MARKOWSKI NAMED TO LESLIE AWARD TOP TEN FINAL LIST

[redsteve]

Markowski Named to Leslie Award Top 10

She was just named to the final top ten Leslie Award for centers in NCAA women's basketball. The only sophomore on list.  Major deal !

 

Markowski is the only player among the Leslie Award Top 10 who is younger than a fourth-year collegiate year.

 

Watch her play every week, and you may not realize just how valuable her contributions are to the team.  For example last night, she had a double double and played only a little more than half the game. She made critical end of game free throws, and the final big rebound to seal the deal.

 

Read this:

 

https://huskers.com/news/2023/2/3/womens-basketball-markowski-named-to-leslie-award-midseason-list.aspx

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by redsteve

[NUtball]

Congrats to Alexis.  To be grouped with those others listed is pretty remarkable.

 

Her offensive output may not be where most of us would like it to be, but I think that's mostly just a result of the offensive system Nebraska runs.  ~13 ppg is not bad, but when the 3's aren't falling, more effort should be made to get her the ball for scoring opportunities.  I think her defense and rebounding has improved quite a bit this year from last year.  Hopefully she can continue to make marked improvement the rest of her time at NU.

[Cazzie22]

A nice honor.  She seems to be a hard worker and a good competitor.  Not bad being mentioned with Holmes of Indiana and

Czinano of Iowa. 

[huskerfrank]

Great honor for Alexis. In response to the last 2 comments, while our posts do a decent job feeding each other, getting the ball to the post from a wing has never been a Nebraska priority.  Secondly, while Holmes is a great player with great post moves, Czinano's success is very much the result of her getting open layups and bunnies when  her defender helps on Clark drives.  To her credit, she does catch them all and makes them all.    

[whoopdeedoo]

37 minutes ago, huskerfrank said:

Great honor for Alexis. In response to the last 2 comments, while our posts do a decent job feeding each other, getting the ball to the post from a wing has never been a Nebraska priority.  Secondly, while Holmes is a great player with great post moves, Czinano's success is very much the result of her getting open layups and bunnies when  her defender helps on Clark drives.  To her credit, she does catch them all and makes them all.    

Czinano has been a huge diamond in the rough for Iowa. she was awful good before Clark even arrived. 

[Red Don]

I believe Czinano is a great example of player development; taking a hitherto largely unheralded recruit to national prominence.   Development the likes of which I'd like to see duplicated at Nebraska; there is certainly ample material to start with.  

[Gamafn]

18 hours ago, Red Don said:

I believe Czinano is a great example of player development; taking a hitherto largely unheralded recruit to national prominence.   Development the likes of which I'd like to see duplicated at Nebraska; there is certainly ample material to start with.  

Very diplomatically stated!  Unfortunately this staff’s track record does not engender confidence.  Relevant case in point - Markowski’s predecessor Kate Cain.  Under the radar recruit who displayed great potential as a freshman starter.  Check her stats for the next 3 years for evidence of development/improvement.  I’ll wait . . . . . .

[huskerfrank]

I think it has more to do with chemistry, roles, and priorities than development. KC was B10 Honorable Mention and all Defensive Team her Jr and Sr years and made it to WNBA camp.....that's not bad, especially with the COVID year being against only B10 teams with no (2 actually) cupcakes too pad the numbers.  If you just take the numbers approach, Hannah Whitish peaked as sophomore , dropped off some as a junior, and dropped off even more as a senior.  Is that due to lack of development or other things, like who is taking all the shots (LB)?  This was supposed to be about, and is about, congratulating Alexis who is a heck of player having a very strong year.  Her game is improving whether the numbers say it or not. 

[All About the Corn]

Congrats to Alexis. She has done pretty well with what she has been given. I also do not think she has been at 100% for most of the season. With her getting heat for her lower back while on the bench at the beginning of the season lends me to think she may have recurring back problems. Hence her lack of production at times. Still has turned in a nice year so far. Hope for more. 

[Gamafn]

Regarding Whitish, yes I absolutely think she failed to develop. Great example to further reinforce my concern.
Not trying to beat up on AM at all, but even ignoring the numbers (which seems pretty irrational to me) and relying on the eyeball test, I don’t see any improvement in footwork, post moves, finishing at the rim, 3-point shooting, conditioning, defensive positioning, i.e., the sorts of things you’d expect from developmental coaching.  
But congrats to her on the finalist nomination.  If healthy, hope she uses it as motivation to get even better.

[HUD]

One thing many of you neglect is that the teams we are playing this year versus last year are one hell of a lot better.  That coupled with the fact that we have a lot of great coaches in the big ten and after her freshman output which was some what of a surprise to the competition I'm sure they have a better idea how to limit her.  I definitely think she has improved from last year.  

[12dozen]

1 hour ago, Gamafn said:

Regarding Whitish, yes I absolutely think she failed to develop. Great example to further reinforce my concern.
Not trying to beat up on AM at all, but even ignoring the numbers (which seems pretty irrational to me) and relying on the eyeball test, I don’t see any improvement in footwork, post moves, finishing at the rim, 3-point shooting, conditioning, defensive positioning, i.e., the sorts of things you’d expect from developmental coaching.  
But congrats to her on the finalist nomination.  If healthy, hope she uses it as motivation to get even better.

Agree on Whitish.  I do think she would have been better as a shooting guard, not point.  Also agree on previous posts. Didn't see much improvement from Kate Cain or  Maddie Simon from those years.  The current roster, development of Stewart, Coley, and possibly Markowski is questionable. 

 

50 minutes ago, HUD said:

One thing many of you neglect is that the teams we are playing this year versus last year are one hell of a lot better.  That coupled with the fact that we have a lot of great coaches in the big ten and after her freshman output which was some what of a surprise to the competition I'm sure they have a better idea how to limit her.  I definitely think she has improved from last year.  

Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, and Ohio State all finished in the final AP top 20 rankings last season.  Not too shabby.  As of this week, the same 5 teams are the only conference teams, ranked in the top 25.

Edited February 6, 2023 by 12dozen

[Red Don]

18 hours ago, huskerfrank said:

I think it has more to do with chemistry, roles, and priorities than development. KC was B10 Honorable Mention and all Defensive Team her Jr and Sr years and made it to WNBA camp.....that's not bad, especially with the COVID year being against only B10 teams with no (2 actually) cupcakes too pad the numbers.  If you just take the numbers approach, Hannah Whitish peaked as sophomore , dropped off some as a junior, and dropped off even more as a senior.  Is that due to lack of development or other things, like who is taking all the shots (LB)?  This was supposed to be about, and is about, congratulating Alexis who is a heck of player having a very strong year.  Her game is improving whether the numbers say it or not. 

 

@huskerfrankis entirely right.  This thread is about recognizing and congratulating Alexis Markowski for a job well done, and offering our encouragement to finish strong in the competition for the Leslie Award competition.  (rather than my hijacking the thread to talk about player development. :redface:  That topic, along with topics regarding recruiting, coaching and talent, tacked on the the end of the Michigan State Game Thread deserved their own specific Threads rather than being buried in the Markowsie/Mich State Game Threads)