A New Season of Crusader Women's Basketball

[IndyValpo]

IU is not a great team but this is a big win for us. This years team will play at a pace we haven't seen for years.  Richards strength is that she can run all game long.  She will be much better in this offense over the slow version we have had in recent memory.

We are not very big so running is a good way to hide that.

Dorow got more last night from Horton and Jansone than Freeman got in 2 years (Horton) and last year (Jansone). 

It is very early but we are headed in the right direction.

[FWalum]

I am sure that all of you have heard this before, but confidence is just huge in basketball as it is in every performance based activity.  Winning this game could go a long way in bolstering the confidence of some players that haven't had much to be confident about in recent years.  I give Coach Dorow a lot of credit for injecting a no fear attitude so quickly into this team.  I am sure that most people looked at this game on the schedule and thought that here we go again, another B1G vs small blowout. So glad the coaching staff and team didn't think that.

PS  IU has one of the best players to come out of Concordia Lutheran High School on their team.  I don't know if VU recruited Andrea Newbauer out of high school, but she and Angie Doerffler (VU softball) were a very good back court for the 3A state champion Lady Cadets.

[valpo64]

We saw the women's game and believe me Newbauer isn't anything special that's for sure...we were disappointed...she did not start from what I understand... we didn't see the first half but our kids were a fightin' bunch that's for sure...we were ahead the entire game...it was a great win vs. a big name school, even tho IU is not a big time program right now...by the way, IU plays a 6'6" girl in the middle

[milanmiracle]

Wonderful confidence builder for the women.  I don't care if IU ends up being the worst team in the BIG 10, any time you can beat someone from one of the BCS conferences I will take it!

Ding ding ding!!! I couldn't agree more!

[KL31NY]

Hot start to the season has not only cooled off, it's currently frozen solid. Eerily reminiscent of 2009-10 when VU had a program-best 3-0 start and proceeded to lose 9 straight, this year's team has in a similar funk.

As a recap, VU opened the season with wins against Indiana and Purdue Calumet, and now has lost five straight (IUPUI, Butler, #4 Duke, Western Illinois, St. Louis). Valpo lost 53-47 to the Billikens today despite getting a great start, leading 22-11 at one point. Good deal of VU turnovers, mostly on long passes across the court, transition plays. St. Louis did a much better job taking care of the ball and capitalizing on Valpo's mistakes. One positive though was the return of Laura Richards after missing 3 games (concussion). Also, Gerardot was pretty good in spurts today, almost nabbing a double-double.

[IndyValpo]

Hot start to the season has not only cooled off, it's currently frozen solid. Eerily reminiscent of 2009-10 when VU had a program-best 3-0 start and proceeded to lose 9 straight, this year's team has in a similar funk.

I think the more interesting item is that we beat IU.  This is going to be a tough season.  In watching us play against Butler I was struck by one glaring weakness.  We have an almost entire team that can not shoot.  Other than Weidemann and perhaps Dean any shot over about 8 feet out looks like it will be an adventure. 

It will be interesting to see what kind of players the new coach brings in.  Apparently we did not sign any in the early signing period.

[valporun]

indyValpo, it's understandable that the women's team hasn't signed anyone in the early signing period. Other than believing in words, what did Coach Dorow have to show a recruit about how she'll fit in the Valpo Basketball program, when the recruit had seen Valpo play a game yet. I can't wait to see what players do sign later in the season, once Valpo has some conference games under their belts. It will be a tough selling point, but eventually the women's team will be back in the discussion of recruits that will consider Valpo regularly.

[jack]

I think it will be a tough,learning experience for Dorow and her staff. It'll take time to figure out what the players strengths are, and play to them. One thing she does have, that Freeman didn't is healthy bodies. Someone mentioned we don't have shooters. I feel we do, but they aren't being played, and put into possitions to score. I suspect that will come. The substitution patterns seem a bit odd at times as well. I like the fact that they have scheduled some quality competition early on, but they may have overdone it a bit. Sometimes, those beat downs can have an adverse affect on a young and developing team. We'll see how Saturday goes.

[IndyValpo]

Someone mentioned we don't have shooters. I feel we do, but they aren't being played, and put into possitions to score.

Dorow is playing 12 of our 13 players every game so is our shooter the 13th?  I do agree we have not figured out who can do what. I like the fact that she is playing a lot of people trying to figure that out.  This will help us out in the long run.

The substitution patterns seem a bit odd at times as well

I agree but think it relates back to assessing the players.

[jack]

It'll be intersting to see how she approaches the Loiusville game. I have notice times where, in her rotations, she only has 1 or 2 actual shooters on the floor. I think Richards is seeing this too, and trying to put up more shots then she's comfortable with. One thing I have notice is the reduced playing time for Carr. There are games when she sees less than 5 minutes of playing time. If memory serves, she set scoring records at her high school, which was one of the big reasons Freeman brought her on board. Unfortunately she was hurt and forced to play a lot of minutes last season due to lack of healthy bodies, and didn't put up consistent numbers scoring, but I believe she is healthy now, though I could be wrong. Jansone is the type of player that gets better with minutes played, but she gets very few at a time. Horton can get hot, if we give her the ball in scoring possition.  We have a couple of the freshman that put up some good numbers at their high schools as well. Watching them play though, it just doesn't appear that we run plays that would set up a shooter. Richardson does well at penetration, but she seems to force up something inside rather then kick out to a waiting shooter. I like the fact that we are holding our own on the boards, but if our second chance opportunities come up empty, we are gaining anything. I'm also not a big fan of the massive substitutions that Dorrow does in the final few minutes of a game. I have yet to see a benefit with that approach. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Good to know that the {a former} Crusaders can beat a BCS school on the road.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/dec/16/Womens12_16_12---fgcu_whoops/

[jack]

Never understood her dismissal from the squad. Congrats Betsy.

[valporun]

I don't think she was dismissed. If I recall, she graduated last spring, and used the Graduate transfer year, after she didn't play last season?

[valpotx]

That's what someone said on the forum at least.  She graduated, and was essentially recruited to that school where a former assistant coach is

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Add that to last year's list of Things Messed Up With a Capital F, somewhere after Skyler Gick's Back:

the returning captain would rather graduate and take her game elsewhere than take an injury redshirt and star for the same messed up team again.

way to land on her feet, though:  perfect weather here, close-to-perfect women's program.  gah.

[valporun]

LaPorte, not sure if Valpo had the master's program she wanted, and obviously Florida Gulf Coast did, plus had a former assistant coach (Abby Scharlow?) that she liked, so why not go where she can be successful in her last year before becoming a coach somewhere?

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Hey, I don't blame her.  I came down here too and it's way better than NWI.  I'm just saying you know things are bad in your program when she'd rather start over somewhere else.

[valporun]

The graduate transfer rule helped that decision though. If Valpo didn't have the program she wanted for a masters, then why not go somewhere that does, and allows her to play her final season. Yes, it sucks not having her bringing the ball downcourt for the Crusaders, but we have the cards we're dealt with. I just hope that Coach Dorow is out there recruiting some height so we don't look like midgets in the future.

[KL31NY]

Anyone follow Western Michigan tonight? Apparently we shot over 50% from the field, 9-12 from the behind the arc, scored a go-ahead basket with 8 seconds to go, but lost by one after giving up a winning basket with 2 seconds left.

[valporun]

That's exactly what happened. The women really wanted this game, especially since Michigan will be a tough turnaround game tomorrow. I honestly think Coach Dorow planned to play tonight as the big game, since tomorrow night was going to be tough at the U of Mich. For those that do care, the women's game will be on B1G Ten Network tomorrow at 6PM ET, or 5PM CT.

[SadersofthelostArc]

I think we need to start calling Coach Dorow "Coach Swiffer" because she has spent most of her time cleaning up the previous regime's mess!!! 

We have been good at the ARC this year...unfortunately, we've played all of four games at the ARC.  Hard to blame Coach Dorow for not being able to win consistently on the road with this bunch.  It's almost as if the schedule was set up to sabotage her opening season.  Hmmm...anyone know how much input Keith (more importantly Kirby) had on the scheduling for this year? 

A win tomorrow at Michigan would go a long way to solidifying our spot on the NCAA bubble.  We downed a very solid Indiana team, the IPFW win will carry weight, and we battled to top 10 teams and the scores were not indicative of just how close those games were.  Believe me, a win tomorrow night will put the NCAA goon squad (read: tourney selection committee) on notice.

[IndyValpo]

I think we need to start calling Coach Dorow "Coach Swiffer" because she has spent most of her time cleaning up the previous regime's mess!!! 

We have been good at the ARC this year...unfortunately, we've played all of four games at the ARC.  Hard to blame Coach Dorow for not being able to win consistently on the road with this bunch.  It's almost as if the schedule was set up to sabotage her opening season.  Hmmm...anyone know how much input Keith (more importantly Kirby) had on the scheduling for this year? 

A win tomorrow at Michigan would go a long way to solidifying our spot on the NCAA bubble.  We downed a very solid Indiana team, the IPFW win will carry weight, and we battled to top 10 teams and the scores were not indicative of just how close those games were.  Believe me, a win tomorrow night will put the NCAA goon squad (read: tourney selection committee) on notice.

Ah...... the morning chuckle provided by Sader.  A year later and still clueless about the NCAA and the bubble.

[valporun]

More like Sader is clueless to the fact that the women's selection committee doesn't pick mid-major at-larges. They will most assuredly go for at-large money-making high majors because the tournament doesn't make money on their side.

[covufan]

I think we need to start calling Coach Dorow "Coach Swiffer" because she has spent most of her time cleaning up the previous regime's mess!!! 

We have been good at the ARC this year...unfortunately, we've played all of four games at the ARC.  Hard to blame Coach Dorow for not being able to win consistently on the road with this bunch.  It's almost as if the schedule was set up to sabotage her opening season.  Hmmm...anyone know how much input Keith (more importantly Kirby) had on the scheduling for this year? 

A win tomorrow at Michigan would go a long way to solidifying our spot on the NCAA bubble.  We downed a very solid Indiana team, the IPFW win will carry weight, and we battled to top 10 teams and the scores were not indicative of just how close those games were.  Believe me, a win tomorrow night will put the NCAA goon squad (read: tourney selection committee) on notice.

You've spent way too much time in Washington or Colorado lately - smoking too much of something.  This team is playing OK, but will not be on the selection committee's radar.  Massey and RTR have the team winning 9 or 10 games this season. 
http://www.masseyratings.com/team.php?t=8361&s=193574
http://realtimerpi.com/rpi_281_Women.html

For the first year with Coach Dorow, if this team gets to 12 or 13 wins before the HL tournament I'd say that we have some good seasons in the near future.

[SadersofthelostArc]

All I'm saying is that Coach D has been quite an...asset...to our program.

Also, valporun, I know you are probably in the know about how the NCAA cross country selection committee works, but how about leavin' the hoops talk to the big boys (aka those of us "in the know)?