WSU notes: Shockers women’s basketball players pick their best roles

Jody Adams-Birch wanted to know what her players did best on the basketball court. So she asked them.

“They labeled what their strength is, what their No. 1 shot is, what their No. 2 shot is,” she said. “They’re not pigeon-holed, in that, ‘I have to bang, I have to use the on-ball screen coming this way.’ It really gives them some freedom to work to get to do what they’re really great at.”

Adams-Birch, Wichita State’s women’s coach, asked those questions as part of implementing a new offense in the spring, one that borrows from the dribble-drive offense and rewards penetration and outside shooting. She wanted her players to think about how they fit as a basketball player, not only as guard, forward or center.

Driver. Shooter. Rim-finisher. Play-maker. Three-point shooter, etc. The Shockers chose a No. 1 and No. 2 description to start fitting into the offense.

“Understanding your role and how you fit into the offense,” guard Diamond Lockhart said. “I’m an assist-leader first and a driver second. You’re not concentrating on doing everything — you’re concentrating on your role and what you have to do.”

The Shockers started practice last week and continued work on the offense that started in the spring. Adams-Birch wants to get more spacing and use driving to free up shooters and take advantage of the trend to call more fouls.

“Our guards are really fast and we’re able to make the defense help,” Lockhart said. “Then we have our shooters like (Tamera) Lee and Kayla (Williams) and Marija (Pacar) … we kick it to them. Three-point shot and we’re going.”

The approach also takes away some of the decision-making, which Adams-Birch hopes will cut down on turnovers.

The Shockers led the Missouri Valley Conference with an average of 18.8 turnovers a game last season and their turnover-margin of negative-1.43 ranked ninth. WSU committed 20 or more turnovers in 13 games and lost nine of them, five by single digits. When the Shockers think about improving on last season’s 7-22 record — after winning MVC titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015 — reducing turnovers is a must.

“You want them to play as frustration-free as possible,” Adams-Birch said. “They like it. They like the fast pace.”

Adams-Birch also wants more possessions. Last season, WSU averaged around 50 possessions on its way to scoring an MVC-low 52.8 points a game. Adams-Birch is aiming for 70-75 possessions. Guard TaQuandra Mike, who described herself as a pentrator first and a shooter second, sees more movement and more opportunities for breaks.

“It’s not a stagnant offense,” she said. “It’s more up and down and you’re moving more. Instead of stalling, we’re actually moving the ball. Higher tempo.”

Harden heads to Israel — Former Shocker women’s player Alex Harden recently ended her second season with the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA and is on her way to Israel to join Hapoel Zichron/Magan.

She regards her European season, which lasts into the spring, as a chance to improve her game and play a bigger role than she did for the Mercury. Last winter, she averaged 12.9 points and 5.9 rebounds for a team in Portugal.

“It’s like an off-season where you’re also getting game experience,” she said. “It’s good to get confidence back.”

Harden, a 2015 Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America for the Shockers, played in 28 games for the Mercury and started one. She averaged 7.5 minutes, down from 12.2 in 2015, and 1.4 points. Phoenix finished the season 16-18 with a 3-0 loss to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the semifinals of the playoffs.

Her plan is to return to the Mercury for a third season in 2017. For two seasons, she worked on her job as defender. Her job on offense is to move the ball and find open teammates. Her shots come when defenses leave her open to guard teammates.

“My second season was an overall great learning experience,” she said. “I learned more in-game reads, being able to fit better on both offense and defense.”

Guarding athletes such as Minnesota’s Maya Moore and New York’s Sugar Rodgers taught her the importance of hard work and positioning. She needs to force those players away from their preferred shooting areas by making it hard for them to catch the ball.

“It’s doing my work earlier since there’s some players I can’t physically contest their shots,” she said. “In college, you could take someone off their right hand or off their left hand. Here, they can go to it because it’s so dominant.”

Harden plans to visit Wichita next summer and hold a Harden Basketball Academy for youngsters, something she did in July in her hometown of Springfield, Ill.

Worth noting — Tickets for Wichita State’s men’s basketball game against Oklahoma in Oklahoma City go on sale on Oct. 18 through Ticketmaster. The Oklahoma City All Sports Association will release prices and other details on Oct. 17. … WSU will sell used athletic gear, including jerseys, shorts, bats, shoes, helmets and more from all sports, from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday (Oct. 15) at the Koch Arena practice gym. All proceeds go to the sports.

This story was originally published October 8, 2016 at 2:31 PM with the headline "WSU notes: Shockers women’s basketball players pick their best roles."