Nevada preview

3,659 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by wvitbear
Schroeder71
How long do you want to ignore this user?
https://nevadawolfpack.com/sports/womens-basketball/stats/2023/pdf

I have not seen the Wolfpack play so my analysis is based on this season's stats. Nevada's HC, Amanda Levens, is in her 7th year in Reno. Her team is 5-4 in the early season. They are 3-2 at home, 2-0 on neutral sites & 0-2 in away games. It's hard to clearly project this team. They are outscoring their opponents by 0.5 ppg (63.75 to 63.25). Yet most of their games are not tight. The Wolfpack lost by 22 points at Long Beach State early and suffered a tough loss by 2 points at Weber State in Utah on Wednesday night. Weber State was winless (0-7) entering that game. I did notice a couple things that could have contributed to the upset. Their top scorer, junior guard, Audrey Roden, fouled out in the 1st nine minutes of the game. However, she scored 9 points! Their only grad transfer (from La Salle) and second leading scorer, Claire Jacobs, missed the game for some reason. Nevada lost 57-55! It was their second lowest scoring output of the season. Two other games are worth mentioning: they lost two home games to UCSB & Oregon. The Wolfpack lost to the Gauchos by 7 and to the Ducks by 29 points.

My prediction for Saturday afternoon is that Cal should win going away (85-55). However, I'm concerned that the Bears might be dragging after playing 45 minutes on Thursday night. If this happens, Cal still should be able to emerge victorious by 15 (75-60).

The strength of this team from Reno seems to be pressure defense. Nevada is forcing 21.4 turnovers (which includes 13 steals) per game. Their shooting and ball-handling appear average. Their roster has one player with height, 6-3 soph post Natalie Lathrop. She only plays 12.2 minutes per game. The Wolfpack registers 37.7 rebounds while giving up 42.3 rpg to their opposition. One reason Oregon blew out this team was that they outrebounded them by 23 (58-35). I hope that Cal can have a strong showing on the boards tomorrow.

2023-24 Women's Basketball Roster - University of Nevada Athletics (nevadawolfpack.com)

Audrey Roden, a junior guard, averages 13.2 points. Her stats indicate that she is an aggressive player. She leads the team in shots, free throws, personal fouls (29), assists & steals (29). She only makes 60% of her foul shots so the Bears should defend her physically. The Aussie grad transfer Claire Jacobs, a 6-0 SG, scores 9.4 ppg and has 10 three pointers to her credit. Lexie Givens, 6-0 senior forward, would seem to be quite the athlete. She leads the Wolfpack in rebounding w/ 6 and contributes 8.7 points to their offense. She attended Alameda HS in Oakland so she should be ready to play. She evidently is aggressive, too. She leads the team with 15 blocked shots and is 3rd in steals w/ 20. She also triggers fouls w/ 22 PFs but also gets to the foul line a lot. She is 17-22 (77%) from the charity stripe on the season. Dymonique Maxie is a freshman 5-8 PG from Moreau Catholic in Hayward. She stepped forward in that Weber State game to fill the offensive void left by the absence of the team's top two scorers. She led the team in scoring with a dozen points. Normally, she averages 6.2ppg & 3.7 rpg. She also is second on the team in assists (20) & steals (23). The fifth best offensive player is Gabby Giuffre, a 5-11 senior wing, who leads the team with11 treys!

The #2 rebounder is a 6-0 soph F from Louisville, Kentucky, Kennedy Lee. She grabs 5.3 boards and scores 4.4 point per game. Another emerging contributor is 5-10 frosh guard, Izzy Sullivan. She is averaging 5 ppg and can shoot from the outside (9 threes). Junior SG Kaylee Borden contributes 5.3 ppg w/ 8 three pointers.
Finally, the 6-3 soph PF, Natalie Lathrop, adds three points and three rebounds to the cause.
CalWSportsFan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Mia update just posted on Threads today:


Mia Mastrov injury update:

California guard Mia Mastrov, who suffered a right ankle sprain in the game against San Jose State on Nov. 24, and has missed the team's last three games, is expected to return in the next 1-2 weeks.

https://www.threads.net/@calwbball/post/C0nIF_7vVZI/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
wvitbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I saw Lexie play in high school for Alameda. Against Karen Horstmeyer'sdaughter.
Schroeder71
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I saw Horstmeyer playing for some CA college-maybe USD

Women's Basketball vs San Diego on 11/29/2023 - Box Score - University of Nevada Athletics (nevadawolfpack.com)

Kylie (see box score)
wvitbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
She went To SD. When I saw her I talked to Karen in the stands. Kristin Iwanaga was sitting near her and trying to recruit her to Santa Clara.
SFCALBear72
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Re: Nevada vs. Weber State

"Their (Nevada's) top scorer, junior guard, Audrey Roden, fouled out in the 1st nine minutes of the game."

And we think Michelle has foul trouble. How does one accumulate 5 fouls in the first quarter? And the coach kept her in the game? Wow!!
wvitbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
When someone on Cal gets their 2nd foul they st on the bench for the rest of the first half unless it is Lelani.
Finnish Oski
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Some of the foul calls on Michelle are ridiculous. The other night she got whistled for her first one during player introductions.
CalWSportsFan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I agree. It's telling that when Michelle was playing on the East coast she didn't seem to have this issue. When the Bears played Auburn she played for 35 minutes and had 3 fouls. Against Florida AM she played 29 minutes and had ZERO fouls.

The refs here are ridiculous when it comes to calling fouls on her. It makes me so frustrated....she does foul, but she doesn't deserve to foul out like she does. Poor officiating. Looking forward to the ACC maybe....
WayneBear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SFCALBear72 said:

Re: Nevada vs. Weber State

"Their (Nevada's) top scorer, junior guard, Audrey Roden, fouled out in the 1st nine minutes of the game."

And we think Michelle has foul trouble. How does one accumulate 5 fouls in the first quarter? And the coach kept her in the game? Wow!!

No, what really happened is that she played a total of 9 minutes overall and fouled out midway thru the 4th quarter. Look at the play-by-play in the box score.
SFCALBear72
How long do you want to ignore this user?
WayneBear said:

SFCALBear72 said:

Re: Nevada vs. Weber State

"Their (Nevada's) top scorer, junior guard, Audrey Roden, fouled out in the 1st nine minutes of the game."

And we think Michelle has foul trouble. How does one accumulate 5 fouls in the first quarter? And the coach kept her in the game? Wow!!

No, what really happened is that she played a total of 9 minutes overall and fouled out midway thru the 4th quarter. Look at the play-by-play in the box score.
Thanks. I should have checked there first.
Schroeder71
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I apologise. I should have stated "in nine minutes" and left out the 1st. I don't have time to review the play-by-play
of each box score that I'm reviewing. GO BEARS!
WayneBear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Schroeder71 said:

Their only grad transfer (from La Salle) and second leading scorer, Claire Jacobs, missed the game for some reason.

Jacobs was out vs. Weber State after aggravating a previous knee injury. More of an aggravation vs. a traumatic injury, so maybe she'll be back vs. Cal.

I watched portions of Nevada's games vs. Oregon and Weber State but quickly got bored, though I will note that they did not look intimidated by Oregon's size. If I had to compare the Wolf Pack to one of our previous opponents I guess it would be San Jose State whom we beat by 23.

I agree that Cal is susceptible to a hangover after the Gonzaga game. At the same time some players like Michelle and Kemery may be anxious to play again after a disappointing effort vs. the Zags. Kemery missed the opportunity to play regular minutes due to the ankle problem so if she's OK maybe she'll come out firing (and hopefully making). Michelle may be fired up as well and perhaps Nevada's lack of size will help her dominate instead of fouling.

For those who care about such things, an opportunity to improve our NET is there for the taking and good teams would really run up the score vs. a weak opponent. I'm not sure we have the offense to generate such a 30+ margin of victory but maybe we can get there inside with the big size advantage.
CalWSportsFan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Interesting that we handled Auburn pretty easily, they clobbered Clemson and Clemson just beat Duke....
GATC
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Kemery is shooting well - good to see. Michelle getting her fouls. Refs seem fair and seem to penalize out of control aggression (on both sides) so that is bad for Michelle.
GATC
How long do you want to ignore this user?
McKayla shooting great, too. Opposing team gets another buzzer beater before the half
stu
How long do you want to ignore this user?
The game looked really good on TV. Too bad I couldn't make it, judging from the shots of empty seats one more fan would have made a big difference.

Isn't Leilani amazing?!
GATC
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I was thinking about you at the the Gonzaga game as I looked across to where your seat is.

Leilani came out and played hard and confident. Glad we could give her some rest this game. Kemery, McKayla and Leilani were on. Lulu was off but she is still confident and plays with joy. All the bigs struggled.

gljone
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Cal was a bit sloppy today...they had the advantage at many positions today but it seemed Cal was impatient on offense, forcing passes and trying for the home run early on.

I feel if Cal was patient and executed, Ila could have had a huge game...but 20 TOs, a lot of unforced errors.

It was nice to see Kemery hit some shots - hopefully that will give her a boost. Mckayla hit a bunch of 3s - again, hopefully she can get some confidence going forward because she will most likely be the player left open on the perimeter...of course, if she continues to hit, maybe she won't be left open which will create space for others.

Michelle picked up her first foul about 23 feet away from the basket and that really affected her game. If she doesn't commit that foul, she might have been more of a factor...but again, she was invisible and quite frankly can't be trusted to not foul. We cannot blame the refs time after time - the players have to adjust, no matter how bad the situation gets. Michelle cannot waste fouls on the perimeter because she has enough trouble staying on the floor as it is.

Against a better team, Cal would have been vulnerable based on the way they were loose with the ball and again...rebounding (where Michelle should be of some help if she can be on the floor).

So...cut down on the TOs and focus on boards. Cal should find enough offense to be competitive.

Lulu stands a good chance of being pretty darn good - just has to get the experience and focus on the details defensively.

Leilani is granite.
SFCALBear72
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Coming off a heart-breaking loss, a struggling next opponent, some fatigue and the last game before finals week, I expected a ragged game. But we still got some players on fire!! I'm looking at you McKayla and Leilani.

Leilani got "quite a bit of rest" and Ornela saw some minutes. All good.

The return of the three injured players can't come soon enough.

8-2!!
HoopDreams
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Okofor went down with what looked like a knee injury. Hope not and he'll be back soon.

Celestine played limited minutes (9) and only took 1 shot

Probably going to take more time to get back in the game shape
Finnish Oski
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Michelle got an earful on the bench from Kai Felton after one of her fouls. Couldn't hear much of it but she did say "never do that again." Later she came out with some sort of injury to her face, she had a towel draped over her face as the trainer worked on her, Michelles was sobbing. It was a sad day for her and those of us who've kept the faith with her. Such a talent but such a propensity to foul. It's hard to be optimistic about her future. We're taking about a senior, after all.
SFCALBear72
How long do you want to ignore this user?
stu said:

The game looked really good on TV. Too bad I couldn't make it, judging from the shots of empty seats one more fan would have made a big difference.

Isn't Leilani amazing?!
Did they say on TV why McKayla got the technical foul at the end of the game? I know she said something to one of the refs the previous time down the court. Looked to me it was about how someone was guarding her.

The technical foul seemed unnecessary.
CalWSportsFan
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I agree. I felt like Cal could have settled their offense a bit rather than push when it really wasn't a fast break opportunity. It would have been a good chance to work on methodical offense. Lots of unnecessary turnovers. That said, good to see the 3s going in and everyone getting the chance to play.
SFCALBear72
How long do you want to ignore this user?
Finnish Oski said:

Michelle got an earful on the bench from Kai Felton after one of her fouls. Couldn't hear much of it but she did say "never do that again." Later she came out with some sort of injury to her face, she had a towel draped over her face as the trainer worked on her, Michelles was sobbing. It was a sad day for her and those of us who've kept the faith with her. Such a talent but such a propensity to foul. It's hard to be optimistic about her future. We're taking about a senior, after all.
On one of her foul calls, she got an elbow to the face/nose area in return. In football, that would have been "offsetting penalties".
gljone
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SFCALBear72 said:

Finnish Oski said:

Michelle got an earful on the bench from Kai Felton after one of her fouls. Couldn't hear much of it but she did say "never do that again." Later she came out with some sort of injury to her face, she had a towel draped over her face as the trainer worked on her, Michelles was sobbing. It was a sad day for her and those of us who've kept the faith with her. Such a talent but such a propensity to foul. It's hard to be optimistic about her future. We're taking about a senior, after all.
On one of her foul calls, she got an elbow to the face/nose area in return. In football, that would have been "offsetting penalties".
Unfortunately, Michelle has a reputation for fouls over the last 3 years. I am sure the coaches have gotten on her, but have they told her what she needs to do about it? Also, I'm sure the opponents know to be physical with her because she will get called for fouls. It seems it's the same over and over. This is a tough one because you do not want to take away aggressiveness...

I do see her trying to get position using her arms and upper body. I would think using your lower body to establish position is better? And many of her fouls come on second effort plays when it's a scramble situation - those I have less fault with. If she can mitigate the silly fouls (fouls away from the paint, being patient with screening, for example?) maybe she might be able to stay on the floor? Because when she is able to play extended minutes, she does make a positive impact on both ends of the court...
GATC
How long do you want to ignore this user?
SFCALBear72 said:

stu said:

The game looked really good on TV. Too bad I couldn't make it, judging from the shots of empty seats one more fan would have made a big difference.

Isn't Leilani amazing?!
Did they say on TV why McKayla got the technical foul at the end of the game? I know she said something to one of the refs the previous time down the court. Looked to me it was about how someone was guarding her.

The technical foul seemed unnecessary.


She was called for a foul when a teammate was taking a shot. She followed the ref down the court and was talking to her. When they got to the other end of the court I think the ref had enough and teed her up. Seemed similar to what happened in a game early in the year.
HoopDreams
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I didn't see today's game (and no recording for some reason) and agree that she should not foul when far from the basket (not even within a long range 3). I've seen her do that a few times over the years.

and yes, she does foul on rebounds and trying to block shots, but I still believe she gets an unfair number of questionable fouls. As posted above, when she went back east she didn't get these calls and had some of her best games.

I don't pay attention to who are refs are. Do we have a tight rotation of refs for WBB?

Michelle continues to be a major key to our season. She wasn't need today, but in conference play we need her
annarborbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
My theory after four years of this - she is triggered by physical contact and oppositional when told what to do. Fortunately, Lane can now go 25 minutes, and they will then take the 8-15 minutes that Michele can provide as a back-up before fouling out. A really sad situation, but it is what it is.
Schroeder71
How long do you want to ignore this user?
I've seen Michelle body check or chest bump her opposing post player. She often gets called for a foul. Onyiah seems to have a football mentality for basketball. I don't have an explanation for four years of moving (illegal) screen violations, however.
wvitbear
How long do you want to ignore this user?
There were two times during the game that the coaching staff was irate. One was when Michele would go in the game and 30 seconds later she would get called for a foul.

The second was when Williams got the technical. I men , you are ahead by nearly 30 points, and you are upset with a call. And you get a technical. Boy was the coaching staff upset. And who could blame them.
Refresh
Page 1 of 1
 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.