She almost always played beside Kyra, who is a true natural point guard. Mikayla can handle the ball and get some assists.
I'm not sure that will be enough to salvage the season, though. This team just looks lost. It's not so much about the physical talent as it is about the mental side. They are often second-guessing themselves, or they get so locked in to what they're supposed to do as part of the play that they aren't seizing the opportunities the floor situation presents. We beat Marist by single-digits. We should have been able to beat them by 25. This was not the start of the home stand I was hoping for.
I'm not sure Lexie was a true point guard, certainly not like Kyra. Remember 2 years ago when they were playing pretty well with Kyra and Lexie in the backcourt, Lexie was clearly the off-guard.
I don't remember Mikayla's 10 games a year ago whether she was the primary ballhandler. I don't believe she was recruited as a point guard.
Lots of turnovers in the first half, but most of them have been “errors of enthusiasm,” e.g., sticking passes into small windows and not having them caught cleanly. That said, the defense has been excellent, and Odom caught fire late. Duke leads by eight at the break.
Defense really caught fire in the third, holding the Rebels to six points. Boykin shaking off the rust, and Duke’s complementary players are contributing. Up by 21 going to the fourth.
Duke wins by 28, 66-38. Boykin is going to help a lot. Lots of rust, but lots of positives, including 5 steals. The next 2 games will tell us a lot.
"This is the best of all possible worlds."
Dr. Pangloss - Candide
When does SC make the trip? I'd assume tomorrow, sometime before the weather hits, since it isn't supposed to make an impact until later in the evening. So if they cancel, I'd think they'd need to announce it today.
I'd bet they don't cancel, but encourage fans to stay home and watch on tv.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
I hate that we already pretty much lose home court advantage to South Carolina, and you know if the team bus comes, the fan buses will come, too. It would be effectively an away game for our own players if Duke told its own fans to just stay home. In my opinion, if they are convinced local fans can't make it to the game safely, they should cancel the game.
In 1996 the Duke men hosted Georgia Tech on a snowy, freezing-rain Sunday afternoon. I do not recall if Duke formally advised people to stay at home. But I sure did and I live 25 miles from CIS. The roads were a skating rink.
Duke opened the seating up to anyone who could make it but even the bottom level wasn't completely full. Duke did lose the home-court advantage and the game, albeit to a very good GT team--Stephon Marbury, Matt Harpring, Drew Barry. But the absence of a supportive home crowd had to have been a factor.
Not an easy decision and not one I envy having to make.
They did? Losing home court advantage implies to me that there are more fans of the other team vs home fans. (IE Duke football vs any number of teams in years past.) Did GT actually show up with more winterized yellow jackets?
I've been in Cameron for women's games packed to the rafters...with folks that drove over from Chapel Hill. In those games it didn't feel like we had much of a home court feeling; those are the closest reverses I've witnessed. But even then, there were still more of the correct shade of blue.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."