marsha and bill

[redraider3414]

I dunno but to me i think bill just out coached marsha tonight. i think he prepared his girls and really got them hyped up. hopefully we will see isu again in the tournament!!!!

Marsha.......... I still Luv ya!!!!

[dem]

If you listened to Marsha's remarks on the coaches' teleconference yesterday, you could see that she was very concerned about what might happen in this game, and she specifically pointed out how well-coached ISU is. Turned out her concerns were well-founded.

[grojc]

This conference has the best coaches, hands down.

[ISUbballfan]

Bill had an excellent game plan. At first it was driving me crazy because ISU doesn't due well in the half court game. Couldn't make a shot because they didn't shoot till under 10 on the shoot clock. Couldn't get a rebound. But I could see his stragery. Finally the girls started to adjust. Wow what a game. I keep thinking during the game should I stand or should I sit. At the end I was standing, screaming, jumping, high 5ing, and hugging. Did I say WOW WHAT A GAME.

[Beerman]

Yes, Bill outcoached her. She did NOTHING to counter his plan to slow the game. She also didn't take advantage of her bench. Yes, the bench played....but no advantage was gained. Dabbs played well but was too little too late.

[hoopjnky]

There is a value to watching a lot of tape, and I think Bill really did his homework.

Here are the game I remember that I would swear he picked through to come up with a very effective game plan:

The box and one defense: it's a defense that's older than I am and is usually used to stop go-to players down low. It's shortcoming is that it leaves open opportunities on the perimeter. ISU was tried it early and it worked. The limited perimeter shooting of the Tech squad really showed. It is the same defense that Texas A&M used to great effect against Tech in the last year there was a Southwest Conference. I saw a few other squads use the defense against Tech in later years, and they broke it down. Not last night. Tech could handle the triangle and two, but the box and one was a stopper.

Clock management: Tech allowed ISU to take them completely out of their fast-paced game. I felt at times like I was watching a clinic rather than a ball game. You saw the screens coming, you saw the pick and roll coming, but it was as if everything was in slow motion and there was no way to change the momentum. Burn the clock, slow everyone down, and "kerchunk". Use of time outs to slow momentum was also most effective. Several teams have used this strategy effectively against Tech over the years. I have seen ISU do this before, but Tech used the press and a pressure D to pick up the pace. Not last night. The point walked up to half court virtually unchallenged. Pretty weird.

I felt that Fennelly made it a game about fundamentals rather than athleticism. It worked.

But I doubt that it will work twice against the Lady Raiders, should they encounter ISU again at the tournament.

[Bball Girl]

I thought if Tech played THEIR game and didn't allow ISU to dictate their offensive flow, Tech would win. But the weakness I've seen with Tech this year is when we get lulled in playing at a slow, deliberate pace we struggle and the box and one was effective. I kept yelling at Grant to pick up the tempo.

Poor free throw shooting didn't help...missing 11 free throws is absurd.

Bill had a good game plan and his team executed it well..I thought O'Neill did an excellent job all around. Perk should have come back into the game with 3 mins to go instead of waiting till the last minute. The posse plays a pretty good 2-3 zone and I didn't see Marsha use that last night...it might have helped.

It's a good lesson for both teams. ISU learned that they do have the stuff it takes...I think they had begun to doubt themselves. Tech learned lots of things.

[elfdenmom]

They hired the orchestra, and we danced to their music all night long. We sure didn't dance "with who brung us!"

[35TangoTango]

Well, the problem with an ambush is that it's only a surprise once! Thanks to TT, the rest of us will be prepared for a possible "slow-down" game against the Clones.

[dem]

When Jia [it was her, right?] starting pressuring O'Neil, at first it was kind of light and didn't look too dangerous. Later on it was much more serious, and I got very worried. I was very impressed at how well O'Neil handled it, because at that point it was not token pressure at all. Remember, though, that with all the fouls and the tight calls, and the very close score, both defenses had to be careful. A bit too much hand-checking would earn the opposition at LEAST one free throw, so that made it a lot tougher for Tech to try to speed things up.