Women's Team

[valpo4life]

15pts in first half?? 15?? Not sure anymore if this can be considered a D1 team. 0 inside game. Feel bad for the kids that are really giving effort. Coaches are clueless. Nuf said.

Our posts combined to score over half of the teams points. That's more than 0 inside game. What kills us is our PGs turning the ball over way too many times. Carr literally threw a pass off the backboard tonight and twice while bringing the ball up the court either fell over one time and dribbled it out another. Miller also had a couple poor passes. You simply can't win with bad guard play. Also doesn't help when your best player, Walker in my opinion, has her worst game in college. And I thought Sharon looked the healthiest she's been all year. But credit to the girls for competing the whole 40. That was nice to see.

As far as the coaches, they weren't the ones shooting 29 percent from the field. They weren't the ones driving to the basket to chuck up a bad shot and then be the last one down the court. And they clearly came in with a new game plan for the second meeting. And it clearly worked. UIC put up 86 points at the ARC so we adjusted defensively and held them to 60 points. That's a big improvement. UIC is just so much more athletic than we are that they are able to make difficult to run any kind of offense. It was a mismatch at every single position besides maybe at center. They were always going to win because they were going to kill us on the boards and turn us over.

[jack]

My guess is you're somehow involved with the coaching staff. No matter. We clearly don't watch the same games, or you don't watch them in their entirety. If you only have 15pts in the first half, you have no inside game, or anything else working for that matter. The pass you state that Carr threw off the backboard looked to be a lob pass that walker wasn't ready for and mistimed her jump. It appeared to be a pretty decent pass to me. The only statement you make that I would agree with is our guards had a bad night. I have no idea where Dean was at but she wasn't at this game. She is really struggling to get back in the saddle. Without her presents, it puts more pressure on the other guards.
We did absolutely nothing different on offense or defense. I have no idea what game you are watching. We didn't hold them to 60pts. they held themselves. 1 for 9 from 3 in the first half and 3 for 9 in the second. 28% shooting in the first half. If they would have hit their average in the first half this one would have been over then. We ran the same vanilla offense and defense as always, and expected different results. We continue to be out of position for rebounds when a shot goes up. When we do get our hands on the ball, we can't hang on. It's just a broken record that isn't going to change. same philosophy, same results.
That's Ok though. Just keep blaming the players. In your eyes the coaches can do no wrong. It's that kind of thinking that leads to seasons like this.

[bbtds]

As far as the coaches, they weren't the ones shooting 29 percent from the field. They weren't the ones driving to the basket to chuck up a bad shot and then be the last one down the court. And they clearly came in with a new game plan for the second meeting. And it clearly worked. UIC put up 86 points at the ARC so we adjusted defensively and held them to 60 points. That's a big improvement. UIC is just so much more athletic than we are that they are able to make difficult to run any kind of offense. It was a mismatch at every single position besides maybe at center. They were always going to win because they were going to kill us on the boards and turn us over.

You didn't watch the same game I watched. You are clueless when it comes to evaluating coaching staffs.

Do you think that Bryce Drew would be satisfied with 29% shooting? The only game plan that worked was letting UIC miss more shots and turn the ball over more. Yes, UIC is more athletic but that basically comes down to their 6'3" starter Campbell. If Valpo could ever take care of the ball and take better shots they would have a chance to win.

[vu72]

15pts in first half?? 15?? Not sure anymore if this can be considered a D1 team. 0 inside game. Feel bad for the kids that are really giving effort. Coaches are clueless. Nuf said.

Milwaukee scored 16 in the first half against our men's team.  Stuff happens.  Just sayin...

[jack]

15pts in first half?? 15?? Not sure anymore if this can be considered a D1 team. 0 inside game. Feel bad for the kids that are really giving effort. Coaches are clueless. Nuf said.

Milwaukee scored 16 in the first half against our men's team.  Stuff happens.  Just sayin...

Sure it happens. Rarely in most instances. When it keeps happening, and nothing is done to change things, something needs to give. Perhaps our players aren't being put in the best positions to be successful. When the shots aren't falling you can't put that on coaching. When you run the same unsuccessful vanilla offense and expect different results however, that can be. Pay close attention to where our other 4 players are at when we put a shot up. Take a look at the footwork underneath. Watch how play after play we get pushed out of position. These are all coachable corrections. I haven't seen this change all season. We are trying to be successful with players that aren't being coached about the simple basketball 101 basics that every player needs when going from prep to college hoops. Most of our players are playing slightly different rolls then they did in high school. These different rolls require a change in skill sets. You can't move kids out of their comfort zone without showing them the changes they need to make to be successful. I just don't see a whole lot of in game coaching going on with this staff. They don't appear to be working on the basics in practice either as witnessed by what transpires in games. I'm sure some here think I don't know what I am talking about. I've been around the game, both men and womens, for a long time and trust what I'm watching. The philosophy I see may work at some level, but I don't see it at the D1 level.   

[valpo4life]

For comparison sake, we went to a super packed in zone and said we don't think you can shoot from there. Which is what happened, they missed a lot of shots. If anyone watched Duke beat Louisville in men's this season, Coach K did the same thing. Knew they would have a tough time guarding them man to man so went zone and basically said we don't think you can shoot well enough to score. And he gets tons of praise for that move. But when we get make that move it's just seen as nothing but the other team just didn't shoot well. But comparing the two coaches whatsoever, just the defensive strategy change for the specific opponent. To say we did absolutely nothing different defensively is plain ignorant. We even started the game in man and made an in game switch to zone after a couple easy buckets for UIC.

Our offense can been seen ran by many teams across the country, is it fairly vanilla? Yes I definitely agree with that. But it's set up in a way to let your players have some freedom and make some plays. Just gotta make the plays. As a player you have to love that opportunity.

[jack]

You don't get it, and you never will. We don't have the type of players that want the freedom to create their own plays. Wake up. We just don't have the system in place that plays to their strengths. As for your comment about the players "loving the opportunity." Yeah. I'm sure they are loving getting their @sses handed to them night in and night out.
Can't reason with your type of logic.
Carry on.

[valpo4life]

Talk to players anywhere, and I guarantee they would enjoy being a part of an offense that let's you run ball screens and have the chance to make a play. The men's team balance offense solely revolves around the ball screen action. I have a hard time believing a player wants to be a part of an offense where all they do is run set after set after set. If we have players that don't want the freedom to make their own plays then they don't belong on the court. Let someone who wants to make a play get some/more minutes. Bet you they would "love the opportunity".

[covufan]

Even with the last few seasons, at least some still have passion for the Women's Team. 

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I was thinking the same thing...except unfortunately the two with the MOST passion say "to-ma-to/to-mah-to".

[valpo4life]

I just want to see us get back to the level we were when we had Tamra Braun and Betsy Rietema leading the team. Those teams were fun to watch and always competitive.

[valporun]

The one thing I don't see our women's team do on offense is set effective screens to create anything. We just run to a spot, and we camp out. I haven't seen an effective hard ball screen from the women's team in awhile. Heck, it's even been a long while since I saw anyone "pick the picker"... Our women's team just doesn't do it. They only seem to pick when they want to do something, but never set a pick for the ball handler, or even the person intended to be the backdoor cutter. We live and die by the 3, and we 96% of the time die because of it. We need to be doing more of the fundamental things to open up spaces to drive or get the ball handler open for a better shot or pass. Name the last ball handler to start an effective pick and roll on the women's team.

[jack]

The one thing I don't see our women's team do on offense is set effective screens to create anything. We just run to a spot, and we camp out. I haven't seen an effective hard ball screen from the women's team in awhile. Heck, it's even been a long while since I saw anyone "pick the picker"... Our women's team just doesn't do it. They only seem to pick when they want to do something, but never set a pick for the ball handler, or even the person intended to be the backdoor cutter. We live and die by the 3, and we 96% of the time die because of it. We need to be doing more of the fundamental things to open up spaces to drive or get the ball handler open for a better shot or pass. Name the last ball handler to start an effective pick and roll on the women's team.

Finally. Someone who gets it! Every player that has the opportunity to play at this level has gotten  to do so because they have exibited the talent and coachability to be there. Most players that play at the D1 level have the God given talent to succeed and excel at this level. It all comes down to coaching and preparation. If your coaches don't know how to develop your necessary tools then you don't stand a chance. Personally I feel the programs that fail do so because either  they are too lazy to work with quality players or they don't have the skill set to coach the talent. 

[valpotx]

I just want to see us get back to the level we were when we had Tamra Braun and Betsy Rietema leading the team. Those teams were fun to watch and always competitive.

I agree with this one!  I had many friends on the women's team while in school (Knoester, Hammel, etc), and it was fun to see us be successful. 

[IndyValpo]

The banter between Jack and 4Life is fun to follow. Neither is completely right or wrong.

This coaching staff has given no one confidence that they will be able to right this ship.  Our inside people are limited. Our 4 main guards are wildly inconsistent. This is a combination that is doomed to fail I am afraid.

It is funny that Jack intimated that he thought 4Life must be on the coaching staff because I have always had the impression that Jack is the father of one of our guards. I won't say who but if you follow his posts, you can make the same guess.

[jack]

The banter between Jack and 4Life is fun to follow. Neither is completely right or wrong.

This coaching staff has given no one confidence that they will be able to right this ship.  Our inside people are limited. Our 4 main guards are wildly inconsistent. This is a combination that is doomed to fail I am afraid.

It is funny that Jack intimated that he thought 4Life must be on the coaching staff because I have always had the impression that Jack is the father of one of our guards. I won't say who but if you follow his posts, you can make the same guess.

If only you were right about that. That would make me much younger than this old body is!  Back in the day I actually had a young relative that laced them up for the brown and gold, but that was many moons ago.
4life and I can agree to disagree, but like me I'm sure he's wanting them to get back to their winning ways.

[valporun]

Just saw the espn3 schedule of broadcast games for tonight, and tonight is the dreaded Green Bay-Valpo matchup at the ARC. This will honestly be a game that if I miss any of the action, I won't feel horribe about it.

[bbtds]

Valpo women win over Detroit 74-68 for their first conference win.

Congrats to the ladies for a well deserved win over a Titan women's team that battled them right to the end.

[valpopal]

My favorite stat from the game: Valpo's bench outscored Detroit's bench 37-0.

[valpo4life]

Obviously, the bench was the difference in the game. Dani and Anne came off it to lead us to a much, much needed win. Dani shot lights out and Anne filled up the stat sheet. Lexi ran more of the point in the game which worked well has she had 7 assists to 3 turnovers and didn't let a poor shooting night get to her. Sharon is looking healthier and healthier each game which is a definite plus in the defense and rebounding department. Jess did what she does best and hit a couple spot up 3's along with Annemarie. Jaz had a somewhat off night but still played hard as always even though she had some foul trouble. Overall just great to see this team win and to be led by two freshmen. They're only going to get better.

[jack]

All around good team effort. Our bench came up big in this one. I felt our D in this game was a deciding factor. The players did a much better job of knowing where to be and where the zone help was supposed to come from. It was good to see Karungi step up and play to her size. We needed that. Can't say enough about Franklin. Forget she's a freshman. She's growing into one of the premier players in the league. I thought our guard play was solid, but we still have to do better at protecting the ball. The coaches came in with a solid plan in this one and the players executed well.
Hope we can build on this. It's going to take our best game Saturday at Wright State. 

[historyman]

All around good team effort. Our bench came up big in this one. I felt our D in this game was a deciding factor. The players did a much better job of knowing where to be and where the zone help was supposed to come from. It was good to see Karungi step up and play to her size. We needed that. Can't say enough about Franklin. Forget she's a freshman. She's growing into one of the premier players in the league. I thought our guard play was solid, but we still have to do better at protecting the ball. The coaches came in with a solid plan in this one and the players executed well. Hope we can build on this. It's going to take our best game Saturday at Wright State.

me quoque, jack, me quoque

[valpotx]

Wow, we are up 42-40 at half against WSU.  Jessica Carr just split 2 defenders to swish a half-court 3 at the buzzer.

[valpotx]

Then we proceed to get our butt kicked 95-66.

[valporun]

tx, it looked like a butt kicking in the end, but that trouncing didn't happen until the last half of the 2nd half. We were outscored 55-24, but most of that didn't happen until WSU decided it was time to stop playing around, and put the game away. Karungi has butter fingers/rough hands. How many years did she play basketball prior to playing college? She might still be behind the curve on her abilities for the position she's playing.