing to do with what was going on on the floor or something but I mean she looked right at Ticha and started laughing. So those of you who may have some Scoop on what may have been about please share. Cause it looked an awful lot like DT was Taunting us on OUR Floor.
Not to mention the Elbow to Yo's face. That certain began the rain of Boo's. Not sure Princess Di will be well recieved at Arco much longer. If she ever really was.
Oh Well It is what it is. I hope we make a run In PHO but not really holding my breath. Just stay healthy...
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I said "Phoenix hit 15 3's, shot 48.6 percent and ran us out of the gym. What was frustrating to me was the Monarchs inability once again to stop perimeter play. Every time the Mercury got possession they pulled up a jumper off of the dribble an shot lights out without much pressure. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN".
Defense was the problem. Phoenix imposed their will, something they have done all season to pretty much everyone they have played. But in this particular game (which I happened to see), had the Monarchs stopped forcing passes into that zone, creating turnovers, which killed valuable possessions and scoring opportunities, one or two defensive stops per quarter along with efficient offense could have changed the ball game.
This is one game that the stats did not tell the whole story. For example the Monarchs had 13 offesnive rebounds to the Mercury's 9, but I swear, every Phoenix offensive board led to a 3, where ours led to a 2 at best, and maybe just 1 free throw made.
Defense was the problem. Phoenix imposed their will, something they have done all season to pretty much everyone they have played. But in this particular game (which I happened to see), had the Monarchs stopped forcing passes into that zone, creating turnovers, which killed valuable possessions and scoring opportunities, one or two defensive stops per quarter along with efficient offense could have changed the ball game.
This is one game that the stats did not tell the whole story. For example the Monarchs had 13 offesnive rebounds to the Mercury's 9, but I swear, every Phoenix offensive board led to a 3, where ours led to a 2 at best, and maybe just 1 free throw made.
See, I don't even think the o-boards were a problem either. Definitely agree that it felt like they scored a 3 more often than not after they got an offensive board, but we actually I believe scored more points after an offensive rebound occured than they did.
I still think the biggest problem on Friday was the fact that we let Phx run. 25-2 was the fast break point differential. We essentially let them have 23 more points in that type of offensive possession than we had. If we're going to do that, then we can't turn the ball over, probably need to shoot 80% from the floor minimally and not take 18 seconds to generate a shot. I'm still tripping over the concept that as ugly as our offense was on Friday that we even SCORED 91 pts let alone...my head can't possibly comprehend how we could have closed that differential to the tune of what, another 13 pts?
Our transition defense was horrible on Friday, actually, I take that back. It would have to exist to have qualified as being horrible. We have never let them run on us like they did last night. We had played them pretty evenly (um, even in a perverse inverse way seeing as we allowed them back into a game where we were trying to run them out of their own gym in our first meeting).
They get the defensive side of their house in order and get the offensive spigot flicked in the upright and locked position - like they did for several games in the postseason last year - they might be alright. And the fact that they pulled 91 ugly points out of their proverbial... on Friday could actually be an encouraging sign.
I'm not sure I agree that this team doesn't have the ability to come back. They have shown they can. They grabbed games on this home stand from Washington and San Antonio. They took a game from Seattle here. They came back from a 16pt deficit in the 4th quarter to force OT in one of the two debacles @ Staples. It to me has more been a matter of how long it takes them to figure their stuff out and start making a comeback...which again feeds into the execution and consistency thereof that I am stuck on with them.
I still think the biggest problem on Friday was the fact that we let Phx run. 25-2 was the fast break point differential. We essentially let them have 23 more points in that type of offensive possession than we had. If we're going to do that, then we can't turn the ball over, probably need to shoot 80% from the floor minimally and not take 18 seconds to generate a shot. I'm still tripping over the concept that as ugly as our offense was on Friday that we even SCORED 91 pts let alone...my head can't possibly comprehend how we could have closed that differential to the tune of what, another 13 pts?
Our transition defense was horrible on Friday, actually, I take that back. It would have to exist to have qualified as being horrible. We have never let them run on us like they did last night. We had played them pretty evenly (um, even in a perverse inverse way seeing as we allowed them back into a game where we were trying to run them out of their own gym in our first meeting).
They get the defensive side of their house in order and get the offensive spigot flicked in the upright and locked position - like they did for several games in the postseason last year - they might be alright. And the fact that they pulled 91 ugly points out of their proverbial... on Friday could actually be an encouraging sign.
I'm not sure I agree that this team doesn't have the ability to come back. They have shown they can. They grabbed games on this home stand from Washington and San Antonio. They took a game from Seattle here. They came back from a 16pt deficit in the 4th quarter to force OT in one of the two debacles @ Staples. It to me has more been a matter of how long it takes them to figure their stuff out and start making a comeback...which again feeds into the execution and consistency thereof that I am stuck on with them.