Diggin' The Family

By Chris Hansen
National Director of Scouting
Posted Sat, 07/28/2007 - 18:19 Skylar Diggins of the Family was red hot in day one action at Nike Nationals leading her team to two big wins.

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NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. - Day One of Nike Nationals had a match-up consisting of two of the quickest backcourts you can find in DFW's Destini Hughes and Nicole Terral matching up against the Family's Yvonne Anderson, Zhaque "Zha-Zha" Gray and Sklyar Diggins. Right out of the box it was the DFW Duo that seemed to be dictating the pace as their full court man-to-man pressure sped the game up a great deal. The Family through a zone press back at DFW and at first it looked like it was going to be a track meet with both teams flying all over the place.

The initial ball pressure created some uncharacteristic turnovers for both Anderson and Diggins in their multiple attempts to pass over the top of the pressure which fed in to the DFW game plan. Passes were tipped and intercepted which created more transition and early on it looked like Brooklyn Pope was going to get herself going in the open court. But the game changed and both Anderson and Diggins said they were reminded multiple times about the passes over the top and decided they were going to make a change.

The Family made some changes on both ends of the floor, not so much in strategy but in energy and execution. They started playing smarter instead of harder. "We learned that they're a quick team and they're just as fast as us and they're going to get their hands on a lot of passes," Diggins said, "So we had to be smarter offensively also."

 

And that they did. They stopped trying to throw over the top everytime and focused on breaking pressure and then attacking the basket under control. The game plan according to both Anderson and Diggins after the game was to try and stop Pop first and then attack the basket to get their interior players in trouble such as 6-foot-4 Cokie Reed.

"We got their post players in trouble and after that we just went in there and started pump faking," Anderson said. By the second half the Family was playing their game and everyone on the team started getting comfortable. On the other side DFW wasn't getting the easy transition out of their man pressure and the zone defense they were dealing with from the Family was causing frustration. They did a great job defending Hughes and forced her into some turnovers that you typically don't see from her.

Early in the second half Anderson and Diggins went out to set the tempo and get their teammates going. The left hand Diggins who scored going left often in the first half suddenly started going right and Anderson was now attacking more on the left. Diggins had

back to back, pictureque right handed drives with great extension and touch on the finger roll and the energy from those plays and a couple of possessions later Anderson driving and finishing with her left engulfed the entire team.

"Our teammates," Diggins added of the second half then pausing, "We didn't score that much in the second half except right at the beginning and our teammates started to step it up. Then we got some steals, everybody got involved, that's how we got the lead up." Gray got things going as did the interior players like Felisha Johnson. From there things just clicked for the Indianapolis-based Family.

"I thought we had to step it up defensively if we want to win," Diggins said. "That's what we talked about last night we just had to step it up defensively and let the offense come to us." That preparation and court savvy led to a great opening game win in a tournament where there are very few games you can get away with an off game. <br><br>

In the Family night cap Skylar Diggins led all scorers with 25, scorching the Cal Storm and pushing them to a comfortable victory. Again she was not the only player on her team getting it done as Anderson was fantastic as well scoring 17 and Gray had 11, again a dominant trio, as they were able to overcome the 17 points of Casey Morris.

Diggins was in a wicked zone today. In the Cal Storm game she ripped the net from behind the arc five times. She got the basket with such ease and control that it truly was a clinic. She played some point and some off-guard or whatever her team needed. She was a catalyst in their press as well, shooting the passing lanes and creating transition opportunities which limited the number of offensive possessions in the half court the Storm had to get their star forward, Alyssia Brewer the ball. People sleeping on this Family team are in for a rude awakening. They may not be one of the favorites but this year it is very hard to pick one and they are capable of putting any one of these teams away. That's what is so great abou this event. The smaller field of very good teams makes every game a must win and makes for great intensity and basketball.

West Coast Elite this morning thought they had the game in hand and emptied their bench with seven minutes left only to find the fiesty Spokane Stars were not going to just mail the game in. They would cut the lead to single digits forcing the starters back into action and even the starters had to focus hard to get the momentum back as the lead was cut to just four points in the final minutes. Two other games were considered upsets when the GA/Lina 76ers pulled off a 56-53 win over All-ohio Black and the Cal Storm led by Alyssia Brewer and Casey Morris dropped their opening game to the NYC Gauchos behind a great performance from 2009 forward Markel Walker. Boo Williams, fresh off their USJN Championship nearly lost their opening game to North Tartan which took a double digit lead early and looked like they were going to cruise to a big upset win but let Boo Williams back in the game and ultimatley lost in overtime. It was a devistating loss for North Tartan but also shows that even in pool play you better bring your "A" game here. Boo Williams had another tough game in the evening session with Cy-Fair and just as their first meeting this year in the spring in Virginia which was a slugfest. This game was no different and went down to the wire. Chiney and Nneka Ogwumike were great but it wasn't enough as the defense of Boo overcame the successes of the interior duo.

Boo sits at the top of its pool after the first day as the sole 2-0 team. The Tennesse Flight and West Coast Elite seem destined for another collision course and another game for the record books such as their quadruple overtime game in Ohio this May. Both are undefeated in pool play and are set to lock horns Sunday evening in the 8:00 pm night cap. The aforementioned Family are tied atop their pool with perhaps the early surprise of their pool was the undefeated NYC Gauchos. Essence and the Orlando Comets lead their pool at Pool D. Sunday should put make the picture much clearer and we're bound to see some interesting tie breakers come Monday for placement into the Gold, Silver and Bronze brackets.

Day One Pool Play Standings

Pool A
Tennessee Flight 2-0
West Coast Elite 2-0
Georgia Metros 1-1
Michigan Crossovers 1-1
Alabama Road Runners 0-2
Spokane Stars 0-2

Pool B
Boo Williams 2-0
All-Ohio 1-1
Cy-Fair Shock 1-1
GA/Lina 76ers 1-1
OGDL 1-1
North Tartan 0-2

Pool C
The Family 2-0
NYC Gauchos 2-0
Cal Swish 1-1
DFW Elite 1-1
Cal Storm 0-2
Georgia Elite 0-2

Pool D
Essence 2-0
Orlando Comets 2-0
Fairfax Stars 1-1
Liberty Belles 1-1
PA Belles 1-1
Illinois Hustle 0-2

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More from Nike Nationals:

Diggin' The Family

Boo Escapes - Twice

Nike Nationals Photos I

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Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com.