Lady Shockers-2013-14 Edition: What will we look like and where will we be picked?

[1972Shocker]

Looked like a typical Jody Adams team. Very athletic and aggressive on the defensive end. The question marks as always is will they be able to score enough to win. Looks like Jody can go 12 deep with this team if she wants to. They did not shoot the ball well today. Hopefully, that will come. We definitely need Allie and Michaela to knock down some threes or teams will be packing in the zones against us.

It will also be interesting to see if they can hang with teams with size.

Looks like Bonner and Agnello might well be the best pair of JUCO transfers Jody has picked up. Hopefully, Bonner will improve as a distributor of the ball.

Alex looked like the MVC Defensive Player of the Year that she is. Whether she can capture the MVC POY will depend on if she can shoot the ball consistently well. She had several shots today that were right their and either rimmed out or rolled off. Time will tell on where she is offensively.

This will be an interesting year with no clear cut favorite to win the Valley.

[The Mad Hatter]

Noted Hatter. Did you have any impressions from the women's game today? Always curious how many shockernet contributors get to women's games.

I agree with a lot of @1972Shocker:'s analysis, but I'll add a few thoughts of my own.

• I don't think that great jump shooting will be a strong suit of this team, but I think that we will be better than we were today. Alie, Michaela, and Alex all shot well under what their averages are likely to be based on past performance.
• We were out-rebounded, but that mostly had to do with us taking 30 more shots than our Central Methodist. We won the offensive rebound battle by 6, there were just more defensive rebounds available for them.
• With our youth, I don't think that our defensive rotations will be as good as they were last year. However, those young players bring a lot of length and athleticism, so our effectiveness in the press and in creating turnovers generally could go up.
• Alex will be stat machine. Even with a poor shooting day, she had 10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 steals, 3 blocks, and 3 assists. Also 0 fouls in 28 minutes in spite of smothering D.
• Jamillah looked good. I was especially happy with her offensive rebounding and putbacks. Ben Smith was so valuable for the men as a guy that could get those offensive boards and second chance points in spite of being undersized and I'm hoping that Bonner will give us some of the same for the women.
• Valerierose was most pleasant surprise of the the day for me. She isn't as athletic as a number of people on our roster (and we'll see if there are certain matchups where that hurts her effectiveness), but she played a very smart game. In spite of having a couple of bunnies rim out, she showed the ability to both hit from mid-range and a nice power post move. Also played some nice defense with 3 steals and a drawn charge.
• Based both on Shocker Madness and today I am getting to be a fan of Jalessa Chapel (and it would appear that the coaches are too since she put in the most minutes of any freshman). She was 0-4 from the field today, but her shot in shoot arounds looks very smooth, so for now I'm chalking it up to first game jitters. Aside from that, she had 3 steals and 3 rebounds while playing solid defense. She also did not commit any fouls in 17 minutes. She has very nice length for our defensive pressure, but what I liked most was that multiple times she was the quickest person on the court to get to the floor for the loose ball.
• It's good to have Michelle back and I'm hoping she can have a big senior season. She played well today.

[Shox1979]

Couldn't agree more about Jaleesa Chapel. Met her at the Shocker Rocker party with my daughters last year. She is one of the most soft spoken, polite young woman I have ever met. I was pleasantly surprised today with her length and aggressiveness. Her confidence on the offensive end will only grow as shots fall for her.

[1972Shocker]

Lady Shocks picked to finish 2nd behind Indiana State. Shocks received 13 first place votes. Alex Harden picked as the favorite to win Player of the Year honors.

Not surprised about Alex, but I am a little surprised the Shocks were picked 2nd considering we only have 4 players returning with significant experience.

After seeing the Shocks against Central Methodist I think this is doable, in fact, a repeat Championship is not impossible. OTOH, they could easily finish down in the middle of the pack was well. I think the Valley is wide open this year, probably down from last year, and very difficult to predict.

[Shox1979]

I wasn't expecting 2nd at all. I'm really happy with our starting 5 and if our reserves can step up I like our chances of a high finish. Not sure how the valley looks overall this year but I'm loving the show of respect to our program.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

I wasn't expecting 2nd at all. I'm really happy with our starting 5 and if our reserves can step up I like our chances of a high finish. Not sure how the valley looks overall this year but I'm loving the show of respect to our program.

Who do you think our starting five will be? I think it will vary based on practice and the team we are playing, etc. Wouldn't surprise me if we see a completely different starting five for the next exhibition. I do know Michelle and Kelsey will need to bring their "Play Angry" mode when we play any team with size. It is not likely Bonner will get a lot of boards against a large front line. I think we'll be competitive and could finish from middle of the pack to MVC champions.

[1972Shocker]

Starting 5 will probably be Alex, Michaela, Michelle, Jamillah and, if it was me, Jaleesha. However, not sure how important the starting 5 is as we will go at least 10 deep, if not 12, this year. Hopefully, Jody will ride the hot hands from game to game, but there will be a lot of playing time spread about which I definitely like.

The key for the Shocks is that Alex has to stay healthy and you could probably throw Michaela and Michelle into that mix as well.

[Shox1979]

Alex will start at the 1. Jamillah starts at the 2 or 3. Alie Decker starts at the other. Michaela starts at the 4. Either Kelsey or Michelle starts at the 5. The other is the first sub for a big, with valerierose not far behind. First guard off the bench is White or Chapel. Both play nice D and can hopefully chip in some points. I see Alex and Jamillah playing a ton of minutes though.
That's 9 deep. I'm not sure how Preston fits in right now. Hopefully she comes along quickly. I don't think Moriah or the other big get many minutes unless it's mop up time.
I really hope Kelsey puts it together this year. That's gonna a big piece for us. I feel confident in the other returners and would love to see her take the next step.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Alex will start at the 1. Jamillah starts at the 2 or 3. Alie Decker starts at the other. Michaela starts at the 4. Either Kelsey or Michelle starts at the 5. The other is the first sub for a big, with valerierose not far behind. First guard off the bench is White or Chapel. Both play nice D and can hopefully chip in some points. I see Alex and Jamillah playing a ton of minutes though.
That's 9 deep. I'm not sure how Preston fits in right now. Hopefully she comes along quickly. I don't think Moriah or the other big get many minutes unless it's mop up time.
I really hope Kelsey puts it together this year. That's gonna a big piece for us. I feel confident in the other returners and would love to see her take the next step.

Kelsey didn't seem to be clicking on all cylinders in the exhibition game. I do remember last year she had some very fine performances when we needed it, but it wasn't consistent throughout the year.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Kelsey didn't seem to be clicking on all cylinders in the exhibition game. I do remember last year she had some very fine performances when we needed it, but it wasn't consistent throughout the year.

Watched the game yesterday. I think Alex, Dap, Michelle, Kelsey and Bonner have shown they are the first five. It was good to see Dap start slow then catch fire and Kelsey looked more like Kelsey. I am a bit tired of the whistle blowing after watching the men and women play. The emphasis on opening up the offense by no handing checks on D is slowing the game down. I think we'll have a nice team and will know more Friday.

[Shox1979]

Kelsey definitely looked better this week than last. She even spent some time on the wing in big lineups. I don't see them starting Dap, Michelle and Kelsey just bc it makes out bench pretty short.
I was a little concerned when Dap opened up the game 0-6 including several layups. But loved it when she and he little sister hit back to back to back 3s to close the half. Moriah hitting 2 threes was a pleasant surprise to me.
Valerierose had a tough night, picking up some quick fouls when she was in. Jaleesa had a bad night shooting the ball. I remember her missing everything on a few jumpers.
Would still like to see a young guard step up and claim some time.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

Kelsey definitely looked better this week than last. She even spent some time on the wing in big lineups. I don't see them starting Dap, Michelle and Kelsey just bc it makes out bench pretty short.
I was a little concerned when Dap opened up the game 0-6 including several layups. But loved it when she and he little sister hit back to back to back 3s to close the half. Moriah hitting 2 threes was a pleasant surprise to me.
Valerierose had a tough night, picking up some quick fouls when she was in. Jaleesa had a bad night shooting the ball. I remember her missing everything on a few jumpers.
Would still like to see a young guard step up and claim some time.

Presently, I think our only new guard is Bonner. The others look like they have a ways to go. Friday will be a much tougher test.

[Shox1979]

With the new rules, and increase in whistles, we are a couple of early foul calls from being short at the guard positions. If Alex or Jamillah gets into trouble we will need some help at the 1-3 positions. I'm not sure Alie Decker is ready to play extended minutes. She shoots well but still struggles some defensively.
I know we ran some bigger lineups when the game was no longer in doubt but I'm not sure we can get away with that against better teams.

Presently, I think our only new guard is Bonner. The others look like they have a ways to go. Friday will be a much tougher test.

[tgcshock]

I'm not sure Alie Decker is ready to play extended minutes. She shoots well but still struggles some defensively.

I'm not going to disagree with that in general. However, both last year and this year Alie has guarded some smaller, quicker people more effectively than I expected. I commented to someone yesterday that her footwork looks incredibly awkward but she has a surprising knack for actually getting to the spot she needs to get to in time to make the play. It is not very graceful but she is not as slow as she first appears. That being said, however, I agree that there are some matchups that she will not be able to handle and we need some of the newcomers to step up.

[oldtimewomen's hoopcoach]

I'm not going to disagree with that in general. However, both last year and this year Alie has guarded some smaller, quicker people more effectively than I expected. I commented to someone yesterday that her footwork looks incredibly awkward but she has a surprising knack for actually getting to the spot she needs to get to in time to make the play. It is not very graceful but she is not as slow as she first appears. That being said, however, I agree that there are some matchups that she will not be able to handle and we need some of the newcomers to step up.

If you noticed, Jody pulled Ali quite a few times after very few minutes. She is still a freshman with a large learning curve. Kelsey played a guard spot most of the game and when she chooses can get to the rim and shoot the short jumper. We'll see where that goes. I like this team.