In Saturday’s 77-63 win at The Convo, guard Taylor Agler was nearly perfect from the floor.
The problem was, she only took four shots.
Against Miami, Agler continued a trend coaches have been urging her to end: shooting too little.
Agler finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shoots Saturday afternoon. With 7:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, Agler committed her only turnover of the game. It was a snapshot of the internal battle she faces when given a window to shoot a shot that isn’t wide open.
Agler caught the ball on the left wing and looked like she was about to shoot. But as a defender approached her at the last second, she decided to pump fake and drive.
She took a step before she dribbled and was called for a travel.
“That’s something I need to continue to work on,” Agler said. “Being aggressive, and not always trying to put the ball on the floor as soon as I catch it. Look for my shot first.”
Agler’s unwillingness to shoot is a microcosm of the Bobcats’ overall unselfishness. Coach Bob Boldon’s offense is centered on ball movement, which occasionally means passing up a good shot for a better one.
But sometimes that philosophy results in too much passing. The Bobcats pride themselves on good shot selection. But in the process of hunting for the perfect shot, sometimes they pass up their best chance at scoring.
Agler is notorious when it comes to unselfishness. Boldon admires her for her impeccable shot selection, but his staff and players have been nudging her to fire away all season. She has only attempted 10 or more shots once this season.
“(Agler) can shoot 30 a game,” forward Quiera Lampkins said. “I don’t even care."
Agler’s shot selection comes from her pass-first nature. For most of her career, she has been comfortable in a facilitating role. In her freshman season at Indiana, she was second on the team in assists. Even now, she is the Ohio leader in assists per game.
But Agler is not usually the primary ball handler for the Bobcats. Yamonie Jenkins typically brings the ball up, and Quiera Lampkins is also excellent at creating shots for her teammates.
When Agler shares the floor with those two, her lack of aggressiveness is highlighted further.
At times, the trio takes turns driving inside and kicking to one another on the perimeter, focusing too much on getting shots for others instead of taking the ones created for them.
“When (Jenkins) is the point guard, my role is to score,” Agler said. “I don’t have the choice to be the facilitator at that moment.”
Despite rarely taking what Boldon classifies as bad shots, the Bobcat offense has struggled often this season. The Bobcats have only managed to shoot 50 percent or better once this season.
Boldon knows he can’t force Agler to shoot more. But he also knows his team could use an extra scorer. He said a more aggressive Agler would be a nice addition for his team in the post season.
Agler knows she needs to shoot the ball more often, too. It’s just a matter of putting that knowledge into action.
“Opposing teams know I look to pass first,” Agler said. “I have to learn that I have to score in order to have defenses play us fairly.”
