Film Room: Women's Basketball vs Florida State

Excellent scouting, game plan, and execution from the Golden Bears

Coach Charmin Smith postgame, imploring everyone in attendance to bring a friend. Photo courtesy of Don Collier

Multiple times in the postgame press conference following their decisive 82-70 victory over Florida State, Coach Charmin Smith and players Ioanna Krimili and Lulu Twidale praised the assistant coaches for the scouting and gameplan. Coming into the game;

• The Seminoles were the second highest scoring team in the country, averaging over 92 points/game. Cal held them to their season low, notably allowing only 46 points through three quarters.

• Seminole guard Ta’Niya Latson is the highest scoring player in the country, averaging 27 points per game. Cal held her to 13 points, notably only 3 in the first half.

Nick’s recap has a more comprehensive breakdown of the many ways Cal dominated Florida State. I want to highlight a couple of quotes from Coach Smith regarding the gameplan on both the offensive and defensive end, and look at a couple video clips showing those plans in action.

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Swarming Defense on Latson

Relevant Coach Smith quote; “It was really a concerted effort to limit her(Latson), and if they were going to hit some shots from people we weren't guarding so be it.”

The plan was to double-team Ta’Niya Latson, and dare the rest of the team to beat Cal. Whenever Latson touched the ball, a second defender would swarm towards her. Multiple times, the incoming defender disrupted Latson’s timing, forcing her to rush before the defender could fully engage. From early in the game;

Once Latson gets the pass, primary defender Kayla Williams clamps down. Secondary defender Marta Suarez abandons her primary assignment and joins in a high trap on Latson. Latson is awkward trying to dribble through the two defenders, and the ensuing tie-up results in a jump ball call with possession going back to Cal.

The other facet alluded to by Coach Smith is daring the other players to step up. Case in point;

From the beginning position, notice how Lulu Twidale (right about PETE on the court) and Marta Suarez (midcourt) are both paying attention to Latson as she is bringing the ball up court. They both keep in range, then come in close when Latson gets to the free throw line. Marta’s nominal original assignment spots up in the corner for a three. Once Latson make the pass, Marta stays put in Latson’s vicinity. There is no attempt at a closeout or defending the player if they drive. If they make the shot, they make it.

Coach Smith’s full quote was (emphasis is mine);

”It was really a concerted effort to limit her(Latson), and if they were going to hit some shots from people we weren't guarding so be it, because they can't hit as many as we can hit right now.”

Speaking of which……..

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Open Shot Opportunities

Relevant Coach Smith quote; “We knew we were going to get open looks. They (Florida State) hold the help side defender in, her teammates knew where to find her (Lulu Twidale) to knock down the shots.”

Watch the below clip a couple times, paying attention to Lulu Twidale (at bottom of the screen) and her defender’s positioning.

This ‘look-in’ positioning by the defense is exactly what Coach Smith’s staff saw in the game prep, and they drew up the perfect response. Marta Suarez starts the pass before she turns her head in that direction. She knows exactly where Twidale will be and knows she will be open. Lulu converts the uncontested shot.

The next clip was replayed at least a dozen times during the telecast. It’s that impressive.

There’s nothing fancy about this play. Ioanna Krimili is under tight pressure up top. After the screen and defensive switch, she drives hoping to get around the bigger FSU defender. She realizes early on that’s not going to work, so she executes a highly difficult jump-and-pass over two defenders. The impressive thing about this pass, like Marta’s in the previous play, is the pass begins so early in the process. Ioanna knows where Lulu will be, and she will most likely be open to receive the pass. The placement of the pass is near perfect, allowing Lulu to catch and shoot in rhythm.

Many coaches are reluctant to discuss what they see on pregame tape, their specific strategies, or their specific game plans. Men’s Coach Mark Madsen said as much after last week’s loss to Virginia, “I’m not going to go into the specifics of the adjustments because every coach listens to every press conference to try to get information.” He’s not wrong, though it is frustrating for a basketball geek like me who wants to discuss game planning, what the coaches see on tape, and how the team executes based on what is expected. I truly appreciate Coach Smith’s straightforward nature in discussing the game, process and outcomes.

Coach Smith is just as candid when discussing attendance. She ends every home game by grabbing the microphone, giving a big thank you to the crowd, and appealing to everyone to bring more people. When asked about the attendance of 2,311 for the FSU game, Coach Smith said;

“I think we deserve more. This is a really fun team to watch…I remember what it's like to play the Battle of the Bay and have eleven thousand people in here. So those are my expectations when we bring top-ranked teams into Haas Pavilion I want five, six, seven-thousand people. That's what I think we deserve, or these young women deserve, and I’m going to keep talking about it till we get there.”

The #18-ranked Golden Bears go on the road for their next three games, taking on #16 Duke on Thursday, Wake Forest on Sunday, and at Stanford a week from Thursday. They return to Haas Pavilion on January 30th, hosting the #19 North Carolina Tarheels. This is a special team. I encourage you to catch them in person if you can.