Women's Basketball 2017-2018

[IndyValpo]

5 burning questions heading into 2017-2018:
1. Who plays center? Profit played 5 minutes last year. That is it on experience. I am not counting Franklin because we do not want to use her there.
2. When will Konieczny take over at point?
3. Will Hamlet's find her shot? She struggled last year at least part due to an attempt to play her at point.
4. Where will Donchetz fit in? She was a spark plug last year though they did not seem to know what to do with her.
5. Where must we finish to save coaching jobs? Will our traditional 8-9 place finish be enough.

[valpotx]

I think that the whole team needs to find their shot.  I watched some brutal games last year in regards to shooting %.

[covufan]

5. Where must we finish to save coaching jobs? Will our traditional 8-9 place finish be enough.         

Unless the newcomers are far better than expected, I don't see anything but a top 3 finish, and playing Arch Madness in the championship game would be able to save coaching jobs.

[bbtds]

and playing Arch Madness in the championship game would be able to save coaching jobs.

The women's basketball conference championship is played in the Quad Cities (Moline) in March.

http://mvc-sports.com/sports/2017/7/3/2018MVCQuadCities.aspx

[valpo64]

Has anyone heard if the younger sister of Alec Peters is on our radar. I believe she is a junior this year and is an outstanding player and shooter.

[VU2014]

Has anyone heard if the younger sister of Alec Peters is on our radar. I believe she is a junior this year and is an outstanding player and shooter.

I'd imagine she'd have to be on the coaching staff's radar. It would almost have to be negligence not to be recruiting or at the very least keeping her on their radar. Seems like the basketball skills run in the family.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZcac4HlLe7/?taken-by=4apeters
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXD5uSUFbed/?taken-by=4apeters
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXDmOh4F8A2/?taken-by=4apeters

John Kiser's sister Emily is one of the top players in the State of Indiana for her class (2018). She's a 6'3″ Power Forward/Center. She committed to Michigan. I believe the Valpo Staff was recruiting her.

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/CoachMcDowell1/status/919330857567047680

[jack]

This young lady has talent. Hate saying it, but like many before her, I think she will under-achieve with this coaching staff. Let's hope if a change comes after this season, she still has interest.

[VULB#62]

Having a daughter who was an athlete, I know that these women basically respond well to tough coaching as long as what they do well is rewarded and their deficiencies are responded to with ways to improve, rather that striaight out negativism. Female athletes will work well with a task master as long as there is continual, honest communication along the way.  On the other hand, if there is little demand, only the most motivated, and that special female athlete will rise above that or will seek a more challenging environment. .

I have no idea what approaches this staff employs, but it just does not seem to be working. And I am not even going to go into Xs and Os because I am not capabile in that area. 

In my mind most sports come down to four things:

>> Raw talent/recruting
>> Overall coaching philosophy and its implementation (see above)
>> Player skill development
>> Game strategy (Xs and Os) and then on-the-fly adjustments

With some exceptions......   A winning program will be exceptional if all 4 criteria are consitently met.  It will be successful if 3 out of 4 come into play. Mediocrity will eventually prevail with only 2.  Less than that,  and you just lose more often than you win.

So, where have we been or where are we now?

On a scale of 0 (lowest) to 3 (highest) my untrained assessment so far is:

Talent - 1.5
Approach - I have no idea
Skill development - 1
Strategy - 0.5

Am I being too critical?

[jack]

IMHO, the weakest link is philosophy. It hasn't worked, and it hasn't changed. You would think with the different influx of coaches and ideas over the past several years, something would get tweeked, or changed to some degree. It hasn't happened. We need a coach that knows how to work with, and develop the bigs. Our position, and footwork inside is terrible. Our offense is too vanilla and predictable. I don't see that changing this season.

[bbtds]

FYI, for those interested in the WBB team here is a video from October 9th showing the women's first practice.

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/917498340987887616

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/921104146928947200

[VULB#62]

WBB is not picked 10th!!  We beat out Loyola and are picked 9th.

http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/news/2017-18/17712/missouri-valley-conference-releases-womens-basketball-preseason-poll/#.We9GzEyZMo8

Interesting observation on the preseason all-MVC team is that there is only one player at 6-1 and one at 6-0.  The rest are all 5-10 or shorter. For some reason, I figured being the MVC there would be at least one big "Big."  Also, depite having the highest ppg average of returning MVC players, Dani Franklin did not make the first team.  The article and the MVC site didn't identify a second team or honorable mention..

[vu72]

Like our Men's team, the Women's team must be one of, if not the tallest Valpo team ever.  Nine players 6' or taller and one standing 6'5"!!

http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/roster/#.We9oD2iPLIU

[VULB#62]

Like our Men's team, the Women's team must be one of, if not the tallest Valpo team ever.  Nine players 6' or taller and one standing 6'5"!!

http://www.valpoathletics.com/wbasketball/roster/#.We9oD2iPLIU

.... and 4 of the 9, 6-2 or taller, are freshmen.  I hope they have skills and are not projects.

[jack]

They could be 7ft. It won't matter if the coaches can't figure out how to work with and develop the bigs. I don't see a coach on staff that can do that.

[VU2014]

Fun Fact: Alec Peters sister Anne will be playing for Micah Bradford's Dad's AAU Program 'Example Sports' next summer. It would be cool to see another Peters wearing the Brown and Gold. I've heard she's a pretty good player. I wonder if the coaching staff is recruiting her.
https://twitter.com/annepeters25/status/924798222085840896
https://twitter.com/barrybradford3/status/924796191702945793
https://twitter.com/annepeters25/status/918662157977378817

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/ValpoWBB/status/925476408431988736

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/ValpoWBB/status/928100353354190848

[valpotx]

Some poor shooting numbers...again

[VU2014]

Yeah the shooting is going to need to improve. At least they were hitting their free throws.

https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/928072006955913216

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/morrison-making-her-own-name-at-valparaiso/article_bf004770-c8ad-5ba8-86e2-17b173c50eb7.html

Morrison making her own name at Valparaiso
Paul Oren
Nov 7, 2017

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/ValpoWBB/status/929038459691569152
https://twitter.com/ValpoWBB/status/929038729951498240

[valpotx]

Any info on these two that I missed?

[VU2014]

Shay Frederick committed way back in August of 2016.

http://www.waupacanow.com/2016/11/18/hortonville-basketball-led-by-ncaa-prospects/
Frederick said she has been recruited to play college basketball since eighth grade.

A three-star recruit according to ESPN, Frederick had offers from UW-Milwaukee and Youngstown State and had interest from schools in the Big Ten, Big East and Horizon League. After visiting the Valparaiso campus in August, she was sold.

"I met the team, players, watched a practice, went around campus and I just loved it," Frederick said. "Everything there appealed to me and was just what I'm looking for, so I just thought, 'Why wait?' And I made my decision around late August or early September."

Pitts committed in June.

http://basketball.dailyherald.com/sports/20170622/montinis-pitts-chooses-valpo

"Pitts, a 5-6 rising senior, averaged 7 points a game for the Broncos (33-2) last season and played a key role in their Class 4A third-place finish. She made 38 3-point shots, with 87 rebounds and 81 assists.

Pitts becomes the latest in a series of Montini basketball players to commit to Division I colleges, and she won't be the last. Aaliyah Patty, a 6-foot-3 post player, and 6-5 Lindsey Jarosinski are being recruited by a number of teams and could announce their picks soon."


The Valparaiso women's staff has really been hitting the recruiting trail hard. They've made quite a few offers recently.
https://twitter.com/GeoffWong2/status/930065153013448705

[FWalum]

Does anyone know if VU offered junior Carissa Garcia from Concordia Fort Wayne? Indy Star has her as a preseason All-State underclass player. In Concordia's first 3 games she is averaging 25.3 ppg and is 14-23 from 3 which is 60.9%. Concordia is ranked 6th in 3A by Sagarin and starts 3 freshmen a junior and a senior.  Carissa verbaled this summer to NKU. They should also be looking at 6'-2" freshmen Chanteese Craig.  Chanteese is VERY long and already has 12 blocks this season.