A Point-By-Point Experiment
Two experienced ball handlers may be the norm if the defense adds up
Mike Brohard
The players in question are excited. Ryun Williams wants to be, too, but he’s not there yet.
As positive of a person as the head coach of Colorado State women’s basketball is, his title forces him to be a cautious at times. This is one of them, no matter how intriguing the concept of playing with two capable point guards on the floor at the same time seems.
The advantages it can provide in terms of tempo and creativity. The options it creates against zone or man-up are easy to see. So are the benefits should a team choose to press the Rams. On paper, they all look great. But it has look great on the court, which has two ends of it, the other being the defensive side.
That’s the kicker for Williams.
“That’s the thought process behind it,” Williams said of his riding the fence. “The key is defensively. Can we guard with two somewhat smaller guards on the floor? The toughness at which they play with is going to be really critical.
“We’ve played small before. There are ways around that, but hopefully the pace of play and open floor can help you defensively as well.”
As a group, they have plenty of time to look at, tinker with and put it in motion. The Rams have their first exhibition on Nov. 1, their first game on Nov. 8 with BYU at Moby Arena and today marked the start of their 20-hour work weeks in preparation.
There will be no snap decisions made. The schedule allows plenty of time to gain a comfort level and continuity between the players on the floor, a roster which once again has a number of new moving parts. One of them, Destiny Thurman, is a key component of the system in question.
When Williams brought her in, Hofschild didn’t view a second point guard as competition. It was complimentary. It was a place where the Rams could strengthen themselves after she spent all season with the ball in her hands. It takes some pressure off her, at the least.
At the best, the Rams may just be more potent.
“Honestly, this is just an opportunity to better our team,” Hofschild said. “I think we play really well with each other, kind of a 1-2 punch. Honestly, I think it’s going to be really good for this team.”
Hofschild ranked fifth nationally with 6.5 assists per game, finishing with 216 with seven games of 10 or more. Her total set the program’s single-season record, and the 17 she posted at Utah State established the single-game mark. Her 330 in two seasons ranks ninth for a career, and she has two more years remaining.
On top of that, she can score, averaging 16.9 points per game to lead the team on her way to All-Mountain West honors.
We want to play fast, but we also want to make sure we do what we need to do.McKenna Hofschild
Thurman, who spent the past year at UTEP averaging 13.0 points per game, was looking for a place to be more involved, to have the ball in her hands and create even more than the 1.7 assists on her career average. On her recruiting visit, she watched tape and witnessed Hofschild running the show, but she didn’t see that as a deterrent. All she could see was opportunity.
“On my visit, Coach Ryun and I watched a lot of film. From the first play, when I saw the spacing on the floor, I was like, ‘I can play here,’” she said. “I felt like I could really be me, and Coach Ryun gives us that freedom to be ourselves. I felt like this would be my new home.
“McKenna is a really good guard. I think playing with someone who can get me the ball helped make me choose this place as well. I think no matter what, both of us can get our buckets. We’re going to get our buckets, but having another guard get you the ball when you’re off, we can get each other the ball.”
Her commitment sent Williams to his way-back machine, when Gritt Ryder and A.J. Newton shared a backcourt. Both of them were natural point guards, and it worked for two seasons, from 2013-2015.
So, he went back and watched film, seeing more than he remembered.
“We’ve come up with a few concepts with Gritt and A.J. in the system we played well. I didn’t realize how interchangeable they were,” Williams said. “I kind of thought Gritt was the primary point guard, and she probably was in the push, but A.J. ran a lot of point for us and Gritt became the off-guard. Just the interchangeableness and how we can use them depending on who has the advantage on any given night is helpful for everybody.”
The key is, they have to use their combined talents to help everybody, a group which includes a lot of new faces and skillsets. The Rams had some length with Kendyll Kinzer and Sydney Mech, and they’ve added more with Meghan Boyd, Joseana Vaz and Kiya Dorroh.
Williams is cautious because the Rams haven’t really put it in practice during team workouts. This summer, the players have, and they like where it could lead. The first step is Hofschild and Thurman being in step with each other.
Not really a problem.
“It’s building that chemistry. Going between that 1 and 2 position is no problem,” Thurman said. “We worked on communication. Knowing how we like to score we can get each other the ball in that spot to have a better chance. It was really getting to know each other on and off the court. I think we’re both great facilitators, so as long as we all play together as a team, we can dish the ball to whoever is hot and who we need to get going. Whichever one of us has the ball, you know the ball is coming to you. You can look at either one of us.”
What this combination has over the Ryder/Newton tandem is speed. They both have it, and both can push the pace. What Williams has seen is the team needs to become more conscious of ball security than they have been in the pre-season workouts.
From Hofschild’s perspective, that remains the primary goal after a season of tidiness.
“There’s always that balance of wanting to play fast, wanting to keep the defense on the back of their heels, but also staying in control and staying composed,” she said. “We led the country in the least turnovers per game, and we want to continue doing that. We want to play fast, but we also want to make sure we do what we need to do.”
At the very least, the system will be employed in spots. It provides some matchup advantages at times Williams will want to exploit. How well they do it, and how well they defend, will determine how much it is used.
In Ryder, Williams had a versatile defender who would take on anybody. He sees a strong defender in Thurman, and he said Hofschild has made a concerted effort to improve her defensive play. But it’s got to work, at least to the point where the offense gained makes up for any defensive liabilities which may appear.
“I know it’s there. The thing we have to figure out, and we’ve spent time, is figuring out defensively,” Williams said. “Offensively, that’s the Christmas present you’re excited to unwrap. But you got to go buy the wrapping paper first, so we have to be able to guard. Can one of those kids guard an all-conference wing?”
The only way to find out is to work on it intently with the time to do it. Now has become the time, at least for the coaches.
The players, well, they’re just ready to prove what they’ve done in the summer will work.