Recap The Court

Jacob Smith

It felt like this game was never going to come but we’ve arrived at the first round of the playoffs and the McMaster Marauders hosting the Western Mustangs. After a series of postponements of the Marauders game against the UofT Varsity Blues, McMaster played their last game of the regular season on Monday afternoon and won their way into the 8th seed where they’ll host the 9th seed Western Mustangs on Wednesday.

Now that we know the game will be played in Hamilton, what do the Marauders have to do to protect home court and earn their way to the second round? It starts with perimeter defence. The Marauders have to force the Mustangs guards to go left to right. They can’t let Jenna Button, Paris Alexander and the other guards get going downhill, keep the ball going side to side and force the Mustangs into late clock shots.

Western has several guards with a very quick first step and a lot of their threes are created by drives and outlet passes, making them move the ball will help the Marauders defence and take some pressure off the rim protection.

Offensively McMaster get into the half court and move the ball. Western’s defence can speed teams up and force them into mistakes, but McMaster getting into a half court offence and attacking individual matchups can give them the upper hand over the opportunistic Mustangs defence.

Defensively for Western, they have to match Cassie Joli-Coeur inside the paint. Fighting for positioning, winning on the glass, Western can’t let McMaster take control of the second chance opportunities and they have to create some kick out threes off offensive rebounds. They have to make McMaster beat them from the mid and long range, and win the battle inside to take a key part of the Marauders offence away.

It’s a big opportunity for Sarah Harvey in her matchup with Cassie and defending Cassie’s baseline jumper is a massive key. Whether Sarah can win the battle on the glass and offensively get positioning for put backs and second chance opportunities for her team will do a lot for Western’s chances.

Western’s offence is about being efficient. Getting their opportunities and making the most of them, and against McMaster, being able to keep the Marauders shifting and using quick passes off kick outs to get shots for Jenna Button and Emily Capretta. Getting catch and go looks for Kailey Reimer off swing passes, ball screens and dribble handoffs.

Western has to keep McMaster moving and capitalize on extra opportunities they’re given through turnovers or outlet passes in transition. Speed and working to get their best shots off their quick ball movement can make them a hard team to defend, and give them the extra edge to stay in front of McMaster.

McMaster postponed the final game of their season three times due to weather, but they’ve finally arrived in the playoffs and are hosting the Mustangs who were waiting to see if they’d travel or not. We’ve arrived at game time.