Don't know if painted faces and new captain will help attack a zone

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Read in today's Eagle about the Lady Shox team meetings, face painting and Nicole as captain. I don't know if this will help with attacking a zone, but I sure hope we show up and get a string of wins right into the MVC title game.

[1972Shocker]

Doubt if it will help with the zone offense, but then again I don't see how it hurts anything. If it somehow get's the Ladies re-focused on the task at hand then it could have some general benefits in terms of attitude and perhaps team unity.

BTW, Nicole is a Junior and not a Freshman as was mentioned in the article.

A co-championship is technically still possible but IMO very remote. Shocks need to pick up both of these final two games which, most likely, would give them a tie for 2nd and a 3rd place seed in the MVC Tournament. Maybe even 2nd place outright if we could get some unexpected help from Evansville or SIU against Illinois State.

The Shocks went 8-1 in the 1st half of the MVC schedule and now can do no better than 5-4 and as poorly as 3-6 in the second half. It would appear that opposing MVC coaches have figured some things out about the way to attack and to defend the Shocks. The final two games against Bradley tonight and UNI on Satruday are anything but slam dunks.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Doubt if it will help with the zone offense, but then again I don't see how it hurts anything. If it somehow get's the Ladies re-focused on the task at hand then it could have some general benefits in terms of attitude and perhaps team unity.

BTW, Nicole is a Junior and not a Freshman as was mentioned in the article.

A co-championship is technically still possible but IMO very remote. Shocks need to pick up both of these final two games which, most likely, would give them a tie for 2nd and a 3rd place seed in the MVC Tournament. Maybe even 2nd place outright if we could get some unexpected help from Evansville or SIU against Illinois State.

The Shocks went 8-1 in the 1st half of the MVC schedule and now can do no better than 5-4 and as poorly as 3-6 in the second half. It would appear that opposing MVC coaches have figured some things out about the way to attack and to defend the Shocks. The final two games agaisnt Bradley tonight and UNI on Satruday are anything but slam dunks.

They need to play with 40 minutes of heart and desire. They have proven they have a nice team. Let's get back on track!!

[flyingMoose]

BTW, Nicole is a Junior and not a Freshman as was mentioned in the article.

Yes, she and Jasmine are juco transfers from Georgia Perimeter College.

[1972Shocker]

So much for the face painting. Shocks were up 35-26 with 11:20 to go in the game. Bradley outscores the Shocks 30-11 the rest of the way to win by a final of 56-46.

Very little offense outside of Jessica's 20 points and Kelsey's 8 points off the bench. Jaz and Haleigh combine to go 0-11. We simply will not win many games with Jaz and Haleigh shut-out from the field.

Shocks are all of a sudden a team that has lost their way.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

So much for the face painting. Shocks were up 35-26 with 11:20 to go in the game. Bradley outscores the Shocks 30-11 the rest of the way to win by a final of 56-46.

Very little offense outside of Jessica's 20 points and Kelsey's 8 points off the bench. Jaz and Haleigh combine to go 0-11. We simply will not win many games with Jaz and Haleigh shut-out from the field.

Shocks are all of a sudden a team that has lost their way.

Last two games Kelsey has really contributed; unfortunately the steady play of Haleigh, Jaz and Chynna has been missing. No fire.

[flyingMoose]

In the post-game show, HCJA spoke of trying to get the defense fixed before worrying about the offense. Well, if she can fix the defense to hold teams under 45, I suppose so.

Have we lost our way, '72, or are we just lost against a zone? A zone defense can go a long way in closing the athleticism gap. Half-court offense has never been a strong point, but when we face a zone, we are in really big trouble. It looked like we tried a number of different ways of attacking the zone, but everything took way too long and Jessie had to rescue us by creating a shot. Has the emphasis on getting the ball inside caused Haleigh to lose her aggressiveness on offense? Did any of Jaz's shots ever get above the front rim? Alex was a no-show again. (I will try to end this on an upbeat note.) As OTWHC noted, Kelsey had some nice minutes when Chynna was not producing, and Molly again looked like she is a keeper.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

In the post-game show, HCJA spoke of trying to get the defense fixed before worrying about the offense. Well, if she can fix the defense to hold teams under 45, I suppose so.

Have we lost our way, '72, or are we just lost against a zone? A zone defense can go a long way in closing the athleticism gap. Half-court offense has never been a strong point, but when we face a zone, we are in really big trouble. It looked like we tried a number of different ways of attacking the zone, but everything took way too long and Jessie had to rescue us by creating a shot. Has the emphasis on getting the ball inside caused Haleigh to lose her aggressiveness on offense? Did any of Jaz's shots ever get above the front rim? Alex was a no-show again. (I will try to end this on an upbeat note.) As OTWHC noted, Kelsey had some nice minutes when Chynna was not producing, and Molly again looked like she is a keeper.

When you get good production from freshmen like Kelsey and Molly, your veterans playing well should be a no brainer and it should be a blow out. I've been saying for over a month, I'd just zone the Shox, we have no answer. Haleigh could split the gaps on the dribble in the proper set. Running the triangle with a triple post set would work. We need to get on a roll!!!

[1972Shocker]

Have we lost our way, '72, or are we just lost against a zone? A zone defense can go a long way in closing the athleticism gap. Half-court offense has never been a strong point, but when we face a zone, we are in really big trouble.

I did not make it to last night's game (wasn't feeling well) so I probably should not be commenting much. Not sure if we have lost our way or if the rest of the Valley has simply figured us out. Take care of the ball, pack in a zone and make them play half-court offense as much as possible.

The Shocker men have the ability to adjust to whatever teams throw at them. Not sure that the Lady Shocks have that ability. It seems like we have not be able to adjust to the adjustments that other teams have made. We simply are not multi-dimensional enough. Our flaws have been exposed and attacked.

Jody seemed upset with our defense. Again I did not see, but holding a team to 56 points at home should be good enough to win.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks looked pretty good today in their 75-53 win over UNI, although it was interesting that UNI played very little if any zone agaisnt the Shocks.

Said farewell to our two Seniors, Haleigh Lankster and Alicia Sanchez. Both are quality young ladies and have given the program everything they had. Haleigh is a terrific all-around player. Perhaps the mirror image of Toure' Murry on the men's team over the last four years. Alicia make her mark with effort and hustle and may have had her best game as a Shocker today.

On the opposite end of the spectrum I was pleased with the contribtions of the freshman class today. I though all four of the Freshman had solid minutes and looked like the belonged on the floor tonight. Alex Harden would appear to have the highest ceiling of this group, but I really like the way Kelsey and Molly have responded to their increase in minutes in the last few games.

Creighton did lose at Drake today so the Shocks will stand alone in 3rd place 1t 12-6 (as predicted in the preseason) and will be the #3 seed in the Valley Tournament next weekend. They are certainly capable of win this tournament but they better be prepared to see more zone than they did today.

All-in-all a good, solid regular season for the Lady Shocks.

[flyingMoose]

Shocks looked pretty good today in their 75-53 win over UNI, although it was interesting that UNI played very little if any zone against the Shocks.

This looked more like the team that was the scourge of the conference the first half of its season. UNI played a little 2-3 and some 1-3-1, but yes, very little zone, probably fewer than ten trips down the floor.

[flyingMoose]

Bradley 86-69 Missouri State

Yes, the Bears had already clinched first place, but still.

[1972Shocker]

That is a surprising score. Bradley may be heating up just at the right time. Looks like Missouri State could very well get another shot at Bradley on Friday.

Shocks get Indiana State on Friday. If they win they get #2 Illinois State, #7 Drake or #10 Evansville in the semis.

2012 STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Thursday, March 8 -- Session I
Game 1 -- #8 Bradley (16-14, 7-11) vs. #9 Southern Illinois (8-21, 4-14), 4 p.m. [MVC Live]
Game 2 -- #7 Drake (15-14, 9-9) vs. #10 Evansville (5-24, 2-16), 7 p.m. [MVC Live]

Friday, March 9 -- Session II
Game 3 -- #1 Missouri State (21-7, 14-4) vs. Winner Game 1, 12 p.m. [MVC Live]
Game 4 -- #4 Creighton (17-12, 11-7) vs. #5 UNI (16-13, 9-9), 2:30 p.m. [MVC Live]

Friday, March 9 -- Session III
Game 5 -- #2 Illinois State (18-11, 13-5) vs. Winner of Game 2, 6 p.m. [MVC Live]
Game 6 -- #3 Wichita State (18-11, 12-6) vs. #6 Indiana State (15-15, 9-9), 8:30 p.m. [MVC Live]

Saturday, March 10 -- Session IV
Game 7 -- Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 1:30 p.m. [MVC TV Network]
Game 8 -- Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 4 p.m. [MVC TV Network]

Sunday, March 11 -- Session V
Championship -- Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 2 p.m. [MVC TV Network]