HUD

When coach Cook recruited her making her an offer he said he liked projects like she would be. He said she was very athletic and since she hadn't played that much club volleyball she would likely be a redshirt candidate her first year. Since she committed to VB we have picked up several top notch outside hitters so you never know about her changing sports or doing both. If Cook thinks she continues to have a big VB future I don't see a dual sport for her. Anyway I would like to see her play BB and spread the wealth around a bit.

Maybe not starting helps her to be more relaxed when she does come in. She is definitely playing like we hoped she would.

First of all I'm very happy we won. I thought we'd win by 5 and a road victory is always sweet. I think we are playing now at about the same level as last year at this time. Not quite as well defensively but with substantially better depth. I agree that we try to get the ball into Cain some times when the percentage of getting it to her and then making the shot isn't too good. As for rebounds, it's that at times especially against athletic posts like Northwestern's Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpan or Wittinger from Illinois and Jenna Allen from Mich. St., Kate gives up way too many offensive rebounds. The good news is that they are all seniors and Kate is a sophomore. She needs to get quicker and stronger. Northwestern had 16 more shots then us primarily from getting 11 more offensive rebounds and having 3 less turnovers. Lucky we were hot and they weren't.

Two huge plays in a row by Haiby during the last couple of minutes were timely especially for a freshman.. First when Cain let #14 slip inside for what it looked like was going to be a put back off an offensive rebound Haiby slips in and steals the ball and then on the other end she has a fantastic drive to the hoop for 2 points. Big keys in our winning the game.

I will admit that I tend to be overly optimistic at times. Hope this isn't one of them. We are due.

If we are the improving team that most of us think we are then we will go into this game with a chip on our shoulders and showing great hustle and determination come away with a 5 point win. GBR!!

A lot goes into recruiting. We have many things to offer here as noted in the past such as fans, facilities etc. but it comes down to the comfort level with the staff and their vision of the future for the program and the potential recruits. Keep your fingers crossed as she is the type of player we need to help take the program to another level.

Northwestern is a must win game.

Brown barring injury will continue to start. She had a lot better +/_ rating today and stats as well. She is a more complete player, tougher and works harder then Taylor at least in my mind.

We need to win 3 or 4 out of our last 5 conference games and then 2 in the Big Ten tournament. Should be good enough to go to the WNIT where we could have a deep run.

Besides another point guard we really need a power forward that can do it all including giving us a consistent outside threat. Hopefully that's coming next year.

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

Almost each game Kate is getting outplayed by the other teams post players. Can't win against the good teams on a regular basis with an average center.

Kate hasn't been able to get as many point blank shots as she had last year. She has been pushed out a bit further by the defense where her percentage really drops. Most good posts would kill you at the 10 to 15 ft range (Verbeek) but not Kate.

Previously I thought you were an Iowa fan. Now I'm sure of it!!!

What's her name?

Just curious but how do you know that to be the case?

In the illy game we started to see a little more of the driving and passing off with some success. Just need more of it. People playing under control.

We got out rebounded by 8 which should never happen against Illinois especially with our height advantage. Wittinger had 7 offensive rebounds with at least 3 of those coming when Kate had position on her but Wittinger just jumped higher and wasn't called for over the back because Kate didn't back her out. With Kate's length and size this should never happen.

The thing we don't get to see is the practices. Maybe the veterans do well there but get up tight in actual games. The thing I think is happening is that the teams we play know our weaknesses a lot better this year and exploit many of them.

We need to contain Wittinger some. She is very active and out played Cain last year. I think Veerbeek will be an asset in this game.

I have always liked her especially after seeing one of her high school games which showed me she has great fundamentals and hustle with an unselfish attitude. My wife and I talked to her after her game and she came across as a first class Young Lady as well. Just watch some of her past games to see the many contributions she makes that don't hit the stat sheet.

Wow. I knew it would be interesting but it really does show who is doing well with their minutes in conference play which are the only stats that I follow.

I think Maddie is very close to losing her starting position. It's not just her lack of scoring or having too many turnovers she also stands around too much on defense and her rebounding has declined as well. Sitting on the bench with less minutes hasn't helped maybe not starting will. I came to this conclusion after rewatching some of the recent games. Just my opinion which doesn't mean jack ----.

We pay our coach big bucks to figure this all out. She has been concerned about rebounding and turn overs most of this year. We've seen a consistent improvement in rebounding but not in turnovers. Kate had a rebound ripped from her hands when Rutgers finally missed a 3 towards the end of the first qtr. and guess what, they made another three out of that. I had to quit watching after the first half because I couldn't stand to see Hannah throw one more ridiculous pass. The worst stat for the starters were of the 19 turnovers we committed 16 was by the starters. I would start Haiby, Brown, Eliely, Mershon and Cain.