Some here (including myself,
@CrnhskrBob etc) have commented on the seeming propensity of our team to flat-out miss a number of easy lay-ups/bunnies; before maybe getting some put-backs, or seeming to find 'the range.' Laughingly, I've suggested it seems to me we are more shooting 'Toward' the basket rather than 'At' the basket, at least close-in.
In re-watching the Maryland game, it seemed to me that maybe some of our players were playing too close to, or under, the basket. In that position it is pretty hard for one to shoot 'At' the Basket; (that is, unless you are expecting to make a basket from the 'Bottom Up,' i.e. go up, through the net first; but I don't think that counts.) There is no good angle for banking a shot to go in.
Could we be getting sucked-in to playing too close to the basket? This seems to happen regardless of who the post, or cutting player is. Getting sucked-in is probably easy to do, lobs into the post seem to have to be higher and higher to keep from getting picked off, causing the post to have to crowd the base line; limiting where they can go or what they can do with the ball. OK, I've had my say, You can start
I think Markowski's talked about getting too close under the basket and missing "bunnies" before. I think she mentioned it in one of her preseason or early season interviews. (I'd actually never heard layups called "bunnies" before either she used the term in an interview, or Matt used it during a radio broadcast. I can't remember which of them I heard it from first. Back in the stone age when I kept stats for my HS and college wbb teams, we definitely didn't calll them that.)
I still don't know whether she and the Huskers really have missed more "bunnies" than average, either in the Big Ten or nationally, this sesson or it just "feels" and "seems" like it's true. Lex, amd I presume every other player, wears a tracker for a system Husker coaches use to track shots and other metrics. (Lex's fell off during a game once, the ref had to pick it up and give it to one of the assistant coaches, who reattached it during the next timeout.) Unfortunately, finding season long shot charts either for a team or individual players has proven very difficult. There's only one site that I think
might have those charts, Her Hoop Stats, and most of their content is behind a $ wall.
Her FG% is 47.4% this season, up from 43.3% last year, scoring efficiency up from 1.173 to 1.199; and shot efficiency is up from .47 to .50. Those numbers are even more impressive considering the fact she's played almost two minutes per game
more this season (29.1 to 27.3 minutes per game) than last year. Her freshman year stats were better partly because she "only" started 20 games and played 21.6 MPG.
What I do know is that Nebraska
isn't a good shooting team, either inside or outside. The Huskers are shooting only 42.5% from the floor, and 33.4% from three. Both are 9th in the conference. The reason Nebraska's record isn't like that of Minnesota, Rutgers, Purdue, and the worst FG shooting team in the conference, Wisconsin, is the Husker defense has only allowed their opponents to shoot 40.5% from the floor, only Iowa's been better. Nobody in the conference has been better at defending the perimeter. The Huskers have only allowed opponents to shoot 29.7% from three.
The one reason why I think the Huskers may
not be worse at "bunnies" or getting too far under the basket is their rebounding. Nebraska's the best offensive rebounding team in the Big Ten. They've pulled down 426 offensive rebounds, an average of 13.3 per game. Those 426 offensive rebounds are over 20 more than the second best offensive rebounding team in the conference, Maryland.
Individually, Markowski's the 2nd best offensive rebounder in the Big Ten at 3.2 OREB per game. (Only Wisconsin's Sarah Williams is better, at 3.3 per game.) Natalie Potts is 8th at 2.3 per game. If you're in position to get an offensive rebound, you're probably not too far under the basket. Having said that, the available stats
don't show whether Markowski and Potts are getting their own rebounds or pulling them down after Husker guards have missed outside shots.
