The LVs outside shooting has been getting better. I take the game at Stanford as more of bellwether than Wafford scrimmage but in the past, they had trouble hitting the wide open ones as well (so three cheers to the Wafford performance I suppose).
Against Stanford, the LVs lost the game because their shooting crumbled in the 4th quarter. They had the same looks from the prior 3 quarters but starting shooting bricks. With the exception of Rickea who had not seem many minutes in the preceding five games, I don't think that precipitous decline was a fatigue response. They faded under pressure. If the roles had been reversed, we would all be saying that Stanford choked.
People can yap about X and Os and blame Kellie for every loss but this team is a clear Jekyll and Hyde. When they are hitting 3s at 40% or above, they are very hard to beat, When they fall down to 25% or below, it is very hard from them to win. More than anything, their shooting inconsistency has me most nervous going forward.
I am not sure they really believe (yet), that they are an elite team. Under pressure at Stanford, you could see the self doubt creeping in. Honestly, that is why Jackson has to become the closer on the order of we have Rickea and you don't. (Sorry Gametime but Justine is not going to be ready for that job this season).
We have seen that when Jordan Horston tries to take over a game down the stretch, she tends to force things and her caliber of player goes down. When it comes to winning time, if J.H. can be Robin to Rickea's Batman, then I think the rest of the team can feed off of that power duo.
from New Jersey? I’m buying!
