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Gamafn

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Everything posted by Gamafn

  1. As another sometime critic, Amy (and the players of course, especially Jaz) absolutely deserve mucho credit for this sustained excellent performance. Dumb turnovers and ill-advised 3s have at times been serious problems this year. I said in another thread that the team needs to make ‘good look’ 3s (at >35%) and control turnovers (<12) to beat good teams. It did just that against MSU, and while they had 15 to’s against Maryland they also made 13 3s @ 45+%. I stand by my opinion that the team is not overly athletic or quick, which usually has shown up in ineffective man-to-man defensive spurts throughout the season. But they’re now playing really high energy TEAM defense that largely compensates for any quickness limitations. So once again, kudos to the coaching staff and players. Do they have enough left in the tank to overcome a probable Iowa rubber match? Big ask, but that’s why they call it madness.
  2. I don’t know since I haven’t seen any of the mentioned players play except a bit of video on Prince. But watch 10 minutes of any of our games against decent opposition and count the number of times we are completely beat one-on-one off the dribble. That number will be well into double digits.
  3. I think this team is playing about as well defensively as can be expected given the team’s overall lack of athleticism and quickness. But the offensive inconsistency is not acceptable since imo it’s largely due to dumb turnovers and ill-advised 3-point shots. These should be correctable, or at least improvable. If we don’t shoot well over 35% from 3 AND turn the ball over < ~12 times, we probably can’t beat a good team like MSU.
  4. Gamafn

    Potts

    Agree with several observations, especially about substitution patterns, defensive strategy and recruiting. Here’s one more that’s actually related to the last two: we don’t have nearly enough quickness and athleticism to compete against most top 10-15 teams, which is especially noticeable on defense.
  5. Serious question: what is Jaz’s role? We seem to have taken our most skilled overall offensive player, who has demonstrated she can score inside and outside, and turned her into a passive pass-only point guard. She rarely looks for her own shot and we even more rarely run a play to free her up for a shot. Her go-to play now seems to be a drive into the paint followed by a no-look pass out to 3-point shooter. Yet I thought White was our primary point guard and Shelley our most proven 3-point shooter!
  6. Agree about Markowski’s improvement and effort, and I’ve sometimes been a critic. Potts is also close to stud territory and White is solid. But the Kendal’s are frankly disappointing. They’re in their third year in the program and while fairly solid on defense, they don’t really contribute anything else, i.e., scoring, rebounding, assists. And I notice you don’t say anything about Jaz other than she plays a lot of minutes. She has the most complete skill set on the team but just isn’t showing it. Her scoring, rebounds and assists are all pretty good, but pretty good isn’t nearly good enough for an all-B1G third year player whose ceiling is much higher than her production. Not sure whether she’s being misused or has simply lost the fire.
  7. It would be great for rebounding and athleticism if Coley or Moriarty were the 5th but they just haven’t performed or been coached up. Neither has Krull or Nisseley, but at least the sample size is small for Nisseley. Hake has the best season numbers but that would give us a very small backcourt. Maybe that doesn’t matter given how much Williams subs and how much White rebounds for her size.
  8. Was at the game. Observations: Maybe 30-40 Husker fans there. Not bad since the gym otherwise was pretty empty. officials let a lot go, especially by Lamar, but it wasn’t as bad as claimed here. Lamar is pretty good and played hard. They started red hot and we couldn’t stop their dribble drive. Our switch to zone and increased intensity by 2nd unit in 2nd quarter were keys to turnaround. Stewart was still using scooter. Potts had a quietly efficient 22. She’s got the potential to be very good. As a sometimes critic of Markowski, happy to admit she’s playing aggressively well and wants the ball at crunch time. Jaz seemed unfocused at the start but was money when it was most needed. She has to play 4 good qtrs against good competition for us to have a chance. White was solid, especially at crunch time. Everyone else contributed, but we need a 5th difference maker badly. Getting Stewart back will help but Weidner was most likely that person. They are being coached hard during play, especially on defense by our assist. coaches, and it seems to be working. This team is not overly athletic but is playing with more defensive intensity this year. Matchup between Markowski and TCU’s 6’7” post will be worth a watch on Saturday. Unfortunately I can’t go.
  9. Embarrassingly bad organization and promotion for this (non) event by tournament folks. Even today Google St Pete Showcase and see what info you can find - hint: nothing. Since we live nearby we’re showing up at Eckerd College in hopes that they’re actually playing there!
  10. Not much to take from this type of game. Agree that these are probably our top 4 players and I’d also throw Stewart in there despite her defensive limitations. But Williams seems intent in using AS in a reserve role so yes, we need a fifth. Where I disagree is with the “good to great” classification. None of these 4 approaches being called a great college player. Potts has potential as a frosh and White may be our best player, a great addition to the team. But Jaz and AW seem to be the same players that they were two years ago, good but rarely great. I keep hoping to be able to say, “Wow, Jaz and Alexis are noticeably improved this year.” Hasn’t happened.
  11. Quick observations/opinions from watching the videos: General - thanks for providing them! - these Greek teams aren’t very good for “all-stars.” The first one looked like a high school all-star team at best while Patras was maybe equivalent to a DIII college all-star team. Hard to draw many definitive conclusions. - our high scores and pace are partially the result of a 24 sec shot clock. Maybe there’s a message there. The Good - all of Williams’ teams are deep, but this team is DEEP. Ten players all played well with similar minutes against Patras, and 3 of our likely major contributors down the road didn’t play. - as others have noted the newbies are going to contribute, but White especially. She needs to be our starting point guard with Shelley off-ball. - both Stewart and Markowski seem maybe to be in improved shape, and AM displayed a move or two that I don’t think she had last year. - team defense at times looks improved. - while we don’t seem to have an instant plug-in for Bourne, Potts plus the new Aussie may do the trick. The Not So Good (admittedly hard to complain when you win by 60!) - too many missed bunnies, especially in the first half. AM probably had 5 by herself. - Shelley is our best all around player but seems to be underutilized, seemingly content to hang around the perimeter jacking up 3s and throwing high risk passes. She has a good in the paint skill set both shooting and creating but we rarely see it. - speaking of jacking up 3s, if we’re going to shoot 30 of them we really should make more than 11 against a vastly inferior team. Every year Williams seems to think that’s a team strength, but other than those relatively few times when Jaz has gone full Seth Curry the stats tend not to support it. - every year I hope to see at least a couple of players who have clearly been coached up to a new level. Obviously too early to tell but nobody jumped off the screen in these two games. The biggest eyeball plus is a transfer - White.
  12. I’ve argued elsewhere that our #1 need is a true point guard - a spark plug distributor and defender who shoots and drives well enough to keep defenses honest but whose primary responsibility is to get the ball to Jaz, AM, Weidner, etc. in the right spots. This recruit therefore looks promising, but she’s one thumb up to me for now. She seems to be a very good defender and disrupter, which we lack. Surprisingly good rebounding numbers for her height. Apparently finds ways to score enough to keep defenses honest, and delivers in the clutch. Otoh, shooting percentages not impressive, nor is 3.7 apg for a primary distributor. Court vision and handle tbd. So the real unknown is whether she brings new and needed true point guard skills to the team, in which case she’s three thumbs up (I’ll borrow one), or whether she’s primarily just a shorter version of what we already have (thumb amputation).
  13. Wanted to keep this thread going post-Jaz decision. We’re now almost 3 weeks past the Jaz decision with no indication that we’re active in the portal. This could be incorrect given the paucity of info, but there’s no reason to expect this coaching crew to suddenly become aggressive roster enhancers, absent a Trev mandate of course. To me the pertinent roster management question is not how many spots are still open (it’s probably 3), but rather what roster needs do we still have if our goal is, say, 25 wins? Here are my answers: 1) a TRUE point guard who can distribute efficiently first and foremost, but can also shoot and get to the hole well enough to keep defenses honest. Neither Jaz nor Alison fits this description IMO. Jaz is a great shooter when she’s OFF ball, and her great passing vision is offset by her frequently poor passing judgment. Alison, even if healthy, is not a good enough outside shooter or right-hand handler. 2) a low-post scorer/rebounder, i.e., Bourne clone. Maybe one or both of the incoming frosh can immediately fill this need but that’s wishful thinking. In all likelihood we need roster ADDITIONS to meet these needs, so it’s disheartening but not completely surprising that we don’t seem to be pursuing either in the portal. 3) Equally important for 25-win roster management is the development of the existing roster, especially Markowski. Getting Weidner back at full strength is obviously important, but AM simply has to get quicker and more creative offensively, i.e., become a Czinano clone. If our coaches find a way to meet all 3 of these roster needs I think 25 wins is the floor for this team. If none of the 3 occur (unfortunately much more likely in my view) then I think 18-20 is the ceiling.
  14. This team was ranked 22 pre-season based on last season and returners, and that was after everyone thought Sam was out for the year. So the team basically lost AW and gained SH for most of the year, statistically more or less a wash. While AW’s intangibles may have resulted in a couple more wins, there is much more at issue here. The keys to taking the next step for this team were: 1) further improvement/ development of the “big three” - Shelley, Markowski and Bourne 2) addition of elite athleticism, especially at point guard The big 3 have flatlined or regressed, even with Jaz’s spectacular game last night. And the team has no true point guard, let alone an elitely athletic one. Recruiting, roster management, development, in-game adjustments all = coaching.
  15. Minn averages 71 pts/gm. We gave them 95, and for way too many of those 95 the word ‘gave’ is absolutely appropriate. Atrocious defense, never fighting over ball screens and no effective in-game defensive adjustments.
  16. So much is made of recruiting to Amy’s culture, and it seemingly had some success last year. But it’s more or less the same players as last year so the importance of culture now seem overblown. This team lacks quickness, athleticism, development, basketball IQ and toughness. Every single player has seemingly flatlined or regressed from last year.
  17. Amy TO down 8 with 9 seconds left!? Oh, and last 3 shots were 3-point airballs. Painful to watch.
  18. 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.
  19. 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 . . . . . .
  20. Yep, look at Coach Ruhle aggressively recruiting the legacy Raiola kid, who lives in Arizona! When has Amy ever recruited a true difference-maker who has not transferred out? No, neither Markowski nor Weidner fit that description yet, and does anyone really have confidence that this staff will develop them to that level?
  21. The good: Great team D led to a win over a top 20 team while shooting < 40%. Mendelson quickly emerging as a quality post addition. The bad: Weidner obviously. She provided some scoring (not much last night) but it’s her energy, athleticism and defensive intensity that will be virtually impossible to replace. Regarding the earlier discussion about concerns over the 3 position, this issue becomes even more muddled without Weidner. In a 3 guard offense that most teams seem to be running now I’m not sure how the 3 differs much from the 1 and 2. It’s not rebounding, at least for us, since Jaz and Alison are the primary guard rebounders. It’s not 3-point shooting either. In my perhaps overly simplistic thinking we have two posts and 3 more or less interchangeable guards. We have no ‘pure’ point guard or shooting guard. The posts seem solid, especially adding MM. At G we now have Jaz and the 7 dwarfs. Sam is the 2nd option but her health and minutes are uncertain. All the remaining G options COMBINED for 6 points and 5 rebounds in a substantial minutes last night, albeit with very good defensive contributions. It seems to me we either need 30 minutes from Sam, or someone else to step up and give us fairly consistent 10 and 5.
  22. Speechless! This team is never going to be elite defensively but it can play solid team d with effort. If it does it will be In almost every game even when their shooting is not lights out. When they’re hot like today AND have good d they’re really fun to watch! And this W wasn’t just because we were hot from 3. We did make 12 3s, but also 18 2s and 18 FTs. And all of this on the road, where we’re supposed to suck, after a humiliating loss. Don’t know what buttons you pushed Amy, but push them again while avoiding the VTech ones.
  23. Haiby and maybe Mendelsohn will help some, but this team is just deeply disappointing. Defense clearly worse than last year and it wasn’t that great then. Of the 4 returning starters only Lizzy seems not to have regressed offensively. Yes VT is very good, but that’s really the point. Last year NU and VT had very similar seasons - very good but not great records, all-conference centers and disappointing first round NCAA tournament losses. VT hit the transfer market, developed what they had coming back and got better. We didn’t and got worse.
  24. Mendelson has played around 40 sets this year on an elite team as a first year player who didn’t arrive early because she should still be in high school. Hardly a non-contributor. She has a bright VB future. Could wbb use another big? Absolutely, especially since AM (injured?) has not yet shown any improvement from last year. Hopefully MM will be the missing link after Christmas.
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