Alexis Morris-I want to like her but.....

[DefenseBB]

She's battled her own adversity and she's had two great years back under Kim Mulkey at LSU but for a woman who is playing the higher echelons of college basketball, she seems to know nothing about game plans or statistics.

Morris: LSU to punish 'disrespectful' Iowa defense

LSU guard Alexis Morris said Iowa won't be able to pull off their "disrespectful" style of defense against the Tigers' shooters.

www.espn.com

Her "take" on Iowa being disrespectful is a bit absurd. Here's the quote:
"I watched the game, and I'm watching them guard South Carolina. I don't think they can guard us that way," Morris said. "I don't think you can just leave me open on the perimeter or leave us open on the perimeter. Me personally, I find it very disrespectful, so I'm going to take that personally going into that game. You're going to have to guard us...."

So, lets actually look at the facts shall we? On the season, SC shot .310 from 3 point arc (163/525). The big 4 of Boston/Cardoso/Amihere/Saxton shoot .527 from the floor (482/914) whereas the 5 guards/wings (Cooke/Johnson/Fletcher/Beal/Hall) shoot .392 (470/,1197) so um, yeah, let those 5 take 3 point shots and pack the paint. It wasn't disrespectful, it was a strategic game plan to win a game and guess what, it worked and they won.

Now let's see if this same plan could be deployed against LSU:
Reese/Williams/Smith are the 3 front court players who shoot .534 (497/931) from the floor
Morris/John/Carson/Poole are the 4 back court players who shoot the 3's at a .343 (164/477). Morris shoots .329 (48/146) while Carson shoots .331 (57/172) with Poole the best at .433 but with significantly less attempts (26/60).

The main reason Iowa slacked off Raven Johnson is she was abysmal at 3 point shooting at .241 (14/58). Collectively the SC guards only shot .336 (143/425). So the SC .336 is similar to LSU's .343 with LSU having taken a bit more 3s (477 to 425).

So while it might not be as obvious as it was in the SC game, Iowa should pack the paint again and see if anyone other than Morris can get hot, heck even at .329 I would dare Morris to shoot just to see if she gets frustrated as it is clearly in her head.

Contrasting this to Iowa, the 5 guards/wings (Clark/Warnock/Martin/Marshall/Davis) shoot .381 (304/796) so at a higher percent and 319 more shots on the season.

So yeah, I do expect a similar strategy today by Iowa as it is sound and the LSU size is not nearly as formidable as the SC size was.

 

[SECbbfan24]

LSU isn’t good. Let’s stop pretending they are. There is a bit of an asterisk next to them at this point


Bluder coaches circles around mulkey. This won’t be close IMO. The title game was SC/Iowa. This game won’t be much for Iowa

 

[Dwilliams02]

Morris honestly didn't mean it in a bad way.... Honestly the way Clark dismissed defending the 3 point line went viral.... For the most part. It worked.

Morris has always been vocal on things...in a good light... And bad light... But she will speak on it.

 

[TheFarmFan]

Morris honestly didn't mean it in a bad way.... Honestly the way Clark dismissed defending the 3 point line went viral.... For the most part. It worked.

Morris has always been vocal on things...in a good light... And bad light... But she will speak on it.

Yeah I thought the media took her comments out of context. I think she's right that to totally sag off on your defender, you don't respect their outside shooting. That was it. And Clark didn't, and SCAR proved she made the right call to focus on helpside defense in the paint. I think all Morris meant is she'd feel disrespected and respond by punishing the defender. But I dont think she meant Clark was being disrespectful, full stop.

But I get it, any way espn can juice interest in this game, they will. And honestly, it's a sign of progress for the women's game that the pull quotes are actually about the basketball, instead of the coaching outfits, coaching feuds, or hair/nails/makeup etc.

 

[Coler]

Why does this need it's own thread? It's already being discussed in the Kim thread...but okay.

 

[VA Huskie]

LSU isn’t good. Let’s stop pretending they are. There is a bit of an asterisk next to them at this point


Bluder coaches circles around mulkey. This won’t be close IMO. The title game was SC/Iowa. This game won’t be much for Iowa

Why is there and asterisk, they got to the championship game fair and square?

 

[nwhoopfan]

Why is there and asterisk, they got to the championship game fair and square?

Methinks this poster has been very tongue in cheek about LSU for weeks now.

 

[Heytherego]

I think it’s funny she made these comments given she was waiting outside to take a picture with Caitlin Clark. She’s a fan like the rest of us..

 

[militarydog]

Methinks this poster has been very tongue in cheek about LSU for weeks now.

Correct.

 

[Blueberries]

LSU isn’t good. Let’s stop pretending they are. There is a bit of an asterisk next to them at this point


Bluder coaches circles around mulkey. This won’t be close IMO. The title game was SC/Iowa. This game won’t be much for Iowa

This didn’t age well, though I had the same sentiment and I’m sure a lot of other posters did as well prior to this afternoon.

 

[nwhoopfan]

This didn’t age well, though I had the same sentiment and I’m sure a lot of other posters did as well prior to this afternoon.

You missed the sarcasm. The post was from an LSU fan making fun of all the people who didn't give LSU any credit throughout the season and even during the Tourney.

 

[Bone Dog]

I’ve seen Alexis Morris interviewed and she seems to be quite a generous spirit. There’s much to like about her personally.

 

[triaddukefan]

I guess she was correct after all.

 

[Coler]