Stats @ Liberty
Here are the numbers from yesterday's game against Liberty University at Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, VA:
OFFENSE
Possessions: 72.96 (still fast)
oRtg: 1.138 (1.121 adjusted, would be third, according to Torvik)
eFG%: 60.0% (very good)
3pt%: 50.0% (great)
2pt%: 53.85% (good)
%three: 29.09% (good)
FT rate: 49.09% (really good)
OR%: 41.38% (fantastic, especially given their size in the post)
TO%: 24.67% (not so hot)
a/to: 1.056 (good)
%assisted: 65.52% (excellent)
fast break pts: 15 (18.1%) (solid)
DEFENSE
dRtg: 0.918 (0.859 adjusted, sixty-seventh, per Torvik)
deFG%: 50.0% (pretty bad)
3pt%: 30.0% (not so hot)
2pt%: 52.94% (bad)
%threes: 37.04% (pretty high, but they were less effective than twos, so...)
FT rate: 29.63% (still too high, but a bit better)
DR%: 66.67% (not bad, especially against their size)
TO%: 30.15% (very good)
a/to: 0.50 (good)
%assisted: 45.83% (not great)
stl%: 21.93% (very good)
blk%: 2.94% (bad)
fast break pts: 9 (13.4%) (meh)
I liked the pace of this game. We sped them up and made them do things they didn't want to do. In addition to the shooting, which was really good from three and fairly solid against the trees, I also really liked our aggression on offense. We weren't afraid to get in there and mix it up, and good things were happening. Yes, they bothered some of our shots, but we also converted on a few and we drew just a ton of fouls, which really helped our offense overall. It would be nice to convert the freebies more, though. Oluchi had unexpected troubles at the line, which was unfortunate because she was fouled pretty much every time she threw the ball at the basket. Toby drew quite a few, as well, but those two players, who were at line most for us, each only converted half their attempts. That's an extra couple buckets' worth of scoring that we didn't get. I was also pretty concerned about the TO rate. 18 against a team like this is way too many. Honestly, this game is more like we were last season, but I was kinda hoping that first game was more of an indicator that we'd take better care of the ball.
On defense, we were pretty shaky at times. Some of that was due directly to their size, as a couple times we sent double-teams a little too quickly and the pass out from that bit us. But also, they are just a well-coached team that has real confidence. They were not afraid to work hard, not afraid to take shots, and not afraid to take it in down low. We did make it very difficult for them to effectively pass the ball in to their bigs, though. We stole the ball a ton. On the other hand, we committed quite a few fouls, and had two player foul out (Oluchi and Delaney). Liberty didn't have the athleticism to much us, but they had everything else.
This was a good test, but honestly, so far we don't really look like the 11th best team in the country to me, partly because I don't expect us to go 8-of-16 from three very often. If we have a poor shooting day instead of an outstanding one, this is a very different kind of game.
The Maryland game will tell us more, but IMO we're going to have to play a little better to win that one.
