How do we get our girls to play that swarming D like Auburn. We would be crazy good. We definitely have the athletes and bodies to do so.
I don’t know the answer to that, but I think you’re right. One thing I *do* know from past personal experience is that playing swarming defense is extremely tiring. Swarming defense requires everyone keeping a low stance for quick reactions, and arms and hands extended and moving quickly in order to frustrate the opponent. These movements can take a lot out of an athlete very quickly.
Knowing that, my guess is that our players are conserving energy. While I fully understand not wanting to get too tired too early, I believe it is up to the coaches to devise a plan in which the players are only expected to do that for very short, intense spurts. The players have to be able to trust the coach that she won’t ask them to be that intense for 10 minutes solid. They will be willing to go that hard for, say, 60 seconds, then relax their muscles to allow the sudden buildup of painful and tiring lactic acid to dissipate.
ANY good athlete worth her salt can go hard for short spurts. But their natural instinct to preserve energy for later will kick in if the coach demands too much for too long. They have to be slowly trained to increase the length of time their bodies are capable of intensity, and the staff needs to show the players that they can be trusted to understand that.