Labelling this as "in the corner" is a bit of a stretch. Kelly is open and has room to maneuver. It is a short, high percentage pass to our best ball handler and top 2 FT shooter. Kelly then does not move and does nothing to shield the ball. This and this alone is the biggest mistake on this play. Once she realized this was a play on the ball and not an immediate foul she successfully shields the ball, but the ref with the quick whistle calls a tie up that I think was a bad call. Also note that CB is standing directly behind the ref, mouth 5 inches from his ear. She is positioned to call a timeout. She is where she needs to be, ready to do what she needs to do. but the jump ball call was near instantaneous.
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There are multiple things I do not like about this play: Once Kelly receives the ball, Taissa is removed completely from the play as a pass to her would be back court. That allows State to double the ball with no risk. And Nivar is not going to receive a pass back: she is a bad FT shooter. So it is 5 on 3.
All 5 Heels are just standing there: there is no outlet for Kelly and Kelly is flatfooted. It seems pretty clear we planned for the inbound and not the trap. Either the coaches, players or both assumed their only move was to foul. Bad assumption.
I would prefer that Kelly cut to the backcourt and caught the ball with the whole court available to her, but there is more risk in that move; you have to avoid the backcourt violation on the inbound pass and you are throwing it farther at a potentially bad angle. So that is not just a hands down better call. Different coaches have different priorities.
Are we assessing coach (or player) body language? Not a fan of that as meaningful or useful.
If you have been a coach, then I am sure you know not every play is a winner and winning plays are not always executed by your players. The final scoreboard and the final record for the season are what matters. We had more good plays than State.
State has more talent/athleticism and experience then UNC right now in the starting 5. But UNC beat them with depth, team defense and team execution through 40 minutes. That is harder to do. So when I evaluate just the X's & O's of who is a good coach in this particular game, I am more impressed with Coach Banghart. And that is not a slight on the other guy; Wes is a top notch coach. That is the spade I am calling.