- December 7th, 2006, 1:43 am
#45975
Actually, I was thinking the same thing, FSN.
Just to add some observations from the last two games ...
1. Officiating wasn't great, no, but it didn't cost Liberty the game. There were a couple of plays Megan scored on where I was like, 'man, she got drilled on the wrist. No and-one?' But those were little plays throughout the game, and Tech was on the wrong end of a couple, too.
2. In the second half of both the VT and JMU games, Liberty's offense was just completely out of rhythm. Now that Megan's back, the team doesn't seem to know how to score when she's completely taken out of a game. With due respect to Megan, I know she says that the opponents are having little to do with what's going on, but I disagree a bit. Tech's Brittany Cook did a real nice job last night staying in front of Megan and forcing her into tough looks, and JMU's Tamera Young completely locked her down.
I think Megan doesn't want things to be about her. She doesn't want everything to revolve around her, but she's going to have to deal with it to a certain extent. She's a level above everyone else on her team, and she's going to get analyzed, praised and criticized accordingly.
3. At some point, I was waiting for Megan to take over that game last night. I think her teammates were too. That's definitely part of the problem. She scores 37 at UVA and her teammates think, 'well, that was easy. She can do that all the time.' I think it goes to show just how special that second half was.
4. The point guards last night combine to go 0-for-9. Allyson is nowhere to be found in the final five minutes and Michelle Parker couldn't generate the same offense she did at JMU.
5. Courtney Watkins has been a bit of a non-entity so far, much like she was last year. Liberty needs some outside shooting from her. I'm not talking about 12-14 points a game, but defenses don't respect her right now. No one will sag off a double team on Megan to guard her outside. A couple of made threes will remedy that.
Just to add some observations from the last two games ...
1. Officiating wasn't great, no, but it didn't cost Liberty the game. There were a couple of plays Megan scored on where I was like, 'man, she got drilled on the wrist. No and-one?' But those were little plays throughout the game, and Tech was on the wrong end of a couple, too.
2. In the second half of both the VT and JMU games, Liberty's offense was just completely out of rhythm. Now that Megan's back, the team doesn't seem to know how to score when she's completely taken out of a game. With due respect to Megan, I know she says that the opponents are having little to do with what's going on, but I disagree a bit. Tech's Brittany Cook did a real nice job last night staying in front of Megan and forcing her into tough looks, and JMU's Tamera Young completely locked her down.
I think Megan doesn't want things to be about her. She doesn't want everything to revolve around her, but she's going to have to deal with it to a certain extent. She's a level above everyone else on her team, and she's going to get analyzed, praised and criticized accordingly.
3. At some point, I was waiting for Megan to take over that game last night. I think her teammates were too. That's definitely part of the problem. She scores 37 at UVA and her teammates think, 'well, that was easy. She can do that all the time.' I think it goes to show just how special that second half was.
4. The point guards last night combine to go 0-for-9. Allyson is nowhere to be found in the final five minutes and Michelle Parker couldn't generate the same offense she did at JMU.
5. Courtney Watkins has been a bit of a non-entity so far, much like she was last year. Liberty needs some outside shooting from her. I'm not talking about 12-14 points a game, but defenses don't respect her right now. No one will sag off a double team on Megan to guard her outside. A couple of made threes will remedy that.
