Sunday, January 17, 2010

USC 70, UCLA 63

I was so pissed at the end of today's game. Came home wondering what would be on the UCLA website and was pleasantly surprised to see that they at least acknowledged it: free throws. Freakin' free throws again. But 9-20?

I have no idea why there isn't a box score either on that side or on ESPN's page, but I'd venture to guess Jasmine Dixon was 1-8 at the charity stripe. For all the things she does extremely well, that's one thing she needs to fix, and in a hurry, because she missed a grip of free throws last Sunday, too.

One thing UCLA did wrong at the end of today's game was they stopped driving to the basket; they just kept throwing up shots, and they weren't falling. (That's one of my pet peeves in basketball). The second problem was that they eased up on the brilliant defense that had kept them going for the first three quarters of the game. Coach Nikki Caldwell has said that the Bruins are still putting together a 40-minute game. I can see the progress, but geez.....I hope they can put it together soon. They're an obviously more well-coached team than USC. There's so much potential there.

Props to Ashley Corral, who ran the point well for USC and had 17 points the last time I looked up. Freshman Christina Marinacci is going to have a brilliant career.



Here's the difference: end of the game USC stats.



End of the game UCLA stats.



Doreena Campbell inbounds the ball for the Bruins in the first half.



Ashley Corral brings the ball up court for the Trojans.



USC has some shooters.



Coach Michael Cooper usually coaches sitting down.



Coach Nikki Caldwell usually stands up to do her duties.



Assistant Coach Erv Monier does a lot of coaching himself.



Jasmine Dixon hucks up her last missed free throw shot of the game.



Jasmine Dixon, you need to make your free throws.

In other college action today, more nuttiness:

Tennessee held off the Vanderbilt surge for the win.

Oklahoma upset Texas A&M.

Michigan State lost its third in a row, to Penn State.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The boxscores on yahoo.com/sports/ncaaw and at the the UCLA athletics website does track freethrows, Jasmine was 3-10. USC was 24-27 from the line, that's pretty good. Why do you say that UCLA is "obviously more well-coached team". USC's defensive adjustment took Erica's 3s out of the game in the 2nd half, she killed them in the first half, and except for a couple of points in the game USC handled UCLAs press pretty well. Usually in the 2nd half the UCLA press ramps up and shuts down teams, but today UCLA had more turnovers than USC. From the pictures on your site it seems like you always sit on the opposite side of the court from where I sit. I've actually been in a couple of your photos, and was almost in one of the ones at the Galen center. You must sit around Noelle's mom at most UCLA home games, I'll try to see if I can figure out who you are at the next UCLA home game after the long road trip they are about to embark on.

Anonymous said...

Max Preps Stats on Dixon F/T in HS

07/08---83 for 148 = 56%
06/07---84 for 160 = 53%
05/06---98 for 152 = 64%
04/05---85 for 160 = 53%

Dixon was 3 for 10 in Sundays game vs USC.
For the season she is 24 for 55 or 43.6%.

On a positive note for UCLA the girls seem ready for Dixons misses at the FT line. If you look at your next to last picture all 5 of the girls are seen going for the basket. Gilbreath has Dixon covered but I believe Aarika Hughes didnt box out very well. Also note that both guards at the top of the key are rushing to the basket. Corral might have been caught not ready as there is a girl ahead of her. I believe twice in the game UCLA was able to put F/T misses by Dixon into baskets(one by Markel Walker and the other by Dixon herself). If there is work to be done by USC it is at boxing out on FT's and regular shots.
Exciting game to watch and I was glad to see 4800+ in the stands.

IM in OC

Anonymous said...

I think Coach Caldwell has done a good job, but she did a very poor job in choosing her assistants. She needs more help than she's getting.

Anonymous said...

She was woeful at LB Poly, why is this stuff overlooked, clearly coming back to bite them in the butt!

Sue Favor said...

Wow! Interesting comments.

Anonymous said...

I don't think many people would agree with you that UCLA was "obviously the more well coached team". USC is playing with just seven scholarship players and Ashley Corral, a sophmore and the leading scorer played the entire game without a rest. The other sophmore, Briana Gilbrath played 34minutes and scored 19 points. Could you imagine how UCLA would have played with just 7 players.

USC Coaches made the adjustment at half time and took UCLA out of their offense. More important, during the last four minutes, USC players had the stamina to keep their focus on the court and were in much better condition than UCLA. The mark of good coaching is a team's ability to have confidence in themselves and finish strong especially in tight games. In that regard, it was clear to everyone in Galen Center which team finished strong.