WBB - Wright State @ Valpo 2/28/13

[jack]

Freeman's coming back to town. So will we start this game off like we have most others? I guess we will see. We have to come out ready to play and attack the basket. Our guards have to spark the offense, and hit some shots, to open up the inside. They also have to help rebound. We need to push it tonight and control the tempo.

[KL31NY]

Welcome back
Your dreams were
Your ticket out
Welcome back
To that same old place
That you laughed about

Well, the names
Have all changed
Since you hung around
But those dreams
Have remained and
They've turned around

Who'd have thought they'd lead you
(Who'd have thought they'd lead you)
Back here where we need you
(Back here where we need you)

Yeah, we tease him a lot
Cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back

Welcome back
Welcome back, welcome back
Welcome back
Welcome back, welcome baaaaaaaack

[IndyValpo]

Welcome back
Your dreams were
Your ticket out

I believe it was the Athletic Director that was Freeman's ticket out....or perhaps his record over the last few years!

[valporun]

Well played, KL! It will be interesting to see Coach Dorow's lineup be unchanged.

[jack]

I like the lineup change, but we don't seem to be playing with intensity. Also I see an issue. Richardson seems to have an issue with not starting tonight. We've had 2 fast breaks where she was driving, had Carr on the wing open, and rather than pass, she forced shots that didn't go in. This is no time for selfishness, or attitude. It's a team sport.

[VULB#62]

My first WBB game. No BB expert.  But it appears that if they can surround Garardot with some talent and at least one outside shooter........

[VULB#62]

In offseason conditioning does the WBB program ever work on vertical leap strength? Seems like most rebounding verticals are 12"-14"  and shooting verticals  are 6"-12"

[VULB#62]

Great 3 for Garardot to tie it with 8.0 left!

[jack]

Tough loss. Hard fought. Terrible clock management with 3 minutes in regulation, and we started the OT with one shooter on the floor. Well Played. 

[SadersofthelostArc]

Welcome back
Your dreams were
Your ticket out

I believe it was the Athletic Director that was Freeman's ticket out....or perhaps his record over the last few years!

As expected, this poster continues with the barbs.  '04 and Hoops, you have a clean up on aisle 5.

[SadersofthelostArc]

Some of you need to get very familiar with this image, cause it's where you are headed. 

[ValpoHoops]

Tough one to lose after a hard-fought comeback...simply put, Tab can't do it all...we just couldn't put the ball in the basket at all...and WSU starting hot like they did dug us a nice early hole again...

Carr 3-8 (1-3)
Richards 2-8 (1-5)
Scott 1-4 (0-0)
Starting Guards: 6-20 (2-8)

Wiedemann 0-3 (0-3)
Richardson 1-5 (0-1)
Bench Guards 1-8 (0-4)

All Guards 7-28 (2-12)
Posts not named Gerardot 6-23 (2-8)

Everyone not named Gerardot 13-51 (4-20)    [25.5%/20.0%]


Tab: 14-27 (4-7)...thank God she played well. Unfortuantely, she was absolutely out of gas at the end.

[jack]

Tab played well, and it's a shame we couldn't bring home the W. This one shouldn't have gone to OT. We burnt up 52 seconds in 2 possesions with 3 min. to play. That was probably the worst clock management of the season. And then, when Tab got us to OT, we rewarded her by starting it with her being the only shooter on the floor in white. May not have been that big of a deal if our guards didn't play like they had an hour to do so. I don't get it. We hit OT and our coaches turned into spectators. Granted, our guards struggled putting the ball in the hole, but if your shooters aren't even out there, you greatly diminished your chances. If you have an opportunity to watch this game again, pay close attention to our guard play to end regulation, and to start the OT. It speaks volumes to the outcome.

[IndyValpo]

we rewarded her by starting it with her being the only shooter on the floor

Jack, just so I understand where you are coming from, who do you consider a shooter on this team?

[KL31NY]

Didn't get to watch this game while on the road. I lack the proper context that one would have following/viewing this game to make a well-informed comment compared to my posting in hindsight. Just looking at Tab's phenomenal numbers and Gina's stats (let's not forget, she also had a double-double), it's just a shame we didn't win tonight for what they gave us. They've both had some good seasons and their effort and heart is great as well. With Gina graduating this year and Tab the year after, I just hope we can bring up some new forwards that can be the relatively steady force this pair has been.

[valpo4life]

Starting lineup was switched up a little bit tonight and made zero difference whatsoever. There really isn't any trio of 3 guards that excel together over any other combination. I like having Richards out there the most because she is the one who can best run the point and best defender on the perimeter. Outside of her, it just depends on the game to who else should join her. Tab had another great game and Gina had an  okay game, yes she had a double double, but it was 14 points on 19 shots. Nothing special. Lack of depth in the front court ended up being our downfall in OT, WSU had a couple of offensive rebounds that basically won them the game. Tab and Gina were definitely tired at the end and weren't able to secure the board or two that we really need in OT. Yet another game where we were in it with a chance to win and couldn't finish. Hopefully this loss doesn't kill us and we are able to manage a 6 or 7 seed in the conference tourney to avoid being on GB's half of the bracket.

[bbtds]

Welcome back
Your dreams were
Your ticket out

I believe it was the Athletic Director that was Freeman's ticket out....or perhaps his record over the last few years!

As expected, this poster continues with the barbs.  '04 and Hoops, you have a clean up on aisle 5.

I saw the game on HLN. There was some awful clock management at the end of the game. How does a team down by 5 with 17 seconds left run off 15 seconds on the clock before taking a shot, leaving 2 seconds in the game? How do you win that way? These players must realize to stop passing the ball around and finally get the courage to shoot when Gerardot is not open. Now I see why jack is so frustrated by the women's team. They frittered away the clock and didn't give themselves a chance to win.

That didn't make you frustrated to watch that, sader? Or were you making sure Coach Dorow had the correct attire on at the time?

[jack]

You are right, it is very frustrating. Getting beat by a far superior team, or a severe shooting slump is one thing, but by poor clock management after you claw your way back in it, is damn frustrating.
IndyValpo - We started the OT with 2 defensive guards again. Our only true shooter on the floor was Tab. Richardson and Richards should not be on the floor at the same time. Even though Richards knocked down a few buckets in this game, that's not why she's out there. We do have Weidemann, Carr, and even Miller, who all give us a chance to score, which is why they are here. Again, our shooters were off, but if they are all on the bench, they don't have a chance to score.
Funny thing about last night's game, and I watched this specifically because I suspected it would happen. Richardson had attitude because she didn't start, and apparently decided that, no matter what, she wasn't going to pass the ball to Carr. I'd love to hear someone's assesment of this that had the opportunity to watch this game again. You could see it in her body language when she first came off the bench. There were 2 plays specifically, where we had numbers on a fast break, Richardson bringing it up, with Carr on the wing and open, and she chose to drive in and force a bad shot up and miss. Whether she consciencely decided not to give the ball up or she just doesn't see the floor well, there was no excuse to force the shots she did. Carrs shots weren't falling last night, nor were Weidemann's, but you still have to stay in the realm of your offense, and continue to play team ball.
I still think we need to mix it up with the starting guard possition. In the OT we had 2 guards on the floor that both dribble far too much, especially when the time is against us. We squandered almost a minute in regulation on 2 possitions. Had we not done so, we may have avoided the OT with a W anyway. The bench didn't seem to be concerned at all with the clock ticking away. That is of concern to me. 

[VULB#62]

Meanwhile, back down at FGCU, Betsy Adams is averaging 8.9 ppg and 22.9 mpg on a 17-0/24-5 A-Sun conference champion.

[talksalot]

WBB fans... the HL has announced a change in the start for Senior Day... March 9th.  We will tip at NOON against UDM... which means their crowd for the Mens' game that night will not have anything else to do but come to the ARC for the Women's game...I hope our crowd will at least match theirs!!  May not be the last home game of the year for the women... #8 hosts #9 for the privilege of traveling to the shores of Green Bay.

[IndyValpo]

Funny thing about last night's game, and I watched this specifically because I suspected it would happen. Richardson had attitude because she didn't start, and apparently decided that, no matter what, she wasn't going to pass the ball to Carr.

This is interesting because the stats from last night have her with a career high 8 assists.  I did not see the game but Richardson on a drive, like Scott, seldom passes so hopefully that was what was going.

To be honest even our shooters aren't real good shooters. Only 2 of our players shoot over 40% and one of those graduates.

[ValpoHoops]

I'm not sure how fair it is to criticize clock management for a team that was down 7 at the under-four media timeout and proceeded to win the last 3:30 7-0. On one hand, jack, you're criticizing Richardson for forcing bad shots (disclaimer: I have no idea about Charae not passing to Carr, I wasn't paying attention to the game for a lot of that part, I was talking to some folks I hadn't seen in a while), but then you turn around and want the players to take faster shots, obviously that they didn't think were good ones. We either scored or got fouled on EVERY possession after the last media timeout, so to me those are all good possessions. Yes, going a little faster may have given us a chance to win it in regulation, but we got back and gave ourselves a chance to win.

As for who started in overtime...would you have rather had the group that started the game that lost the first 89 seconds of the game 8-0? That would have been a great start to a five minute period. I'm not saying the lineup on the floor was perfect (obviously, it didn't work), but I don't really know who else should have been out there. Nobody on the perimeter could make a shot, that is a fact...so, if you aren't going to get any offense from your guards, it makes sense to put the best defenders out there.

The game was not lost in the last three minutes, or even in the overtime in my opinion. It was lost between the 8:00 and 6:30 marks of the second half. We had been down 60-53, scored five straight to get within two and the WSU went on an 8-0 run (a three before the 8:00 media timeout and five points immediately after) to push their lead back up to 68-58. During that time, we had 2TO, gave up an offensive rebound/foul/free throws and had a shot blocked inside. The lineup at the time: Tab, Gina, Shaq, Laura, Carr. That group had TWO segments of the game that they lost 8-0 in 90 seconds. (I didn't realize how bad this particular segment was until I looked it up) We had to work so hard to come back, again, that our best players, and the only one really who could score on a consistent basis, used up everything they had.

The fact is this: We are playing in a conference full of ATHLETES with a group of players who are very fundamentally sound and skilled, but many times aren't athletic to play with some of the players who are on the other teams. Our shooters can make shots, but they don't have a slasher threat to create space other than Shaq. Without a threat to penetrate the paint, defenders aren't going to sag off of a shooter and give them space.

The young lady from Chicago is a good step in the direction we need to go with our personnel. As valpo4life said, it is my understanding that the remainder of the kids being recruited for next season are bigs to help Tab and Liz. Hopefully we hear news on some of them soon.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I'm not sure ...

in terms of great posts, this one is a Tabitha Gerardot.  Thanks.

[jack]

Funny thing about last night's game, and I watched this specifically because I suspected it would happen. Richardson had attitude because she didn't start, and apparently decided that, no matter what, she wasn't going to pass the ball to Carr.

This is interesting because the stats from last night have her with a career high 8 assists.  I did not see the game but Richardson on a drive, like Scott, seldom passes so hopefully that was what was going.

To be honest even our shooters aren't real good shooters. Only 2 of our players shoot over 40% and one of those graduates.

Yes, she did end up with 8 assist. I was only stating what was obvious if you watched it unfold. i actually had someone else make the same comment to me, as I was watching it.
I feel our shooters struggle because we don't really run an offense that would favor a jump shooter. Kind of ironic really since we carry 7 or 8 guards. We can't continue to count on our post players to do all of the scoring. So if Richardson had 8 assist, and Richards is primarily out there to run the floor, where is your guard scoring supposed to come from when both are on the floor at the same time? When you watch the flow, we seem to be playing with two pt guards, and a little confusion sets in. Every loss this season has come from teams with scoring guards. Last night, they had 3 guards that put up a total of 44pts. You have to have a shooting threat from a guard possition on the floor or you are far too easy to defend. We have been in a shooting slump for some time, but some of that comes from the offense we run. We don't use screens the right way to creat space and shoot. I would still continue to look for a different guard rotation until we find one with chemistry that works. If Richardson wants to play pt, put her out there with Weidmann. We need to get Dean more minutes and up to speed a little sooner. She's a good little defender, and probably one of our better shooters. I give Dorow credit for trying a different line up in this contest. I'd continue to tweek it. 

[Kyle321n]

WBB fans... the HL has announced a change in the start for Senior Day... March 9th.  We will tip at NOON against UDM... which means their crowd for the Mens' game that night will not have anything else to do but come to the ARC for the Women's game...I hope our crowd will at least match theirs!!  May not be the last home game of the year for the women... #8 hosts #9 for the privilege of traveling to the shores of Green Bay.

What are they charging nowadays for a WBB game, this might interest me and have me come to the ARC 5 hours early...

Cheer against Detroit twice and cheer on VU twice in one day? Sounds fun