Ohio St. pregame talk

[Bugeaters1]

Yori said in her post game yesterday that the staff thought about starting Jass instead of Clark against MSU, Do you think that Jass will  start Thursday and guard Mitchell?

[KarlHessEatMy....]

I think its going to take more than 1 person to guard Mitchell!!

[HUD]

The problem for us is not just Mitchell but also Alston.  Both are fast, can shoot and are really playing well together.  J. Cincore is strong and has decent speed.  Also her shooting and passing continues to improve.  You don't see people playing off of her like they do K. Clark.  Cincore also is better at driving and finishing at the basket.  She needs to have more minutes then Clark as Jas has a lot more of an upside.  Havers needs to limit her turnovers especially her high number of traveling calls.  She has been playing for 3 years but a lot of her mistakes are at freshmen levels.  Her jump shooting is good but she has a poor drive to the basket for some one with her height.  A relative healthy R. Blackburn should start.  I still would like to see some relevant minutes for Simon.

[huskerchode]

I think Maddie played well the past few games when she came off the bench.  I was hoping to see her yesterday - at least for a few minutes - but no such luck. 

 

Allie sometimes has tunnel vision when making a pass.  It's like she cannot see the defender that is close by.  Jess would sometimes do that in HS, but I do feel she has improved.

 

The past 3-4 games, it seems to me that about 3 players have worked on their shooting:  Romeo, Cincore, and Simon.  When Cincore hit that 3 at the end of the first quarter, it was a huge confidence builder.

 

Also, did anyone notice we only had 3 points at the 5 minute time-out yesterday?  We cannot start slow like that.  Against really good teams that absolutely kills us (I think MSU is over-rated a bit).  I cannot remember when Cincore came in the game in the 1st Q, but I'm willing to bet it was when our offense picked up a bit and our defense improved.  She was a spark yesterday, a much needed spark.

[HUD]

I agree and that's why we need to start Cincore.  Let Maddie relieve her and use Kendall for backup minutes for Natalie and Rachel.

[whoopdeedoo]

for a shot at pulling off another upset, huskers will need a complete team effort.

 

Alston, that's was the name i was looking for. she really went off on penn st (3's).

[huskerchode]

My only concern with Cincore is she has a tendency to get in some foul trouble.  If she starts, she may just pick up her fouls even sooner and then have to sit until the second half.  I think putting Maddie in there to absorb some of those fouls if not score might work, as long as she isn't turning the ball over.

[HUD]

I was also thinking about Cincore's potential fouling but that's a tendency for a lot of young players who want to prove their worth and they get a bit carried away.  The only way for them is to learn  to play through it avoiding such things as offensive fouls.

 

Havers has a propensity to foul a lot but still starts and she's been playing a lot over the past two years.  Cincore needs more playing time to eliminate some of the fouls.

 

If I remember right she had a good game a couple of weeks ago and then didn't see much playing time after that.

 

Connie needs to stick to a plan of letting some of the younger players gain valuable game experience.

[huskerchode]

The last few games she had Cincore, Kalenta, and Burns come off the bench.  I also think Kalenta has done some good things recently.  May not score a lot of points, but she can come in and give a solid few minutes to spell someone.  Would like to see Maddie in that rotation as well.  But maybe Yori doesn't feel like she's quite ready yet (based on practices we don't see).

 

Is Esther still sick?  Was anyone injured for yesterday's game?

 

One thing with Kalenta - she is definitely capable of scoring.  Cannot leave her unguarded, same with Havers.  I think about the only ones other teams may not guard closely are Clark and Esther.

[Bugeaters1]

The last few games she had Cincore, Kalenta, and Burns come off the bench.  I also think Kalenta has done some good things recently.  May not score a lot of points, but she can come in and give a solid few minutes to spell someone.  Would like to see Maddie in that rotation as well.  But maybe Yori doesn't feel like she's quite ready yet (based on practices we don't see).

 

Is Esther still sick?  Was anyone injured for yesterday's game?

 

One thing with Kalenta - she is definitely capable of scoring.  Cannot leave her unguarded, same with Havers.  I think about the only ones other teams may not guard closely are Clark and Esther.

Everyone was suited up and on the bench.

[redsteve]

Allie, Burns, and Anya foul a lot because of their position..... and the physical battles they play every game. Allie has been getting close to 8-10+ rebounds per game lot of times. Anya leads the team in blocks. You get called for fouls a lot because they're in the trenches battling. Jess fouled out a couple of games ago.

 

When you play inside and do it effectively....it takes a lot of skill to not foul a lot.

 

The guards out front are not going up for rebounds and banging with the other team constantly, to get rebounds.. How often does a guard foul out?

 

Both of MSU's bigs had 4 fouls and had to get some bench time in order to not foul out. It's wasn't because they have tendency to foul a lot. They're out there doing their job.

[whoopdeedoo]

allie tries to do too much at times. many times, she will have 1-2 "dumb" fouls. gotta be a little smarter.

[huskerchode]

I think some teams have noticed that they can take a charge from her.  She's a bit slow in her first step, enabling a defender to get set for the charge.  She might be better off popping up for the jump shot.

[Silverbacked1]

You can tell that Allie didn't live basketball as she grew up.  Being a three sport athlete helped her to do many athletic things, but the little things that get ingrained when you play one sport a lot aren't there for her.

 

I like multisport athletes but they do some times need some time to get "caught" up.

[whoopdeedoo]

the main "fouls" i look at are the ones that occur with someone driving to the basket whether it be a break away or someone drove past her. she's got to learn when to just let it go. too often it ends up with a 3pt play. 

[HUD]

Over the years I have been somewhat overly critical of Allie.  I guess I had too high of expectations due to her 6'5'' height.

 

By the time you are approaching the end of your junior season you should know your strengths and weaknesses and play to the best part of your game.  Trying to do things that you have trouble with should be eliminated.  She has a good attitude and is becoming more of a leader.  She has a nice mid range jumper, hits free throws and rebounds reasonably well except in traffic of the bigs.

She needs to limit her attempts at putting the ball on the floor and driving to the hoop in traffic.  She sometimes falls asleep on defense and ends up out of position.

 

Hallie Sample was a prime example of concentrating on the things she was good at and not trying to do it all.

[redsteve]

Agree with Silver....

 

I'm sure Allie is being coached to do new things, like driving to the basket, which she hasn't done much before. With Jess inside now, the coaches are trying new things with other bigs around the basket. 

 

I'm more impressed with her improvement this year than anything else. Hope she continues to do so. We have a nationally ranked top recruit that isn't perfect...yet. So Allie gets a little slack in my book.....like everyone else on the team. Allie works hard, has since she started here, and is very well like by her team mates.

[HUD]

It will be interesting going forward as to who will start when Rachel B. regains full health.  Tough competition makes them both better   as well as the team.

 

Same type of competition between Maddie and Jas will be interesting as well.

 

They all bring something different to the table so the variety once they are all healthy and more experienced will be good.

 

If it's not in the cards for the NCAA a longer run in the WNIT can provide valuable experience.

[Cazzie22]

Mitchell will get her points no matter the player guarding her and Alston is a major threat.  OSU will be way too much for us in Columbus.  Not very many good match-ups for NU.