The LSU women’s basketball team plans on run-and-gunning its way through a 30-game schedule this season.
The Tigers are making a concerted effort to get out in transition more often to put points on the board more efficiently. LSU coach Nikki Caldwell said the decision to focus on an uptempo play style stems from wanting to get more chances to score.
“We definitely want to have a lot more shot attempts than we’ve had in the past and improve our field goal percentage by getting those easy baskets in transition,” Caldwell said.
LSU will miss former starting guard Danielle Ballard’s athleticism and pure scoring ability in its transformation to a transition team this year. Ballard sat out the first 14 games of the season last year for unspecified reasons despite earning first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors her sophomore year. A news release at the end of the season said Ballard would not return for her senior season.
The emergence of the transition offense is giving different players an opportunity to showcase what they can bring to a team that’s missing one of its leading scorers, Caldwell said.
“I like the fact that we have different weapons,” Caldwell said. “We have different players that are stepping up, making plays so we’re not just relying on one individual.”
Guards are usually a transition offense’s point of attack when it comes to getting the ball up the court quick enough for quality shot attempts. Junior guards Rina Hill and Raigyne Moncrief will be tasked with picking up the Tigers’ offensive pace.
Hill was named the team’s starting point guard during the offseason, while Moncrief led the Tigers in scoring last year, averaging 12 points per game.
During practice, LSU is working on scoring in six seconds during drills. If the initial transition offense doesn’t warrant the type of look the Tigers are looking for, they use the remainder of the shot clock to work through a secondary offense.
Hill said one of her main responsibilities as the point guard is overseeing the offense’s primary transition offense and the secondary offense.
“I think the key is going to be shifting gears from going full speed in six seconds and then shifting gears to slow it down,” Hill said. “That’s going to be a huge role for me — shifting gears for the team.”
An uptempo style of play calls for a team to be in good condition. Hill said the team is built to run because of the work it put in during the offseason but is still working on improving its basketball stamina.
The transition offense might also create mismatches against misaligned defenses who have to scramble back to defend quickly. Caldwell said she hopes the work her team invested in an uptempo offense pays dividends when it opens the season against Union University on Nov. 4.
“Hopefully, we can catch some mismatches so that when we are in our half court setting, we’re able to exploit those mismatches because of the fact that we’ve ran so hard and positioned ourselves to score the basketball,” Caldwell said.