All-American Candiate Courtney Walker of Texas A&M is a big part of the Aggies success this year. Photo cred – Texas A&M Athletics
Season Overview
Coach Gary Blair and the Aggies from College Station have sprinted to a terrific start in the 2014-2015 season. Currently ranked No. 5 by the Associated Press, they have a 11-1 record which includes victories over ranked opponents in No. 18 DePaul and No. 8 Duke in this young season. Coach Blair is Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member who won the National Championship in 2011. Blair is well known within the community of coaching as a coach who is instrumental in developing players for the next level. He has helped nine players over the past seven years be selected in the WNBA Draft. One of those players includes Elite Basketball Academy Alumni Kelsey Bone who was selected 5th in the 2013 draft and currently plays for the Connecticut Sun.
Game Feature
The biggest win for the Aggies this year took place on November 30 versus Duke at Reed Arena in College Station. This tightly contested contested saw five ties, seven lead changes and even saw the visitors from Duke up by as much as 15 at one point in this game. However, the Aggies would battle back to win this game. Brandon Clay, who is an affiliate of CoachHemi.com, was court side for this game and noted the amazing home court advantage in his JOP College Tour Live Game Blog. The incredible atmosphere undoubtedly helped the home team regain the lead once and for all late in the second half.
Play Breakdown
The play that would push coach Blair’s team over the edge occurred at 3:59 with a hi-lo feed from Courtney Williams to post player Jada Terry. Terry’s sealing ability versus a 2-3 zone is what made this play work.
It is worth noting the work of assistant coach Bob Starkey at this point. Starkey is considered one of the best teachers of the game of basketball within the coaching community. His track record with interior players speaks for itself dating back to his years at LSU on both the men’s and women’s staff. He worked with Shaquille O’Neal and Sylvia Fowles while in Baton Rouge not mention helping develop Kelsey Bone while she was in College Station. So watching the Aggies post players understand the concept of sealing versus against a zone and executing to perfection should not come as a surprise here. Read coach Starkey’s Shell Notes from the WBCA Coaching Clinic HERE.
In this play Terry SEALED IN, which means that put her rear end on the defender and pushed her towards the lane. This happened as the ball was reversed to her side. However, the direct post feed would not be there and she would re-seal this time SEALING OUT. This means that she put her body on the middle defender in the 2-3 and pushed her out of the lane. Read the play breakdown below:
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1. Point guard Jordan Jones initiates the offense by pushing wing Shlonte Allen through to the opposite corner.
2. Jones reverses the ball to Courtney Williams on the other side of the floor. This creates an overload situation on the weakside, but Duke does a great job of recovering and actually bumps an extra defender to take away the post entry to Jada Terry who is sealing the defense in the lane.
3. High post player Achiri Ade is working the free throw line area setting ball screens for guards regularly in the second half. She works her way back to Williams and sets a ball screen on the inside of the defense.
4. As the ball screen takes place, the defense readjusts bumping a defender back to the other side of the court. This is when Terry finds the next defender in the zone to seal, which allows for a nice hi-lo pass from Williams to Terry.
This play gave Texas A&M a 57-55 lead with under 4:00 to go in the game and the Aggies would never relinquish the lead again after that.
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Jonathan Hemingway is the owner of Coach Hemingway Basketball, Inc. He has worked within the basketball community since 1995 as a coach, camp director and journalist. He works as the assistant director of scouting for the JumpOffPlus.com and the OTRHoopsReport.com, which are scouting services that service over 200 college and universities nationwide. Reach him via email at JonathanHemingway@PeachStateBasketball.com.
