re: Womens BBall delusion

quote:

---

I agree. With no substitutions worth mentioning, how can a coach or fan expect the starting five to give 100% effectively throughout the game.
You may not see it outright, but fatigue effects the free throws, the ability of the defense, the lazy passes, etc. If the bench is only good for practice, we need a complete overhaul.

---

Most teams have a core rotation of 7-8 players once they get to conference play. That's not to say you won't see players 9, 10, 11 play a few spot minutes here and there during a game out of necessity. But they aren't a part of that core. LSU lost two of that expected core, Poole and Smith, very early in the season. Arguably that was the first two players set to come off the bench. I doubt Mulkey planned to lose them.

Admittedly, I don't watch a ton of WBB. But from what I have seen LSU's biggest flaw is the lack of a true PG and someone who can facilitate the offense and be a stopper on defense. That had that last season. Without that player, it means the other guards have to work harder on both ends of the floor. If you want to point to a coaching flaw, it's probably being too reliant on Van Lith to be the primary ball handler/facilitator. That's not her strongest suit. Yet, she has to out of necessity...which causes every other part of her game to drop off a bit. That, coupled with relying on Freshmen takes time to figure out.