Sunday Recaps plus Defensive String Theory involving the championship games from the MN GBB Tournament.
HIGH FIVE
There were six schools playing in Sunday’s NCAA tournament, four in the WBIT, and 2 in the WNIT. I have divided the two groups.
Liv McGill, Florida, Hopkins 22
Olivia Olson, Michigan, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 20
Annika Stewart, Minnesota, Wayzata 18
Ayoka Lee, Kansas State, Byron 16
Amaya Battle, Minnesota, Hopkins 15
Totals: 91—-55 in WBIT, 36 in NCAA
TCU
Michigan’s season is over.
Minnesota and Florida are involved in the WBIT, the rest are in the NCAA Tournament.
Hopkins kicked in 37, the Lake Conference 55—all WBIT. Olson and Battle were Miss Basketball winners.
STRING THEORY
First off what is string theory (in basketball)? I count three d stops in a row as one string. The same would apply to offense…score three straight times. I examined the information on this in the recent girls’ state championship games. The idea is the more stops, the more defensive minded the team is—more focused and concentrated. The sample is only four games, but can be enlightening
| TEAM | D STRINGS | DIFF | FIRST? | Start | LONGEST | TOTALS | DIF |
| West Central | 7 | +2 | Y | #1 | 8 | 35 | +17 |
| MACCRAY | 5 | N | #6 | 5 | 18 | ||
| Providence | 7 | +3 | Y | #2 | 8 | 29 | +11 |
| Crosby-Ironton | 4 | N | #13 | 5 | 18 | ||
| Benilde-SM | 4 | +1 | Y | #2 | 6 | 19 | +3 |
| Marshall | 3 | N | #7 | 6 | 16 | ||
| Hopkins | 4 | +2 | Y | #14 | 6 | 16 | +7 |
| Maple Grove | 2 | N | #21 | 5 | 9 |
In every case the champion had:
#1 More D Strings
#2 Established that first
#3 had longer strings than opponents
#4 totaled more in the final analysis
Average strings for winners 5.5; second place 3.5
Average start time for string: champion started possession 4.75; second place started possession 11.75
Longest string for champions 7; for second place 5.25
Largest totals for champions: 24.75; for second place 15.25
How did it end?
West Central 14 of the 35 stops were on turnovers.
MACCRAY 8 of the 18 stops were on turnovers.
Providence 12 of the 29 stops were on turnovers including a string of 3 straight turnovers in the 8 string sequence.
Crosby-Ironton 8 of the 18 stops were on turnovers. They had two strings with three turnovers in a row—one in their third string, and their last string all five were turnovers. That is when the benches were involved.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s 7 of the 19 stops were on turnovers.
Marshall 4 of the 16 stops were on turnovers.
Hopkins 5 of the 16 stops were on turnovers.
Maple Grove 4 of the 9 stops were on turnovers.
Clearly D stops are a big factor in becoming a champion.
We will look at the offensive strings tomorrow.