HUD

I tried to add a picture of Mckenna Minter as she was blocking a shot in one of her recent games. The picture was in the Lincoln Journal. Since I am rather computer illiterate I couldn't obviously get it properly done.

That has been my thought for most of this season. One of the most frustrating things and totally unnecessary.

I for one hope to hell it's your last.

In watching many of the rated teams over the years one thing that stands out is senior leadership. We don't have much this year and that lack of "showing the way" really effects the team especially during crunch time. With as many underclassmen as we have this year and will have next year they need leaders to look up to.

It wasn't weird at all, just didn't see it like I used to after making a big play. Who knows the reason. Just an observation.

Never once did I say she wasn't happy. She just never in Washington's offense this year get's to show off her multitude of talents and I feel that will change next year. Don't want anyone to read anything else into my observations and comments.

When at the game the other night I noticed several Az. St. players on crutches. They have a lot of depth but basically lost the game to Washington in the last 7 minutes when their outstanding freshman point guard got pummeled by a Wash. player in the backcourt. No foul as I don't even think the ref's even saw it. As noted previously in several posts the Refereeing is very inconsistent within the game and both ways. Fun to watch the nations leading scorer (Plum 34 pts) and nations leading rebounder (Osafor 20rb) both playing for Wash. who along with Romeo basically played the whole game. Washington graduates their main players and imo will not be near as good next year. I'm sure Natalie likes playing for a highly rated team but she isn't a main part of the offense this year as it's basically a 2 man show with Plum and Osafor averaging nearly 50 points per game between them. Natalie doesn't see the ball much as they aren't using many of the skills she showed for us last year. I'm sure that will change next year. Also I never saw her once flash that big smile that we were used to seeing last year.

Oh crap! I didn't realize Lindsey Moore was there. Guess I'll have to go to another game since it's so easy to get great seats. Maybe sneak into a seat behind the bench.

I'm spending some time in Phoenix so went to the 8th rated Washington Huskies WBB game against 19th rated Arizona St. Got to see Kianna Ibis (AS) and Natalie Romeo (WU) play. Great game won by Huskies. Details on an upcoming post. Any way I went up to the ticket window and asked if you could get General admission tickets yet for this big Pac 12 game. Yep. Any thing above row 10. So sat in row 11 mid court. Couldn't believe it. Announced attendance was 2600. There wasn't over 1500 there. Big Red does have a great fan base indeed and Pinnacle is second to none.

With teams all focused on stopping Jess we need to see more scoring from Allie. She is a senior with 4 years experience. Also need to make higher percentage passes a priority.

I see that Mike Riley suddenly now has a couple of openings on his staff. Maybe they will hire Mike Minter which would help grease the path for her to become a Husker. Just kidding but her dad was one the most dedicated and talented Huskers ever.

I am on the same bandwagon as well. There is a lot more upside to Riley as a freshman then Esther as a senior. Besides Esther dribbles too much. Riley does seem to know what she is doing. On another topic just when Maddie was starting to look a bit more settled down the previous couple of games she took a step backward in confidence last night highlighted when she dribbled the ball off her leg coming down the floor with no pressure on her. We really need her to improve coming off the bench. I'm pulling for her as I have always been a fan. Hopefully it will come as it's not not physical ability but mental right now.

From my perspective we finally have a starting five that is beginning to play together and do OK when the competition is average at best. I emphasize beginning as we still attempt to throw some low percentage passes. I can overlook those coming from our freshmen but not our 2 seniors. Our biggest problem is now that Hannah is a starter and doing well we don't get much production off the bench. You look for subs to come in and at least hold their own. Last night that didn't happen and when we substituted our lead started to go down. I really like Grace's attitude and would like to see her play more.

I'm sure Coach Williams knew pretty well what she was getting into. She was handed a big mess. We may see a few more wins this year or maybe not. Irregardless my prediction is that we will be much better next year with only 4 of the eligible players from this year being on the top 8 next year.

My wife when watching Esther says the same thing. She asks me " why does she skip when dribbling the ball"? It drives her nuts. I'm glad somebody else noticed it as well.

I was on the road all day so didn't get to watch the game yet but in reading the above comments and looking at the Stat Sheet the thing that stands out in addition to the turnovers is the lack of production from the bench. 10 points less in this game then Iowa. Need to find somebody there to step up.

In my opinion we don't have much to lose in trying different things as we may stumble on to something that suits us better in our match ups. That includes a different starting lineup in 2 positions.

Hallie Sample 4 year starter, All Big ten defensive player. Great rebounder. Good ball handler. Team Player.

i think her mom may be the teams VB coach. They have won 11 state championships in class 2A. She also seems to be willing to pass the ball and made some good ones from the Hudl highlights. The best thing is she is an 82% free throw shooter.

Guess what Norm. Life is full of big ifs. I prefer to take the optimistic approach and support the team as much as possible going forward.

According to my math which isn't always correct we have 13 presently on scholarship. Three of those are redshirted. Riley j. is still a walk-on for now but probably will be put on scholarship for next year just like Woody was after her freshmen season.. With Kissinger coming in and Allie and Esther graduating we will have 3 open assuming no one else leaves. If Riley does get a scholarship we will still have 2 open out of 15 for 2017.

Caveman you beat me to the punch on the statistics. On my long drive home from the game last night I was thinking how at the start of the 1st and 3rd quarters we were really outplayed. So I added up some of the stats. and came to the same conclusion you did. I would add to those the fact that the rebounds were very close and also that the starters averaged about 5 minutes more playing time each then the next 5. i don't want to speculate why several of our more experienced players are struggling but will be interested if coach Williams makes some changes going into conference play. With the exception of Nicea our starters looked tight and the freshmen looked relaxed. Grace really worked hard and has really shown improvement. Overall it was a fun night at PBA and the crowd gave a good round of applause for both teams at the conclusion of the game which was very classy. GBR.

Thanks redsteve I missed that. Guess I shouldn't have brought the topic up as it seems to have gotten some knots in a few peoples shorts. I do think that Kylee Jensen will go down as one of our biggest misses in recruiting.

Let me clear up what high level players mean to me. First of all stars and ratings have proven to be somewhat over rated at times. Many examples of such players exist. My definition are players who fit in and do well in a coaches program irregardless of their ratings. They continue to develop through out their careers. One of the best examples of this is Kaylee Jensen from the small school of Genoa Ne. She wasn't even rated by ESPN coming out of HS but has done quite well in her 3rd season at Oklahoma St. She is a 6' 4" post who as a soph. starter last year was 2nd team all Big 12 and is leading her undefeated team in most categories this year. She completely outplayed Chatrice White in the district finals their senior years of HS. Wasn't recruited very much by Yori.