Lauren Betts’ development — the good, the bad and the ugly

Betts’ performance against the Sooners was her worst since February 2024, scoring just nine points on 39% true-shooting with more than three times as many turnovers as assists. She was far better against the Tar Heels, but her scoring efficiency was still below her usual over the past couple of years.

The biggest culprit for these two games was both the Oklahoma and North Carolina defenses’ ability to execute late double teams.

Throughout her time as a Bruin, Betts has struggled mightily with late double teams. Flau’jae Johnson in particular feasted on this in LSU’s Elite Eight loss to UCLA last year, blocking Betts three times by hiding in a blind spot and waiting until Betts had started her finishing motion to commit to the double.

Susceptibility to late doubles is usually not a skill that usually improves for bigs. It stems from a visual processing issue with adjusting to inputs from peripheral vision, ones that come when a player is most focused on getting to or through their shot. That doesn’t mean Betts can’t get better, but it’s unlikely to improve quickly over the course of her rookie deal in the W.

What makes it difficult to gauge just how much that matters is that WNBA help defenders are longer and quicker, but her future coaches are also going to be better at designing offensive systems than Cori Close is. They’re less likely to allow late doubles by capable helpers, like in the first video where both double teams were enabled by ill-advised cuts from teammates, and by allowing a defender like Johnson to guard her assignment below the slot, like in the second video.

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Ultimately, it’s just hard to consistently execute late doubles against WNBA teams with modern spacing, in a way that is much easier in college. And Betts being a superb passer against early double teams means that defenses are at least punished for not timing their help correctly.

Equally problematic in the short term but less worrisome at the next level is Betts’ screening. She lacks feel for disrupting point of attack (POA) defenders’ paths against the ball-handler, and often rolls too soon and gets downhill too quickly to stay within a passing window for the ball-handler. The result is either that she sets a hard screen that the POA defender gets stuck on because of Betts’ size, but Betts doesn’t roll in time, or Betts slips and immediately gets to the block, leaving the ball-handler to effectively run an isolation play.

In dribble handoffs, Betts also does not instinctively use her body to shield the handoff from the POA defender.

Compared to visual processing, developing a big’s screening is a walk in the park. That Betts’ struggles seem to be more related to feel than technique probably limit her upside, but even if she’s never an Aliyah Boston or Dearica Hamby in ball screen actions, it’s reasonable to expect a good coaching staff to be able to coach up this aspect of her game.

The one unambiguously good development Betts has shown this year, though, is her jump shot. Through three games, she’s 3-for-6 from the midrange, per CBB Analytics, and though a couple of her misses appear to stem from rushing her release, the release is compact and quick enough. She’s hit both in-rhythm off the catch and pulling up without a dribble.

As I touched on last week, gauging Betts’ value in this draft is tricky because she may be the last available talent at a 50+ FV level for the next several years. But the picture regarding her strengths and weaknesses is at least becoming clearer in a vacuum.

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