Posted by xAC  11/18/2022 9:42 pm | #1 |
The Cal State Fullerton (CSUF) Titans come to Smith Center this Sunday for afternoon contest. The Titans of the Big West Conference finished last season at 11-18 overall and 5-12 in conference play, good for an 8th place finish in the conference of 11 teams. They are projected to finish 9th this year. Lily Wahinekapu, their best player from last year (14.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 3.7 apg) graduated, but they have four returning starters including guard Fujika Nimmo (10.1 ppg and 3.1 apg) and 6’1” center Ashley Lewis (9.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg). Their most significant addition was Demonnie Lagway, a 5’10” freshman guard out of Los Angeles, who should see considerable time on the court.
The Titans are 1-2 in the early season, losing a thriller in OT to Santa Clara and beating San Jose State 71-63 in their second game. In this evening’s clash with Georgetown they were soundly beaten 63-42. Through the first three games this season, CSF has scored 65.3 ppg, while shooting 38.8% from the field (34.8% on 3’s) and 72.6% on FTs. Nimmo has come out of the gates quickly, averaging 19.3 ppg. and Gabi Vidmar leads the team in rebounding at 8 boards per game. Our game on Sunday will conclude a two game visit to the east coast for the California school.
As far as I know, WBB has no history with CSUF. After 4 games, we are averaging 68.5 ppg and shooting 41.3% from the field (33% on 3 pointers). Against AU, we did a good job of going to the basket and getting some fouls. However, we were only 14-24 from the line, and now stand at 64.5% for the season. This is an area that could stand some improvement. We did manage to control the boards against AU, which really helped to stall several AU rallies. The early season pattern for GW is to start off strong and build up a working lead, only to lose focus for periods of time and allowing teams to close the gap or retake the lead. The AU game gave us the opportunity to see how we would respond in the 4th quarter in a close game. We handled ourselves well and closed out the game. We have balanced scoring—our first eight players are averaging about 5 ppg or above, and that’s a big plus. Regardless of who’s on the floor, when our offense is under control, we have the ability to get clean shots and score. It’s great to have a home game before going to the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament, and hopefully this game will give us some momentum to build on.
From my vantage point (ESPN+), I thought I saw that both Engel and Gingras were in uniform, even though neither of them got to play. I assumed that Gingras has some sort of minor injury. Hopefully both are active soon. I didn’t catch Laureano or Loving, but I wasn’t looking that hard. Hopefully, they’re not too far off either.
Last edited by xAC (11/20/2022 2:26 pm)
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Posted by Poog 11/19/2022 7:04 pm | #2 |
Engel and Loving were in uniform, went through warmups, but were not cleared or ready to play. Gingras and Laureano were not in uniform.
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Posted by PKGW 11/20/2022 12:48 pm | #3 |
Down by 7 at half. Horrible first quarter scoring only 13 points
Posted by BC  Online!11/20/2022 1:24 pm | #4 |
I peeked at the game - down 32-38. Now down by 19. I am the kiss of death.
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Posted by xAC 11/20/2022 2:17 pm | #5 |
CSUF wins 70-64
The difference between this year’s team and is that last year we would score 64 points on a good day. Today, we had 64 in a really bad offensive performance and even though the Titans made a lot of good shots, we handed the game to them. In the 3rd quarter when we were 0-14 from the field, we heaved up numerous questionable shots. Even in the 4th, when we had a chance to get close, we would make terrible uncontested passes that resulted in turnovers. Hopefully, coach turns this into a learning experience for the team. We played without Gingras and Lok today, and had Gingras been available, she may have helped steady the team in the 3rd quarter. We did get our first look at Loving today, but not for enough minutes to get a good reading on her.
Lakstigala (18 pts) and Robertson (10 pts) had some good moments, but both played carelessly at times, resulting in easy baskets for CSUF. Lok had been supplying great energy from the bench, so I’m sure she was missed today. Except for foul trouble, Taiwo had a pretty good day (10 pts and 7 rebs).
Next, we go to the UNLV Thanksgiving Tournament in Las Vegas, where the quality of the opposition increases substantially from our schedule so far. Hopefully, we have a full complement of players to contend with the slog of 3 games in 3 days.
Last edited by xAC (11/20/2022 4:09 pm)
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Posted by dmvpiranha 11/20/2022 3:27 pm | #6 |
The Positives:
- The team shot better from the line today.
- Mia has developed into a legitimate go-to weapon which the team didn't have last year. That is big.
- Mayowa had some nice finishes down low and rebounded well when on the court.
- Defense against their post player Lewis was pretty good for the most part.
- The "hurry up" offense looked pretty good and had good rhythm overall. Helped us weirdly outscore CSUF in the second half despite not making a single field goal in the third quarter.
The negatives:
- The defense along the perimeter wasn't good. Some shots CSUF hit were tough ones, but the team did not close out on the shooters either at all or it was half-hearted. We left the Titans open from the corner countless times, especially in the first quarter when the team fell behind. The average team will easily make that shot. Their leading scorer Nimmo is good, but didn't deserve the attention of three players guarding her in the lane. That left multiple players open.
- When the offense cannot get out in transition off a miss, the team struggles mightily. The offense today looked a lot like the lows of last year despite scoring 64 points. There is no flow and a lot of herky jerky passes around the court. Would like to see more assists from the team. Passes feel random and whoever has the ball last with the shot clock winding down ends up taking a tough or contested shot. Wouldn't mind playing inside-out through Mayowa or another big but passes need to be more intentional. The shots will fall more when that happens. Credit CSUF though because it felt like their length bothered the team - they deflected a number of passes. Also need to make layups when given the chance.
Other Thoughts:
- Not making any shots in the third quarter ended up clinching the game for CSUF, but the first five minutes in particular were a lost opportunity for GW. The Titans weren't making shots either, and that gave us a chance to get back in the game but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
- The refs are making WBB games really hard to watch. I seemingly never know what will be called a foul, a turnover, or a no-call. It seemed like we got some "make up" calls in the second half because in the first it felt like everything CSUF did on offense was a blocking foul and everything we did on offense was a charge.
- Taylor is a good rebounder and provides solid defense, but hasn't really become a consistent threat offensively. Wouldn't mind seeing Faith get some more minutes because she's usually money shooting the ball.
- Asjah is a really good piece on the team. She has a lot of intangibles, and did a good job pushing the pace when we needed to go on a run late.
- Nice to see Caia take the floor. Not taking too much away from her first collegiate game, but the fact that she has a lot of size looked really helpful.
- Nya Robertson had some freshman-like turnovers, but would have preferred her to look for her shot even more than she did when we needed buckets. Felt like she wasn't used much after halftime. Maybe play her more off the ball at times.
- Hopefully Jayla can carry some of that offensive momentum over to the next game after she made a couple threes in the fourth quarter. Before that, I was thinking Thornton has been a major disappointment thus far. Too many of her shots were forced today and not within the flow of the offense. She does have the ability to create some space for herself before shooting but her shots are usually still contested. Expected her to be more of a scorer for the team but it's still early.
- Don't think I saw Aurea and Sheslanie on the bench, but could be mistaken. Hope their injuries aren't serious. Nya Lok not being available was another big loss - I'm sure she would have given us some energy in the second/third quarters.
