Acting a Bit More Like Coach
Women seek better offensive output this season
Mike Brohard
Some teams will take on the traits of their coach.
They start to speak like their coach, maybe even adopt some mannerisms. Colorado State women’s basketball coach Ryun Williams hopes this is true.
At least the way he tells it. If you’ve spent much time with him, he has probably regaled you with stories about what an excellent shooter he was.
“Without question,” Williams said.
To his credit, he did average better than 17 points per game his junior season at South Dakota. And given the chance at practice, he’ll show off his stroke.
“Oh, he likes to say he’s a shooter. I’d have to say I’ve heard it a lot,” said McKenna Hofschild, who has only been on campus since June. “When we’re doing drills, he likes to shoot it, so he gets to show us how he shoots. In all honesty, he’s got the form. I can see it.”
If you watched his Rams play last year, you’d understand why Williams would like his team to adopt his legendary touch. They were first in scoring defense and field goal defense, but ranked near the bottom in shooting percentage and scoring, and it led to losing 11 games by six or less points during a 12-18 campaign, just 6-12 in the Mountain West.
Simply put: The Rams not only need to take their shots, but their best one. What they’ve seen in practice, there are more of those to go around.
“I think we have a lot more strengths this year, especially speed,” said Sydney Mech, who watched from the sidelines after transferring from Denver. “Comparing it to last year, we were a little slow on the push. We actually have a lot of players who can run the floor pretty fast, push the ball and attack the basket. That will be really useful this year, and I’m pretty excited about it.”
So is Williams. The Rams were not a quick team last year, but as his roster goes over a total makeover for a second straight year, the element is no longer missing. He has guards, like Hofschild, who can push the pace, and posts and wings who can get up and down the floor.
We have some kids and some skillsets which allow us to play quite a bit faster. Just more possessions within a game will really help.Ryun Williams, Women's Basketball Coach
There are spot-up shooters, like holdover guards Jamie Bonnarens and Tori Williams, but fresh faces on the wing who can drive, post players who can body up and get the tough baskets inside.
Hofschild, who arrived from Seton Hall and had to wait on a waiver to be cleared to play this year, is a point guard with a shooter’s skill. Williams likes the way she can see the floor and distribute the ball, and he loves she doesn’t disregard herself in the equation scoring options.
“They’re doing a great job of playing with pace,” Coach Williams said. “We have some kids and some skillsets which allow us to play quite a bit faster. Just more possessions within a game will really help. As far as the versatility piece, we have some interior scoring we haven’t really had in the past. Annie Brady did a great job, but we have three 5s who can put pressure on a defense, Karly Murphy, Cali Clark and Liah Davis. And we have some ability to really drive the basketball with Sydney Mech, Bengisu Alper, Petra Farkas and McKenna Hofschild, Ellie Boni and Lore Devos. We are really able to drive the ball and put some pressure on the defense with some penetration.”
Running the floor is a perfect strategy from Hofschild’s viewpoint. She put all she had into practice this summer, even while unsure if she’d be cleared. Once she was, she had the same fire, but naturally, a little more pep in her step knowing she could become a factor.
If Williams wants speed, she’s ready to deliver.
“We work on transition offense a lot. I didn’t really see them play the past few years, but I know their style of play was different than what we’re going for this year,” she said. “We’re trying to play a lot faster and a lot quicker.
“I love playing fast. I’ve played fast kinda my whole life. That’s how I learned and how I want to play. I’m excited, and that’s going to be good.”
The odd part is, the Rams feel really good about their offense, but it’s the defensive side of the floor which really needs polish.
Part of that is the roster turnover. The Rams do play a unique system defensively, and learning when to help and trap is taking time to become natural. What they need to perfect the system is what they don’t have yet.
Games.
“That is still something we need to bring along through game experience and game reps,” Coach Williams said. “We have a lot of talented new people and young kids, but it takes a while. We’re not there yet defensively, and until we get game experience, I think that will really help us make a jump on that end of the floor. Defensively is probably where we’re the farthest behind. We’ve been such a defensive-minded team ever since we’ve been here.”
However, if the offense pays off as they all think it will, they may have some wiggle room the Rams didn’t a season ago. They may just yet become a chip off the old block, even if some of them still need convincing the legend is true.
“He has some attitude before practice when he tries to shoot some 3s, but I don’t know,” Mech said.