jimsumner
12-22-2016, 07:46 PM
Another in a series.
Duke finished the pre-holiday break last night with a 68-50 victory over Villanova, running Duke's record to 11-1, all non-ACC games.
So, a good time for a checkup. And besides, I attended that game instead of making a much-longer drive to cover the men in Greensboro. What could possibly happen in that game?
A few words about Villanova. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team from a major conference so dependent on 3s. You've heard of one-in, four-out offenses? They play a zero-in, five-out offense.
Seriously. The took 41 3-point shots, 20 2-point shots and all of two foul shots.
Their best player, Adrianna Hahn, was 6-13 from beyond the arc. The rest of the team was 4-28.
It's not this was an outlier. Their head coach, Henry Perretta, is in his 39th season at Nova. He has a system and he recruits to it.
That brings me to Leaonna Odom, Duke's 6-2 freshman forward. She got the start against Villanova, taking the second big spot alongside Oderah Chidom. Chidom made her 12th start, as did Lexie Brown, Kyra Lambert and Rebecca Greenwell.
I thought this might be a response to Villanova's small lineup but Joanne P. McCallie indicated after the game that she likes this lineup and we might see it for awhile.
Odom is a very good player, with a very high ceiling. She's earned her promotion. But true posts Erin Mathias (five starts) and Kendall Cooper (six starts) both had chances to lock up a starting spot and neither did so. That doesn't mean they didn't make positive contributions but neither has distinguished herself as more than nice, complementary posts.
Starting the athletic 6-4 Chidom and the even-more athletic Odom at the 5 and 4 gives Duke a mobile lineup, that can outquick darn near anyone. But it's also a lineup capable of being bludgeoned inside by bigger, stronger teams, meaning Mathias and Cooper are going to remain important parts of the lineup.
Duke's perimeter trio will remain the drivers of the team. Brown and Greenwell are both playing at a first-team All-ACC level. Greenwell is averaging 20.5 ppg and has greatly improved her all-around game, especially rebounding, where she's averaging 6.3 rpg, pretty solid for a wing.
But Brown remains the one player who can break down the opposing team one-on-one. She's been pretty judicious in this area this season but great players have an ability to seize control of a game and she has that ability.
Can Duke develop a reliable third scoring option? Odom seems like the best bet, assuming she continues to adjust to the physicality of the college game. Lambert is still learning to play off the ball but is showing an ability to pick her spots.
Chidom is averaging around nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks per game. I can't shake the feeling that she could be a 15-ppg player if she worked harder to get good position on the blocks, demanded the ball more and didn't miss at least one gimme every game. But she may just be too darn nice, which isn't the worst thing to say about a human being. She's in the middle of her senior year and by that point, players tend to be who they are. But she's solid at a minimum, usually better than solid.
Duke really needs another perimeter player to step up. Crystal Primm can defend and rebound but her ball skills aren't what the job description demands for a 5-11 ACC player. Faith Suggs is bigger, slower and shoots better than Primm, but she's played 72 minutes so far in a season with a lot of blow-outs.
Lynee Belton didn't play at all last night and truth be told, Villanova wasn't a good spot for her. But her knee/conditioning issues suggest this may not be her season.
Haley Gorecki could be the answer to the perimeter-depth question. She hasn't played this season but I'm still being told January and no, Duke isn't thinking about a medical redshirt, not at this time. But she hasn't played much at the college level and she'll have some rust to work off, maybe a lot.
Duke jumps into the deep end of the pool after the break, hosting 18th-ranked Kentucky next Thursday and then opening their ACC schedule at home on January 2, against eighth-ranked Louisville.
Kentucky is led by one of the nation's best players, Makalya Epps. But they've looked ordinary in recent games and I think this is a winnable game for Duke. A victory over Kentucky would send Duke into conference play with mucho momentum. So, it's a big one.
Speaking of conference play, Duke is one of seven ACC teams currently ranked in the AP poll.
A final note. I said earlier that I would only talk about on-court stuff in these updates. But McCallie has started referring to opposing players by their names, hopefully ending a habit that annoyed many of us of only referring to opposing players by their numbers.
A small data point to be sure but an encouraging one and one that I think worthy of acknowledgment.
Duke finished the pre-holiday break last night with a 68-50 victory over Villanova, running Duke's record to 11-1, all non-ACC games.
So, a good time for a checkup. And besides, I attended that game instead of making a much-longer drive to cover the men in Greensboro. What could possibly happen in that game?
A few words about Villanova. I'm not sure I've ever seen a team from a major conference so dependent on 3s. You've heard of one-in, four-out offenses? They play a zero-in, five-out offense.
Seriously. The took 41 3-point shots, 20 2-point shots and all of two foul shots.
Their best player, Adrianna Hahn, was 6-13 from beyond the arc. The rest of the team was 4-28.
It's not this was an outlier. Their head coach, Henry Perretta, is in his 39th season at Nova. He has a system and he recruits to it.
That brings me to Leaonna Odom, Duke's 6-2 freshman forward. She got the start against Villanova, taking the second big spot alongside Oderah Chidom. Chidom made her 12th start, as did Lexie Brown, Kyra Lambert and Rebecca Greenwell.
I thought this might be a response to Villanova's small lineup but Joanne P. McCallie indicated after the game that she likes this lineup and we might see it for awhile.
Odom is a very good player, with a very high ceiling. She's earned her promotion. But true posts Erin Mathias (five starts) and Kendall Cooper (six starts) both had chances to lock up a starting spot and neither did so. That doesn't mean they didn't make positive contributions but neither has distinguished herself as more than nice, complementary posts.
Starting the athletic 6-4 Chidom and the even-more athletic Odom at the 5 and 4 gives Duke a mobile lineup, that can outquick darn near anyone. But it's also a lineup capable of being bludgeoned inside by bigger, stronger teams, meaning Mathias and Cooper are going to remain important parts of the lineup.
Duke's perimeter trio will remain the drivers of the team. Brown and Greenwell are both playing at a first-team All-ACC level. Greenwell is averaging 20.5 ppg and has greatly improved her all-around game, especially rebounding, where she's averaging 6.3 rpg, pretty solid for a wing.
But Brown remains the one player who can break down the opposing team one-on-one. She's been pretty judicious in this area this season but great players have an ability to seize control of a game and she has that ability.
Can Duke develop a reliable third scoring option? Odom seems like the best bet, assuming she continues to adjust to the physicality of the college game. Lambert is still learning to play off the ball but is showing an ability to pick her spots.
Chidom is averaging around nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks per game. I can't shake the feeling that she could be a 15-ppg player if she worked harder to get good position on the blocks, demanded the ball more and didn't miss at least one gimme every game. But she may just be too darn nice, which isn't the worst thing to say about a human being. She's in the middle of her senior year and by that point, players tend to be who they are. But she's solid at a minimum, usually better than solid.
Duke really needs another perimeter player to step up. Crystal Primm can defend and rebound but her ball skills aren't what the job description demands for a 5-11 ACC player. Faith Suggs is bigger, slower and shoots better than Primm, but she's played 72 minutes so far in a season with a lot of blow-outs.
Lynee Belton didn't play at all last night and truth be told, Villanova wasn't a good spot for her. But her knee/conditioning issues suggest this may not be her season.
Haley Gorecki could be the answer to the perimeter-depth question. She hasn't played this season but I'm still being told January and no, Duke isn't thinking about a medical redshirt, not at this time. But she hasn't played much at the college level and she'll have some rust to work off, maybe a lot.
Duke jumps into the deep end of the pool after the break, hosting 18th-ranked Kentucky next Thursday and then opening their ACC schedule at home on January 2, against eighth-ranked Louisville.
Kentucky is led by one of the nation's best players, Makalya Epps. But they've looked ordinary in recent games and I think this is a winnable game for Duke. A victory over Kentucky would send Duke into conference play with mucho momentum. So, it's a big one.
Speaking of conference play, Duke is one of seven ACC teams currently ranked in the AP poll.
A final note. I said earlier that I would only talk about on-court stuff in these updates. But McCallie has started referring to opposing players by their names, hopefully ending a habit that annoyed many of us of only referring to opposing players by their numbers.
A small data point to be sure but an encouraging one and one that I think worthy of acknowledgment.