WBB: Game #19 @ Iowa

[Cazzie22]

 

Give Iowa credit for the last play in regulation.  Everyone that Logic was going to sprint up the court with the ball.

Gotta give Theriot props as well for getting there.

 

No doubt.  We need to give here a brief rest from time to time.

[HB]

This is a wake up call. Need to get the bench going. We have healthy people. Time to start using them. Can't keep pissing away leads like this. We always used to be a pretty good second half team, but not this season.

 

I think this is a bit of an overstatement, to put it as a whole season thing, with all due respect.  We won a lot of games with good play down the stretch, especially in conference play.  Minnesota went south.  Maryland we got routed.  But Michigan State, Illinois are examples of winning in the second half. 

[HB]

 

The freshman sold it well.

As Greisch said Iowa likes to flop like they are an NBA team playing in May.

 

 

Yeah, how could the officials not have that figured out yet.  And that push in the back call against Emily was huge.  All the contact we faced all night, and they call THAT??  Didn't affect play at all.  The crowd was getting to that crew down the stretch.

[Norm Peterson]

It will be WAR in Lincoln. 

 

I hate Iowa almost s much as I hate Creighton.

 

I will be ready when they show up.

 

BRW, an absolutely disgraceful call on Rachel at the end of regulation.  No guts by that ref.  Not sure I have seen a call with no contact at the end like that since I was playing Y ball in the 60s.

Agree, but that was absolutely horrid defense in the last possession of regulation.  Nobody stopping ball.  Seriously?

[HB]

 

It will be WAR in Lincoln. 

 

I hate Iowa almost s much as I hate Creighton.

 

I will be ready when they show up.

 

BRW, an absolutely disgraceful call on Rachel at the end of regulation.  No guts by that ref.  Not sure I have seen a call with no contact at the end like that since I was playing Y ball in the 60s.

Agree, but that was absolutely horrid defense in the last possession of regulation.  Nobody stopping ball.  Seriously?

 

 

Agree.  Does anyone know where the breakdown was?  Not sure I've ever seen the sea part like that under a situation like that.  Just a major, major breakdown.  4.5 seconds and we give that up?  Perhaps we needed Sunny Smallwood in that situation.

[royalfan]

Was very bad defense obviously.  I was expecting to see a reasonably lenghty two or a three point attempt by Iowa at the gun to attempt to win the game.  Was thinking to myself in womens game they probably cannot do an Tyus Edney type play in that amount of time.  Well desigined play by Iowa but that cannot and should not happen. 

[swmckewon]

On the last play -- it was a missed assignment, but let's face it: That's the last player anybody thought was getting it. Whatever diehard Iowa women's hoops fans there are lights up the coaching staff if it doesn't work. It was a risk, and it worked because a ref blew the whistle. It was, from pure play standpoint, unsuccessful. Theriot blocked it clean. 

[Row6Seat10]

[whoopdeedoo]

an absolute horrible call against rachel!!! which ref made that call?

 

not coach yori's best work on that inbounds play, that's for sure. i just have noooooooooo idea what T and Cady were doing!?! 

 

man, idk, but i would have really considered putting havers or even kalenta on the logic (i think she threw the ball in with 4 seconds left). it most likely would have made them throw the ball to one of the corners---not a free throw to midcourtt!!! i was absolutely shocked jennings had a wide open run to the basket from midcourt. 

 

no doubt iowa looked like the fresher team in overtime. that last play in regulation seemed to empty the tank.

[whoopdeedoo]

Give Iowa credit for the last play in regulation.  Everyone that Logic was going to sprint up the court with the ball.

 

don't wanna give them a free pass to mid-court, though.

[redsteve]

Some may disagree, but I think we were out coached. To Iowa give credit ....they had a bench they had developed, and used them. That was the difference. They were focused, and played aggressivly...maybe a bit over agressive, but it worked for them.

They ran us out of gas....intentionally.  Three of their bench players, played over 10 min. each. ...and contributed.

 

The lazy passes killed us in the second half. That was a big deal...may have cost us the game. Right at the time when we needed to focus....we let ourselves down.

 

Sorry, and may offend some......Our bench has been weak, (and/or under utilzed) for a couple of years. That's on the staff...recruiting, coaching..... what ever, whichever.  I see Iowa already has 4 - 4* recruits for 2016.  We....none. Are we behind the recruting curve?...even with a couple of good classes?

 

Did we play our hearts out...yes...without a doubt. Were we fouled a lot, and pushed around...yes.  Was Rachel's block a foul...no.

But we just had very little in the tank, in the second half. We got outran, out focused, and out gunned. All of our losses have been like that in the second half.

 

Other defense's have figured out how to defend against us. Shut down Rachel & Cady to some extent...even slow them down....and it will effect us a lot. (We do the same thing to other teams, and did in the first half of this game...but couldn't keep it up)

 

In some ways the loss exposed our weaknesses. Which is OK if we solve some of those problems. We all keep saying it...get the bench more involved, and give the starters more rest. If we can't solve the problem....it's going to be a long year.

 

I just hate it for our girls.... they gave it everything they had.

[huskerchode]

I agree with everything you said, redsteve.  Teams will continue to harrass Rachel (if they are smart), forcing everyone else to step up.  Sometimes we build a little lead, anywhere from 10-20 points, but if the other team can stay within 10-20 points, they can come out in the second half and wear us down.  Lazy passes and missed shots are due to the girls being tired, which is due to lack of depth.  And, I agree, if those bench players aren't ready to put in a few minutes each game, that is on the coaches.  Either they aren't developing the bench or they are recruiting weak players (which I don't believe is the case with this recruiting class and the next one).

 

I was happy to see Natalie had 15 minutes.  I feel Havers should be able to give us at least 10.  We need a couple of others to give us a good 5 minutes at least.

 

I've wondered a bit about the rotation, too.  It seemed like Brandi was playing a good game early on, getting some rebounds and getting to the foul line.  But then she was the first one subbed out, and that has happened a number of times.  If she is doing well, why not keep her in there a bit longer?  Maybe last night it was due to her knee, or maybe she asked to be subbed out, but it seems like she is usually the first one out. 

[huskerchode]

Did the math quickly, hope it is correct.  This was a 45 minute game this time.  Iowa's bench played 50 minutes, our bench 27.  Their bench had 12 points compared to our 5 points.  They had 10 rebounds compared to our 1 rebound.  We won on assists, they had 0 and we had 2.  They had 4 turnovers compared to our 1.  They had 4 fouls compared to our 2 fouls.  You take the good with the bad, and hope the good outweighs the bad.  They had 4 TOs but got 50 minutes, 12 points, and 10 rebounds, and some much needed rest for their starters so they could make that run at the end of the game. 

[HB]

I share some of the concerns, but in fairness (not exactly the point of message boards, I realize), it is hard to develop a bench when they haven't had many reps throughout the year.  Most of these kids were in boots and not practicing for 6 weeks or more.  You can't just roll them out of the boots and have them be ready.  Now that they are apparently ready health-size, the learning curve experience-wise has to increase rapidly, and that is for the coaches to deal with now.   But it's not as simple as some of the posts suggest.  The coaches didn't make those lazy passes.  Were they caused by physical or mental fatigue?  I understand that is the suggestion.   

 

A couple of things have caused the lack of a developed bench this year:  One is recruiting breakdowns or choices the past few years, for which criticism is fair.    For those long-timers on here, I mentioned this at the time, and was critical of the staff then (so I'm not just a knee-jerk supporter of the coaches).  When we signed the likes of Tvrdy, Ramacieri, and Murren, I was on it then, and caught hell for it.   You can't have that many wash-outs without having it affect depth.

 

The second thing is an extraordinary injury situation. That is more the issue this year than last year with regard to the bench.  Last year we just had too many players who just weren't able to play at this level.  This year I believe it is more due to being young and injured.

 

So, at this point in the year, it's less of a game coaching issue, then a recruiting issue in the past.  Our bench was going to be very young this year.   And then, when practice and game reps get wiped out for weeks for several players, not just for a couple, it's going to have an ongoing impact.   We're not at practice, and not seeing some of the defensive mistakes in the games as more casual fans.    It's easy to sit at home and say play more players or develop them.  But the coaches can't be miracle workers.  The players have to earn the coaches' trust to play in critical situations.

 

I was calling for minutes for Chandler in the second half last night, but I have to think the coaches know more about it then me.   I think the coaches are just trying to survive the game and get a W, rather than use it as a platform for developing the bench.  That is going to have to come from practice reps now that the kids can get them, and games in which each possession isn't critical, like a road game at Iowa.

[Silverbacked1]

Geez HB I hate it when somebody stops and thinks things out on a message board. you are most likely right. That loss last night to Iowa at Iowa wouldn't hurt us come March. It just hurt to lose to a team that we had by the throat and let them get away.

The one thing that has bothered(?) me over the years with a Yori coached team is that we often only play one way and that is full steam ahead. If we make some of our shots we could have extented the lead to 20. But, we miss and it is early in the shot clock and we allow the other team to claw back in. Then we try to slow it down and end up taking some bad shots as the shot clock runs out.

I went looking to see what Iowa fans had to say about last night. After looking at like 6 sites I found one thread about the game and it was just getting to its second page. They thought that Rachel clipped her trail leg, and also thought because Rachel didn't throw a fit that she knew she fouled her. Rachel did throw a fit, I saw her smile, and for her that is a lot of emotion.

Any how tells you we are much more into this than they are.

[Bugeaters1]

I share some of the concerns, but in fairness (not exactly the point of message boards, I realize), it is hard to develop a bench when they haven't had many reps throughout the year.  Most of these kids were in boots and not practicing for 6 weeks or more.  You can't just roll them out of the boots and have them be ready.  Now that they are apparently ready health-size, the learning curve experience-wise has to increase rapidly, and that is for the coaches to deal with now.   But it's not as simple as some of the posts suggest.  The coaches didn't make those lazy passes.  Were they caused by physical or mental fatigue?  I understand that is the suggestion.   

 

A couple of things have caused the lack of a developed bench this year:  One is recruiting breakdowns or choices the past few years, for which criticism is fair.    For those long-timers on here, I mentioned this at the time, and was critical of the staff then (so I'm not just a knee-jerk supporter of the coaches).  When we signed the likes of Tvrdy, Ramacieri, and Murren, I was on it then, and caught hell for it.   You can't have that many wash-outs without having it affect depth.

 

The second thing is an extraordinary injury situation. That is more the issue this year than last year with regard to the bench.  Last year we just had too many players who just weren't able to play at this level.  This year I believe it is more due to being young and injured.

 

So, at this point in the year, it's less of a game coaching issue, then a recruiting issue in the past.  Our bench was going to be very young this year.   And then, when practice and game reps get wiped out for weeks for several players, not just for a couple, it's going to have an ongoing impact.   We're not at practice, and not seeing some of the defensive mistakes in the games as more casual fans.    It's easy to sit at home and say play more players or develop them.  But the coaches can't be miracle workers.  The players have to earn the coaches' trust to play in critical situations.

 

I was calling for minutes for Chandler in the second half last night, but I have to think the coaches know more about it then me.   I think the coaches are just trying to survive the game and get a W, rather than use it as a platform for developing the bench.  That is going to have to come from practice reps now that the kids can get them, and games in which each possession isn't critical, like a road game at Iowa.

I think some of it is coaching. I don't know what roll Jeff Greisch has with the team IE at all of the practices or not. But he seems to be able to dissect the game fairly well and last he made the comment that Murren should have seen some time when the opponent was zoning and not a hint of her coming off the bench.

[Bugeaters1]

Geez HB I hate it when somebody stops and thinks things out on a message board. you are most likely right. That loss last night to Iowa at Iowa wouldn't hurt us come March. It just hurt to lose to a team that we had by the throat and let them get away.

The one thing that has bothered(?) me over the years with a Yori coached team is that we often only play one way and that is full steam ahead. If we make some of our shots we could have extented the lead to 20. But, we miss and it is early in the shot clock and we allow the other team to claw back in. Then we try to slow it down and end up taking some bad shots as the shot clock runs out.

I went looking to see what Iowa fans had to say about last night. After looking at like 6 sites I found one thread about the game and it was just getting to its second page. They thought that Rachel clipped her trail leg, and also thought because Rachel didn't throw a fit that she knew she fouled her. Rachel did throw a fit, I saw her smile, and for her that is a lot of emotion.

Any how tells you we are much more into this than they are.

that's evident by having to reduce ticket prices to a buck to get the crowd that they got last night.

[huskerchode]

I agree, the injury situation hasn't helped, but at this point in the season, shouldn't some of these girls be able to play a couple of minutes?  They not only need practice time to develop, but also some game time (thrown into the fire for a few minutes).  I guess I'm thinking ahead to next year, and I'm very concerned. 

 

HB, I share your thoughts on the recruiting class that contained Tvrdy.  Havers was the one I was looking forward to, and she has helped us, although it would be nice to see some more minutes from her.  I didn't understand the offer to Tvrdy at the time it was made.  I don't remember if I ever expressed my doubts on the board.

 

We were also hampered last year by the early departure of Katie Simon.  I think she would have helped a year ago, although that could have cut into Haver's minutes last year. 

[kansashusker]

very few teams across the country play more than 7.5 or 8 kids in conf. games.  Just the way it is.  there are tons of tv timeouts and the kids are in good enough shape to play 32-35 if they need to. Rachel can play more because we play a very scouting report oriented defense and she usually gets a weaker kid that can't shoot as well so she doesn't have to pressure the ball which allows her to save energy for offense.

 

Our freshman will be fine.  Natalie and Chandler will play some this year because they are the most ready and we need them.  It will be rocky at times next year when we lose the 4 srs. but if you recall it was rocky at times early in their careers also. They current freshman class plus the incoming class will have some great seasons down the road if Jess is healthy.

 

I really like Brandi and Tee, but I feel comfortable that our freshman will be able to fill in those two spots next year and not see a huge back court drop off.  Where we will struggle early is replacing Cady and Hallie.  Havers is a good young role player and will score but can't rebound nearly as well as those two because of strength.

 

Sadie and Tvrdy might have played some this year if they had stayed, especially early when we had injuries, but it wouldn't have been enough to make either one of them happy. 

[huskerchode]

This is just a snapshot of the past weekend's games.  I used the current AP top 25 to look back at each team's # players and # of bench minutes.  Average # players used was 10.04 with a range from 7 to 14.  Average number of minutes from bench was 60.32 with a range from 27 to 106.  Would be interesting to go back into the season and look at trends.

 

Rank

Team

# players used

Minutes from bench

1

South Carolina

9

39

2

Uconn

11

106

3

Baylor

11

74

4

Notre Dame

11

82

5

Maryland

10

43

6

Tennessee

10

71

7

Oregon State

9

53

8

Louisville

9

74

9

Florida State

12

90

10

Kentucky

10

77

11

Arizona State

9

54

12

Stanford

10

61

12

Texas A&M

11

49

14

Texas

11

80

15

Nebraska

8

27

16

North Carolina

10

54

17

Duke

9

51

18

Mississippi State

11

51

19

Princeton

14

58

20

Iowa

10

50

21

Georgia

9

64

22

Rutgers

9

67

23

Syracuse

9

39

24

Oklahoma

12

60

25

Chattanooga

7

34

[kansashusker]

So many factors play into that though most notably margin of victory and foul trouble. For instance Iowa's bench minutes were inflated because big kid had to sit out most of the first half. Had she not been in foul trouble she would have been in most if not all of those minutes.

[HB]

Just for fun, I'm going back to Emily's 18 boards.  18!   That's a few for an undersized post player.  She is a warrior.  I don't even want to think about not having her on our team.  #indenialshe'sasenior

[Row6Seat10]

It was just a year or so ago that Bluder said that Iowa's rivals were Purdue and Ohio St and that Nebraska was more less another team on their schedule.  I might have believed that had they not carried on the way they did after the game and all through out the day today. As much as they don't want to admit it we are their "superbowl". 

 

Yeah, you can say I don't care for Iowa.

 

I'd like nothing better than a complete beat down when they visit PBA in a few weeks with twice the fans in attendance who don't need gimmick promotions to go to the game and will gladly pay regular prices for a ticket!

[Silverbacked1]

I am hoping that I can be there.

Iowa kind of reminds me of a Kansas State kind of deal.