WBB Battle 4 Atlantis semis game notes
Opponent: South Dakota (not SDSU), (semis of Battle 4 Atlantis)
Result: Win, 70-52. Finals against Ole Miss 11/20 at 12pm
Date: 11/19, neutral site
Ok, so a couple disclaimers here that I was not able to watch this game live and the replay on Flohoops picked up with 3 minutes left in the first half. My wife did watch the game live and so her overall thoughts are first and then mine from the replay.
Wife’s thoughts:
- Phelia’s shot is off. She noticed this yesterday too and today confirmed it. Phelia ended up 5-21 with 13 points.
- Cam Williams traveled a few times at the start of the first half, then was taken out and did not play much. Finished with only 10 minutes.
- Taylor Williams played really well, got a lot of rebounds (18) 12 of them offensive rebounds.
- Rotation was shorter today, around 8 people including Elise Stuck, Elissa Brett, and Chyra Evans off the bench. No other bench players got more than 3 minutes.
- First quarter was pretty rough again, though there was less subbing. Team finished with 10 points.
Starters: Laila Phelia, Cam Williams, Taylor Williams, Jordan Hobbs, Lauren Hansen (same as last 2 games)
Injuries/inactives: none
Offense:
- Taylor Williams and Jordan Hobbs the most efficient scorers today. Williams 19 points on 8-14 shooting. Hobbs 11 points on 5-9 shooting. Stuck also 3-3 for 6 points.
- Hansen also not bad with 13 points on 5-11 shooting, but 1-6 from three
- Attempted buzzer beating three at end of first half, but missed it
- Hobbs driving well and getting layups to fall. Then was able to draw defense and feed Stuck for an easy bucket.
- Hansen with a patient bucket driving along the baseline, drawing the foul, and hitting the free throw.
- Stuck with a rebound off a bad Hobbs miss, powered it back up through traffic for the bucket
- Last bucket for either team came with 2 minutes to go. Phelia drove and missed, Taylor Williams missed, but got her own rebound and put it back in.
Defense:
- 1-2-2 press
- Broken, but then offensive charge taken by Stuck
- Forced a bad pass that Hobbs intercepted
- Hobbs with a nice steal by cutting off a cross-court pass
- Hansen steal by double teaming down low and taking the ball out of South Dakota’s hands
Notable stats:
- Double double for Taylor Williams with 19 points and 18 rebounds
- Team only shot 3-18 from three. Not great.
- Only 5 turnovers today to South Dakota’s 7
Overall:
- The team was up 9 at the half before pulling away to win by 18. This was a more fast paced game than against MTSU. Michigan seemed better able to break down South Dakota’s defense. A lot more active passing around the outside leading to good drives into the lane.
Miscellaneous:
- Michigan last played South Dakota in the Sweet 16 of the 2021-22 March Madness tournament, beating them to reach the Elite 8 for the first time.
November 20th, 2023 at 7:56 AM ^
Today's Championship game vs Mississippi is at Noon on ESPN2.
Hope Cam and Laila are back to form today...Go Blue!
November 20th, 2023 at 8:51 AM ^
How should I view the WBB this year... somewhat like the men's team--a few above-average talented players, but never going to out-skill our B1G opposition, so will go as far as hard work and teamwork will get us? Is this a tourney team, or NIT, or "wow NIT would be great"?
I realize help is on the way next year, so it feels like this year is just for treading water, right.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:20 AM ^
I would absolutely expect this team to be a tournament team. Probably right around #5 in a very, very good conference. Iowa (#7 in HerHoopStats ratings which is essentially KenPom for the women) and IU (#9) will be the top of the conference with Ohio State (#19) nipping at their heels. Currently, MSU is #11 and ahead of Ohio State, which I did not expect. And Maryland (#43) is always a good team. So somewhere in the 4-6 range in the conference. FYI, Michigan is currently #24 in those ratings.
Laila Phelia will be 2nd team all-Big Ten at worst. Outside of that, there probably isn't anyone on the team making better than HR, but they have a group of very solid players. I feel like this is a deep team of good players with only one great player. They're still going to struggle with the talent at Iowa, IU, and Ohio State.
I would expect they'll get a BTT bye -- but not a double bye -- and, depending on how a few games fall and who they draw in the tournament (e.g., hopefully not getting an LSU team on fire in the second round), that they could still be a Sweet 16 team. That's likely ceiling for this year.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
I would agree with Henne here that this will be a tournament team and the Sweet 16 would be a big accomplishment this year. Another thing to keep track of is whether they can get into the 4 seed range so they can host at Crisler. Definitely a possibility, but will require this team to work well together with their transfers.
In terms of comparisons to the men's team, I might think of KBA more relative to Beilein than Howard with her emphasis on developing lower-rated recruits. She has definitely gotten more highly rated recruits as evidenced by Naz's class and next year's class, but this is an in-between year. Perhaps comparable to one of Beilein's years between the title runs. The potential is there, we should make the tournament, but not contending for the title.
November 20th, 2023 at 9:32 AM ^
I didn't get to see either game this weekend, but I did see the box score and found it very interesting how tight the rotation was for yesterday's game. Seeing Greta and Macy Brown only get like 4 minutes between them was surprising. I guess we got a glimpse of what it will look like when KBA feels she needs to shorten the bench.
I think Cam Williams has all of the tools be a really good player -- footwork, timing, hustle, pedigree -- but it just hasn't come together yet. I always wonder if the fact that she gets yanked quickly makes it a mental thing for her where she's just always looking over her shoulder (makes me think of Eli Brooks) and that as a result she just can't ever establish a rhythm. As a result, she always seems to top out at 20ish mpg.
Last year, she was a starter the entire season in name but not minutes. Chyra Evans at a lot of minutes, and that gap only widened as the year went on. I much of the same this year, but I really hope it all comes together for Williams this season.
November 20th, 2023 at 10:07 AM ^
I agree about Cam. The quick substitutions are rough. I think her last missing piece is really the footwork in the post and she'll be lethal. She seems to have figured out her fouling issues from last year, so hopefully we'll see that last piece drop into place soon.