WBB - Youngstown State game 1/07/12

[jack]

We have a formidable opponent coming in tomorrow to take on our lady Crusaders. I feel we are up to the task. It's pretty simple. 3 keys to the game - Brown, Brown, Brown. She's the leading scorer, rebounder, and cheerleader. Take her out of the game, and this one's a W. Even if we've have another sub-par shooting effort, We can keep them under 47 with the same D we've displayed thus far, if we take brown out of the game. As a side note, our shooters need to keep shooting to keep the preasure on. I'd bet money we won't see another offensive night as we had against CS, the rest of the season. They are as rare as 75% shooting efforts. They just don't happen. I'm predicting a 62 - 47 W for us. I think they'll see us as a wounded duck, and not give our D the respect it deserves.

[jack]

Great. Back to six players. They just anounced that Timmerman is sick. She's dressed, but probably won't play. This season's turning into a Greek tragedy.
Come on Ladies. Give them hell. We've won 2 with six. Let's make it 3!

[jack]

Up 20-17 at the half. Offense is really struggling, but their D is playing great. Controlling Brown in the 1st half has been huge. If we can get more shots to fall in the 2nd half, this could come out favorably!

[jack]

Great effort in a losing cause. 55 - 48. Just can't do it with 5 players, period.

[KL31NY]

If it weren't for YSU's numerous fouls causing 26 Valpo free throws, I don't think this would have been so close. We went 0-13 from behind the arc and our regulars were on the floor all the time. 40 MIN for Lange, Carr, and Richards. 38 MIN for Gerardot and Varner. 4 MIN for Jansone (all but one in the first half).

Given the outrageous circumstances we were playing in, I was pleased with the grittiness of the starters and how we had control of the game at certain points. We actually led for most of the 1st half and the middle of the 2nd. Still, I'm sure it's been said before and I've said it enough off the forum to others, but we cannot play 5 or 6 deep and hold on for wins in the HL, especially with the inconsistencies we've had offensively.

Btw jack, I like the comparison to a Greek tragedy. Very apt. Hopefully we can get through the season before it becomes like Shakespeare when nearly everyone is a casualty of some sort.

[IndyValpo]

What have we learned from this:
1. We had a tough, gritty group of players on the floor
2. Jansone served her 3rd Freeman imposed suspension on top of the 11 the NCAA handed out
3. Jansone is no closer to helping us than she was in the first 11 games...thanks Coach
4. We add more and more minutes on the five who played

Question, if one of the 5 had foulded out would he have put Jansone in, or pulled a Norman Dale?  At this point I don't think we know.

Please Mr AD do not be fooled by these injuries...we need a new coach, now is fine with me.

[valpotx]

Is Jansone not playing many minutes because of another reason outside of a lot of TO's and poor shooting?

[vusupporter]

Posted yesterday on NWI.com: http://www.nwitimes.com/blogs/sports/valparaiso-university/what-s-up-with-ieva-jansone-and-the-crusaders/article_db621f20-38ad-11e1-b978-001871e3ce6c.html

[Crusader03]

Hard-fought loss...not much else to say.  It's the same old story every game.

[jack]

It goes without saying, that our short bench is our biggest hurdle right now, followed closely by our lack of offensive output, which can be directly related to our short bench. 3 of 33 from 3 the past two games can be attributed by fatique more then anything else. My hat's off to the defensive game plan and execution thus far. Again, you don't play this kind of defense with an extremely short bench without paying the price on offense. It can't be done.
Now to another issue that's been sticking in my crawl. Jansone. If this young lady is all she's billed to be, then why isn't she playing? The arguement the coaches give "It wouldn't be fair to put her in there when she hasn't had the 5 on 5 reps. needed to learn the system" is a load of who who. A talented, intelegent player, as she is billed, would learn enough by observing to understand what we are trying to do offensively. It's time to wake up, and realize, even more then someone that "understands what we're trying to do", we need healthy bodied athletes to get in the mix and give our starters a blow. You can't have your legs under you to shoot when you've been running up and down the courts 40 minutes, all game, every game. One greatly affects the other. When do we plan on playing her, come tourney time? We won't have anyone left by then if we don't get these ladies some help.
I want to thank these ladies for their heart and grit this season. As Freeman mentioned, I think they have earned all of our respect for their "no quit" attitude. They leave it on the floor every night, knowing there isn't any help coming in the near future. I only hope we can keep them healthy enough to continue.

[valporun]

At this point, play Jansone! If she makes some mistakes, she makes some mistakes. Let her be the women's Vucic for some time. Have her learn by being on the court, and just make sure that she does something productive, like get rebounds, play some defense, set some picks, or something. At least it would give one or two players a minor break.