New York @ Indiana, NCAA WBB Attendance Data

Last night's game was New York at Indiana, and that game was an 8 on a scale of 1-10.  It was a game great at keeping you in suspense and you didn't know who was going to walk away with the win (save for New York's seven minute long inability to score a bucket).

New York likes to attack the post and they do - the problem is, they can't seem to do much else.  Plenette Pierson and Kara Braxton were doing the job that Laimbeer told them to do, but couldn't seem to get past Indiana until Pondexter woke up and scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half.  Since New York's third quarter was almost a scratch, she scored those points in the late third and early fourth quarter.


The game, however, showed how important Tamika Catchings is to the Fever.  I hate the fact that WNBA writers always want to give the award to players on teams with winning records - it's "Most Valuable Player" not "Most Valuable Player Under Good Circumstances".  This is why Sylvia Fowles doesn't have an MVP; she played for a few crappy Chicago teams.   Indiana's resurgence coincides with Catchings's good health, and if there's an argument to be made for players who contributions aren't adequately reflected in a standard box score, that player is Tamika Catchings.

If you think about it, attacking the post is an excellent basketball strategy.  Dean Oliver stated that there are four factors in winning a basketball game:

1)  Shooting percentage.  You maximize your percentage when you're close to the basket.
2)  Turnovers.  Well, hm.  Nothing attacking the post does about that, except you have to remember not to drop the ball.
3)  Offensive rebound rate.  You're in a great position to get an offensive rebound close to the basket.
4)  Free throw shooting.  You're very likely to get fouled on drives to the basket.

I don't know, if I coached a basketball team I'd be very tempted to run an offense the way Trader Bill runs it.

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Three games tonight, including Atlanta vs. Connecticut.  I'll be there, but will YOU?  Only you can search your soul and answer that question.

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I have been waiting for some time to get the 2013 numbers for women's basketball attendance in the NCAA.  Now that I have them, I can finally write that article that compares NCAA MBB attendance to NCAA WBB attendance.  You might see that article on Swish Appeal today, or tomorrow.