Gamafn

Agree, but this presumes that substantial development occurs after the first year. Cain showed great promise as a 10/7/3 frosh. Unfortunately she flat-lined after that. Markowski, Weidner, etc. need to be coached up and have the desire to work at getting better.

No doubt the officials swallow the whistle somewhat in the tournament, but your numbers are embellished. In the Creighton game the Jays were called for 12 fouls and the Hawks 10. In our last game against Iowa we were called for 18 and they for 16. Iowa scores 83 against us and 62 against Creighton; Jays win by 2 and we lose by 17. We lost because we didn’t defend, not because of the refs.

We need an assistant coach who not only can recruit effectively, but also who can teach aggressive, relentless defense. That was an impressive defensive performance today by the Jays. We have better overall talent than they do but we couldn’t defend the Hawkeyes.

Very disappointing. Outplayed on offense and defense, and badly outcoached. Yes this team was younger than the Zags, but that was also true throughout the B1G season and we generally played much better even against the top teams. Very good nucleus returning, but all the key returnees need to become much better than they showed today.

Seems like Clark has gotten inside a lot of people’s heads. Of course she shouldn’t be allowed to get away with the minor feet shuffling, but that hardly gave her a substantial competitive advantage. Bottom line is we had no one who could do anything to slow her down when she wanted to score. While that’s true for most teams, also getting dominated inside by Czinano was especially disappointing and too much to overcome. And we’d better figure something out since they’re both back next year!

The key to the team’s post-season success is its ability/willingness to play sustained and intense team defense, especially since it doesn’t have the overall quickness to compensate for individual defensive lapses. The team can score, albeit inefficiently at times due to turnovers, but in its 2 huge wins they won because they held high-powered Indiana and Michigan to under 60. So they’re capable. Yet last night the mediocre at best Badgers dropped 70, and last week equally average Penn State put up 83. In those two games we displayed weakness in defending BOTH the 3 and the backdoor cut, while most decent teams should be able to take away at least one. Sorry to sound negative after an important road win, but I firmly believe the team has Sweet 16 potential with the right matchups and defensive commitment. But if they flame out defensively they might not be dancing at all.

My point was that players aren’t developing, I.e. getting BETTER, and maybe in a few cases are actually getting worse. Roles do change, especially with so much new blood, but the data clearly support my conclusion. Cain’s role, for example, didn’t fundamentally change in four years, yet she flatlined at roughly 10/7/3 for her entire career. Markowski’s already better except for blocks. It’s easy to convert stats to ‘per-40 minutes’ to test the hypothesis. For example Sam’s points per 40 has dropped slightly from last year (16.8 to 16.0) while her 3-pt % has dropped substantially (37% to 24%). Issie’s points per 40 are basically flat from last year (17.9 to 18.2) while her rebounds per 40 are down notably (9.84 to 8.36). The keys for the future are Markowski and Weidner. Markowski could be an all-American and Weidner all-B1G with proper development, and if that happens this team will make some serious noise in future Marches. But recent history does not provide a basis for optimism.

This team’s player development is an enigma. The team is better than last year because of impressive team culture and additions to the roster, especially Markowski, Shelley and Weidner. But none of the returning players has gotten significantly better, and several have seemingly regressed. And Jaz’s performance trajectory during the year has also pretty clearly been uneven at best after showing elite promise early (yes I know the competition has increased). This seems to be a pattern with Williams-coached teams, e.g., Cain, Whitish. Kudos to the coaching staff for some solid recruiting and team culture development, but Xs and Os, in-game coaching and player development are still suspect. The obvious exception is Markowski, who has ascended this year from a key sub to the clear choice for B1G Frosh of the Year and probable All-B1G recognition. She may be the only player who has played consistently well since the start of the new year. But has she really been coached up, or was she always this good and just needed playing time and confidence?

The team can score and they play hard. As many have noted they are not overly athletic, which becomes exposed on perimeter defense no matter how hard they play. To me that’s the defensive limitation, not tired legs. We play more players meaningful minutes than any team in the league, so we should be less tired on average than the opposition. I don’t know why we don’t switch up defenses on occasion, but that’s just me. But in spite of their limitations, they win last night with 10 turnovers instead of 16, or with 20 made bunnies out of 31 rather than the atrocious 14. These have been two major weaknesses all year, and don’t seem to be getting better.