USC women’s basketball has a coach, Lindsay Gottlieb, who is very conscious about giving players freedom to make mistakes and learn how to read opposing defenses as they go along. This is how Gottlieb worked with JuJu Watkins in her freshman season. Gottlieb was not strict or overbearing in teaching Watkins. She was willing to live with JuJu making some bad decisions or taking some bad shots, knowing that JuJu was smart enough to figure things out and ask questions. Gottlieb did not want to place handcuffs on her superstar. JuJu made mistakes in the short run, but in the long run, that “long leash” approach earned a lot of respect and trust with JuJu. Gottlieb and Watkins developed a stronger relationship as a result of that patient approach from the head coach.
We are seeing signs of that same “wide berth” philosophy with Kiki Iriafen, the star transfer from Stanford who has helped make USC a leading national contender this season. Gottlieb wants to give Iriafen, not just JuJu, more freedom on the court.
Women’s basketball writer Sue Favor, at Women’s Hoops World, explored this point when writing about Iriafen:
Iriafen said the move to Troy has been a change from former Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer’s structure, to what she calls the professional style of Gottlieb, which has given her more flexibility.
“It’s given me better basketball IQ, and here there are so many great players that I’m just (working on) finding that flow in the offense,” Iriafen said. “I don’t have to score all the time, so I can (also) rebound and play defense.”
“It’s been a lot less pressure for me being here. I’m just trying to have fun in my senior year.”
The combination of Watkins and Iriafen is something that excites coaches and players alike.
“We get along super-great,” Iriafen said of her teammate. “She has a great work ethic…..if anything, we’re playing off of each other and letting each other doing our own thing. But we’re also looking for each other.”
Against Ole Miss, USC’s offense ran into problems. The tension for Gottlieb is, once again, accepting that some mistakes will be made when players get more freedom on the court, but knowing that in the long run, her players will respect and trust her as a result of being given that added amount of freedom. Short-term pain for long-term gain is the exchange Gottlieb is hoping for. Freedom within the offense is good, but there will need to be some structure at times, so that good defensive teams such as Ole Miss don’t give USC as many problems. This balancing act will be something to watch throughout the Trojans’ season.
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