@josiahcohen.bsky.social
Ex Warriors. Never had the makings of a varsity athlete. I write about the Valkyries: https://riseofthevalkyries.substack.com/
Ok, wrapping this one up. I'm going to break down how Galatasaray exploited and executed enough upon Schio's defense to get the win in tomorrow morning's post, but until then, some nice plays from Cecilia Zandalasini (always poised in the paint) and a nice 3 off Zoom action for Kitty Laksa.
October 30, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Ok, wrapping this one up. I'm going to break down how Galatasaray exploited and executed enough upon Schio's defense to get the win in tomorrow morning's post, but until then, some nice plays from Cecilia Zandalasini (always poised in the paint) and a nice 3 off Zoom action for Kitty Laksa.
Schio again with the sequencing: nice start-of-quarter slice to get Conde a post up and an even nicer turnaround make. Then, post touch again for Conde with a weakside pin-in screen slip.
Talked more about Conde's game here: riseofthevalkyries.substack.com/p/the-on-sea...
Talked more about Conde's game here: riseofthevalkyries.substack.com/p/the-on-sea...
October 30, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Schio again with the sequencing: nice start-of-quarter slice to get Conde a post up and an even nicer turnaround make. Then, post touch again for Conde with a weakside pin-in screen slip.
Talked more about Conde's game here: riseofthevalkyries.substack.com/p/the-on-sea...
Talked more about Conde's game here: riseofthevalkyries.substack.com/p/the-on-sea...
Great chess match. Schio (ATO) goes flex (screen) reject pindown, forcing the rotation and finding the open corner three. They run it again, and watch #11 (Derin Erdogan) recognize the action & call out the reject and follow. Galatasaray executes defensively and gets a stop.
October 30, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Great chess match. Schio (ATO) goes flex (screen) reject pindown, forcing the rotation and finding the open corner three. They run it again, and watch #11 (Derin Erdogan) recognize the action & call out the reject and follow. Galatasaray executes defensively and gets a stop.
Awak Kuier attacks and finishes at the rim. Two bad closeouts. Badiane stunts at the elbow and, flipping her hips/top foot twice, loses leverage integrity. Then Shepard rotates on the backside of a trap and overruns it by a foot—nice by Kuier to get middle twice and convert.
October 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Awak Kuier attacks and finishes at the rim. Two bad closeouts. Badiane stunts at the elbow and, flipping her hips/top foot twice, loses leverage integrity. Then Shepard rotates on the backside of a trap and overruns it by a foot—nice by Kuier to get middle twice and convert.
Clever from Maria Conde/Schio. They show the Spain action early (backscreen roll, pop), and Jess Shepard gets fouled. Then, off a BLOB, they show the same action, but Conde slips the back screen.
If Shepard fades wing, she might be able to hold Kuier and negate the recovery to the paint/contest.
If Shepard fades wing, she might be able to hold Kuier and negate the recovery to the paint/contest.
October 30, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Clever from Maria Conde/Schio. They show the Spain action early (backscreen roll, pop), and Jess Shepard gets fouled. Then, off a BLOB, they show the same action, but Conde slips the back screen.
If Shepard fades wing, she might be able to hold Kuier and negate the recovery to the paint/contest.
If Shepard fades wing, she might be able to hold Kuier and negate the recovery to the paint/contest.
OK then, Serena Sundell!
Nail tag w/ice coverage, recovers on the blind pig handoff, uses length to get the block from behind, drives the play in transition off the rebound and kicks it to Steph Talbot for three.
Nail tag w/ice coverage, recovers on the blind pig handoff, uses length to get the block from behind, drives the play in transition off the rebound and kicks it to Steph Talbot for three.
October 29, 2025 at 10:31 PM
OK then, Serena Sundell!
Nail tag w/ice coverage, recovers on the blind pig handoff, uses length to get the block from behind, drives the play in transition off the rebound and kicks it to Steph Talbot for three.
Nail tag w/ice coverage, recovers on the blind pig handoff, uses length to get the block from behind, drives the play in transition off the rebound and kicks it to Steph Talbot for three.
Geelong (WNBL) - SLOB - Box Zipper Ricky Exit (strong)
Jaz Shelley inbounds and gets an exit screen to the corner, creating a good look from three. Sequenced after wheel concepts that flow into empty pick-and-roll with Mackenzie Holmes finishing in the paint.
Jaz Shelley inbounds and gets an exit screen to the corner, creating a good look from three. Sequenced after wheel concepts that flow into empty pick-and-roll with Mackenzie Holmes finishing in the paint.
October 28, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Geelong (WNBL) - SLOB - Box Zipper Ricky Exit (strong)
Jaz Shelley inbounds and gets an exit screen to the corner, creating a good look from three. Sequenced after wheel concepts that flow into empty pick-and-roll with Mackenzie Holmes finishing in the paint.
Jaz Shelley inbounds and gets an exit screen to the corner, creating a good look from three. Sequenced after wheel concepts that flow into empty pick-and-roll with Mackenzie Holmes finishing in the paint.
Finally, a nice Fener play I didn't get to dive into—all the movement and quick touches up top off the Iverson/blind pig/wide action get a corner help defender having to choose the quick slip or corner; she picks the slip, Meesseman just misses the wide open shot.
October 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Finally, a nice Fener play I didn't get to dive into—all the movement and quick touches up top off the Iverson/blind pig/wide action get a corner help defender having to choose the quick slip or corner; she picks the slip, Meesseman just misses the wide open shot.
Good fastbreak looks from Venezia's Francesca Pasa—gotta like the aggressiveness to go at, and finish over, bigger defenders and make the right reads at high speed. Play-driving is such an important quality.
October 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Good fastbreak looks from Venezia's Francesca Pasa—gotta like the aggressiveness to go at, and finish over, bigger defenders and make the right reads at high speed. Play-driving is such an important quality.
Murjunatu Musa had a huge and-one offensive rebound to seal the win, with a neat boxout-beating technique (that I'll maybe talk about down the line).
October 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Murjunatu Musa had a huge and-one offensive rebound to seal the win, with a neat boxout-beating technique (that I'll maybe talk about down the line).
Couple clips: great effort from Camille Droguet to get back in transition, and good read to peel switch, in essence, to the corner, getting a steal as part of Landes' go-ahead run.
October 27, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Couple clips: great effort from Camille Droguet to get back in transition, and good read to peel switch, in essence, to the corner, getting a steal as part of Landes' go-ahead run.
Finally, monster possession here tying it all together. Effortless pressure takes away time and space—Venezia doesn't touch the paint, because of Lacan, until 7 seconds left. Then peel switches on a dime and finishes the turnover with her length (and she's peeling again while she does it). Elite.
October 25, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Finally, monster possession here tying it all together. Effortless pressure takes away time and space—Venezia doesn't touch the paint, because of Lacan, until 7 seconds left. Then peel switches on a dime and finishes the turnover with her length (and she's peeling again while she does it). Elite.
Look at her BLOB inbound defense—she has the presence to take away the first option, the second option, and her length further pushes a deep inbound pass. That takes time and space away from the offense, and stacking plays where you remove both things is elite defensive foundation.
October 25, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Look at her BLOB inbound defense—she has the presence to take away the first option, the second option, and her length further pushes a deep inbound pass. That takes time and space away from the offense, and stacking plays where you remove both things is elite defensive foundation.
Look at her sort out and direct the switches through the action and then seamlessly (again, effortless) get into the passing lane to steal a roll pass. Then, in transition, the effort to recover, the decisiveness to swing to the boundary, and the technique to swipe the entry pass.
October 25, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Look at her sort out and direct the switches through the action and then seamlessly (again, effortless) get into the passing lane to steal a roll pass. Then, in transition, the effort to recover, the decisiveness to swing to the boundary, and the technique to swipe the entry pass.
Quick Leïla Lacan defense thread from Landes-Venezia.
Her effortlessness (a useful heuristic) while guarding in isolation and executing basic, important defensive concepts (X out in the third clip) really stands out in conjunction with her length. She does the basic things AND the advanced things.
Her effortlessness (a useful heuristic) while guarding in isolation and executing basic, important defensive concepts (X out in the third clip) really stands out in conjunction with her length. She does the basic things AND the advanced things.
October 25, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Quick Leïla Lacan defense thread from Landes-Venezia.
Her effortlessness (a useful heuristic) while guarding in isolation and executing basic, important defensive concepts (X out in the third clip) really stands out in conjunction with her length. She does the basic things AND the advanced things.
Her effortlessness (a useful heuristic) while guarding in isolation and executing basic, important defensive concepts (X out in the third clip) really stands out in conjunction with her length. She does the basic things AND the advanced things.
Just to close the thread, FB put the nail in the coffin with some more of the cross screen set, including a rip screen variant (Rupert missed). Meesseman got a good look off the usual and hit a few straight middies to put the game out of reach (OLY head coach Froso Drakaki was not happy).
October 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Just to close the thread, FB put the nail in the coffin with some more of the cross screen set, including a rip screen variant (Rupert missed). Meesseman got a good look off the usual and hit a few straight middies to put the game out of reach (OLY head coach Froso Drakaki was not happy).
The same roll/replace action from the first clip hits again in the halfcourt, where the help is removed as Meesseman draws a mismatch foul. Then, pindowns off the BLOB in McBride/Rupert empty PnR (luxury), Rupert touches the hi-lo—look at how high FB is to make the help-the-helper further out.
October 23, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The same roll/replace action from the first clip hits again in the halfcourt, where the help is removed as Meesseman draws a mismatch foul. Then, pindowns off the BLOB in McBride/Rupert empty PnR (luxury), Rupert touches the hi-lo—look at how high FB is to make the help-the-helper further out.
Great sequencing from FB. Went to/had a lot of success with the double cross screen action early against OLY. Meeseman hits the jumper off the screens, Gustafson takes it into the post (note the secondary zipper screen), and then she fades that same downscreen to get a wide open three.
October 23, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Great sequencing from FB. Went to/had a lot of success with the double cross screen action early against OLY. Meeseman hits the jumper off the screens, Gustafson takes it into the post (note the secondary zipper screen), and then she fades that same downscreen to get a wide open three.
Olympiacos shows—and Julie Allemand repeats—a double pindown call off a SLOB (a 5 out very delay); Fener's Sevgi Uzun doesn't execute Rupert's switch call, and Danielle Raber hits the three. OLY shot 47% on threes (matching Fener with 9 threes) but went just 4/4 on FTs compared to Fener's 15/19.
October 23, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Olympiacos shows—and Julie Allemand repeats—a double pindown call off a SLOB (a 5 out very delay); Fener's Sevgi Uzun doesn't execute Rupert's switch call, and Danielle Raber hits the three. OLY shot 47% on threes (matching Fener with 9 threes) but went just 4/4 on FTs compared to Fener's 15/19.
Fenerbahce, the Euroleague Women title favorite, is just so smooth. Doing all the small things right—everyone runs the right lane in transition (corner, corner, paint); Rupert fills fully down to the block and then lifts to take away the low help while Fener flows into empty PnR and a free layup.
October 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Fenerbahce, the Euroleague Women title favorite, is just so smooth. Doing all the small things right—everyone runs the right lane in transition (corner, corner, paint); Rupert fills fully down to the block and then lifts to take away the low help while Fener flows into empty PnR and a free layup.
Santucci's shooting mechanics and results (23.9% 3PT European comp.) leave plenty to be desired, but she had some good moments offensively, getting to the rim on and off the ball, especially against guards and wings. Also got to the line, shooting a game-high 7 free throws (6/7).
October 21, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Santucci's shooting mechanics and results (23.9% 3PT European comp.) leave plenty to be desired, but she had some good moments offensively, getting to the rim on and off the ball, especially against guards and wings. Also got to the line, shooting a game-high 7 free throws (6/7).
Four of those steals came from Mariella Santucci (5'8/26/Toledo '20), who flashed some good stuff defensively. 3.3 STL/40 in career European competition. Fared pretty well against Vanloo (above stepback notwithstanding) in point of attack defense.
October 21, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Four of those steals came from Mariella Santucci (5'8/26/Toledo '20), who flashed some good stuff defensively. 3.3 STL/40 in career European competition. Fared pretty well against Vanloo (above stepback notwithstanding) in point of attack defense.
The Mersin backcourt was Valkyrie-heavy: Tip Hayes and Julie Vanloo. Hayes, on a pitch count, flashed some explosiveness (less so when guarded by Charles), and Vanloo hit one of her patented deep threes, but Mersin shot just 22/62 (eFG - 42.7%) and turned the ball over 16 times.
October 21, 2025 at 9:06 PM
The Mersin backcourt was Valkyrie-heavy: Tip Hayes and Julie Vanloo. Hayes, on a pitch count, flashed some explosiveness (less so when guarded by Charles), and Vanloo hit one of her patented deep threes, but Mersin shot just 22/62 (eFG - 42.7%) and turned the ball over 16 times.