Sorry...

[boyshocker]

Shyguy, why did she leave Wisconsin. Were they not doing very well. Why leave the Big 10 for the Valley?

[ictshockolate]

Boyshocker , Jane was starting to have some bad seasons up in Wisconsin, they wouldnt give her an extentsion on her contract as a vote of confidence, so she decided to leave. In otheir words she was running out of time. She did have some good years but really never did anything in the post season, seems like they wanted more. Heck we would just like a post-season appearance. The last time was when Smith took us to the Womens NIT.

[Shock_You]

The players Jane has recruited have solid individual skills. The first answer to the laziness problem is conditioning. After the preseason conditioning camps were over, those that were not in shape, never got in shape and became lazy. Mid-season some of the girls were talking about how they are not made to run. Unless of sickness or injury, they all should be in top physical condition, but they seem lackluster.
Now about the coaching, I can see so much talent and promise in these players. They just need to have someone guide them into their role, utilize that role, and drill them in that role until it they are skilled and confident. I can see all kinds of possibilities. A quick breaking, offense and a trapping defense. Plays 3 quick guards, Jaci, Kyrie, Whitney. You get to CREATE turnovers! Imagine that!! Kick things up a notch for awhile. It is an exciting part of the game. Or a big solid double post half court offense, with Alex, Marcy, Kiki, Kristen, even Daria in the paint would be something to see. Throw in the 3 point threat from Taylor and Frannie. These are just a couple of things that seem obvious to me. If they were taught these scenarios, they would prosper. We just seem to be stuck in the "we've always done it this way" mode. A good team can adapt to any competition if they have practiced the different "looks", become confident in each other, and been thoroughly conditioned. These girls have none of this now. I've heard that some of the girls still don't know where to go on certain plays. They were never drilled on it. As for conditioning, the top three conditioned players at the start of the season were in order: Jaci-Alex-Kyrie. The injury to Jaci was a great blow to this team. As I have watched the games though, I would say that Alex and Kyrie are still in great shape, although Alex plays much less than Kyrie. Any way, if a coach doesn't see what I see, then maybe that is because I am on the outside looking in. I'm sure that doing things the way we always have, will continue to be the frustrating course of this team.

[1972Shocker]

It is somewhat of a conundrum as to why Coach Albright has struggled much more so at WSU than she did at Northern Illinois and Wisconsin, although apparently Wisconsin was not overwhelmingly behind her for some reason.

I'm not going to try to slice and dice how we should be playing or should be coached as it has been 40 years since I played City League basketball and I can barely recall that. Heck I'm so old the girls didn't even have teams when I played. In fact, I think we had just figured out to cut the bottoms out of the peach baskets.

What I do know is that the bottom line results have not been good for Coach Albright at WSU and her teams simply do not play like a well-coached, disciplined basketball team a good part of the time. I don't think you have to be an expert to see that.

All of the girls have some talents, but most of them also have some holes in their games. However, what talent we have doesn't really seem to be developing at a very rapid pace, if at all, and the weak areas don't seem to be diminishing much.

When we try to play fast we tend to turn the ball over excessively, and when we try to slow things down we tend to bog down in the half court. Overall, we are not a real good defensive team, although we seem to steal the ball quite a bit. Maybe confidence, or the lack thereof, is the problem. I don't know.

How much blame belongs to Coach Albright? Well she's the head coach and it is Division 1 college athletics which pretty much adds up to 100%.

I had high hopes that with Coach Albright's seemingly stellar resume and the much improved arena facilities that should help with recruiting that we could get this women's program going. So far it is not happening.

I also had high hopes that perhaps this year would be our breakout year towards that goal. We had most of our team back and in a down year for the MVC. Again it did not happen. In fact, just the opposite has occurred. We have taken a big step backwards.

At this point I don't see a great turn around next year. Antionette will be very difficult to replace, although I like Marcy's offensive game very much. However, I don't think Marcy will be the defender or rebounder that Antionette has been. Our guards have some quickness but are also a little undersized. Hopefully, Kiki's back issues can be resolved in the off season. The league will probably by tougher next year than this year.
We have a decent recruiting class on paper, but I doubt any recruits that will make an immediate major contribution, although that's difficult to predict.

I believe that Jane will be in the last year of her contract next year. Unfortunately, that makes her a lame duck and certainly can not be helpful for recruiting purposes.

Not sure what Jim Schaus will do, but if it was my decision I believe it is time to try a different direction and replace Coach Albright.

You may think that no one cares about women's basketball, but I think we have the two largest crowds in MVC history, both sellouts or very close to sellouts, vs SMS and Jackie Stiles. Jackie's teams at SMS lost 3 out of 4 to the Shockers in Wichita during her career if I remember correctly. Put a good product on the floor and people will respond.

All in my relatively uninformed but humble opinion.

[molly jabali]

i agree...it is a division 1 program, and if i might say so, a pretty easy league right now...the right coach could make MAJOR hay!

[trufan]

Thought I'd add my two-cents worth to the discussion:
1) I believe Coach Albright may have some kind of "rolling contract" so that each year she gets a one-year extension. Presumably, this would be to avoid a repeat of what happened at Wisconsin, where recruiting efforts were ham-strung by the short-term contract and then the record drops and then...you know what happens next! If it is true that she has this type of contract, she has 4 or 5 years left on her contract.
2) A zone defense has its limitations, and in particular are not advisable against teams with strong outside/guard play. The strength of a zone is against teams with a strong INSIDE game. A player who cannot defend in a man-to-man situation is not a good defender in a zone defense, either. In other words, a zone defense would NOT be a wise adaptation while playing against the guard-rich, post-mediocre Missouri Valley Conference. Maybe Jane is not stubborn or resistant to change , as has been suggested, but is instead, just a knowledgable/smart coach! After all, how many times can a DUMB coach make it to the NCAA tournament? 3) My best assessment of this year's problems really goes along with several things which have been said by others. It seems that MULTIPLE factors have been involved. Injuries to Kiki and Jacie were obviously HUGE factors. Whitney's medical problems and resultant poor conditioning for the first 2/3 of the season is another factor which should not be underestimated in its effect. This means that 3/5 of a potential starting 5 were not able to perform at anything even close to their potential. How could it have POSSIBLY been a strong year for the Shockers under these conditions? The ONLY way it could have been a strong year is if the remainder of the team had both strong leadership skills and strong confidence. Unfortunately, they have NEITHER of these.
4) This leads me to answer the question which has been raised about "What kind of players has this staff recruited?" In a nutshell, they are wonderful people/young ladies and GREAT students. I think we all agree that they represent WSU VERY WELL, at least off the court. As basketball players, they are talented and for the most part very athletic. Their weaknesses tend to lie in the areas of leadership and confidence, as I stated above. I hope that the staff looks for these qualities in upcoming recruits.
5) How long should the current coaching staff be given to prove themselves? Given the quarter-century-long history of a poor-to-mediocre quality program in women's basketball at Wichita State, I say: What's the big hurry? Any coaching change is going to cause a delay of 3-4 years in establishing a strong winning program. Given her track record of turning not just one, but TWO programs around in a big way, and given the fact that we can be so proud of the way these young ladies represent us, I would suggest that we all sit tight, and enjoy the anticipation of what is soon to happen (and what may have happened this year, if it were not for the factors outlined above).
I apologize for being so long-winded, but maybe you can consider this 5 seperate posts!

[1972Shocker]

Good first post trufan. I'll have to give your points more thought but my initial reaction is:

Point One: If Coach Albright does have a rolling contract than I am sure Jim Schaus was astute enough to include a reasonable buyout clause.

Point Two: We play what we play. The only thing we really have to evaluate the Coach and Team are the results. I don't thing strategy is really all that relevant to the discussion of whether or not it is time for a change in the Coaching staff.

Point Three: This is an area that is difficult to assess. I will concede that it probably had some impact. Not sure how much of an impact. The fact is that with pretty much the same team as the prior year, injuries and illness aside, we have gone from 15-13 to 9-20 (projected) in a year when the league was down significantly. Drake was hit much harder by injuries this year than were the Shocks and we lost both games to them.

Point Four: I agree that team members appear to be fine young ladies and good students. However, the same can be said for the great majority of Division 1 women's teams, including successful teams. I don't believe recruiting quality young ladies necessarily sets WSU apart.

Point Five: I'm not sure I buy into the argument that we have never had a good women's program so their is no reason to be in a hurry. While I agree that a Coach should be given adequate time, I also believe that over 4 years you should see signs of improvement in the program. I don't see that with Coach Albright's teams after four years. Darryl Smith was here five years and finished with a 74-70 record, including two WNIT appearances and one MVC Coach of the year award. While there may or may not have been other reasons that led to his dismissal, the fact is that his record is far superior to Coach Albright who will end this year at somehwere around 39-73 over four years with the best finish of 5th place in the MVC.

While if I was in charge I would probably make a move in another direction, I'm not at all sure that is what will really happen.

If Coach Albright is back, I will continue to renew my season tickets and support the team the best I can.

[SubGod22]

1) Not sure but I thought I heard her contract was up after next year. Don't know that for a fact though. If she doesn't get something done next year I still believe she's gone.

2) Some zones are designed to be used against teams with a strong outside game. It's a common misconception that all zones are designed to to protect the middle. That's simply not accurate.

3) Very much true.

4) Can't really argue with that. There's talent on the team but something isn't working.

5) Again, I think if next year is bad that she'll be gone. The Valley isn't a great conference when it comes to womens basketball and with everything happening here we should have more success than this. She's going to have to prove herself next year as a lot of the fan base and influential people have already given up on her. Some are aleady calling for her head and others appear to be close to joining them.

[1972Shocker]

Again, I think if next year is bad that she'll be gone.

Sub, what kind of improvement do you think we need to show next year?
Would a 0.500 record and middle of the pack finish be good enough?

The Valley isn't a great conference when it comes to womens basketball and with everything happening here we should have more success than this.

Agreed. The MVC is ranked #16 out of 32 conferences. Our best team, Southern Illinois has an RPI around 80. The Lady Shocks are at 272 in the RPI out of 336 teams putting us in the bottom 20%. I guess a near term goal (next 2-3 years) would be to get into the Top 150 in RPI.

She's going to have to prove herself next year as a lot of the fan base and influential people have already given up on her. Some are aleady calling for her head and others appear to be close to joining them.

It will be interesting to see how many of the 1st time season tickets at $29 bucks get renewed at full price (about double). I wasn't aware that we had influential people that actually follow the women's team but, if what you say is true, that can't be good. We are starting to see rumblings in the media about the state of the program. Do you ever wonder if the media guys peruse ShockerNet for hot topics?

[wushock]

I think an improvement would be a new coach

[molly jabali]

39-73? really?

that is proof positive that this program is not going in the right direction.

i've been a critic, but was somewhat impressed with last years' performance, and the return of so many players, but this is a total ON COURT disaster. i'm sure the girls are great kids, and that IS a positive. but, alone, it is not enough, and something has to change.

[1972Shocker]

39-73? really?

I'm assuming we lose to SIU on Saturday and to Drake in the play-in game of the MVC so this could possibly change a little bit.

The game agaisnt SIU is pretty meaningless except that it is their Senior night. But SIU has the MVC Championship and #1 seed in the tournament locked up and the Shocks have the #9 seed locked up.

Drake is a team we are capable of beating, however, they are playing better lately with a lot of their younger players starting to step it up. In addition, it's a home game for Drake since the Tournament is in Des Moines this year.

[1972Shocker]

Given the quarter-century-long history of a poor-to-mediocre quality program in women's basketball at Wichita State, I say: What's the big hurry? Any coaching change is going to cause a delay of 3-4 years in establishing a strong winning program. Given her track record of turning not just one, but TWO programs around in a big way, and given the fact that we can be so proud of the way these young ladies represent us, I would suggest that we all sit tight, and enjoy the anticipation of what is soon to happen (and what may have happened this year, if it were not for the factors outlined above).

As trufan pointed out the WSU women's program has a history of mediocrity. For historical perspective here are the Coaching records since joining the AIAW in 1974 and the NCAA in 1981:

Larry Thye (4 seasons) 1974-1978: 32-56 (0.364)
Kathryn Bunnell (5 seasons) 1978-1983: 71-73 (0.493)
Karen Harden (6 seasons) 1983-1989: 63-98 (0.391)
Linda Hargrove (9 seasons) 1989-1998: 113-136 (0.454)
Darryl Smith (5 seasons) 1998-2003: 74-70 (0.514)
Jane Albright (4 seasons) 2003-2007: 39-73 (?) (0.348)

Note: Larry Thye was a phys ed instructor at WSU when he was selected as to coach the women in 1974.

As trufan points out we really have not set the bar terribly high for a Coach to be considered a relative success.

[1972Shocker]

Any coaching change is going to cause a delay of 3-4 years in establishing a strong winning program.

Maybe, maybe not. How does one really know. Maybe not making a Coaching change will do even more damage. There is really no way to foresee that with any certainty.

Regardless whether Coach Albright or someone else is at the helm next year it will be difficult for the Shockers to make a lot of headway in the MVC unless they show significantly more improvement than they have so far during the Albright era.

The Shocks lose two starters, Annie and Lexee, who account for 31% of the teams scoring and 35% of the team's rebounding.

A review of the other Valley schools show only Northern Iowa and Bradley losing more.

1. League champ SIU loses only one Senior although a good one in Carlai Moore representing 22% of their scoring.

2. Runnerup Illinois State loses 4 seniors but only one, Megan McCracken, that played much and was 4th on the team in scoring. They lose about 18% of their scoring.

3. 3rd Place finisher Indiana State loses one Senior, Rachel Menpaa, who averaged 13.3 PPG (17% of INS scoring).

4. Northern Iowa loses 3 very good seniors including leading scoring and MVC POY candidate Tara King, 2nd leading scorer Jessie Biggs and 4th leading scorer Sarah Larsen, representing 58% of UNI's scoring.

5. Evansville will probably tie UNI for 4th place this year. The have all 5 starters returning. The lose 2 seniors but only one played much. Ashli Senff averaged 9.7 PPG. They lose 15% of their scoring.

6. Creighton has everyone back next year.

7. Bradley loses 4 Seniors including 4 of their top 5 scorers which include Shocker killer Erika Nelson, Amy Peters, Ashely Chelleen and Jen Brown. Bradley loses 62% of their scoring with these 4 seniors.

8. Drake loses no seniors and is expected to have POY candidate Jill Martin and starting point guard Jordann Plummer back next year to help returners Brandy Dahir and Lindsey Whorton carry the load.

9. Missouri State loses one senior, Melissa Carmen, who has played in 9 games and scored a total of 2 points this year.

I can see the Shocks overtaking Bradley and UNI next year but eveyone else arguably lose less than the Shocks. A first division finish next year will certainly be a challenge for the Shocks.

[The Mad Hatter]

While statistically we lose a lot, I would like to add several caveats.

1. If Kiki had been healthy this year, she would have made up a much larger percent of our scoring. She is a big time scorers, so her being healthy will mitigate the loss of others.

2. I felt that at times we got over dependent on Annie this year. Far too often we would be predictable in our half-court because we would only be looking to get Annie the ball. Having our scoring more widely distributed should help our consistency and make us harder to guard.

3. Lexee took 130 3-pointers this season. That is 55 more than our next leading player (Taylor), but she shot a lower percentage from three than Kyrie, Taylor, Whitney, or Frannie.

We have seen glimpses of what the returning players can do, and if they can be consistent I think we can be a better team even with our senior loses. The question is not what we lose, but whether we are capable of getting the most out of what we still have. If we do, then we will be a good team. If we don't, it will be a repeat of this year.