TMU is 5-0 after their latest win over the McMaster Marauders, and a focal point of their play as been their new addition. Myriam Kone joined the program transferring from the University of Calgary and everything fans saw at Calgary is what she is doing in the OUA, maybe even more.
TMU last year felt like a team who wanted to get in the paint and get to the rim with their second read being a kick out and cycling for a three. They were great on the perimeter and they had the guards and forwards who could finish through contact down low. Catrina Garvey can read the floor incredibly well and get everyone into a motion to create the look they want on top of her three-point shooting, Hailey Franco-DeRyck is the teams leading rebounder, Jessica Keripe is another rebounder who is a threat offensively getting the ball around the hoop, they have weapons around the outside and down low.
They're a team where if they can get their shooters going early, that gives more space for the forwards to work and get rebounds and second chances. Teams will usually put a lot of focus on the paint trying to deny drives and win the rebounding battle, and whenever TMU has been able to shoot and pull the opposing guards further up it opens up their lane drives and it allows for cuts to the rim as part of their off-ball movement they use to create catch-and-go looks.
What TMU gets with Myriam and what has really opened up a new level to their offence this year is someone who not only can do what guards in TMU's system do in attack off the dribble and move off the ball for a three, but force defences to guard the midrange. When you take a defence who's primary goal for defending guards is to 'prevent middle' which is denying drives in the middle of the paint, or defend vertically at the rim and send numbers at the glass to deny second chances, and you give them a guard who is just as efficient just inside the three-point line as they are closer to the rim, that puts defenders in a bind.
Myriam has a really quick first step that can get past guards if they close out on her three-point shot without thinking about a drive. In TMU's offence she can play as a off-ball guard sometimes on the wing with someone like Garvey at the top and another guard in the corner, giving her the option should she not want to take a shot, catching and immediately swinging the ball for a three.
She can shoot a three, get to the rim and play as a passer getting a quick shot for her teammates. On top of that you add a jumper from around the key and two steps below the three-point line. She attacks defences from all areas and forces defenders to almost abandon their idea of either keeping the ball on the perimeter or denying rim, stepping into the middle area.
If defenders defend with space while she's on the perimeter to keep her on the outside she has the three-point shooting and the weapons around her to get a good look. If defenders close out to deny her space when she catches the ball she has the first step to get inside. When she does get inside she makes the defence have to decide whether they'll step up from the rim to deny a midrange jumper taking bodies away from the rim, or keep bodies at the rim giving her the option of a gather and midrange shot which she can hit at an efficient rate, an aspect defences usually don't focus on.
Myriam is the perfect example of how difficult it is to defend someone with an efficient midrange jump shot. She's been able to get to her spots so effectively with her skillset as a guard that she's really set the league on fire to start the season.