The Huskies knocked off No. 5 Texas A&M to prove that they will be a force to be reckoned with in PAC 12 play this year. Photo cred – Washington Athletics
Season Overview
Coach Mike Neighbors and his Huskies enter the new year ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press Poll while having an RPI ranking of 17. They have realed off 11 straight wins after losing their opening game of the year on the road at Oklahoma. Neighbors is in his second season as the head coach in Seattle and currently has a 31-15 record since taking over as the head coach after being an assistant for coach Kevin McGuff.
Neighbors and his staff have made a significant mark on the recruiting trail. Neighbors was instrumental in helping recruit McDonald’s All-American Kelsey Plum when she came out of high school. As of late, the Huskies have secured verbals from two ELITE 60 prospects in this year’s junior class. This includes top 5 prospect Destiny Slocum, who projects to be a similar type of player as Plum in scoring ability.
Game Feature
The Huskies faced off versus No. 5 ranked Texas A&M on December 29th. In this game Neighbors would face his old coaching colleague Gary Blair. However, this game would be less about coaching philosophies and more about player execution on the floor. Sophomore guard Kelsey Plum has established herself as one of the premier scoring guards in the country in the year and half that she has played. She became the quickest player in the history of the University of Washington to score 1,000 points this season. The left-hander is a watch-list player for the Naismith Award, which goes to the nation’s top player annually. Plum scored 32 in the win and helped her team make a statement that they should be looked at seriously in conference play.
Play Breakdown
You can follow the play by play scoring action by reading Brandon Clay’s JOP College Tour Live Game Blog. The aforementioned Plum split time both as a point guard and shooting guard in this game. In this play you can see how Neighbors gets Plum in a scoring position even when she initiates the offense as the point guard. At the 9:50 mark in the first half, the Huskies run a set for the Plum and she connects on a 3-point play that stretches their lead out to 24-12. This play set the tone for the rest of the half as the Huskies would stay in control from there on out. Members can see the entire play break down with a PDF file below.
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PIN-DOWN / FLARE ISO SET
1. Plum brings the ball across half-court and passes the ball to the guard who comes off of a pin down screen.
2. She immediately sprints across the court and receives an elbow screen from the forward.
3. The opposite wing has moved down towards the block, which clears out the backside of the offense. She then clears back to the ball side to create an open driving lane to the basket for Plum.
4. Plum receives the ball off of the screen, jabs at the defender and then connects on a long range 3-point jumper. However, she could have driven to the basket to finish or draw a foul.
This well designed play is a great example of how a coach should create action to get his/her player into a scoring position.
Washington WBB Pin down [/private]
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 reports that service over 200 college and universities nationwide. Reach him via email at JonathanHemingway@PeachStateBasketball.com.
