Maybe I'm just the optimist of the group, but I'm not really too worried about the team yet. So far, they're giving up 16.5 fewer points per game this year compared to last. Sure competition accounts for some of that, but the fact remains that we still haven't given up 80 points in a game this year after giving up that many on average last year. If I said we'd average giving up 63.8 ppg in the non-conference before the season, we would've said the team has Final Four potential.
So far, the offense has disappointed, but I think a large part of that is Clark. Marshall, Warnock, Martin, and Czinano are all a bit off of their shooting percentages from last year, but none are that far away, and their sample sizes are all small.
And if you dig into Clark's numbers, there are actually some positives. Her shooting percentages on 2-point shots is basically the same as last year. Same with her assist numbers. But her rebounding numbers are way up. And her turnovers are down almost 1 full turnover per game.
The only glaring difference in her numbers is her three-point percentage (25.9% compared to 40.6% last year). I've said before that I think some of that is shot selection, but bad luck probably accounts for some of it too. If she gets a little more shooting luck and everything else stays the same, she'll actually be a better player than we saw last year.
All that is to say I think the offense will figure it out. They just need to play some games more consistently than they have for the last month. And if the offense figures it out and the defense really is a bit better, watch out.
